Chapter 715
Especially the Yaochi's Nishang Yuanzun, who had specifically asked Taishang Dao to give a heads-up, was likely not an uninvited guest.
Before hanging up the Lingxin, Li Shangxian brought up an old topic again: “I must say, the idea of replicating the treasures of Haori Mountain is brilliant! If we can make Haori Mountain surrender without a fight, then Lu Zhenxian might really struggle to achieve the Golden Immortal status…”
Zheng Fa shook his head slightly, speaking his mind: “Li Shangxian, whether you believe it or not, this was not my intention.”
Li Shangxian frowned, seemingly unconvinced by Zheng Fa’s words.
“My original intention was simply to create more and better magical tools. As for the rise and fall of Haori Mountain… that’s unrelated.”
After hanging up the Lingxin, Li Shangxian was lost in thought for a long while before he chuckled:
“Unrelated… This Zheng Mengzhu has quite the audacity.”
…
To be honest, Zheng Fa wasn’t as surprised as Li Shangxian.
For him, this was merely a natural progression for the Jiushan Sect; Haori Mountain just happened to be in the way.
On the other hand, he understood that the market for artifact refinement in the Xuanwei Realm was largely dominated by magical treasures, even spiritual treasures.
Wealth in the Xuanwei Realm was highly concentrated; cultivators below the Golden Core level barely occupied even a tenth of the resources.
Only those above the Nascent Soul level were truly wealthy.
For Nascent Soul cultivators, magical tools were already inadequate; they needed magical treasures.
Thus, despite Li Shangxian’s excitement, Zheng Fa estimated that the impact on Haori Mountain’s artifact refinement income would be negligible.
The reaction of Yun Zhenxian from Haori Mountain was merely because… the imitation had outdone the original, and Jiushan Sect’s artifacts were being refined better, which was a slap in the face.
On another level, it was also a reflection of their unease regarding Jiushan Sect’s artifact refinement capabilities.
In plain terms, the damage was minimal, but the insult was profound.
But to be frank, in the end, relying on trade alone wouldn’t be enough to bring down Haori Mountain.
Zheng Fa gazed at the sky.
At the Jiushan market dock, countless Shenxiao flying boats were taking off and landing. Over seven hundred of them were transporting various magical tools produced in the Jiushan Realm to the Baixian Alliance and the borders of Taishang Dao.
They were also bringing back spiritual materials from all over the Baixian Alliance and spiritual pills from Taishang Dao to Jiushan Sect.
These spiritual pills were distributed to various factories, Jiushan University, and Jiushan Military Academy, transforming into the cultivation power of Jiushan Sect’s disciples.
He then looked towards the medicinal garden, where the power of incense near the Sun and Moon Bell was growing denser, almost changing daily, visibly increasing.
Zheng Fa knew this was due to the burgeoning population of the mortal realm in the Jiushan Realm.
More importantly, it was the rapid advancement of Jiushan Sect’s disciples.
This was what could truly bring down Haori Mountain.
“Unfortunately, we’re still lacking over thirty percent.”
Zheng Fa sighed inwardly but suppressed his impatience.
After all, for others, transitioning from Yang God to Corpse Transformation often took thousands or even tens of thousands of years, while his Yang God form was still in its infancy. Yet, this power of incense had already surpassed half of what was needed for Corpse Transformation.
If he rushed, others might not survive.
If it weren’t for Zheng Fa’s ability to transform into the Three Pure Ones, isolating himself from the desires of incense, he wouldn’t dare to exploit this power so recklessly.
Had he not learned many methods of developing sects and earning spirit stones in the modern world, this power of incense wouldn’t be so vibrant.
His speed in cultivating the Dongtian method was likely unparalleled in the history of the Xuanwei Realm!
If it weren’t for the threat posed by Lu Zhenxian of Haori Mountain, he wouldn’t be so anxious.
With that thought, Zheng Fa glanced at Gongkai Island, slowly closed his eyes, and calmed his mind. Drawing on the insights from his Yang God form, he began to refine and revise the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Classic).
He knew that most of this power of incense was due to the efforts of Jiushan disciples stationed in the Baixian Alliance, countless mortals, and the workers on Gongkai Island.
They had already contributed so much that Zheng Fa couldn’t bear to rush them further.
…
On Gongkai Island, Li Laoguai stared blankly at the machine in front of him.
He had been captured and brought to the Jiushan Realm, sent to the Law Enforcement Hall.
A group of about a hundred people had all been sentenced to labor.
The disciples below the Foundation Establishment stage were faring better; they were sent to various factories and sentenced to fifty years, a hundred years, or even life sentences, depending on the severity of their crimes.
The disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall made it clear that if one hadn’t killed anyone, they could reduce their sentence by accumulating good deeds.
