Having understood this point, Zhao Di gave up his desire for the treasure and let out a soft sigh, continuing to watch the struggle between these several major sects.
After the most intense and fierce confrontation, comparable to a battle between masters, one astonishing price after another was called out. In the end, Yi Ranzi of the Xueyi Gate seized this treasure at the high price of 11 million spirit stones.
Yi Ranzi was also extremely cautious, and after handing over the Ling Stone, he immediately used the transmission array on the island to return to Yingzhou Xian Island. He must have had a high-ranking Blood Intent Sect member waiting for him there. Although this island is completely controlled by the Outer Sea Merchant Alliance, which strictly prohibits cultivators from fighting, he was carrying such a precious treasure and feared that some bold and reckless cultivators would covet it.
As for the two monks of the bitter Zen sect, they failed to complete the task of handing over the sect and returned to Penglai Fairy Island with their heads hung low.
The disciples of the Taiyi Sect gained the unique skills of Qianjue Xianzi at a not-too-high price, and also completed the instructions given by their sect. After the high monks of the Kuchan Sect, they were sent to the isolated island.
The cultivators of other sects mostly returned to their respective sects as well, and First Island also returned to its usual state. The number of Nascent Soul stage cultivators on the island suddenly decreased by more than half.
Zhao Di did not return to Penglai Fairy Island, but instead came to Fangzhang Fairy Island through the transmission array on No. 1 island.
In terms of area, Fangzhang Island is the smallest of the three islands, less than a quarter of Penglai Island. But if it's said that the entire island is composed of this Fangzhang Mountain, you can imagine how huge Fangzhang Mountain is!
After Zhao Di was transported to Fangzhang Xian Island, as soon as he walked out of the stone room where the transmission array was located, he immediately felt this way.
This stone chamber is located on the halfway up the mountain, and as soon as Zhao Di came out of the stone chamber, he flew into mid-air, only to find that half of the sky was completely blocked by this massive mountain body. The view was abruptly cut off, giving a feeling of extreme oppression. It's said that this mountain is so huge that it rises from the middle of the mountain and inserts itself into the clouds, blocking the entire sky view, causing some ordinary people living at the foot of the mountain to never see the sun in their lifetime. The climate on the north and south sides of the mountain are also completely different, sometimes the south side is hot and sunny, while the north side is overcast with thick clouds and heavy rain and hail.
This Fangzhang Immortal Island is also slightly different from the other two immortal islands. The entire Fangzhang Immortal Island sea area, among the three major immortal islands, belongs to the smallest, but the number of sects it has far exceeds that of the other two immortal islands, and the number of scattered cultivators it has is also the most numerous and strongest. However, these sects are mainly medium-sized and small schools, and Fangzhang Island does not have a super-large school like Taiyi Sect or Tianmo Sect. The Hundred Sect Alliance, which consists of more than 100 medium-sized and small schools of varying scales, gathered almost all the power of Fangzhang Immortal Island, barely able to contend with the Orthodox Alliance and the Inverse Heaven Alliance, becoming the third major force in Xingchen Sea.
The Hundred Sect Alliance has many sects, and not every sect has a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. However, there are quite a few Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, and the entire Hundred Sect Alliance still has over ten Nascent Soul stage cultivators. Generally speaking, as long as a sect produces one Nascent Soul stage cultivator, that sect will become a major power on Fangzhan Island, and its status within the Hundred Sect Alliance will rise sharply.
Zhao Di's purpose in coming here is, of course, related to the Qianji Gate. The Qianji Gate is also one of the sects of the Bai Zong Alliance, but because of the decline of talents and strength, it has now thoroughly become a third-rate small sect. If it weren't for its long history and relatively large reputation in ancient times, it would have been kicked out of the Bai Zong Alliance long ago!
Fangzhang Xian Island also has a large temple fair, located halfway up Fangzhang Mountain. After Zhao Di flew to this place, he hired a guide and strolled around the temple fair for a while.
This Fangzhang Immortal Island is indeed a mixed bag of fish and dragons, with Buddhists, Taoists, Confucians, ghosts, demons, and monsters all present. The practitioners of the two paths of righteousness and evil, as well as those who cultivate the six gates of heaven, all coexist peacefully. Due to this free environment, many scattered cultivators gather here, and it can be said that more than three-quarters of the scattered cultivators in the entire Star Ocean are cultivating in the Fangzhang Immortal Island sea area. And once a cultivator with achievements wants to establish a sect or school, they often choose this place.
The Fangzhang Immortal Island's market is not even half the size of Penglai Immortal Island, but the variety of items for sale far surpasses that of Penglai. Unfortunately, these things are mostly useful for cultivators at the Foundation Building stage and below. Truly valuable treasures suitable for a Golden Core stage cultivator like Zhao Di are extremely rare. As a result, after roughly browsing half the market, his gains were meager.
What he wanted most was the foundation period puppet, and it turned out that there was no sale here either. However, under the guise of listening to the side, he inquired about a lot of information related to Qianji Gate.
"Master, the Qianji Gate indeed only has two Nascent Soul stage cultivators left, one of whom is only in the early stages of Nascent Soul. However, the Great Elder Feng Qingyun is a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Master, are you really planning to go to the Qianji Gate?" Youlan asked softly, with some concern.
