Chapter 433: Star Moon Market City

The Crow Hermit was taken aback by Qin Ming.

'So this kid isn't here to settle a score with me after all.'

He let out a long sigh, then broke into a smile as he accepted the Jade Emperor Spirit Rice.

"Fellow Daoist Qin is far too polite; how could I possibly accept this? Seeing how engrossed you two were in conversation, and since I have matters to attend to myself, I shall take my leave first."

"It is not a departure without farewell, hehe."

Though he spoke these words, he showed not a shred of embarrassment, directly stowing the bag of spirit rice without batting an eye, the smile on his face growing even broader.

"Alas! This old man should have realized long ago that Shopkeeper Lu was you; otherwise, how could a 'Shopkeeper Lu' at the late Foundation Establishment realm be so intimately close to the Silver Moon Demon Saint?"

"Now that we meet again, Fellow Daoist Qin and we are all people of the same path; truly, it brings forth countless emotions."

"Regarding certain matters from before, I hope you do not keep them in your heart."

The young man in the green robe, the Crow Hermit, wore an expression of deep sighs and endless lamentation.

"What matters from before?"

"Qin Mou and Fellow Daoist Crow Hermit feel like old friends upon our first meeting, regretting only that we did not meet sooner; I fear we must maintain frequent contact in the future," Qin Ming said with a faint smile.

Hearing this, the Crow Hermit's facial skin twitched; in his heart, he muttered: It would be best if we never meet again.

For every time he encountered Qin Ming, all sorts of misfortunes befell him.

And furthermore.

The way Qin Ming looked at him always gave him a creeping sense of dread.

The Crow Hermit had already made up his mind: in the future, he must absolutely stay far away from this person!

Meanwhile, Qin Ming was secretly pondering how to cultivate a good relationship with this cultivator before him, who possessed such profound fortune.

He always seemed to bring good luck to oneself.

For all one knows, he might become a moving treasure vault in the future.

"Since Fellow Daoist Crow Hermit has urgent matters to attend to, Qin Mou will not detain you further."

"I had originally intended to invite you to stay longer on the island to experience the customs and scenery of the spiritual energy Archipelago."

"It seems we can only wait until next time."

Seeing that the other party had no intention of staying long, Qin Ming did not press the matter.

The Crow Hermit replied with a beaming smile: "Please do not see me off, Fellow Daoist Qin; time is tight today, and this seat must rush back to the Way-Defending Alliance to handle the demonic calamity; if fate wills it, we shall meet again."

Then, without another word, he transformed into a startling rainbow and vanished into the sky, only after flying far away.

Only then did the Crow Hermit mutter curses: "This kid manages to stir up a heap of trouble for me every single time; the favor he owed me from back then is now repaid in full; it would be best if we never see each other again; this ancestor has already done everything possible!"

Immediately after, he pulled out that bag of third-grade Jade Emperor Spirit Rice again, weighed it in his hand, and laughed as if he had struck a bargain: "Let us hope that kid discovered the flaw in that Void Origin Stone and can still maintain such a peaceful state of mind, hehe."

Qin Ming, after watching the Crow Hermit depart, returned to Wangyue Island.

With the Nascent Soul grand ceremony concluded, the island restored its tranquility.

Yet the entire spiritual energy Archipelago remained extraordinarily lively; many powerful forces and solitary cultivators, swayed by the renowned fame of True Lord Wangyue, chose to migrate their entire clans here.

Even though most of this place consisted merely of first-grade spiritual veins, soon under the leadership of the Four Nations Alliance and the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance, they jointly established a large market city—'Star Moon Market City'.

Guiding trade exchanges between the spiritual islands.

It even attracted forces from the three surrounding countries to come and establish themselves here.

The merchants and solitary cultivators coming here to speculate were countless.

In no time, the sheer scale of Star Moon Market City had already surpassed that of any large immortal city within the Four Nations.

Thus, with several central islands as the core, one by one, sea bridges were erected in the sky, connecting dozens of small surrounding islands.

Countless magnificent and splendid architectural complexes rose from the ground across the spiritual energy Archipelago, forming a vast sea-based market city.

