Chapter 118 Clearing the Clouds 1 The Consequences of Watching the Show (Includes 7k nutrient solution plus...)
On the Spirit Martial Continent, wherever there are cultivators, there are martial artists. They may be waiters in roadside restaurants, shop assistants in trading houses, or odd jobs at a certain spiritual peak.
This immortal ship is quite expensive, and the lowest-ranking attendants on board are Qi Refining cultivators. They are either high-level cultivators or wealthy VIPs. That martial artist might be an attendant of some cultivator, which doesn't necessarily mean anything.
Xu Xing thought to himself: She's probably become overly suspicious after learning about the strange pills that target martial artists.
She pulled herself out of her thoughts and focused her attention on Cui Zheng in front of her.
Having seen much of the world and interacted with various ethnic groups, Cui Zheng was quite tactful in his speech. He could respond to anything Xu Xing said, and the two chatted happily for a while.
Shen Du was as taciturn as ever. He stood by the window and looked down. The Nascent Soul cultivator he had noticed on the day he boarded the ship had entered the lowest cabin.
During this period, apart from the first day when he boarded the ship, Chen Du only saw the cabin door on that floor open today, and he did not see anyone else entering or leaving.
"I've heard that sea monsters are cunning and extremely difficult to spot when they hide in the sea. I wonder how Fellow Daoist Cui managed to catch them?"
Xu Xing was curious about the sea beasts. Most sea beasts were more suitable as materials for refining weapons than land-based monsters, but sea beasts were difficult to catch and were also more expensive.
Seeing her lavish spending, the two guards accompanying her, and the fact that she had bought the best seats on the ship, Cui Zheng immediately began to consider his options.
He took out a third-tier magic weapon and demonstrated it to Xu Xing a couple of times.
This magical artifact looks like an ordinary cylinder, but once the mechanism is triggered, it can instantly activate, spreading out in a net-like pattern to firmly bind its prey. Each mesh can extend extremely fine spikes that hook deep into the hide of sea monsters, making them quite deadly to sea monsters without fur protection.
Xu Xing became interested and looked it over inside and out. She had already figured out how to replicate it. She knew that she would be able to make it after a few tries.
With the help of her skills, she can quickly figure out how to make a certain magical artifact even without a recipe.
Seeing that Xu Xing seemed very interested, Cui Zheng had an idea and pushed the magic weapon towards her.
"This thing is only useful at sea; it's practically useless against land-based monsters. Since Fellow Daoist Xu likes it, I'll give it to you."
Xu Xing raised an eyebrow slightly, did not refuse, and took out a fourth-tier spirit shield bead and handed it to him, "It's only fair."
Spirit shield-type defensive magic artifacts are common for cultivators traveling outside. Although it is a fourth-tier artifact, this one-time consumable item may not necessarily be as valuable as his third-tier magic artifact.
The gifts were not of equal value, but Cui Zheng didn't mind. He had planned to give them away for free anyway, and getting a defensive magic weapon was not bad. It was clear that this Fellow Daoist Xu was an honest person.
The two demons behind her seemed unfathomable, but they were merely guards. Xu Xing probably held a high position in the demon realm. If she could befriend him, she might have a great opportunity.
Cui Zheng had been eyeing the rare spiritual herbs and elixirs of the demon realm for a long time, but he hadn't been able to find a suitable demon clan to do this business with.
He has always been good at seizing opportunities and has accumulated a lot of resources over the years. He has also heard that there is a major sect in the East Pole whose alchemists have refined pills without poison. He is planning to go to the East Pole to try his luck after this voyage...
After chatting for a while and learning a lot about the Demon Realm, Xu Xing, in a good mood, invited Cui Zheng to stay and have dinner on the celestial ship.
Looking at the plates of delicacies, even Cui Zheng, who didn't have a big appetite, couldn't help but swallow. Putting aside the taste, the ingredients used were all extremely nourishing and spiritual!
"Fellow Daoist Cui, I wonder who lives in the lowest cabin? I just saw a martial artist..."
Seeing that the other person was enjoying the meal and seemed to regard him as a friend, Xu Xing smiled slightly and finally tentatively asked about the cabin.
Cui Zheng swallowed his food and asked in surprise, "The bottom? The bottom is the cargo hold. People sit on the top and cargo is placed below on these immortal ships. They are all goods being sent to the Demon Realm. There can't be any people in there. Fellow Daoist Xu must be mistaken?"
