Chapter 496 - 452: True Understanding Base

Chapter 496: Chapter 452: True Understanding Base

Night fell. Under the glow of lamps flickering with a faint luminescence, the massive island glittered like a field of stars. The interplay of darkness and light created a beautiful sight.

The streets were bustling. The cultivators coming and going could not hide the stench of blood on them, and they all radiated a palpable Evil Qi.

The streets were lined with shops, but also with a disorderly array of market stalls.

As Chu Mu strolled down the street, he examined the wares at the stalls with great interest. The other cultivators on the street subconsciously restrained their auras and respectfully stepped aside, clearing a path for him.

The wares at the stalls were all more or less the same. A wide variety of Demon Beast bodies were on display, some dismembered into flesh, bone, and Demon Souls, others laid out as complete Demon Bodies.

Amid the clamor and prosperity of the marketplace, there was a jarring and bloody spectacle everywhere.

Chu Mu, however, was used to it. Scenes like this were the norm in any Marketplace in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World.

Here in the Demon Suppression Islands, things were actually considered restrained.

With the threat of Demon Beasts coming from without, the Chen Family’s control was at least relatively strict, completely forbidding cultivators from killing one another.

Although this control was largely ineffective, at least no one was brazenly selling the bodies and Divine Souls of other cultivators in the open here in the Marketplace.

’Great Chu should have plenty of Divine Souls from Golden Core Realm Cultivators, and this place shouldn’t be lacking in Tier Three Demon Souls...’

Chu Mu mused for a moment. The Jade Scrolls Xu Changqing had left him were all Longevity True Inheritor texts, which detailed the Refining process for Lifebound Treasures like Sword Intent, as well as their related systems.

For him, this had undoubtedly enriched his foundational knowledge in this area.

As a result, he had more inspiration for his Sword Intent Lifebound Treasure and for the Blade Battle Puppet he was preparing to create.

But the priority was to gather the necessary Spiritual Materials and Objects.

A Tier Three Divine Soul was of utmost importance.

After a moment of thought, Chu Mu took out his Sound Transmission Order. The list of contacts inscribed on it was dense. Some of the transmission Seals were dim, indicating that the recipient was either out of range or had sealed their own Order from receiving messages.

Right now, nearly twenty Seals on his Order were glowing, indicating their owners were nearby in the Demon Suppression Islands and had not hidden their presence.

After sending out several messages in succession, Chu Mu did not linger on the island and left Celestial Spirit Island directly.

Hanging high in the vast night sky, he saw the islands scattered below like a constellation. From beyond the islands, periodic rumbles echoed, and brilliant flashes of light from explosions served as proof of the turbulence in these waters.

Chu Mu got his bearings, and with a surge of Magical Power, he streaked across the sky toward an island on the edge of the Demon Suppression Islands.

The Demon Suppression Islands were comprised of the Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends.

The Thirty-Six Celestial Islands were garrisoned by the Chen Family, while the Earthly Fiend Seventy-Two Islands were garrisoned by the various major powers affiliated with them.

The True Understanding Pavilion was naturally considered one of the powers affiliated with the Chen Family, and as such, had long since sent a token force of cultivators to be stationed in the archipelago.

The island garrisoned by the True Understanding Pavilion was named Earth Demon Island. It was located on the periphery of the Demon Suppression Islands and was one of the outermost isles.

As Chu Mu descended from the night sky and stepped onto the island through Earth Evil Port, several streaks of light shot toward him.

The light dissipated to reveal several Foundation Establishment Cultivators, who landed and hurried over to greet him. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

"Chang Hongshan, Foreign Affairs Elder of the True Understanding Pavilion on Earth Demon Island, pays his respects to the True Master."

Chu Mu glanced at Chang Hongshan, who was in the lead. If he remembered correctly, this man was one of the surviving Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the old Mountain Alliance and among the first group to join the True Understanding Pavilion. It was only natural, then, that he would hold a high position in the Pavilion after its expansion.

"There is no need for such formalities."

He raised his hand slightly, gesturing for them to rise, and asked casually,

"How many cultivators from the True Understanding Pavilion are stationed on this island?"

"Reporting to the True Master, our Pavilion has three hundred and six cultivators stationed on Earth Demon Island. Ten are Foundation Establishment Elders, and the rest are Qi Cultivation Disciples."

Chang Hongshan, who seemed to have been prepared, took out a Jade Scroll and presented it respectfully.

"This is the roster of our Pavilion’s cultivators stationed on Earth Demon Island. Please review it, True Master."

Chu Mu nodded, took the Jade Scroll, and began walking toward the island’s interior.

Seeing this, the other cultivators quickly fell in behind him, while Chang Hongshan hurried to the front to lead the way.

Chu Mu toyed with the Jade Scroll. Within his Divine Sense Perception, the detailed cultivator files recorded inside flashed before his mind one by one.

The True Understanding Pavilion was nothing more than an idle chess piece he had casually placed on the board. But even so, it was draped in the tiger skin of his reputation—that of a top Golden Core True Master and Artifact Refining Master in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World. That alone was enough to make countless cultivators flock to it.

Not to mention, the Vast Sea had been in turmoil for many years. Countless powers, large and small, had been wiped out by Demon Beasts, which had provided a great impetus for the True Understanding Pavilion’s expansion.

In just one or two years, without him ever making a personal appearance, his name alone had fueled an earth-shattering expansion for the True Understanding Pavilion.

From a single shop in Chixia City, it had grown to a force that, according to Chang Hongyi’s reports, now boasted nearly thirty Foundation Establishment Elders and almost a thousand carefully selected Qi Cultivation Disciples.

Compared to his current Cultivation, this force was admittedly insignificant.

But there was no doubt that this organization, now of a considerable size, was of great use to him.

With a single command, hundreds or even thousands of cultivators would toil and risk their lives for him, sparing him from a great deal of trivial matters.