hotmtlnovel Chapter 163: Chapter 162 Overseas Loose Cultivator_2
Chapter 163: Chapter 162 Overseas Loose Cultivator_2
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the majority of islands were desolate and uninhabited, with only a few larger islands possessing villages and towns, their populations paling in comparison to those of the nine continents.
"any island that has a village or a town will have at least one cultivator at the qi refinement realm. it's not just loose cultivators; it seems they serve a protective, guardian role."
zhou yi's divine sense swept over the island, and the cultivators there were none the wiser.
the flight of a qi refinement stage cultivator was slow, unable to cross the vast sea, providing little useful information.
half a month later.
the yellow bull skimmed across the sea for many miles before finally, on a certain island, a foundation establishment stage cultivator was discovered.
the island wasn't large, shaped like a crescent moon, with a daoist temple built in the center.
zhou yi stored the yellow bull in his storage bag and, with a flicker, transformed into a young daoist. his light descended outside the daoist temple on the island as he announced in a clear voice.
"i am tang xuan, here to pay a visit."
the presence of a golden core realm cultivator was not concealed, enveloping the entire xiaoyue temple. a commotion could be heard from within as the front doors opened wide, and about a dozen daoists respectfully greeted him, led by the head of the temple.
"i am xiao yue, greeting senior tang. please come inside, true monarch!"
"much obliged."
zhou yi made no fuss and walked straight into the temple.
the temple was brimming with spiritual energy, with five or six mu of spiritual fields cultivated, a piece of spiritual land situated on the surface. his divine sense swept over the spirit gathering array patterns, which were no different from those in the nine continents.
the head of the temple, real person xiao yue, led the way beside him, guiding the true monarch to take the main seat in the hall, followed by rituals of respect from his disciples.
"our respects to the true monarch!"
"no need for such formalities. i'll leave after inquiring about a few matters," zhou yi said. "this is my first visit to the eastern sea, and i am unaware of the power divisions here. please enlighten me in detail."
a foundation establishment real person would be considered mid-tier in the nine continents and an even more significant figure overseas, just below the elders, surely knowledgeable about the specifics in the eastern sea.
"responding to the true monarch, i traveled around the eastern sea in my youth and visited many places," said xiao yue.
xiao yue took out a jade slip and added, "everything i have heard and seen has been recorded in here, including sects from various locations in the eastern sea, as well as some legends that may be true or false."
zhou yi drew the jade slip towards himself and scanned it with his divine sense.
"the eastern sea actually has so many sects, much more extensive than i imagined!"
according to the records in the jade slip, xiao yue had heard of and seen more than twenty sects, each sheltered by at least one golden core elder. taken individually, they might not compare to the dan ding sect, but all combined they consisted of no less than thirty true monarchs, a powerful ally in the righting of wrongs between the righteous and the devilish.
what's more, xiao yue had not traveled across the entire eastern sea, so what he had heard and seen were not necessarily all the sects.
there were also records about the customs and social conditions of the eastern sea. it turns out the qi refining cultivators zhou yi had seen on several islands were indeed tasked with guarding the islands.
nearby sects would regularly inspect islands with human settlements, bringing back those with good spirit root aptitudes and gifting cultivation techniques to those with poor capabilities for self-cultivation.
real person xiao yue himself was such a loose cultivator, with spirit root aptitudes too poor to join a sect. based on his own efforts and opportunities, he managed to break through to the foundation establishment stage. fortuitously finding an ownerless piece of spiritual land, he established the daoist temple and accepted a few disciples.
"has the daoist friend ever been to cloud continent?"
"this poor daoist once went to cloud continent to learn alchemical techniques and saw their marketplace was well-managed, so i took some lessons."
wan bao felt no shame in exploiting loose cultivators, instead, he said, "in this way, not only is the island prospering, but it also gives loose cultivators opportunities, and the disciples of the sect can concentrate on cultivating – triple benefits in one stroke."
zhou yi made no comment, vividly remembering his old unpaid experiences.
"how many spirit stones for renting a top-tier cave dwelling for one year?"
"for a daoist friend to cultivate on the island is already an honor, how could we take spirit stones."
wan bao brought zhou yi to the top of the western mountain peak, took out a golden token, and said, "this is the credential for entering and leaving the cave dwelling; if the daoist friend wishes to stay for as long as he wants to, nobody will come to disturb you."
"thank you."
zhou yi accepted the token, activated it with mana, and one of the ten cave dwellings on the mountaintop shone with spiritual light.
the cave dwelling was a three-section small daoist temple with no name on the plaque at the entrance. the first section had artificial mountains and strange rocks built along the shape of the mountain. the second section had a fountain constructed from the local water vein, and the overall layout was quite exquisite.
wan bao cupped his fists and said, "daoist friend is new to the eastern sea and busy with various matters. i will come and consult with you another day."
after speaking, he transformed into an escape light and left.
zhou yi carefully examined the interior and exterior, encountering just a single mystifying array. he then took out hundreds of array plates and set them all up inside the cave dwelling.
"let alone a golden core true monarch, even if a nascent soul ancestor were to come, they would be held off for a moment!"
the dragon emperor's chase across ten thousand miles let zhou yi experience the might of a nascent soul ancestor's techniques, so now when setting up formation and prohibition, he had a reference and was not merely guessing.
zhou yi set up the outer layer formation, then placed multiple concealment formations in the three-section courtyard, blocking divine sense probing.
the spirit ginseng child couldn't wait, jumping out from his bosom, carrying a one-foot-long medicinal hoe, huffing and puffing as he cultivated the spiritual field to build his dwelling. other spiritual medicines like the blood vine and so on were casually planted in the courtyard, left for the spirit ginseng child to manage.
the ox transformed its appearance to conceal its aura, resembling an ordinary plowing ox, resting in the corner.
an hour later.
zhou yi finished arranging the cultivation items, his figure flickered and transformed into an ordinary-looking daoist, using the earth escape skill to leave the mountain peak.
between the two mountain peaks, several trading receptions were established, named wanbao marketplace.
the number of cultivators in the marketplace was not high, much less than places like xiao dan mountain or great marsh, with most of the shops along the streets closed, probably not rented out.
"there are few mortals, and they are scattered across various islands; the east sea cultivation world naturally lacks them."
zhou yi walked around the marketplace twice, inquiring about the prices of spiritual medicines and magic artifacts; compared to the nine continents, they were expensive by thirty to forty percent. pills that advanced cultivation were even fifty percent more expensive, and foundation establishment pills were unheard of.
in the midst of this, he performed the confusion technique while chatting with the shopkeepers and easily obtained the information he wanted.
"old man wan bao has a good reputation, at least on the surface, with no mishaps for two hundred years. since that's the case, i shall play the role of a loose cultivator here, build some reputation, and wait slowly for someone to invite me to join a sect!"
being too forward is not the way to do business.
zhou yi wouldn't be seen in a good light if he volunteered himself; better to wait to be invited.