Chapter 471: Chapter 456: Purple Mansion 9 Layers! Zhou Guangxiang’s Scheme!
Time flows unnoticed in cultivation, unaware of the passing years.
In the blink of an eye, Zhouyang had been in closed-door training for twelve years in the cultivation chamber within the "Extreme Yang Cave."
During this period, because the rent for his cultivation chamber was due, Xiao Ying came over and helped him extend it for another five years, as he had instructed before his retreat.
And so, after twelve years of seclusion, Zhouyang exhausted all elixirs to enhance his cultivation, utilized the two spiritual objects "Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit" and "Cloud Mist Immortal Tea," and finally succeeded in raising his cultivation to the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion.
To reach the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion at two hundred fifty-seven years old—this speed, even in a top-tier major sect like the Profound Sun Immortal Sect, was enough to rival the true disciples.
This meant that as long as Zhouyang did not perish prematurely, he would have at least four or five opportunities to break through to the Golden Core Stage.
Most Purple Mansion cultivators, even if they could reach the Ninth Layer, would be at least four hundred years old by the time they attained it, leaving them with only one chance to break through to the Golden Core Stage.
"This time was truly perilous; never did I expect the spiritual fruit that seemed like a ’Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit’ to contain the extremely vicious Extreme Yang Fire Poison. If I didn’t possess the Qianyang Treasure Body, a Supreme Yang Body, and practice the ’Qianyang Immortal Scripture,’ an Extreme Yang Technique, not only would I have failed to enhance my cultivation through the elixir, but I would have been consumed by the poison, losing my cultivation foundation, or worse, succumbed to fire deviation and died from my body exploding!"
"Once bitten, twice shy. Next time, when faced with spiritual fruits and elixirs whose authenticity is uncertain, I absolutely must not recklessly consume them, or else I may not be so lucky again!"
In the cultivation chamber within the "Extreme Yang Cave," having stabilized his cultivation, Zhouyang recalled the dangers he encountered during his breakthrough and still felt a lingering fear.
He was now certain that the purple-red spiritual fruit was definitely not an ordinary "Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit," because although consuming this fruit indeed caused a burst of pure fire-element spiritual power from within his body, helping him refine it to directly break through to the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion, using the abundant pure spiritual power to stabilize his cultivation at the Ninth Layer.
However, it also carried an Extreme Yang Fire Poison that was initially undetectable, which infiltrated his meridians throughout his body through the fruit’s elixir, nearly killing him.
If it had been another Purple Mansion cultivator at that time, they would have surely met their end.
Even a Golden Core stage cultivator would undoubtedly be harmed by the Extreme Yang Fire Poison, making it impossible to utilize the fruit’s elixir to enhance their cultivation; their body and Golden Core would need decades of recuperation to remove the fire poison completely.
Zhouyang, however, was unaware that the spiritual fruit was indeed no different from a "Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit."
Outsiders knew that the Haoyang Sect possessed the only "Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit" tree in the Land of the Far West, but did not know that the "Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit" tree rooted itself atop the subterranean fire vein, absorbing its power to grow, also being invaded by the fire poison within the power during its growth.
The method the fruit tree used to eliminate the fire poison was to channel the poison into one or several fruits during each harvest, leveraging the cultivators’ collection of fruits to expel the fire poison.
Initially, the cultivators of Haoyang Sect were unaware of this situation, leading many to fall victim, including Golden Core stage cultivators who had their Dao Foundation obliterated, leaving no room for advancement.
Later, a Nascent Soul Sect cultivator discovered this situation; whenever the "Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit" matured, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator would personally harvest and select the poisonous fruits for disposal.
The "Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit" Zhouyang acquired at the underground auction was such a poisonous fruit.
Fortunate indeed, it was only due to his great luck that he was not harmed by this poisonous fruit, instead turning misfortune into fortune, smoothly advancing his cultivation to the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion.
Even though he realized that he had fallen victim to a plot, lacking understanding of the hidden intricacies, he could only blame himself for his negligence and did not express any thoughts of vengeance.
After all, the items at such underground auctions inherently came from dubious origins, and cultivators purchasing items there were mentally prepared for all kinds of eventualities.
Moreover, he did not know who hosted that auction, nor who consigned the "Purple Sun Vermilion Fruit"; even if he wanted revenge, he would find no one.
Such is the cultivation realm; it can unveil a cruel scene without warning.
All Zhouyang could do was exert every effort to adapt to this harsh world, using his formidable abilities to crush any overt or covert sinister schemes.
Having reached the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion, with no further room for improvement, Zhouyang solidified his cultivation and promptly exited his cultivation chamber, returning the remaining three years of rent.
He then proceeded to the cave dwelling of his Dao Companion Xiao Ying in the "Ten Thousand Woods Spiritual Land" to inquire about events during his years of seclusion.
Xiao Ying had long advanced her cultivation to the Sixth Layer of the Purple Mansion with the aid of the cave dwelling in the "Ten Thousand Woods Spiritual Land" and spirit pills; had she not been preoccupied with other matters, she would already be a Late-Stage Purple Mansion cultivator.
Yet this distraction was not wholly negative; through several attempts over the years, she finally succeeded in producing Tier Four Middle Grade Spirit Pills, becoming a Tier Four Middle Grade Alchemist.
Upon his emergence, Zhouyang was genuinely delighted to learn this news.
It should be known that the higher the cultivation level of a cultivator, the more difficult it is to advance the Hundred Skills of Cultivation to the corresponding level.
Among those Golden Core Stage cultivators who deeply studied the Hundred Skills of Cultivation before reaching the Golden Core Stage, there are hardly two or three in ten who can push the skills to Tier Five. Every Golden Core Stage cultivator who masters Tier Five skills is highly celebrated among high-tier cultivators.
