A Clay Ox Sinking into the Sea

Seeing Kou Cheng fold his arms and fall silent, Tang Yuan smiled and cupped his hands in greeting. "Please enlighten me, Senior Brother Kou."

"Junior Brother Tang, I'm a merchant.

"Pills and weapons aren't the only things that cost money. News, rumors, intelligence, and information have to be bought too.

"Providing intelligence and information is another part of my business.

"I watched you at the gathering for quite a while just now. You seemed to be looking to buy materials for making formations, and in large quantities at that.

"What's this?

"You've got business to offer, but you didn't think of your senior brother here?

"If you work with me, I'll throw in some information about the sect for free.

"I'll tell you everything I know.

"And if there's something I don't know, I'll help you ask around, as long as you need it." Kou Cheng pursed his lips.

He really is a crooked merchant. So this is what he was waiting for.

Tang Yuan smiled and briefly told him how Feng Bin had asked him to make two thousand formations.

After crossing swords with their tongues and bargaining back and forth, Tang Yuan and Kou Cheng finally reached a deal for the materials for two thousand formations in less than the time it took an incense stick to burn.

*Kou Cheng doesn't mince his words, but I can tell he's helping me.

*If I buy the materials from him, I can earn nearly three thousand spirit coins once I finish the two thousand formations.

Could there really be good people in the Holy Cardamom Sect? Does Kou Cheng count as one? Tang Yuan wondered, his thoughts swirling for a moment.

Kou Cheng took a satisfied sip of wine and began explaining at a leisurely pace.

"Let's set everything else aside and just talk about cultivation.

"From lowest to highest, a cultivator's cultivation is divided into six major realms: [Meridian Opening], [Qi Refinement], [Foundation Establishment], [Purple Mansion], [Golden Core], and [Lodge Transformation].

"[Purple Mansion] is also called [Heavenly Gate], while [Lodge Transformation] is also called [Spirit Transformation].

"Lodges are the star lodges in the heavens, while spirits are immortals and divine lords.

"The Dao lineage we cultivate is the Purple Mansion Golden Core Dao.

"Our Dao lineage corresponds to the twenty-eight star lodges in the heavens and their divine lord attainments.

"According to reliable information, our Holy Cardamom Sect has:

"Nearly twenty thousand Meridian Opening disciples,

"Nearly six thousand Qi Refinement disciples. Of those, about five thousand are in the early and middle stages, fewer than six hundred are in Late-stage Qi Refinement, and fewer than three hundred are at Qi Refinement Great Perfection.

"Eighty-three Foundation Establishment High Persons,

"Eight Purple Mansion True Persons,

"And one Golden Core True Lord.

"In terms of overall strength, our Holy Cardamom Sect, the Mystic Sword Sect to the north, the Heavenly Sword Sect to the south, and the Dao Heaven Sect to the southeast are the four strongest sects on the Mystic Spirit Continent.

"Of course, the Buddhist sect to the southwest, the Joyful Purity Sect, which faces your mortal home in the Western Spirit Ten Thousand Islands Region across the sea, can barely rank fifth.

"Our sect's Golden Core True Lord and most of the True Persons and High Persons spend years in secluded cultivation and hardly concern themselves with sect affairs.

"If you want to live comfortably in our sect without worrying about shots fired at you from the shadows for no apparent reason, you need to find someone to back you.

"Purple Mansion True Persons are certainly beyond the reach of people like us.

"But we can still try to cultivate connections with the Foundation Establishment High Persons above us Qi Refinement cultivators.

"Ding Chunqiu's backer is High Person Kui Xuan of Kui Wood Peak. He's at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

"Tang Yuan, what do you think about that?"

Apart from support mountains and cave abodes such as Refining Peak, Beast Taming Peak, Medicinal Herb Peak, and Qi Gathering Peak, the Holy Cardamom Sect's real fighting strength lay in the inner disciples of six peaks: Nether Darkness Peak, Kui Wood Peak, Soul-Dwelling Peak, Jade Light Peak, Literary Authority Peak, and Li Xuan Peak.

"Whether they're mortals or cultivators, wherever there are people, there's a jianghu.

