Chapter 436: Daozhou

Under Yang Qingchan's veil, a pair of dark, gleaming eyes stared at Li Weiyi. A chilling aura emanated from her, capable of freezing a mortal's blood.

"You can casually take out five high-grade blood crystals," she said. "It seems you are carrying immense wealth. The Underworld is not like the Living Realm; there are no rules here. Whoever has the strongest fist makes the rules."

"I have my eyes on you! Be careful after you leave the Spirit Market."

Her tone was eerie, with a strong underlying threat.

She had good reason to be so confident, as within her body resided a powerful deceased spirit. However, due to the limitations of Yang Qingchan's frail physical body, it could not unleash its full power.

The Phoenix Blood Tree leaves' significance to her was self-evident.

Li Weiyi was not easily intimidated now; how could he take her threats to heart? He chuckled, "Lady, you possess a rare pure immortal physique, with a graceful figure, skin like jade, and a face that must surely be capable of toppling kingdoms. You also carry five high-grade blood crystals. You should also be careful!"

"To speak with such confidence," Yang Qingchan said, "you must not be an ordinary person."

A cold sneer flashed in Yang Qingchan's eyes. After releasing a powerful aura in response, she drifted away, like a lingering shadow, disappearing into the crowd and quickly vanishing into the dim street.

Yang Qingxi owed him a substantial sum of money. He didn't know where she had made such a fortune, but her sister could casually take out five high-grade blood crystals. This made Li Weiyi couldn't help but consider collecting his debt.

Yang Qingchan, in a sense, was Yang Qingxi's soul servant.

Yu'er, held in his arms, looked up, blinking her eyes, and asked curiously, "Master, what does 'graceful figure' mean?"

Li Weiyi immediately reflected on his words, deciding that he needed to be more careful with his speech and actions around children in the future.

The young vendor opposite the stall glanced at Yang Qingchan's retreating figure, then looked at Huang Liao, who was standing behind Li Weiyi. He offered a pointed reminder: "You are already conspicuous carrying a child with a pure immortal physique. It's best to be cautious. In the Underworld, deceased spirits are dangerous, but people are just as dangerous."

Huang Liao's expression was solemn. "Brother Li," he said, "that woman who appeared to have a pure immortal physique is definitely a powerful deceased spirit within, with extremely high cultivation. You shouldn't have offended her. The aura she released just now was terrifying."

"It's already done; there's nothing to be done about it now," Li Weiyi replied.

Li Weiyi had a good impression of the young vendor, but he could tell that the vendor's kind reminder was only because he was carrying a four- or five-year-old girl. It wasn't out of concern for his own safety.

This young vendor was truly remarkable. After employing a qi-concealing technique, his life aura was almost completely hidden, which initially caused Li Weiyi to misjudge him. This undoubtedly indicated his unfathomably profound cultivation. Yet, he was exceptionally young.

Martial cultivators in the Dao Seed Realm could delay aging and maintain peak life functions, making it difficult to judge a person's true age from their appearance. However, having encountered many Dao Seed Realm cultivators, Li Weiyi naturally had a rough estimate of the ages of such martial arts masters. Logically, at such an age and with such cultivation, he could not possibly be an unknown figure in the Soaring Heavens Living Realm.

The young vendor's stall had few goods, but their quality was extremely high. There were thousand-year spirit herbs, Hundred-Character Artifacts, and Yin Corpse Dao Fruits.

Five Phoenix Blood Tree leaves would at most allow Li Weiyi's tendons and skin to cultivate from two-tenths the strength of an Immortal Physique to three-tenths.

So, Li Weiyi said, "As far as I know, the Phoenix Blood Tree is located in the old Yuzhou Prefecture City, occupied by a giant deceased spirit known as Scarlet Wind Lord. Over the past thousand years, it has evolved into a necropolis where millions of fiendish corpses gather, making it impossible for humans to approach."

"Phoenix Blood Tree leaves are of great help to Corpse Spirits in cultivating their physical bodies, so they rarely circulate outside," he continued. "Human martial cultivators who wish to acquire them can only purchase them at high prices. Or, they might wait for a Yin-Sha Hurricane to pass, blowing the leaves out of the old Yuzhou Prefecture City, and only then, with extremely good luck, might they find one or two pieces."

"Would you be kind enough to tell me how you obtained as many as five pieces? I am willing to pay for this information."

The young vendor asked, "Are you new from the Soaring Heavens Living Realm?"

"That's right," Li Weiyi replied.

The young vendor said, "Let's exchange information! You tell me about the current war situation in the Soaring Heavens Living Realm, and I'll tell you how to obtain Phoenix Blood Tree leaves."

