Chapter 129: The Golden Core Abode, Eavesdropping... and Peering...

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The records left behind by the True Immortal Chang Yue contained many intriguing accounts. For instance, in the northernmost region of the Yuan Tomb cultivation world, there was a vast frozen mountain range inhabited by the Ice Ape Tribe. This tribe was extremely scarce and fiercely xenophobic. Resembling humanoids, each member possessed immense strength and wielded the power of icy cold.

The cold spiritual energy they refined was highly beneficial in cultivating ice techniques, making them a target for hunters from various sects.

The Yuan Tomb cultivation world was likely similar to the Tiannan cultivation realm, though exactly where Shen Lian was currently located remained unclear. However, since the True Immortal Chang Yue’s notes had made their way from the Yuan Tomb world to Tiannan, and considering his power as a Golden Core True Immortal, it was safe to say these two realms were not far apart.

Within the notes, the Yuan Tomb Chixia Immortal Sect was mentioned. This sect had produced some of the most notorious villains over tens of thousands of years—ruthless in method, slaughtering countless lives. Yet, they were repeatedly eradicated only to rise again like wild grass, impervious to wildfire, flourishing anew with the spring breeze.

Chang Yue had recorded countless strange tales from various lands, but what caught Shen Lian’s attention most were the rumors concerning cultivators with the Five Spiritual Roots.

For example, some sects specifically gathered cultivators with complete Five Spiritual Roots to raise them as vessels for ancestral body-snatching. The Five-Spiritual-Root cultivator Shen Lian had encountered in the Pure Land Immortal City, who harbored a deep grudge to seize a beautiful body, was precisely such a body-snatching seed cultivated by the Pure Dust Sect.

Body-snatching was not something openly advertised; at least, in Wanxing Sea, Shen Lian had never heard of cultivating such vessels. Yet, in Chang Yue’s records, it seemed less mysterious, almost brazenly explained.

Before this, Shen Lian only knew that Five Spiritual Roots were tied to the Five Elements Immortal Palace, where Nascent Soul elders sought cultivators with complete Five Spiritual Roots to enter and retrieve treasures. This was proven by the Yunshang Sect’s external recruitment of Five-Spiritual-Root cultivators to nourish the Five-Color Stone, and Pei Huoyu’s forging of the Five Elements Mountain.

Now, the notion of a Five-Spiritual-Root body-snatching backup had also emerged.

Five Spiritual Roots—or more precisely, those with high spiritual root ratings—were extremely dangerous. It was no longer a matter of caution but one of utmost vigilance.

A cultivator with a perfect Five Spiritual Root might tempt a Deity Transformation elder to abandon thousands or even tens of thousands of years of cultivation and stoop to body-snatching. When that time came, all Deity Transformation elders across the cultivation world would be vying to seize him.

As for Nascent Soul cultivators… forget it. That was a game for the Deity Transformation elders; Nascent Souls were merely scraps to them.

This thought sent a chill down Shen Lian’s spine.

He flicked his palm slightly, igniting his spiritual fire and burning the jade slip to ashes. The contents had already been recorded, but unfortunately, there was no subsequent volume.

Chang Yue’s notes were incomplete, and the final part was too expensive, costing thirty thousand spirit stones with a bonus map of the True Immortal’s place of passing.

“I wonder how many have purchased this volume and obtained the map of Chang Yue’s passing.”

Shen Lian had no interest in the map but was keenly interested in Chang Yue’s insights and descriptions of cultivation at various stages. Though few, the experiences of a True Immortal at the early Golden Core stage would benefit him greatly—for example, how powerful the divine sense was at Golden Core, or the changes in spiritual power within the dantian before advancing from the ninth foundation level to Golden Core.

No wonder Chang Yue ran a pawnshop; his mind was truly cunning. The first three volumes were filled with strange tales, but there was no insight into cultivation beyond the ninth foundation level.

Spending thirty thousand spirit stones on the subsequent insights didn’t worry Shen Lian, but he feared the pawnshop might have another trick—perhaps splitting the Golden Core insights into upper, middle, and lower volumes. Never underestimate a shrewd merchant’s bottom line—that was entirely possible.

He had already spent six thousand spirit stones for a warning, making him a unique case.

After eating his fill at the tavern, Shen Lian wandered the city to confirm no one was following him before returning to his general goods shop.

