"That so called 'divine calculator' is not all that impressive."
With her eyes closed, Su Min sneered inwardly as she sensed the faint, lingering traces of the distant probing. To be fair, the other party was truly cowardly. They only dared to glance at the general area of Eastern Mulberry Land without even attempting to pry deeper into her specific presence. The probing was fleeting, brushing across the surface like a nervous hand before retreating as soon as it confirmed the location.
"What should I do? Launch a preemptive strike?" She considered it for a moment before dismissing the idea. "No, that would not be wise. Time is on my side, so there is no need to take unnecessary risks."
She was concerned their forces might cross paths, resulting in a meaningless exchange of territory that would waste her energy. Besides, once she reached the Divine Transformation stage, she could storm their stronghold alone and end the threat for good.
For now, she had only just entered the Nascent Soul stage, and there was still a long way to go. More importantly, the opposing sect had suffered a catastrophic generational gap. Those they had forcibly elevated to the Nascent Soul stage through secret techniques might surpass ordinary late stage Golden Core cultivators, but before her, they were nothing. Even if Xie Yingying remained in seclusion, the Peacock King and the Azure Dragon King were still present and ready.
"Let us see what tricks they have up their sleeves..."
With that thought, she opened her eyes, only to find the entire room staring at her with a mixture of fear and awe.
"Everyone, disperse," she commanded, her voice cutting through the silence. "I expect a major battle within a year. During this period, no Golden Core cultivator is to leave Eastern Mulberry Land. After one year, I will give you the chance to intervene in the continent's conflicts."
"Understood!"
Her words sent a ripple of shock through the hall, but the disciples quickly accepted the order. They had waited this long; one more year was nothing.
Su Min's reasoning was simple. Her sect alone now had more than a hundred Golden Core cultivators. Including the allied spiritual beasts, that number exceeded two hundred. As for Nascent Soul level power, even without Xie Yingying, there were still herself and the two divine beast guardians. With such concentrated power, excessive caution was unnecessary. Consolidating their strength was the priority, especially when they would one day have to face the existential threat of the Fallen Ones.
If she ignored the plight of the four neighboring provinces, countless lives would be lost. And if those billions of souls were devoured by a Fallen One, it would restore most of its terrifying strength. That was a scenario she could never allow.
As the saying went, when the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. To the Fallen Ones, powerful cultivators were the finest delicacies. If even one of them recovered to the Dao Comprehension stage, they would begin hunting Nascent Soul and Divine Transformation cultivators in droves. By then, even the greatest sects might not escape disaster. Even with her own immense potential and future immortal lifespan, Su Min would face endless pursuit. And because of that very immortality, the consequences of being caught would be far more terrifying.
"The Age of Dark Blood..."
Murmuring the ominous name to herself, Su Min vanished from the hall in a flicker of light. Though she had only just entered the Nascent Soul stage, her aura already rivaled that of most late stage Nascent Soul cultivators. As for her cultivation, she could not rush it. She had to move forward one solid step at a time.
~
Meanwhile, deep within the gloomy halls of the Blood Puppet Sect...
"We have located Eastern Mulberry Land, but it is too far away." A senior elder reported, his voice strained. "Even for us, traveling there and back would take far too long. A full scale expedition is not feasible."
"Do we have any intelligence on Eastern Mulberry Land's strength?" Mu Xue demanded. "Charging in blindly would be reckless."
"None," the elder admitted. "That diviner refused to calculate anything beyond its location after learning the target ranked first on the Golden Core Heavenly Rankings. It is probably a small, isolated realm. Aside from those two main targets, no one has ever seen a third notable cultivator from Eastern Mulberry Land."
"Damn that Heavenly Diviner!"
Mu Kui cursed under his breath, his fist clenching. Probing the Heavenly Dao always came at a steep price, and since Su Min had emerged victorious from what was clearly a conflict of divine providence, the karmic weight attached to her was immense. Even a peak Divine Transformation expert would not dare interfere carelessly. The diviner had provided only the barest minimum, the location, and nothing more. That left Mu Kui furious, yet utterly helpless.
"Prepare to construct a spatial wormhole by force," Mu Xue declared after a moment of grim silence. "Even if it is not a major province, any land that can nurture two such powerhouses must be rich in spiritual energy. If we seize it, we might even surpass the Ancient Holy City given time."
"A spatial wormhole?" Mu Kui was momentarily stunned by the ambition. Spatial wormholes were exorbitantly costly to create and stabilize. The Blood Puppet Sect would have to exhaust a significant portion of its accumulated resources to build one. But the strategic benefit was immense. Normally, a round trip would take over a year. With a stable wormhole, it would be nearly instantaneous. If Eastern Mulberry Land truly was a treasure trove, they could make it their own private paradise.
