Chapter 406 - 382: South Bay Cave Mansion

Chapter 406: Chapter 382: South Bay Cave Mansion

The plaza was vast, but it was packed with people. Only a very small number of Cultivators were using the Teleportation Array.

This was because ordinary Cultivators simply didn’t have the qualifications to use it.

The vast majority of Cultivators had arrived via Floating Airships.

That’s right. The plaza not only housed the Teleportation Array, but also served as a docking port for Floating Airships.

At that moment, a continuous stream of Floating Airships flew in from the south, depositing tens of thousands of Cultivators onto the plaza.

At the same time, tens of thousands of other Cultivators were being carried away by a different fleet of Flying Boats.

Some were returning south, while others were being settled on this Oasis or sent to other oases on the front line.

Of this large number of Cultivators, some were here to guard the oases and supplement the pioneering forces. The majority, however, were here to serve as a population, to put down roots and build a new life.

Through this methodical expansion, these newly pioneered oases would, after many years, truly become humanity’s territory within the Endless Desert Sea.

"Yuyan, Third Brother, over here."

As soon as Zhang Chi and his party stepped out of the Teleportation Array, they saw Qin Yushan, Cheng Ran, and Xie Yulin waiting for them a short distance away.

The surrounding Cultivators bowed respectfully upon seeing the trio. When their gazes fell upon Zhang Chi’s group, however, they were filled with envy.

In truth, the vast majority of these Cultivators didn’t recognize Qin Yushan or his companions.

However, all the Cultivators clearly recognized the Palace Master’s True Inheritor Disciple Tokens hanging from their waists.

In the eyes of the crowd, anyone personally welcomed by a Palace Master’s True Inheritor was clearly no ordinary person.

The Cultivators were also quite curious about the origins of Zhang Chi’s group.

But when the crowd discovered that Zhang Chi and his companions were Nascent Soul True Monarchs, that two of them also wore Palace Master Disciple Tokens, and that they addressed Qin Yushan and his sister familiarly, they began to understand.

"Senior Brother!"

Just then, three more Cultivators flew over. They were none other than Xiao Yunhong, Chen Bufan, and Chen Ling’er.

Apparently, they also knew in advance that Zhang Chi and the others were coming, so they had been waiting here specifically for them.

The reunion was inevitably filled with pleasantries, after which they all entered a grand hall at the far end of the plaza.

This hall was named the Red Sand Hall, and it served as the Desert Divine Palace’s command center on the front lines.

The Oasis itself was named the Red Sand Oasis.

Legend had it that in the battle to conquer this Oasis, humanity lost countless Cultivators, and the Demon Beasts suffered just as many casualties. The bloodshed was so great that it dyed the soil of the entire Oasis and the surrounding region red, giving it the name "Red Sand."

At the entrance to the Red Sand Hall stood an enormous, hundred-zhang-tall stele. It resembled a giant screen, densely packed with the names of countless Cultivators and their battle merit rankings.

This was the Battle Merit Stele, a monument dedicated to recording the contributions of the Endless Desert Sea’s Cultivators in the great pioneering effort.

Similar steles existed on every front-line Oasis; this one was simply the largest.

Having one’s name appear on the Battle Merit Stele was a great honor, one that inspired countless Cultivators.

Furthermore, high rankings came with rewards.

Battle merits could also be exchanged for all sorts of precious resources at any of the major front-line oases.

The main hall was currently packed to the brim, with long lines of Cultivators waiting to handle various official business.

This was in spite of the hall’s immense size and the fact that the staff, being Cultivators themselves, were incredibly efficient.

Otherwise, the place wouldn’t have been able to accommodate everyone.

Zhang Chi’s group, however, proceeded directly into the inner hall.

This area was exclusively for Cultivators of the Desert Divine Palace, so far fewer people were present, making it considerably quieter.

Here, Zhang Chi and his companions quickly completed their registration and were assigned their specific missions.

