Chapter 670: Calm After the Storm

The Human World

Tamed fiendish beasts possessed immense strength and could perform simple spells. Traveling day and night without stopping, the caravan's speed was much faster than anticipated.

The next day, Qin Sang became familiar with the two people sharing his carriage.

Although Ran Luo also rode in this carriage, she had responsibilities assisting Elder Zou in coordinating the caravan and rarely appeared.

The two were a man and a woman, both in the early Core Formation stage. They were accustomed to Qin Sang's attire and didn't inquire further.

The man was named Ning Kun, and like Ran Luo, he was also a steward of the Qiongyu Merchant Guild.

However, after boarding the carriage, Qin Sang noticed that although Ning Kun's cultivation was high, his vital energy was clearly depleted, and he seemed to be injured. He later learned that Ning Kun had been escorting the Qiongyu Merchant Guild's merchant ship and had only arrived at Pingbo Port a few days prior. During the voyage, they unluckily encountered fiendish beasts causing trouble and attacking the merchant ship. He fought the beasts, escorting the merchant ship out of danger, but he himself sustained considerable injuries. He had originally intended to recuperate in Pingbo Port, but this time, he had no choice but to travel with his injuries.

The other female cultivator was a Daoist priestess named Hui Wen. Her Daoist name was Hui Wen. She was not a member of the Qiongyu Merchant Guild, but she and Ran Luo were old family acquaintances with a good relationship, and Ran Luo had asked her to leave together.

"Fortunately, Elder Zou returned and detected something unusual about the Wu Clan. Otherwise, by the time we realized, it would have been too late. Only now do I understand why the top human factions had been successively leaving Pingbo Port over the past few months. We thought it was a coincidence, but it turns out they had already received word."

Hui Wen patted her chest with a look of lingering fear, appearing innocent and naive.

Qin Sang understood that anyone with such cultivation was no ordinary person, so he naturally wouldn't be deceived by her appearance. He looked at Ning Kun and asked, "Your guild originated from the East Pole Alliance; how is it that you haven't received any news?"

The more factions Qin Sang encountered in Pingbo Port, the deeper his understanding of the East Pole Alliance grew. This grand merchant alliance held a position among humans that was in no way inferior to the top sects. Qin Sang did not believe that the East Pole Alliance had been unaware of the Wu Clan's unusual activities all along.

Ning Kun's face was still noticeably pale, and he said in a somewhat weak voice, "Our merchant guild's main focus has always been on the human East Sea, and our branch in Pingbo Port doesn't have deep roots. Some time ago, Elder Zou befriended the island master of Duyan Island in the Stormy Demonic Sea, and since Duyan Island is somewhat closer to the Wu Clan's Heavenly Witch Island, we decided to open up this route. We didn't expect to encounter something like this. As for the East Pole Alliance, its internal structure isn't monolithic..." As he spoke, Ning Kun shook his head, with an expression that implied it was not something to be shared with outsiders.

Qin Sang had already learned that the human and Wu Clan strongholds in the Demonic Sea were not in the same location. The island occupied by the Wu Clan was named Heavenly Witch Island, while humans would teleport to an island called Grand Desolation Island. The two locations were far apart, and it had taken immense effort for both the human and Wu Clans to establish a connection between them. Between Heavenly Witch Island and Grand Desolation Island, Human and Wu Clan experts jointly garrisoned several islands, forming a shipping route and confronting the fiendish beasts based on these locations. Cultivators entering the Demonic Sea to hunt fiendish beasts also used these islands as their bases.

The areas occupied by the human and Wu Clans were just insignificant small patches in the vast Demonic Sea. Apart from Heavenly Witch Island and Grand Desolation Island, these islands could not guarantee absolute safety. Tragedies of islands being overrun and lives lost during beast tides frequently occurred. But Heavenly Witch Island and Grand Desolation Island had been established for a long time, and the surrounding fiendish beasts had mostly been cleared out. To achieve significant gains, one could only risk venturing to other islands.