"Of course, we must go. With the master's means, as long as we are careful not to be discovered by that elder, there will be no danger at all. And with our sisters' expertise in soul-changing techniques, we can easily steal the method for refining the foundation-stage puppet! After all, the master has a wealthy family background, and the number of demon beast materials in his storage bag is countless. When the time comes, we can refine a large batch of puppets and high-quality spiritual tools, and with them, we can dominate the foundation-stage cultivators! What do you think, master?"
"You're right, Yu Rou! The Foundation Establishment puppet is of great significance to me, and I absolutely cannot give up on it lightly! If we're careful, the chances of success are still extremely high. I don't believe that among the Thousand Machines Sect, only the Great Elder knows the method for refining the Foundation Establishment puppet!" Zhao Di said resolutely, "However, before we go, I still need to refine the Fantasizing Fish's eye into a treasure, as well as one or two defensive magical artifacts and high-grade spiritual tools. It will probably take about two to three years. During this time, you two sisters can focus on taking large amounts of Congealing Spirit Pills to increase your cultivation. Who knows, maybe when the time comes, I'll still need your help!"
"Yes, master!" Both women responded, but with different tones. You Ruo was indeed happy and excited, while You Lan remained somewhat worried.
"What's wrong, Youlan? Is there still something you're not at ease with?" Zhao Di asked further.
"Youlan said, 'For thousands of years, the Qianji Gate has been extremely weak and small, but in the Star Sea, it has always maintained a foundation period puppet refining technique that is above average. I'm afraid there must be some secret to it, otherwise, even if the puppet technique is very useless, it wouldn't be completely ignored, and no one would bother with the Qianji Gate!' Youlan said softly."
Zhaodi smiled slightly and said, "As for the reason behind this, I've thought about it many times. Even if there are a thousand speculations, not verifying them won't do any good. We can't give up on opportunities just because of some possible underlying factors. At worst, we'll just be more cautious."
Since the master had considered these things, Youlan felt at ease. Youlan smiled slightly and no longer found it difficult to let go of this matter.
Zhao Di planned to refine a treasure called the Fantastical Fire Pearl, an explosive-type attack treasure with incredible power that even a Golden Elixir stage cultivator would find extremely difficult to defend against. The refinement of this Fantastical Fire Pearl required not only the fish eye pearl but also over ten types of fire-attribute beast materials and some auxiliary materials. Zhao Di had most of these items in his storage bag, and after searching for a while in the market, he was able to purchase the two or three missing materials.
Since Fangzhang Xian Island is a place where scattered cultivators gather, the top-grade spiritual vein of Fangzhang Giant Mountain naturally also has caves for scattered cultivators to rent and use.
Zhao Di chose a very special cave, although the density of spiritual energy was not particularly high among various caves, but it had a large area, complete functions, and was also close to the yin land, with a room suitable for ghost repair practice with heavier yin energy. It was very suitable as a place for You Lan and You Ruo sisters to practice. The management of Fang Zhangshan was free and loose, as long as you were willing to pay spirit stones, you could choose any unoccupied cave at will, and the time could be long or short. However, the cost of renting for a longer period of time would be lower on average. Zhao Di rented this cave under an alias for a term of ten years.
After entering the cave, Zhao Di not only opened all the seals attached to the cave, but also specially instructed You Ruo to set up two or three sets of powerful spell arrays on his body, making sure that nothing went wrong. Then he handed over all the Condensed Spirit Pills to the two women and instructed them to enter a secret room with extremely heavy yin energy to cultivate. The Ice Wind Python was also released from the spiritual beast bag, allowing it to roam freely within the vast range of spell arrays, while Zhao Di himself prepared to start refining the Fantasy Fire Pearl in a sealed stone chamber.
The refinement of this self-destructive treasure requires extreme caution, as a slight mistake can lead to the explosion of the raw materials, causing massive destruction and harm, even putting one's own safety at risk. This is also one of the reasons why such treasures rarely appear in the cultivation world. Although the Fantastical Fire Pearl has considerable power, its refinement not only consumes an enormous amount of resources but also poses extreme danger.
Considering this possibility, Zhao Di decided to first refine one or two defensive treasures and high-grade spiritual tools, so that in case of an accident during the refining process, he would also have a means of protection.
He also has other defensive methods, such as using the Huayuan Divine Light to protect his body, but this method consumes a lot of spiritual energy and is difficult to sustain during the refining process. Spiritual artifacts are different, as long as you are willing to spend high-grade spiritual stones, you can let the top-grade spiritual artifact continue to protect yourself, while he himself consumes very little spiritual energy.
Three years later, Zhao Di, who was refining a pair of giant pincers from the fifth-grade demon beast, Taiyang Crab, suddenly stopped halfway and quickly arrived at the secret room where You Lan You Ruo was.
He sensed through the Soul Pearl in his body that the two women had reached the mid-term peak of the Foundation Building stage after several years of cultivation, and now needed to break through the bottleneck and advance to the late Foundation Building stage.
As the host, Zhao Di naturally had to be present at the Ghost Slave's Bottle Gourd's critical moment.
(6,000 words)
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