Chapter 272: The Decisive Battle of the Jin Dan Sects Begins

Qin Ming put away the Jin Dan, reached out with a grab, and also took Yan Laomo's storage bag into his possession.

Immediately afterward, he destroyed the corpse and erased all traces.

Having done all this, Qin Ming recalled his spiritual pet and returned to the island.

On Wangyue Island, the Wu family had naturally heard the earth-shaking commotion from outside just now.

Seeing Qin Ming return safe and sound, Wu Jiang finally let out a long sigh of relief.

He approached Qin Ming tremblingly and asked:

"Island Lord, did something happen outside just now?"

"Nothing happened; it has all been resolved."

"You need not worry further; go about your respective tasks."

Qin Ming said indifferently.

"Ah? Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Jiang continued to lead everyone back to the spiritual fields to resume farming.

As he walked, he grumbled incessantly in his heart.

'The fighting was so fierce it darkened heaven and earth, and this is called nothing happening?'

'Who would believe that?'

Yet, seeing Qin Ming act as if nothing were wrong every time, Wu Jiang had grown accustomed to it.

Qin Ming approached his innate spiritual plant, the Yin-Yang Yang Xuanteng, and replanted those three Wooden Emperor Nails.

After this battle, he was filled with confidence in the power of this top-grade magical treasure.

Ordinary low-grade magical treasures would basically shatter upon contact with the Wooden Emperor Nails.

With the addition of Solar Essence Gold, it utterly suppressed demonic cultivators and ghostly entities alike.

Subsequently, Qin Ming fed that blood pearl of Yan Laomo to the Yin-Yang Yang Xuanteng.

In an instant.

The black vines unfurled and danced; this blood pearl caused the Yang Xuanteng to grow significantly.

More importantly, after the Yin-Yang Yang Xuanteng absorbed the years-long qi produced by the Jin Dan-level blood pearl, in just this brief moment, the magical treasure gained the equivalent of hundreds of years of nurturing within the dantian.

This was countless times faster than nurturing it within one's own dantian.

Inside the cave dwelling.

Qin Ming took out Yan Laomo's storage bag, used his divine sense to forcibly erase the seal imprint, and opened it to look through.

Speaking of Yan Laomo, he was a rogue demonic cultivator operating outside the Modaoliu Sect, cruel in his methods and utterly vicious in nature.

Having roamed the demonic path for several hundred years, he was quite a notable figure.

Therefore, his storage bag was overflowing with wealth, containing dozens of high-grade spirit stones, tens of thousands of medium-grade spirit stones, and countless other various spiritual materials and resources.

However, the majority consisted of resources for cultivating demonic arts.

"How did this Yan Laomo get involved with the Lingyun Sect of the Jin Kingdom?"

"There must be some unknown secrets behind this."

"However, such petty scheming between sects is none of my concern."

"It's just... that fellow named Duanmu Sheng; I'll make a note of him for now and let him jump around for a few more days."

"I have hidden away here to avoid conflict with the world, yet they dare to target me..."

"He had better still be alive when I emerge from seclusion; otherwise, I will flatten even the grass on his grave."

After pondering for a while.

Qin Ming summoned Wu Jiang again.

"Island Lord, what are your orders?" Wu Jiang put down his farm work and hurried over.

Qin Ming said indifferently: "I am about to enter closed-door cultivation for a period; no one is to disturb me."

"If anyone else comes afterward, simply ignore them until I emerge from seclusion."

During this recent period, he had fully comprehended the formula for forming a Jin Dan and gained some confidence, so he was preparing to start refining the pill.

Therefore, the preliminary preparations naturally had to be made properly.

"Understood, Island Lord, rest assured," Wu Jiang hastily agreed.

Subsequently.

Qin Ming carefully examined Wu Jiang a few times, making Wu Jiang feel somewhat uneasy all over.

Wu Jiang asked hesitantly: "Island Lord, is there anything else?"

"Hmm, Wu Jiang, several decades have passed in a flash."

