Chapter 142: Bullying the Outsider, Are You?

Thinking of Big Black’s son, Shen Lian felt somewhat troubled, hoping that Sanqian’s experience could be applied to Big Black.

“Fifteen thousand spirit stones.”

Through the transparent crystal dome, Shen Lian once again examined the black phoenix egg inside.

The black phoenix, as a beast descended from the golden crow and fire phoenix, was an innate fire-elemental fierce beast. He wondered whether his Tianyan Fire Domain could affect it.

Wait a moment!

Suddenly, a spark flashed in Shen Lian’s mind.

Tianyan Fire Domain, black phoenix egg.

Big Black’s son, Tianyan Earth Domain.

How had he not thought of this earlier?

All his Tianyan Earth Domain divine abilities had been used to draw various earth-element talismans, even the Hou Tu contract talisman had been crafted.

Since the divine ability born from the perfected spiritual root worked on talismans and spirit puppets, it should also be effective on spirit pets.

Seeing Shen Lian intently staring at the black phoenix egg, the shopkeeper in the robe immediately sensed a chance to sell the egg.

“Fellow Daoist, I see you truly favor this black phoenix egg. Ah... I’ll let it go for forty thousand spirit stones.”

“Twenty thousand.”

Shen Lian looked up at the shopkeeper, then turned and started walking out.

At an auction, a pristine black phoenix egg might fetch over a hundred thousand spirit stones, even more.

But all auctioned spirit items were thoroughly inspected to ensure perfect hatching, intact bloodline origins, and a guaranteed chance to advance to the third stage.

There were no bargains at auctions, only true value surpassing price.

“Wait, fellow Daoist, you’re cutting into an old man’s heart here.”

Watching Shen Lian walk away, the robed elder reached out to stop him.

“This is a third-stage demon king’s descendant, add a bit more.”

“No.”

Without turning back, Shen Lian left the single word and continued on.

The price of the beast was one matter, but the subsequent nurturing after hatching would consume countless resources. Failure to raise it would be a heavy loss.

“Wait, wait, I’ll give it to you.”

The robed shopkeeper quickly reconsidered and decided to make the deal.

Having sat here so long with no takers, to maintain the egg’s spirituality, he had been nurturing it by dissolving spirit stones every ten to fifteen days.

Along with the cost of defensive restrictions, it was truly a money-losing venture.

As for hatching it himself, that was out of the question.

His cultivation was in water magic, which conflicted with fire magic; a black phoenix egg already weak in its primal qi would likely suffocate before hatching.

“Fellow Daoist, I am lonely and helpless, this is my only small shop—could you add a bit more?”

Seeing Shen Lian return, the shopkeeper removed the restriction from the crystal dome and put on a pitiful expression.

“Sell or not?”

“Sell.”

The shopkeeper took out the black phoenix egg and handed it over to Shen Lian.

...

“The old man finally sold his egg.”

Inside the shop across the way, two old men poked their heads out and whispered.

“Well, it’s not a loss. That beast egg was picked up from an underwater volcanic eruption—selling it for twenty thousand spirit stones isn’t bad. Still hoping to sell it for the price of a treasure ship?”

“Exactly, exactly.”

The two old men whispered low as they pointed at the robed shopkeeper. Though their voices were hushed, all present were foundation establishment cultivators and could hear clearly.

“You two old rascals, what are you muttering about?”

The robed shopkeeper was not polite, grabbing two large shells from his storage bag and throwing them across.

“Oh oh oh, you’re talking tough now that you’ve made sales—can’t mess with you.”

“Tsk tsk, it’s different now; we haven’t had a sale in days. The old man isn’t one of us anymore.”

The two foundation establishment elders were also shameless, catching the shells, cracking them open, and slurping the contents down.

“No good, old man, your shells are all dried out, no water at all. Not as good as the juniors on the first floor who bring us joy.”

“Enough, as long as there’s something to eat, no need to be picky.”

“Old man, you’ve got twenty thousand spirit stones—want to treat us old brothers to go crack open the juniors’ hip joints on the first floor?”

...

After buying the black phoenix egg, Shen Lian left the shop but didn’t head to the third-floor guest rooms.

Judging by the foundation establishment cultivators sitting cross-legged in the second-floor plaza, it was clear how expensive the third-floor guest rooms must be.

Everyone was squatting on the second floor; he saw no reason to show his face there.

