Chapter 209 - 205: The Seas Change into Mulberry Fields, the Desolate Abyss Was Once the South Sea

Du Youqian observed coolly as the team of Foundation Establishment Cultivators scrambled to surround the Core Formation Demon Zombie. Several of them were injured by the creature’s Divine Abilities the moment they engaged.

In the end, Fang Hua had to act decisively. She used her piercing Sword Intent to shred the Demon Zombie’s internal structure, finally subduing the creature.

Du Youqian’s squad had won its first battle.

The process, however, was enough to make Du Youqian’s eyelids twitch.

Their performance was far from satisfactory.

When he had just reached Foundation Establishment, he had slain a Core Formation Demon Zombie all by himself, relying only on his sword and a Grand Array.

But these people? A group of ten well-equipped, late-stage and Perfection Foundation Establishment Cultivators, yet they made a complete spectacle of themselves against a single Core Formation Demon Zombie.

If Fang Hua hadn’t intervened so decisively, who knows how many more would have been injured—or even killed.

’Did they think I was bored and decide to put on a little comedy to entertain me?’

Du Youqian, however, didn’t say anything harsh.

It was their own lives on the line, after all.

If they valued their own lives and didn’t want to perish when they inevitably faced stronger Demon Zombies, they would have the sense to start training immediately.

And if they didn’t... well, Du Youqian certainly wasn’t going to teach them to.

Using them as cannon fodder would work just as well.

After the battle, the only spoil of war was a single Earth Attribute Demon Core.

According to procedure, any spoils acquired by the teams under the various Core Formation cultivators were to be pooled and then distributed based on value.

Every Core Formation-level combatant and every Foundation Establishment Cultivator was entitled to a share.

In-demand items like Demon Cores could be bid on with Spiritual Jade by the garrison cultivators, with bidding priority determined by contribution.

The resulting Spiritual Jade would then be distributed proportionally.

~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Desolate Abyss, resources were scarce, the cultivation environment was harsh, and entertainment was nonexistent.

When he wasn’t practicing his Secret Techniques, Du Youqian could only chat with Fang Hua to stave off the boredom.

After getting to know the other Core Formation cultivators, he found a new form of entertainment: sparring with them.

The Core Formation Masters were eager to test his mettle. Chongxu Master of the Taihe Sect, in particular, perhaps harbored some malicious desire to see him fail, so he always agreed whenever Du Youqian proposed a spar.

However, after they had sparred a few times, he found it difficult to get anyone to agree to another match.

Everyone had discovered that Du Youqian was no pushover they could easily manipulate.

Du Youqian had lost the first few spars, it was true.

But he had also demonstrated remarkable strength.

His fierce Sword Intent, flexible tactics, and uncanny grasp of the battlefield were enough to send shivers down their spines.

Losing to him by even a single move out of carelessness would be an unbearable humiliation.

Du Youqian’s Outer Pill was a particularly nasty trump card.

If Du Youqian decided to go all out against them, heedless of the personal cost, the other two Masters—aside from Chongxu Master of the Taihe Sect and Master Wan Shi of the Chongzhen Sect—weren’t confident they could escape unscathed.

Once the sparring ceased, Du Youqian leveraged the camaraderie they had forged through combat and began visiting them frequently.

It wasn’t just for idle chatter. He would also exchange insights on cultivation and discuss various Cultivation Techniques with these Core Formation Masters, trading anecdotes and little-known tales he had read in sect records.

At first, the Core Formation Masters were skeptical. ’A Foundation Establishment Cultivator wants to discuss cultivation insights with me? He must be trying to leech off my experience.’

But they soon discovered that Du Youqian possessed remarkable skill in the Array Dao, Alchemy Dao, Artifact Refining Dao, and Divination Dao. He was able to offer them fresh perspectives and new knowledge. Furthermore, he was incredibly well-read, able to recall countless historical accounts and secret tales with ease.

Thus, their exchanges became genuinely meaningful.

Eventually, Du Youqian even began organizing small symposiums for the five of them, modeled after the "salons" of old, focusing on one or two small topics each time.

Master Wan Shi and Lotus Leaf Master, the two women in the group, were particularly fond of these gatherings and would sometimes even bring along their favored Foundation Establishment juniors.

Du Youqian also benefited greatly from these exchanges.

He not only broadened his horizons and expanded his knowledge base, but also made significant gains in his own cultivation.

He learned that, to varying degrees, all the Masters had sensed that the world’s Spiritual Qi was diminishing, and that the rate of decline was accelerating. It was a source of great anxiety for all of them.

At this rate, they worried, achieving Core Formation in Momenan a thousand years from now would be ten times more difficult.

Only a once-in-a-century prodigy would stand a chance; for anyone else, reaching Core Formation would be nearly impossible, regardless of whether they possessed Core Formation Secret Techniques or Spiritual Objects.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators would become even rarer, and even those with Middle Grade Spirit Roots would struggle to reach that stage.

Even the two great Spiritual Treasures, the Blood Slaughter Sword and the Rivers and Mountains Map, would gradually fall dormant as their energy consumption outpaced what they could absorb. In the future, they might not awaken for centuries at a time.

It was a grim future.

The root cause was that the Nine Countries of Momenan had been severed from the greater Human World by a Great Power, intended to serve as a preserve for the last embers of the Human Race.

Thus, like a river without a source or a tree without roots, its Spiritual Qi could not be replenished.

The Taihe Sect had originally sent the precious Spiritual Treasure, the Rivers and Mountains Map, to Momenan to leverage its unique properties to replenish the region’s Spiritual Qi.

