Chapter 86: spiritual energy Archipelago

The map scroll in Qin Ming's hand had been purchased from Gu Qingzhao.

It had cost him a full hundred spirit stones.

After all, maps this comprehensive were still quite rare on the market.

Not only did it depict geographical features, but it also recorded human culture, local products, climate conditions, and the distribution of spiritual veins with crystal clarity.

This was the result of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge continuously updating and refining it over many years.

This map was vast; it covered not only the territory of Wei but also the surrounding kingdoms of Jin, Wu, and Liang.

These four kingdoms stood in a balance of power, with Wei located at the southernmost position.

Qin Ming gazed intently, his eyes settling on the Yunze Dahuang at the southernmost tip of Wei, focusing on a tiny marker: Qingyang Market.

Then he looked further north.

At the junction of the four kingdoms, a massive mountain range shaped like an "X" divided them apart.

This was the "Beast Roar Mountain Range," rumored to be fraught with danger, teeming with all kinds of demonic beasts, and even home to third-tier great demons.

Every passable entrance to the mountain range had fortresses and cultivation markets established along the route.

These scattered markets linked together like signposts, ultimately pointing to a location at the junction of the four kingdoms, where the largest city was marked, clearly inscribed with four red characters: "Canghai Immortal City."

This place was the holy land for rogue cultivators.

Within the four kingdoms of Wei, Jin, Liang, and Wu, Jin Dan ancestors suppressed everything, representing the ceiling of maximum combat power.

All other forces had to bow their heads in submission.

Even the source of Foundation Establishment Pills was monopolized by them; while major sects ate the meat, many rogue cultivators struggled even to drink the soup, forced to survive in the cracks.

Because this area belonged to a zone ignored by all four powers, and backed by the resource-rich Beast Roar Mountain Range, it rapidly became the center for trade and exchange among rogue cultivators.

Later, True Person Canghai, starting as a rogue cultivator, successfully formed a Jin Dan here and established this cultivation city.

This attracted the settlement of various forces, including many second-tier alchemy masters; as long as there were raw materials, they possessed the ability to refine Foundation Establishment Pills.

Speaking of which.

Canghai Immortal City was the only place where many rogue cultivators could possibly obtain Foundation Establishment Pills, thus earning its reputation as the holy land for rogue cultivators.

According to Gu Qingzhao, the Mirror Jing Xue Ge's largest branch was established in Canghai Immortal City, and this was also her destination for this journey.

Having learned a lesson from this incident, he naturally would not go to such a place where people from all walks of life gathered.

Moreover, with Jin Dan True Persons inside the Immortal City, their powerful divine senses sweeping across the area, some secrets might find nowhere to hide.

Therefore, it was by no means an ideal choice for farming, grinding for attributes, or cultivating the Ancient Wood Longevity Technique.

His current principle of cultivation was to avoid contention and conflict, focusing on steady development through farming and management to convert these efforts into personal strength.

In a place where forces were deeply intertwined and conflicts occurred frequently.

It was not suitable for excessive involvement.

Over these years, Qin Ming had continuously gathered considerable intelligence from Gu Qingzhao and had studied the territory of Wei in great depth, already having a plan in mind.

His gaze continued to shift northward, finally landing on a place named "spiritual energy Archipelago."

This was a massive cluster of islands, with numerous rivers and lakes interwoven into a dense water network.

These water networks connected at the junction of the four kingdoms.

This spiritual energy Archipelago fell within the jurisdiction of the Zhao family, a cultivation clan.

The Zhao family belonged to one of the three cultivation clans among the seven major powers of Wei that possessed a False Dan True Person.

The spiritual rice and spiritual fish produced abundantly here were famous far and wide.

They were precious delicacies from immortal estates that frequently appeared in many restaurants.

However, the spiritual energy Archipelago consisted mostly of first-tier spiritual veins, with second-tier spiritual veins being relatively scarce and scattered, so some major powers did not look favorably upon this place.

They had no interest in coming here to contend for resources, making it perfectly suitable for his steady development and farming.