This Star Moon Market City was jointly managed by the Seventy-Two Islands San Alliance and the Four Nations Alliance.

Forces from the Southern Desolate Immortal Realm all regarded being able to establish a presence here as an honor.

Those indigenous immortal cultivation families of the spiritual energy Archipelago stood right at the crest of this wave, taking off directly.

With the massive influx of resources.

Even quite a few small Qi Refining families gave birth to Foundation Establishment cultivators, leaping up to become Foundation Establishment families.

Within Star Moon Market City, every few years, one or two Foundation Establishment Pills would be auctioned off.

Under the influence of Wangyue Island's fourth-grade spiritual vein, several third-grade branch veins brimming with spiritual qi gradually began to form in the surrounding areas.

Atop the main peak of Wangyue Island.

His innate spiritual plant, the Yin-Yang Profound Vine, in the environment of the fourth-grade spiritual vein, grew with lush vines and branches, its canopy blocking out the sun and sky, while silver runes circled and flowed unpredictably.

It resembled a World Tree standing eternal through the ages.

It was even more miraculous than the Seven Wonders Treasure Tree guarding the entrance to the Qingyuan Sect's secret realm.

However, all of this could only be seen by Qin Ming himself.

After completing his daily cultivation exercises, the aura of magic power on Qin Ming's body was like a terrifying abyss, unfathomably deep.

After cultivating the 'Green Emperor Art', a lush, dripping-with-life vitality swirled and knotted around him, refusing to dissipate.

It resonated distantly with his innate spiritual plant.

After breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm, his innate spiritual plant's divine ability, the Four Seasons Divine Light, underwent another mutation.

Now, it could generate seventy-two strands of Four Seasons Divine Light at once.

He gave it a try and found he could even cause dying spiritual beasts or plants to instantly regenerate flesh from white bones, revive their life force, and be reborn.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this divine ability of yours is truly sharp! This old man has lived for so many years yet has never heard of such a thing; I wonder if it can be used on this old man," the Green Sun Muhe Laogui exclaimed in astonishment from within the Blood Pagoda.

Looking entirely willing to serve as a test subject.

"In that case, let us give it a try."

Hearing this, Qin Ming also felt inclined to give it a try, so he immediately urged forth a wisp of emerald-green Four Seasons Divine Light and injected it into the Blood Pagoda.

In an instant, the originally extremely dim soul phantom of the Green Sun Muhe Laogui immediately became several degrees more solid.

The Green Sun Muhe Laogui suddenly felt a surge of vibrant vitality flowing in, causing his entire spirit to tremble greatly with extreme delight! "Fellow Daoist Qin, it actually works!"

"Give me more, give me even more!"

Just as he was becoming increasingly excited, the Four Seasons Divine Light in Qin Ming's hand abruptly ceased and withdrew.

The Green Sun Muhe Laogui was instantly stunned. "Fellow Daoist Qin, what is the meaning of this? Did this old one not risk death to block the heavenly tribulation for you?"

"This old one has shed blood and fought for his life for you; now that my soul is also under your control, what reservations or worries could you possibly still have?"

Qin Ming chuckled lightly. "This Four Seasons Divine Light is exceedingly rare; it takes this seat a very long time to condense just a few wisps of it, so wasting it all on you is truly not worth the cost."

"Unless you can demonstrate value that interests this seat, why not tell me about your origins?"

At these words, the Green Sun Muhe Laogui seemed to have some unspoken difficulty; he fell silent in contemplation, then immediately switched to another request: "Then let this old one go to that Star Sea Divine Vine to rest quietly for a while and nourish my soul; surely that should be acceptable?"

Qin Ming nodded in agreement. "That should be fine."

The Green Sun Muhe Laogui had indeed rendered meritorious service during his Tribulation Crossing, performing outstandingly, so satisfying such a small request was entirely reasonable.

Immediately, the Green Sun Muhe Laogui's spirit drifted out of the Blood Pagoda, landed upon the radiant, colorful divine vine, and began sitting in meditation to recover.

