Chapter 107: Three Years

"Yin San, you really made a mess of it! Had I known my subordinates were so useless, I shouldn't have handed Nanshan Fang over to you to attack! I should have arranged people myself; maybe we would have taken Nanshan Fang long ago!"

"Now it's fine, the Supreme Elder has ordered us to retreat, and you and I have become a joke!"

On a massive flying vessel, She Ji and Yin San, both Evil Cultivators at the Golden Core Realm, faced each other, their faces grim, no longer the playful, carefree expressions they had before.

Abandoning the attack on these towns in the Da Yu Cultivation World was not their decision, but an order after higher‑level scheming.

They were merely obeying orders.

So this retreat actually has little to do with Xiao Zhangqing killing the infiltrating Foundation Establishment Evil Cultivator.

That's not right.

Nor can we say it doesn't matter.

If Xiao Zhangqing had been assassinated by Yin San's men, the hard backbone of Nanshan Fang would have been gnawed away, and perhaps the outcome of the higher‑level game would have differed, and the retreat order might not have been issued.

"Shut up! It's as if you captured Peach Blossom Town yourself! Is Peach Blossom Town any harder than Nanshan Fang? You can't even take Peach Blossom Town, so what right do you have to lecture me?" The normally poised Yin San, dressed in flowing white, now wore a twisted, snarling expression.

This time it was indeed handled terribly and embarrassingly.

Moreover, crucially, he lost a borrowed precious third‑tier Soul Dao artifact! He had counted on that artifact to assassinate Xiao Zhangqing flawlessly, but it failed, and the third‑tier Soul Dao artifact fell into Nanshan Fang!

Next, he will have to be cut down hard, paying a hefty price to compensate for the Thousand Illusion Mask.

A third‑tier artifact, especially such a scarce Soul Dao artifact, is not something a Golden Core cultivator can easily obtain.

So this time Yin San was truly enraged.

He wishes he could ignore the agreement and personally storm Nanshan Fang, slaughtering the whole town! "Cao family, Cao Hao? Sooner or later, I will throw your entire clan into my Ten Thousand Soul Banner!"

Yin San silently swore to himself.

Having been at the Golden Core Realm for a long time, he couldn't recall how many years he hadn't harbored such hatred toward a petty Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But this time, Cao Hao truly provoked him.

"The Thousand Illusion Mask should also be in that person's hands. Wait for it; I will return sooner or later. I will show you what you must not take!"

Yin San forced himself down several times, yet he could not suppress the surging emotions; murderous intent constantly filled him.

Seeing Yin San so angry, looking ready to duel, She Ji also dared not add fuel to the fire.

Don't be fooled by Yin San's elegant demeanor; he looks like a refined scholar.

But the term "clothed beast" could not describe him more aptly.

Once angered, this guy becomes a pure lunatic!

The degree of madness even makes her—though also an Evil Cultivator and the famed "Snake Scorpion Beauty"—a little uneasy.

Yin San, after all, has reached the mid‑stage of the Golden Core Realm, while she is only at the early stage.

Of course, even at the early Golden Core stage, she believes she can match a mid‑stage Golden Core.

She Ji sighed, changing the subject: "Why did we suddenly have to retreat? We were the vanguard, attacking these tiny towns; even if we couldn't go ourselves, the Holy Sect's elite disciples weren't allowed to be mobilized, so we had to recruit some third‑school, nine‑stream riff‑raff to besiege… What are the High Lord and the others thinking? It would have been easier to let us attack Luoxia Sect and Baihua Valley's gates from the start. Then, perhaps, instead of a few tiny towns, we could have seized the entire Southwest Region of the Da Yu Cultivation World!"

Yin San forced himself not to dwell on the Nanshan Fang fiasco, not to let a petty Foundation Establishment family's scum inflame him, and replied coldly: "Both Baihua Valley and Luoxia Sect truly have no fight left. The once‑glorious Luoxia Sect has long faded, leaving only a luck‑born, low‑quality Golden Core cultivator, Luo Daoming. Baihua Valley is even worse—a bunch of clueless, foolish women. Yet their gates are easy to assault. However, if we personally intervene, it means a full‑scale war against the Da Yu Cultivation World; other sects will surely send reinforcements, complicating the battle. Likewise, if the Holy Sect's elite step in, even just to attack towns, the elite of Luoxia and Baihua will also appear, and the situation isn't any better than an all‑out war…"

She Ji asked, puzzled: "If it's a full‑scale war, just start it! Isn't it inevitable?"