Xu Xing remained unmoved and smiled slightly, "Is that so? Then I must have misread it."
"Perhaps that martial artist was inspecting the goods."
Cui Zheng explained.
After saying that, he remembered that this immortal ship was of the highest standard of the Fuping Sect, and the servants and boatmen on board were all cultivators, so there should be no martial artists.
Cui Zheng glanced at Xu Xing, thinking that the other party probably wouldn't be interested in such a trivial matter, so he didn't say anything more.
As night deepened, the fairy ship fell silent.
Yunxi, who had sneaked into the cabin using a concealment talisman, quickly returned and whispered, "The cabin is packed with people, including fifty human cultivators, more than half of whom are martial artists, and about ten demon cultivators. Only three are awake; the rest are unconscious."
"and……"
Yunxi hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure whether what she was seeing was real. "There are five unconscious martial artists whose auras are not right. They seem to have the cultivation level of Golden Core."
A martial artist with the Golden Core cultivation level?
Xu Xing was shocked. According to Qianqian, this elixir had only been around for the last ten years. What kind of miraculous elixir could enable a martial artist to reach the Golden Core stage in just ten years? Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could do that, right?
Xu Xing possessed the legacy of Wei, a ninth-level alchemist, but she had never seen such a pill before. Could it be that the alchemist was even more powerful than Wei Shengyue?
She tapped on the table. "Let's find out where these 'goods' are being delivered."
Yunxi was very reliable in her work. "Just now I drugged a servant on the ship, saying he was being sent to Yancheng."
Yancheng?
The route to Yancheng is exactly opposite to the direction of Yansui Mountain. Yansui Mountain and the place that Xu Xing and the others are going to are in the eastern part of the Demon Realm, while Yancheng is in the west, which is the territory of Xiao Mu, one of the four Demon Lords.
Cui Zheng had just told her some gossip about the Demon Realm, including mentioning Xiao Mu.
Xiao Mu is the most senior Demon Lord. He has been entrenched in the western part of the Demon Realm for many years. He has the largest territory and the strongest power. He is also the one who looks down on the new Demon Lord Yuan Li the most among the three Demon Lords.
The two demon factions have clashed many times in recent years, and Yuan Li's mad dog-like demon general fights like a madman. After several battles, Yuan Li's side has not suffered any losses.
As a result, she became even more secure in her position as the Demon Lord, gradually eroding the power left behind by Qiong Cang.
Xu Xing recalled that Yunxi had mentioned that Yu Jingzi and Yuan Li had some dealings, and that Yuan Li and Xiao Mu were at odds...
These forces are intertwined, and she really doesn't understand what the cultivators who are secretly causing trouble behind the scenes are thinking. Why do they have so many conspiracies to plot? Can't they just focus on their own cultivation?
Xu Xing was somewhat annoyed, so he took out Yu Jingzi's inner core and squeezed it in frustration.
If it weren't for the fact that King You helped her a lot, she really wouldn't want to get involved in other people's business. It would have been so much better to just find the Purple Spirit Soul-Stabilizing Grass and go back.
Just then, a cool hand reached out from the side and gently massaged her temples.
Shen Du channeled a few strands of spiritual energy over him and reassured him, "Don't worry, investigate slowly, and the truth will eventually come out."
Yunxi lowered her head and quietly withdrew.
Yunlan immediately leaned closer, looking eager to try, "So? What did His Highness say? Do you want to fight?"
Yunxi looked him up and down with a complicated expression. She had to admit that Yunlan had become more and more handsome over the years, no less so than the king's male favorites, except for his personality...
Yunxi suddenly elbowed him, sending him flying to the side, and said coldly, "All you do is fight all day. If you had even a fraction of his thoughtfulness, His Highness wouldn't look down on you."
Completely bewildered, Yunlan clutched her stomach and bent over. What's wrong with the boss now?
Besides, when has His Highness ever looked down on him? His Highness clearly values him highly!
"Senior brother, did Senior Brother Xiang say anything?"
Xu Xing glanced at Lingji again. She hadn't received any messages from Zuo Qiuxu and Wen Yao, and she couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Junior Brother Xiang said the soul lamp is stable, so they should be out of danger, but he can't contact A-Xu either."
"Entering a secret realm or a place with restrictions may also lead to this situation, don't worry."
Xu Xing nodded. Since the soul lamp was fine, everything should be alright, and she felt a little relieved.
