Sea Dragon Vein

The soldier nodded, and following the rules of Penglai, he disembarked and walked onto the island.

This respectful behavior put the island owner, who was leading the way, at least he was reasonable.

He thought for a moment, then changed the subject to try and get closer to her.

"I've met Luo Lord before, that Fairy Yinghai. All the demons cultivating on the Thirty-Six Islands of the Eastern Sea are extremely grateful to her. When she was alive, she single-handedly completed the adaptation of cultivation methods for the bloodlines of nearly 300 kinds of sea demons. We still have temples dedicated to her, those Mother-of-Pearl Goddess temples on the outer islands. I wonder if you saw them when you came, esteemed guest."

"I saw her," the soldier nodded, his tone calm. "She's from the same batch of cultivators who practiced the Five Virtues as me; I know her."

The island owner breathed a sigh of relief.

Our relationship with Heavenly Gate has a long history.

"But she died from overwork, literally from exhaustion. I heard that when they took her body away, she barely had three pounds of flesh on her body," the soldier interrupted directly.

The island owner's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly said:

"We didn't force the female immortal; she did it all voluntarily. Her apprentices can testify to that."

"What she thinks is her business, how she dies is her business, it has nothing to do with me. I've only met her a few times, there's nothing special between us."

The island owner breathed a sigh of relief and asked cautiously, "What does the special envoy mean?"

"To be honest, I don't like Ming Jianxin and her group. They're too—" The soldier paused, frowned, as if searching for a better word, "Too idealistic. But who would have thought that the throne of the Luo Lord, passed down through two generations of demonic sect leaders, would be held by such a woman? Well, she's a product of a special period. Appeasement, you know, there's still a need for good-natured people."

"However, times have changed, and some rules must change too. If they don't, the rules will crush you."

Those who come with ill intentions will not come; those with good intentions will not come!

The island lord suddenly had this thought in his mind, and he said in a deep voice, "Then I wonder what rules this generation's Lord Lin has brought?"

Then, the man in military uniform gave the other person a deep look, suddenly smiled slightly, and said:

"There are no rules, it's just a cooperation initiative."

"However, I personally feel that if Heavenly Gate had truly conquered these thirty-six islands back then, carried out island transformation, species modification, and large-scale training of human cultivators, they wouldn't have needed to sacrifice a Luo Lord of the Heavenly Gate's online education is quite advanced now."

Before entering the Penglai Grand Hall, the island lord hadn't figured out whether to train human educators or human cultivators.

Inside the Penglai Grand Hall, all the island lords of the outer eighteen islands and the inner eighteen islands were present. The island lords of the outer eighteen islands were at the Mid Golden Core stage, while the island lords of the inner eighteen islands were all at the Golden Core Late Stage, including three Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator.

Even at the height of the Overseas Devil Sect's power, this level of influence was enough to protect a region.

But times have changed. Ordinary Nascent Soul Cultivator, placed within the Heavenly Gate, wouldn't even be able to reach the higher levels.

We are at their mercy, like fish on a chopping board.

Especially since this time, the envoy from Lord Lin is someone who has always advocated expansion.

The envoy glanced around, showing no discrimination based on whether they were Golden Core cultivators or Nascent Soul. After looking them over, he said with a smile, "They're all Demon Cultivator."

"That's because sea monsters are different from land monsters. Sea monsters can dive into the deep sea to cultivate. According to the Heavenly Gate's standards, there are areas with high Spiritual Qi on the seabed. In addition, the land immortals taught without discrimination back then, which is why we Demon Cultivator cultivators were able to rise to prominence. But I believe that as the Heavenly Gate's artificial Spirit Vein technology is promoted, human cultivators will eventually enjoy a high- Spiritual Qi cultivation environment. In fact, we have sent three batches of human students to the Heavenly Gate. After these students graduate and return, we will make good use of them."

A Nascent Soul Cultivator with a red beard resembling coral immediately spoke.

"That's right. In fact, we have already signed three large-scale cultivation projects with you, and the outer island has now reached the cultivation environment of intermediate-level Spiritual Qi," another Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator immediately added.

Next, the other island owners chimed in, their comments essentially switching back and forth between "long history" and "shared interests."

There was nothing they could do; after all, that Lord Lin Ao Zhenhai was notorious for his ruthlessness.

Where there are humans and demons, there will inevitably be conflicts. In fact, that Lord Lin has already used this excuse to destroy several regimes Heavenly Gate. Whether they were ruled by priests and wizards or by great demons, all the high-ranking officials were eliminated. He didn't even support local puppet forces, but instead had the Heavenly Gate directly take over their administration.

For Heavenly Gate, a place that has always upheld fairness and morality, this kind of operation is nothing short of ruthless.

For overseas powers, a behemoth like Heavenly Gate could crush over 90% of the forces on this planet with just a flick of its finger.

Including this former sacred place of spiritual practice.

They couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

"Don't misunderstand, I have no prejudice against your Demon Race," the man in military uniform said with a smile. "I also know that there are many who don't get along with each other within your own group, herbivores and carnivores, those Qi Training in Qi Training and those not, and so on, up and down the food chain. We in Heavenly Gate also have demons, and we have experience in managing these kinds of things."