…

Haijiao Immortal City was protected by formation arrays and governed by the rules of the Black Mysterious True Immortal, forbidding dueling within the city walls. Thus, Shen Lian’s residence was quite safe.

Outside the city, however, duels occurred daily, and cultivators who perished were quickly sold in the ghost market that very night—freshly harvested goods for cloaked cultivators of unknown origin.

This led to a profession within the city: corpse retrievers—not fishing bodies from the sea, but relatives hiring them to recover the remains of loved ones lost in duels outside.

One had to spend the necessary spirit stones, but artifacts and storage items on the deceased were not to be expected. Returning an intact corpse was considered a great blessing.

Perched atop a towering cliff, Haijiao Immortal City acted as a barrier, separating the chaos of the sea from the city’s calm.

Inside, everyone outwardly behaved as polite, orderly cultivators of the new era; outside, they fought without restraint.

Of course, these duels rarely involved cultivators beyond the Golden Core stage—fights between eighth or ninth foundation level cultivators were also rare. Most battles were among low-level foundation and Qi refining cultivators.

Moreover, everyone knew the local characteristics of the Haijiao sea region; visitors seeking spiritual treasures always prepared thoroughly.

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Besides, cultivators engaging in no-risk transactions were not foolish; they knew whom to avoid. When faced with powerful fleets or spirit ships, they fled hundreds of li in advance without hesitation.

Under the cloak of night, the door to Anxin General Goods Shop remained tightly closed.

[Calm Heart, Insight +2]
[Calm Heart, Insight +1]
[Calm Heart, Insight +1]
…
[Spirit Without External Objects, Spirit Awakening +1]
…

Upstairs, Shen Lian cultivated quietly. Around the room were hidden formations, and within the wooden tables, chairs, flowerpots, water basins, and stone artifacts were concealed Five Elements spirit puppets.

Beyond that, the streets surrounding his shop were dotted with small early-warning arrays on rooftops, street corners, paving stones, and eaves.

Any slightest movement would instantly alert the spirit puppets.

In addition, there was Da Hei—the black-horned ants.

They crawled through brick cracks, corners, eaves, roadside mounds, and under furniture and water jars.

Even in the Immortal City, Shen Lian dared not unleash the demonized black-horned ants, not only because of their aura but also their large size.

Dozens of streets before and behind Anxin General Goods Shop teemed with these ants.

Taking advantage of this, Shen Lian had made a business with a single, fixed customer.

To be clear, he was not spying deliberately. It was simply a leftover effect from when Pei Huoyu had touched his side; he only wanted to check the surroundings for stability and to see if anyone approached.

Once again, a coincidence—truly a coincidence...

During a routine divine sense patrol, he once noticed Old Wang, a seafood vendor at the same street corner, seemed a bit dispirited.

As a result, every month Old Wang secretly came to Anxin Shop to buy two Happiness Pills.

Shen Lian had been at Haijiao Immortal City for over a year. His defenses had been triggered dozens of times, averaging two or three alerts monthly.

Though fighting was prohibited inside the city, some cultivators still conducted covert activities at night, such as passing through walls or chasing each other.

He even discovered a group of cultivators lodging nearby plotting no-risk businesses.

As long as these minor incidents did not affect him, Shen Lian let them happen. Such things occurred everywhere.

Before, his power was too low to spy; now, as a mere observer, he quietly watched the environment evolve.

At dawn, the morning sun rose, and Shen Lian awoke from cultivation. After stretching, he opened the shop door.

His shop was quite remote, located in the southeast corner of Haijiao Immortal City. To appear normal, he sent golem talisman people to visit a few times each month.

Otherwise, with no customers for so long, the shop’s survival would seem suspicious.

These golems also patronized other shops on the street, preventing those businesses from closing and thus avoiding undue attention on Shen Lian’s.

None of his fellow cultivators on the street suspected Shen Lian bore the entire burden.

After opening, he sat behind the counter, took a Tendon Refining Pill, and continued cultivating.

Having taken many doses, Shen Lian no longer flushed or harbored desires for divine maidens.

Another day passed without interruption, yet with zero income.

That night, the talisman golems were sent out again in batches to sell pills. With the current boom, it was wise to earn more spirit stones before the Wanxing Sea sect wars ended, as earnings would then diminish.

The ghost market remained bustling, accompanied by continuous bird calls.

Suddenly, news spread within the ghost market: a Golden Core True Immortal’s abandoned cave residence had been discovered near Haijiao Immortal City.

