Chapter 308: Stunned (Requesting Monthly Votes)

The Main Universe.

White Bird Star, Star River Island.

A flash of silver light, and Fang Xing's figure materialized.

Then, several massive chunks of pale flesh landed on the ground.

As the flesh struck the earth, a pale hue spread relentlessly, carrying the aura of universal death.

"Alarm! Alarm!"

Xiao Lan shrieked: "Detection of Extraterrestrial God-level contamination!"

"Alarm canceled. I modified this area specifically—it can withstand it."

Fang Xing retrieved several biological storage containers and carefully placed each fragment of the Pale Matriarch's remains inside, planning to take them to the lab for study another day.

"That group of Primordial Spirits was artificially accelerated—utterly insignificant to me…"

"Moreover, their growth is sufficiently slow…"

"If the Pale Matriarch ever runs low, or if I need to enhance the Great Sun Tathagata Spell, I could always go buffet-style…"

"One Primordial Spirit is likely equivalent to a Nascent Soul—enough to boost my Great Sun Tathagata Spell's proficiency by a significant margin…"

"Though Primordial Spirits are weak, their numbers are vast… This time, I've snatched food from the tiger's mouth. Hah!"

Previously, Fang Xing had deliberately used the area-effect technique from the Great Sun Tathagata Palm, just to intimidate his foes.

Then, grab the loot and flee.

Otherwise, he was merely a Martial Saint—if surrounded by a horde of mediocre Primordial Spirits, he'd still be in grave danger.

Even ants can bite an elephant to death if there are enough of them.

"Fortunately, this risk was worth it—I now have the main material for a Martial Saint-class mecha…"

Fang Xing lay on the floor, laughing unrestrainedly.

As for the lab, he didn't need to explain the raw materials—he was the sole owner of this private lab.

…

One year later.

The Immortal Realm.

Above the endless ocean, a colossal spaceship suddenly appeared.

It towered like a mountain, its hull reflecting varied glimmers under the sun, concealing its menacing gun barrels.

Inside the spaceship.

Fang Xing sat cross-legged, studying a scan image, closely observing the fish and shrimp among the marine life: "Finally… living creatures. So it seems I've crossed beyond the 'Dead Spirit Sea'?"

Long ago, he had received a map from Chu Chu Kuangtu, senior brother of the Heaven Sword Sect, learning that to reach the Hanhai Immortal Realm from the Great Wasteland Immortal Realm, one must pass through several perilous zones—and traverse the 'Dead Spirit Sea'!

This Dead Spirit Sea contained no spiritual energy whatsoever, nor any living beings.

Worse still, its expanse was immense—even a Nascent Soul cultivator would take years to fly across it.

Flying through a Dead Spirit Zone meant no absorption of celestial spiritual energy; one could only expend one's own internal energy.

Even for a Nascent Soul True Lord, this was a devastating drain.

Fortunately, his purchased 'Explorer' spaceship had finally arrived, and he immediately put it to use.

For a technological spaceship, the presence or absence of spiritual energy was utterly irrelevant.

In fact, its flight speed surpassed even that of a Nascent Soul True Lord, finally allowing Fang Xing to cross the Dead Spirit Sea and reach the Hanhai Immortal Realm!

"The appearance of sea fish indicates I've passed the Dead Spirit Sea… According to the map, this should be the 'Five Pearl Sea Region' of the Hanhai Immortal Realm?"

As for what forces existed in this region, the map offered no information.

After all, this was a map passed down from countless years ago—now, the seas had turned to mulberry fields, and everything had changed.

"Xiao Lv, locate nearby islands inhabited by humans… and gather as much information as possible while entering stealth mode."

Fang Xing spoke.

"Understood, Commander."

On the screen, a female elf with green wings appeared.

She saluted formally, and the spaceship's hull colors shifted instantly, becoming transparent.

The entire vessel vanished as if invisible.

Since discovering traces of fish and shrimp, the further east he traveled, the more evident the signs of life became.

Three days later.

Fang Xing finally discovered an island inhabited by mortal fishermen.

After another ten days, he found an island with a minor spiritual vein, home to a small Qi Condensation family.

A sweep of his spiritual sense revealed: "There are countless mortal languages and scripts—this is normal… but the language and writing of cultivators is identical to that of the Great Wasteland Immortal Realm."

Upon deeper reflection, this was further proof.

After all, the original pioneers of the Great Wasteland Immortal Realm had all come from the Hanhai Immortal Realm.

Their language and script were originally the same.

Even if they were entirely different, with Fang Xing's current Nascent Soul-level spiritual sense, learning them would merely require some effort.

