Chapter 90 – Ruins of Fei Ling
The number of cultivators on Huang Li Island increased as the days went by. Subsequently, the businesses at Lu Ping’s shops were also gradually picking up and generating income.
Especially after the first batch of seafaring cultivators returned from their hunts. Lu Ping’s shop, which would acquire their spirit materials, quickly received their attention. However, some cultivators were a bit dissatisfied as Fang Tao only acquired spirit materials according to Lu Ping and Chen Lian’s acquisition lists.
But there was nothing that could be done as they were also tight on funds. They could only prioritize acquiring the items they needed urgently first.
After the lifting of the sea ban, a large number of sect cultivators and rogue cultivators had begun to come for the separation zone. However, the majority of North Ocean Alliance’s sects had yet to officially order their disciples to enter.
On one hand, it was only natural that they wanted to wait for other cultivators to explore the separation zone for them first. On the other hand, the two leaders of the alliance, Zhen Ling Sect and Xuan Ling Sect were still tussling over the ownership of some islands.
Xuan Ling Sect was the sect that ignited the flames of war. Although it suffered heavy losses in its main attack on Xuan Qi Island, it still made some gains in other places. At the same time, the Xuan Ling Sect’s allies had more or less seized the upper hand in the war.
Even though Zhen Ling Sect and its allies didn’t secure an advantage, they still managed to recapture five small islands.
Zhen Ling Sect lost Xuan Chang Island and Xuan Yun Island; Cang Hai Sect lost Xuan Ji Island to Cang Lang Sect; Yu Jian Island lost Xuan Shuo Island to Fei Yu Island; and Chong Ming Sect’s Xuan Yuan Island was recaptured back by its original owner, Ling Gu Sect.
In general, Zhen Ling Sect’s side lost some islands, but Xuan Ling Sect’s side lost their men.
So now comes the problem: Zhen Ling Sect and its allies naturally wanted to recapture the lost islands.
The initial goal of Xuan Ling Sect and its allies was to retake the islands that were occupied by Zhen Ling Sect and its allies during the first conflict. But not only did they not achieve this, they even suffered heavy casualties in the war. Naturally, they refused to let the matter slide.
Hence, the two factions started bickering within the North Ocean Alliance as though they would wage war against each other at any time.
Seeing that the sea ban had been lifted for more than a month, if the two sides still continued to fight, the North Ocean Alliance would end up suffering the most should there be another monster invasion.
Hence, the neutral sects led by Shui Yan Pavilion and Hai Yan Gate attempted to mediate between the two sides to reach a resolution.
The final decision was to set aside the dispute over the five islands and open the Ruins of Fei Ling. The two sides would select their own Early Blood Condensation disciples and compete in the ruins.
Speaking of the Ruins of Fei Ling, one must mention the Fei Ling Sect.
Four thousand years ago, it was the real hegemon in the North Ocean Alliance.
Fei Ling Sect was strong and powerful, and once had four True Spirit ancestors. With its profound heritage and a long-history in the cultivation world, its prestige in the North Ocean far outmatched the current Xuan Ling Sect, and its name was well-known even outside of the North Ocean.
Hence, this formidable power lasting more than tens of thousand years had fostered generations and generations of arrogant disciples. In addition to that, Fei Ling Sect habitually took a majority of the resources in the North Ocean.
All of this inevitably incurred the public’s anger.
At that time, Xuan Ling Sect secretly united the other sects in the North Ocean Alliance and launched a war of extermination against Fei Ling Sect. The arrogant Fei Ling Sect naturally didn’t notice the dangers lurking behind its back.
By the time it came to its senses, Fei Ling Sect’s great protection array formation had already been secretly dismantled. The sects had already infiltrated Fei Ling Island and its cultivators who were caught off guard suffered heavy losses.
However, Fei Ling Sect had a deep heritage after all. It had eighteen Avatar Realm Grand Ancestors at that time, four of which were Late Avatar Realms. It was a hard-fought and gory war.