"Moreover, the overseas human races are not necessarily reliable. The remnants and descendants of the Celestial Person Realm, including those cultivators who fled around the time of the founding of the nation, as well as some descendants of ancient cultivators, although they can't defeat us now, still look down on us at heart, and many of them still have deep-seated hatred. Not to mention the group from the Demonic Sect."

"Besides, we also understand that Heavenly Gate's experience and system may not be suitable for the outside world, especially in terms of the popularization of artificial Spiritual Qi. We have had lessons learned from failures in this regard. If a large amount of natural Spiritual Qi and artificial Spiritual Qi clash in the same area, it will produce a large-scale spiritual explosion effect. Therefore, we fully understand that you only carry out cultivation projects on the outer islands, because the intermediate Spiritual Qi area is already the upper limit of this kind of integration."

"Unless we sever all the natural Spirit Vein on your island, destroy all the spiritual eyes, and then redesign and renovate them—and then again, if we really wanted to do that, why not just reclaim land from the sea and build a few artificial islands? The East Sea Islands are one of the few Spiritual Qi rich areas on this planet suitable for mortal cultivation. Destroying the natural cultivation environment is a serious crime in our Heavenly Gate, and it's not something I can get away with just because I'm wearing a military uniform."

"As for the horrifying rumors you've heard about Lord Lin, let me put it this way: as long as it doesn't involve large-scale blood sacrifices, species extermination, or demonic cult transformation, we will not intervene militarily at any level."

As the words were spoken, many island owners relaxed.

"So, what brings you here, special envoy—"

"I'll say it again: cooperation, cooperation that benefits both sides," the man in military uniform said with a smile.

Meanwhile, a female nun in military uniform passed the prepared documents to each of the island lords present.

As the papers rustled through the room, many island owners' expressions turned serious, even shocked.

"Opening up new sea routes and activating the Sea Dragon Vein? This... this--"

"Is this some kind of divine craftsmanship? Is it really possible to do this?"

"Three chief engineers with Spirit Transformation cultivation levels, even a Nascent Spirit Transformation came to supervise the project!?"

"The sea routes have been fixed for hundreds of years, so how do we deal with this Spiritual Qi tsunami and underground vortex?"

"We can discuss the technical aspects later. Our engineers can provide you with some basic information. Once the new sea route is opened, we and your side will each hold half of the shares," the man in military uniform paused for a moment before continuing.

"In addition, after the new sea route is opened, we will open up the Merit Evolution of the 'Five Virtues' to you, allowing you to control half of the Sea Dragon Vein. In other words, a Nascent Spirit Transformation can emerge from the Thirty-Six Islands of the Eastern Sea."

All the Demon Cultivator present were once again shaken, especially the three Nascent Soul Demon Cultivator in charge, whose eyes shone with an unprecedented light.

However, the object of the soldier's gaze was not the three Demon Cultivator present, but a middle-aged man whose cultivation was only at the Golden Core Early Stage.

The middle-aged man's cultivation was mediocre, but his identity was very important. He was the representative of the Yu Household, the only one among the five surnames to leave Heavenly Gate to develop his Yu Household.

The reason why the special envoy of Lord Lin cared about the other party was not because he was of royal blood of the Yu Dynasty, nor because he was a descendant of the Magnetic Emperor of the Three Emperors era, but because the first generation of Feather Lord of the New Heavenly Gate came from their Yu Household.

The representative of the Yu Household finally raised his head, pondered for a moment, and said:

"According to the information I read, activating the Sea Dragon Vein will stimulate the revival of the 'Dragon Blood Tide'?"

Next day

Hu Mang was sitting on the deck enjoying the breeze, somewhat bored.

There was nothing I could do. The Heavenly Gate warship was nearby, such a high-tech thing, who knew what advanced detection devices it might have? Time travel was out of the question, and I dared not practice any more Devil Cultivation Method.

This is overseas, the place where the demonic path is causing the most trouble.

There's definitely Demon-Locking Radar on the ship opposite that can locate Demonic Qi.

The others were also getting a bit bored. They'd already explored the island and bought everything they wanted, so there wasn't much point in going any further.

Especially since the warships arrived, the island has also seen the emergence of Daoist soldiers trained by the East Sea Immortal Island itself, patrolling the streets all over the place. It's so tense that it's better to stay on the ship.

"Little Hu, do you know why we ships have to follow a set route?"

Old Zhu from Shuitou was extremely bored, so after wandering around for a while, he came back to show off to Hu Mang again.

This Hu Mang actually knows a little bit about this.

"Dangerous waters are home to sea monsters at the Nascent Soul level or even higher, and are characterized by unusual ocean currents, monsoons, and tides. Ocean shipping companies also circumvent the maritime laws of relevant countries to save money and transport more cargo."

"What you said is all correct, but that's from the perspective of an ordinary person, not from the perspective of spiritual practice."

Old Zhu nodded in satisfaction and started showing off and spouting nonsense.

"The root cause is the Sea Dragon Vein!"

"Every safe shipping route hides a hidden Sea Dragon Vein!"