The Excited Lineage Elders: The Urgent Crisis Could Be Resolved

Under everyone's expectant gazes, Li Zhengjun gave a full account of Jade Wave Island, where the Ning Kingdom was located, and the investigation into its Frozen Water spiritual materials.

"By Yuankai's preliminary estimate, the Frozen Water spiritual materials produced by the Ning Kingdom are enough to supply the daily needs of more than fifty Fetal Breath cultivators. The Frozen Water primordial Qi needed to break through to Qi Ingestion has yet to be measured, but we can confirm that it exists. As for Qi Ingestion-grade spiritual materials, there are no records of any at present. But judging by the Lineage's years of accumulated experience, when a place produces Frozen Water Spiritual Qi on such a scale, there is an eighty to ninety percent chance that Qi Ingestion-grade spiritual materials exist in its core region."

Before he had finished speaking, an uproar filled the hall.

The news could not have come at a better time. A hundred years ago, when the spiritual atmosphere first began to change and the Three Yang Dao Lineage gradually showed signs of decline, True Person Yuhong had overruled all objections and ordered the younger generation of the Li Household to switch to the Frozen Water Dao Path, one after another.

The years since had proven Yuhong's choice correct. As the Three Yang Dao Lineage declined, its cultivators found every step difficult. Countless families that had clung to it had no younger generation ready to succeed the old.

The Li Household had avoided a break in its inheritance precisely because it had switched to Frozen Water cultivation early, keeping the younger generation's cultivation progressing steadily.

Everyone present was a hall master who had once been in charge of one area or another, and they all knew the number of Frozen Water cultivators in the Lineage and the spiritual resources they needed.

At present, the Lineage had more than seven hundred Fetal Breath cultivators following this path, and twenty or thirty of them could attempt a breakthrough to Qi Ingestion each year.

The Lesser Cold River alone could supply only about five hundred people; the rest of the spiritual resources had to be purchased from neighboring powers.

They had assumed that the Ning Kingdom was no more than a tiny kingdom occupied by a handful of Fetal Breath Devil Cultivators, and that it surely had few resources. They had never expected it to have so many!

"Wonderful! The Lesser Cold River was just plundered by Devil Cultivators, and the Lineage is running short of Frozen Water spiritual materials. The appearance of the Ning Kingdom came just in time to put out the fire at our doorstep! If its output is truly as Zhengjun said, we can greatly reduce our purchases of spiritual materials from outside!"

As the household head, Li Zhengchen knew the Lineage's spiritual resource accounts best. He immediately picked up the conversation:

"Indeed. The Lesser Cold River begins at the Subduing Heaven Plateau in the west and runs across the entire Chu Kingdom, with powers along its course intertwined like tangled roots. Our Li Household controls only a stretch of its upper reaches. For some reason, the Frozen Water spirits in the river have grown increasingly scarce over the years, and its output has fallen year after year. Every year, we have had to buy Frozen Water spiritual materials from neighboring households at high prices just to barely support our disciples' cultivation. If things are truly as Zhengjun said, the Ning Kingdom can match a tenth of the Lesser Cold River's output!"

That tenth was not to be underestimated. The spiritual resources needed for a Dao Path were the most precious things in the Great Scarlet Realm.

No household would sell them in large quantities. The Li Household had scraped together its supplies by purchasing from numerous powers, and the prices were exorbitant.

But now that they had the Ning Kingdom, Li Zhengchen had the confidence to deal with the Luo Household and the Hundred Fei Sect!

He suddenly sneered and described what had happened on the Observing Brightness Terrace earlier:

"How many days has it been since the Lesser Cold River was plundered? Just now, on the Observing Brightness Terrace, several powers were already sounding me out. Chen Po of the Hundred Fei Sect and Luo Yongying of the Luo Household at Tiger Leaping Cliff came calling together, bringing a group of minor sects and schools. Everything they said came down to one thing: the price of Frozen Water spiritual materials was going up. A price increase would have been one thing, but they opened by demanding double the original price!"

At those words, anger appeared on the faces of the Lineage elders throughout the hall.

Li Zhengchen, however, waved a hand and revealed a meaningful smile.

"But that was earlier. Now that our Li Household has the Ning Kingdom, why should we care what they think? Besides, you all seem to have overlooked one point. For every year that passes in the Yuyu Realm, ten years pass in the Great Scarlet Realm. In other words, we should multiply that one-tenth estimate for the Ning Kingdom's output by ten. The Ning Kingdom's output alone is actually equal to that of an entire Lesser Cold River!"

His words made everyone's eyes light up. That was right—with time passing ten times as fast, the output naturally had to be counted tenfold!

They had focused on that one-tenth output and overlooked the difference in the passage of time between the two realms!

Most Li Household cultivators could not go to the Great Scarlet Realm. They cultivated only here in the Yuyu Realm, and by the time one year passed here, ten had passed in the Great Scarlet Realm!

By that calculation, the Lineage had effectively gained a spiritual domain equal to the Lesser Cold River!

And what had it cost them?

Nothing more than some talismans and Law Artifacts!

