Chapter 3499: 崔瑶 Ascends to Power

True Monarch Wan Hai asked curiously.

The Azurewood Realm is very far from the Profound Sun Realm, separated by more than a dozen interfaces. Cultivators from the Profound Sun Realm wishing to go to the Azurewood Realm would need to cross these numerous interfaces. If one were to break through the interface from the Profound Sun Realm to reach the Azurewood Realm, they would first need to find a suitable interface node. However, the power of the interfaces is too strong, and the distance too vast, making accidents very likely. Even travel between adjacent interfaces can be perilous, let alone crossing a dozen or more.

True Monarch Wan Hai had visited several adjacent interfaces to the Profound Sun Realm, which was quite remarkable. Some Mahayana cultivators in the Profound Sun Realm had never left their home realm, either due to guarding their clans, families, or sects, or for other reasons.

“Do the two major clans have no backing in the Immortal Realm? Are they unaware that the Cao family has powerful support there?” True Monarch Qian Jin asked, puzzled.

“Perhaps,” Ye Yunfei speculated. “Maybe the two major clans are not targeting the Cao family for the Mysterious Sky Treasure. Instead, it might be a conflict between the Cao family's immortal lineage and the backers of the two major clans in the Immortal Realm, dragging down their lower-realm forces.”

Chen Yueying strongly agreed. She noted that when the Lizard Race fought against the Human Race, multiple lower realms were affected. To cut the grass, one must remove the roots. Therefore, if forces in the Immortal Realm are in conflict, they would certainly not allow their enemies' lower-realm factions to survive, to avoid endless future troubles.

“Is the Cao family truly that powerful? Can their immortal ancestor send a True Immortal down to the lower realms?” Xuan Qingzi asked, his face full of curiosity.

“Whether it’s a True Immortal, I’m not sure,” Ye Yunfei analyzed. “I’ve heard that cultivators in the lower realms are quite powerful. However, nothing is absolute. Even cultivators descending from the Immortal Realm are not invincible. I heard that the Profound Talisman Sacred Ancestor from the Demon Realm once killed an expert who came down from the Immortal Realm. Perhaps it was due to the suppression of the interface power; even cultivators from the Immortal Realm can only unleash Mahayana-level strength here.”

“I heard that the Profound Talisman Sacred Ancestor caused quite a stir in multiple realms, including the Heavenly Demon Realm and the Yin Demon Realm,” Xuan Qingzi said in surprise. He had traveled to other realms and was quite experienced.

The Heavenly Demon Realm, Yin Demon Realm, and Demon Realm are all filled with dense demonic energy, which repels spiritual energy. Spiritual cultivators are not advised to stay long in these realms.

“Is this person truly that formidable? Even an expert who descended from the Immortal Realm was killed by him?” Su Jiang asked in astonishment. He had only recently advanced to the Mahayana stage and didn't know much about the conditions in other realms.

“He has slain two True Spirits,” Ye Yunfei said, his face full of admiration. “The Ten Sacred Ancestors of the Demon Realm are the ten strongest Mahayana cultivators in that realm, and three of them are subordinates of the Profound Talisman Sacred Ancestor. How strong do you think he is?”

Wang Qingcheng was secretly astonished. He recalled Wang Ruyan mentioning that the Profound Talisman Sacred Ancestor was also known as Wang Changsheng.

Su Jiang’s face showed pure shock. If even his subordinates were that powerful, just how monstrous was the Profound Talisman Sacred Ancestor?

“I heard that the Profound Talisman Sacred Ancestor is the remnant soul of an immortal who underwent reincarnation and cultivation,” Ding Xiaobing said with a smile. “Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so formidable.”

“Easier said than done,” Xuan Qingzi said dismissively. “Without a complete soul, it’s quite difficult to recover one’s cultivation. It’s not easy for even the remnant soul of a Mahayana cultivator to complete their soul, let alone an immortal.”

“Who knows?” Ding Xiaobing speculated. “Perhaps immortals possess secret soul techniques!”

More than two hours later, the banquet concluded, and most guests departed. The Seven Immortals Sect invited Wang Qingcheng and Sun Yuejiao to stay longer, and they accepted without refusal. Fostering good relations with the Seven Immortals Sect would also benefit the Wang family members doing business in the Azure Glazed Sea Region.

