Chapter 1179: Has That Old Thing Master Tushan Died?

"This lazy rabbit…"

"If I recall, her talent was only a little better than a Heavenly Spiritual Root, her resources barely met the standard, and she had the worst possible Soul Transformation opportunity."

Jiang Ding fell into reminiscence: "She actually managed to advance to Soul Transformation — there's no justice. I wonder how many prodigies and heroes of the same era will be shaken by this. Hard to believe."

The surrounding maids straightened their bodies, appearing uninterested on the surface, showing great respect toward Canghai Tianjun.

In reality, every single ear was perked up, listening to Moon Night Canghai Tianjun's gossip and dark history, their divine souls growing excited.

"The remaining ones — Lou Xi Canghai Tianjun, Lieyang Canghai Tianjun of the Great Sun Sword Sect, and Yin Dao Liu Dao Canghai Tianjun of the Yin Clan of Liu Dao Sect — these three are all outstanding talents of their time, so their advancement is hardly surprising."

"Li Qingyun Canghai Tianjun, Da Ai Canghai Tianjun… these two are very special."

Jiang Ding recalled the past and thought: "I vaguely had a premonition back then that those two would inevitably advance to Hua Shen Qi, and now it has indeed become reality."

However, he did not say why they were special.

The surrounding maids felt their horizons broadened.

They listened with great relish, feeling that the Canghai Tianjun secrets they had heard today were more than in the past thousand years combined.

"Just these ten people."

Jiang Ding continued to ask: "They all seem like old friends from the past. In this thousand years, have no new prodigies or heroes advanced to Hua Shen Qi?"

Logically speaking, this shouldn't be the case.

Sword cultivators could be excused — without war, they're as if afflicted with a weakened state, unable to grow strong.

Law cultivators are the same — it truly defies common sense.

One must understand that after Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting unified everything, the world's talent, resources, cultivation environment, and Gong Fa inheritance all rose several tiers in succession — it was extremely suitable for the birth and growth of prodigies and outstanding figures.

"No, Master."

The six-tailed fox clan maid said dejectedly: "We junior cultivators are dull-witted and lack opportunities, therefore unable to cross the heavenly chasm and advance to Soul Transformation."

"Is that so?"

Jiang Ding neither agreed nor disagreed.

However, the resource problem is indeed an important factor.

The heavenly materials and earthly treasures a world produces are finite. Once Soul Transformation cultivators consume them, many cultivators below have none left, and Soul Transformation opportunities drop sharply — there's no helping it.

Soul Transformation opportunities, the growth of Soul Transformation-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures — their birth also requires time.

In the past, the Northern Plains often needed over ten thousand years to produce a single Soul Transformation cultivator. This is the reason — Soul Transformation opportunities are that scarce, with only one portion maturing every ten thousand years.

After Jiang Ding introduced more advanced spiritual plant cultivation techniques and alchemy techniques, this problem was alleviated, but there was still a limit.

After he extracted the surplus of taxes, supporting ten Soul Transformation cultivators was already very difficult; to produce additional Soul Transformation opportunities on top of that left him stretched thin.

Unless one is an absolute prodigy who completely doesn't need Soul Transformation opportunities, the birth of Soul Transformation opportunities and Soul Transformation cultivators are closely linked.

Another unspeakable matter is, naturally, the enormous demand for resources from cultivators who have already advanced to Hua Shen Qi, and the many problems this brings. One such problem is that the Soul Transformation Canghai Tianjun have formed a certain tacit understanding of suppression, preventing new Soul Transformation cultivators from being born.

"I'm already somewhat unable to wait — I want to see my old friends…"

Jiang Ding's gaze turned toward the East Sea.

……

East Sea, Blood Demon Abyss.

Within the dense, brilliantly radiant grand formation, ten Soul Transformation Canghai Tianjun with heavy auras sat stationed at each formation eye, cultivating in stillness, discussing the mysteries and debating the Dao—over two hundred years had already passed.

For Soul Transformation cultivators, this period was not long.

Apart from one certain rabbit who was extremely irritable because she couldn't wander about freely, the other Canghai Tianjun were all as calm as mountains.