"You have been working under me; I didn't realize it had been such a long time," Qin Ming said with a slight smile.

Wu Jiang paused slightly, scratched his head, and said: "Time indeed flies quickly, hehe."

Seeing his expression, Qin Ming sighed with emotion, as if seeing that young man who once wandered the outside world.

"I observe that your magic power is quite stable; you have already reached the peak of Qi Condensation."

"In consideration of your many years of service, I have here a Foundation Establishment Pill that I can sell to you for eighty thousand low-grade spirit stones."

Buzz~ Upon hearing this, Wu Jiang's mind went completely blank, and he stammered: "I-Island Lord Qin, are you serious?"

Seeing his state, Qin Ming found it somewhat amusing and then nodded.

A surge of excitement welled up in Wu Jiang's heart; over these many years, the Wu family had worked hard farming on the spiritual island, so they naturally had some savings.

Wu Jiang could still afford these eighty thousand spirit stones.

As a strategic resource monopolized by major sects, the Foundation Establishment Pill was not necessarily available for purchase outside even if one had spirit stones.

Even if you buy it, you may not live long enough to enjoy it.

Originally, Wu Jiang thought his path of cultivation would end here in this life, so he pinned all his lifelong hopes on his two children.

He never expected that today would reignite his hope! Immediately, Wu Jiang hurriedly took out the full amount of spirit stones and handed them to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming put away the spirit stones and passed a delicate jade bottle to him.

Trembling, Wu Jiang accepted the jade bottle, opened it, and saw a azure-colored spirit pill lying quietly inside, its entire body emitting a startling pill halo.

On the surface of the spirit pill, five pill marks were clearly floating.

"A high-quality Foundation Establishment Pill!"

"Many thanks, Island Lord."

A surge of emotion rose in Wu Jiang; following Qin Ming for so many years had not been in vain, as a high-quality Foundation Establishment Pill was certainly worth far more than this price.

He had not expected Island Lord Qin to provide one of high quality. "Alright, consolidate your cultivation and strive to break through to Foundation Establishment. You are no longer young, and establishing a foundation at an advanced age places somewhat high demands on a cultivator's qi and blood."

"However, over these many years, you have persisted in farming every day, so your physical body is actually quite well tempered, hehe!"

"Although your age is a bit advanced, there should be no problem."

"In history, there are examples of cultivators establishing their foundation in their seventies."

"As for how to allocate and use this Foundation Establishment Pill, you decide yourself."

Qin Ming said indifferently, then instructed Wu Jiang further, explaining all the points to note during foundation establishment.

Wu Jiang offered thousands of thanks and performed a deep bow to Qin Ming.

The instructions concluded.

Qin Ming then dismissed him.

"Next, I must begin refining the Jin Dan!"

Qin Ming's gaze was sharp, his every gesture filled with intense confidence.

In an instant.

Countless third-tier spiritual materials flew out from his storage bag, floating in the air around Qin Ming.

Among them, the ice-blue Youyou True Yin Flower and the crimson-gold Bathing Fire Golden Lotus were the most conspicuous.

For these high-grade spiritual materials, Qin Ming had preserved spiritual seeds, so if needed in the future, he could continue cultivating them.

Qin Ming took out the Profound Jade Furnace, exhaled a puff of breath, and the third-tier Spirit-Devouring Poisonous Flame transformed into a cyan-blue firebird that flew out.

With everything prepared, Qin Ming began refining according to the steps on the Jin Dan formula, proceeding with practiced ease.

Half a year passed.

Inside the cave dwelling.

Qin Ming waved his hand, retrieving a clump of pitch-black medicinal dregs from the bottom of the pill furnace, which he rubbed between his fingers and observed for a while.

Inside, a small grain of a semi-finished product, a crimson-golden pill, was revealed.

"The third failure."

"But this time, I have taken a huge step closer to success."

"The difficulty of refining this Jin Dan is truly extraordinarily high."

Having been in seclusion for over half a year, he planned to go out for some fresh air and a change of mood; perhaps he would succeed next time.

