Chapter 129: Chapter 127: 3 Years, First Acquaintance with the Celestial Sea Realm
Su Qing opened the gate to his courtyard.
Instantly, one pair of eyes met three.
Two women and one man.
All of them were True Disciples.
There was a cold, aloof woman; a small, adorable girl; and a Demon Cultivator, who was the True Disciple from Qinse Peak.
"The three of you, coming here... what do you want?" Su Qing raised an eyebrow, not mincing words.
"Greetings, Senior Brother."
"Greetings, Su Zhenchuan."
"Greetings, Senior Brother Su."
The three of them hurriedly bowed, though each used a different form of address.
"Alright, if you have something to say, say it quickly. I’m very busy." Su Qing nodded, his tone flat.
"Senior Brother Su, I was wondering... were you the one selling those Top Grade Qi Nourishing Pills at the market stall last time?"
"No." Su Qing immediately shook his head in denial.
"I’m not short on Spirit Stones, so why would I need to set up a stall?"
"Besides, what are Top Grade Qi Nourishing Pills?"
But the cold woman said, "Senior Brother, you once went to the Marketplace to sell Top Grade Nourishing Yuan Pills!"
Her words made Su Qing recall a distant memory.
"That’s right." Su Qing had no choice but to nod and admit it.
The people in front of him, even the Demon Cultivator, had all reached the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer.
"So what?" Su Qing was unconcerned. ’As long as I don’t admit it, what can they do?’
Facing Su Qing, who now ranked second on the Celestial Pride List,
the three new True Disciples couldn’t help but feel immense pressure.
This was despite Su Qing not exerting any tangible pressure on them at all.
"Forgive my impertinence, Senior Brother, but where did you obtain those Top Grade Nourishing Yuan Pills?"
"A Secret Realm outside the Celestial Sea Realm. If you have the skill, go look for it yourselves."
"Alright, all of you can go back now. Don’t just stand around on my Cold Extremity Peak."
Su Qing slammed the gate to his courtyard shut, leaving the three of them to exchange helpless glances.
’So gullible!’ Su Qing thought with amusement after closing the gate.
Outside the courtyard.
The male Demon Cultivator said, "Perhaps the person selling elixirs in the Marketplace wasn’t Senior Brother Su."
"If it were him, he wouldn’t have needed to hide his face."
The two women said nothing.
The True Disciple from Qinse Peak had a point, but their intuition told them that the elixir seller was indeed the Su Zhenchuan standing before them.
Recalling the bold threats they had made back then made the two women flush with embarrassment.
Then, they all left one after another.
...
...
’They’re finally gone.’
’And they lingered outside for so long.’
Su Qing shook his head. ’It’s a good thing I wore a black robe. Even if they really did investigate... what could they do? Could they really point the finger at me, Su Qing?’
’Accuse a True Disciple who is ranked second on the Celestial Pride List and has already completed the initial stages of his Tribulation Crossing?’
’Inside the Sect, they wouldn’t dare to make a move.’
’Outside the Sect, without the strength of the Foundation Establishment Realm, they still wouldn’t dare. Not unless they found helpers.’
’Besides, few people would be willing to make an enemy of someone with such extraordinary Talent.’
’Unless they could strike with a killing blow and finish me off for good.’
’To eliminate any future trouble.’
’Otherwise, making an enemy of me would be a losing proposition no matter how you look at it.’
...
In the days that followed, Su Qing returned to his normal routine.
He remained on Cold Extremity Peak, all by himself.
Su Qing had originally planned to treat himself to a gourmet meal once a month.
But then he changed it to once every six months.
The sun and moon turned, endless in their cycle.
Su Qing cultivated for three years.
Realm: Pseudo-Acupoint Realm [God Demon Marrow Tempering Technique: Mastery (849/1000)]
Second-Layer Foundation Establishment [God Demon Inference Heaven Skill: Entry Level (305/500)]
Sixth Level of Tongming [Quasi-Star River Visualization Map: Entry Level (407.1564/500)]
In three years, Su Qing had only just managed to reach the Second-Layer Foundation Establishment.
He now understood why it was said of the Life and Death Reincarnation Dao Foundation: "One Turn, One Layer of Heaven."
His True Essence constantly nourished his Dao Foundation, causing it to grow continuously.
Once it had grown large enough to cover his entire Dantian,
the black and white on the Dao Foundation began to revolve ceaselessly.
Eventually, the white turned to black, and the black turned to white.
After a full cycle of life and death reversal, the Life and Death Reincarnation Dao Foundation once again fell into balance.
Su Qing’s Dao Foundation underwent a qualitative change, instantly shrinking back to the size of a ping-pong ball, just as it had been when he first achieved Foundation Establishment.
Then, it resumed being nourished by his God Demon True Essence.
It took three years just to reach the Second-Layer Foundation Establishment.