Besides, staying on the second floor allowed him to listen for news without using spiritual sense and to watch the show.

“Old rascals, how old are you and still craving seafood?”

The robed shopkeeper, having finished his dealings, came out of his shop, hands on hips, and scolded the two old men across the way.

“Eat, eat, I’m treating you to squid today.”

He even pulled out a large black squid from his storage device and squeezed the ink sac toward the two old men’s shops.

“I eat abalone, not squid.”

The two old men were not to be trifled with either, each pulling out a large shell to hide behind while shouting curses.

...

At that moment, Shen Lian glanced around the shops on the second floor and found no commotion. Even the other foundation establishment cultivators sitting nearby showed no reaction.

Clearly, this was a routine occurrence for these three old men.

“Fellow Daoist, Senior Half Dan’s cave abode, the designated area is within three hundred miles. Are you sure you don’t want to take a look?”

While Shen Lian was watching the scene, the cultivator who had sold the treasure map before approached again.

He simply closed his eyes in response.

The treasure map seller looked embarrassed and quickly returned to his original spot.

The market ship sailed north, re-entering the Floating Hill Sea Domain, where more cultivators came and went.

Each voyage of the market ship took at least several years before docking again, so when Shen Lian saw more cultivators aboard, he began to consider leaving.

At last, he had reached the South Sea Domain.

This journey truly felt like he had just been taking notes.

...

After settling the spirit stones, Shen Lian summoned his spirit boat and flew out of the market ship.

Just as he left, a figure stepped out from the market ship.

On the deck, steward Liu Yun squinted as he looked at the figure, appearing to gaze out over the sea.

Rules aboard the sea market ships forbade fighting; once off the ship, all bets were off.

The Floating Hill Sea Domain was vast, with many market ships; some people always engaged in side businesses.

Second floor of the market.

“Old man, maybe that black phoenix egg you sold will come back soon.”

The two old men who had been quarreling with the robed shopkeeper now reclined against the counter, communicating in whispers.

“I don’t do shady business.”

The shopkeeper shook his head. “Of course, if someone comes to sell spirit items, I don’t ask where they came from.”

“Tsk... knew you weren’t a good person. Last time you made twenty thousand spirit stones, you only treated us to a hundred spirit stones’ worth of abalone. Those juniors’ hip joints are nearly calloused from being cracked.”

“Exactly, exactly. If that black phoenix egg returns, when the ship docks, invite us to the city—I want the fattest seafood.”

“Too bad for that unfamiliar fellow—the Daoist’s journey is doomed to be buried in this vast ocean. By the way, what kind of seafood do you like?”

...

After leaving the Liu family market ship, Shen Lian realized someone was tailing him—the same cultivator who had tried to sell the “Half Dan” cave abode treasure map.

His insistence on selling the map clearly had ill intent.

Having just crossed the ocean to enter the South Sea Domain and encountering a cultivator with ancestral skills, Shen Lian scratched his head—was he really just targeting an outsider?

This cultivator was seventh-level foundation establishment, had disguised himself during pursuit, and even traveled through the water underwater.

There were cultivators around the market ship exit as well; Shen Lian hadn’t overly accelerated the spirit boat, which allowed this fellow to follow from a distance.

Perhaps because he was still on the ship, he dared not plant any flying insects or microdust on Shen Lian.

Or maybe he was confident—being seventh-level foundation establishment against a fifth-level, he thought it a sure thing.

Looking for trouble, Shen Lian decided to settle it.

When they reached an uninhabited sea area, he quickly finished the matter.

Soul search, bone crushing, ash scattering—the seventh-level foundation establishment cultivator didn’t even deserve the ritual of a sorcerer and was soon scattered to the sea floor.

From the soul search, the cultivator was named Zhao Qian; the so-called “Half Dan” cave abode was fake.

Moreover, Zhao Qian was not alone—he had a ninth-level foundation establishment brother hiding in the sea area where the fake cave abode was marked.

The sea chart showed complex seabed topography at that location, and indeed a ninth-level foundation establishment cultivator had perished there, which the brothers exploited to fabricate the false cave abode information.

They worked together—one lured cultivators to seek treasure, the other lay in wait.

Zhao Qian had lingered on the Liu family market ship so long without finding a suitable target and was preparing to switch ships to continue the trap.

...

