In a deep-sea trench in the East Sea, tens of thousands of feet deep, the immense pressure generated by the water alone could render most water-repelling techniques useless.
The physical bodies of Nascent Soul cultivators would explode and die if directly exposed to such pressure.
Even more terrifying was the presence of Xuan Yuan Heavy Water in the deeper layers of this trench, which generated a pressure hundreds of times greater than ordinary seawater.
Consequently, this trench was considered a death trap by the demon races of the East Sea, and they never ventured there for leisure.
Yet, today, a human cultivator, unaware of the dangers, had arrived.
Ji Wudi, carrying his great golden saber, glanced at the black trench before him, his eyes filled with determination.
He had decided to venture into this deadly abyss to temper his physical body with the immense pressure of the seawater.
To shine in public, one must suffer in private.
Xiao Fei and Zhu Yu, who were in the same cohort as him, must have worked harder, endured more hardship, and suffered more in private to achieve their current success.
He, Ji Wudi, was determined to become the strongest and could not afford to fall behind any further.
With a fierce gritting of his teeth, Ji Wudi resolutely began to sink into the trench.
As he descended, it felt as if tens of thousands of pounds of force were crushing him. Ji Wudi tightly shut his eyes, fearing that if he opened them, his eyeballs would be squeezed out.
"I can only stay at this position for now."
Ji Wudi was not a brainless individual. Descending another foot or two would mean instant death. He was here to become stronger, not to seek death.
He immediately activated his body-refining techniques to counter this immense pressure…
…
In Xiao Fei’s spatial dimension, he had successfully cultivated branches of the red, bursting spirit fruit trees he had encountered outside the Jade Stone Plaza in the small world. After many years, these trees were now laden with ripe, crimson spirit fruits.
Xiao Fei had already tested them; these tempting-looking crimson spirit fruits were untouchable. The moment they were touched, they would immediately explode.
While the power of these fruits was considerable, they were inconvenient to use as he himself could not touch them.
Previously, they were planted around the plaza and controlled by formations, acting as passive defenses. As long as one did not approach them actively, they could not attack.
Now, during this turbulent period, Xiao Fei felt it was time to make good use of these spirit fruits.
After contemplating the fruits for a long time, he found a solution, especially since he was the master within his own spatial dimension.
He attempted to first channel the spiritual energy within his dimension to envelop the bursting spirit fruits in a thick layer. Then, he gently plucked them from the trees. This time, they did not explode.
Subsequently, Xiao Fei spent another ten days experimenting within his dimension and finally succeeded in refining the first bursting spirit fruit.
The overall structure of this fruit remained unchanged, with only a shell of condensed spiritual energy added to its exterior.
A simple formation was used to stabilize this spiritual energy shell, followed by several runes, acting like valves.
As soon as a trace of spiritual power was used to trigger the rune valves, the spiritual energy shell would dissipate, causing the bursting spirit fruit to naturally explode.
This method of use was simple and convenient, requiring no spiritual power, much like using talismans.
Over the next few months, he completed the refinement of all the bursting spirit fruits in his dimension, totaling over 400.
A single one of these could kill a Golden Core cultivator, and ten could instill fear in a Nascent Soul expert.
Xiao Fei took these refined bursting spirit fruits out of his cave dwelling and found Huang Feifei. He kept only 100 for himself, distributing the remaining 300-plus to Huang Feifei to allocate.
They were to be given to the Golden Core cultivators of the Lu Sect and the subordinate guard team.
Next, he intended to begin treating the parasitic demonic seeds within human cultivators, which would inevitably bring disaster to Meteor Island. He wanted everyone to enhance their combat power.
"Feifei, I have an extra Nascent Soul Pill. Take it and see who would be most suitable to use it. Find an excuse to reward it to them!"
As Xiao Fei spoke, he handed a jade box to Huang Feifei, containing a Nascent Soul Pill.
The Moonflower Grass and other spirit herbs for refining Nascent Soul Pills that were planted in his dimension had matured again.
Yesterday, he had nothing else to do and refined a batch of Nascent Soul Pills, yielding seven pills. It was opportune to strengthen their forces at this critical juncture.
"Understood, Young Master! News of our ability to treat demonic seeds has spread across the Eastern Continent, and a group of cultivators is already rushing this way."
According to the message released by Xiao Fei, each person who came for treatment would need to pay a portion of spirit stones and also hand over the corpse of a demonic creature of the same cultivation level.
Spirit stones were easy; Xiao Fei's fees were not excessively high this time, not enough to bankrupt them.
However, obtaining the corpse of a demonic creature of the same level was difficult. For a Golden Core cultivator to kill a Golden Core level demon, they would need to bring along friends and family.
"I have already designated a small area on Meteor Island specifically for receiving these guests."
When Xiao Fei released the news, Huang Feifei had already arranged for people to set it up. It was located far from bustling areas like the market, and many formations were deployed. Should any fighting occur, it would not cause significant damage.
A few days later, Meteor Island welcomed its first batch of patients.
Having received Xiao Fei's message, these individuals clung to it like a lifeline, rushing to Meteor Island overnight with demonic corpses.
Although demonic corpses were not easy to come by, the Great Qin Kingdom had been at war with the demon races for a long time, and there were still plenty of reserves.
Xiao Fei's lightning spirit within his body had become much stronger. It only took one to three treatments for a patient to eliminate the parasitic demonic seeds, making the treatment efficiency very high.
Since the first batch of cultivators infected with demonic seeds arrived, Xiao Fei's business had been booming. He received over a hundred patients daily.
Although receiving so many patients was tiring, the earnings were substantial, and he was contributing to humanity, making it all worthwhile.
For every person he cured, he essentially saved a cultivator for humanity and simultaneously reduced the number of demons produced.
Since this news spread, it had boosted the confidence of the human race in their fight against the demons across the entire Eastern Continent.
The most direct change was that the number of people who had defected to the demon race and acted as their lackeys had significantly decreased recently.
However, the number of cultivators actively hunting demons had greatly increased.
Because Xiao Fei's fee included not only spirit stones but also the corpse of a demonic creature of the same level, the market price for demonic corpses had surged.
Many people, even if they didn't need them themselves, would hunt a few to sell for money.
"Prince Ying Xian, should we still proceed with our plan?"
In a secret chamber, a trusted subordinate of Ying Xian reported Xiao Fei's latest activities to him.
Initially, after investigating Xiao Fei's identity, Ying Xian had found him to be unremarkable, with no special qualities.
He had already made his plans, intending to hire an assassin to kill Xiao Fei.
At that time, Huang Feifei would surely be heartbroken, and he could then take advantage of the situation, first helping to avenge her by killing the assassin, then eliminating the witness, and thereby winning the heart of the beauty.
The plan was meticulous and thorough. However, he now discovered that Xiao Fei was very important to the Great Qin Kingdom and could not die for the time being.
With Xiao Fei's individual strength, he had actually managed to turn the tide of the war for Qin on the battlefield.
If he killed Xiao Fei now, it would be akin to digging his own grave.
"Bang!"
Ying Xian slammed his fist onto the table.
"Temporarily abandon the assassination plan!"
However, he would not give up on Huang Feifei. As a prince of Qin, he was not lacking in beautiful women, but he had never encountered such a peerless woman as Huang Feifei in his life.
Moreover, upon their first meeting, he had discovered that Huang Feifei possessed a legendary pure and immaculate body, the "Liuli Bu Gou Ti."
Most importantly, the financial resources and power that Huang Feifei controlled would be of great assistance to his future succession to the throne.
After much deliberation, he decided that once Xiao Fei lost his value, he would still have to be eliminated.