Although the effect of repairing the soul was not as obvious as that of the Four Seasons Divine Light, it was still slowly nourishing his spirit and soul. Immediately after.

He took out the jade slip he had obtained in exchange from Long Mu Zhenjun and began browsing through it; inside were the methods for cultivating the fourth-tier spiritual rice known as Blood Serpent Green Rice.

If such spiritual rice could be cultivated and planted, it would undoubtedly provide immense assistance to Qin Ming's future cultivation at the Nascent Soul stage.

He could also brush up his attributes in the process; he wondered what kind of attributes a fourth-tier spiritual rice might refresh.

"Prerequisites necessary for the early breeding stage of Blood Serpent Green Rice: a fourth-tier spiritual vein environment, Azure Sky Spiritual Soil, Profound Yellow Essential Qi, Earth Heart Spiritual Spring, and several units of essence blood and living souls from serpent-jiao type demonic beasts of late third-tier or above."

After reading through this jade slip, Qin Ming discovered that cultivating this mid-grade fourth-tier spiritual rice was truly not ordinary in its complexity, possessing considerable difficulty.

Merely the spiritual materials listed earlier for cultivation were definitely unavailable within the Southern Wild Immortal Realm.

He would still need to go to the outside world and spend effort searching for them.

This type of mid-grade fourth-tier spiritual rice cannot be planted on a large scale, after all, the spiritual materials required for its cultivation are extremely scarce, with many restrictions.

It is even counted by the individual plant.

Subsequently, Qin Ming compiled these items into a list and handed it to Wei Wuya, dispatching people to monitor the matter closely.

After all, Qin Ming was now a prestigious Nascent Soul expert and no longer needed to personally worry about such matters.

Nowadays, the entire Southern Wild Immortal Realm relied entirely on him, this Nascent Soul Zhenjun, to shield it, so naturally, he ought to enjoy the offerings due to him.

Within the Four Nations Alliance, a special treasury had even been established, where various heavenly treasures and earthly riches gathered from all regions would be deposited to supply Qin Ming's cultivation.

However, the Southern Wild Immortal Realm was truly too poor, and Qin Ming did not expect them to manage to acquire anything of high grade.

Qin Ming was merely a hands-off Shopkeeper; in truth, he held no position in any faction, akin to passing through a forest of flowers without a single leaf sticking to one's body.

He was completely free of worries about consequences, lacking the various entanglements that burdened other Nascent Soul Zhenjun.

Therefore, Qin Ming remained alone to this day, free to come or go as he pleased, truly incomparably carefree.

The Southern Wild Immortal Realm only needed the reputation of him being a Nascent Soul Zhenjun, which was sufficient to deter everything.

"Fight to the death for the sake of the Southern Wild? That simply does not exist."

Several days after the grand ceremony concluded.

In a secret location within the Beast Cry Mountain Range on the border of the Wei State, Friend Yousha, who had departed from the Nascent Soul Grand Ceremony not long ago, was secretly conversing with the Li Huo Shangren.

Clad in a yellow robe, Friend Yousha appeared gaunt with sharp eyes; after raising his hand to cast a barrier, he asked Li Huo Shangren in an extremely serious tone:

"How about it, Li Huo Muhe Muhe Laogui? What is your opinion on this seat's proposal?"

"If you cannot bring yourself to do it, this seat can make the first move."

"That demon core of the Nether Water Great Serpent on the newly promoted Wangyue Zhenjun is a rare treasure; once you miss this opportunity, there will be no other."

"Besides that, there are several other heavy treasures; opportunity knocks but once!"

"This seat has already investigated thoroughly; he belongs to no sect or school, and apart from knowing those two Demon Sages, he has no other connections."

"As long as we execute this flawlessly, no one will seek revenge for a lone Nascent Soul cultivator like him."

"With the combined strength of the two of us, so what if he survived the Earth Fiend Heavenly Tribulation? He is ultimately a newly promoted Nascent Soul; without several years of adaptation and recuperation, he cannot skillfully adapt to the magic power of the Nascent Soul realm, let alone utilize his magical treasures."