As for Shen Lian, he was the target Zhao Qian intended to snatch on his way to change ships.

After killing Zhao Qian, Shen Lian intended to leave, but upon reviewing memories, he found the brothers were doing no-capital business just to raise enough money to buy a third-stage star-fallen secret pill.

Zhao Qian’s brother Zhao Shui had superior golden-water dual spiritual roots. Both had been sect disciples but, due to loving the same junior sister and doing some despicable things, they had fled to the sea to conduct no-capital businesses.

Setting aside character, Zhao Shui still had a chance to advance to Golden Core.

Shen Lian paid no mind to Zhao Shui’s character, focusing only on his probability of advancing to Golden Core.

He checked the sea chart; luckily, it wasn’t far—just over half a month away.

Better to kill him.

...

Half a month later.

In the Floating Hill Sea Domain, aboard a treasure ship sailing north, a plain middle-aged male cultivator lay on a bed, eyes half closed.

It was Shen Lian, who had just killed Zhao Shui.

A cultivator with superior golden-water dual spiritual roots doing no-capital business was indeed strong, having consumed one of Shen Lian’s third-grade talisman arrays.

But the gains were substantial.

Previously, he had given Qi Yu 150,000 spirit stones to escape; now not only had he recouped that amount, he had earned an extra hundred thousand spirit stones.

Moreover, killing Zhao Shui eased much of his frustration. Unable to defeat the white-robed cultivator, he had at least relaxed his vexation among peers of foundation establishment.

Besides the wealth of spirit stones, many spirit items had become part of Shen Lian’s collection, though none dazzled him.

Through soul searching the brothers, he also learned much about the South Sea Domain.

The Floating Hill Sea Domain had no large islands, only secondary-tier immortal cities, without mortal settlements.

Every few years, beast tides or large groups of sea tribe cultivators would attack.

Each beast tide or sea tribe raid was dangerous but also an opportunity for cultivators.

Over five hundred years ago, during a beast tide, storms from the sea’s depths swept many sea spirit creatures to coastal areas.

That battle was a rare, decisive victory for human cultivators; even inland cultivators were alarmed by the onslaught of spirit creatures.

It was a truly exhilarating fight.

Cultivators chased beasts into the sea demon domain, nearly overturning the sea demon island chain.

It proved that with sufficient resources, even sea demons could be crushed.

What demon king or not, every Golden Core master wanted a piece of genuine fur.

Later, when the commotion grew too large, the great demon kings of the ten-thousand demon domain emerged, and the matter was suppressed.

Because of this, the Yunshang Sect was secretly cursed by countless cultivators in the South Sea Domain.

As a Nascent Soul sect, the sect should bear the heavens and uphold the earth; yet they were subdued by demons—if not them, then who else would be cursed?

Wiping his palm over his storage bracelet, a sea chart appeared in his hand, retrieved from Zhao Shui’s storage device.

It recorded the Floating Hill Sea Domain and nearby archipelagos; the most notable marked spot was labeled “South Cliff.”

South Cliff Immortal City was the largest immortal city at the southernmost tip of the South Sea Domain continent. The final destination of the Deep Sea spirit ship he had taken was here.

Unfortunately, the Deep Sea spirit ship had sunk.

By extracting memories, Shen Lian found no information about the previous sinking of the spirit ship near the sea demon islands—just as expected.

Either all other cultivators on the ship had perished, or the sect behind the ship had silenced the matter.

From his current sea area, it would take several months to reach South Cliff Immortal City. Shen Lian’s dantian spirit energy was already fully charged.

Having just crossed the sea demon island chain and endured the demon qi assault, and after killing a ninth-level foundation establishment cultivator, he planned to find a safe place to rest before advancing to sixth-level foundation establishment.

A few days later, an island appeared ahead of the treasure ship.

On the sea chart, it was named Moon Floating Island.

The entire island’s perimeter was broken and pitted, covered with aquatic life due to its age.

According to records, the island’s damaged state was the work of the sea tribes.

To prevent human forces from penetrating the ocean, the sea tribes had severely damaged sea islands.

They destroyed what they could and damaged the ley lines and area of those they could not.

Shen Lian had hoped to find a desolate island for a brief retreat but found none, so he chose Moon Floating Island to stay temporarily.

Once he advanced in realm, he would then head to South Cliff Immortal City.

(End of chapter)