Chapter 401: The Sunlit Realm
Chapter 401: The Sunlit Realm
In a small town, a winding river flowed through its center, and the main road was paved with green stones.
In the misty rain, a night watchman was beating a copper gong, walking through the streets and alleys, shouting, "The annual Spirit Root Testing Ceremony of the Sunlit Realm is about to begin. As long as the children have spirit roots, they can be sent to the school, with free room and board, and later they can become exalted Immortal Masters... Hurry up and send ten-year-old children to the granary yard in the town. No latecomers will be accepted..."
In the granary yard, children were already waiting with their parents, their faces filled with apprehension, as they watched an old man with white beard and hair examining their skulls.
"No spirit root."
The old man appeared to be a celestial cultivator, but he was merely a novice Qi Cultivator. He was too stingy to use Spirit Root Divination Talismans and slowly performed the Spirit Root Detection Spell.
As soon as he spoke, the little girl in front of him burst into tears.
The old man was used to this scene and calmly said, "Next."
"No spirit root!"
"No spirit root!"
"No spirit root!"
...
In the Immortal World, spirit roots were naturally rare, with only one in ten thousand.
The old man, nonchalant, took a breather and continued to perform the divination spell.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, he looked at a tiger-headed boy in front of him. A faint light emanated from his spirit, forming a five-colored glow of very short length.
"Low-grade miscellaneous spirit root... Can enter the school."
The old man nodded and announced.
"Thank you, Immortal Master! Thank you, Immortal Master!"
A pair of farmer parents hugged their son, expressing their gratitude repeatedly.
"Hehe... There's no need to thank me. This is the rule of the Sunlit Realm."
The Immortal Master shook his head and waved his hand, instructing the scribe beside him, "Your family has produced an Immortal Seed. You can be exempt from taxes for three years. Alright, next!"
For some reason, there seemed to be a hint of reluctance in his eyes as he watched the boy's back, as if he saw a reflection of his past self...
...
"The unification of the Immortal World has indeed extended its reach into every aspect."
High above in the sky, Fang Xing sat on a cloud, gazing down at the small town below with detachment. "The Blazing Sun Palace rules the Blazing Sun Cultivation Realm, establishing schools in various mortal towns to search for Immortal Seeds. All spirit veins in the world are under the control of the Sunlit Realm... There's probably not much room for solitary cultivators here."
The so-called Sunlit Realm was actually the outer sect of the Blazing Sun Palace.
"What a truly prosperous scene."
Jade Fairy was envious when she saw this.
"Prosperity in the Immortal World? Hehe..."
Fang Xing suddenly laughed coldly.
His spiritual awareness was far more extensive than Jade Fairy's, and he could perceive even the tiniest details. At this moment, with a few flashes in the void, several jade slips fell into Fang Xing's hands, which he casually tossed to Jade Fairy, "These are the so-called entry-level cultivation techniques of the school. Take a look..."
Jade Fairy's spiritual awareness entered the jade slip and she nodded slightly. "Herb Mastery, Bright King Technique... Indeed, they are crude. Hmm?"
"You've figured it out. Although these cultivation techniques are crude, they conceal a hidden danger. They are exclusive techniques for Medicine Men and Mine Slaves."
Fang Xing shook his head with a smile, "Cultivation, cultivation, in the end, they can't even touch the threshold of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators. They might even shorten their lifespan, using their own essence to cultivate spirit herbs..."
"Well... If the cultivation aptitude is low, there's probably no hope of Foundation Establishment in a lifetime, and they can only do such work."
Jade Fairy replied weakly.
After all, the lower ranks of Ethereal Immortal Palace also had similar cultivators, but it wasn't as straightforward, and there were additional compensations.
However, in the current Sunlit Realm, it was clear that there were no such compensations.
After all, they had no external enemies, and they didn't need to worry about any criticism.
Even if the lower-level cultivators rebelled, the high-level cultivators could suppress them with a wave of their hand, moving mountains and turning the seas.
"If the children have excellent aptitude, they might still have a chance to join the Blazing Sun Palace..."
Just as Jade Fairy finished speaking, Fang Xing took her and flew to a large city.
"In the school, there are indeed several good seedlings, at least they have superior spirit roots..."
Fang Xing chuckled, "They seem to be learning the Dao Soldier Technique, and there's a secret passage within it. Once triggered, it will lead to severed meridians and death... Moreover, it's too crude, and the chances of Core Formation in this lifetime are slim, let alone Nascent Soul."
"This... Don't they fear the loss of their sect's heritage?"
Jade Fairy was astonished.
"The situation is easy to guess. It's just family and clan dominance... In the Blazing Sun Palace, the bloodline of high-level cultivators is probably in the billions, and they can select the best from among them... As for the promotion channel of the Sunlit Realm, it's not completely non-existent, but it's becoming narrower and narrower."
Fang Xing shook his head, "They rely on monopolizing the resources of the entire Immortal World, and they can continuously produce Divine Transformation Venerables. But don't even think about Numinous Transformation Ascension."
In this regard, Soul-Searching Beggar Venerable, who he had soul-searched, was actually very clear.
The current Blazing Sun Palace was like a beautiful exterior hiding a rotten interior.
Perhaps... this was the corruption and decline that came with the absence of external enemies?
"Is it really like this?" Jade Fairy found it hard to believe.
"In the Immortal World, where resources are highly valued, isn't it normal for it to become a monopoly in the end?" Fang Xing smiled, "As far as I know, the Blazing Sun Palace has four lineages: Hua, Li, Sun, and Qian, who take turns holding power... There are also the Cauldron Pulse, Sword Sun Pulse, and so on. In short, they recruit only their own people... All spirit veins in the Great Sun Cultivation Realm belong to the Blazing Sun Palace. Those who disobey will die... Various cultivation techniques are forbidden, and anyone who dares to teach them privately will be executed!"
