Sights of Fenghua Island

[At age ninety-four, you reached the peak of the Golden Core Realm, but your spell progress became stuck.]

[The Third-Order Origin Body Refining Technique stubbornly refused to reach major mastery. Even your most proficient swordsmanship showed no hope of breaking past its limits, let alone attribute spells.]

[You consulted Gu Changfeng and True Monarch Mingyang, but neither of them had any good solution.]

[You consulted the thought of Venerable Blazing Sun within the talisman.]

[He told you that you had experienced too little. Apart from a journey forty-odd years ago because of Tianjian Sect's destruction, you had never left Tianjian Sect again.]

[And the essence of spells, especially swordsmanship, lay in their use—in battle. As for cultivating the Origin Body Refining Technique, aside from special places such as the Origin Realm, the origins in different places were actually slightly different.]

[The more places you traveled through and comprehended, the faster the Origin Body Refining Technique would progress.]

[You understood.]

[But with your current strength, Qixia Island would probably be unable to provide any tempering effect.]

[After all, after the original Tianjian Sect was destroyed, as the only surviving face among its disciples, you had long been known to all the major powers on the island.]

[Under such circumstances, high-level cultivators from major powers would respectfully avoid you upon seeing you.]

[As for the low-level cultivators of small forces, they might not recognize what you looked like.]

[But what use was that?]

[With a raise of your hand, you could destroy them!]

[The thought of Venerable Blazing Sun told you to seek out the Sect Master. She might have arrangements for you.]

[You found Venerable Moon Sword.]

[Sure enough, she had prepared things long ago.]

[Venerable Moon Sword asked whether you were willing to accompany her to Fenghua Island. There, the tempering you wanted would absolutely not be a problem.]

[You hesitated.]

[Please choose...]

[1. Experience the exotic customs of another island, live a different life, and travel to Fenghua Island with Venerable Moon Sword.]

[2. Tempering was tempering wherever it took place. Tempering on Seven Rosy Clouds Island was not bad either. At worst, you could burrow into the Seven Rosy Clouds Mountain Range. Surely not many of those fourth-order demon beasts knew you.]

[3. The outside world is too dangerous. I'll just stay cooped up on Tianjian Island. If my spells make no progress, then so be it—my Nascent Soul quality will just be a little worse.]

[You agreed to Venerable Moon Sword's invitation.]

[She told you to prepare well. You would depart in one year.]

[At age ninety-five, you left Qixia Island.]

[You witnessed the vast sea.]

[You discovered that after leaving Qixia Island by more than ten thousand li, the sea was filled with endless devouring force.]

[With your strength, it was difficult to keep your body steady.]

[Only by using Flame Burst Power could you fly steadily over the sea.]

[But you had accumulated your Flame Burst Power bit by bit over ordinary days, and you could not bear to use it continuously.]

[Fortunately, Venerable Moon Sword carried you through most of the journey.]

[However, Venerable Moon Sword only flew. She rarely used the method she had once used to tear through space and travel with you.]

[You were somewhat puzzled.]

[Venerable Moon Sword told you that this was because space over the sea was far more stable.]

[Even for her, tearing it open required great effort.]

[Moreover, the shallow layers of space here were not as safe as those around the islands.]

[Cracks from deeper layers of space would appear from time to time. If one was swallowed inside, even a Void Returning King would find it difficult to escape.]

[Two months later, you saw another boundless coastline.]

[You knew that Fenghua Island had arrived.]

[The moment you entered Fenghua Island's coastal waters, you felt that it was vastly different from Qixia Island.]

[The spiritual energy on Qixia Island was brimming with vitality and life.]

[The spiritual energy here, however, was not only thinner, but also more deathly still. Absorbing and manipulating it required thirty percent more effort.]

[It was as if the entire island were dying.]

[Venerable Moon Sword casually dropped you in a town, then left on her own.]

[Her purpose was different from yours.]

[Your purpose was tempering, spell duels, and battle. Her purpose was to investigate whether Strange Lifeforms existed on Fenghua Island.]

[After merely strolling around the town once, you discovered that several cultivators had set their sights on you.]

[But they were all small fry at the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment realms.]

[You casually left the town for a trip.]

[When you returned, you had more than a dozen storage bags in your hand.]

[Upon opening them, you discovered that they were truly poor.]

[The combined wealth of three Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than a dozen high-level Qi Refinement cultivators was less than twenty thousand spirit stones.]

[When the other cultivators saw you return unharmed, all of them revealed wary expressions.]

[But you did not care in the slightest.]

[You went straight to the town lord's residence.]

[You found the highest-cultivated immortal cultivator within. She was a female cultivator at the early Golden Core Realm.]

[When she saw you arrive at her door, she was overjoyed.]

[She immediately activated the surrounding third-order formation, intending to shut the door and beat the dog.]

[But with a single punch, you blasted down both the formation and the entire town lord's residence.]

[She knelt on the ground and begged you for mercy.]

[At the same time, she tried to seduce you and break your Dao heart.]

[You gave her no chance. First, you beat her until half her body was crippled.]

[Then, after forcing her to reveal a map of the surrounding area and information about nearby places, you ended her completely.]

[From the female town lord, you learned that this region belonged to Thousand Extremes Mountain, a great Spirit Transformation sect.]

[The largest city in the surrounding region was Thousand Extremes City, built by Thousand Extremes Mountain.]

[Spirit Transformation Venerables had once been stationed there for long periods.]

[However, the Spirit Transformation Venerables stationed there had long since been transferred away to invade islands out at sea.]

[The city's prosperity had greatly declined as well.]

[The entirety of Fenghua Island was the same.]

[Those with connections and ability had long followed the warships of those great sects to invade and plunder other islands.]

[Now, aside from a few necessary locations that required high-level immortal cultivators to suppress them, almost all high-level immortal cultivators were no longer on the island.]

[You felt that this was precisely your opportunity.]

[Originally, you had feared that if you stirred up trouble on Fenghua Island, Spirit Transformation Venerables would hunt you down in groups.]

[Now, you were not nearly as worried.]

[You first arrived at Thousand Extremes City.]