The battlefield echoed with the sounds of combat—grunts, cries of pain, and the occasional clash of metal.
The rocky ground was stained with blood, both human and otherwise.
Aksai’s breathing was heavy, each inhale laced with the sting of his injuries.
He turned his attention back to the woman with the spear, who was now visibly struggling. With a final, decisive move, he channeled his energy into [Earth Control Spell].
The ground beneath her shifted, forming a wall that boxed her in. She swung her spear in desperation, but Aksai was already upon her. He jumped over the Earth Wall he created with the agility of a cat.
Descending from the other side of the wall, he charged up his fists using his silvery qi essence.
He struck with a powerful [Qi Palm Arts] blow, his palm connecting with her chest and sending her flying into the earth wall with a bone-crunching impact.
Aksai tore through the woman’s waist from the side and grabbed her heart before crushing it in one single move. He then moved on to dealing with the rest without taking a rest.
The druid was soon done with his remaining two opponents, giving them a brutal death akin to the spear woman.
With his immediate threats neutralized, Aksai quickly surveyed the battlefield. The Scarecrow Fiends had managed to incapacitate two more of the late-stage Spirit Refiners, leaving only two remaining.
Aksai nodded to himself, wincing slightly as he felt the pain from his wounds. “Almost there,” he muttered, preparing to finish the battle as the evening shadows lengthened, casting the battlefield in a haunting twilight.
***
“That’s… that’s all I know. Please… please spa—” The seventh and last Spirit cultivator was killed by Aksai before he could beg for his life.
“Alright. Give him an easy death.”
Aksai simply gestured to the Scarecrow Fiends holding the man on either side to do the deed. One of the puppets twisted the man’s neck 360 degrees, killing him instantly.
Aksai’s expression was neutral as he processed the man’s confession. Just as he had initially thought, these seven Spirit Refining Perfectionists sent after him were no mercenaries. They were disciples of the Sun Ocean Society.
What surprised Aksai was discovering that these men weren’t sent after him by other island owners but by another force that had become active in the Dadangar Archipelago a few years ago.
Aksai’s recent battle with seven well-equipped Spirit Refining Perfectionists wasn’t the result of some internal dispute between the island owners. It was the result of a common enemy they all faced.
“I guess there’s a reason these island owners decided to stick together and form an alliance despite their differences. It seems their common enemy is making some moves.
This particular enemy has the support of the Sun Ocean Society, Green Glory Palace, Eastern Limiya Gate, and Western Limiya Gate from the shadows. It is clear that the other sects are not ready to hand over a piece of pie that has appeared in the seas.”
Aksai murmured as he contemplated the opponent’s words while caressing his chin.
“But then again, they are not acting like the members belonging to an alliance. Why are these stupid island owners fighting among themselves when their common enemy is gaining momentum in the Dadangar Archipelago? This is beyond stupid.”
Aksai smiled wryly and shook his head. He had to admit that sometimes human greed blinded people to such an extent that they stopped prioritizing their immediate interests, instead chasing after some illusory big rewards in the future.
“There will be some trouble brewing in the archipelago shortly. No wonder Nuya was worried. It’s good that I left Emerald Cove on time. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for me to reach the mainland,” Aksai said to himself and sighed.
Aksai got up from his position and decided to clean up the battlefield. He took away the opponents’ storage rings before burning the bodies to ashes. After making sure that there was no trace left of him, he quickly left the barren battlefield.
Thankfully, Aksai had quickly looked through the possessions of his dead opponents and gotten his hands on a detailed territorial map. This map could be used to locate Aksai’s destination, which was still quite some distance away from him.
The Dadangar Five-Kingdom subcontinent was vast. Much of the land was still unclaimed by mortals and Spirit cultivators. There were many belts of dense and wild forests, barren lands, poisonous marshes, and other uninhabitable territories, which made it difficult for the Spirit cultivators to travel from one place to another. This was especially true if the distance between the two places involved crossing kingdom borders.
After finding a safe spot to rest, Aksai treated his wounds and studied the newly obtained map thoroughly. He used his neural link matrix to store the map details, turning it into a real-time directional guide.
As he traversed the barren lands with renewed energy, Aksai thanked his dead opponents for making his journey smoother. Without their delivery of the map, he would have spent many days recalibrating his journey.
***
About two weeks later.
Aksai’s destination was finally within his line of sight: White Mountain City, the capital of Haan Di.
From his vantage point, Aksai beheld a bustling scene. The city sprawled at the base of a snow-covered white mountain, its peak obscured by clouds, making it challenging to gauge its height from afar.
Droves of Spirit cultivators moved in and out of the city, resembling a well-organized ant colony. Some traversed on foot, while others rode Spirit beasts.
There was no air ban in the city’s outer zone for those registered with the White Mountain City’s administration, leading to a plethora of late-stage Spirit Refining Perfectionists utilizing flying artifacts to commute.
For Aksai, a Spirit farmer who had only witnessed the splendor of Lian City and Wilben City, it was a sight unlike any he had witnessed before.
White Mountain City served as a sanctuary for drifting and rogue cultivators, welcoming Spirit cultivators from the five main kingdoms.
Why was this city significant to Aksai?
It was because he had chosen it as the location to gather the remaining items required for the Foundation Building realm, eventually paving the way for his breakthrough into the 2nd Spirit cultivation realm.