Swoosh! A figure draped in green robes streaked through the air, alighting in the courtyard below. He was a middle-aged man with an elegant countenance, wearing a tall hat.
He strode into the courtyard with wide steps.
“Young Master Chi, you asked for me?” inquired the green-robed man with a gentle smile.
“Haha, Brother Youlong, you’ve finally arrived,” Tu Chi beamed and rose swiftly. “I was beginning to worry that you wouldn’t make it.”
“How could I decline Young Master Chi’s invitation?” replied the green-robed man with a smile.
Tu Chi’s smile widened.
“Young Master Chi, how is the situation? The messenger who delivered the invitation mentioned that Li Xia was preparing to depart,” said the green-robed man.
“Indeed,” Tu Chi nodded. “My subordinates are tracking his movements and relaying the updates via the Tu Family Immortal Hall.”
“Through the aggregated intelligence, it appears that Li Xia is only passing by Fengchuan City, thus he only stayed for a short while before leaving the city,” Tu Chi disclosed.
The Tu Family Immortal Hall was a voidrealm fashioned by the Tu Family. It was a very basic construct with a limited range, extending solely over Fengchuan City. Once an individual went physically beyond the city’s bounds, they would no longer be able to connect to it.
Though inferior to the Redmoon Immortal Realm, it was free to use, and thus accessible to the numerous ordinary cultivators within the Tu Family. It also facilitated communication and requests for aid.
Managing the massive Tu Family was also markedly more convenient through this voidrealm.
“Does he have any notable backing?” the green-robed man asked.
“None that we know of,” Tu Chi sneered. “He’s just a Golden Core cultivator with a ninth-degree immortal root. It’s most likely a lucky breakthrough.”
“With such a weak immortal root, he cannot possibly be a sect disciple. As for whether he hails from a large family? Even if he does, he’s likely an unimportant wastrel of the family who doesn’t live in Fengchuan City,” Tu Chi shook his head. “There is nothing to fear.”
The green-robed man nodded in agreement.
Months prior, Tu Chi had approached him to ask for assistance, proposing a scheme that boiled down to one sentence – loot and kill Li Xia!
Looting demanded a careful assessment of the target’s strength level, resources, and background.
“And in most instances of conflict between immortal cultivators, retribution is seldom sought,” Tu Chi stated. “We are not preying on juniors, after all.”
If two parties at the same cultivation phase engaged in combat and one lost, it just meant they weren’t strong enough. This unspoken principle prevailed across the Redmoon Immortal Continent. After all, the immortal path was a struggle for resources and opportunities, a cruel pursuit of defying fate and seeking longevity.
However, exceptions arose when direct disciples or favored bloodline descendants of certain super powerhouses perished, with some breaking this tacit agreement to take revenge, occasionally igniting large-scale wars.
“Very well, since there are no problems, I promise to lend my aid,” declared the green-robed man.
“With your involvement, our victory is assured,” Tu Chi smiled. “Per our agreement, all spoils procured from Li Xia shall be yours, and I shall furnish an additional 300 catties of ethercrystal as compensation for your time.”
“However, the jiaolong must be kept alive. It will be mine,” Tu Chi asserted.
“Agreed. If you present an immortal palanquin pulled by four green jiaolongs at the grand elder’s 3000th birthday celebration, you will undoubtedly get into his good books,” the green-robed man said admiringly. “With the family’s backing, your advancement to the Amethyst Cradle phase is just around the corner.”
“Haha, I shall not forget the assistance you’ve given me today when that time comes,” Tu Chi chuckled heartily. This was precisely his intention.
“Time is of the essence. Let’s depart,” Tu Chi said. “I will dispatch scouts to trail Li Xia. Once he is 10,000 li from the city, we shall strike.”
“Very well.” The two Golden Core cultivators, accompanied by around a dozen black-robed followers, swiftly left the courtyard house, soaring towards the city gates in streaks of light.
…
Wu Yuan was completely oblivious to Tu Chi’s machinations, his encounter with the man upon entering the city merely a minor disagreement in his eyes. It was akin to two billionaires discussing a property worth millions, and then parting on sour terms. No lasting enmity or other grudges existed between them, and the notion of the situation escalating to the point of no return seemed improbable.
With several months having gone by since their disagreement, the thought that Tu Chi harbored the intention to loot and kill him never even occurred to Wu Yuan.
Furthermore, his soul was suppressed within the city, and Tu Chi’s subordinates made sure to shadow him cautiously from a distance through puppets. Hence despite Wu Yuan’s keen perception, he failed to detect the stealthy surveillance.