The source was unknown—somewhere on a black canopy boat—but the rumor quickly spread.

Every cultivator coming to Haijiao Immortal City for spiritual treasures would never miss visiting the ghost market.

Messages flew everywhere.

Even the talisman golems, who had changed identities multiple times and dispensed pills several times, found these rumors filling their ears.

In the morning, Shen Lian, concealing his aura to the ninth level of Qi refining, went to the dock market to scavenge scraps, then retrieved the talisman golems.

The dock market stretched along the waterfront, filled with all manner of miscellaneous items.

“True Immortal Yingshui’s cave is five thousand li away on Yellow Sand Island. Someone discovered the protective formations outside the cave.”

“That’s Yingshui True Immortal! The Xuanhai Sect invited him to join as a guest elder, but he politely declined.”

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“Didn’t expect Yingshui True Immortal to have passed away near our Haijiao Immortal City.”

“Such a pity. Never heard Yingshui True Immortal had a Dao companion; he spent his life alone until passing. Truly a sorrow.”

…

“Yingshui True Immortal was an extraordinary man, rising from a scattered cultivator to Golden Core. A model for us all.”

The news of the Golden Core True Immortal’s cave spread among cultivators at the dock, their eyes shining with longing.

Shen Lian stood in the water, retrieving his jade talisman, also buying some spiritually radiant shells before heading back toward the city.

He walked slowly, his divine sense entering the storage bags brought back by the golems to check the spirit stones collected.

Among over six thousand spirit stones, a dozen bore strange residual energies.

Typical.

Shen Lian was no longer surprised by such things.

Perhaps it was the cultivation world’s nature—too many cultivators eager to make extra income.

After cleansing the spirit stones, Shen Lian safely stored them in his storage bracelet and hurried back to the shop.

Today, the cave of True Immortal Yingshui was the hottest topic in Haijiao Immortal City.

“True Immortal Yingshui?”

Back at the shop, Shen Lian didn’t even open the door, heading straight upstairs to retrieve his pill furnace.

Opening the lid, he tossed a spiritual yam inside, preparing to continue refining first-grade pills.

That night, the alert formations at various street corners were triggered multiple times. The streets and rooftops saw several times more passing figures than previous nights.

Divine senses swept across the area, even into Shen Lian’s cultivation room upstairs.

Yet he paid no mind, locking onto a target cultivator the moment the divine sense passed.

An old man with high cheekbones and a bald head was quietly sipping tea on the second floor of a shop in the next street.

“Senior Yun, this place is a remote part of the Immortal City, inhabited mostly by Qi refining cultivators eking out a living.”

In the room was a young man in blue.

“Hmm.”

The bald old man nodded. “Not bad. I just checked with divine sense; the surrounding streets are all insignificant Qi refining ants.”

“You are mighty, Senior. I admire you.”

The young man smiled. “I invited you here, Senior Yun, to scare the Yang family, then I will…”

“You’ll play the hero, rescuing the damsel and carrying that Yang family girl away?” Yun said with a half-smile, half-smirk.

The youth was unbothered. “My family elders ordered me to take down that woman from the Yang family. I have no choice. I ask Senior Yun for righteous help. Afterward, I will report this to my family elders.”

…

After confirming no threat, Shen Lian slowly withdrew his divine sense.

He had watched countless such absurd events over the past year.

When his divine sense was weak, he had been anxious and troubled, but now, with power nearing that of a False Pill True Immortal, he was equally vexed.

He wiped his spiritual beast bracelet. Da Hei appeared, and a concealment talisman lit up on its body.

Da Hei understood why Shen Lian released him, quickly crawling downstairs and burrowing into the tiles to meet his kin.

Soon, Da Hei returned and slipped back into the bracelet.

Shen Lian’s divine sense entered the bracelet. “Any movement?”

Every few days, he sent Da Hei out to rendezvous with the black-horned ants, ensuring no threats lurked nearby.

Within the Immortal City, plants, houses, mountains, and ponds were plentiful, so were insects and ants. The black-horned ants were inconspicuous among them.

“Master... my kin say something has been eating many of them.”

The black-horned ants had many natural enemies, including other ant clans that preyed on them.

Shen Lian paid no mind to the losses. Over the years, countless black-horned ants had been sacrificed; losing a few was nothing.

…

Elsewhere in the Immortal City, within a large wooden beam hollowed out by worms, a chubby, soft, blue-green larva was snoring peacefully.

(End of chapter)