Qin Ming planned to wait until he broke through to the peak of the Qi Refining stage before going to Canghai Immortal City to scheme for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

The waters of the spiritual energy Archipelago flowed northward until they were shrouded by a perpetual eerie mist; even the divine sense of the Jin Dan stage could not penetrate it, and those who entered never returned.

Legend had it that passing through the strange mist and heading further north led to the "Great Jin Immortal Dynasty" mentioned by Su Yuqing before her departure, a land of cultivation with even more abundant resources.

Furthermore, it was said to be home to Nascent Soul True Lords, who unified the four kingdoms, beings one could only read about in books.

Now, Qin Ming had already met the requirements for both the divine sense trial and the qi and blood trial.

Only the final trial remained: the magic power trial.

Given his four-element pseudo-aptitude, without having fully cultivated the "Ultimate Wood Dharma Body" and lacking a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Even with the "Heaven Fire Spiritual Liquid," a foundation-establishment spiritual item obtained from Daoist Feng, the probability of failing the foundation establishment remained very high.

For this trip to the spiritual energy Archipelago, he naturally intended to rent spiritual fields situated on second-tier veins or higher.

For him, a second-tier spiritual planter, this was already sufficient.

As he planned to plant his innate spiritual plant and cultivate the "Ancient Wood Longevity Technique" next, the higher the grade of the spiritual vein, the better.

Since he could not find a better place for now, he could barely accept a second-tier spiritual vein.

After all, his innate spiritual plant, the Black Vine, did not have high requirements for the spiritual vein environment; as long as there were blood beads, it would do. Of course, if there was an opportunity in the future, he would still want to move it to a superior-grade spiritual vein.

That would be like adding flowers to brocade.

And there was another point.

Developing in the spiritual energy Archipelago meant he was not extremely far from Canghai Immortal City.

He would still maintain close contact with Gu Qingzhao.

To a certain extent, she was now the key link for Qin Ming to obtain upper-level information from the Immortal Realm.

She was also an important part of his network of connections.

Having decided on his future destination, Qin Ming took out a Spirit-Nourishing Pill and sat down to cultivate.

The next day.

Qin Ming found Gu Qingzhao and stated his intended destination.

"spiritual energy Archipelago?"

A hint of surprise flashed across Gu Qingzhao's face, but he quickly added, "It is actually not a bad choice for Fellow Daoist Qin to develop in the spiritual energy Archipelago; it is not far from us, and we can look out for one another."

"Moreover, the spiritual soil there is fertile, quite suitable for Fellow Daoist Qin to cultivate spiritual plants."

"Speaking of which, does Fellow Daoist Qin know why this place is named the spiritual energy Archipelago?" Gu Qingzhao asked with a faint smile, his tone carrying a distinct hint of testing.

Hearing this, Qin Ming offered a wry smile. "Forgive my ignorance; I do not know the reason offhand."

"Legend has it that when these islands first formed, some bird carried spiritual rice seeds from who knows where and accidentally dropped them onto the islands, causing an unknown grade-two mid-tier spiritual rice to grow. It could greatly enhance the magic power cultivation of those at the Foundation Establishment stage. Being exceptionally rare, it was named spiritual energy Rice."

"This spiritual rice was once all the rage, but unfortunately, no one could cultivate it later, and it gradually went extinct here; nowadays, it is nearly impossible to find," Gu Qingzhao explained with considerable regret.

Qin Ming suddenly realized. "So that is how it is; I did not expect there to be such a story behind it."

"By the way, our pavilion's dharma boat will depart in two days. Is there anything else Fellow Daoist Qin needs to prepare?" Gu Qingzhao asked.

Qin Ming shook his head. "I have already made all preparations and can depart at any time."

"The journey to Canghai Yunze Xiancheng will take quite a long time; when the time comes, our pavilion will hold an auction on the ship, and Fellow Daoist Qin is welcome to attend," Gu Qingzhao said slowly.

"Of course, if Fellow Daoist Qin has other items you wish to sell, you may also entrust them to me for auction."

(End of Chapter)