In a remote corner of the Eastern Continent, Zhu Yu dug through the earth and stones with great effort. He intended to build a tomb for his two beloved women.
One was naturally Old Ancestor Shangguan, who had often helped him since he was a mere pup, providing resources and teaching him various secret arts. His current cultivation realm was a testament to his own efforts, but also to Old Ancestor Shangguan's guidance. In the critical final moments, Old Ancestor Shangguan had blocked an attack for Zhu Yu, ultimately sacrificing herself.
As for the other woman, Zhu Yu did not even know her name. Although they had fought together on the same flying giant ship, they had never interacted, and Zhu Yu had never paid her any attention. After all, a fully crewed flying giant ship carried nearly ten thousand people. People typically focused on the beautiful and alluring female cultivators; how many would notice someone with an ordinary appearance? Perhaps this female cultivator had been watching him from afar, but he truly hadn't noticed. Regardless, she had given her life to save him at the most crucial moment, and Zhu Yu was not a heartless wretch. When escaping the battlefield, he had carried away this robust woman along with Old Ancestor Shangguan. With nothing else to repay them, he could only dig a large pit for his two beloved women, ensuring they would have a comfortable resting place and wouldn't fight due to cramped conditions.
The spot Zhu Yu chose seemed less than ideal, as the ground was composed of extremely hard rock. Each shovel of his could only penetrate one or two feet. However, his heart was filled with grief, and the more arduous the digging process, the more solace he found. Zhu Yu's expression was numb as he dug, the pit growing larger and deeper with each scoop.
When the pit reached a depth of over ten zhang, the bottom suddenly collapsed with a "boom," revealing an underground passage. Zhu Yu looked at the newly appeared passage with a bewildered expression, his emotions still reeling from his sorrow. However, since such an anomaly had occurred, he couldn't simply bury his two beloved women here without investigating. He forced himself to muster some energy and ventured into the passage.
This passage had been carved into the rock, about a zhang wide. It seemed to have been frequently used in the past, as the flagstones on the ground were polished to a sheen. Zhu Yu walked forward in the passage for about fifteen minutes before encountering a stone door inscribed with "Qian Sheng Sect."
"Qian Sheng Sect? Never heard of it!" Zhu Yu searched his memory but found no information about the Qian Sheng Sect. It was either too weak to be remembered or an ancient sect of great antiquity. Since he was here, he decided to take a look. After a divine sense scan revealed no restrictive formations or arrays at the entrance, Zhu Yu boldly pushed open the stone door.
To his surprise, behind the stone door lay another stone passage of similar size. Zhu Yu immediately felt that the Qian Sheng Sect's lack of continuation was understandable; he had never encountered such a tedious arrangement. However, as he stepped across the threshold and onto the new passage, he realized he was gravely mistaken. This passage possessed a special gravity, as if a thousand jun of weight were pressing down on him, making it increasingly difficult to move forward.
Yet, Zhu Yu was not entirely without substance; he possessed his own strengths. He had reached his current position through sheer grit. This passage was about a li long, and he gritted his teeth, persevering through it. Afterward, he navigated through an ice cave, a fire cave, a passage filled with blood-sucking vines, and another equipped with arrow-based traps. Zhu Yu had already cursed the past and present leaders of the Qian Sheng Sect with every vile epithet imaginable. Fortunately, he emerged from all of them unscathed.
Upon passing through all these passages, he arrived at a moderately sized stone chamber. In the center of the chamber floated a fist-sized, brilliant orb of light. As soon as Zhu Yu entered the stone hall, the orb of light flew towards him, plunging into his body. Poor Zhu Yu, without even a chance to cry out, collapsed to the ground and fainted...
...
On Meteor Island, there had been few combat missions recently. Instead, the island's cultivators were organized to focus on production. Although Meteor Island now possessed some strength to deal with ordinary demon groups, it was helpless against demon Nascent Soul stage powerhouses. If the human race could not create a force capable of rivaling Nascent Soul stage cultivators, all current efforts would be in vain, and they would ultimately be destroyed by the demon race. Therefore, all actions on Meteor Island were geared towards developing the strength to counter demon Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
All cultivators on Meteor Island with skills were busy refining pills, forging artifacts, and crafting talismans. The finished products were then sold at high prices to the Eastern Sea, earning spirit stones from the Eastern Sea's demon race. With the second flying giant ship nearing completion, Meteor Island was in urgent need of spirit stones. Each flying giant ship required a vast amount of spirit stones to maintain its combat effectiveness.
Furthermore, Xiao Fei also required a large quantity of spirit stones. If he were to break through from the Nascent Soul stage to the Nascent Soul stage in the future, he would undoubtedly consume a massive amount of spirit stones. This amount could be billions, or even more, potentially impacting the entire cultivation world's spirit stone circulation. To gather some spirit stones, he had also refined a large number of pills in his spatial realm, having Fei Xin or Huang Feifei help him exchange them for spirit stones. Xiao Fei occasionally sold extremely rare spiritual herbs himself, thus acquiring many spirit stones.
However, he still dedicated most of his time to cultivation. Although he was already in the late Nascent Soul stage, his mana was not yet perfect and required further refinement. Additionally, his body-refining technique, the "Wind Thunder Battle Body," had only reached the second level, and he was striving to break through to the third. The third level of the "Wind Thunder Battle Body," even without using mana, would allow his physical strength to rival that of a late Nascent Soul stage great cultivator. However, during the cultivation process, the third level of the "Wind Thunder Battle Body" consumed even more spiritual energy. He could only continuously consume pills to maintain his rapid cultivation.