Departure

For these five months, Fang Xiao's main task had been condensing Sha Qi. Though he had also cultivated in between, his spiritual power had increased by only a little over ten drops. He was still more than twenty drops away from the peak of Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

With less than half a year remaining before the Taibai Ruins opened, he did not intend to continue cultivating. He decided to first head to the vicinity of Pillar of Heaven Peak in Donghua Prefecture, lest he miss the entry window.

The method of leaving the Sha Pit was more or less the same as entering it. There were around a dozen pit entrances, and he chose the two farthest apart. During the gap after the gale winds swept past one entrance, he used sword light to protect the array flags, planted them at tremendous speed, and immediately activated the Five Elements Reversal Array.

Once the Five Elements Reversal Array was activated, he stood at the other pit entrance and waited. Since the entrances were all located in the center, he would still have to endure part of the gale winds' assault.

The Five Elements Reversal Array was ultimately more adept at defense than the Four Spirits Soaring Array. It held out far longer than the latter. After a while, the formation finally began to shake, gradually growing more violent. Seeing this, he knew it was time to leave.

A Sword Rainbow shot out of the pit entrance, but rather than rising into the air, it skimmed the ground at tremendous speed. Even so, it was brushed by quite a few gale winds. To Fang Xiao's surprise, while in his Body Integration with Sword state, the Five Elements True Light's protective barrier had activated on its own.

All things between heaven and earth had evolved from the Yin-Yang Five Elements, and even the gale winds were no exception. Though it could not be said to counter them completely, it still caused over half the gale winds to collapse.

Fang Xiao's pressure instantly eased, and his escape speed increased by several degrees. A moment later, he left this stretch of gale winds without mishap.

He did not linger afterward. Following the route he had taken here and relying on the Nameless Spirit Jade, he returned the way he had come. By the time he left the Gale Belt, fewer than twenty days had passed.

He was extremely satisfied with this trip to the Gale Belt. Not only had he obtained Five Elements True Malevolence and successfully condensed his Sha Qi, he had also gained a pile of bone powder.

Although the Five Elements True Malevolence within the bone powder had already been extracted, True Malevolence had merely been nurtured by the bone powder. It had most likely come from some powerful Demon Race creature possessing Five Elements attributes. In the future, it could also be used to forge a magic treasure suited to the Five Qi Cultivating Immortal Scripture. Fang Xiao placed the bone powder into several jade boxes and stored them in his Storage Bag.

Standing on the plain where he had arrived, Fang Xiao took out his map and examined it. Sure enough, the nearest teleportation array was still in Tianyun City. Once he identified the direction, he transformed into a Sword Rainbow and departed, gradually vanishing into the clouds.

Tianhai Marketplace stood on the border of Donghua Prefecture. Pillar of Heaven Peak, which connected heaven and earth in the distance, could be seen from afar. Beyond Pillar of Heaven Peak to the east lay the territory of the East Sea Cultivation World.

This was Fang Xiao's third day in Tianhai Marketplace, and more than four months had already passed since he left the Gale Belt. At first, he had gone to Tianyun City to take a teleportation array, intending to teleport directly to Donghua Prefecture. To his surprise, Donghua Prefecture had neither teleportation arrays nor even an immortal city.

This was because, at the height of its power in ancient times, the Taibai Sword Sect had been able to overawe the entire Eastern Domain and had ruled Donghua Prefecture alone.

With supreme divine abilities, it had relocated every known spirit vein in Donghua Prefecture to Pillar of Heaven Peak and its sect's grotto-heaven. This was also why, apart from the Taibai Sword Sect, Donghua Prefecture did not even have a single Nascent Soul power.

Until the mysterious destruction of the Taibai Sword Sect in the late ancient era, Donghua Prefecture had lost its control. Yet its barren resources still made it beneath the notice of many outside forces.

Tianhai Marketplace had been established here partly because it benefited from the spiritual energy spilling over from the Spirit Transformation peak-grade spirit vein within Pillar of Heaven Peak, and partly because it was already within arm's reach of the East Sea. It existed to supply passing cultivators traveling between the Eastern Domain and the East Sea.

