Translator: CinderTL
Shangchu City.
This city was remarkably unique. Its central area was a market, completely undefended and freely accessible.
Surrounding the market were three towering walled cities.
It was as if three heavily fortified cities formed a triangular formation, guarding a chaotic market.
These three cities were the strongholds of the Jiang Family, Chi Family, and Ye Family—the three great clans of the Qianchang Wilderness.
The market was jointly managed by these three clans.
In the Shu Sheng's Storage Ring, Song Wen had found a jade slip containing a map of the Qianchang Wilderness.
Using this, he had successfully reached Shangchu City.
Disguised as a mid-Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, Song Wen arrived at the foot of a mountain range west of the market.
After inquiring, he learned that this mountain range was the most spiritually rich area in Shangchu City, second only to the strongholds of the three great clans. It housed numerous Cultivation Caves available for rent.
At the foot of the mountain range stood a solitary pavilion, the place for renting Cultivation Caves.
As Song Wen entered the pavilion, a beautiful maidservant approached him.
To Song Wen's surprise, she was a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Senior, are you here to rent a Cultivation Cave?" the maidservant asked.
Song Wen nodded slightly and inquired, "Are there any first-class cultivation caves still available?"
The maidservant's eyes lit up, and her demeanor became even more respectful and cautious.
"There are a hundred first-class cultivation caves, with thirty-five still available. They are numbered first-class seventh, first-class fourteenth, first-class fifteenth..."
The maid patiently introduced them one by one. While all were first-class, the higher the ranking, the denser the Spiritual Qi and, naturally, the more expensive the rent.
"What Formation Tier is the concealment formation for the first-class cultivation caves?" Song Wen asked.
The maid replied, "They are all Fourth-Tier top-grade formations, sufficient to block Divine Sense detection from Divine Transformation Stage cultivators."
"Only Divine Transformation Stage cultivators?" Song Wen murmured to himself.
In the end, Song Wen rented first-class fifteenth for fifty high-grade spirit stones per year.
This made him wince.
At this rate, the 17,000 high-grade spirit stones he'd brought from the Lower Realm would only last him three hundred years.
After paying ten years' rent in advance, Song Wen received the access token for first-class fifteenth from the maid.
She then led him to a mountain peak in the center of the range.
"Senior, this is first-class fifteenth," the maid said outside a cave halfway up the mountain.
Song Wen replied, "Thank you for guiding me, young friend."
With that, he activated the token, opening the cave's restriction and stone door.
As he was about to enter, he noticed the maid hadn't left yet. He asked in confusion, "Young friend, is there something else?"
The maidservant's face flushed with shyness, her eyes like pools of spring water, brimming with tenderness and affection.
"Senior, the immortal path is long and cultivation is lonely. I wonder if Senior might need some companionship? I have some skill in the arts of the bedchamber and can certainly make Senior feel like he's floating among the clouds."
Song Wen's lips curled into a smile.
In this mystic realm, cultivators seemed even more unscrupulous than those in the Lower Realm when it came to cultivation resources.
Shangchu City was a place where good and evil coexisted.
Cultivation resources from both the righteous and demonic paths were openly sold.
Even within the three great families, both righteous and demonic cultivators could be found.
"What shall I call you, young friend?" Song Wen asked.
The maidservant gave a shallow smile. "Reporting to Senior, I am Jiang Xian."
A look of surprise flashed across Song Wen's face. "You're from the Jiang Family?"
Jiang Xian replied, "Yes. But I'm only from a branch family, and my talent isn't very good, so the Jiang Family doesn't pay me much attention."
Song Wen said, "I'm going into seclusion for intensive cultivation recently and have no interest in matters of the flesh. Give me your Communication Jade Slip. I'll contact you if I need anything."
Jiang Xian's face lit up with joy. She quickly retrieved a Communication Jade Slip and handed it to Song Wen.
After a few more pleasantries, she took her leave.
Song Wen entered the Cultivation Cave and sealed the stone door and restriction.
