Chapter 212

Where exactly is the Netherworld Sea of Blood? Your knowledge of it isn't very detailed; you only know it's in the western wasteland.

But it doesn't matter; according to the directions in the letter, you, with Golden Immortal power, directly tore open space and crossed that direction several times… Soon you beheld an endless expanse of blood-colored heaven and earth!

The Sea of Blood, legend says, is formed from Pangu's impure blood; but compared with the Twelve Ancestor Wu, also born of Pangu's bloodline, the Sea of Blood undoubtedly struck it rich—this place has always been foul, and remnants of souls and such drift here under instinct's sway.

Hence, the Sea of Blood has long been famed for the wails of ghosts and howls of wolves; even the former Houtu Reincarnation Palace once considered moving here!

But who would have thought that the Golden Sky Emperor, for political reasons, forcibly kept the Reincarnation Headquarters and the Wu Clan forces near the human stronghold of Shouyang Mountain, to facilitate surveillance and suppression; Houtu, helpless, could only cease mentioning external relocation…

Since the Dharma-ending era began, the Heavenly Court vanished, reincarnation ceased, and the primordial region inexplicably expanded who knows how much, causing the already vast Sea of Blood to become utterly a bloody world!

Gazing out, the blood-colored sea water meets sky and joins earth; standing on the shore, you feel an indescribable fishy stench rush at you, enough to make even a lofty Golden Immortal like you feel nauseous, on the verge of vomiting…

What's more surprising is that people actually reside in this Sea of Blood, and not scattered villages but one prosperous city after another!

This is inconceivable, for in your view the Sea of Blood has never seen large-scale gatherings of people—after all, what sort of person could grow accustomed to such an abstract environment?

But the facts lie before you: along the Sea of Blood's shore lie one city after another; your divine sense sweeps over them silently, discovering they are extraordinarily prosperous, with huge populations and thriving myriad trades—even rivaling the Heavenly Court under your careful governance!

Moreover, there are hardly any mortals here; the city's residents are, on average, cultivators, though their cultivation levels are generally low, far below True Immortal, likely due to aptitude issues.

And those with good aptitude have quite decent cultivation, with many True Immortals among them!

This brief glimpse already basically refreshed your cognition; you stared agape, even doubting life: the Sea of Blood, can it really be this prosperous?

From this, you immediately thought of the "utopia" model of Zhongzhou, for to support such a vast number of cultivators there must be millions, even tens of millions times more mortals as the spiritual energy base.

But as you walked farther, you gradually doubted this idea: because you found no genuine mortal settlements, and the mortal numbers in these cities are far fewer than the cultivators, so this cannot possibly be Zhongzhou's utopia model!

You can't help but feel a dazed illusion, as if this Sea of Blood region still lies in the mythic age, with an "iron curtain" shrouding the Sea of Blood, cutting it off from the despairing Dharma-ending era!

Here, the Immortal Dao seems to remain the orthodox practice of refining heaven and earth's spiritual energy, utterly unlike the man-eating cultivation outside……

Wishes are beautiful, but you're accustomed to seeing beautiful wishes torn apart by reality to reveal their bloody true face: Zhongzhou, the Immortal Realm… every imagined pure land either secretly feeds on people to maintain its glossy facade, or is simply an outright swindle!

So you quickly snapped out of unrealistic fantasies, calmly facing this seemingly perfect Sea of Blood: if they enjoy peaceful times, surely someone bears the burden forward—this is an eternal truth.

With such a vast Sea of Blood cultivator settlement, what exactly is its spiritual energy supply base?

To probe this secret, you even temporarily forgot the primary purpose of this trip, for after all, a bunch of obvious knockoffs of Golden Immortal, Mysterious Capital, and Di Jun are hardly important before such a marvel.

Thus you concealed your cultivation, entering one of the cities as an ordinary cultivator, intending to go incognito to see the true face of the Sea of Blood…

In a certain market district of the Sea of Blood, a youth in plain black robes wandered about calmly and curiously.

Yes, a market district!

In Xue Xuan's eyes these are cities, but the locals call them "market districts"; according to them, only mortals have cities, while cultivators, being of a different caliber, call them market districts.

Nevertheless, though the prestige differs, as humans their settlements are not essentially different:

Here there still are streets, many cultivators of varying levels selling all sorts of sundry goods; the wealthy rent shop fronts, the poor set up stalls on the spot.

To Xue Xuan's eyes, he naturally looks down on their wares, but he is also surprised, for most of these items are actually spiritual objects!

In ancient times resources were abundant, various precious natural treasures so plentiful they were packed in sacks—for example, Mysterious Capital once received fifty sacks of such treasures from the Wu Clan.

But now, in the Dharma-ending era, even spiritual energy must be extracted from mortal souls, let alone the various natural treasures derived from it; thus if cultivators wish to refine elixirs or magical treasures, they must devote large amounts of spiritual energy and time to cultivate them specially.

The spiritual objects thus obtained are of course low quality…… but even if the quality is poor, spiritual objects remain in short supply, for in the Dharma-ending era everyone is a pauper—having any is already good…

Yet in this Sea of Blood market district, spiritual objects are so abundant they're everywhere, with a rich variety—minerals, plants, even animals!