As his Dao Foundation grew stronger, so did Su Qing. After reaching the Second-Layer Foundation Establishment, his Dao Foundation began to slowly generate wisps of Life and Death Qi that he could use.
And the effect was incredibly powerful.
It could directly merge with his God Demon True Essence, strengthening the vitality of his Pocket World and even his own Life Force by a fair amount.
’I wonder how old I am now.’
Su Qing thought back to when he was still a young man. Now, after cultivating for so long, he had lost track of how much time had passed.
’I must be 23... 24?’
’Cultivation is so slow.’
’Spirit Fruits might be able to change that.’
’Good thing I have a synthesized Spirit Stone in my Pocket World.’
’Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be able to practice my Cultivation Technique.’
At night, Su Qing stopped his Cultivation.
He decided to go have a look outside.
At the same time, he wanted to go find some Spirit Fruits for himself.
The annual Sect Grand Competition had just ended a month ago.
Su Qing thought about his own Cultivation Talent. Even after being strengthened so much, it was still difficult to cultivate the God Demon Inference Heaven Skill.
It would be better to go outside and find some Spirit Fruits, then synthesize them and consume them.
He just had to be careful not to be blown apart by the Spiritual Qi when he consumed them.
Synthesized Spirit Fruits could improve one’s Cultivation Talent, and Su Qing was eager to eat a few more.
...
After enjoying a nice, hearty meal,
「The next day.」
Su Qing stepped onto the Sect’s Teleportation Array.
After handing over ten Spirit Stones, he was teleported to the Celestial Sea Realm along with about a hundred other sect members.
During the teleportation, a dreadful, twisting sensation washed over him, which Su Qing found very disorienting.
After just a minute,
his vision returned to normal.
The first thing Su Qing smelled was a fishy scent carried on the wind.
"Back in the Celestial Sea Realm again. This time, I’m definitely going to rake in a few hundred Spirit Stones before I head back."
"Hey, why don’t you come fishing with me? If you catch a good fish, a few thousand Spirit Stones is nothing."
"Get outta here!"
"You’re bad luck! You go fishing every day and never catch anything. You’d be better off just buying a Spirit Fish from the Marketplace."
"Hah! Now that’s just nasty!"
"So what if it’s nasty? What’s the point of fishing anyway?"
The surrounding Cultivators all seemed accustomed to visiting the Celestial Sea Realm.
Only Su Qing looked around at all the sights with great curiosity.
There were low-lying houses built from something resembling concrete.
The architecture here was particularly noteworthy. Most buildings bore traces of the Zhengxuan Sect, or rather, the Zhengxuan Sect’s style of civilian Magical Artifacts.
The sky was a brilliant blue-white, with hardly a few white clouds in sight.
Su Qing wandered around everywhere like a curious child.
As he looked around, Su Qing realized the architecture here wasn’t at all quaint and traditional like that of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect.
’That’s not right. Logically speaking, this is still the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect’s territory.’
Su Qing didn’t quite understand.
But the Spiritual Qi here was almost as dense as it was on his Cold Extremity Peak.
No wonder so many people came to the Celestial Sea Realm.
Su Qing walked for an entire day, making his way along the coastline.
He circled the entire island in a single day.
It wasn’t very large.
’Some of those dried shells on the beach are pretty big. I wonder if the meat inside is just as big when you catch them fresh.’
’If it is, wouldn’t that be a fantastic meal?’ Su Qing started to get hungry just thinking about it.
The thought of the seafood he had bought back in the Sect—all of it huge and delicious—
made Su Qing’s mouth water uncontrollably.
’It’s actually not bad to come and wander around the Celestial Sea Realm.’
This place belonged to the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect.
Su Qing also bought a Nautical Chart of the area.
It cost him five hundred Spirit Stones.
’There are so many islands here?’
The moment Su Qing looked at the Nautical Chart, he could tell it was something special.
And it was huge.
The island Su Qing was on was only the size of a sesame seed on the map.
The territory occupied by the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect was only about the size of an ordinary peach on this Nautical Chart.
It was tiny.
The surrounding areas were all sections occupied by other Sects.
At the very edges of the Nautical Chart were some ocean regions not occupied by any Sect.
’Five hundred Spirit Stones wasn’t even enough to buy a detailed map.’
’I remember my Martial Uncle also mentioned that the Dragon Race has a place in the Celestial Sea Realm as well.’
Su Qing sighed.
Looking at the map, it seemed that the sea territory occupied by the Zhengxuan Sect was larger and more extensive than that of any other Sect.
From this, one could see that the Zhengxuan Sect was probably truly powerful.
It seemed one could come and go from the islands as they pleased.
There were no restrictions at all.
On his tour of the island, Su Qing saw many Cultivators who had no Sect identification.
Loose Cultivators.
They were generally considered Loose Cultivators.
—
—