The Blood Slaughter Sword’s purpose, on the other hand, was to guard this preserve, slaying any and all invaders—just as it had done at the Cyan Yang Sect relics decades prior.

But who could have predicted it? Something had gone wrong with the Rivers and Mountains Map.

As for what exactly had gone wrong, Chongxu Master refused to say, and the others were not so tactless as to gossip about it in his presence.

But Chongxu Master’s very silence on the topic indirectly confirmed the rumor’s authenticity.

In private, Du Youqian asked Chongxu Master, "Is there any way for the outside world to solve the problem of the declining Spiritual Qi?"

He knew that Chongxu Master was a True Inheritor of the Taihe Sect and a member of its upper echelons. He likely knew that the Taihe and Holy Blood Sects maintained contact with the outside world.

Chongxu Master merely remained silent for a long time.

His silence was deafening.

As for the origin of the Desolate Abyss, Du Youqian was also gradually piecing the puzzle together.

The story began with the destruction of the Cyan Yang Sect.

Ten thousand years ago, when the Cyan Yang Sect was annihilated in a surprise attack by a Demon Race army, a Great Power from the sect must have somehow obscured the workings of fate, for no one knew that the sect had another plan in motion.

The Human Race, believing only that the Cyan Yang Sect had met a tragic end, mobilized its elite forces and launched a swift retaliatory strike against the Demon Race.

The target of this retaliation was the South Sea Blessed Land. The humans employed a classic strategy: besiege a stronghold to annihilate the reinforcements. They surrounded the South Sea Blessed Land without attacking, focusing their efforts on the approaching Demon Race relief forces.

The demons within the South Sea Blessed Land were said to be of the Dragon Race.

The dragons were an arrogant and prideful race, on poor terms with many of their demonic brethren. As a result, few reinforcements came, and those that did arrived sporadically, which allowed the humans’ strategy to succeed brilliantly.

After eliminating the reinforcements, the Human Race stormed the South Sea Blessed Land and annihilated the demons within.

In that battle, over a hundred Demon Kings of the Core Formation and Nascent Soul Realms were killed or wounded. It is even said that a Demon Emperor perished in the conflict.

There are even rumors that an incarnation of a Great Saint fell there.

The Human Race cultivators suffered heavy casualties as well, especially at the end, when the South Sea Blessed Land collapsed in the cataclysmic aftermath of the battle between Great Powers, trapping many who failed to escape.

Nevertheless, it was a glorious victory.

"So, the South Sea... is the Desolate Abyss? The former South Sea Blessed Land is at the very bottom of it?"

As Du Youqian asked this, Chongxu Master’s attendant was packing his belongings.

Three of the Masters were scheduled to be rotated out.

Chongxu Master was one of them.

He had the appearance of a lean, sharp-featured middle-aged man. He perennially wore a wide Crane Robe, sported a neat mustache and goatee, and was crowned with the Five Extremes Crown. His eyes were deep and his demeanor was taciturn.

Over the years, Du Youqian had come to understand something.

The Taihe Sect and the Holy Blood Sect were, on the surface, mortal enemies, but their upper echelons were as close as brothers.

So, upon arriving at the Desolate Abyss, Du Youqian had adopted this principle as well, often treating Chongxu Master with cold sarcasm and mockery in public.

In private, however, he would often discuss profound matters of the Dao with him. On many important decisions, he would first reach a consensus with Chongxu before presenting the matter for discussion at their five-person council.

Over several years, the two had developed a solid friendship.

"The land of the Desolate Abyss was indeed once the South Sea. Or part of it, to be precise. The seas turn to mulberry fields, as they say." A flicker of emotion crossed Chongxu’s perpetually placid eyes.

"So, how fares the war in the outside world? Is the Human Race in a dire situation?"

Chongxu fell silent again.

After a long pause, he finally said, "Fellow Daoist Yu, you are a True Inheritor of your noble sect. You will certainly reach Core Formation soon. When you do, many secrets will be revealed to you. There is no need to press me for answers now."

Du Youqian gave a wry laugh. "My apologies, Fellow Daoist Chongxu. I admit I am a bit impatient. It’s just that the incident at the Cyan Yang Sect relics decades ago left me with many questions. I’m beginning to understand now. That day, it was a phantom of the Cyan Yang Sect from ten thousand years ago, attempting to manifest from illusion into reality, perhaps to conquer this place."

Chongxu raised his sword-sharp eyebrows, the corners of his mouth twitching upward in a slight smile, but he remained silent.

Du Youqian continued, "But that one strike from Elder Blood Slaughter shattered their scheme. It’s just..."

Chongxu asked gently, "Just what?"

Du Youqian thought of the Taihe Sect Kun Cultivator who always made him feel uneasy: Yin Ruozhen.

Although Luo Jinyu’s investigation had turned up nothing unusual about Yin Ruozhen, and his own divinations had yielded no useful information, Du Youqian trusted his intuition.

Still, he couldn’t very well say to Chongxu Master’s face, ’I suspect your disciple, Yin Ruozhen, is a problem.’

He could only say vaguely, "It’s just... I can’t help but feel that among those who witnessed the events at the relics that day, some individuals may have developed... ulterior motives."

Chongxu Master lowered his head, pondering for a moment before shaking it. "Without concrete evidence, we cannot rashly cast suspicion on these disciples. They are, after all, the elites of their respective sects."

Du Youqian couldn’t press the matter further. He could only resolve to wait for the next garrison commander from the Taihe Sect and try to plant the seed of suspicion in their mind instead.