"Ordinary spatial tunnels would take half a year to establish," Mu Xue elaborated. "But ours will need a full year to be truly stable and large enough for our forces. We must ensure that when we appear before them, it is without any warning."
"Fine," Mu Kui agreed, gritting his teeth. "One more year for that woman to live, then."
This was the fastest they could manage; the sheer distance was simply too vast. If they were closer, they could have deployed their reserves of False Nascent Souls immediately. But they could not afford to wait forever. The woman who topped the Golden Core Heavenly Rankings was a monster in the making. Given a single century of peace, no one could predict how strong she might become. By then, even the two of them, one at peak Divine Transformation and the other at mid stage, might not be her match.
They themselves had once been ranked first and second on the Heavenly Rankings in their youth, but they both knew their era had been much weaker. Back then, even surviving the Six Nine Heavenly Tribulation had been a rare feat, and none had ever faced the legendary Nine Nine Tribulation. This generation's top five were different. They were all true monsters. The top two especially, Su Min possessed an unfathomable trump card, while the other was likely an ancient powerhouse reborn. Such beings stood on an entirely different level.
~
Back in Eastern Mulberry Land...
"They are building a spatial wormhole? And it will take a year? I thought they would try a long distance expedition. Heh..."
Su Min nearly laughed aloud when she read the message transmitted through her jade pendant. The source was none other than the Holy Son of the Ancient Holy City, their rival sect.
"The ones who know you best are often your enemies," she mused with a faint smile.
With just a small hint from her and the promise of future cooperation, the Holy Son had readily agreed to serve as her informant. The jade pendant, a high grade Mystic tier communication artifact, ensured flawless and untraceable transmission. Through it, Su Min was now fully aware of the Blood Puppet Sect's movements. She had expected them to spend a year gathering forces for a conventional invasion, but this outcome was even better. They were investing a fortune to deliver themselves directly to her doorstep.
"If they want to come, let them. We will see what they can do."
With that, she turned her focus to more immediate matters. Though she was a fifth grade alchemist, a status that commanded great respect, she could not yet recruit Divine Transformation experts to her cause, and Nascent Soul reinforcements were unnecessary. The enemy's Nascent Soul cultivators were a broken generation, forcibly elevated through flawed secret techniques and no match for a true expert.
"I should inform the Little Golden Crow. At her current strength, handling two peak Divine Transformation experts will not be a problem."
Thanks to the detailed intelligence from the Ancient Holy City, Su Min now had complete dossiers on both Mu Kui and Mu Xue, including a list of their known techniques and hidden trump cards.
"Yingying is nearing the end of her seclusion, too," she thought. "Once she is out, we can work together. We might not be able to kill a peak Divine Transformation expert yet, but we can definitely stall one. A few minutes will be more than enough for the Little Golden Crow to take down the other."
With her battle plan set, Su Min decided to focus on training her sect's disciples. There was no need for her to enter closed door cultivation this year. Instead, she would fully embrace her role as founder and mentor, particularly for the alchemists under her care.
"Not a single fourth grade alchemist?" she muttered, reviewing the sect's records. "That is embarrassing."
To fix that glaring weakness, she prepared both guidance and a tangible reward. During her recent seclusion, she had synthesized a powerful Beast Flame from the essences she had gathered. Though far weaker than a true Heaven and Earth Divine Flame, it was vastly superior to the weak, unstable beast flames most alchemists extracted from mere Foundation Establishment creatures. Since she had crafted it herself, she had fine tuned its nature, modeling its balanced and potent characteristics after her own Nanming Lihuo, making it ideal for both combat and the delicate art of alchemy.
"So, the three of you will have to prove yourselves," she announced to the men standing nervously before her. "The winner gets this Beast Flame core."
The three men, all early Golden Core cultivators and the sect's best alchemists after her, swallowed hard. They were all stuck at the peak of the third grade, just one elusive step away from the coveted fourth grade. Though highly respected within the sect, even the Sect Master treated them with deference, they knew they were nothing in front of Su Min.
Her method was simple, direct, and effective, pressure.
These three had the talent and knowledge to reach the fourth grade, but soul strength and a final spark of insight were the real bottlenecks. What they needed most now was a powerful motivation.
"Follow my requirements to the letter," Su Min said, holding up the glowing, pulsating core of the Beast Flame. "The victor claims the flame."
Seeing the raw hunger ignite in their eyes, Su Min allowed herself a small, satisfied smile. This would be an interesting year.