Yin San replied with some reservation: "Who knows what the higher‑ups think… But from the envoy's tone, this sudden retreat doesn't mean we truly intend to fall back or change direction. I suspect this withdrawal is merely a temporary tactic. Once the goal is reached, a real full‑scale war will follow soon!"

"Really?" She Ji's eyes lit up.

Yin San, full of anticipation, nodded: "Ninety‑plus percent likely! You know how dire the Southern Wilderness is now; it may not fully erupt soon, but once it does, we'll have no place to survive. So invading the Da Yu Cultivation World is inevitable, and I trust the Supreme Elder won't wait foolishly till the last moment. The longer we wait, the worse it gets for us."

An all‑out war and total invasion of the Da Yu Cultivation World would allow his Ten Thousand Soul Banner to grow—that's just one aspect.

Another aspect is that he can pull out the thorn in his heart! The shattered Nanshan Fang, the lost Soul Dao artifact… By then he won't care about big‑over‑small tactics.

…

…

For now, he will bide his time in Nanshan Fang, cultivating until he reaches mid‑stage Foundation Establishment, then consider heading to Liyang Immortal City or other immortal cities.

For Xiao Zhangqing, that's still quite comfortable.

In Jia Yi Cave lives the publicly recognized top master, the head of the Cao family, who behind the scenes treats him with utmost respect, occasionally offering greetings and compliments, leaving almost no worries.

Unnoticed, three years passed.

Xiao Zhangqing's own magical power and cultivation have grown considerably since he first broke through Foundation Establishment.

However, he is still some way from mid‑stage Foundation Establishment; by his estimate, it will take over a year.

This pace is already considered fast.

The Foundation Establishment stage isn't like the Qi Refining stage; although mid‑stage appears as a single level, if subdivided like the Qi Refining stage, it actually corresponds to Foundation Establishment levels one, two, and three…

Only that Foundation Establishment's power is liquid, many times more condensed than Qi Refining, so it can't be clearly divided; instead it's split into Initial, Mid, Late, and Great Perfection.

Achieving a jump from initial to mid‑stage Foundation Establishment in under five years is exceptionally fast in the Cultivation World.

For example, Cao Hao, regarded by Cao clan members and many uninformed Scattered Cultivators as a once‑in‑a‑century genius, silently advanced to mid‑stage Foundation Establishment.

Yet that process actually took twelve years, more than twice Xiao Zhangqing's time!

As for Soul Transformation, a Foundation Establishment cultivator normally does not increase it without a breakthrough.

However, Xiao Zhangqing, possessing the Nightmare Technique, constantly trains and refines himself, so after three years his Soul Transformation grew slightly.

It rose from forty‑two zhang to forty‑five zhang!

With the aid of the Prison Dragon Bracelet, it reached ninety zhang!

Now he is even closer to becoming a true Golden Core cultivator.

Besides that.

Xiao Zhangqing used his spare cultivation time to become 'versatile'.

After receiving the Pill Master inheritance from Zhu Youlong, over these three years he also successively obtained the Beast‑Taming inheritance, the Spirit‑Plant inheritance, and the Formation inheritance…

Nanshan Fang lacks high‑level artifacts, so Xiao Zhangqing cannot extract advanced skills to raise his power ceiling.

For instance, he had already reached a second‑tier low‑grade Talisman Script attainment, but now cannot break through to second‑tier middle‑high grade.

But making oneself all‑round, with a hundred cultivation arts at one's side, is nothing at all! Since the system no longer limits the number of equipment slots, he can freely absorb all kinds of skills he possesses, even though most are first‑tier, even first‑tier lower‑grade, there are still times when they prove useful.

The only first‑tier superior inheritance is the Beast Taming Art he obtained from Han Yu.

Han Yu, who is below Foundation Establishment in Nanshan Fang, is one of the most famous and also the strongest few, renowned for the Beast Taming Art, a cultivator with greatly refined Qi and full consummation.

A year after the war ended, he also left Nanshan Fang to seek a Foundation Establishment opportunity.

Before departing, he came to visit Xiao Zhangqing, pleading for Xiao Zhangqing to sell him a few second‑tier Talisman Scripts.

Xiao Zhangqing thought it over and agreed.

However, as payment, he did not take the other's Spirit Stone, but had the other hand over his Beast Taming insights to him.

(End of chapter)