He was quite satisfied with the cave. The Spiritual Qi inside was even slightly higher than in his previous cave on Corpse Demon Peak. The exorbitant price of fifty high-grade spirit stones hadn't been wasted.
The cultivation cave was roughly four acres in size, simply furnished with a stone bed, tables, and chairs. In the depths of the cave were two secret chambers.
Song Wen retrieved a set of formation flags from his Storage Ring.
These flags had been obtained from Jiang Chao's Storage Ring and formed a fifth-tier concealment formation called the Five Elements Concealment Formation.
Song Wen wasn't sure if this formation could completely block the Divine Sense of Void Refinement Stage cultivators, but its concealment effect was certainly superior to the existing formation within the cave.
After setting up the formation, Song Wen began meditating and cultivating.
His ascension had been rather hasty, and his cultivation base hadn't fully stabilized. His Spiritual Power wasn't sufficiently refined, requiring prolonged, arduous cultivation to temper it.
Moreover, now that he had reached the Divine Transformation Stage, he needed to strengthen his combat techniques.
First, he focused on Thunder Magic.
He possessed the complete Nine Great Heavenly Thunder Secret Arts. Now that he had reached the Divine Transformation Stage, he could cultivate the fifth heavenly thunder—the Great Azure Divine Thunder.
Second, he turned to refining Spirit Treasures.
Song Wen currently possessed two Spirit Treasures: the sun-chasing spear and the Soul Cleaving Blade.
After reaching the Divine Transformation Stage but before his ascension, Song Wen had attempted to refine the Soul Cleaving Blade. To his surprise, he discovered that even with his Early Stage Divine Transformation cultivation, he still couldn't refine this treasure.
Song Wen had once asked Xu Geng about this matter.
Xu Geng told him that the Soul Cleaving Blade was a mid-grade Spirit Treasure, requiring a Void Refinement Stage cultivator to refine it.
As for the sun-chasing spear, it was a low-grade Spirit Treasure that Song Wen could refine.
However, since he had obtained this treasure from Jiang Wo, many members of the Jiang Family would likely recognize it. Therefore, he needed to be cautious when using it to avoid attracting trouble.
Finally, there was the matter of upgrading his Blood Sea Seal, his natal Mystic Treasure.
Song Wen had already learned from Xu Geng how to elevate the Blood Sea Seal to the level of a Spirit Treasure.
All he needed were two Spirit materials.
First, a vast quantity of blood essence.
His Blood Sea Seal already met this requirement.
When he had forged the Blood Sea Seal, he had used far more blood essence than necessary. Moreover, most of the blood essence he had absorbed over the years had been absorbed into the seal.
Second, a treasure called Yin-Sinking Water.
Song Wen had yet to encounter this item and still needed to find it.
He planned to visit the market in Shangchu City in his spare time to inquire about its whereabouts.
Thirteen years later.
Song Wen emerged from his Cultivation Cave.
This was the first time he had left his cave since entering seclusion.
He went to the pavilion in front of the mountains and paid three years' back rent, plus an additional two years.
Then, under Jiang Xian's somewhat resentful gaze, he soared into the sky and flew away from Shangchu City.
Song Wen traveled at high speed, eventually reaching a vast river over a hundred thousand miles from Shangchu City.
After confirming that no one was nearby, Song Wen channeled his Spiritual Power, formed a seal with his hands, and his fingertips glowed with a faint spiritual light.
Instantly, dark clouds gathered overhead, forming a churning sea of ink.
Purple-gold lightning arcs flashed through the black clouds.
The lightning arcs converged, coalescing into a bolt of lightning as thick as a human head.
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, the purple-gold lightning crashed down, striking the river's surface.
The once-turbulent river was instantly severed, sending up towering waves.
Water exploded a thousand feet into the air, scattering in all directions, and a torrential downpour drenched the surrounding dozens of miles.
(End of the Chapter)
---
📖Read (RDC) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c1196. [+2]
🔑Read upto Ch1026 for FREE visit the pinned post on my p@treon to learn how!🎉
💥Translated (6) Series, (4.6K+) Chapters, (6.7M+) Words.