Wave-Calming Dragon Lord

The information Shen Yuan had learned from the Maine Coon was more closely related to the cultivation world, while the information he had obtained from the Fu family was more focused on the Great Xia upper class as a whole.

Combining the two sources gave Shen Yuan a more comprehensive picture of the current situation in Great Xia.

Great Xia had ruled this land for three thousand years. Shen Yuan was certain it must have made plans for the return of the Spirit Tide.

But the Spirit Tide had only just returned a few months ago, and Great Xia was already showing unmistakable signs of decline. There had to be other reasons behind it.

After pondering it briefly, Shen Yuan put the thought aside.

"What does the situation in Great Xia have to do with me?"

"Although I possess an Earthly Fiend Divine Ability, I'm still far too weak before the behemoth that is the Great Xia Court. How could I possibly affect Great Xia?"

"Besides, I have no interest in getting involved in Great Xia's internal struggles. My goal is to live freely and attain immortality."

Looking at the visibly uneasy Maine Coon, Shen Yuan nodded and continued, "How much do you know about the Water Tribe in Cloud Prefecture?"

Though the Water Tribe's spirits and monsters were demons, under the influence of the Dragon Lords, they had practically formed their own faction and called themselves the Water Tribe.

But at their core, the Water Tribe were still demons. They must have had some dealings with the Demon Race, so asking the Maine Coon might turn up some useful information.

If he could pinpoint a place where large numbers of the Water Tribe had gathered, he could be sure that a natural Spirit Pool existed in those waters. Only a natural Spirit Pool could provide enough spiritual energy to sustain so many of them.

The Maine Coon had not expected Shen Yuan to bring up the Water Tribe. It knitted its brows and fell into thought.

After a long while, the Maine Coon finally spoke, puzzled.

"When I attended a demon trade fair on Cloudmist Mountain, I met a Crab Demon in the Refining Essence Realm who claimed to come from the Azure Billow River. But I don't know which stretch of the river it came from."

The Azure Billow River ran through Cloud Prefecture and Mist Province. It was a famous river in Great Xia, and in ancient times, it had been one of the waters under a Dragon Lord's control.

A great river like that was bound to contain a natural Spirit Pool, but without knowing exactly where, the information was useless.

Searching the whole length of the Azure Billow River would likely take months, which simply wasn't worth it to Shen Yuan.

A trace of disappointment crossed his face. Shen Yuan shook his head and sighed.

"Never mind. If that's the case—"

Before he could finish, the Maine Coon suddenly seemed to remember something. Its spirits lifted, and it said, "I remember now! The Water Tribe seems to have taken over Wave-Calming Pool, outside Dongting Lake. They drove out the humans within dozens of li and made the pool their territory.

"I heard the other demons at the trade fair say that Wave-Calming Pool has a Wave-Calming Dragon Lord, a truly remarkable figure."

At the words "Dragon Lord," Shen Yuan first froze, then immediately realized this could not be a real Dragon Lord.

To be conferred the title of Dragon Lord by the Dragon Race, one had to be a Demon King at least in the Spirit Refining and Void-Returning Realm. Such a being absolutely could not exist in the present world.

If this were a real Dragon Lord, it could have seized the advantage while the Spirit Tide had only just returned, taken control of the Four Great Rivers, and become one of the Water Tribe's overlords. It would hardly hide away in some unknown place like Wave-Calming Pool.

This so-called Wave-Calming Dragon Lord was most likely a figure like the Pool Dragon King or a Well Dragon King.

At any rate, the fact that the beginnings of a water-type domain had appeared proved that Wave-Calming Pool really did contain a natural Spirit Pool.

"Too bad the Spirit Pool already has an owner."

Shen Yuan felt a little regretful, but he had no intention of seizing it by force.

If he took a natural Spirit Pool today to break through into Essence Refinement into Qi, would he have to keep plundering his way onward when he reached higher realms?

Cultivation did require following one's heart, but wantonly doing as one pleased for personal gain, and piling up karmic debts and sins, would ultimately make the Great Dao of immortality hard to attain.

So once he learned that Wave-Calming Pool had an owner, Shen Yuan changed his mind.

Just then, however, the Maine Coon spoke up.

"True Lord, may I ask why you're inquiring about the Water Tribe?"

Shen Yuan had nothing to hide, so he answered casually, "I was just planning to borrow the Water Tribe's natural Spirit Pool."