"That would be to my advantage!" Li Weiyi exclaimed.

Li Weiyi then proceeded to recount all the precise information he knew about the war in the Soaring Heavens Living Realm.

"Since the Rice Sect suffered a great defeat," the young vendor muttered to himself, "it seems Flying Phoenix did not enter the Soaring Heavens Living Realm." He then looked at Li Weiyi: "Lord Lan took a large number of powerful deceased spirits to fight in the Soaring Heavens Living Realm, so the Yuzhou Prefecture City necropolis was naturally left empty. I took the opportunity to infiltrate the city and acquire the five Phoenix Blood Tree leaves; it was that simple. If you have the guts, you can try as well."

"Thank you," Li Weiyi said.

Li Weiyi purchased all three thousand-year spirit herbs from his stall. The thousand-year spirit herbs he currently possessed were only enough to feed his seven Phoenix-Wing Moth Emperors to the fifth level of the Dao Seed Realm. He had to buy a large quantity.

The Underworld, vast and boundless, contained numerous mystical realms where many thousand-year spirit herbs could grow. Most thousand-year spirit herbs were of little use to deceased spirits, so they would sell them at the Spirit Market in exchange for soul crystals, blood crystals, or magic artifacts. The prices were even cheaper than those at the merchant associations in the Soaring Heavens Living Realm.

The two left the stall and walked along the streets teeming with deceased spirits. Huang Liao sighed, "That person is truly arrogant."

"To dare to trespass into a necropolis and emerge unscathed, his cultivation and strength are evident. He has the right to be arrogant!" Li Weiyi had just asked the young vendor for his name, but the vendor had only replied, "My surname is Liu."

Li Weiyi never disliked cold and arrogant people. Arrogant yet principled, with a kind heart, and possessing the strength to back up their arrogance—Li Weiyi was very interested in befriending such people, but unfortunately, the other party was very aloof.

Li Weiyi continued searching for Phoenix Blood Tree leaves in the Spirit Market, and stocking up on thousand-year spirit herbs. He found no more Phoenix Blood Tree leaves, but he did buy over twenty thousand-year spirit herbs, spending a huge sum that left Huang Liao secretly speechless.

The Spirit Market was vast, gathering various deceased spirits and fiendish demons. Not all of them were corpse-ghouls or bone-tribes with strong deathly auras. There were also flower demons, liquid demons, aquatic demons, shadow beings, stone beast-men, and faceless people, which greatly broadened Li Weiyi's horizons.

This place was only about two thousand li from the East Sea, already considered within the Aquatic Demon Clan's sphere of influence. In the lands near the sea, demons and humans, and demons and deceased spirits often coexisted.

Huang Liao said, "Actually, when cultivating the Immortal Physique, the effect of Phoenix Blood Tree bark is even better than that of the leaves."

Li Weiyi looked around the market and chuckled, "Phoenix Blood Tree leaves are already extremely rare, so the bark must be even harder to obtain. We can't just follow that young man named Liu and directly barge into the old Yuzhou Prefecture City, can we? That's too dangerous!"

Huang Liao said, "The truly good stuff isn't displayed on stalls; you need an acquaintance to lead the way to access them. I, Huang, have been in Huangjiang Frontier City for decades and believe I have some connections. I know a place where you can buy Phoenix Blood Tree bark and more thousand-year spirit herbs."

Li Weiyi's eyes twinkled, a smile spreading across his face: "Shopkeeper Huang, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Huang Liao gave a wry smile. "I didn't know before, Brother Li, that you possessed such wealth and power. Those hidden places are only accessible to major clients."

In the southeast corner of the Spirit Market, stood a large mansion adorned with four ghostly fire lanterns. The surroundings were quiet, and the main gate was tightly shut, covered with talismans. At various points along the mansion walls, eighteen Yin banners were planted, forming a defensive grand array.

Li Songjian was the eldest son of the Cangli Tribe's chief of the Nine Li Clan, and the elder brother of the Hidden Lord "Li Songgu" and the Armored Chief "Li Songlin." He was already eighty-seven years old this year, but appeared to be only around fifty. Dressed in a grey-white cloth robe, with a dignified countenance, he was secretly discussing something with another middle-aged man in the brightly lit main hall.

For many years, Li Songjian had been helping the Rice Sect cultivate Benevolent Rice in the Mangshan Mountain Range. He was the one Li Weiyi encountered when he entered the ancestral territory of the Nine Li Clan to retrieve the seven Phoenix-Wing Moth Emperors. At that time, he was escorting a convoy of eighty-three carts, all filled with Rice-people children. The soil in the Nine Li Clan's ancestral territory contained spiritual earth, capable of growing Rice-people with higher innate talent.

