Immortal Island City
The Dream Heaven Minor World comprises eight major cities, seven of which are inland. Immortal Island City is the only one located on the coast, named for its numerous islands. Immortal Island City boasts over two hundred thousand islands, most of which are uninhabited. Among these, more than five hundred are large islands inhabited by cultivators, mortals, and other creatures.
Pearl Island is one of the large islands of Immortal Island City, inhabited by demon cultivators and sentient spirit beasts. Compared to human cultivators, demon cultivators are much rarer. It takes them hundreds or even thousands of years to cultivate into human form. Lin Shi has never seen a demon cultivator in human form in the Dream Heaven Small World, only sentient spirit beasts.
On this day, Lin Shi arrived at Pearl Island in Immortal Island City and exchanged a large amount of pearl stones and giant clam stones with the island's spirit beasts for use in refining arrays and crafting weapons. The most common spirit beasts on Pearl Island were shellfish such as the Pearl Clam Beast and the Giant Clam King Beast. Both the Pearl Clam Beast and the Giant Clam King Beast were enormous, resembling small mountains, exceeding four meters in length, width, and height.
The Pearl Clam Beast is oblong in shape with a thick, hard shell, brown or dark brown in color. It is highly prized by cultivators specializing in pearls and artifact crafting. The Giant Clam King Beast is the largest bivalve molluskine in the ocean. Its body is pure white, and the closing force of its two shells is astonishing, capable of easily biting through a cultivator's longsword. The Giant Clam King Beast is highly prized by cultivators specializing in giant clam stones. Giant clam stones appear as ordinary stones, but come in a variety of vibrant colors, including peacock blue, pink, and emerald green.
Both pearl stone and giant clam stone are important materials for refining weapons and arrays. Cultivators can only trade them with pearl clam beasts and giant clam kings. If they try to seize them by force, both pearl stone and giant clam stone will turn to dust upon the death of the pearl clam beast or giant clam king.
Lin Shi used the illusion array to exchange for thousands of pearl stones and giant clam stones from the Pearl Clam Beast and the Giant Clam King Beast. The illusion array contains rich story scenes to help the extremely bored Pearl Clam Beast and Giant Clam King Beast pass the long hours.
After exchanging the pearl and tridacna shell, Lin Shi went to the Lighthouse Jellyfish Beast, Starfish Beast, and Leatherback Turtle Beast to exchange their shed old shells. The Lighthouse Jellyfish Beast and Starfish Beast possess unique regenerative abilities, and items crafted from their old shells will have a certain degree of repair function. Items crafted from the old shell of the Leatherback Turtle Beast will have a sturdy nature, making them suitable as materials for crafting shields and armor.
After all the necessary materials for refining arrays and artifacts were prepared, Lin Shi found a large, lifeless island and began refining some artifacts, array stones, and longswords in a naturally formed cave under a large rock.
Lin Shi first crafted two icy armor dresses, one white and one gold. Both dresses were covered with tiny defensive arrays, capable of withstanding certain attacks from cultivators and lightning tribulations. Next, she crafted five lotus crown shields, with lotus petals of pink, blue-purple, gold, silver-white, and light green, all infused with a large amount of tridacna shell. During lightning tribulations, these could be worn as hats, providing some lightning protection. In addition, Lin Shi also crafted the Arisaema Shield, the Leather Turtle Shield, the Axe-shaped Lightning Wedge Shield, and the Mushroom Shield, all of which could be thrown into the air to resist certain lightning tribulation attacks. These dresses, lotus crowns, shields, and protective shields all possessed a degree of regenerative repair capabilities, prepared for her ascension to the upper realm after reaching the Nascent Soul stage.
In addition, Lin Shi also forged a new longsword for the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation. In order to prevent being attacked after ascending to the upper realm, the Immortal Slaughtering Sword Formation she prepared was a sword formation composed of her natal sword, the Evil Slaughtering Sword, and the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, the Immortal Trapping Sword, and the Immortal Severing Sword. It did not require much spiritual power input or spirit stone consumption, but its destructive power was extremely strong.
Once all the necessary crafting tools and implements were completed, Lin Shi prepared to return to land. Instead of flying on her sword or through the air, she chose to seek out the adorable and playful marine spirit beasts. Marine spirit beasts were rarely small; they were generally at least twice the size of ordinary mortals or cultivators.
Lin Shi, barefoot, stepped onto the back of a horseshoe crab cub, her skirt billowing, and played with it for several hours, riding the waves. The horseshoe crab cub was enormous, over five meters long and over three meters wide. Resembling a crab, its body was divided into a cephalothorax and abdomen. Its body was a young, bluish-brown color, covered in a hard shell, and its first pair of chelicerae on its cephalothorax swiftly propelled it through the water. Its four eyes gleamed with excitement, and its two compound eyes occasionally spewed out colorful sprays of water. To the left of the horseshoe crab cub, a group of transparent, purportedly the most beautiful sea butterfly beasts in the ocean, swam vigorously forward. To its right, a group of disc-shaped, brightly colored angelfish beasts also swam eagerly forward.
After playing for almost a day, Lin Shi, still childlike at heart, bid farewell to the horseshoe crab cub, the naked sea butterfly beast, and the seven-colored fairy fish beast, and finally returned to land. She reluctantly said goodbye to the spirit beasts of the ocean, and after taking a few steps ashore, she stopped warily.
After a while, a female cultivator appeared out of thin air in front of Lin Shi. The beautiful cultivator, dressed in a red fairy-like dress, with almond-shaped eyes and peach-blossom cheeks but a cold expression, looked at Lin Shi, raised an eyebrow, and then teased, "Lin Shi, I didn't expect you to still have such a childlike heart after all these years!"