Upon hearing this, Li Huo Shangren's expression immediately darkened.

"This old one wondered why you sought me out in private; so it turns out it was for this matter."

"Fellow Daoist Yousha, do not mention this matter again; this old one will absolutely not cooperate with you."

"Setting aside the fact that the human race and the demon race have just concluded peace talks and are preparing for deeper cooperation, at this critical juncture, you intend to act against Fellow Daoist Qin, who is a vital link; this seat will never agree to such a thing."

"Furthermore, for the sake of our many years of acquaintance, this old one must remind Fellow Daoist Yousha of one thing: although this Wangyue Zhenjun has just crossed the Lei Jie, his divine abilities are not to be underestimated."

"Even this old one feels a sense of heart-pounding fear, completely unable to fathom his depth."

"If you strike and fail, allowing him to escape, you will have to bear the brunt of his wrath."

"The retaliation of a lone Nascent Soul cultivator with no factional burdens and absolutely no worries about consequences is imaginable only as terrifying."

"All those disciples and grand-disciples of yours added together would not be enough for him alone to kill."

"Treasures are good, but one must think thrice before acting."

"This seat has said all there is to say; I hope you act wisely."

"I must return to handle affairs in the palace, so I will take my leave now."

Following this, Li Huo Shangren spoke no more, transforming into a streak of crimson rainbow and vanishing into the horizon.

Friend Yousha gazed with a gloomy look in the direction where Li Huo Shangren had departed, his sallow face still showing some reluctance to give up.

"This seat's 'Nether Nether Heavy Water Sutra' has reached a critical stage of cultivation; if I obtain that special water-attribute demon core of the Nether Water Great Serpent, I can definitely break through to the mid-Nascent Soul stage, at which point who could do anything to me?"

"That Li Huo Muhe Muhe Laogui is becoming more timid and fearful as he lives on; if you dare not do it, this seat will simply find someone else to cooperate with, hmph!"

True Monarch Yousha pondered back and forth until a flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind, bringing one person to his thoughts.

……

Another half year passed.

On this day.

Qin Ming was tending to the spiritual plants in the medicinal garden he had cultivated on the main peak.

The Heaven-Devouring Mouse carried the Shennong Hoe, following behind to assist him, serving as a beast of burden.

In Qin Ming's words, it had been eating and drinking far too well lately and needed some proper exercise.

After all, the three of them had consumed no small share of the spiritual herbs and fruits within.

Just as they were working.

Qin Ming moved his divine sense, then a smile floated onto his face: "Heaven-Devouring Mouse, stop working; a guest has arrived. Go welcome them for me."

"They are exactly five hundred li northwest of the spiritual energy Archipelago."

The Heaven-Devouring Mouse immediately grinned, tossing the Shennong Hoe in its hand onto the ground: "Yes! Master, I will go welcome them at once."

"Who has come? What reception protocol should be arranged?"

"It is Su Yuqing and Hua Tianxiong coming together," Qin Ming replied.

"Then I understand!" The Heaven-Devouring Mouse immediately patted its chest.

Immediately, it summoned the Profound Water Crocodile, then boarded the Lingxiao Precious Carriage, having the crocodile pull the vehicle in front while eight Emerald Billow Seahorses cleared the way, emitting five-colored precious light as they transformed into a magnificent streak of flowing radiance, gradually vanishing into the sky above the spiritual island...

Outside the spiritual energy Archipelago.

Inside the Golden Luan Precious Carriage, the space was vast, with only Su Yuqing and Hua Tianxiong seated within.

"Alas! To seclude myself for the time required to refine pills, yet miss Brother Qin's Nascent Soul grand ceremony; what a pity that I could not witness it."

"After such a long separation, I never expected he would reach the Nascent Soul realm one step ahead of me."

Clad in white robes, Su Yuqing's gaze was deep as he couldn't help but let out a sigh of emotion.

Who would have thought that the two who departed from Qingyang Market could both reach this stage.

At this very moment, the aura of magic power emanating from his body had already reached the peak of the Jin Dan realm, lacking only the final step to the Nascent Soul realm.

……

(End of Chapter)