Chapter 153

Several hours later.

Zhan Hongxiu stood drenched in blood. The shell of the nearby Myriad Longevity Turtle was also covered in scars, yet she still piloted a crimson flying sword that pierced straight through the chest of the final bandit cultivator.

"Finally..."

Years of hardship had forged a trace of unyielding resolve on her face. "Once this is over, I will change my name and identity, then seek out a pill master to refine a Foundation Establishment Pill. Foundation Establishment is finally within reach."

Yet worry lingered in her heart as well.

As a wanted "demonic disciple," no respectable pill master would receive her.

And those demonic path pill masters were often ruthless. Teaming up with other cultivators to seize the pills for themselves was something they would absolutely do.

At that moment, Zhan Hongxiu caught a faint, pleasant fragrance. Her internal mana suddenly stalled.

The Myriad Longevity Turtle beside her let out a wail and collapsed to the ground.

A figure emerged, dressed in a gaudy, colorful robe, a lecherous grin on his face. "This time I not only get to harvest a little beauty, but also a second-rank demon core. Heaven truly favors me!"

"A Foundation Establishment... cultivator, resorting to such underhanded tactics. You are the bandit cultivator from Caihua Feng?!"

Zhan Hongxiu's face filled with despair.

But at that very moment, a flash of lightning erupted.

Thunder roared across the sky, coalescing into a thunder dragon that held a pearl in its mouth and surged forward with overwhelming force!

"Ah? A Foundation Establishment cultivator? A second-rank superior talisman?"

Caihua Feng's voice rang out in terror, followed by a desperate shout. "A misunderstanding. If Fellow Daoist has taken a liking to that woman, she is yours to take."

Thud!

A heavy impact sounded, and then a headless corpse toppled right in front of Zhan Hongxiu.

Only the colorful robe remained, still proclaiming its owner's identity.

"He's dead. The infamous Caihua Feng, known for his cowardice, who only targeted Qi Refining cultivators and always struck from ambushing, dead just like that?

"The one who came specially to eradicate evil must be a righteous hero!"

In Zhan Hongxiu's mind appeared the image of a handsome, dashing senior expert skilled in combat.

Then, a plain, honest-looking face materialized before her eyes.

"You are... Senior Xiang?"

Zhan Hongxiu was startled.

Xiang Dahu kept a cold expression and said little. He simply took out a jade bottle and poured out two pills. "Eat these. We cannot keep the Island Master waiting."

"The Island Master, is it the Taibai Island Master?"

Zhan Hongxiu's heart stirred.

Taibai Island.

Inside the ice-and-snow palace.

"This little woman pays her respects to the Island Master and thanks you for saving my life."

Zhan Hongxiu first performed a deep bow, then stood up with a cold expression. "The Island Master has been sending people to monitor this little woman. May I ask what your intentions are?"

"A round of tempering, and you have grown quite a bit."

Fang Qing nodded and smiled. "Originally I had little interest in you. It was only later, when I discovered that the Sancai Market had secretly aligned itself with the Sea-Destroying Alliance, that I found a use for you."

"The Island Master wishes to support this little woman in dealing with the Sancai Market? If we obtain evidence of their collusion with demonic cultivators, would it not be simpler to just send an army and wipe them out?"

Zhan Hongxiu murmured, then immediately understood on her own. "Without concrete evidence, suddenly destroying a Foundation Establishment force would only make all the other powers in the Minor Huan Sea feel threatened and drive them straight into the arms of the Sea-Destroying Alliance. But if I achieve Foundation Establishment and then destroy the Sancai Market, it would be perfectly justified."

"Correct. You are indeed sharp and intelligent. Moreover, you have obtained a second-rank demon core, which gives you investment value."

Fang Qing smiled faintly. "Would you like me to personally refine the pill for you?"

Zhan Hongxiu fell silent for a moment. Then she removed her storage bag and hairpin artifact and placed them before Fang Qing, bowing deeply. "I ask the Island Master to take action!"

'Time to open the loot box again.'

Fang Qing felt a spark of anticipation. He first opened the storage bag and took out a second-rank water-attribute demon core.

"Quality is average... That second-rank fish demon must have struggled fiercely before dying, causing quite a bit of its demonic power to leak away."

He nodded, then shook his head. "It should be enough to refine three genuine Foundation Establishment Pills."

Fang Qing then took Zhan Hongxiu's hairpin artifact. After opening it and sweeping it with his divine sense, he could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.

It seemed he had squeezed her too hard before, and she had not fully recovered yet. There were not many good items inside.

Aside from a few superior-quality second-rank inferior talismans, there was only one bottle of "Millennium Spirit Milk" and a few "Life-Burning Pills."

"This Millennium Spirit Milk is not bad. Consider it this my compensation for refining the pill for you."

Fang Qing unceremoniously put away the jade bottle containing the Millennium Spirit Milk.

This item could restore nearly half the mana of a Core Formation cultivator with a single drop and was a main ingredient for refining many third-rank recovery pills. It was truly precious.

As for those "Life-Burning Pills," they were rare second-rank superior pills belonging to the demonic path.

Their primary function was to burn one's lifespan in exchange for powerful mana.

According to Fang Qing's deduction, this woman had probably used some secret technique to have the Myriad Longevity Turtle consume the Life-Burning Pills. Instead of letting them erupt immediately, she had them release their medicinal power slowly to accelerate the turtle's growth.

Of course, such a method was still somewhat shortsighted and damaged the turtle's potential.

Fortunately, this turtle had an excellent bloodline, long lifespan, strong physique, and the joint cultivation method of the Tortoise-Crane Longevity Art to repair its foundation, allowing her to get away with it.

If it had been another spirit beast or technique, it would have simply ruined the creature.