From Ning Kun's tone, Duyan Island must be one of the larger islands along the route. These larger islands possessed formidable strength, and their island masters were mostly Nascent Soul Patriarchs. To be able to befriend the island master of Duyan Island, this Elder Zou was indeed extraordinary.

Qin Sang's thoughts stirred. It seemed that joining the Qiongyu Merchant Guild was indeed a good option.

"So that's how it is!" Qin Sang nodded and changed his tone. "I wonder if either of you has any thoughts on this unusual activity by the Wu Clan? Could it be related to the matter of the Seven Kills Palace from some time ago? I also heard some rumors in Pingbo Port that many major factions with Nascent Soul Patriarchs were reportedly involved."

What he cared about most was naturally the Seven Kills Palace, but his inquiries in Pingbo Port yielded very little. Hearing that Ning Kun had not been in the human territories for long, he steered the conversation in that direction.

Ning Kun, without suspecting anything, shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be related. The appearance of the sky-fallen ancient corpse in the Seven Kills Palace is no longer a secret; it was widely discussed recently, and the full story is quite clear. Wu Clan experts cannot enter the Seven Kills Palace, as it is a human secret realm and unrelated to the Wu Clan. Furthermore, there were reportedly signs of the Wu Clan's unusual activity as soon as the Seven Kills Palace opened, but it wasn't given much attention then. Moreover, if they were truly related, our human conflict has already settled, so why haven't the Wu Clan's Nascent Soul experts appeared yet?"

"The turmoil has subsided?" Qin Sang was astonished. "The sky-fallen ancient corpse has been found?"

"Probably," Ning Kun said, also unsure. "Some say this ancient corpse carries a treasured artifact of the Seven Kills Palace. Wouldn't those Nascent Soul Patriarchs covet it? If the ancient corpse hadn't been found, they probably wouldn't have been willing to give up just like that, would they? Oh, right! I heard that in their search for the ancient corpse, the righteous and demonic paths had multiple conflicts, almost sparking a major war that would have affected many factions. Perhaps the high-ranking officials from both sides suppressed the conflict to prevent internal strife among humans, opting to search for it secretly instead."

"That makes sense." Qin Sang nodded, feeling there was some truth to Ning Kun's speculation.

In the Canglang Sea, although human forces held the upper hand, confining the Wu Clan to the Witch God Continent, the Wu Clan was not to be underestimated; they had a considerable number of Nascent Soul Patriarchs, constantly eyeing the situation. If humans were in turmoil, the Wu Clan might seize the opportunity to invade. The human high-ranking officials would absolutely not allow such a thing to happen.

He was alive and well, and no one had found him. The Heavenly Pagoda was heavily restricted, enveloped in immortal mist. The scene in the crystal showed that the ancient corpse had appeared for a very brief time. The few Nascent Soul Patriarchs closest to the Heavenly Pagoda had just rushed over when the ancient corpse disappeared. It was impossible for them to see through his true identity.

Hui Wen had been listening to them talk and felt very bored. She interjected, "Fellow Daoist Qingfeng, I don't seem to have met you before. Sister Ran Luo actually invited you to ride with us—what is your relationship? Does she have secrets I don't know about?" Hui Wen gave Qin Sang a teasing look and winked.

Qin Sang felt that this Daoist priestess was not very proper. She didn't refer to herself as a "poor nun" but instead used "qie shen," which he found unusual for a Daoist.

Ning Kun seemed to know the inside story. "Steward Ran highly respects Fellow Daoist Qingfeng's artifact forging skills," he said. "I, Ning, also greatly anticipate that you will become an overseas guest elder of the Qiongyu Merchant Guild."

"Artifact forging skills?" Hui Wen exclaimed in surprise, "Fellow Daoist, can you forge spiritual treasures?"

Qin Sang said with a wry smile, "You two fellow Daoists think too highly of this humble Daoist. I'm not sure if my artifact forging skills will even meet Elder Zou's approval. I merely have some experience in forging magical artifacts, confident that I'm slightly better than others. Due to insufficient cultivation, I haven't yet forged any spiritual treasures."