Chapter 1189: Victory's Fruit

**Fantasy Novel**

The Blood Refinement Realm, a vast entity that had drifted through the starry sky for untold millennia, finally came to a halt. From the starry expanse, it appeared to be stationed not far from Kyushu. However, this "not far" was merely a relative distance. In reality, the vast expanse between the two realms remained an insurmountable barrier for Kyushu cultivators, who currently lacked the ability to traverse the starry sky physically. To return to Kyushu, they still needed to rely on the Heavenly Secret Pillars for teleportation.

With matters in the Blood Refinement Realm largely settled, Kyushu cultivators who had participated in the expedition began their journey home. Despite the considerable casualties suffered by various sects, both large and small, during this expedition, every surviving cultivator earned an unimaginable amount of military merits and reaped immense profits.

Whenever Kyushu cultivators earned military merits, their immediate thought was to exchange them for spiritual talismans to aid their cultivation. For this, they had to return to Kyushu. While the spiritual energy in the Blood Refinement Realm was abundant, utilizing spiritual talismans was still more efficient for accelerating cultivation. Moreover, the realm's spiritual energy would not maintain its current concentration indefinitely; as its essence depleted and its world level declined, the spiritual energy would become increasingly sparse. The Blood Refinement Realm's ultimate fate would likely be to become a realm with diminished spiritual energy. While this wouldn't significantly impact the survival of mortals, cultivators who remained there for extended periods would find their progress extremely slow. Eventually, relying solely on the realm's inherent essence, it might no longer be capable of nurturing even Cloud River Realm cultivators.

From now on, the Blood Refinement Realm would exist as a subsidiary realm of Kyushu. Its primary purpose would be to continuously supply suitable cultivation talents to the various major Dao Palaces of Kyushu. This information was naturally disseminated by the sects. There was no need for deliberate propagation; it quickly spread by word of mouth during casual conversations, becoming common knowledge since it was no secret.

Gradually, most had departed. Finally, only Zongmen, Lan Qiyue, Shui Yuan, the Sect Master, and several Divine Sea Realm cultivators remained, along with Amber and Yiyi.

The Sect Master looked at Pang Huanyin. "Junior Sister Pang, when you return to Kyushu, remember to ask Heavenly Secret to bestow a Heavenly Secret Pillar. Only then will future travel between the two realms be convenient." Currently, in the Blood Refinement Realm, most individuals performing similar reconnaissance tasks were Pang Huanyin, as her divine sense granted her a unique advantage in such endeavors.

Zongmen activated his power and condensed a clone. He equipped the clone with the Scarlet Dragon Battle Armor and a sword gourd, then split into two directions, beginning to survey the surrounding 100,000 li area. With Zongmen's current abilities, truly nothing in the entire Blood Refinement Realm could pose a threat to him. After completing the survey of the Crimson Blood Sect's territory, he proceeded to survey Ziwei Lu Ye's territory. The situations for other Dao Palaces were largely similar.

Zongmen replied, "It's no trouble at all."

Jiali Cave Heaven became empty. The Blood Race had all perished, and the Kyushu cultivators had departed, leaving Zongmen alone. Ever since Zongmen ascended to the Divine Sea Realm, Yiyi and Amber became more urgent about their cultivation. They didn't want Zongmen to widen the gap between them too much. Now just a step away from the Divine Sea Realm themselves, they clearly intended to return to Kyushu to prepare for their ascension. Perhaps the next time Yiyi and Amber were seen, they would have undergone a complete transformation. Of course, this largely depended on Amber, as Yiyi was Amber's spirit companion, and her strength was directly tied to Amber's growth.

For a Dao Palace to endure, it must possess a sustainable reserve of power for continuous development. If such reserves experienced a discontinuity at any stage, it would be a significant blow to the Dao Palace's growth. These human settlements would, in the future, serve as vital sources of talent for the Crimson Blood Sect. Zongmen smiled and said, "You've toiled your whole life, Elder. Please allow your disciple to handle such minor matters."

Lu Ye's main body and clone worked together, carefully traversing every mountain. He recorded the terrain and various discovered mineral deposits and medicinal herb reserves in his mind, while also noting the locations of human settlements within that area. The Blood Refinement Realm was now peaceful. With no Blood Race left to stir up trouble, the remaining human population lived in peace and contentment, enjoying pleasant lives.

Once Lan Qiyue officially becomes a disciple of the Crimson Blood Sect, the sect will boast seven Divine Sea Realm cultivators. If Yun Xuechu is also included, that number rises to eight! This figure is already quite substantial. Within the Kyushu Realm, any Dao Palace establishing a sect on Kyushu's home ground had the right to respectfully request Heavenly Secret to bestow a Heavenly Secret Pillar. This outcome was also derived by Little Four, representing the best possible fate for the Blood Refinement Realm. In reality, Little Four had the full capability to completely drain the realm's essence, but doing so would render the entire realm desolate, leading to the utter annihilation of all humans living there.

