Chapter 402: The First Day of the Seventh Month, an Old Acquaintance Arrives

The light of the setting sun illuminated the world.

Heaven’s Origin Academy, Burbling Spring Pavilion.

“Big Brother Su Yi, you’re actually this awesome already?” Wen Lingxue had her hands behind her back as she bent her slender waist, leaning forward until her delicate, beautiful face was almost touching the reclining Su Yi.

She stared at him and examined him closely and with great curiosity.

It seemed she dared not believe that the legendary figure who’d displayed nigh-divine majesty over the Sea of Chaotic Spirits and the familiar, handsome youth in front of her were one and the same.

The young woman’s pure, beautiful face was just inches away, and her breath was as fragrant as an orchid. Her pink lips were shiny and full, like fresh, delectable peaches. Just seeing them was enough to make someone want to take a bite.

“You call that ‘awesome’?” Su Yi laughed dryly. From his angle, he could clearly see himself reflected in the young woman’s clear gaze.

He could also see the outline of her absolute beauty in extraordinary clarity.

Stunning!

Hers was a beauty brimming with youthfulness, one that transcended mundanity.

If his gaze continued past her chin, he saw her long, snow-white neck, and the exquisite lines of her collar bones…

Before Su Yi could look any further, she rose and giggled. “If even you don’t count as awesome, I’m afraid every other cultivator beneath the heavens will die of shame.”

Ning Sihua and Cha Jin watched this play out from not far away. They couldn’t help but laugh.

Not long after Su Yi returned, they received word from the outside world. By now, they naturally knew what Su Yi had done during his trip to the Sea of Chaotic Spirits. It was fair to say he’d achieved a complete victory, and he’d come back loaded with treasure.

Whoosh!

A sturdy-looking little beast covered in soft fur leaped into Su Yi’s embrace.

This little guy was Chini, the Jade-Eyed Crimson?Flamebeast’s?offspring. It was a full circle fatter than before, soft and fleshy, and its eyes shone with traces of gold.

Su Yi rubbed Chini’s head, feeling even more relaxed.

During his pursuit of the Grand Dao, he enjoyed these rare times of relaxation. He felt joyful and harmonious, and his heart was at peace. Even his heart and mind felt soothed.

That night, they hosted a banquet before Burbling Spring Pavilion

Ning Sihua, Wen Lingxue, Cha Jin, Feng Xiaofeng, and Feng Xiaoran were all there, as well as Mu Xi, Chen Zheng, Pu Yi, Yuan Wutong, and Zheng Tianhe.

Even Huang Qianjun, Yuan Luoyu, Yuan Luoyu, Zheng Muyao and the others came.

Su Yi was naturally delighted. The whole group drank and chatted with unrestrained relish.

During the banquet, the Spiritmartial Marquis, Chen Zheng, told Su Yi that he’d already thoroughly refined the wisp of an otherworld cultivator’s soul that tried to possess him.

Su Yi suddenly thought back to his journey to Bloodthistle Yao Mountain. Deep in the wilderness, at the bottom of a vast chasm, Chen Zheng was once used as a Dao Cocoon, and his soul was almost possessed by an otherworld cultivator.

Afterword, Su Yi intervened to help Chen Zheng suppress the wisp of an otherworld cultivator’s soul. Furthermore, he taught Chen Zheng a secret technique to refine the invader.

His goal was to obtain information about the otherworld cultivator’s background and world of origin from the wisp of his soul.

Su Yi immediately started asking questions.

Alas, Chen Zheng had only refined a single wisp of soul, and it contained few memories.

All he knew was that the otherworld cultivator’s Daoist title was Liu Que, or “Flowing Stanza”, and that he came from a plane known as the Darkwind Continent.

Liu Que was a Spirit Dao cultivator from the Longevity Spirit Sect, one of the Darkwind Continent’s five peak-level sects.

There was an exposed portion of the spatial barrier between worlds within the Longevity Spirit Sect’s territory. This was none other than the rift leading to the depths of the Great Zhou’s Bloodthistle Yao Mountain.

According to Liu Que’s memories, there were three similar spatial rifts on the Darkwind Continent. Each was under the control of a peak-level sect.

The name of one of these peak-level sects caught Su Yi’s attention—

The Incarnation of Stars Sect!

This reminded him of the space beneath the ruins of the Prajna Meditation Garden, where he defeated an otherworld cultivator who called himself the Crimson Flame Monarch.

He was a member of the Incarnation of Stars Sect!

We can already confirm that at least two of the Darkwind Continent’s five peak-level sects control a spatial rift that leads to the Great Zhou…

And there are over a hundred nations similar to the Great Zhou on the Azure Continent. There’s got to be no small number of spatial rifts formed when the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness descended.

This means that the Darkwind Continent can’t possibly be the only world on the other side.

After reaching this conclusion, Su Yi had some vague ideas.

Almost thirty thousand years ago, beneath the influence of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness, numerous spatial rifts appeared throughout the Azure Continent.

However, they didn’t all lead to the same worlds. They led to numerous different planes.

The Darkwind Continent was just one of many.

If he continued a step further down this train of thought, this meant that when the Radiant Epoch was upon them, otherworld cultivators would cross over and enter the world from numerous different planes of existence!

Su Yi then asked about a few other matters.

He learned that the strongest member of the Longevity Spirit Sect, one of the top five sects on the Darkwind Continent, was only a Spiritual Revolution Realm cultivator.

The Spiritual Revolution Realm was the last of the three realms of the Spirit Dao. Such cultivators were inferior only to Imperial Realm experts.

Su Yi inferred that the other four top sects had to be on roughly the same level as the Longevity Spirit Sect.

