Chapter 693: East Sea Cultivators

Chapter 693: Chapter 390: East Sea Cultivators

The Giant Han took the initiative to submit and swear allegiance, so the Giant Mountain Sect naturally became a member under Qin Yuesheng without any trouble.

The Giant Han’s real name is Zheng Shi, a native of Jiangnan. Just as Qin Yuesheng had previously guessed, it was indeed because this man ate a sea fish that he turned into his current form.

With his addition, the strength under Qin Yuesheng’s command increased greatly. In the Jiangnan region, there was now no sect that could challenge them, and so they truly secured the title of Jiangnan’s Number One Sect.

With both Daoist Qingyun and Zheng Shi moving out together, the entirety of Jiangnan was unified in less than three days. All sects joined Qin Yuesheng, causing a massive surge in power.

With so many cultivators gathered under one sect, Qin Yuesheng decided to rename the new sect as the ‘Qin Sect.’

Since Qin Sect was set to unify all cultivation sects under Heaven, its headquarters naturally could not remain in Jiangnan; its geographic location was too remote, far from the Northern Desert and Western Shu.

Qin Yuesheng thus prepared to take the Qin Sect directly into the Central Plains, deploying its headquarters beside Chang’an, using it as a springboard to begin invading newly risen sects in Western Shu, Southern Border, Northern Desert, and the coasts of the East Sea.

The Central Plains, being the heart of the world, had not been immune to these changes. Many sects had sprung up like bamboo after the rain, eagerly recruiting disciples, causing quite an impact to the Central Plains’ Ten Great Sects’ status.

On this day, Qin Yuesheng, Daoist Qingyun, and Zheng Shi arrived outside Chang’an City. Sanhuang had long received news of Qin Yuesheng and had constructed a vast palace complex ten li away. He now awaited Qin Yuesheng’s arrival for inspection.

This construction covered an immense area, and even before Qin Yuesheng conquered the Qingyun Sect, he’d had Sanhuang gather laborers to build it in preparation for any contingency.

Now was the time for the Qin Sect to officially settle, occupying the very center of the realm.

The disciples of Qin Sect located in Jiangnan had migrated here several days earlier: numbering two thousand seven hundred people, a truly considerable force.

Within the Qin Sect.

Qin Yuesheng stood by the window, looking out at the artificial mountains and gardens. Sanhuang stood respectfully not far away; today he had come incognito, specially to meet with Qin Yuesheng.

“Sanhuang, now the trend of cultivation is flourishing; this is the way of the times, mortals can’t reverse it. From now on, the martial artist’s way will inevitably decline. It’s these cultivators who truly matter,” said Qin Yuesheng.

“Master, is it really that serious?” Sanhuang asked, a little surprised.

“Of course. That’s why I won’t let this become a problem. The lifeblood of cultivators must be grasped in our hands; only then can peace reign in the world,”

Qin Yuesheng looked at Sanhuang: “When my Qin Sect fully unifies every sect in the land, you can change the country’s name and found the Great Qin Empire.”

“Great Qin, Great Qin Dynasty…” Sanhuang’s eyes lit up: “Master, that’s a fine name.”

“I’m only a step away from ascending to immortality. When I leave, I’ll still have some longing, that is for my family. This world must bear the Qin name, only then can the Qin family thrive for generations to come,” Qin Yuesheng narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself.

The Qin Sect settled remarkably fast and immediately gained a foothold in the Central Plains. None of the sects in the region anticipated that a sweeping reshuffling was quietly brewing; when Qin Sect moved, the Central Plains would fall entirely under its control.

…

Three months later, all major sects in the Central Plains suddenly faced a powerful and mysterious force whose Taoist skills were unmatched and whose manpower was vast. Small sects were no match for it and were swallowed up overnight, leaving only abandoned ruins behind.

Even slightly stronger sects couldn’t last more than a few days, eventually succumbing to the same fate.

This news quickly spread across the Central Plains like locusts, leaving the sects’ members unsettled, all fearing a sudden calamity.

Yet in such an atmosphere, the hidden hand behind it all—the Qin Sect—remained strikingly calm.

After a long silence came their decisive action; the disciples of Qin Sect progressed rapidly in the study of Taoist skill. With Qin Yuesheng’s enhanced Taoist arts supporting them, their strength naturally outshined the other sects, for which Qin Yuesheng exhausted a considerable amount of All-Purpose Essence.

Fortunately, with the entire imperial court supporting him from behind, Qin Yuesheng had no concerns about All-Purpose Essence and could freely select any treasures of Heaven and Earth from the treasury.

“Silent till it strikes, then earth-shattering”—that’s the Qin Sect as it is now.

There were a few notable sects in the Central Plains, but none could match Qin Sect. Qin Yuesheng estimated that, within a month, he would fully conquer the Central Plains, then proceed in one sweep with a complete force into the Northern Desert and Western Shu.

A complete map of the world was slowly unfolding before Qin Yuesheng’s eyes.

…

On the shore of the East Sea.