Fish-Snake Island.

"Ancestor, this time we caught thirteen adult fish-snakes. At market price, each is worth one spiritual pearl—thirteen spiritual pearls total…"

Along a tiny spiritual vein stood a bamboo pavilion.

Behind it, a spring had been diverted to irrigate dozens of acres of spiritual farmland.

At this moment, an elderly farmer-like Qi Condensation late-stage cultivator was inspecting the fields.

Beside him, a middle-aged Qi Condensation mid-stage cultivator followed closely, reporting.

"Half a day's voyage, and this yield? Not bad…"

The old farmer nodded, his wrinkled face glowing with joy: "That's over one extra low-grade spiritual stone… If we had this yield daily, we'd get nearly forty low-grade spiritual stones a month—enough to close our shortfall and avoid famine this year…"

Spiritual pearls were the sub-unit currency of the Hanhai Immortal Realm, below low-grade spiritual stones.

Their value was roughly ten spiritual pearls to one low-grade spiritual stone.

"Actually, the second and third sons have worked hard enough."

The middle-aged man hesitated before speaking: "If we stopped the tribute from Yu Qing—or treated everyone equally—the family's resentment might lessen…"

"Hmph! Short-sighted thinking!"

The old farmer snapped: "You want me to treat everyone equally, but heaven doesn't grant equal talent! We're all low-grade spiritual roots—we struggle on the path of cultivation. We've got one rare mid-grade spiritual root genius—why wouldn't we pour everything into him? Without a late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator to guard our island, we'll fall eventually—and the Yu and Liu families will laugh themselves to death."

The middle-aged man immediately bowed in feigned fear: "Ancestor's teaching is correct…"

In truth, he felt secretly pleased—he'd just given the others another jab. The old farmer saw this, and a flicker of disappointment passed beneath his eyes.

As a man who had lived so long, he knew exactly what these grandchildren were thinking.

Now, only profound helplessness remained.

Cultivation sects could select disciples by merit—but in a cultivation family, you couldn't discard your own bloodline sons and grandsons.

"Sigh… If only I'd been more diligent back then, perhaps I'd have been accepted by Huaiye Sect… perhaps I'd have had a chance to compete for a Foundation Establishment Pill…"

As the old farmer sank into melancholy, a streak of light descended, revealing a figure with sharp eyebrows and star-like eyes.

It was Fang Xing!

He suppressed his spiritual energy to the Golden Core level and flew in boldly, releasing a faint aura of spiritual power.

"We pay homage, Elder! What are your orders? The Zhang family of Fish-Snake Island will spare no effort!"

The old farmer immediately knelt, followed by the middle-aged man.

This elder's spiritual energy was utterly unfathomable—deeper than any Foundation Establishment Grandmaster he'd ever seen.

"Where is the nearest marketplace?"

Fang Xing asked.

"The nearest marketplace is the 'Little Turtle Island' market, three hundred miles southeast, built and guarded by the Gui Ling Sect—always with a Foundation Establishment Grandmaster present…"

The Zhang patriarch hurriedly replied: "If you're willing to wait, the Shang family's treasure ship should arrive in three years—when the sea market opens, even Golden Core elders will appear…"

"Hand me the map."

Fang Xing snapped coldly.

The Zhang patriarch immediately pulled out a jade slip and presented it respectfully.

Fang Xing took it, scanned it with his spiritual sense, nodded in satisfaction, then casually tossed down a spiritual stone: "Then, farewell…"

With that, he vanished in a streak of light.

The Zhang patriarch and the middle-aged man remained kneeling until half an hour later, when the younger man finally lifted his head: "Ancestor… that elder has already left."

The Zhang patriarch stroked the spiritual stone in his hand, incredulous: "It's a mid-grade spiritual stone… So he's not an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator—he's a Golden Core elder… Sigh… This must be kept secret. Associating with such a great figure—will it bring fortune or disaster?"

Fang Xing had wanted to drop something of lesser value, but before arriving, he'd exchanged all his low-grade spiritual stones at the Heaven Sword Sect's vault.

On his person, he had nothing worth less than a mid-grade spiritual stone.

…

Moments later.

Little Turtle Island Market.

Fang Xing entered a teahouse, ordered a cup of local specialty spiritual tea and fish meatballs, then dumped a pile of jade slips onto the table and began flipping through them slowly.

These were his purchases from the market's book stalls, with the most important being the "Chronicle of Hanhai Customs."

Alongside it were numerous travelogues, maps, and introductions to low-tier cultivation techniques, pills, and talismans…

Through these, he could at least gain some understanding of the Hanhai Immortal Realm.