In the end, the North Ocean Alliance sects won, but paid a hefty price. More than a dozen Avatar Realm Great Ancestors, including two late Avatar Realms, were severely wounded. In the following hundred years, these Great Ancestors eventually died one after another from their injuries.
The battles of the Avatar Realm Great Ancestors also caused Fei Ling Island to be beaten to the ground. The aftermath of their attacks made it impossible for the cultivators below the Avatar Realm to get close.
Towards the end of the battles, a Fei Ling Sect Great Ancestor sacrificed himself and activated the final forbidden array formation used to seal the island, intending to kill everyone together on the island.
The sects’ Great Ancestors could only use this last bit of time to hurriedly scavenge the cultivation resources on Fei Ling Island. They naturally didn’t care about the resources below the Core Forging Realm, nor did they have the time to collect them.
In the end, Fei Ling Island sank to the bottom of the ocean along with a large number of cultivation resources below the Core Forging Realm.
It was also at this time that Xuan Ling Sect began to rise and eventually took the lead in the North Ocean Alliance.
However, the overall prowess of the North Ocean actually faltered greatly since then.
After the war, the Avatar Great Ancestors naturally wanted to recover Fei Ling Island. After all, there was still a large number of cultivation resources lying within. Not to mention Fei Ling Sect’s large spirit vein, which used to be a colossal spirit vein before it was damaged in the war.
But the forbidden array formation on Fei Ling Island was the sect’s last resort set up by one of their True Spirit ancestors. Its purpose of was to seal the sect from the outside world in times of crisis. This way, the remaining Fei Ling Sect survivors could recuperate and rise again in the future.
As something cast by a True Spirit, it was practically impossible for Avatar Great Ancestors to break the forbidden array formation. In the end, they could only take advantage of the singular flaw in the forbidden array formation, which was the spirit vein that was downgraded in the war.
Every 500 years, Fei Ling Island would surface from the bottom of the ocean. However, the island was still sealed and only cultivators below Early Blood Condensation Realm could enter.
Every time Fei Ling Island was opened, the Blood Condensation cultivators were able to benefit greatly from it. But because of the countless seals on the island and the conflicts between cultivators, the casualties were also high every time.
It was almost time for Fei Ling Island to surface again. North Ocean Alliance’s resolution was to send over their disciples to collect the cultivation resources on the island.
After that, the faction that collected the most resources would be the winner. They would be entitled to half of the losing faction’s collected resources.
Of course, the sects in the neutral faction wouldn’t be participating in the competition nor provide any help to any of the two factions.
Only two hundred cultivators could enter Fei Ling Island every time it opened. So, there was naturally a tug of war again over the number of disciples each sect could send. In the end, the numbers were distributed according to the sect’s prowess.
Zhen Ling Sect and Xuan Ling Sect were allocated with twenty places each.
The other stronger sects such as Cang Hai Sect and Cang Lang Sect had fifteen places each.
Further down the list were the weaker and smaller sects with several spots, to the independent clans that only had one spot.
When the decision was made, Zhen Ling Sect naturally had to carefully consider the situation. It was a large sect with more than thousands of Early Blood Condensation disciples, even the Third Layer Blood Condensation disciples numbered more than eight hundred.
The sect naturally had to carefully consider the prowess of the selected disciples.
But there were only five days left and the disciples were scattered around other places. Otherwise, they would have held a selection contest to choose the twenty strongest disciples.
Left with no choice, Zhen Ling Sect asked the Mid and Late Blood Condensation Master Immortals and Core Forging Enlightened Masters to nominate the disciples.
And that was how Lu Ping’s name appeared in the eyes of the sect’s higher-ups.
A Second Layer Blood Condensation disciple, yet, he was nominated by side hall’s Master Immortal Liu Zi-Yuan and Xuan Qi Island’s Enlightened Master Qu Xuan-Cheng.
Even the always dashing and free Enlightened Master Jiang Xuan-Lin who never cared about the sect affairs also made an exception and nominated Lu Ping.
Just what did this disciple have up his sleeves to make two of the stronger Enlightened Masters nominate him?