What does this signify?

"It seems the spiritual energy here is simply off the charts……"

Xue Xuan silently sensed heaven and earth, but no matter how he sensed, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had long been exhausted; here and outside are the same—the Dharma-ending era is fair to all.

Then…… where is their source of spiritual energy?

With this question in mind, Xue Xuan's gaze turned to a stall before him:

A young cultivator was picking over goods at a ground stall; shortly he selected a large melon wreathed in spiritual energy and began to haggle with the elderly stall owner over price:

"How much per jin for the melon?"

"Two spirit stones per jin."

"Holy crap! Is the melon rind made of spirit stones, or the seeds?"

"Want it or not!"

"... I'll take it, give it to me."

Xue Xuan's attention focused on the two stones the youngster frugally handed over:

The stones glittered, appearing with a unique beauty, yet their value lay in the spiritual energy within!

【This stone is called a "spirit stone"!】

【Obviously, this is the target you've been seeking; the reason the Sea of Blood region boasts flourishing Immortal Dao, unlike the outside, lies in this tiny spirit stone.】

【After careful inquiry, you confirmed that spirit stones are the source of spiritual energy for cultivators here; when they cultivate, they draw energy from them.】

【Moreover, the uses of spirit stones here go far beyond that; in fact, besides providing spiritual energy to cultivators, they are widely employed in breeding, planting, alchemy, forging, and other fields!】

【Even, it serves as a universal currency.】

【Basically, the immortal cultivation civilization along the Sea of Blood coast is entirely founded on spirit stone resources; while other cultivators are still devising ways to eat people, they have already begun mining!】

【This discovery brightened your eyes: if cultivators worldwide could cultivate using spirit stones, wouldn't that mean they could ignore the Dharma-ending era?!】

【Thus you quickly located the source of spirit stones: the Sea of Blood!】

【According to locals, spirit stones are dug from the seabed of the Sea of Blood, where thick layers lie—truly a heavenly gift! However, the chiefs of each market district have continually legislated, strictly forbidding private individuals from going to sea to mine spirit stones; violators are punished as rebels!】

【Everyone complained, thinking this is the market chiefs' attempt to monopolize the spirit stone industry to uphold their authority……】

【You certainly wouldn't fear a law set by a group of True Immortals; not long after, you ventured deep into the Sea of Blood and looked at the seabed—sure enough!】

【The seabed is entirely thick, crystalline spirit stones, their total amount immeasurable; the vast spiritual energy sealed tightly within the stone thus makes this stretch an essentially endless spiritual resource, immune to the ravages of the Dharma-ending era.】

【But you showed no smile, your face only dull and bitter……】

【Indeed, such a pure land cannot exist in the world; these so-called spirit stone veins, in your eyes, fully reveal their true nature: souls! Endless souls!】

【Since the Dharma-ending era began, the souls of the countless primordial beings who have died over endless ages have mostly sunk, muddled and confused, into the Sea of Blood, there to accumulate on the seabed.】

【Over a long time, souls layer upon layer, until they are compressed into a solid form, becoming the so-called spirit stone……】

【After realizing these, you couldn't help but sigh: I've long heard that the Netherworld Sea of Blood is a natural dumping ground, the muddled souls drift instinctively toward the Sea of Blood, until they sink to the seabed, never to be reborn.】

【I never expected that, when this legend actually appeared before my eyes, it would turn out like this!】

【"In the Age of Dharma Decline, where can you find a cultivator who doesn't eat people?"】

【You feel self-mocking for your earlier unrealistic thought: cultivating with spirit stones, aren't you still eating people!】

【However, this man-eating practice is more respectable than that of Central State, because Central State cultivators ultimately still consume souls, whereas the cultivators here consume "stones".】

【Comparing the two, there's no doubt the Sea of Blood is superior; moreover, the local cultivators probably don't even know the nature of spirit stones, feel no psychological burden eating them, and simply treat them as ore……】

【It is precisely because of the spirit stones that the cultivation of the Sea of Blood has become so widespread—relying on the mountains to eat from the mountains, relying on the sea to eat from the sea, the Sea of Blood cultivators, relying on spirit stones, have directly constructed an ecological system utterly different from that of any other region!】

【What's more, since the Sea of Blood is the destination of souls, the muddled souls will instinctively drift from all over the Primordial Wasteland, continuously providing replenishment for the Sea of Blood's spirit stones.】

【This, as seen by the Sea of Blood cultivators, probably still elicits a sigh: "This spirit stone is great—it's even a renewable resource……"】

【Faced with such a cultivation civilization that considers itself normal but is actually bizarre, you don't know what to say; thousands of words gather in your chest, turning into a sigh of utter helplessness.】

【In the end, you did nothing, merely letting them continue their day-to-day lives; after all, not knowing that one is eating people is also a kind of peculiar happiness……】

【Having resolved the doubt that had been troubling you, you finally focused your energy, decided to go find that Jin Bing to get a clear answer—everything needs a reliable solution, even if he cannot possibly be the true Golden Heaven Emperor.】

【But, is it really impossible?】

【Ahead, something stranger than you expected awaits you……】

……

(End of chapter)