Hmm... After all, this is the maritime cultivation realm; here, water-elemental cultivation materials are abundant, and there are many sea beast resources...

As for cultivation techniques, water-elemental methods and spells are far more common...

Fang Xing picked up the book titled 'Chronicles of the Vast Sea,' entered it with his spiritual sense, and read a thousand lines at a glance:

'So the Vast Sea cultivation realm is divided into inner and outer seas—akin to the wild and tamed lands of the Great Wasteland cultivation realm. The inner sea is like the tamed land, richest in cultivation resources, dominated by numerous large sects... and home to three sacred sites: the Yuan Shen Sword Sect, the Piao Miao Immortal Palace, and the Wu Ji Hall...'

'The outer sea teems with countless factions, constantly facing massive sea beast surges and natural disasters... the Five Sea Region is just an obscure corner of the outer sea...'

'Perfect! Excellent! As a Nascent Soul cultivator of the Heavenly Sword Sect, I was meant to join the Yuan Shen Sword Sect and ascend directly to the pinnacle!'

Fang Xing put down the 'Chronicles of the Vast Sea' satisfied, then picked up another jade slip, scanned it with his spiritual sense, and his expression changed instantly: 'Records of the Thousand-Year Demon Catastrophe? What? So the Vast Sea cultivation realm once endured a demon catastrophe?'

He read further, and his face grew grim.

More than a thousand years ago, for reasons unknown, a True Demon suddenly emerged in the Vast Sea cultivation realm.

Although the cultivation realm had many demonic cultivators, a True Demon was different!

It was said such True Demons came from the higher realms, possessing immensely powerful bodies and incomprehensible abilities.

The moment this True Demon appeared, it was already at the Nascent Soul stage, unleashing a bloody reign of terror.

Later, dozens of True Jun were sent to hunt it down, yet it grew stronger through battle, breaking through to the Great True Jun realm, annihilating over a dozen Nascent Soul sects and plunging the entire Vast Sea cultivation realm into panic.

It was said several reclusive Great True Jun were roused, joining forces to fight the True Demon—only to be defeated by its unimaginable great arts; the 'Five Thunder Great True Jun' died on the spot, his Nascent Soul not even escaping.

It was said True Demons faced almost no cultivation bottlenecks; this one might have been a being from ancient times, originally a primordial demon of Shen or even higher rank.

When it finally drew out a Shen-level master, the ancient demon vanished for a hundred years.

When it reappeared, it was already at the Shen level—and directly stormed the gates of the Yuan Shen Sword Sect!

It was said that battle shook heaven and earth, even sinking the Yuan Shen Sword Sect's mountain gate into the sea.

In the end, this sacred sect and the ancient demon destroyed each other, vanishing together from the cultivation realm—already a thousand years ago...

'The Yuan Shen Sword Sect... gone?!'

'My great sacred sect... gone?!'

Fang Xing's eyes widened, filled with shock: 'Then what use is my carefully maintained Heavenly Sword Sect identity, or this black iron sword token? No... this 'Chronicles of the Vast Sea' has betrayed me!'

He nearly activated his sword light to tear apart the bookstore.

Fortunately, reason remained—he checked the compilation date of the 'Chronicles of the Vast Sea,' did a quick calculation, and fell silent:

'A book from two thousand years ago, and they still dare to sell it unupdated, just to deceive people...'

The ancient demon uprising occurred over a thousand years ago; two thousand years ago, the Yuan Shen Sword Sect was still intact.

Its omission in the 'Chronicles of the Vast Sea' was understandable.

But Fang Xing suspected this region was too remote; these pre-made jade slips had gone unsold, so they were shipped here to deceive whoever would buy them.

In a major cultivation city, the contents of such chronicles would have long been revised.

'No wonder the Great Wasteland cultivation realm heard nothing—after all, it's only been a thousand years, barely the lifespan of a single Nascent Soul True Jun...'

According to Fang Xing's knowledge, the Great Wasteland cultivation realm had severed ties with the Vast Sea cultivation realm—no contact for at least several thousand years!

'So I can't really blame Chu Chu Kuangtu for tricking me...'

Fang Xing understood the full chain of events, and felt utterly speechless.

He had spent countless plans just to maintain his 'Heavenly Sword Sect' persona, so he could naturally join the Yuan Shen Sword Sect and obtain transmission of Shen-level or higher techniques.

But in the end...

Reality delivered a merciless blow, teaching him what 'man plans, heaven decides' truly meant.

He wanted to join the Yuan Shen Sword Sect—but the Yuan Shen Sword Sect was gone...

More chapters later

(End of chapter)