In the Yuyu Realm, this was practically a tale from the Arabian Nights. When had a spiritual land changed hands or resources been fought over without a road paved with piles of white bones? When had territory been conquered without blood and gore filling the air?

How many Purple Mansion immortal families had fought for a spiritual land without a moment's peace for a hundred years? How many prodigies and heroes had carried lifelong regrets after fighting to seize a Daoist site? How could any of them have had it this easy?

And now, a spiritual island had slipped into the Li Household's pocket just like that.

The Lineage elders burst into laughter, their voices full of the exhilaration of holding their heads high at last.

True Person Yuhong sat upright in the seat of honor, looking at the Lineage elders below the steps. The corners of his own mouth could not help turning up slightly.

He forcibly restrained himself, swallowing back the excitement that had nearly escaped his lips. Clearing his throat, he said in a deep voice:

"Good, very good! This is an excellent beginning! The Ning Kingdom is on an island, and beyond it lies the Shattered Star Sea. As its name suggests, islands are scattered across that sea like stars. Since Jade Wave Island has Frozen Water spiritual materials, who can say there aren't more and better ones scattered across the other islands? There may even be Bright Yang spiritual materials!"

When Li Zhengjun had first brought back the Jade Wave Turtle, grandfather and grandson had discussed the possibility of Frozen Water existing in the Great Scarlet Realm. They had even imagined that it might contain Bright Yang spiritual materials.

Frozen Water had been a choice forced on them by circumstance; Bright Yang was the key to the Li Household's revival.

Now that they had found a source of Frozen Water spiritual materials, Bright Yang spiritual materials presumably could not be far behind.

With that thought, Yuhong said:

"Zhengjun, are there any specific intelligence records?"

Li Zhengjun had long since prepared them. He immediately presented the intelligence Li Yuankai had compiled, holding it out with both hands.

Yuhong had the Lineage elders take the records, then continued:

"Everyone, analyze this intelligence as quickly as possible. First, determine the location of Jade Wave Island's core of Frozen Water Spiritual Qi and mark the areas where Spiritual Qi is most abundant. Second, examine the spiritual materials on the island one by one and map out their types, grades, and uses. Third, see which spiritual materials are suitable for large-scale cultivation or breeding. The Ning Kingdom has no shortage of land or manpower; if we can raise them ourselves, we won't have to rely on gathering them in the wild."

He paused briefly, then added:

"Of the ten people sent this time, two cultivate Frozen Water. The resources on Jade Wave Island should go to those two disciples first. If there is any surplus, Zhengjun can bring it back for the Lineage's disciples to use."

Li Zhengjun assented and took out several bottles of pills.

"These were refined by Daoist Lu from Frozen Water demonic creatures he hunted and killed. Please take a look."

A Lineage elder rose. He had served as an overseer in the Pill Hall for many years, and though he was only at Qi Ingestion, he had extensive experience.

He took out a pill and, after a single glance, said:

"They are indeed made from Frozen Water spiritual materials, but the refining technique is crude-even worse than that of our outer disciples who have just begun learning pill refinement."

Li Zhengjun added, "That is indeed the case. From the intelligence, it seems that the Great Scarlet Realm's resources are so abundant that neither its hundred arts of immortal cultivation nor its cultivation methods are very well developed. Daoist Lu's disciples, for example, cultivated methods that were only first-tier low-grade, yet by eating the Ning Kingdom's spiritual materials and flesh and blood, they forcibly cultivated all the way to Late Qi Refining, equivalent to the Fourth Layer of Fetal Breath in the Yuyu Realm."

Yuhong said, "The two realms are almost like complements to each other. Resources are scarce in the Yuyu Realm, so cultivators can only rack their brains to improve the grades of their cultivation methods. The Great Scarlet Realm is rich in resources, but no superior cultivators have passed down their teachings there. Its cultivation methods are terribly inferior, so cultivators can only pile up resources to cultivate."

He paused, then continued:

"Fortunately, Zhengjun, you can travel between the two realms, taking the strengths of each to make up for the other's shortcomings!"

Li Zhengjun's heart was surging as well. Following that line of thought, he continued:

"True Person, I have already ordered people to test the Spirit Roots of the Ning Kingdom's Grandmasters. Yuankai should already be organizing testing on a larger scale. At a rate of one in ten thousand, we should be able to find dozens of people with Spirit Roots among the Ning Kingdom's million inhabitants. The Lineage also needs to decide as soon as possible which Dao Paths these people should cultivate and which cultivation methods they should be given, so that we can quickly gather spiritual resources."

He paused, then added:

"Besides that, the next step is to establish a branch of the Lineage in the Ning Kingdom. But I have yet to break through to Qi Ingestion, and the number of people I can take with me is limited. I cannot bring any more people over. Therefore, how to establish the branch and how to govern it will require the Lineage elders to plan together."

Yuhong nodded solemnly and instructed Li Zhengchen to handle it.

"Zhengchen will take the lead on this matter. Exercise the utmost caution with the cultivation methods, and be thorough in establishing the branch. Produce detailed plans as quickly as possible and assist Zhengjun in establishing the Lineage in the Great Scarlet Realm!"