As the origin of Immortal Blood’s spread, the East Sea had undergone the most dramatic changes for months—every fish species in the sea had mutated, becoming terrifying creatures people deeply feared.

The East Sea had become extremely dangerous, but danger is often accompanied by opportunity.

Near the coast of the East Sea, on a sea island.

Bihai Sect was founded by Master Huang An. Three months earlier, while swimming near shore, he was attacked by a giant fish. Huang An, being quite capable, fought fiercely underwater and stabbed the fish to death with a harpoon. Its blood mixed with the seawater entered Huang An’s mouth.

Three days after returning ashore, he awakened completely and became a cultivator capable of founding his own sect.

The East Sea was the place most deeply affected by Immortal Blood, so the cultivators born here were even more potent. But for one reason, those of the East Sea had been held back from expanding outward, restrained instead of spreading.

The reason was sea beasts.

The fishes of the East Sea had largely mutated: from turtles, crabs, shrimp, and fish, to coral, seaweed, and shells—they’d all undergone various changes.

These were called “sea beasts” by the cultivators of the East Sea.

The power of sea beasts was no weaker than that of cultivators. Were it not for their inability to live ashore, the whole world might well be facing chaos by now.

Under such circumstances, the immortal sects of the East Sea could only defend against sea beasts’ attacks while recruiting disciples, acting as the Human Race’s first line of defense.

Waves crashed against the rocks, smoothing their surfaces. A middle-aged cultivator stood on the shore, squinting and observing the sea.

Whoosh!!!

Suddenly, a dark shadow shot up from beneath the waves, rushing toward the man at great speed.

The middle-aged cultivator struck out with both palms, clamping the creature’s jaws shut.

It turned out to be a monster covered in black scales, its mouth long and sword-like. The cultivator gripped its jaws tightly, not letting it move an inch.

“Break for me!” the cultivator bellowed, and with a sudden burst of strength, the monster’s jaw snapped, sending it hurtling back into the sea, blood gushing out.

“The jaw of this swordfish is the sharpest—perfect material for forging flying swords,” the middle-aged man said, satisfied.

As the saying goes, “Live off the mountain, live off the water.” In the Central Plains, cultivators mainly used ore or rare stones to refine magical items, while East Sea cultivators sourced materials from sea beasts’ bodies.

Such as turtle shells, clam shells, fish scales—diversity abounds.

“Uncle Master,” a young cultivator came running, somewhat anxious: “Uncle, there’s a gathering of sea beasts near the town. The sect leader suspects a Sea Beast King might be hidden among them, commanding the others. He says to mobilize all the sect’s cultivators for battle.”

“What?!” The middle-aged cultivator was startled.

The last gathering of sea beasts occurred less than half a month ago. They lost quite a few disciples fending off that assault.

“Such frequent gatherings of sea beasts spell nothing good for the populace along the East Sea; relying on us for protection isn’t a real solution, just treating the symptoms, not the cause,” the cultivator sighed.

“Let’s go.”

The two hurried off together toward their sect.

The Nine Provinces of the realm were not as affected by Immortal Blood, so the mainland hadn’t seen disasters like those near the East Sea. Instead, East Sea cultivators, who constantly had to fight sea beasts, suffered frequent casualties.

But it’s precisely all this fighting that has caused East Sea cultivators’ strength to grow rapidly, with average quality far above the cultivators of the Nine Provinces.

Bihai Pavilion’s plaza.

A crowd of Bihai Pavilion disciples assembled there. Sect Leader Master Huang An stood at the front, though born a seaside fisherman, his bearing was entirely at ease—indeed the image of an immortal-style cultivator.

“A new gathering of sea beasts near the town; from the look of it, this is an even greater threat than last time. If we hold off this attack, we’ll gain another batch of cultivation resources,” Master Huang An raised his hand: “Follow me!”

“Yes!”

All the disciples of Bihai Pavilion responded in unison. As Master Huang An stepped onto his flying sword, each disciple mounted their own flying treasure and followed en masse, flying grandly toward the East Sea shore.

On the horizon one could see a vast fishing village. Just off its shore, dozens of sea beasts crowded together, trying to crawl up onto the beach to attack the village.

Though most sea beasts couldn’t remain ashore for long, brief excursions were feasible.

Especially the turtle-type sea beasts, which could move unrestrained on land.

Just as the Bihai Pavilion party was about to reach the shore, they found that another sect had already arrived in full force and set up defenses on the beach.

As Master Huang An landed, a beautiful woman approached: “Master Huang An, we meet again.”

Huang An said, “So it’s Zhenren Ci Xin. Your sect’s intelligence is much better than ours; I was just preparing to organize defenses, but you’ve already led your disciples and made all preparations.”

“It’s only natural; after all, our sect is nearest,” Zhenren Ci Xin smiled.

East Sea cultivators had sea beasts as their common enemy, so relations among sects were actually very good. Whenever a large-scale gathering of sea beasts occurred, they all needed to cooperate to get through the crisis.