"Hey!"

"Can you give me your vacation days? It's not like you're going out anyway."

Night Moon Canghai Tianjun is a fluffy rabbit; she usually dislikes transforming into human form, and shouted loudly.

No one paid her any attention.

This made her very dejected. This life of being stationed at the formation at all times, unable to even sleep peacefully, made her about to lose interest in the future — her body was about to grow moldy.

"Night Moon,"

Black Lou Xi chuckled: "Give me your Soul Transformation merit points — just one portion, and I'll give you all the vacation days for the next thousand years."

"All the vacation days!"

The moonlight rabbit's big eyes lit up.

Immediately afterward, they dimmed again at once.

"You cunning woman, no way."

The moonlight rabbit said dejectedly: "I only get one portion of Soul Transformation merit points every five hundred years, and maintaining my cultivation is already very difficult. I'm still considered Hua Shen Chu Qi now, with a little distance still to go to Hua Shen Zhong Qi — I can't give you my Soul Transformation merit points."

The merit point system.

This is a system operated by Master Tushan Master Tushan Zhongting. Merit points of corresponding grades are closely tied to heavenly materials and earthly treasures, pills, talismans, and cultivation spiritual lands of corresponding grades.

Soul Transformation merit points, for Soul Transformation cultivators, are cultivation speed — they are the future of their Dao path.

Five hundred years, one portion of Soul Transformation merit points.

This is the merit points earned specifically for suppressing the Blood Demon Abyss. Normally, it takes six or seven hundred years to obtain Soul Transformation merit points through productive activities like cultivating spiritual plants, alchemy, and formations.

That's right.

Even Soul Transformation Canghai Tianjun need to work to receive their stipend.

There is no such thing as a natural stipend.

That one does exist, but it's very meager. After Soul Transformation cultivators kept being born and their numbers kept growing, it has already become something purely symbolic.

Search through the entire history of world cultivation, and you might not find Canghai Tianjun poorer or more strapped than them.

Among this, there is one extremely important reason.

The entire world's tax surplus had been siphoned off, and did not belong to them.

The only thing they could distribute was the funds in the "administrative expenses" column.

Clearly, the funds in that column were far from enough.

Not only were they far from enough, but they also had to work—handling various Soul Transformation-level tasks such as spirit-plant cultivation, pill refining, beast-raising, and management—just to receive a share.

All expenditures had to have a clear justification; for instance, this time, because of the Blood Demon Uprising, their stipends had increased by a large margin.

"How stifling!"

"Do we even count as Canghai Tianjun?"

Hundred Poison Canghai Tianjun was a burly man with a verdant forehead and a dragon-whisker-like long beard hanging from his nostril; his tone was somewhat icy: "To wear the crown is to bear its weight. For countless years, he has siphoned off so many heaven-and-earth treasures, yet during this Blood Demon Uprising, he has shown no sign of himself. In my view, he truly was gravely wounded back then—very grave wounds…"

He, clearly, had someone in mind.

Clang!

Gong Gong Caiyu Canghai Tianjun drew her sword, fixing the dragon-whiskered burly man with an icy stare.

"Gong Gong Caiyu Canghai Tianjun, you need not look at me like that."

Hundred Poison Canghai Tianjun was utterly unbothered, and said: "Even if Master Tushan were still alive, in the past he would not have done anything to me just because of what I said.

Besides, the Thunder Division's heavenly soldiers and generals of the Upper Realm are such fearsome beings; the wounds he sustained in annihilating those terrifying existences are probably not the sort that can simply be healed by saying so."

"In my view, Master Tushan has long been dead."

"Could it be that among all this, certain people have been putting on the name of Master Tushan while actually lining their own pockets?"

He said with a cold laugh.

The surrounding Canghai Tianjun were long accustomed to such disputes, their expressions unchanged.

Deep in their hearts, however, many thoughts were stirring.

Many probes, many longings, accumulated over more than a thousand years, were nearly impossible to suppress.

The Heavenly Dao is unjust!

How can the world belong to one person alone?

How could this be allowed?