"This Longevity Turtle has an extremely long lifespan. In the future it might even have a chance to reach fourth rank... but after this, third rank will probably be its limit."

Fang Qing looked at the woman with a trace of pity in his expression.

"I leave everything to the island master to decide."

Zhan Hongxiu had already become as tough as a rolled blade. At this point she even felt somewhat fortunate.

Compared to the last time when she had bled so heavily, this was already quite good.

Besides, as a lone rogue cultivator drifting like duckweed in the wind, if she did not seize every opportunity to increase her strength she might have died long ago.

With Fang Qing personally refining the pills using third-rank Ice Soul Cold Spring, success in Foundation Establishment was practically guaranteed.

In less than a month he produced three genuine Foundation Establishment Pills and had Xiang Dahu deliver them to Zhan Hongxiu.

As for allowing her to enter seclusion on Taibai Island?

Fang Qing knew full well the troublesome nature of children of destiny like her and had no intention of disrupting his own peaceful life.

There were plenty of other islands in the outer seas with spirit veins, some even renting out cave residences. That would be more than enough for Zhan Hongxiu to make her arrangements.

"Foundation Establishment heavenly phenomena are not easy to conceal and I am not the absolute ruler of Taibai Island..."

He calculated inwardly. He had only been guarding Taibai Island for a little over ten years.

"Cultivators have a different sense of time from mortals. After just ten or so years, the sect probably has not yet thought about things like tails wagging the dog or feudal lords."

"The most important thing right now is still to raise my own strength."

Fang Qing returned to his cave abode, enjoying the third-rank spiritual qi, and took out a shimmering pill before swallowing it directly.

He had now reached late Foundation Establishment and could still maintain the basic cultivation speed of one drop of liquid mana every half year or so. This was naturally inseparable from that batch of thousand-year spirit herbs.

Otherwise, even if he swallowed large quantities of Water Essence Pills, he could not advance as rapidly as he had in early and mid Foundation Establishment.

In reality, the cost to increase one drop of liquid mana limit in late Foundation Establishment was absolutely several times that of the mid and early stages.

If not for the secret realm providing a backup, the Water Essence Pills Fang Qing had accumulated over the years would likely have been insufficient.

In that case there would have been no other choice but to hunt demon beasts everywhere.

Fortunately, with his mana and divine abilities, along with the nearly unimpeded divination arts in this world, it would only be a bit more troublesome.

"With the pills I have accumulated, it should be enough to cultivate until my late Foundation Establishment mana reaches perfection..."

"At that time, I will refine the third-rank Great Barrier-Breaking Pill and directly achieve Foundation Establishment perfection, the Pseudo-Core realm!"

"It is time for a deep-seated seclusion."

Fang Qing closed his eyes.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator who could live on wind and dew, and one who had grasped a profound Dao Foundation, it was perfectly normal for him to enter seclusion for several years or even over a decade at a time.

White Jiao Island.

This island was pure white all over. Legend had it that on nights when the moon was full, one could occasionally spot merfolk. The scenery was exceptionally beautiful.

Of course, what was more important was that the island possessed a first-rank superior spirit vein.

The Ao Family occupied this island. This family had always kept a low profile. It was said that their ancestor was a half-demon with half merfolk bloodline in his veins.

Perhaps because of their low profile, or perhaps because the location was remote and no one had much interest in it, this Qi Refining force had survived the previous struggles among the three major Core Formation powers, survived the ten-year beast tide, and survived the later Sea-Destroying Alliance, all the way until today.

Whoosh whoosh!

On the pure white sandy beach, a spirit fruit smashed into the ground.

The island seemed to begin trembling slightly. Heaven and earth spiritual qi gathered, forming a vortex that poured into a certain cave residence.

"Is this... a Foundation Establishment heavenly omen?"

A woman draped in white gauze, with long slender legs, stood in the sea and gazed toward the cave residence. "That is one of the cave residences our family rents out... It only has first-rank superior spiritual qi. How did someone achieve Foundation Establishment there?"

"Was that truly Foundation Establishment?"

Some passing rogue cultivators and traveling merchants who witnessed the scene all showed expressions of envy and jealousy.

"First-rank superior spiritual qi is a bit lacking for Foundation Establishment, but if one sets up a Spirit Gathering Array or prepares a large number of spirit stones in advance... it is not impossible." An elderly cultivator with white hair sighed. "However, with such methods, the identity of the person currently breaking through is probably somewhat awkward."

Inside the cave residence.

Feeling the mana in her body condense into liquid, her divine sense leaving her body, and her meridians and marrow being cleansed. Zhan Hongxiu threw her head back and let out a long howl, as if venting all the frustrations she had endured before Foundation Establishment in one go.

"Breaking through to Foundation Establishment, lifespan of two hundred years, and the ability to fly with the physical body."

She examined herself carefully, then patted her beast-taming bag. "With the characteristics of the Tortoise-Crane Longevity Art, my successful Foundation Establishment will be greatly beneficial for the Longevity Turtle's breakthrough to second rank. As long as Little Green also becomes a second-rank demon beast, the two of us working together will be able to hold our own even against a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. The day of revenge is not far off."

Zhan Hongxiu emerged from seclusion in high spirits, like a newborn infant curiously examining this brand-new world with her divine sense.

At that moment, another divine sense transmitted over: "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, on successfully achieving Foundation Establishment and joining the ranks of us true cultivators."

"Hmm? There is actually a Foundation Establishment cultivator on the island?"

In Zhan Hongxiu's divine sense, there appeared a graceful female cultivator dressed in white gauze, with clean white scales on her cheeks.

"Merfolk?! No... it seems to be a half-demon hybrid?"