The others couldn’t possibly have Imperial Realm experts at the helm. Otherwise, the five sects couldn’t have maintained their current equilibrium.

Chen Zheng had obtained this information, but he found it thoroughly confusing.

However, Su Yi had the experience of his past life to draw on. A few hints were enough to deduce an enormously valuable piece of information—

The strongest factions of the Darkwind Continent were still only Spirit Dao orthodoxies!

In terms of accumulations, the former Azure Continent, which was once home to Imperial Realm experts, was unquestionably far, far, far mightier than the Darkwind Continent!

Of course, thirty thousand years of the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness had taken its toll. The current Azure Continent wasn’t at all comparable to the Darkwind Continent.

After all, throughout the entire continent, only the Great Xia, the continent’s hegemon, was home to Spirit Dao cultivators.

While the Darkwind Continent had five Spirit-Dao-level sects!

Still, if that’s all they’ve got, they’re no different from the readily-harvestable ‘chives’ I anticipated.?After reaching these conclusions, Su Yi shook his head.

If the Nine Provinces of the Wilds were a peak-level cultivation world, both the Azure Continent and the Darkwind Continent were run-down, low-class planes of existence.

However, that was just the Darkwind Continent. It was possible that some of the other worlds with access to the Azure Continent were stronger.

The banquet ended before dawn.

Su Yi was drunk. In the end, the equally intoxicated Cha Jin supported him, and they entered Burbling Spring Pavilion together.

Before parting ways, Ning Sihua gave them a well-intentioned reminder. “Fellow Daoist, don’t forget the?sound-proofing?barrier formation.”

Su Yi laughed and agreed, not the least bit ashamed.?However, Cha Jin’s face reddened.

When kindling met a blazing fire, they shared an experience beyond others’ understanding.

This was naturally a night of entanglements numerous beyond description, but the pleasures found within were not for others to know.

……

In the days that followed, Su Yi lived in leisure within Burbling Spring Pavilion.

When he wasn’t cultivating, he was languidly enjoying peace and relaxation.

Everything was just as before.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Sometimes, he would play chess with Wen Lingxue. The two of them would go on long walks in the wilderness, and he’d guide her cultivation.

At night, he typically shared a bed with Cha Jin, replacing solitary cultivation with dual cultivation.

Engaging in dual cultivation on an almost nightly basis tempered Cha Jin’s cultivation. Her foundations were increasingly solid and refined….

Su Yi benefitted quite a bit too.

His early-stage Grain Avoidance Realm cultivation had stabilized, and the Strongest Dao Seed shaped like the Sword of the Nine Hells was increasingly pure and condensed.

During this time, the Great Zhou’s heir apparent, Zhou Zhili, paid Heaven’s Origin Academy a personal visit. He also delivered an obviously carefully-prepared gift.

A full ten tier-six spirit stones!

Their value was enough to make any Origin Dao cultivator red-eyed with greed.

After all, in this mundane realm, tier-five spirit stones were already extremely rare, never mind tier six! And this was ten of them at once!

Su Yi naturally wouldn’t refuse.

Upon entering the Grain Avoidance Realm, his incomparable foundations in the Grand Dao meant that he burned through almost ten tier-five spirit stones in his daily cultivation. He was burning through his supplies at striking speeds.

If he switched to tier-six spirit stones, refining one per day would be enough.

During his visit, Zhou Zhili also brought a piece of news—

The eldest imperial prince of the Great Zhou, Zhou Zhiqian, left for the Great Xia a long time ago, on the fourth day of the fifth month. He’d already become an inner sect disciple of the Fulcrum of Heaven Sword Sect, one of the Great Xia’s Four Great Daoist Sects.

Although Zhou Zhiqian was Zhou Zhili’s older brother, they had different mothers, and Zhou Zhiqian had cultivated on Unknown Dragon Mountain from a young age. The brothers’ relationship could be described as “distant” and “indifferent.”

Thus, Zhou Zhili sold Zhou Zhiqian out without the slightest hesitation. He told him that it was highly probable that Zhou Zhiqian planned on avenging the fallen Unknown Dragons.

Su Yi wasn’t overly concerned about this.

After stepping into the Grain Avoidance Realm, those who’d once viewed him with enmity were already insignificant to him. Take the three mightiest cultivation factions of the Great Qin. Hadn’t all of them lowered their heads and admitted defeat?

Zhou Zhiqian might well have the chance to rise to prominence in the Great Xia, but Su Yi wasn’t the least bit concerned.

One leisurely and fulfilling day after another slipped by.

A month later, the first day of the seventh lunar month.

It was ten past noon, and Su Yi was slumped leisurely outside Burbling Spring Pavilion, resting in the shade of a giant pine. His brow was slightly furrowed as he sank into contemplation.

His supply of resources suitable for his current cultivation had dwindled. His current stash would only last him another week or so.

Furthermore, in his current state, never mind Heaven’s Origin Academy; even if he scoured the entire Great Zhou, it’d be extremely difficult to locate suitable cultivation resources.

This was the problem with mundane realms.

The higher your cultivation, the rarer the resources required to satisfy your needs. This continued until one day, the world’s resources simply weren’t good enough.

This spiritual barrenness results from the Prohibition of Ancient Darkness. It really is like a set of invisible shackles; over the years, it’s snuffed out countless cultivators’ hopes for striving for greater heights of the Grand Dao.?Su Yi sighed.?Perhaps I really ought to consider going to the Great Xia too….

It was then that Ning Sihua walked over and said, “Fellow Daoist, Tao Qingshan and a man who calls himself the Qinglan Water Monarch have arrived requesting an audience.”