Chapter 334: The Heavenly Alliance (Seeking Subscription)
Chapter 334: The Heavenly Alliance (Seeking Subscription)
Profound Ice Palace.
Before the magnificent ice-sculpted palace, a group of cultivators waited with uneasy expressions.
“Sect Master. . . did she truly manage to convince a rogue Core Formation cultivator to serve as the Profound Ice Palace’s guest Grand Elder? ”
A Foundation Establishment elder spoke.
Behind him stood several Qi Refinement disciples, both male and female, though female cultivators predominated.
“Of course. . . the communication talisman explicitly stated so, how could it be false? ”
Another elderly woman, leaning on a walking stick, sighed: “Thanks to the Sect Master. . . with this, our Profound Ice Palace will no longer face the danger of annihilation. It’s just that we still need to find a way to make the Ice Fiend Sect return all the interests they encroached upon, and that won’t be easy. ”
“Alas. . . ultimately, it’s our incompetence that necessitates hiring a guest Grand Elder. I wonder what kind of temperament that Grand Elder possesses? ”
Beside her stood a middle-aged scholar in a blue robe, seemingly her Daoist Companion.
And this woman’s appearance, among the many female disciples of the Profound Ice Palace, seemed to subtly stand out.
The blue-robed scholar’s face suddenly turned gloomy, lost in thought.
...
Half an hour later, a soaring sound pierced the sky.
Then, a streak of light descended, revealing three figures.
“Sect Master, you’re finally back. ”
The old woman excitedly stepped forward to bow, then looked at Fang Xi and the other two.
She already knew Jiang Ling, so she naturally understood that Fang Xi was the Core Formation cultivator the Sect Master had hired from outside.
“Everyone. . . ”
Feng Bingxian sighed softly, her expression turning solemn: “Allow me to introduce you all to Yun Jizi. He shall be the sole Grand Elder of our Profound Ice Palace from this day forward. . . ”
Although they had known this beforehand, many cultivators still hesitated.
Just then, Jiang Ling stepped forward, her voice clear and resonant: “Allow me to inform you all. . . before coming to the Profound Ice Palace, we made a trip to the Ice Fiend Sect. After meeting with Grand Elder Yun Jizi, Venerable Xuanbing has already promised to concede several spirit ore veins, and both sects will return to the profit distribution ratio from twenty years ago. . . ”
Upon hearing this, the Foundation Establishment elders no longer hesitated in the slightest, bowing deeply: “Greetings, Grand Elder! ”
“Greetings, Grand Elder. . . ”
As they knelt, the remaining male and female disciples naturally followed suit, and a larger wave of voices erupted.
“Enough. . . ”
Fang Xi forced a smile onto his face, but it still looked rather fleshy and ferocious, like a baleful deity.
“Although this venerable one is the Grand Elder of the Profound Ice Palace, in the future, if there’s nothing important, do not disturb this venerable one. All matters will still be handled by Sect Master Feng. That is all. . . ”
After delivering his brief inaugural address, he said to Jiang Ling: “Ling’er, why aren’t you leading the way to this venerable one’s immortal cave. . . ”
“Yes! ”
Jiang Ling bowed, her cheeks flushed with a hint of excitement.
Ever since Fang Xi displayed his immense power in front of her, scaring away an unknown Core Formation cultivator, and then leading the two of them to barge into the Ice Fiend Sect, forcing Venerable Xuanbing to back down, Jiang Ling’s attitude had become much more humble. Perhaps it was the female cultivators’ instinct to admire strength that made her inexplicably idolize Fang Xi, even finding his ferocious face to be a testament to his resolute and powerful aura.
...
“The best immortal cave in our palace is the ‘Minor Cold Cave,’ where Grand Elder Mu Yu resided. It has been sealed since the previous Grand Elder’s demise. . . ”
Jiang Ling walked ahead, occasionally introducing the scenery of the Profound Ice Palace to Fang Xi.
Everything was like yesterday, but their mindsets were vastly different.
Before long, the two arrived before an ice mountain immortal cave, surrounded by a thick, white light restriction.
“This restriction was personally laid down by the Grand Elder before her departure. . . to undo it, the Sect Master must retrieve the token for the grand array. . . ”
Jiang Ling habitually began her explanation, but then heard Fang Xi say indifferently: “No need! ”
He stretched out his right hand and flicked a finger.
His Demonic Orb Artifact, condensed to a point on his fingertip, shot out like a bolt of black lightning!
A thunderclap from a flicking finger!
With a loud boom, the thick restriction instantly shattered into pieces.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A chilling wind swept over them, its extreme cold surpassing Jiang Ling’s expectations, causing her to momentarily lose her footing.
But the next moment, she felt herself fall into a warm embrace, a strong hand embracing her slender waist, causing her body to feel a sudden softness, her cheeks blushing scarlet.
“Are you alright? The cold air in this cave is quite fierce. . . but the spiritual energy isn’t bad either. ”
Fang Xi sensed it slightly, feeling a surge of rich, third-order superior-grade spiritual energy, and couldn’t help but feel satisfied: “I will set up a formation here, designating an area of several li around as a forbidden zone. . . ”
Jiang Ling, now released, felt a strange sense of loss: “Yes. . . ”
Fang Xi paid no mind to the little maidservant’s thoughts. After dismissing Jiang Ling, he surveyed the surroundings of the Minor Cold Cave and was quite pleased.
This place was one of the spiritual energy nodes of this third-order superior-grade spirit vein, and also where the spiritual energy was most abundant.
Furthermore, a small spirit herb garden had been opened up behind it, cultivating some ice-attributed spirit plants.
Some of them looked quite old, suggesting they belonged to the former Grand Elder Mu Yu.
However, by now, Fang Xi had unceremoniously taken them all for himself.