Accompanied by Qiong Sea King, Wu Yuan left unhindered through the city gates. His Golden Core cultivation and Spiritual Body spirit beast granted him an air of authority, thus the guards of the Redmoon Immortal Army stationed at the gate treated him with utmost respect and courtesy.
“Let’s go,” Wu Yuan said, as he and Qiong Sea King departed from the city. Amid the vast wilderness and mountain ranges, they observed mortals coming and going, while cultivators soared through the skies.
With a swift motion, they transformed into streaks of light, shooting towards Starsword City.
When Wu Yuan first set foot on the immortal continent, he only had the limited knowledge imparted by the realm master through the immortal slips.
However, as months passed, his understanding of this new world deepened. Despite appearing to be in secluded cultivation within the confines of the Redmoon Immortal Tower without any human interaction, Wu Yuan had been diligently learning about the Redmoon Immortal Continent via the Redmoon Immortal Realm.
After traveling more than 1000 li with Qiong Sea King, the Fengchuan City was now just a small speck in their vision.
With a wave of his hand, Wu Yuan summoned a black battleship, around 130 meters in length, 40 meters in width, and 30 meters in height. An ancient and weighty presence emanated from the flying boat.
“Master, is this the fourth-grade battleship you purchased called Black Sun?” Qiong Sea King’s eyes lit up. “It feels…extraordinary.”
“It is,” Wu Yuan confirmed with a faint smile.
Having done his research on the Redmoon Immortal Continent and surviving a raid attempt, Wu Yuan had invested in several artifacts from the Redmoon Immortal Tower, purchasing them through the Redmoon Immortal Realm. This was after his nine lifebound flying swords were fully upgraded.
One of those items was the fourth-grade battleship flying boat they were currently riding, a costly purchase at 32,000 catties of ethercrystal.
It was a staggering sum, considering a fourth-grade spirit flying sword was only worth 1000 catties of ethercrystal. The battleship was worth dozens of similar-grade artifacts.
It was also after acquiring Black Sun that he realized he had underscored the value of the Yanqing Hall. It far exceeded a million catties of ethercrystal. With only minor repairs, the Yanqing Hall could command a price of ten million catties of ethercrystal.
However, Wu Yuan had previously lacked a sufficiently large storage artifact to transport the hall. Furthermore, he had to safeguard the secret of the Middle Land teleportation array. Thus he had yet to find a way to store it. Now, with the connection between teleportation arrays severed, relocating Yanqing Hall became a distant dream.
In truth, as a crucial piece of life-saving equipment, Wu Yuan considered the option of purchasing a higher-grade battleship, but he also had to take his own strength into account.
With my current abilities, I can protect a fourth-grade flying boat battleship. Anything higher could easily draw unwanted attention.
Furthermore, there were no higher-grade battleships available at the Redmoon Immortal Tower in Fengchuan City at the moment.
While there were battleships priced at 50,000 catties and 80,000 catties of ethercrystal, they did not offer any qualitative enhancements. They were simply larger. Qiong Sea King and he did not require that much space either.
I also have three talismans. Wu Yuan sensed the three powerful auras emanating from the talismans floating in his storage artifact. These were also life-saving items that he had obtained, each costing tens of thousands of catties of ethercrystal and totaling over 100,000 catties of ethercrystal.
The talismans were single-use only, but each held immense destructive power.
This is the true purpose of ethercrystal. If one possesses great wealth, one should convert it into strength.
There was no point holding onto ethercrystal unnecessarily. Strength was always the top priority.
According to Wu Yuan’s plan, once he arrived at Starsword City, he would gradually exchange the remaining ethercrystal for cultivation treasures.
Wu Yuan piloted Black Sun and swiftly took off with Qiong Sea King at his side. A low hum resonated as the black battleship soared through the sky, faintly vibrating as it accelerated to a speed of 20 li per second.
Although the battleship was capable of greater speeds, it consumed more fuel the faster it moved. Thus, a balance had to be struck to conserve ethercrystal.
In less than a quarter of an hour, they reached a distance of 40,000 li from Fengchuan City, arriving at an enormous lake spanning thousands of li.
Wu Yuan abruptly opened his eyes, roused from his meditative state by a sudden disturbance in his perception.
Such powerful spiritual qi fluctuations? Wu Yuan’s Soul Force expanded outward. He quickly determined that an astonishing burst of spiritual qi was approaching rapidly from behind.
“It’s a battleship, moving at a remarkable speed, Master,” the Qiong Sea King growled softly, his keen eyesight as a Spiritual Body cultivator outstripping Wu Yuan’s own.
“A battleship?” Wu Yuan’s expression flickered with confusion.
“The Tu Family,” Qiong Sea King confirmed, “I saw their emblem on the battleship. They’re from the Fengchuan City Tu Family.”