The Maine Coon's eyes lit up. It hurriedly said, "Before I returned to Wen City, I heard the demons of Cloudfloat Mountain say that the Wave-Calming Dragon Lord intends to build a Dragon Palace and will host guests from all sides at Wave-Calming Pool.

"With such resources, the Wave-Calming Dragon Lord must have a natural Spirit Pool. True Lord, you could attend the feast with me and ask the Wave-Calming Dragon Lord to lend you the Spirit Pool."

In the Maine Coon's eyes, Shen Yuan was a mighty Void-Refining True Lord, practically invincible in the present world now that the Spirit Tide had only just returned.

If he asked, the Wave-Calming Dragon Lord surely wouldn't dare refuse.

But Shen Yuan heard something else in those words.

"A feast for guests from all sides? That could be a chance to make contact. But a treasure like a natural Spirit Pool is something the Wave-Calming Dragon Lord would never show to just anyone.

"If I could offer something that would tempt the Wave-Calming Dragon Lord in exchange, I might have a chance.

"After all, at this early stage of the Spirit Tide's return, natural Spirit Pools are rare, but they aren't one of a kind."

When he thought of a trade, the first thing Shen Yuan considered was a storage artifact.

After three thousand years of depleted spiritual energy, only a handful of storage artifacts had survived in Great Xia. Their value went without saying.

If Shen Yuan offered a storage artifact in exchange for the right to use the natural Spirit Pool, there was a good chance the Wave-Calming Dragon Lord would accept.

At the thought, Shen Yuan's mind opened up, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

The only problem now was that making a storage artifact required a spiritual material. The Fu family was still collecting materials and had yet to get back to him, so he would have to find another way.

His gaze shifted to the Maine Coon right in front of him.

"As a demon in the Transformation Realm who's returned from Cloudfloat Mountain, you should count as one of the Demon Race's elites. You ought to have at least a little spiritual material, right?"

With that in mind, Shen Yuan simply asked, "Do you have any spiritual materials on you?"

The sudden change of subject left the Maine Coon stunned. It took a good while to recover before it hurriedly nodded.

"Yes, yes!"

The Maine Coon clenched its right paw into a fist and thumped it against its chest. Its throat bobbed, and a piece of spiritwood less than an inch long came out of its mouth.

This was also the method most commonly used by demons without storage treasures: they kept precious items inside their bodies and took them out when needed.

Wrapped in demonic qi, the spiritwood was free of dirt. Its pale purple surface bore cloudlike patterns and gave off a strange, delicate fragrance.

The Maine Coon respectfully offered the spiritwood and hurriedly explained, "This is Cloudfloat Purple Sandalwood, a specialty of Cloudfloat Mountain. If you burn it, it calms the mind and drives away inner demons. It's an excellent ingredient for alchemy.

"If you use it, True Lord, you can pair it with—"

Before the Maine Coon could finish, Shen Yuan flicked a finger. A flash of sword light split the Cloudfloat Purple Sandalwood into three pieces.

The Maine Coon's words caught in its throat. Its eyes filled with heartbroken dismay at such waste.

The medicinal properties of Cloudfloat Purple Sandalwood changed with its length. A piece an inch long was beyond price, and it was the most precious thing the Maine Coon had obtained on Cloudfloat Mountain.

Shen Yuan had casually chopped it into three pieces, making the Maine Coon ache with regret.

Using his finger as a sword, Shen Yuan trimmed away the excess from the spiritwood in his hand and slowly carved it into a crude-looking purple wooden ring.

Shen Yuan looked it over, then casually tossed the purple wooden ring to the Maine Coon.

"Take it."

The Maine Coon caught the ring made from Cloudfloat Purple Sandalwood. Even the splinters on it had not been sanded down. It looked just like a child's toy.

"Use your spiritual sense to examine it."

Following Shen Yuan's words, the Maine Coon extended its spiritual sense. A separate space suddenly unfolded from the ring.

"A storage artifact!"

The Maine Coon's heartache vanished. It stared at the crude ring in utter shock.

"True Lord, this—"

"It's just a little trinket made from your spiritwood. It was only a practice piece. Keep it."

Shen Yuan spoke nonchalantly, but what he had done left the Maine Coon utterly stunned.

To make a storage artifact from a piece of ordinary spiritwood, without inscribing a single formation pattern or using Voidstone, and still open up a storage space—such a technique was far beyond anything the Maine Coon could comprehend.

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan was carving his second piece when he seemed to remember something. He turned to the Maine Coon and said, "By the way, don't call me True Lord. I'm no True Lord."

"You can call me Sir."