Qin Susu and Lan Xuan were assigned to serve as Stewards within the Red Sand Hall.

It was a relatively safe posting with a decent income.

Of course, this was only possible thanks to Qin Yushan and the others, who, as Palace Master’s True Inheritors, had considerable connections here. Otherwise, Qin Susu and Lan Xuan would never have secured such a fine post.

Next, Zhang Chi and Qin Yuyan were assigned to the same squad as Qin Yushan, Cheng Ran, and Xie Yulin.

Qin Yushan’s group formed a squad composed entirely of Nascent Soul Cultivators, all of whom were at least at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

Their primary responsibility recently had been to guard a newly conquered Oasis to the north, though they were sometimes dispatched on special missions.

There were many other powerful squads like theirs on the Red Sand Oasis and the other front-line oases.

As for Xiao Yunhong and the siblings Chen Bufan and Chen Ling’er, they also had a squad. However, their role was more often to charge into the fray. Even when they were tasked with guarding an Oasis, it was typically a smaller one.

Even so, Chen Ling’er had barely qualified to join the team. Fortunately, Xiao Yunhong had long since become the squad leader, and Chen Bufan had now become a Nascent Soul Powerhouse.

Furthermore, all three of them had connections to Zhang Chi.

Of course, Zhang Chi could have used his connections to get Chen Ling’er a post in the Red Sand Hall.

But her Cultivation was low, so her pay would have been correspondingly low. Even though it would have been safer, it would have been a waste of her time.

Therefore, she herself had requested to fight alongside Chen Bufan, and Zhang Chi and the others had respected her wishes.

Once their assignments were settled, the group headed to a city situated at the foot of the mountain where the Teleportation Array was located.

This city was named Chisha City. It was the central city of the Red Sand Oasis and, despite having been built only a little over a hundred years ago, was already bustling and full of life.

All kinds of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were sold here.

In addition, various Demon Beast Materials were a common sight.

Meanwhile, items like Elixirs, Magical Treasures, Spirit Talismans, and Arrays were all in high demand.

However, Zhang Chi’s group hadn’t come here to shop. Although the goods available were decent, they were still of too low a Level for people of their caliber.

They had come mainly to eat and drink at the Red Sand Tavern in the city’s center, to hold a welcome feast for Zhang Chi and the other three newcomers and wash away the dust from their journey.

After the banquet, the group went their separate ways. Qin Susu and Lan Xuan remained at the Red Sand Oasis. Xiao Yunhong’s trio also departed. Zhang Chi and Qin Yuyan, meanwhile, followed Qin Yushan’s group to a place called Bixue Green Oasis.

The Oasis was named Bixue, or "Jade Blood." The name alone was enough to tell that a brutal battle had once taken place here.

In terms of size, it could only be considered a medium-sized Oasis, but it surprisingly possessed a large Tier Four Late Stage Spiritual Vein.

This large Spiritual Vein was potent enough for many Nascent Soul True Monarchs to cultivate, and could even accommodate a few Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators.

Zhang Chi had already learned about the situation here through a Secret Technique message, but seeing it in person still brought him a great deal of joy.

’This Spiritual Vein is so massive that even if I can’t have it all to myself, as long as I get a good location, it won’t affect my Cultivation speed.’

’The Spiritual Qi would only become insufficient if a few more Nascent Soul Peak Cultivators show up, but that’s obviously impossible.’

For one, while the Desert Divine Palace had its share of Nascent Soul Peak Cultivators, they weren’t so common that you’d find them everywhere.

Every Nascent Soul Peak Cultivator was a powerhouse capable of overseeing an entire region and had their own dedicated missions. It was impossible for too many of them to gather in one place.

For another, while this Spiritual Vein seemed high-grade, it wasn’t particularly rare among the front-line oases.

According to Qin Yushan, the Spiritual Veins on these newly conquered oases were generally of very high quality.

It had been the same for the oases in the south back in the day.