Qin Ming walked outside the cave dwelling, only to see the Shi Tian Shu running over with a smile, saying to him, "Master, during your seclusion, that little woman from Mirror Snow Pavilion came looking for you several times."

"Seeing that you were in seclusion, she did not come to disturb you."

Qin Ming was somewhat surprised. "What matter does Gu Qingzhao have with me?"

"It couldn't be another demon in disguise, could it?"

"Hehe! It was indeed her in person. I had Wu Jiang write down the message she wanted to convey into a letter."

"Here, it is all in there." After speaking, the Shi Tian Shu handed a jade slip to Qin Ming.

After Qin Ming accepted the jade slip and browsed its contents, his brows inevitably knitted together like the character 'Chuan'.

Seeing Qin Ming display a rare grave expression, the Shi Tian Shu could not help but ask, "Master, has something happened?"

"Mm, the situation has become chaotic again recently."

"The final great decisive battle between Lingyu Sect and Lei Yuanzong will take place during this period."

"The sky of Wei State is likely about to change."

From the intelligence provided by Gu Qingzhao, Qin Ming learned that over the past half-year, Lingyu Sect and Lei Yuanzong had begun secretly withdrawing large numbers of personnel and frequently deploying strategies.

They were likely both preparing for a final life-or-death battle.

When Qin Ming last met Master Yuwen, he had guessed a thing or two from the other's tone and had long sensed that a great war was approaching; he just hadn't expected this day to arrive so quickly.

The reason Gu Qingzhao was anxious to see Qin Ming was because, although the Lingxi Archipelago had limited resources and was not a strategically vital location contested by military forces.

Yet in recent years, affected by the rampant ghost calamity in Liang State, Wei State had also been impacted, with many key regional routes occupied and cut off by ghost entities.

The Lingxi Archipelago had instead become a necessary passage for the two sects' war, and might well get caught up in the conflict.

In an instant, this place was pushed to the forefront of the storm once again.

Between the lines, Qin Ming could clearly see Gu Qingzhao's extreme worry for his safety.

"Sigh, the Immortal Realm is ever-changing and unpredictable; it is truly hard to forecast."

Qin Ming immediately wrote a reply, summoned Wu Jiang, and instructed him to deliver the response letter to Gu Qingzhao's hands.

Time flowed, and in the blink of an eye, another two months passed.

On this day.

Above Wangyue Lake, a vast patch of pitch-black shadow suddenly appeared.

Inside his cave dwelling, Qin Ming, who was refining pills, naturally sensed the situation outside; he immediately released his divine sense and detected the circumstances in the firmament.

He saw only a sky-covering expanse of dharma ships rapidly passing through the spiritual energy Archipelago, advancing in full force toward Lei Yuanzong.

The imposing momentum of this massive cultivator army was terrifying, surpassing any cultivator expedition Qin Ming had ever witnessed.

Neatly and uniformly hanging from the masts were the emblems of the Lingyu Sect.

Following behind were numerous large and small factions allied with the Lingyu Sect.

Such a scale caused heaven and earth to change color.

Aboard the leading thousand-zhang giant ship of the Lingyu Sect stood a figure with the bearing of an immortal and the bones of a Daoist; it was none other than the Jin Dan old ancestor of the Lingyu Sect, Master Yuwen Hong.

As he passed, standing at the prow, he cast a deep, lingering gaze from afar toward the direction of Wangyue Island.

It took a full two days for the Lingyu Sect's cultivator army, having emptied their nests, to completely sail past the sky above the spiritual energy Archipelago.

"I didn't expect it would be the Lingyu Sect to make the first move."

"It seems Master Yuwen Hong has some reliance for this battle."

Gazing at the sky that had returned to clarity, Qin Ming fell into thoughtful contemplation.

As the days passed one by one, news of the war between the two Jin Dan sects gradually trickled back to Wangyue Island.

Yet at this critical moment, Qin Ming turned a deaf ear to affairs outside his window, devoting his entire heart to pill refining.

(End of Chapter)