In such a world, the lower-level cultivators would undoubtedly be filled with despair, especially since the power of cultivators was concentrated in their own bodies.
As long as the Blazing Sun Palace produced Divine Transformation Venerables generation after generation, the cultivators below had no means to resist.
Even the most exceptional immortal seeds, when cultivating Dao Soldier Techniques, could only reach the Core Formation stage. How could they possibly defeat a Divine Transformation Venerable?
This rule had been in place for tens of thousands of years, and one could even imagine it continuing for hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, as long as there was no external influence.
"What's even more laughable is that this Immortal World was once controlled by the Dragon King Court. Humans were treated like livestock. Back then, the Blazing Sun Palace was the savior of humans, fighting for over six hundred generations to overthrow the Dragon King Court, making great contributions to humanity."
Fang Xing sighed silently, "It's just that now, they've all become rotten to the core."
"Now that you're here to sweep through the universe, do you have any plans to spread your teachings in this place?" Jade Fairy asked with a charming smile, her eyes sparkling.
"No, after I plunder the Great Sun Cultivation Realm, I can give it to the Ethereal Immortal Palace if I want to."
Fang Xing replied indifferently.
In his heart, he added, 'Consider it a tip...'
"Then I'll thank you in advance, young lady." The Ethereal Palace Mistress smiled charmingly and said, "But I'm curious about your plan of action."
"This kind of rotten power, even with a Sixth Stage Formation, is like a graveyard of skeletons. With the downfall of Sage Beggar Venerable, the strongest force suddenly becomes imbalanced, and they might even start fighting among themselves."
Fang Xing chuckled coldly.
...
The mountain gate of the Blazing Sun Palace was located on Yang Mountain.
It was a majestic and towering mountain range, stretching for an unknown distance and reaching a height of a thousand li. It was said to be the ancestral vein of the Great Sun Cultivation Realm.
"Such rich Essence Energy... The core is probably of the top-grade Sixth Rank."
Fang Xing couldn't help but sigh as he stood before the thousand-li-high mountain range.
"It's truly... a waste of heaven's treasures."
Jade Fairy also sighed in agreement.
"Hehe... Has the trouble already started from within?"
Fang Xing suddenly spoke as he sensed the surging Essence Energy of heaven and earth.
"Hmm? Has the fighting begun?"
Jade Fairy's eyes lit up.
'It seems that the previous peace in the mortal world was just an illusion. After all, this is the tip of the ruling hierarchy. No matter how the bigwigs above fight, it doesn't affect them much... Those who should be Medicine Men continue to be Medicine Men, those who should be Mine Slaves remain Mine Slaves, and the same goes for Dao Soldiers...'
Fang Xing muttered to himself, and with a pinch of his fingers, a hazy glow enveloped the two of them, and their figures disappeared.
When they arrived at the mountain peak, they saw a series of magnificent palaces stretching for hundreds of li without end.
At that moment, a thousand-zhang-long pitch-black dragon was wreaking havoc within the Blazing Sun Palace.
"Hmm? Why isn't the Mountain Defense Array activated?"
Jade Fairy immediately noticed something amiss.
"It's been sabotaged from within... As expected, the trouble started from within."
Fang Xing shook his head as he watched the four Divine Transformation battle forces fighting.
One of them was the black dragon, and the other three Divine Transformation Venerables were divided into two camps.
A tall and crowned figure with a peculiar face was fighting alongside the Divine Transformation dragon against the other two Divine Transformation Venerables.
'There are four Divine Transformation Cultivators in this generation of the Blazing Sun Palace.'
'However, only the Divine Transformation Venerable from the Hua family, Sage Beggar Immortal Zhenjun, has reached the Advanced Stage of Divine Transformation. The rest are at the Initial Stage, from the Li, Sun, and Qian families... This is already considered the peak of the Blazing Sun Palace.'
'I didn't expect the Immortal World's demonic forces to be able to fight back. In this generation, they produced a Fifth Stage Dragon... And the Divine Transformation from the Sun family even invited a wolf into their home.'
In the blink of an eye, Fang Xing understood the situation, and his heart couldn't help but criticize:
'I've been too cautious... I always thought that the Blazing Sun Palace, as a Holy Land, still had a lot of foundation, so I needed to be careful to avoid any mishaps.'
'But I never expected that before I even arrived, they would start fighting among themselves... and even invite external enemies.'
'They've even destroyed the most important Sixth Stage Grand Formation... Seeing how badly the dragon is faring, they must have used all their trump cards.'
In fact, after Sage Beggar Venerable, Fang Xing understood the situation in the Blazing Sun Palace better than those three Divine Transformation Venerables.
He even knew the truth about the Blazing Sun Palace's Mountain Defense Array, the Nine Dragons Embrace Sun Array.
He could have easily infiltrated without anyone noticing and assassinated the Divine Transformation Venerables one by one, taking control of the entire situation.
Originally, Fang Xing had planned to do this, but he didn't expect the enemy to be even more foolish than he imagined.
When the news of the Sect Ancestor's death, the strongest battle force, spread, instead of uniting against the external threat, they began to fight among themselves.
And... they even invited the demonic forces!
It was easy to tell whether the Fifth Stage Black Dragon was a spirit pet or not.
Fang Xing could even sense that this dragon was stronger than the three Divine Transformation Venerables, but it was deliberately holding back, wanting the three human Divine Transformation Venerables to defeat each other.
'It seems that if I hadn't come... the Blazing Sun Palace cultivators might have been overthrown, and even the Great Sun Cultivation Realm might have fallen into the hands of the demonic forces.'
No additional chapter today.
(End of Chapter)
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