Chapter 286: Chapter Seven: Individual Cultivation

Luo Feng and Di Qing, carrying the spoils of their second hunt, boarded a black flying vessel and began their return journey.

On the return trip, they remained as cautious as ever.

“A flying vessel is approaching—stay alert.” An invisible, vast ripple enveloped the region; three hidden figures, using an array, had already detected the vessel.

“Let them advance deeper into the array before we strike.”

The three hidden figures waited patiently.

Suddenly—

“Hm?”

Inside the black flying vessel, Luo Feng’s simulated Eye of Life and Destruction remained wide open. Since both the Path of Life and the Path of Destruction had reached the Early Divine Emperor realm, the simulated eye had advanced further, its observational power strengthened.

“Something’s off.” Luo Feng immediately whispered to Di Qing, “Retreat at maximum speed.”

“Oh?” Di Qing sensed no danger, but he trusted his companion.

Luo Feng had merely sensed something amiss—he had not spotted any enemies, and the surrounding void appeared perfectly normal. Yet his ‘simulated Eye of Life and Destruction’ detected irregularities in the movement of the surrounding cosmic rules.

A shadowy rule had seeped into the cosmic rules; the deeper they went, the stronger the shadow’s influence became.

“Whoosh!”

The black flying vessel abruptly reversed, retreating at its maximum speed along the same path.

“Exposure.”

“They detected us?”

“Trap them.”

Thick shadowy power descended, turning the entire billion-kilometer region instantly gray-dark. The flying vessel was now within the shadow’s vast coverage. Yet they were already close to the boundary.

But now, endless shadow power was thick and viscous, completely binding the vessel.

“Unity with Heaven and Earth!”

“Split Heaven and Earth!”

A towering figure appeared, naturally drawing upon the vast power of heaven and earth; his right hand became a great axe, slashing downward. Where the axe struck, the entire world seemed split in two, cleaving open a colossal rift in the cosmos!

This was Luo Feng’s most fitting forbidden technique, forged after reaching Early Divine Emperor on the Paths of Life and Destruction, based on the traits of his Cosmic Split Form—Split Heaven and Earth!

The massive rift carved open by this technique briefly cleaved even the shadow power.

“Whoosh.”

The black flying vessel immediately surged along the rift, accelerating until it burst free of the shadow’s coverage. The towering figure followed the rift, vanishing instantly.

Only after escaping the shadow’s vast range did Di Qing finally exhale in relief.

“Luo Feng, those were likely experts from Wan Ying Xiao Lou,” Di Qing whispered. “If we’d been trapped in their array, it would’ve been disastrous.”

“Their array is formidable. Even my Cosmic Split Form’s forbidden technique only carved a single rift,” Luo Feng admitted, sensing how formidable the enemy was.

“Hahaha…”

Laughter echoed.

Three twisted shadows descended around them, coalescing into three figures.

Each wore gray robes and masks, their invisible power spreading.

“Definitely Wan Ying Xiao Lou,” Luo Feng and Di Qing confirmed.

In Yulan City, three factions consistently engaged in theft and plunder: the Insect Nest, Wan Ying Xiao Lou, and Gui Fang—all under the command of Wei Yang Dian Zhu. Wei Yang Dian Zhu’s coalition was the largest power in Yulan City.

Within Wan Ying Xiao Lou, those responsible for theft held relatively ordinary status.

Those responsible for plunder were the true mid- to high-level members. These plunderers typically concealed their aura and appearance, since plundering attracted too much enmity.

“Plunderers from Wan Ying Xiao Lou are usually mid- Divine Emperor realm cultivators,” Di Qing whispered to Luo Feng. “Those weaker than that dare not plunder.”

“From our brief clash, we’ve already confirmed their approximate strength,” Luo Feng knew well.

“Hahaha, Di Qing and Luo Feng?”

The three gray-robed figures stared at them; one grinned, “No wonder you two dared to hunt together—you’ve got real strength. You know the plundering rules, right?”

“Of course,” Di Qing said. “We’re willing to pay a sum of Hunyuan Crystals.”

“Not much—we’ll take just one low-grade Hunyuan Life corpse. Then you may leave,” the gray-robed leader said.

Di Qing and Luo Feng exchanged glances.

“Fine,” Di Qing replied, then waved his hand, releasing one low-grade Hunyuan Life corpse—the cheapest of their spoils, worth roughly 800,000 Hunyuan Crystals.