The reason Fang Xiao had taken over four months to arrive here was that, after condensing Five Elements True Malevolence, he could use Sha Qi to protect himself as he ventured above the Nine Heavens and refined Polar Primordial Magnetic Divine Gale.

The Nine Heavens were divided into nine layers: Divine Heaven, Azure Heaven, Jade Heaven, Vermilion Heaven, Scenery Heaven, Jade Firmament Heaven, Resplendent Heaven, Purple Heaven, and Great Heaven. The higher one went, the stronger the Gang Qi became and the faster Sha Qi was consumed. During the refinement of Gang Qi, one had to take care to return before the Sha Qi was exhausted.

Moreover, the Gang Qi above the Nine Heavens was not simply waiting there for one to refine. All manner of Gang Qi was mixed together, and one had to unravel the tangled strands, refining the desired Gang Qi thread by thread. Every divine ability cultivation method recorded how to identify the Gang Qi one needed, as well as the method for refining it.

Yet over these four-plus months, Fang Xiao had constantly changed locations and traveled through all nine layers of the Nine Heavens, but he had not found even a trace of Polar Primordial Magnetic Divine Gale. The divine ability had not mentioned this matter either.

Even now, he had not figured out why. If some great change in heaven and earth had caused Polar Primordial Magnetic Divine Gale to vanish, the Five Elements Sect could not possibly have failed to note it in the cultivation art. Or perhaps Polar Primordial Magnetic Divine Gale only existed in certain special environments.

Suddenly, Fang Xiao remembered that he had a Master at Nascent Soul Late Stage. Ling Taichu had strongly supported his cultivation of the Five Qi Cultivating Immortal Scripture back then. With his knowledge, it was impossible for him not to know.

"Master, I have encountered a problem in cultivating a divine ability that I cannot understand. I hope Master can clear up my confusion."

Fang Xiao took out his Identity Token and sent a message to Ling Taichu.

"I thought you had forgotten about me, your Master. What problem do you have? Let me hear it."

Fang Xiao had barely finished sending the message and had not even put down the token when Ling Taichu replied instantly.

"I was afraid of disturbing Master's quiet cultivation. It's like this: while traveling outside, I happened upon a portion of Five Elements True Malevolence by chance, and successfully completed its condensation."

Fang Xiao did not mention the demonic cultivator or the Nameless Spirit Jade.

"Afterward, I wanted to continue refining Polar Primordial Magnetic Divine Gale, but I searched all over the Nine Heavens and could not find even a thread of Divine Gale. Master, do you know the reason?"

"You actually obtained such a tremendous opportunity. You should know that even Spirit Transformation True Lords may not be able to produce Five Elements True Malevolence, much less a complete portion of it. Even I am somewhat envious of you. However, since you intend to cultivate the great divine ability Polar Primordial Magnetic Divine Light, you truly must find Polar Primordial Magnetic Divine Gale. As for this Divine Gale, it indeed cannot be found above the Nine Heavens. Only north of the North Sea, in the Arctic Land, will it appear during certain periods of time. Moreover, there is no effective method of preserving it, so you will have to make the journey to the Arctic Land yourself."

Ling Taichu explained in detail to Fang Xiao where he could find Polar Primordial Magnetic Divine Gale.

"So it is in the Arctic Land. This disciple understands. Once this trip to Taibai is over, I will head to the North Sea."

"Mhm. Cultivation is like practicing the sword. If you spend all day sharpening your sword but never draw it, what use is it? A Sword Cultivator should keep his sword sheathed, hiding his depths as though empty; when he draws it, his aura should pierce through the Nine Heavens. Cultivation is the path of balancing movement and stillness. Secluded cultivation to raise one's cultivation is certainly important, but broadening one's horizons through travel also benefits the growth of one's state of mind."

"This disciple will bear Master's teachings in mind."

"Mhm. Remember not to miss the opening of Taibai."

"Yes."