"Since Ding Chunqiu's backer is High Person Kui Xuan of Kui Wood Peak,

"I'll find someone on Kui Wood Peak or one of the other peaks who's at odds with High Person Kui Xuan to be my backer." Tang Yuan pondered for a few breaths before answering.

"Then the person who fits the bill is High Person Li Bai of Li Xuan Peak." Kou Cheng smiled.

"High Person Li Bai is also at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. He seems to have a deep grudge against High Person Kui Xuan.

"I don't know exactly what it is.

"It seems to have something to do with the death of High Person Kui Xuan's son more than sixty years ago.

"High Person Li Bai doesn't speak much, but he acts openly and honorably and devotes himself to the sect.

"He's a bit unlike the rest of us demonic sect disciples. He's more like an upright gentleman cultivator from a righteous sect, and he's absolutely no hypocrite."

Could High Person Li Bai have risen from the mud unstained, one of the Holy Cardamom Sect's rare people of great virtue and the Great Dao?

Tang Yuan took a sip of wine and asked with a serious look, "Senior Brother Kou, there's something I don't understand.

"You said our sect has about three hundred people at Qi Refinement Great Perfection.

"Even with the Samsara Formless Incantation, which has the lowest chance of reaching Foundation Establishment, the odds are still one in sixty.

"And if you add things like spirit treasures and spirit medicines, the chance of reaching Foundation Establishment goes up.

"By that reckoning, our sect should have at least five people succeeding in reaching Foundation Establishment every year on average.

"Even if it took longer, our sect would gain five Foundation Establishment High Persons every ten years.

"So why does the sect only have eighty-three Foundation Establishment High Persons now? Isn't that far too few?"

Kou Cheng smiled. "Odds are just odds. That's only what's written in books. Do you know that once you fail to break through to Foundation Establishment, you die and your Dao vanishes?

"That's why people only attempt the breakthrough when they're fully prepared, or when their lifespan of one hundred and eighty years is nearly exhausted.

"On average, about thirty people in our sect attempt to reach Foundation Establishment every year, but practically all of them fail.

"On average, our sect gains one Foundation Establishment High Person every thirty years.

"High Persons, High Persons-only when you succeed in reaching Foundation Establishment and become a High Person are you a true master of our Holy Cardamom Sect.

"Otherwise, even if you're at Qi Refinement Great Perfection, you're still an ox or a horse, a consumable, someone the sect can easily discard.

"So if you establish a connection with a High Person, you'll at least be a high-class ox or horse. It'll also be a great help when you try to reach Foundation Establishment in the future."

"But High Person Li Bai is a High Person at Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

"I'm neither family nor friend to him, and I don't have any Law Treasures or spirit treasures to give him. Surely he's out of my reach too." Tang Yuan shook his head dejectedly.

"Not necessarily. Isn't the Barbarian Di Secret Realm opening in a few years?

"There's a restriction on the secret realm. Only disciples below Qi Refinement Seventh Layer, meaning those in early and middle Qi Refinement, can enter.

"I hear there's some kind of jade ornament inside the secret realm called a 'purple jade huang.' High Person Li Bai is desperate to get it, and it has something to do with his Dao foundation.

"This purple jade huang doesn't seem to be a Law Treasure or spirit treasure. It's just a mortal-grade Spirit Artifact, but it also seems to be very special.

"I don't know exactly what's special about it, either.

"When you go into the secret realm, look for it.

"Junior Brother Tang, you're lucky. You might just find it." Kou Cheng spoke in a perfectly serious manner.

Tang Yuan felt as though his head had doubled in size, black lines covering his face. "After all that, you still can't even tell me what this 'purple jade huang' is or what it looks like.

"The Barbarian Di Secret Realm stretches for tens of thousands of li, and you can't fly through the air inside it.

"Once I'm in the secret realm, how am I supposed to find this purple jade huang?"

Seeing Tang Yuan's displeased expression, Kou Cheng immediately thumped his chest. "Don't worry, Junior Brother Tang.

"There are at least two years before the secret realm opens anyway.

"Within two years, I'll make sure I get every detail about this 'purple jade huang' perfectly clear."

There had never been much hope of establishing a connection with a Foundation Establishment High Person in the first place.