“Quite straightforward,” the lead gray-robed figure said, taking the corpse. Their three figures twisted, and the three shadows vanished.

“Go.”

Di Qing and Luo Feng steered the black flying vessel, avoiding the shadow array, and continued their return.

Inside the vessel:

“While hunting outside, other cultivators are also a threat,” Di Qing shook his head. “We don’t care about weak plunderers—we can even kill them.”

“But if we encounter strong ones, it becomes troublesome.”

“If you can flee, flee. If you can pay with Hunyuan Crystals, pay,” Di Qing sighed. “But if the plunderers refuse crystals and demand blood and treasure, then you must fight for your life.”

Luo Feng nodded.

Based on the brief clash, the three were likely ‘mid- Divine Emperor realm cultivators,’ possibly with deep accumulation and no shortage of secret treasures. Luo Feng admitted that even with Di Qing’s help, he had no confidence in defeating them.

“Huh.”

After flying for a while, the black flying vessel finally reached Yulan City.

Di Qing smiled: “We’re truly lucky. Our first hunt, though we encountered a late- Divine Emperor low-grade Hunyuan Life, we escaped. Our second hunt, though we were ambushed on the way back, we avoided disaster by handing over one corpse.”

“That’s ‘lucky’?” Luo Feng asked.

“Very lucky,” Di Qing said. “You’ll understand after more hunts. Sometimes you suddenly encounter an ultra-strong low-grade Hunyuan Life, and half your team dies. Or on the return, you meet plunderers who break the rules and kill outright for treasure…” Luo Feng listened and nodded.

“As early- Divine Emperor cultivators in Yulan City, we fight for our lives—and still risk being plundered,” Di Qing sighed. “Thankfully, I come from the Source World—I have the Split Body Technique! Otherwise, life would be far harder.”

“Cultivation in Yulan City is never easy,” Di Qing said, glancing at Luo Feng. “But you’re different, Luo Feng—you already possess mid- Divine Emperor realm cultivator strength. If you buy a few suitable secret treasures and diversify your techniques, you could join any faction in Yulan City.”

“There are many factions in Yulan City, but a mid- Divine Emperor realm cultivator is enough to serve as backbone,” Di Qing said. “After all, the next tier is Elder level—and their numbers are still very few.”

Luo Feng smiled.

In Yulan City, there were 723 cultivators at late- Divine Emperor realm strength, of whom 327 served as Elders. Many of them had split bodies roaming the Dark Sacred Realm; their Yulan City bodies rarely acted.

When Elders acted, it became city-wide news. Mid- Divine Emperor realm cultivators were the true backbone of most factions in Yulan City.

“Have you thought about joining any faction?” Di Qing asked.

“No need,” Luo Feng shook his head lightly.

His greatest concern now was pushing his ‘Path of Life and Destruction’ to Early Divine Emperor realm as quickly as possible.

One error, one misstep, one moment of distraction—nothing can be overlooked!

“True,” Di Qing said. “You’ve been in Yulan City too short a time—focus on your cultivation first. But if you get the chance, becoming a high-ranking member of a major faction has many benefits.”

Luo Feng smiled but said nothing.

As they spoke, the black flying vessel arrived at the majestic Hunyuan Hall.

“Let’s sell the spoils first,” Di Qing and Luo Feng flew together toward the Hunyuan Hall.

…

The remaining eight low-grade Hunyuan Life corpses, plus battle merits, sold for 8.6 million Hunyuan Crystals total; Luo Feng and Di Qing split it evenly.

After dividing the Hunyuan Crystals, they parted ways to shop.

“Today, I’m mainly buying materials from mid- Divine Emperor low-grade Hunyuan Lives,” Luo Feng began carefully touring Yulan City’s merchants, meticulously inquiring about prices for any materials suitable for the Paths of Life and Destruction.

He spent a full day comparing prices and haggling.

In the end, he purchased about 1,000 units of mid- Divine Emperor low-grade Hunyuan Life materials, each costing roughly 3,300 Hunyuan Crystals. He had likely gathered at least 90% of all such materials in the Nine River Sacred Realm—the rest were extremely rare and hard to obtain.

Afterward, Luo Feng also bought 900,000 Hunyuan Crystals’ worth of auxiliary cultivation elixirs and other items.

