Chapter 773: A Small Gift

Li Yugang knew when to stop, showing no intention to haggle; in his view, Li Yi had already been generous enough to offer such a large piece of top-tier immortal artifact material.

To be greedier might backfire.

So Li Yugang immediately handed over the coordinates, writing them by hand on a slip of paper and passing it to Li Yi.

Li Yi glanced at the coordinates, memorized them, then destroyed the paper.

"Just having the coordinates isn't enough, Li Yi. When you get there, don't wander around—find the stone platform engraved with the Eight Trigrams. Though small and worn, it's the only safe spot. I tested it: time flows there about ten times faster than outside, perfect for cultivation."

"Ten times faster?" Li Yi was satisfied: "So you spent a year training there to reach this realm?"

"I trained there for less than a year," Li Yugang said. "The only drawback is unstable cosmic energy—sometimes abundant, sometimes scarce. But that shouldn't be hard for you; just carry a rare artifact and you'll solve it."

Li Yi said, "You know so much about it—why not keep training there? If you broke through to Mahayana and combined it with your Evolution Art, defeating a Great Demon should be easy."

Li Yugang replied, "I thought the same, but I couldn't. The Demon God Realm and the Xuan Immortal Continent invaded together. I feared that if I kept training, by the time I emerged, all my relatives and friends would be dead."

His gaze turned to the building.

Clearly, many of his family lived inside this building—weak cultivators who survived safely in the base only under his protection. Without him, or if he were gone too long, they wouldn't be so lucky.

"No wonder you were so displeased when Li Yi single-handedly shook the entire survival base yesterday."

Su Mu now understood Li Yugang's feelings.

Li Yi's actions had already threatened his family and friends. Now that Li Yi had casually come here, Li Yugang naturally wanted to intimidate him into leaving.

Neither side was wrong—only their positions and methods differed.

"Given Earth's state, you should consider sending them away," Li Yi said, offering advice.

"I haven't found a suitable world, and I spent the whole year cultivating, missing many opportunities," Li Yugang said, shaking his head slightly.

Li Yi thought for a moment and understood.

A year ago, Li Yugang was ordinary, penniless, lucky only to have found a rare place that accelerated cultivation. Through relentless training, he rose in a year to become an S-rank permit holder in the survival base.

Precisely because of his long years of solitary cultivation, he possessed immense cultivation but lacked many other things.

No wonder he needed Red Gold Stone so badly.

If he could forge a full set of Red Gold weapons, his strength would surge even further.

"It seems everyone's path is hard."

Li Yi said, "But I must warn you: Red Gold Stone is used to forge immortal artifacts, precisely because of that, it's extremely hard to smelt. Be prepared."

"I know that," Li Yugang smiled, showing quiet confidence. "I have my own methods."

"Good."

Li Yi nodded. "Since the deal is done, I won't disturb you further. Su Mu and I will go explore elsewhere."

He then drained the warm tea in front of him and rose to leave.

Li Yugang hurried to see him off.

Only after Li Yi and Su Mu had completely vanished did he finally exhale.

Though Li Yi showed no hostility or killing intent, being near such a person was nerve-wracking. Fortunately, he was reasonable—otherwise, Li Yugang didn't know how he'd handle it.

After seeing them off, Li Yugang turned back and saw the large, shimmering piece of Red Gold Stone, and his face lit up.

"Trading a cultivation site for a piece of immortal artifact material? Worth it."

As a cultivator, he had dreamed of owning such material—it would let him forge his primordial magic treasure, and someday, when he became an immortal, he'd possess a primordial immortal artifact.

Even powerful beings at the Mahayana level on the Xuan Immortal Continent spent their entire lives searching for materials to forge a primordial immortal artifact.

Meanwhile, Su Mu led Li Yi through other parts of the survival base.

But one area was sealed off.

"Li Yi, we can't enter there with our permit level."

Su Mu pointed ahead: "That's where a complete rare artifact is kept—it provides uncontaminated cosmic energy to cultivators and powers the base's grand array."

"Even someone with S-rank permit like Li Yugang can't enter?" Li Yi asked.

Su Mu said, "He can, but only with approval from over half the S-rank permit holders. If he tries to force entry, the AI will instantly revoke his permit and trigger the base's entire defense system."

"A complete rare artifact now determines the survival of two million people. The base has nothing else. In future crises, we'll need it to flee across dimensions. No one wants it in a single person's hands—after all, Earthlings are experts at running off with the money."