On Dragon Island, in a fragrant manor filled with birdsong, strange rocks were scattered, and lush trees thrived. Long Xiao and Mu Yuqing sat in a green stone pavilion, their expressions grave.

Long Shuo's vital soul lamp had extinguished, indicating that he had perished. Mu Feng was still alive but had gone out to search for tribulation materials and was currently missing.

This wasn't the main issue; the problem was the Wang family. True Monarch Tai Hao and Fairy Tian Qin had successively advanced to the Mahayana stage and had even eliminated Yan Zheng of the Blazefire Clan. Furthermore, Long Xiao and Mu Yuqing's faction had previously sent people to deal with the Wang family.

With Mu Feng absent from the Azure Glazed Sea Region, if the Wang family decided to target them, they would be completely defenseless.

“Let's go out and avoid the limelight,” Long Xiao said gravely. “We can't just stay in the Azure Glazed Sea Region and wait for death.” He was currently at the Mid-Integration stage.

“With our current strength, crossing the sea region would be quite dangerous,” Mu Yuqing said, her brows furrowed with worry. “It would be different if we were going to the Profound Spirit Continent.”

“We’ll just bring more experts with us,” Long Xiao said grimly. “They don’t know that the Old Ancestor’s vital soul lamp has extinguished. We’ll just say we discovered important cultivation resources and are heading to the Profound Light Continent. It’s relatively close to the Azure Glazed Sea Region.” He emphasized that if they didn’t leave now, they would be in deep trouble once the Wang family’s Mahayana cultivators came knocking.

To this day, he still didn’t know where Long Qingfeng had gone, and couldn’t confirm if the Wang family had taken him in. Aside from the Wang family, they also needed to venture out to seek opportunities. If they remained in the Azure Glazed Sea Region, they would sooner or later perish under the Great Heavenly Tribulation.

After Long Shuo’s departure, the Nine Dragon Palace had experienced several internal conflicts, significantly weakening its strength. Its various foundations were rapidly depleted, and by Long Xiao’s generation, there weren’t many good resources left, especially high-grade defensive materials or array-forming materials.

Mu Yuqing nodded and agreed.

Long Xiao gathered five Integration-stage elders, claiming that there was a Ephemeral Fruit tree on the Profound Light Continent, and led a team to harvest Ephemeral Fruits there.

Since Mu Feng had not yet passed away, whether intimidated by Long Xiao’s authority or wary of Mu Feng’s continued existence, the five Integration-stage elders agreed. The seven of them departed the Azure Glazed Sea Region with a batch of cultivation resources.

On Witch God Island, in a quiet manor, Cui Yao was speaking with a burly, golden-robed old man.

With the help of her family, Cui Yao successfully passed the Seven-Nine Lightning Tribulation and advanced to the Integration stage. Ostensibly, she was working for the Witch Tribe, using merit points to exchange for cultivation resources. When she attempted to break through to the Integration stage, four bolts of six-colored divine lightning appeared during her Seven-Nine Lightning Tribulation. Her family provided her with a Five Lightning Transformation Spirit Pill; providing a Lightning Transformation Talisman would have easily aroused suspicion from the Witch Tribe's upper echelons. She successfully navigated the Seven-Nine Lightning Tribulation without being struck dead, though she was severely injured. The Witch Tribe's high-ranking members harbored no suspicion.

“Fellow Daoist Wu,” Cui Yao said, taking out an exquisite golden jade box and handing it to the golden-robed old man. “Our subordinates collected a 30,000-year-old Golden Chestnut Grass. Please take it for alchemy.”

The golden-robed old man was Wu Xin, a key cultivation target of the Witch Tribe. Thanks to the pills he bestowed, Cui Yao recovered more quickly. Of course, her family had also given her healing elixirs, but on the surface, Cui Yao claimed to have recovered faster because of Wu Xin's pills.

“A 30,000-year-old Golden Chestnut Grass? Where did you acquire this?” Wu Xin asked, surprised.

“I obtained it from an underground auction,” Cui Yao replied sincerely. “I don’t understand alchemy, and if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have recovered so quickly. It’s a small token of my appreciation; please accept it.” She explained that she needed to strive to climb higher in status to provide more intelligence for her family. Her descendants had already advanced to the Integration stage and were receiving significant cultivation support from the family.

Wu Xin nodded and accepted it.