“What luck—the official flying vessel is about to arrive?” Luo Feng was delighted. On the third day after shopping, one of his split bodies arrived with the storage treasure ‘Illusionary Labyrinth,’ carrying all the purchased goods to the Origin Continent.

The storage treasure, Illusionary Labyrinth, had to be carried each time. Luo Feng feared theft!

Different cultivation systems were sometimes truly hard to defend against.

“On the Origin Continent, with the Eye of Life and Destruction, my cultivation efficiency is more than ten times higher than in Yulan City,” Luo Feng had long planned: after each hunt, he would make a round trip to the Origin Continent.

In the future, once wealthy enough, he might make the trip only after several hunts.

…

“Di Qing and Luo Feng returned from their second hunt?” Since they shared the same cave dwelling and made no effort to hide their comings and goings, Di Ming and Di Fu naturally knew.

“Looks like they had a smooth trip.”

Di Ming sat cross-legged in his cave, expression complex. “Since arriving in Yulan City, I’ve hunted once—but the result was a complete disaster!”

It was reasonable for Yulan City hunting teams to reject us early- Divine Emperor bloodline cultivators! In hunts, we contribute almost nothing and only drag others down.

“We had 32 members—all early- Divine Emperor bloodline cultivators. We studied for a long time, planned our coordination carefully. But what happened?” Di Ming was disheartened.

Our 32-member team set out in a vessel and got lucky—we encountered a single ‘early- Divine Emperor’ low-grade Hunyuan Life. If we’d faced something stronger, we’d have been wiped out.

Even against this weakest low-grade Hunyuan Life, our 32 members followed our pre-planned coordination, surrounding and attacking.

Yet—

The low-grade Hunyuan Life’s body was too tough! Its vitality too immense! Our coordination was flawless; we executed seven perfect surrounding attack sequences in succession, leaving the Hunyuan Life no chance to counter.

But… after enduring seven attack sequences, though grievously wounded, the low-grade Hunyuan Life still didn’t die. In its death-throes, it launched a furious counterattack, killing seven team members, severely wounding over ten, and forcing the rest to flee in panic.

“Thirty-two members couldn’t kill one low-grade Hunyuan Life. No wonder hunting teams won’t take us,” Di Ming shook his head. “Use Yulan City’s resources, cultivate hard, and strive to strengthen yourself.”

He appeared poor.

But as someone with the Infinite Space Reward, Di Ming was actually quite wealthy. Yet he had to be extremely careful with his wealth—after all… he was too weak! He hadn’t even mastered the Split Body Technique yet.

…

"The true shaman lineage of the Nine-Ring World Tower is indeed extraordinary. Regarding the Void lineage, I've gained immensely—I feel I'm drawing closer to the complete 'Space Dao'." Emperor Fu was extremely satisfied within the Nine-Ring World Tower; though he had merely assisted with menial, basic tasks, his gains were substantial.

After all, though different cultivation systems, they are fundamentally the same 'Dao'.

"If I fully comprehend the Space Dao, I will have the qualification to survive into the next era on the Origin Continent." Emperor Fu smiled brightly, filled with confidence for the future.

If I had remained on the Origin Continent, stuck at this bottleneck, I might never break through—even by the time of the Origin Continent’s Great Extinction.

But here in Yulan City, exposed to so many cultivation systems and abundant resources, the difficulty of breakthrough has naturally dropped greatly.

"I came at the right time." Emperor Fu felt deeply relieved.

With Luo Feng and Di Qing looking after him, he didn’t need to worry about lodging in the city, and thus felt quite at ease.

…

"Luo Feng has already reached the mid-stage Divine Emperor realm as a Dao-comprehending cultivator—he’s surpassed me." Di Qing sat cross-legged in the meditation chamber, gazing at the jade bowl before him, its contents a liquid like amber.

"I’ve been stuck at this final bottleneck for too long."

"I sold all my treasures for eighty million Hunyuan Crystals to obtain this vial of 'Void Heart Marrow Fluid'—all for this one gamble." Di Qing hadn’t been in such a hurry before, but the imbalance within the team’s strength pushed him to make this move now.

All the wealth he had accumulated over eons had been exchanged for these treasures.

"Come on."

Di Qing opened his mouth, and the amber-like fluid in the jade bowl rose entirely into his mouth.

(End of Chapter)