Chapter 1088: The Right to Compete for the First Tribulation

Li Wuwang stared coldly at Song Zhili. "I only met him a few times. That hardly makes us master and disciple. No need to provoke me with that talk. Just tell me, why are you suddenly so interested in anomalies? Isn't the Spirit God Sect only concerned with Blood Spirit Pills and nothing else?"

Song Zhili smiled faintly. "You remember my senior brother who practices fortune-divining, don't you?"

Li Wuwang's eyes flickered. "That old monster Yuanhua? Did he use divination again and come to some conclusion important enough to make you take anomalies seriously?"

Melded with the shadows, Fang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

Divination arts... it seems their Daoist lineage is quite intact.

In the Three Thousand Dao Palace, there were a few empty drawers, once meant for storing divination techniques, though they had long been lost.

Song Zhili smiled calmly. "He's made contact with a True Immortal from the Lesser Immortal Realm. To be precise, I'm not the one targeting the anomaly. I have no grudge against them. Why would I want to be manipulated to target them? The one who wants the anomaly is that True Immortal. He wishes to refine one and needs our help to draw it out."

"If this works, your Heavenly Sword Division will receive ten first-rank pills and two supreme-grade pills.

He continued, "You've taken our supreme pills before, so you know how potent they are. You ascended to the third transformation with just two of them, didn't you? Your division has plenty of Ascension Realm sword cultivators now. A first-rank pill can boost their chances of becoming Loose Immortals. Ten first-rank pills should be enough to nurture at least two first-transformation sword cultivators. How does that sound?"

Fang Chen's expression turned serious.

He had once heard Gai Wu and Qin Hu speak about first-rank Blood Spirit Pills. That day, Qin Hu had said, "Even if you slaughtered everyone in the Central Continent, you still might not be able to make a single first-rank pill."

That showed how horrific the cost of refining one was.

The Spirit God Sect never overharvested. Their blood sacrifices were accumulated over centuries, with countless lives offered in the process. That was what it took to create one first-rank Blood Spirit Pill.

Fang Chen had studied Blood Spirit Pills before. They weren't true pills in the traditional sense. It was more like a manifestation of accumulated karmic force. Using that premise, the Spirit God Sect could feasibly compress and purify dozens of second-rank pills into a more powerful first-rank pill.

For Song Zhili to offer such a steep price, he likely pulled from the Thousand Dao Tower's stockpile of centuries' worth of pills.

As for the so-called supreme-grade pills, even though Fang Chen didn't know the exact process, he could imagine that the cost would be even more outrageous.

Li Wuwang's eyes flickered. He was clearly tempted.

He said, "Ten first-rank pills? Two supreme-grade pills? Impressive. What did that True Immortal from the Lesser Immortal Realm give you in exchange? From what I know, your territory can't produce one first-rank pill in a hundred years."

"This benefit is something I'm splitting with my senior brother. He's hoarded plenty of pills over the years; he can afford it." Song Zhili smiled. "I only came to you because you have a connection with Yun He. Otherwise, why wouldn't I go to someone else?"

Fang Chen looked at Li Wuwang in surprise.

So it's actually true....

He hadn't expected this man to have a past connection with his master.

"What do you want me to do?" Li Wuwang said coolly.

"I want you to lead a force to Tuxiong Star and coordinate with the Spirit God Sect cultivators there to launch a war. I've already set the stage for you. The second-rank empires of the Central Continent the Heavenly Demon; from the Celestial Heavens, Flying Star; and from the Northern Dipper, Holy Puppet. They have all qualified to compete for first-rank pills."

Song Zhili smiled. "Originally, I hadn't planned to involve them this soon. But since this matter has come up, I might as well use it to shake things up on Tuxiong Star."

"A lot of people will die," said Li Wuwang.

He stared silently at Song Zhili for a few seconds.

Song Zhili sighed. "There are too many people already. Just take Immortal Crystals as an example. Today, their total quantity is only a third of what it was several millennia ago. You know why that is? It's because all these insects covet immortality that the world has become what it is. What we do, you could call an act of virtue.

"Were it not for the Spirit God Sect uplifting the people, where would you and your disciples be today? And these Loose Immortals across Prison Wind, how many of them achieved their cultivation thanks to the Spirit God Sect?"

***

The capital of the Underworld.

In the Underworld Official Division, Du Yunxu was busy reviewing documents in the new office. The contents involved coordination between departments, as well as intel from the Day Walker branch's observations across the Mortal Realm.

As Du Yunxu was going through the documents, Fang Chen suddenly appeared. He asked, "Yunxu, have you ever heard of the Lesser Immortal Realm?"

Du Yunxu was slightly startled by Fang Chen's sudden appearance. However, he quickly recovered. He set the documents down and stood up to bow. "Lesser Immortal Realm? This subordinate has never heard of it."

Fang Chen was silent for a few breaths before nodding. "In the coming days, send more men to patrol the Forgotten River. Look for lost ancient cities."

"I have already sent out the order, but the Forgotten River is vast," replied Du Yunxu. "It may be years before we can find any of those lost cities."

He paused. Seeing that Fang Chen didn't respond, he continued, "My lord, even if we find those lost cities, it won't benefit the Underworld. We'd have to dispatch troops to subdue them first..."

Over the ages, various departments had occasionally found unknown bridges within the Forgotten River. At the end of those bridges lay lost cities. These cities had gone unchecked by law for countless years. The souls within had turned on each other, some degenerating into pure monsters devoid of humanity. Subjugating them would require significant manpower and resources, something the current Underworld couldn't afford.

Fang Chen understood this well, but what he valued more was the corresponding locations of those cities in the mortal realm. The Lesser Underworld currently controlled over 360,000 cities, but ninety-nine percent of them were minor towns like Youhuan or Baiyue. Their Mortal Realm counterparts were all remote backwaters.

Some had barely any cultivators; even those that did only had Foundation Building Realm or Golden Core Realm cultivators at best.

What Fang Chen needed were cities tied to the core zones of the Nine Realms of the Mortal Realm.

That was his contingency plan.

"Once you find them, don't send troops to subdue them. Just record their names," Fang Chen instructed.

Hearing this, Du Yunxu finally understood. Just as he suspected, the lord wasn't truly interested in subjugating those cities. He simply wanted to use them as gateways between the realms.

Now that he understood, Du Yunxu cupped his fist and said, "I will continue to monitor this matter closely. If anything is found, I will report it immediately."

"Heavenly Demon of the Central Continent Empire, Flying Star of Celestial Heaven, Holy Puppet of Northern Dipper—send more agents to watch them. Log any unusual movements."

Du Yunxu bowed deeply. "Yes, my lord."

When he looked up, Fang Chen was already gone.

***

The Yin Walker Division

Acting Monarch Shentu Cang was meeting with several spirit walkers when his expression suddenly changed. He dismissed them and turned to bow respectfully.

"My lord."