"Mutual checks and balances?" Li Yi understood the intent.

After circling the survival base, night fell without notice.

Li Yi had learned everything he needed. He had no desire to wander further—he planned to return and refine his Primordial Spirit Manifestation. This trip had yielded an unexpected bonus.

He'd found a cultivation haven.

If fortune favored him, he could use this haven to solidify his Primordial Spirit Manifestation and break through to the Chaoyuan Realm.

"Su Mu, thanks for taking me around all day. It's late—I shouldn't keep bothering you. Time to rest."

Su Mu smiled. "No trouble at all. I'm free anyway, and you saved my life—how could I refuse such a small favor? Go rest. I'll go ask Ye Jingtian how the investigation into Wang Dongtian is going."

"Alright, goodbye."

Li Yi said, then suddenly remembered something. He took a small vial of Life Water from his Red Gold Five-Element Bracelet and tossed it to Su Mu.

"Ran into an old acquaintance—here's a small gift. Useful when injured."

Su Mu instinctively caught it, about to refuse, but Li Yi had already stepped onto a cloud and departed.

"So polite—he gave me a gift."

She smiled, had no choice but to accept it. But when she curiously opened the vial, her expression changed instantly.

A surge of potent life essence burst forth. Merely inhaling once made every cell in her body rejoice, as if rapidly evolving—her body felt inexplicably comfortable.

"This is..."

Su Mu widened her eyes and quickly sealed the vial, stopping the life essence from leaking.

Undoubtedly, this was an extremely precious treasure.

She suspected that if she drank even a sip, any injury—even a severed arm—would heal completely, as long as she didn't die.

"Looks like I owe him a huge favor," Su Mu stood still for a long moment, then smiled faintly.

After securing the vial, she hurried away.

Even in the survival base, such a treasure couldn't be displayed openly—it might attract unwanted trouble.

Back at his residence, Li Yi, as he had the day before, began visualizing his Primordial Spirit Manifestation.

Around him, strange phenomena reappeared—countless cosmic energies converged.

As time passed, the divine figure seated upon a jeweled lotus, draped in five-colored auroras, holding a sacred seal, grew clearer. Divine light radiated outward, turning the entire villa into a brilliant pearl at night, illuminating half the survival base.

Many evolvers witnessed this and were stunned.

Though they didn't understand, they sensed a powerful cultivator at the center of the divine light.

"Is that Li Yi cultivating?"

Many checked via the AI to find who occupied the villa on the top floor—only to discover it was Li Yi, who had only entered the base two days ago.

Upon learning the truth, most fell silent, instantly labeling Li Yi as someone not to provoke.

Even those who disliked Li Yi, upon sensing the overwhelming cosmic energy, suppressed their resentment.

Yet as Li Yi cultivated,

another event unfolded that night.

Ye Jingtian, two precious swords hanging at his waist, stood before a building.

The building was shrouded in darkness, utterly without light, unnervingly silent. In this densely populated base, such a structure stood out like an anomaly.

Yet no one dared complain.

Because it was the residence of an S-rank permit holder.

After investigation, Ye Jingtian believed this was the most suspicious location in the base. Zhang Yiming, the man Li Yi had targeted, had vanished after entering here.

"Zhang Tianxing, come out. It's Ye Jingtian—I need to speak with you."

He shouted sharply, his voice penetrating the dark building.

If Li Yi were here, he'd be startled by the name.

Zhang Tianxing had once been a top expert of the Golden Academy, stationed at Base Six, and had entered the Golden Academy long before Li Yi. He never expected to find him here.

But given his background, holding an S-rank permit wasn't surprising.

Yet the dark building remained silent—no response.

The sixth-generation AI, Xiao Fei, couldn't probe inside.

Long ago, Zhang had declared he disliked surveillance, so he activated his own AI to block the base's systems.

At the time, no one thought much of it—after all, a powerful cultivator's eccentricities were acceptable.

Besides, many others disliked being watched too.

"No response? Is he away—or does he know he's been exposed and refuses to cooperate?"

Ye Jingtian frowned. He was certain Zhang Tianxing was inside.

"Looks like I'll have to force entry."

Ye Jingtian drew the two swords at his waist.

One emitted emerald divine light; the other, violet divine light.

These were the Purple and Green Twin Swords—not from the Xuan Immortal Continent, but found by him in an ancient ruin.

(End of Chapter)