Chapter 828: The Request from Qianyuan Island

Zhu Jun had just entered the study and was about to report when Ancestor Baiwu stopped him with a raised hand.

“I have something to attend to outside. Wait for me here.”

After saying this, Ancestor Baiwu donned his robes, transformed into a golden streak of light, and left Jinwu Immortal City, flying towards the Profound Sea.

Soon after, he flew above a dim reef.

Sitting on the reef was a cultivator in a black robe, whose aura was unfathomably deep, as steady as an isolated island.

Ancestor Baiwu recognized him as the cultivator from Qianyuan Island who had taken Kuzhu away previously.

“Fellow Daoist, you disturbed me with your spiritual presence. Is there something you need?”

Ancestor Baiwu stood in mid-air and asked him this. This spot was precisely at the boundary of the range covered by Jinwu Immortal City’s grand formation.

Using the formation's power, he could even contend with a perfected Nascent Soul cultivator.

“Greetings, Fellow Daoist. There’s a matter I’d like your help with.”

The Qianyuan Island cultivator rose, bowed, and then spoke with a calm expression.

“What is it?”

Ancestor Baiwu’s voice was calm, but a subtle sharpness flickered in his eyes.

“According to Kuzhu, his Kongsang Valley is currently fighting against your Sun-Bathing Sea and Xuanxiao Dao Palace. He asked me to look after it to prevent it from being destroyed by you. I thought it would be more convenient to speak with you directly, and since I happened to see Jinwu Immortal City, I invited you here.”

So it was about this!

Hearing this, Ancestor Baiwu nodded slightly.

“I was previously misled by Jinfeng, which led me to ally with him against Kongsang Valley. Now, I am irreconcilably opposed to Jinfeng, and I have long since withdrawn my forces from Kongsang Valley. Fellow Daoist, you can rest assured about this matter. When Kuzhu returns, I will also be willing to turn hostility into friendship with him.”

Ancestor Jinfeng was now thoroughly dead, so Ancestor Baiwu directly pushed all the blame onto him.

“Fellow Daoist, you’ve misunderstood. This is Kuzhu’s intention, but not mine.”

At this moment, however, the Qianyuan Island cultivator smiled and shook his head, saying something that made Ancestor Baiwu slightly taken aback.

“What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist?”

“Kuzhu’s talent and foundation are highly suitable for receiving our Qianyuan Island’s legacy. However, to pass the trials, he needs to have a mind as calm as still water and a heart as cold as ice. Kongsang Valley holds too much significance in his heart, so I hope Fellow Daoist can intervene and help us destroy it, thereby removing a major obstacle from his mind.”

Hearing the Qianyuan Island cultivator’s words, Ancestor Baiwu’s mouth twitched slightly.

He recalled the origin of Qianyuan Island: it was originally part of the Nine Abysses Demonic Sect’s legacy, but later aligned with the Eastern Land Imperial Court and became one of the Ten Directions Halls after being pacified.

It seems their demonic practices haven’t changed!

“As an orthodox sect, my Sun-Bathing Sea would never do such a thing.”

Ancestor Baiwu thought for a moment and directly refused.

However, he also felt a faint regret. If he had known this, he shouldn’t have withdrawn his troops from Kongsang Valley with Ancestor Jinfeng back then.

If Kongsang Valley had been taken, Ancestor Jinfeng would have surely been busy consolidating the new territory, and at least for a short period, wouldn’t have gone to his death in the Eastern Wilderness, thus not attracting the mighty Five Elements Sect.

“Fellow Daoist, won’t you reconsider? My Qianyuan Island has a long heritage, and within its treasury, there’s a Grand Yellow Pill passed down from the Eastern Land Imperial Court. If you take it, you might be able to break through to the late Nascent Soul stage.”

The Qianyuan Island cultivator smiled and offered a very tempting condition.

Upon hearing this, Ancestor Baiwu indeed hesitated.

He was also aware of the reputation of the Grand Yellow Pill.

But soon, he shook his head again.

If not for the unexpected appearance of the Five Elements Sect, he might have considered it. But now, with a powerful force pressing down, it was better not to open another battlefield.

Moreover, if Kuzhu returned, even if he told him the truth, given Kuzhu’s character, he would likely first disregard everything and fight him to the death.

Most importantly, if he were to do this, and the Nine Heavens Demon-Slaying Sect found out later, he might be accused of demonic conduct.

After all, Zhu Jun’s previous actions had already caused great dissatisfaction within the Nine Heavens Demon-Slaying Sect.

If it weren’t for their need of help from the Five Blazing Heaven Lineages in dealing with the Golden Flame Suanni during the pioneering period, the Sun-Bathing Sea’s trading company would likely be facing immense difficulties in the Eastern Land.

Ancestor Baiwu’s ability to cultivate to such a realm and govern Jinwu Immortal City relied on his steady yet decisive mindset, capable of ruthlessness when necessary.

And now, after his analysis, he felt it was a time for caution.

Furthermore, he certainly wouldn’t dare to rashly consume the Grand Yellow Pill offered by the Qianyuan Island cultivator.

If he took it to Caotang for appraisal, it would leave traces. After all, the formula for the Grand Yellow Pill originally belonged to the Daoist Sect, but the Eastern Land Imperial Court took it when it rose to power.

An appraisal would surely reveal that it wasn’t refined by the Daoist Sect. If he were then questioned about the origin of this pill, it would be difficult to explain.

After considering everything, Ancestor Baiwu resisted the temptation and refused again.

“Fellow Daoist, my promise remains valid. No matter what method you use to destroy Kongsang Valley, I will deliver a Grand Yellow Pill to you.”