The newcomer was none other than Ye Ruxue, a female cultivator from the Peach Blossom Sect of Immortal Island City. Lin Shi had fought her decades ago, and the battle had been evenly matched. High-level female cultivators were already few in number, and those who were not entangled in love and focused solely on cultivation were even rarer. Lin Shi and Ye Ruxue were of similar age and had similar minds, making it a rare encounter with kindred spirits. After their duel, the two had maintained contact and occasionally helped each other.
"Ye Ruxue, it's been a long time!" Lin Shi greeted Ye Ruxue with a bright and sweet smile, completely unbothered by her teasing. Ye Ruxue smiled back, her beauty melting like snow, captivating all who saw her.
"Lin Shi, are you ready to ascend to the Upper Realm?"
"It's done. How about you?"
"I'm still missing some defensive magical artifacts. I was just about to ask you if I could exchange any suitable materials, or if you could help me refine them."
What are you missing?
"Lotus crowns and shields, and the like."
"I have just crafted five lotus crown armors. Would you like to buy one, or barter for one?"
"Let me see." Upon hearing this, Ye Ruxue immediately asked Lin Shi to show it to her.
Lin Shi then took out all five lotus crown shields from her storage ring, lined them up, and floated them in front of her and Ye Ruxue for her to see. The moment the five beautiful lotus crown shields of different colors appeared before Ye Ruxue, her eyes lit up.
Ye Ruxue couldn't help but praise Lin Shi from the bottom of her heart: "The lotus crown shield armor you made is really beautiful, and it has many defensive formations. Can you sell me two? My sister just successfully formed her core, and I need to give her a gift."
"Okay. Which two do you want?"
"The silver-white and pink ones. The pink one is for my sister, it'll fit her perfectly."
"Okay. How about exchanging some refining materials with you?"
“Alright. I have these refining materials to spare. Which ones do you want?” Ye Ruxue took out her spare refining materials and laid them out in a row, floating in front of her for Lin Shi to see and choose from.
"I'll take them myself." Lin Shi then unceremoniously selected refining materials that were roughly equivalent in value to two lotus crown armors.
"By the way, would you like to go to Peach Blossom Island to attend my sister's Core Formation celebration ceremony? It'll be in a few days."
"Okay, then I'll pick a suitable gift for your sister too."
After saying that, Lin Shi walked a few steps side by side with Ye Ruxue, and then the two of them flew on their swords towards Peach Blossom Island.
Peach Blossom Island is one of the top ten largest islands in Immortal Island City, primarily serving as the headquarters and residence of the Peach Blossom Sect. The island is surrounded by rock formations, with a stretch of sandy beach extending for hundreds of meters near its center, where a turquoise lake lies. Peach Blossom Island is rich in various spiritual plants, abundant in spiritual minerals, and brimming with spiritual energy. Rows of shrubs and trees grow on the outermost perimeter, gradually decreasing in height as one moves inward. The cultivators live in stone buildings, each independent stone house appearing beautiful and unique.
Lin Shi and Ye Ruxue landed on the sand of Peach Blossom Island and slowly walked towards the center of the island.
"Elder Ye, Fairy Danmeng, greetings!" Along the way, cultivators greeted the two women. The two nodded and smiled politely at the cultivators.
When Lin Shi followed Ye Ruxue to the largest stone palace in the center of the island, they saw Ye Ruling and her husband and Daoist partner Ye Qian come out to greet them and let them in.
Ye Ruling and Ye Ruxue were twins, and their appearances were strikingly similar. Unlike Ye Ruxue's aloofness, Ye Ruling had almond-shaped eyes and peach-blossom cheeks, and was always smiling, like a fairy transformed from peach blossoms, charming and sweet. Ye Qian was originally their parents' disciple and adopted son, but later married Ye Ruling, becoming their Daoist partner. Although Ye Ruling and Ye Qian were nearly a hundred years old, their cultivation had only just reached the early stage of the Golden Core realm. After all, they hadn't cultivated as diligently as Ye Ruxue, spending more time on love, having children, and managing their sect.
Ye Ruling possesses exceptional talent in cultivation, but her mind isn't on it. Ye Qian's talent is average, and his mind isn't on cultivation either. Neither of them harbors great ambitions for immortality. Currently, they jointly manage Peach Blossom Island and the Peach Blossom Sect effectively, and they even have great-grandchildren, which can be considered a fulfilling life. Ye Ruxue and Ye Ruling's parents are both devoted to cultivation, serving as nominal elders on the island, but their talent and comprehension are average, and their current cultivation level is lower than Ye Ruxue's.
"Fellow Daoist Danmeng is still so beautiful and has such high cultivation!" When Ye Ruling saw Lin Shi, she took her hand with one hand and Ye Ruxue with the other and led her into their palace, while also finding various angles to praise Lin Shi.
Lin Shi exchanged a few pleasantries with Ye Ruling and Ye Qian before staying on Peach Blossom Island for a few days. She selected some beautiful and practical magical artifacts and gave them to Ye Ruling, which made her beam with joy on the spot.
On the day of Ye Ruling's Core Formation celebration, friendly sects from nearby islands flocked to Peach Blossom Island to offer their congratulations. Amidst the gathering of guests, Lin Shi took the opportunity to chat with some familiar cultivators. Afterwards, they exchanged resources for refining arrays and artifacts. A few days later, Lin Shi bid farewell to Ye Ruxue and returned to his sect.
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