Over the past few decades, Li Songjian had frequently traveled between Lizhou and Huangjiang Frontier City, transporting Rice-people and secretly salvaged otherworldly coffins to this location. Ever since Li Songgu presided over the engagement ceremony for Li Weiyi and Zuoqiu Hongting in Qiuzhou Prefecture City in his capacity as an elder, his exposed cultivation as a Saint Spirit Psionist had practically revealed his identity as the Hidden Lord, and Li Songjian had grown vigilant.

A month ago, when the Nine Li Clan recruited an army to suppress the Rice Sect, Li Songjian developed a strong sense of crisis. He decisively left the Cangli Tribe and temporarily settled in Huangjiang Frontier City to observe the evolving situation. Half a month ago, he received an order from the Rice Sect's Empty Divine Son to prepare as many ships, carriages, and soul steeds as possible in Huangjiang Frontier City.

The middle-aged man sitting next to him was Huo Dingnan, the Deputy Sect Master of Tianyi Sect and one of Lizhou's top-tier powerhouses. Huo Dingnan, exactly a hundred years old this year, was not only the Deputy Sect Master but also the President of the Tianyi Merchant Association. Under his command were countless talents and masters, controlling vast resources. The Rice Sect had dispatched him to assist Li Songjian in handling the reception efforts.

Holding a steaming teacup, Li Songjian said, "I heard that the Forbidden One from Coffin Mountain fell in Soaring Heavens City, and even two Rice Ancestors perished at the hands of the Immortal Master of Du'e Temple and the Confucian Ancestor of Zuoqiu Sect. Can escaping to an island truly save one's life?"

Huo Dingnan replied, "What, do you want to return to Lizhou? The Nine Li Hidden Sect is too powerful. Not only is Ancestor Cangming personally guarding it, but there are also several Immortal Realm powerhouses, and they control a terrifying intelligence system. It is said that in the Battle of Soaring Heavens City, the Divine Cult suffered heavy losses at their hands. What makes you think they haven't uncovered your background? They probably didn't act before because they didn't want to alert you."

Li Songjian's eyes grew grim.

Huo Dingnan then whispered, "In my opinion, escaping to an island is a ruse, intended to deceive the Zuoqiu Sect and the Nine Li Clan. Retreating to the legendary Daozhou is the real plan."

Li Songjian had heard rumors about "Daozhou." Legend had it that Old Farmer, one of the three principal victims, had used extraordinary means to drive away the darkness and carve out a small living realm deep within the Underworld. For decades, the Rice-people children and otherworldly coffins he had sent to Huangjiang Frontier City were likely being transported there.

Outside, hurried footsteps sounded.

Yao Qingfeng, still in the courtyard, joyfully exclaimed, "Brother Li, a big catch! Huang Liao has brought us a big fish this time!"

In the side hall to the right of the main hall, Li Songjian's wife, Mrs. Yang (Yang Lin), and Yang Qingxi peered through the window lattice with curious expressions. Mrs. Yang's name was Yang Lin, and she hailed from the Sui Sect. She was Yang Qingxi's aunt.

Li Songjian's brows furrowed. "At a time like this," he said, "you're still doing these things. The Zuoqiu Sect and the Nine Li Clan's armies could arrive here at any moment."

Yao Qingfeng entered the main hall and bowed to Li Songjian and Huo Dingnan. "We are members of the Nine Li Clan, what is there to fear?" he said. "The Forbidden One from Coffin Mountain is dead, and the Rice Sect has suffered a great defeat, so we are essentially free."

"Has the Death Spirit Fire that Xu Fodu planted in your body been dispelled?" Li Songjian asked gravely.

Yao Qingfeng awkwardly replied, "The person will be brought over soon. It's too late to stop it now."

Li Songjian sighed helplessly, heavily set down his teacup, and asked, "Who is it this time?"

Yao Qingfeng said, "A young man, with very high cultivation. A conservative estimate is that he has cultivated a Dao Lotus. He's carrying a little girl with a pure immortal physique, has an interdimensional bag, and is skilled in array formations."

"Are you sure he's young?" Huo Dingnan asked. "Make sure you don't provoke some unprovocable old geezer."

Yao Qingfeng waved his hand with a smile. "Don't worry," he said, "Huang Liao has met countless people; he definitely wouldn't misjudge age."

No matter how strong a martial cultivator from the younger generation could be, how strong could they really be?