But for those with blood debts, it was much harder; they needed to make significant contributions.
The problem was… this only applied to Foundation Establishment disciples.
His situation was entirely different.
Not only did Li Laoguai have countless souls in his hands, but as a Nascent Soul cultivator, upon entering the Jiushan Realm, he was forced to surrender his soul imprint, losing control over his own life and death.
He understood that if it weren’t for the value placed on his knowledge and cultivation, Jiushan Sect would never have spared his life.
But now, he wasn’t faring much better:
On one hand, he had to report all his techniques and experiences to Jiushan Sect.
On the other hand, he and a few other captured Nascent Souls were shoved into a research group focused on artifact manufacturing.
There was no chance of escape; at most, he would end up like the Blood River Ancestor, with his soul imprint forever in Jiushan Sect’s hands—provided he made a significant contribution.
During his time on Gongkai Island, Li Laoguai had come to understand the realities of this place.
He had never imagined that artifacts could be manufactured in such a way!
But on the other hand, he also realized that Jiushan Sect’s method of production was only effective at the artifact stage; there were many issues when it came to crafting magical treasures.
In the Xuanwei Realm, refining magical treasures was essentially the domain of Nascent Soul cultivators—the only exception being the life treasures of Golden Core cultivators.
Thus, the methods for crafting life treasures were widely circulated, and everyone practiced them:
To some extent, this allowed Golden Core cultivators to possess some Nascent Soul techniques.
What Golden Core cultivators couldn’t achieve had to be done using machines like this, which posed numerous challenges:
First, the research team had to be primarily composed of Nascent Soul cultivators.
Second, this machine itself would likely need to be a magical treasure, or even more than that!
Li Laoguai secretly thought that Jiushan Sect was being overly ambitious.
Yet, the Jiushan cultivators didn’t see it that way.
In his research group, there were three Nascent Soul cultivators from Jiushan Sect, four captured Nascent Souls, and over twenty Golden Core disciples.
The work ethic of these Jiushan disciples…
He glanced at a Jiushan Golden Core disciple nearby, puzzled:
Why don’t these people take breaks?
These Jiushan cultivators only left the factory once every three days on average, and some even returned after just one day of rest!
Their diligence made Li Laoguai and the others feel they couldn’t slack off, and they dared not leave, working day and night, resting only once every few days.
Over time, it was utterly disheartening.
Looking at these Jiushan cultivators, however, they all appeared vibrant and full of energy.
To be honest, Li Laoguai was truly baffled—having lived for thousands of years, he had never seen disciples so eager to contribute to their sect.
He felt a deep, genuine shock.
Perhaps his confusion was too evident, as a Golden Core disciple glanced over, their expression showing little hostility, only curiosity.
After all, although they had started off as strangers, they had worked together long enough to be considered acquaintances.
“I want to ask…”
Li Laoguai didn’t want to hide it; after all, he could see he wouldn’t be leaving the Jiushan Realm anytime soon, so he didn’t care.
But halfway through his sentence, a girl’s voice rang in their ears.
The Jiushan disciple waved his hand, signaling him to hold off on speaking.
Li Laoguai knew this was the元真人 (Yuan Zhenren) who hosted Jiushan news, but it wasn’t the time for news broadcasts…
“Attention, all Jiushan disciples, attention, all Jiushan disciples, we have a breaking news announcement!”
The factory fell silent.
“Just now, a disciple from Jiushan Military Academy, Huang Yun, successfully advanced to the Nascent Soul stage!”
“This marks the fiftieth disciple to achieve Nascent Soul status since the launch of the ‘First Fifty Years’ plan!”
“Although we still have a long way to go to reach the goal of five hundred Nascent Souls, Jiushan Sect is confident and determined to achieve this target!”
“The sect leader has decided to halt all work and classes for ten days!”
Hearing this news, Li Laoguai couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy, yet he also felt a bit ashamed—here he was, a dignified Nascent Soul cultivator, feeling like crying at the thought of a ten-day break.
But he was also somewhat shocked; according to the news, these fifty Nascent Souls had only emerged after the implementation of the “First Fifty Years” plan.
He had been in the Jiushan Realm for a while, so he naturally knew about this plan and understood that it had only been in effect for about ten years at most.
In other words, in just over ten years, Jiushan Sect had produced fifty Nascent Souls?
What a remarkable speed!
But looking at the Golden Core disciple beside him, their expression was somewhat gloomy.
“What’s wrong with you…”
The Golden Core disciple sighed, “Taking ten days off means we’ll miss out on a lot of good deeds and pills.”
Li Laoguai felt something was off; he trembled as he asked, “You don’t take breaks for the sake of good deeds and pills?”
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