Zhouyang’s ability to elevate the Artifact Refining Skill to Tier Four Top Grade is the result of multiple factors combined.
Among these factors are the guidance of Xu Song, a Tier Five Refining Master, the help of "Qianyang True Flame," the best refining true flame, and the never-ending supply of suitable artifact refining materials. Missing any of these elements would not have allowed him to become a Tier Four High-grade Refiner so quickly.
Compared to him, Xiao Ying relied entirely on her own study and research to achieve her other accomplishments in alchemy, besides mastering the "Purifying Blue Lotus Flame," a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire suitable for alchemy, with his help.
He can easily slaughter a Tier Four Demon Beast to obtain enough artifact refining materials, but alchemy requires spending a lot of time collecting relevant spirit elixirs. This is the biggest difference between an alchemist and an artifact refiner.
Therefore, in the cultivation realm, the status of alchemists of the same tier is far higher than that of artifact refiners and talisman makers of the same tier, only second to array masters of the same tier.
"Husband, during these years you were secluded in cultivation, Jin Qu came over several times to enquire about you. In my opinion, he is still not resigned and wants you to go to the battlefield!"
"Now your cultivation has reached the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion, and with Guangxiang’s request over there, why don’t we just leave Haoyang Immortal City and return to Cangyuan Immortal City to completely extinguish his hopes!"
In Xiao Ying’s cave residence, as she explained the events of recent years to Zhouyang, she unexpectedly initiated the suggestion to move away from Haoyang Immortal City.
As the war between the Great Brightness Immortal Palace and the Anti-Light Alliance entered its fifteenth year, the intensity of the conflict between both sides was increasing, and the fall of high-tier cultivators was becoming common.
Over the fifteen years of war, the total number of fallen Purple Mansion Stage cultivators from both sides has exceeded fifty, and even three Golden Core Stage cultivators have perished.
By comparing the situation to the past two wars, a life-and-death battle among high-tier cultivators might unfold in as short as three to five years or as long as ten years or more, then the number of fallen high-tier cultivators will increase significantly.
Even Xiao Ying had guessed that Jin Qu eagerly sought Zhouyang as an "alternate" combatant, hoping Zhouyang would replace their Cyan Origin Sword Sect cultivators in life-and-death battles to prevent their promising late-stage Purple Mansion cultivators from perishing on the battlefield.
Worried that something would happen to her Dao Companion, she naturally wouldn’t allow it to occur.
Moreover, she found a good reason: ever since Zhou Guangxiang went to Cangyuan Immortal City to cultivate, her identity as a single female loose cultivator in the Purple Mansion Stage attracted the attention of a descendant of Cangyuan Wanderer with a similarly newly opened Purple Mansion, seeking to pursue her as a Dao Companion.
In fact, Zhou Guangxiang wasn’t particularly fond of that descendant, but she deeply understood how much Zhouyang and Zhou Guangxiang, the two closest to her, hoped for the Zhou Family to establish a clan in the Land of the Far West beyond the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.
Therefore, she specifically asked Li Hong to visit Haoyang Immortal City and inform Xiao Ying of this news, asking her to relay it to Zhouyang for decision-making.
If Zhouyang agreed, Zhou Guangxiang decided to accept the pursuit of that descendant of Cangyuan Wanderer and become Dao Companions, with the Zhouyang couple serving as her bridal family.
This way, she could righteously care for the Zhou Family while, after Cangyuan Wanderer’s passing and Zhouyang’s successful core formation, the Zhou Family could seamlessly take over and turn Cangyuan Immortal City into their immortal city.
It must be said, Zhou Guangxiang’s plan has great potential.
Firstly, Cangyuan Wanderer already has a lifespan of over eight hundred years, and at most could live another hundred years before passing away. If Zhouyang’s core formation is successful, he wouldn’t fear guarding the immortal city after taking over Cangyuan Immortal City.
Secondly, although Cangyuan Wanderer established a clan, he passionately pursued the great Dao, resulting in few accomplished cultivators among his descendants, apart from the one pursuing Zhou Guangxiang; only one other descendant is a late-stage Purple Mansion cultivator over four hundred years old.
If everything goes smoothly, by the time Cangyuan Wanderer passes, his clan would only have that Purple Mansion cultivator who forms a Dao Companion with Zhou Guangxiang.
Such a Purple Mansion cultivator would likely struggle to protect even the treasures Cangyuan Wanderer left for the clan, let alone inheriting the city lord position of Cangyuan Immortal City.
By promising to protect him and his clan, helping to preserve the treasures left by Cangyuan Wanderer, Zhouyang would undoubtedly earn immense gratitude. The cultivator would actively recommend Zhouyang to take over the city lord position of Cangyuan Immortal City.
However, the plan has one difficulty: Cangyuan Immortal City not only has Cangyuan Wanderer as a Golden Core Stage cultivator but also a deputy city lord who is a Golden Core Stage cultivator and related to Cangyuan Wanderer as a master-disciple duo.
Legally speaking, the deputy city lord and disciple’s succession to the city lord position of Cangyuan Immortal City is more reasonable than that of Cangyuan Wanderer’s Purple Mansion descendant.
Of course, in the cultivation realm, the ultimate authority lies with the stronger fists. Zhouyang just needs the recommendation of Cangyuan Wanderer’s descendant and to defeat that disciple deputy city lord to naturally make him yield the city lord position.
Hearing Xiao Ying’s words, Zhouyang did not express an opinion on leaving Haoyang Immortal City but instead said with a stern face: "Guangxiang definitely couldn’t come up with this plan; it’s most likely that Li Hong discovered this situation and plotted to persuade her to make this plan!"