Mu Yu’s immortal cave was quite well-arranged, at least the cultivation chamber, alchemy room, and other facilities were all complete.
However, for Fang Xi, who possessed the ‘Mountain Sea Pearl’, he only needed one cultivation chamber, and that would suffice.
He particularly disliked some of the stylistic arrangements of the former occupant, so he simply changed them all.
Immediately, he used the ‘Minor Cold Cave’ as the core and set up a ‘Yimu Divine Light Array’.
This formation was based on the ‘Yimu Divine Light,’ originally conceived by Fang Xi for combat.
However, by changing the array-setting implements from ‘Yimu Divine Light’ to refined ‘Yimu Divine Light Flags,’ it could be permanently laid down, and its power was extraordinary.
By the time the area several li around the Minor Cold Cave was enveloped in a layer of verdant light restriction, two months had already passed.
“I have an immortal cave, a third-order superior-grade spirit vein, and a formation. . . ”
“It feels like I can finally seclude myself for arduous cultivation again. . . but occasional diversions are still necessary. ”
Fang Xi stroked his chin, gazing at the three maidservants busy within the immortal cave, among whom Jiang Ling was notably present.
...
After a period of unrestrained pleasure, Fang Xi, feeling refreshed, arrived at his cultivation chamber.
At this moment, a flash of light in his hand revealed a jade-green token.
This was what the mysterious Core Formation cultivator had given him when he left, supposedly for communication.
Fang Xi caressed the jade talisman, a strange expression surfacing on his face.
This jade token was only palm-sized, with many peculiar patterns along its four edges. Upon closer inspection, one would find them to be numerous talismanic patterns.
“Jade talisman. . . ”
“To think. . . the talisman-making technique used by ancient cultivators, so rare in the Three Kingdoms, has finally been replicated in the Yuan Kingdom? ”
Fang Xi’s eyes brightened slightly.
The path of talismans researched by ancient cultivators initially used ‘talisman jade’ as their medium, known as ‘Jade Talisman Art’!
His talismanic attainments had reached the third order, but he could no longer see any hope of advancement.
Therefore, he once sought change and became interested in the Jade Talisman Art.
Unfortunately, in the Green Wood Sect’s scripture pavilion, he only found a fragmented scroll describing how to refine ‘talisman jade,’ but no record of how to inscribe talismans.
However, it seemed this regret (regret) could now be remedied in the Yuan Kingdom?
“This jade talisman should be for communication. . . with a range of up to ten thousand li. . . and it can be used multiple times. ”
As a third-order Talisman Master, after some study, Fang Xi was intimately familiar with the jade talisman’s usage.
He pondered for a moment, then slowly infused a trace of magic power into the jade talisman.
The patterns along the jade talisman’s edge lit up, allowing Fang Xi to clearly feel his divine consciousness easily transforming into text on the jade talisman.
At this moment, the jade talisman glowed, clearly indicating it was activated.
Fang Xi thought for a moment, then immediately used his divine consciousness as brush and ink to write a line of text—“Who are you? ”
Not long after, the jade token shimmered slightly, and a line of ink-colored text appeared—“Heavenly Alliance! ”
“Heavenly Alliance? What arrogance. . . and there’s no such faction name among the major powers in the Yuan Kingdom. ”
Fang Xi muttered to himself, continuing to write—“What was Mu Yu’s connection to you, and why did she die? ”
“Mu Yu was a member of the Heavenly Alliance. She was harmed by the Profound Yin Old Demon and later unleashed the ‘Blood Demon Soul Extinction Art,’ using the self-detonation of her Golden Core to perish with the Profound Yin Old Demon. . . ”
Line after line of text appeared on the jade talisman.
“Profound Yin Old Demon? ”
Fang Xi fell into thought: “This person was a Core Formation elder of the Red Blood Cult, and his mysterious demise indeed caused quite a stir back then. . . for this Heavenly Alliance to be able to kill him and not be wanted by the Red Blood Cult, they must possess some genuine skill. . . However, for this force to silently infiltrate the Yuan Kingdom, their objective must be significant. ”
After a moment, he slowly input a line of text—“What is your purpose? ”
The jade talisman remained silent for a long time before a reply appeared—“One day, you will have a need for the Heavenly Alliance! ”
Crack!
The light on the jade talisman flickered a few times, finally extinguishing.
“A need for the Heavenly Alliance? ”
Fang Xi sneered: “I have the All-Heavens Precious Mirror. If even I cannot solve a problem. . . can this Heavenly Alliance possibly solve it? ”
“They only hide their true selves, which clearly indicates insufficient strength. Otherwise, if they had Nascent Soul cultivators, they would have openly claimed a large territory in the Yuan Kingdom long ago. ”
“Forget it. . . it’s a channel nonetheless. Perhaps I can purchase the art of refining jade talismans. ”
Fang Xi placed the jade talisman into a box and affixed several sealing talismans onto it.
After some thought, he walked out of the Minor Cold Cave, wandered around the Profound Ice Palace for a while, and then arrived at the Ice Jade Cave.
This place was also the Profound Ice Palace’s heavily guarded scripture pavilion.
“With my current authority as Grand Elder, I don’t need to exchange for a book or two anymore; I can just read them directly. . . a Core Formation sect’s accumulation should surely contain some good things. ”
Fang Xi muttered, walking inside, and casually picked up a jade slip to browse.
Having a sect as logistics indeed made things much more convenient, for instance, allowing people to specifically collect spiritual rice, spiritual herbs, and other resources.
As a Grand Elder, he also had a certain quota of contribution points each year, which he could use to issue missions to Qi Refinement disciples or even Foundation Establishment elders. As long as the remuneration was generous enough, many cultivators would be willing to accept.
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