Moreover, various precious medicinal herbs growing deep within the mountains and ancient forests had been largely ignored by the Blood Race. However, these resources could be put to good use by Kyushu cultivators.

After several more days of waiting at Jiali Cave Heaven, the Heavenly Secret Pillar suddenly reacted. Immediately after, several figures appeared. It took him a full half-month of effort to return to Jiali Cave Heaven. Zongmen was to remain, and he wasn't the only one. Representatives from other major Dao Palaces had also stayed behind. This was because each had claimed a territory within the Blood Refinement Realm, and previously, while busy fighting the Blood Race, they hadn't thoroughly surveyed the resources their respective territories held.

Cultivators from any Dao Palace could now easily travel between Kyushu and the Blood Refinement Realm via the Heavenly Secret Pillars. Naturally, this would require a certain cost. All surveyed information was imprinted in his mind. The next step was to draw an accurate map, a task that was not difficult for him. Even if he hadn't done it before, he had at least seen what a detailed map looked like.

Moreover, both Ju Jia and Hua Ci were steadily progressing towards the Divine Sea Realm. The Crimson Blood Sect had recently seen a surge of Cloud River Realm cultivators, and while True Lake Realm cultivators were still few, their numbers would surely grow over time. These newly emerged True Lake cultivators would also continue striving towards the Divine Sea Realm. All these matters required someone to prepare them in advance. The two realms were close enough that humans on Kyushu could see the Blood Refinement Realm simply by looking up.

The Sect Master looked at Zongmen and said, "I can also do this. If I stay here, you can return to Kyushu first—" Many mineral deposits were hidden deep underground; their intricacies were invisible to the naked eye, but a sweep of divine sense made the situation clear at a glance. The Divine Sea Realm cultivator nodded solemnly. "I've noted the survey of Lu Ye's territory. I'll have to trouble Senior Brother with that as well." As long as Zongmen completed the preliminary preparations, he would have nothing else to do. The Dao Palace would send personnel to be permanently stationed at Jiali Cave Heaven, to facilitate the future recruitment of disciples from the Blood Refinement Realm. He had been looking forward to this for a long time.

When it was first created, it was given two missions by the cultivators of the pre-Kyushu era: to protect Kyushu and to protect humanity. Naturally, it would never harm humanity; even the humans in the Blood Refinement Realm fell within its scope of protection. The Sect Master was too old for the task, and Shui Yuan needed to remain at the Crimson Blood Sect's main branch, so it was not ideal for her to stay either. As one of the sect's only eight Divine Sea Realm cultivators, the responsibility naturally fell upon Zongmen.

Soon, everyone departed. This time, even Amber and Yiyi did not stay behind. "Since you have this intention, I won't argue with you," the Sect Master said, nodding. "I will try my best to dispatch personnel to replace you as soon as possible."

Kyushu cultivators returned one after another. The Crimson Blood Sect did not need to go through such trouble, as Jiali Cave Heaven was already established. Leading them was the Divine Sea Realm cultivator who had returned. He had clearly already applied for a Heavenly Secret Pillar. His task now was to head to Ziwei Lu Ye's territory, set up the Heavenly Secret Pillar there, and then cultivators from Ziwei Lu Ye could directly teleport there to establish a branch sect. Lan Qiyue also left with them. This time, heading to Kyushu's main sect, she would be formally admitted into the Crimson Blood Sect as a disciple.

Now that the conflict in the Blood Refinement Realm had ceased, it was naturally time to conduct a thorough investigation. As for how Zongmen knew, it was naturally because Little Four had told him. However, the current situation was different. All major Dao Palaces in Kyushu would establish branch sects in the Blood Refinement Realm. Relying solely on the existing hundred-plus Heavenly Secret Pillars was insufficient for convenient travel. Therefore, Little Four made an exception, allowing all Kyushu Dao Palaces to apply for an additional Heavenly Secret Pillar. Once these new pillars were set up at the branch sect locations, future travel between Kyushu's home ground and the Blood Refinement Realm would become very convenient. In the past, each Dao Palace was typically allowed only one such pillar. Compared to when the Crimson Blood Sect was almost removed from Heavenly Secret's records, the current Crimson Blood Sect now barely resembled what a major Dao Palace should be. For Kyushu cultivators, these were indispensable resources that should certainly be put to good use.

Within Kyushu, in the Heavenly Secret Halls of various major Dao Palaces, the Heavenly Secret Pillars vibrated. Familiar figures returned, their auras emerging. The cultivators who had remained behind hurried to investigate and welcome the returning heroes. If the previous teleportations of Kyushu cultivators into the Blood Refinement Realm via Heavenly Secret Pillars had consumed Kyushu's essence to some extent, then this time, the cost of returning from the Blood Refinement Realm to Kyushu, while not negligible, was significantly reduced.

Additionally, during the survey, a map needed to be drawn. The territory claimed by the Crimson Blood Sect this time was vast; without an accurate map for guidance, it would eventually prove inconvenient for Crimson Blood Sect cultivators to mine resources or undertake other tasks in the Blood Refinement Realm.