A smaller cave dwelling was reopened on the island where Xiao Fei and Huang Feifei lived in seclusion, serving as Zhu Yu’s temporary residence.
After recuperating on the small island for several hours, Zhu Yu came to Xiao Fei’s cave to thank Xiao Fei and Huang Feifei.
“Thank you, Senior Disciple Xiao and Martial Aunt Huang, for saving my life!”
“You’re welcome, it was just a small effort. However, we spent 2000 pills of third-grade medicine to buy you. Just remember to pay me back.”
Xiao Fei said magnanimously, waving his hand.
“Wasn’t it 800 pills of medicine? How did it become 2000?”
Zhu Yu had been present at the auction himself and knew exactly how much he was sold for.
“You misremembered, it was 2000 pills of medicine. Think about it, how could the most beautiful woman in the entire Dan Xin Sect be so cheap? It should be at least 2000 pills of medicine.”
“Alright! I’m penniless right now, so I’ll owe it to you for now!”
Since it was an oral agreement with no proof, Zhu Yu stopped arguing with Xiao Fei. Xiao Fei could set the debt, but how much to repay and whether to repay it was up to him.
“By the way! What happened to you? You were actually subjected to being caged like a pig?”
Xiao Fei finally inquired, as he hadn’t had the time before.
“Alas! It’s a long story…”
It turned out that in the decades since Xiao Fei was forced to leave the Lu Kingdom, the Lu Kingdom’s cultivation world had undergone tremendous changes.
First, with the suppression of Xiao Fei gone, the demons hidden in the shadows resurfaced, quietly spreading demonic seeds throughout the cultivation world. Perhaps it was because too many demonic seeds were consumed in the previous round, but fewer cultivators were parasitized by demonic seeds this time. However, it was still a heavy blow to the Lu Kingdom’s cultivation world.
As there was no cure for the demonic seeds, many cultivators who felt hopeless in surviving hid themselves. After several years, these people all turned into demons.
The situation in the Lu Kingdom was better at the time, with stricter controls, and it was still in the hands of human cultivators. The few demons could only operate in the shadows. However, the situation in the Eagle Mountain Kingdom was not good. If you went to the Eagle Mountain Kingdom now, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish whether the people around you were demons or evil cultivators.
According to intelligence analysis, the high-level powerhouses in the Eagle Mountain Kingdom had been riddled with holes by demonic infiltration. Twenty years ago, under the leadership of the demons, the evil forces of the Eagle Mountain Kingdom launched another attack on the Lu Kingdom. While facing external invasion, the demons hidden within the Lu Kingdom took the opportunity to cause chaos.
The Lu Kingdom once again resorted to its old tactic, going to the Qin Kingdom in hopes of contacting the powerhouses of these great nations to intervene. However, at this time, the major powers of the Eastern Continent were locked in a bloody battle to compete for that spiritual treasure and jade slip. They had no time or energy to bother with such matters! Only the Qin Kingdom hastily dispatched a great general to investigate.
Speaking of which, this great general of the Qin Kingdom was also strange. For some unknown reason, he only made a round in the Eagle Mountain Kingdom and found no problems. This was completely different from his previous massacre in the Eagle Mountain Kingdom. Instead, he found a Nascent Soul stage cultivator in the Lu Kingdom and killed him on the spot, claiming that the cultivator was infected with demonic seeds. However, this Nascent Soul stage cultivator had tested normal with a jade disk just a few days prior. This matter could only be dropped in the end; with the Qin Kingdom behind him, no one could do anything to him.
The Lu Kingdom’s strength had not yet recovered from the previous war. This time, facing attacks from both inside and outside, it quickly collapsed under the attack of the Eagle Mountain Kingdom. Eight years ago, the Dan Xin Sect fell, and the Cui Hua Mountain Range was completely occupied by the demons and evil cultivators of the Eagle Mountain Kingdom. The other two major sects suffered similar fates, being attacked by the Eagle Mountain Kingdom in those years, and their foundations, built over tens of thousands of years, were seized. The surviving cultivators of the three major sects of the Lu Kingdom could only retreat further. Upon reaching the border of the Wu Kingdom, they were attacked by the cultivators of the Wu Kingdom and the evil cultivators of the Eagle Mountain Kingdom, losing a large portion of their strength. The entire Lu Kingdom had now fallen into the hands of the Eagle Mountain Kingdom. The remaining cultivators of the three major sects of the Lu Kingdom gathered together for warmth, wandering in other countries, drifting like rootless duckweed. Two years ago, Zhu Yu went out with a Golden Core cultivator from the Zi Xia Sect to complete a secret mission. However, he did not expect that the accompanying Golden Core cultivator would betray him, leading to his capture and eventual fall into the hands of the East Sea Demon Race after several transfers. In the past two years, the suffering he endured, the tears he shed, and the teeth he bit down could only be swallowed with his tears.
“Alas…”
“Life is unpredictable…”
Xiao Fei sighed deeply. He hadn’t expected that in the few decades he had been in seclusion, the Lu Kingdom would have completely fallen.
“Zhu Yu, what about my Senior Disciple Fei Xin, Martial Sister Huangfu, and my master, True Person Guang Ling, and the others?”
Although he knew other people from the sect, they were not as missed as his fellow disciples. Before he left the sect, he had refined effective healing pills, and True Person Guang Ling’s injuries had been getting better. At that time, his master could already take care of himself and occasionally contributed by refining a batch or two of pills.
“True Person Guang Ling perished eight years ago in the battle where the Wu Kingdom and the Eagle Mountain Kingdom joined forces to encircle and suppress them.”
Xiao Fei fell silent for a long time upon hearing this. This master had helped him many times and treated him quite well.
“As for your Senior Disciple Fei Xin, that person is as cunning as a ghost. It didn’t matter to the sect when it was destroyed, but the Lu Kingdom fell, and he is still living very well.”
Zhu Yu’s expression revealed a trace of admiration for Fei Xin as he spoke. Even before the Eagle Mountain Kingdom prepared to attack the Lu Kingdom, Fei Xin had already transferred the headquarters of the Zhen Bao Lou to Xian Cheng in the Qin Kingdom and opened branches in two other countries. When the Dan Xin Sect was destroyed, he happened to be leading his son, grandson, and Martial Sister Huangfu Xuan on a caravan to purchase strategic materials for the Lu Kingdom from a neighboring country, perfectly avoiding the catastrophe of the sect’s destruction. Afterward, he relied on his commercial network to gain significant influence among the remaining forces of the three sects. He also perfectly avoided the most brutal encirclement battle at the border of the Wu Kingdom. It could be said that this Senior Disciple Fei Xin, while not having great combat power, had unparalleled survival abilities. He now controlled several shops of the Zhen Bao Lou and had become the financial god of the remaining forces of the Lu Kingdom.
Upon learning the news of the Lu Kingdom, Xiao Fei’s mood could not be calmed for a long time. If things continued to develop in the current manner, the Eastern Continent’s cultivation world would likely face a great disaster in the near future. However, the three major powers, due to the imbalance of their strength, were now busy preparing for mutual conquest, seemingly intending to unify the cultivation world. As a mere Golden Core cultivator, he was powerless to change the situation and could only strengthen his own power to survive in the chaos. In particular, he decided to expedite the creation of the Jade Altar he had originally planned to refine.