Shen Du glanced at the map on the table, his gaze falling on a spot. He suddenly frowned and gently pointed to a certain place. "When A-Xu last contacted you, did he say that he and Junior Sister Wen Yao went to a place with many spiritual herbs?"
"That's right, there's been no new news since then."
The Demon Realm is barren. Apart from some spiritual plants and poisonous herbs that grow in special environments, most other spiritual herbs and medicines cannot survive in the Demon Realm. Therefore, there are very few places in the Demon Realm that can be called abundant in spiritual herbs. You can count them on one hand. One of these places happens to be near Yan City.
Xu Xing understood his meaning and said without hesitation, "Then after we disembark, let's follow these martial artists to Yan City to take a look."
But the next day, an unexpected turn of events forced them to change their minds.
Yunxi, who was in charge of monitoring the cargo hold, discovered that five martial artists were missing. Apart from the cultivators who were in slightly better condition, several of the remaining martial artists were on the verge of death and, judging from their condition, probably wouldn't be able to disembark.
She glanced at the vast sea; the best way to dispose of the body was naturally...
Xu Xing frowned. "I understand."
The pill took effect before we even reached our destination, which means it's not stable. Now that we've discovered this, we can't just stand by and watch these cultivators die.
If they took the medication voluntarily, then they have no one to blame but themselves. However, since they have been in a coma, it is highly likely that they were forced to do so.
Shen Du had already investigated the situation. There were two Nascent Soul cultivators and five Core Formation cultivators on the ship. Most of the other cultivators were at the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages.
On the surface, only one Nascent Soul cultivator has any connection with the cargo hold.
"Senior Golden Dragon, is the Void Space really only for those with lower cultivation levels than me? Is there any way to temporarily let those cultivators stay inside for a couple of days?"
If Xu Xing wanted to move these cultivators away without attracting attention, the only thing he could think of was her spatial storage.
While teleportation artifacts could work, it would take time to teleport so many people away, and if it were discovered, it would endanger the other innocent cultivators on the ship.
"Forget about that Nascent Soul cultivator. If it's just a Golden Core cultivator, you can have Shen Du take action. Moreover, a cultivator who is unconscious has a greatly reduced defensive ability, so this method will work."
The two were already in perfect harmony; if Xu Xing wanted, Shen Du could also be half the master of that space.
After Jinlong's explanation, Xu Xing understood. This was equivalent to temporarily granting his senior brother access. Once those people went in, they would still be under her control. If she didn't want to release them, they wouldn't be able to leave.
"It's best to keep them unconscious in the space. If someone wakes up in the middle, there's no guarantee that something won't happen."
After all, it wasn't its own space, and that was all the Golden Dragon knew.
It only makes people faint. This Xu Xingshu has a lot of strange and unusual things to her.
She took out several packets of sedative powder and quietly discussed it with her senior brother and Yunxi.
"And what about me? And what about me?"
Yunlan, who had fallen behind, was not willing to lag behind and was eager to contribute.
Xu Xing took out his fishing gear and beckoned to him, "You'll go fishing with me."
Fishing?!
Is now the time for fishing?
Yunlan sat on the deck with a blank expression, watching his prince skillfully bait the fishing hook, looking every bit like he was about to go sea fishing.
His Highness appeared relaxed and at ease, but he was restless and uneasy.
Xu Xing glanced at him. "Why are you twisting? Are there ants on the stool? If you scare away my big fish, I'll never forgive you."
She wasn't just pretending; she came here to fish, and not just any fish, but a 'big fish'!
"..."
Yunlan looked aggrieved and had no choice but to sit still obediently.
"Does this fairy want to go fishing?"
Upon noticing this, the ship's attendants, worried that the wealthy guest would leave disappointed, gently reminded him, "Fairy, this area is a hunting ground for sea monsters. Ordinary fish won't surface, so it might be difficult to catch them."
Xu Xing waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's nothing, I'm just fishing for fun, don't worry about me."
The attendant on the fairy ship shook his head, thinking to himself that this young guest would probably not only fail to catch any fish, but might also attract a ferocious sea beast. After all, to sea beasts, fishing was tantamount to stealing food from their mouths.
Although he disagreed, Xu Xing was, after all, a wealthy guest, and he had to tell the guards to keep a closer eye on the place.
But as soon as I turned around, I heard a young man's voice exclaim, "We caught it! We caught it!"
Yunlan finally realized his purpose: he was there to entertain His Highness!
Just exclaim in amazement, praise, and clap your hands.