Now, it seemed he could only hope that Kou Cheng would obtain more information.

"Then sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother Kou." Tang Yuan cupped his hands in greeting...

After drinking with Kou Cheng until evening, Tang Yuan stayed in a guest room in the old building.

Going to the Barbarian Di Secret Realm was free.

But a certain number of "beast teeth" had to be collected.

Since there was a task and competition, fighting would be unavoidable.

To walk out of the Barbarian Di Secret Realm alive, and to search for the elusive "purple jade huang," he would also have to spend a fortune on talismans and weapons to protect himself.

Tang Yuan had always felt it was a bad bargain, so he had also quietly made up his mind: he would not go to the Barbarian Di Secret Realm...

Early the next morning, Tang Yuan went to the Registry Pavilion to apply for a travel permit, then flew west.

Kou Cheng had said it would take him about a month to prepare and arrange the formation materials, so Tang Yuan planned to use that time to visit the Starfall Sea and see if he could find the fortuitous opportunity for Foundation Establishment that Du Qing had said Su Wei told her about.

Most of the Starfall Sea was within the Holy Cardamom Sect's sphere of influence, and sect rules required anyone going there to apply for a travel permit.

The Starfall Sea lay tens of thousands of li east of the mountain gate. Tang Yuan had calculated that if he rested only two or three shichen each day, he could reach it in about eight or nine days.

There were only two people in the sect who were hostile to him now: Ding Chunqiu and Su Wei.

Feng Bin had already put in a word, so Ding Chunqiu would not make trouble for him for two or three years.

He had also asked around about Su Wei. His talent was ordinary, and he cultivated the Samsara Formless Incantation. Like Du Qing, he was an artifact refiner's apprentice at Qi Refinement Third Layer.

Tang Yuan had thought it through. Even if Su Wei made trouble for him at the Starfall Sea and Tang Yi was not at his side, he had no reason to fear him.

He was at Qi Refinement Fifth Layer and had the Toad Spirit Pearl. He could easily wipe out Su Wei at Qi Refinement Third Layer.

Moreover, although the Earth Flood Dragon in the Mystic Spoon had fallen asleep while refining the Great Kun Moonlight and could not come to his aid, it had also split off some of its Divine Sense, so the divine art of Time Reversal could still be activated with the Mystic Spoon's help.

With a divine art to save his life and a higher cultivation than his opponent, Tang Yuan naturally had to go looking for this great fortuitous opportunity that might never come again...

After eight days, Tang Yuan finally arrived at the Starfall Sea.

In High Antiquity, this had been an island of middling size.

Later, a giant meteorite fell from the sky and smashed the island to pieces.

Seas turned to mulberry fields, and now thousands of islands of different sizes lay scattered across the Starfall Sea like stars.

After showing his travel permit at the sect's station in the Starfall Sea, Tang Yuan rode his flying shuttle continuously through the air above the islands and the sea, watching at all times for anything unusual on the water.

But after searching for several days in a row, Tang Yuan still found nothing out of the ordinary.

Gritting his teeth, Tang Yuan simply kept flying east without a destination.

After flying for a full day and night, Tang Yuan finally managed to find a deserted island in the vast sea where he could rest.

"I can't fly east anymore. If I keep going, I'll run out of strength and fall into the sea." Tang Yuan gnawed dejectedly on his dry rations, smiling bitterly again and again.

"Tang Yuan, you've made me search high and low for you.

"Tell me, what did you do to Du Qing?"

A vicious voice sounded beside his ear.

He looked over coldly: Su Wei.

"Su Wei, why don't you go ask Du Qing yourself?" Tang Yuan snorted and immediately sent a streak of mystical light at him.

Su Wei made no attempt to dodge, watching the mystical light fly toward him with a sneer.

The mystical light struck Su Wei and vanished at once, like a clay ox sinking into the sea.

?

How is that possible?

Although he had not used his full strength, the mystical light he had just sent out should at least have drawn some reaction, even if it did not seriously or lightly injure an opponent at Late-stage Qi Refinement.

Could Su Wei be at Foundation Establishment?

Beads of cold sweat appeared on Tang Yuan's forehead...