It was only later, as more and more Cultivators settled on those oases, that the Spiritual Veins were overtaxed year after year, causing their quality to gradually decline.

"Third Brother, look. This is the Cave Mansion we’ve arranged for you. What do you think? Are you satisfied?"

They were in Bixue Immortal City. Qin Yushan took out a simple Map and pointed to a location on it.

"It’s perfect. Thank you for taking care of me, Big Brother."

Zhang Chi took a closer look and was quite pleased.

The Cave Mansion was situated on the southern edge of the Oasis, nestled between two protruding peninsulas, forming a natural harbor.

Coupled with its southern location, it was undoubtedly the safest spot on the entire Oasis.

After all, if a Beast Tide were to attack the Oasis, it would come from the north.

Furthermore, while the location was a good distance from the other Tier Four Cave Mansions on Bixue Green Oasis, it couldn’t be called remote.

This made it very quiet, yet if trouble arose, other Cultivators would not be too far away to provide aid.

It was clear that Qin Yushan had put a great deal of thought into arranging this location for Zhang Chi.

"Haha, I’m glad you’re satisfied."

Qin Yushan laughed and immediately processed the registration, formally assigning the Cave Mansion to Zhang Chi.

"You go on ahead and tidy up the Cave Mansion. I’ll take Yu Yan to hers," Qin Yushan continued. "Once you’re settled, we’ll meet back here. Then, I’ll introduce you to the other Nascent Soul Cultivators on our team."

"A good idea," Cheng Ran said, nodding. "We’ll all be teammates from now on, so it’s best to get acquainted early."

"Indeed," Xie Yulin agreed, also nodding.

"Alright," Zhang Chi agreed.

SWOOSH...

With that, Zhang Chi immediately flew toward his Cave Mansion on the south side of the Oasis.

Since the Cave Mansion was situated in a bay on the south side of the Oasis, Qin Yushan and the others had dubbed it the South Bay Cave Mansion.

The Oasis was quite large, but Zhang Chi’s flight was incredibly fast, so it only took him a moment to arrive above the South Bay Cave Mansion.

"Hm?"

But in the next moment, Zhang Chi couldn’t help but frown.

At the entrance of his Cave Mansion, three Nascent Soul Cultivators—two men and a woman—were sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed.

All three appeared quite young. Like most Cultivators, the men were handsome and the woman was beautiful.

However, their auras were incredibly powerful, and they all exuded waves of Blood Fiend-like killing intent, a clear sign that they were battle-hardened veterans.

"You must be Junior Brother Chen Bufan? My name is Xi Ruyue. These two are Jiang Xiancai and Zhang Jin. The three of us, like you, are Palace Master’s Disciples. We are also Cultivators assigned to guard Bixue Green Oasis and belong to the same squad."

Hearing his approach, the three of them immediately opened their eyes and stood up. The female Cultivator in yellow robes smiled at Zhang Chi as she introduced herself.

The other two men remained silent, but they both offered a faint smile and a cupped-fist salute to Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi landed on the ground. He returned their salute and responded with a calm smile.

"So it’s Senior Sister Xi, Senior Brother Jiang, and Senior Brother Zhang. A pleasure. I wonder what brings the three of you here? If you’ve come to fight me for this Cave Mansion, then you needn’t bother speaking."

"This was arranged by Senior Brother Qin, Senior Brother Cheng, and Senior Sister Xie. If you have any objections, you can take it up with them."

"Of course, if you’re here for some other matter, then we can talk."

"This..."

The three Cultivators were stunned by his words, and their expressions turned ugly.

"Alright, we did indeed come to ask you to give up this Cave Mansion," Xi Ruyue finally admitted, though her expression remained strained. "You see, Junior Brother, you only have a Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivation. You have no need for such a fine Cave Mansion. As for me, your Senior Sister, I was living in this very mansion before, and I’ve grown quite fond of it. So, I must ask you to do me this favor. If you agree, I will be eternally grateful!"