In just half an hour, Xu Xing's fishing rods were almost always full, with fish biting the hook as if they were under a spell.
"Splash—"
A huge splash erupted, and even a ferocious sea beast was caught! The sea beast was enormous, and it took Xu Xing, Yun Lan, and Cui Zheng working together to get it onto the deck.
Xu Xing tossed over a spirit-binding net, which restrained the struggling sea beast on the deck, and handed it over to Yun Lan to deal with.
Soon, the deck was filled with the bodies of sea creatures of all sizes, and the fish baskets were piled high with lively, wriggling fish.
The number of cultivators watching her fish grew from a few scattered individuals at the beginning to almost the entire ship's cultivators watching, and even the attendants on the immortal ship dropped what they were doing to come and see.
Out of the corner of his eye, Xu Xing saw the cargo door open and the Nascent Soul cultivator come onto the deck. He smiled slightly.
Fishing is truly an eternal pleasure for humankind. Even those who don't like fishing will come over to watch when they see someone catch a big fish.
Cui Zheng exclaimed in admiration, "Fellow Daoist Xu's fishing skills are truly superb! You can even catch sea monsters. What special bait did you use?"
He had used up magical artifacts to bring up two sea beasts yesterday, but Xu Xing caught them with just a fishing rod. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it!
Xu Xing casually handed him a large bag of bait, saying, "I made it myself. If Fellow Daoist Cui doesn't mind, feel free to take it and have some fun."
Cui Zheng became interested and immediately sat down next to Xu Xing to fish together. However, Xu Xing still caught every single cast, while Cui Zheng didn't catch any sea creatures or even a single fish.
Peeking over, I saw that Xu Xing was clearly using the same bait as him! So why couldn't he catch anything?
Cui Zheng was completely baffled. At this moment, some envious cultivators came over and asked demurely if they could buy some bait.
Xu Xing was very generous and simply placed the bait aside for everyone to take as they pleased.
Soon, the deck was filled with monks fishing, but Xu Xing, who had caught a great catch, put away her fishing rod. There were too many sea beasts on the deck, and the various fearful and furious cries of the sea beasts annoyed her.
"Waaaaah! This is it, I've been caught by humans! Am I going to be sliced into fish fillets?"
"It's all my fault for being greedy! Waaah! But it smells so good! Whatever, I'll have one more bite before I die!"
Xu Xing paused and caught a glimpse of a small sea creature that looked like a seal, struggling to move its body on the deck. It wriggled closer to the bait, opened its mouth to eat, and kept making "woof woof woof" noises in its mind as it ate.
The sea beast was rather cute, and since it had no foul air inside, it probably hadn't eaten any humans. Xu felt a pang of pity and put it into his spatial storage.
The sea monster, tears streaming down its face as it munched on its bait, only realized it was in a different place after finishing its meal. Looking up, it saw a terrifying monster engulfed in flames approaching, first sniffing at it, then opening its blood-red maw—
"Green, it's not food."
Hearing its master's voice, Qing twitched its nose listlessly, lay down to one side, and ignored the little sea beast.
But the next moment, everything went dark.
Dozens of cultivators were thrown in with a clatter, all of them unconscious and sprawled out in the space.
Qing opened his mouth in surprise. Why were cultivators falling from the sky?
"They are not food, you are not allowed to eat them."
After instructing her contracted beast to keep an eye on the cultivators, Xu Xing heard Chen Du's telepathic message. She smiled, looked at the cultivators around her who were still trying to catch a big fish, and clapped her hands.
"Fellow Daoists, I actually have some medicinal powder here to attract fish. It's only ten mid-grade spirit stones a packet. I wonder if any of you are interested?"
Knowing that there must be some secret to how she could catch so many fish and sea creatures, many cultivators were envious of her harvest, and for a time many people gathered around to buy the medicinal powder.
As for the sea creatures and fish she caught, Xu Xing only picked out some that were useful to her and that looked delicious; the rest were sold directly on the deck.
Seeing this lively scene, Cui Zheng secretly gave Xu Xing a thumbs up. He originally thought that this young female cultivator was so generous because of her extraordinary status, but now it seems that her wealth might be earned by him!
He thought that by traveling to the Demon Realm and making a fortune, he had already surpassed those cultivators who ventured into secret realms to obtain resources. Now it seems that there are always people more capable than him!
"My dear fairy, why don't we move inside and have a more detailed conversation?"
The servants on the fairy ship couldn't sit still any longer; they saw a business opportunity.
