Chapter 769 - 124: Searching for the Dao Field

A year later.

On the edge of the Blackwind Gobi, in the Central Ancestral Origin Area of the Dao Yi Realm.

Li Ji’an had relied on a Tier Three Teleportation Talisman outside Yuan Province to escape with his life, wandering all the way until he finally reached the edge of this central mine area, which the Cultivation Realm called the "core of the Ancestral Origin."

He raised his hand and brushed the sand off his shoulder; with a slight movement of his fingertips, a weak strand of Spiritual Power swept over his whole body, driving away the lingering chill of the Gobi.

Since escaping with a Tier Three Teleportation Talisman outside Yuan Province, he had spent practically this entire year in ceaseless flight and passage.

The crushing pressure of the Cangyuan Holy Land’s Saint Master’s projected figure was like a death talisman hanging over his head, echoing constantly in the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

He did not dare linger in the slightest, and he kept as far away as possible from any bustling Immortal City that might be covered by Cangyuan Holy Land’s network of eyes and ears.

Heading north all the way, he deliberately chose to pass through regions such as wilderness, Gobi, and scattered mining fields—places rarely trodden by people—using the lowest?key means to keep his tracks concealed.

The vastness and mystery of the Dao Yi Realm’s Central Ancestral Origin Area far surpassed anything he had previously known.

From the southern border to the edge of the Central Ancestral Origin Area, he crossed five perilous mountain ranges, nine uninhabited Gobis, and passed more than twenty scattered mining zones along the way, each of which was several times larger than the mines in the Great Marsh Cultivation Realm.

And this was merely the peripheral belt of the Dao Yi Realm’s Ancestral Origin Province.

What shocked him even more was the abundance of cultivation resources in the Dao Yi Realm.

The small mining areas he passed along the way were mostly extraction points supported by Tier Three Spirit Veins.

Yet even in such places, he had already seen plenty of accompanying ores.

He had even found quite a number of High Tier Tier Three Red Iron Ore and Cloud?pattern Stone; placed in the Great Marsh Cultivation Realm, these would already be extremely rare High Tier Spiritual Materials.

In the Great Marsh, Spiritual Materials of Middle Grade Tier Three and above could not be openly purchased at all; they could only circulate through private bartering, and one usually had to pay a price far beyond their inherent value to obtain them.

Even so, they were often "one material hard to seek."

He had once rested at an abandoned mining relay station and accidentally picked up a half?scroll of a damaged cultivation journal.

The owner of that journal was just an ordinary Middle Stage Core Formation Loose Cultivator, yet he had meticulously recorded the entire preparation process for advancing to Nascent Soul, methods for coping with Heart Demons, and even marked out three combinations of Spirit Medicines to assist Nascent Soul Formation, as well as information on Tier Four Pill Masters within the territory.

This was something one would not even dare to imagine in the Great Marsh Cultivation Realm.

The Great Marsh’s inheritance had been severed; the cultivation experience accumulated over a million years in ancient times had long been lost to the river of years.

Even for the top powers of the Central Ten Domains, cultivators generally relied on luck to advance to Nascent Soul.

Besides frantically raising the grade of their Core Formation and their own strength, they almost had no auxiliary means they could rely on; countless geniuses were stuck at the Peak of Core Formation, and went their whole lives without ever touching the threshold of Nascent Soul.

But in the Dao Yi Realm, as long as one’s Heart Nature was steady and their Magical Power reached Perfection, then supplemented with the corresponding resources, the success rate of advancing to Nascent Soul could actually reach more than eighty percent.

Of course, this did not mean that one could casually advance to Nascent Soul True Monarchs in the Dao Yi Realm.

After all, even if such core resources were not too scarce to begin with, they would inevitably become extremely scarce; those outside the tiny group at the very apex of the pyramid would find it very hard to obtain them.

"Not just Nascent Soul True Monarchs, but also Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarchs..."

Li Ji’an sighed inwardly, his gaze growing even more resolute.

Beyond cultivation Spiritual Talent and inheritances, he was also shaken by this realm’s other resources.

The ease of obtaining High Tier Tier Three Spiritual Materials and even quasi–Tier Four Spiritual Materials made him see hope for crafting a Tier Four Quasi-Puppet.

The quasi–Tier Four Darksteel and Spirit?rhinestone that he had spent several years painstakingly seeking throughout all the Markets in the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain without success, he was able to buy directly from the mine owner near a medium?sized mining area in the northern Dao Yi Realm.

And the difficulty and price of acquiring them were far from as outrageous as in the Great Marsh.

Quasi–Tier Four Darksteel counted as a top High Tier Spiritual Material in the Great Marsh Cultivation Realm; it had no publicly listed price at all and could only be traded through private bartering, where one often had to pay several rare Spiritual Objects just to barely exchange for a small piece.

Yet here, it could be obtained outright for only one thousand five hundred Middle Grade Spirit Stones.

Over this past year, he used the massive stockpile of Spirit Stones he had accumulated in the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain to purchase along the way many High Tier Spirit Grass, inherited Secret Techniques, and quasi–Tier Four and High Tier Tier Three materials.

For example, quasi–Tier Four Purple Placenta and Marrow?washing Grass, as well as the Darksteel and Spirit?rhinestone needed to build a Tier Four Quasi-Puppet; he even found a small piece of rare quasi–Tier Four Star?pattern Stone.

Given his current identity in the Great Marsh Cultivation Realm, there was simply no way for him to acquire these materials; only the very top True Monarch?level existences of the Central Ten Domains had any chance of bringing them under their control.

"The threat of Cangyuan Holy Land is still unremoved; only by raising my strength as quickly as possible and solidifying my trump cards can I survive." The reason he had traveled north all the way to this place was always very clear in Li Ji’an’s mind.

Within the Ancestral Origin mining area lay the only region in the Dao Yi Realm that was not completely controlled by the five great powers.

Rumor had it that the five powers had all initially wanted to monopolize this land; yet amid the mutual warfare, none of them succeeded, and they ultimately established a pact to open this area to all and forbid further forceful conquest.

Over time, this became the only paradise for other forces throughout the Dao Yi Realm, and many local powers were born here.

In reality, however, the five great powers still maintained a degree of control here by means of support and infiltration.

To the south of the Ancestral Origin mining area, Cangyuan Holy Land’s infiltration was deepest; the northern region, which Li Ji’an had come to this time, was the territory controlled by the Ye Ancient Clan, one of the five great powers, which could temporarily help him ward off the threat of Cangyuan Holy Land.

Li Ji’an withdrew his scattered thoughts and looked toward the north.

According to the information he had gathered along the way, once he crossed this Blackwind Gobi, he would arrive at his destination for this journey—the Black Mountain Mine.