The Qianyuan Island cultivator uttered these final words, and then the reef beneath his feet descended into the sea. Eventually, the seawater spread over and submerged him, both vanishing from Ancestor Baiwu’s sight.

Ancestor Baiwu gazed at the ripples on the sea surface, lost in thought.

Finally, a subtle gleam of coldness flashed in his eyes, and he returned to Jinwu Immortal City.

Bright Mirror Mountain.

Chen Mobai was busy handling the affairs of taking over Xuanxiao Dao Palace’s territory.

He sat inside Xuanxiao Dao Palace’s main hall, where the table was piled with various account books. He began inspecting each item using the Square Inch Book.

Xuanxiao Dao Palace, as one of the three major sects in Dongyi, possessed territory that, though not as vast as the Five Elements Sect’s, was comparable to the Eastern Wilderness Plateau.

Especially its thirty thousand mu of medicinal fields: twelve thousand mu were located here at Bright Mirror Mountain, while the remaining eighteen thousand mu were scattered throughout Dongyi.

Some of these medicinal fields were personally managed by Xuanxiao Dao Palace’s personnel, but more often, they cooperated with local cultivation forces, only sending disciples to harvest a portion of the yield when it matured.

Now that Xuanxiao Dao Palace was destroyed, the Five Elements Sect naturally had to send people to take over these assets.

Because given the local people’s character, they would surely seize this chaotic period to swallow up Xuanxiao Dao Palace’s property. They could then blame it on rogue cultivators or similar groups, making it difficult for the Five Elements Sect to say much.

After all, rogue cultivators were indeed rampant in the Sky River Realm.

Especially after the Eastern Wilderness was unified by the Five Elements Sect, under Chen Mobai’s new policies, those rogue cultivators lost their means of survival. The more upright ones reformed themselves, beginning to earn an honest living to clear their names. However, most of those accustomed to preying on others and enjoying years of freedom after a single robbery had fled to Dongyi to make a living.

Because Dongyi was relatively wealthy.

Xuanxiao Dao Palace’s three-thousand-year foundation had its greatest wealth in these thirty thousand mu of medicinal fields. If the Five Elements Sect could assimilate these, they would no longer need to purchase external medicinal ingredients for refining pills like the Golden Liquid Jade Return Pill or the Five Elements Gold Core Pill, as they could source them themselves.

Therefore, after securing Bright Mirror Mountain, Chen Mobai’s first priority was to organize and inspect all medicinal field accounts using the Square Inch Book. He then dispatched Luo Yixuan, Yin Qingmei, and others to lead Five Elements Sect disciples to take over the fields, prioritizing based on the grade of the medicinal herbs.

“Junior Brother, you called for me!”

As soon as Chen Mobai finished dealing with all the medicinal fields, Zhou Shengqing arrived in the main hall.

“Senior Brother, there’s a matter I need you to handle.”

As Chen Mobai spoke, he took out a contract. This was an agreement signed by the Nascent Soul cultivators of the three major Dongyi sects concerning the division of the large spirit stone mine at Duojiu Mountain.

Now that Xuanxiao Dao Palace had been destroyed, the Five Elements Sect ought to inherit these rights.

“Leave it to me.”

Upon hearing it was about this matter, Zhou Shengqing immediately rubbed his hands together eagerly.

With a Nascent Soul cultivator like him taking action, if Ancestor Baiwu didn’t appear from the Sun-Bathing Sea, they certainly wouldn’t dare to refuse the Five Elements Sect.

Zhou Shengqing went out and had Zhou Wangshen and others count out a hundred Five Elements Sect cultivators. Just in case, he also brought Mo Douguang, and the group set off majestically towards Duojiu Mountain.

After Chen Mobai had arranged this matter, he felt relieved.

It was known that the highest-grade spirit stone mines in the Eastern Wilderness were only medium-sized, and the four discovered ones had largely been depleted.

Without the discovery of new mineral veins, spirit stones would only become scarcer, eventually leading to a situation like that of the Immortal Sects.

The Immortal Sects’ solution was to collect spirit stones and use merit paper notes, pegged to spirit stones, as currency in the market.

Issuing paper currency in the Sky River Realm was definitely unrealistic. Even if the Five Elements Sect reigned supreme in the Eastern Wilderness, if they dared to issue paper currency today, countless people would risk their lives to counterfeit it tomorrow.

Chen Mobai had considered what could replace paper currency, possess unforgeable qualities, and have the same characteristics as spirit stones.

The answer lay within the spirit stone mines themselves. He inspected the abandoned veins and found that while the easily extractable raw spirit stones had been depleted, there were still some fragmented spirit stones, difficult to mine, hidden deep within the veins.

Several, or even a dozen, of these fragmented spirit stones combined would only amount to the equivalent of one low-grade spirit stone. Only desperate rogue cultivators would bother mining them; major sects considered them worthless.

Chen Mobai, however, was thinking of implementing monetary reform in the Eastern Wilderness, using these fragmented spirit stones to create smaller denominations of currency. This would facilitate the circulation of goods.

For example, a stack of twelve talismans, after years of dumping by the Xiaonanshan Shop, had fallen in price to half a spirit stone.

But because the smallest unit was one whole spirit stone, rogue cultivators had to buy two stacks.

With smaller currency units, they could purchase items individually.

After all, for many low-level rogue cultivators, one spirit stone represented a reward that required a long period of work.

Introducing currency units smaller than a low-grade spirit stone could provide more opportunities for these lower-tier cultivators.

Perhaps some geniuses might emerge from their ranks, further strengthening the Five Elements Sect’s reserve forces.

Furthermore, if the Five Elements Sect controlled the right to issue currency, they could completely dominate the Eastern Wilderness’s economy.