Chapter 444: Life and Death and Games

As far as the eye could see, there were islands of all sizes, scattered like stars. Many of these islands already had owners, and houses had been built on them.

Most were simple wooden structures or stone houses formed by earth-gathering spells.

Of course, there were also exceptionally exquisite pavilions and winding streams for drinking games, clearly designed with meticulous care. However, these were rare, as cultivators were summoned here for combat, not for enjoyment.

At the very center of all the islands stood the most prominent large island, the new Stargazing Island. It had been formed by Granny Snake, who had gathered and fused dozens of smaller islands.

Granny Snake and the other Golden Core cultivators had their immortal caves on Stargazing Island and the surrounding islands.

With Stargazing Island at the center, the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the righteous and demonic paths were clearly separated. Righteous cultivators mostly gathered on the west side, while demonic cultivators were on the east, mirroring the general layout of the Lesser Cold Domain.

As more and more cultivators from the Lesser Cold Domain were summoned, the divergence between the righteous and demonic paths grew even wider. Despite an impending major conflict, both sides were still unable to set aside their prejudices.

This was the point that puzzled Qin Sang the most.

Neither the Lesser Cold Domain nor the Heaven-Treading Alliance seemed to be preparing for a decisive, all-out battle.

Three years ago, when the two sides first began their confrontation in these waters, they lacked sufficient personnel, and their spiritual formations were unstable. There were indeed several fierce battles during that time.

Both sides summoned their cultivators, and large-scale battles involving thousands of cultivators occurred many times outside the Misty Sea. At the most critical moments, Qin Sang and his companions were forced to flee into the Misty Sea, and the True Water Thousand Illusions Array, far less stable than its current form, was almost breached.

Of course, there were also times when the Lesser Cold Domain gained the upper hand, pursuing their foes all the way to the Grand Purity Lake waters, almost flattening the lake.

Qin Sang also considered that period the most dangerous. Fortunately, relying on his sect and accompanied by his fellow disciples, he managed to get through it without serious incident.

Overall, the two sides could be considered evenly matched.

Especially after the grand formations were fully established, both sides entrenched themselves by relying on their respective arrays. Neither could overcome the other, and the situation became a stalemate.

It's important to note that the Lesser Cold Domain was fighting on two fronts. Anomalies frequently appeared in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, and cloud beasts rampaged. The Lesser Cold Domain had to retain sufficient forces to guard the Seven Heroes Pass.

The forces sent to the Cloud Azure Great Marsh were not the full strength of the Lesser Cold Domain, yet they could still contend equally with the Heaven-Treading Alliance.

From this perspective, if not for being tied down by the spiritual tide in the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, the overall strength of the Lesser Cold Domain would be superior to that of the Heaven-Treading Alliance. However, before the signs of the spiritual tide appeared, the Lesser Cold Domain did not proactively invade the Heaven-Treading Alliance.

The situation remained the same now. After Stargazing Island relocated to the Chaotic Isles waters, it made no further advances. Qin Sang could not sense any aggressive posture from the Lesser Cold Domain.

Despite the stalemate, skirmishes never ceased. However, neither side committed their full strength, and grand battles involving thousands of cultivators rarely occurred.

A strange tacit understanding seemed to have formed between the Lesser Cold Domain and the Heaven-Treading Alliance. They only dispatched their Foundation Establishment cultivators, forming teams to roam and hunt each other in the vast waters.

Their orders were vague: "Patrol outside, and if any unusual spatial fluctuations are detected, report immediately for a substantial reward."

Yet, the nature of these fluctuations was not specified.

Even the Golden Core cultivators from both sides could not remain aloof. Every ten days or so, they would engage in combat. Fortunately, these duels mostly occurred among peers, with rarely an instance of a stronger cultivator bullying a weaker one.

Qin Sang paid close attention to the battles between Golden Core masters. He needed to assess the strength of Golden Core cultivators, so he would find a way to observe whenever the opportunity arose.

While the duels between Golden Core cultivators were not as astounding as the spectacle involving the Thunder-Swallowing Falcon and the two Nascent Soul grand cultivators, they were still formidable and affected a wide area. Observers had to be careful, or they could easily be caught in the crossfire.

Over the past three years, Qin Sang had witnessed many duels while ensuring his own safety, gaining a certain understanding of Golden Core cultivators' strength.

Their strength was indeed formidable, with clear disparities between early, middle, and late stages.

Besides cultivation level, magical treasures were also an important criterion for evaluating a Golden Core cultivator's strength.

A mysterious and high-quality magical treasure could grant a significant advantage in combat, forcing the opponent to struggle and even compensating for differences in cultivation level.

However, magical treasures of mid-grade or higher were extremely rare. Over ninety percent of the treasures Qin Sang had seen were low-grade, comparable to his Ebony Sword.

Of course, Qin Sang's insights were somewhat limited by his own cultivation level and might not be entirely accurate.

In Qin Sang's view, the conflicts between Golden Core cultivators resembled arranged duels more than anything else.

Most battles concluded with one side suffering severe injuries and fleeing. Even in the most intense duels, cultivators merely lost their physical bodies, with their nascent souls and golden cores successfully escaping.

In short, among all the duels Qin Sang had observed, not a single Golden Core cultivator had truly perished.

As for the Nascent Soul grand cultivators from both sides, they had not made an appearance since the war began.

The Lesser Cold Domain and the Heaven-Treading Alliance both seemed to be waiting for a certain moment to arrive.

Qin Sang wondered if it was just his imagination, but he often felt that what appeared to be a perilous, life-and-death war to them might be nothing more than a game to the high-ranking cultivators.

"Sigh!"

Qin Sang shook his head helplessly. After flying out of the Misty Sea and determining his direction, he rode his Netherworld Cloud over the Chaotic Isles, landing on an inconspicuous stone island.

The stone island was quite square, flat, and barren, devoid of vegetation. It was essentially a single, dark greenish-black reef. Unfortunately, it was just over two zhang in length and width, with a stone house built on it, leaving virtually no room to spare.

In the Chaotic Isles waters, this island was considered very small, yet Qin Sang had resided on it for three years.

The stone house served as his immortal cave.

Qin Sang opened the immortal cave's restrictions, confirmed no one had trespassed, then entered and skillfully resealed the restrictions. He then took out several spirit stones from his mustard seed pouch and placed them around the cave.

As the spirit stones clicked into place on the ground, a faint glow from a spiritual array lit up the cave. Subsequently, the spiritual energy within the cave gradually became richer.

Concurrently, the spirit stones on the ground slowly dimmed, a sign that their spiritual power was being drawn out.

The Chaotic Isles waters were originally very barren, with only one hidden spiritual vein, which had been occupied by Pei Qin.

It was unknown what method Stargazing Island had used, but after the True Water Thousand Illusions Array covered the Chaotic Isles waters, the spiritual energy there also improved. However, it was still insufficient for so many cultivators to practice.

In this situation, no one dared to establish their immortal cave outside the True Water Thousand Illusions Array.

Qin Sang's immortal cave was in a relatively good location, but for his cultivation realm, the spiritual energy was still quite sparse. He had to rely on spirit stones to aid his cultivation.

This made the cost of cultivation very high, but Qin Sang had already adapted to it.

He even felt a sort of relentless joy in it.

The spoils gained from fighting and hunting enemies outside belonged to him, making it easy to support his cultivation.

Qin Sang was not stingy with spirit stones, setting up the best spirit-gathering arrays to maximize the spiritual energy within his cave. Cultivating as quickly as possible to reach the False Core realm was his sole objective!