The Floating Sect travels the seas, and countless people cross the seas on their immortal ships. If they can sell these unique baits and medicinal powders, they will surely make a good profit!
After Xu Xing left, the remaining people could catch a few fish with bait and medicine powder, but compared to Xu Xing, who could even catch sea monsters, their efforts were nothing special.
Soon, the number of onlookers gradually decreased, and the Nascent Soul cultivator returned to the cargo hold. However, behind the door was not a cargo hold full of "cargo," but a pitch-black vortex.
He realized something was wrong and immediately tried to back away, but was instantly sucked in.
He entered an unfamiliar place, surrounded by darkness, and could faintly hear the low growls of magical beasts. Most importantly, he could feel his magical power rapidly draining away!
Who exactly is plotting against him?!
In the dim light, seven or eight third-tier magical beasts surrounded them from all directions, some of which were Nine-Soul Beasts, a rare sight even in the Demon Realm.
Where exactly is this?
The magical beasts were eyeing them menacingly. Normally, even fifth-tier magical beasts wouldn't be a threat to this Nascent Soul cultivator. However, his magical power was draining too quickly. If he managed to deal with these few, and more magical beasts discovered the commotion, he feared he would be unable to cope.
The Nascent Soul cultivator was about to kill the demonic beasts first when, for some reason, the demonic beasts saw something, their eyes widened, and then they turned and ran into the darkness without looking back, disappearing from sight.
Before he could think further, a golden sword light flashed towards him. He quickly dodged it, and then a spear thrust at him from behind.
Two Nascent Soul cultivators think they can deal with him?
The demonic cultivator, who had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, turned around, unleashed a burst of spiritual energy, took out his magic weapon, and sneered, "So, Nascent Soul brats have become this bold now?"
Chen Du and Yun Xi ignored him and each took a delicious bun to eat.
A faint aroma of food wafted to the Nascent Soul cultivator's nose, enraging him. How dare they eat right in front of him? Such provocation was utterly arrogant!
After finishing a steamed bun, feeling the spiritual power continuously increasing within her body, Yunxi kicked up her spear and rotated her wrist. "Fighting in the Abyss is a first for me in my life."
What?
Abyss of Eclipse?
How is that possible?
The Nascent Soul cultivator opened his eyes wide in horror, but the fact that more than half of his demonic power had already been lost told him that it was true!
He roared in disbelief, "How dare you? Even if you kill me, you won't get out!"
Impatient with wasting words with him, Shen Du drew his sword and charged forward.
Even without Yunxi's help, the greatly weakened demonic cultivator was no match for him.
Yunxi shrugged boredly. Seeing that the demonic cultivator had taken out a high-level magic weapon, she stepped forward to help. In less than an hour, the demonic cultivator, whose magic power was running out, was powerless to fight back.
Bound tightly, the demonic cultivator realized they wouldn't kill him, but what difference was there between staying in the Abyss and death?
He was defeated, but he was still shouting, "You're insane! Even if you kill me, you'll all die here."
Shen Du took out a teleportation artifact, grabbed him, and returned to the cabin with Yun Xi.
Upon discovering that all the "cargo" in the ship's hold had vanished, the demonic cultivator finally realized that their target wasn't him. He asked warily, "What exactly do you want?"
Shen Du said calmly, "Take us to Yancheng."
"impossible!"
If that person finds out, he's still doomed!
"Yeah?"
The demonic cultivator felt that the voice sounded familiar, and when he turned around, he saw that it was none other than the female cultivator who was fishing.
Xu Xing smiled slightly, snapped his fingers, and a vortex appeared beside her. "Why don't we go to the Abyss of Eclipse to discuss this matter?"
"Don't!"
The demonic cultivator hurriedly tried to stop him, shrinking back as the feeling of his magic power draining away was terrifying; he never wanted to go to that eerie place again!
The demonic cultivator glanced fearfully at the teleportation vortex and said in a low voice, "I can try, but I can't guarantee that you won't be discovered by that person."
"Then, tell us who that person is."
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Author's Note: The most terrifying place in the Lingwu Continent, the Abyss of Eclipse, where there is no way out once you enter: Do you think I'm your backyard? Coming and going as you please?
Xu Xu (∩_∩): It's not a garden, it's a garbage dump~
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Thank you to the National First-Class Retreat Drum Performance Master, Yan Yan, Lin Lingling, Zhiyi, 25656288, and Xingfu Miao for the wonderful support! [heart emoji]
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