"Dammit! Just you wait! I’ll tear you all to shreds, especially that little brat in the lead!"
At this moment, in the Yi Family of the Immortal Feather Sect in the Spirit Realm, Elder Yi Yuanlin was roaring in fury. As a Void Refining Cultivator, he’d had a wisp of his consciousness slain by a junior in the Divinity Transformation Early Stage. It was the ultimate humiliation, like a tiger stranded on the plains and tormented by mere dogs.
Furthermore, the failure of his rescue mission had resulted in a complete loss of contact with the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty.
The family had also lost its connection to the Quasi-Upper Grade Spirit Treasures it had painstakingly refined—the Heirloom Seal of the Realm and the Map of Mountains and Rivers. They had clearly fallen into enemy hands.
"Patience. We will contact the Lower Realm. As long as they now control the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty, they’re bound to receive our message. At that point, we can cooperate with them to regain control of the Ascension Passage."
Yi Family Patriarch Yi Yuanshan’s expression was also grim, but he quickly composed himself.
"What? We’re going to cooperate with them? The Royal Family of the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty were our kinsmen! Our people were wiped out, and we’re just going to let them off? Not only will we not take revenge, but we’re supposed to work with them?"
Yi Yuanlin looked on in disbelief.
Even the other Cultivators present turned to look.
These Cultivators were all high-ranking members of the Yi Family. Each one’s aura was unfathomably deep, and even Yi Yuanlin, as a Void Refining Powerhouse, was only considered average among them.
These Cultivators had gathered at this very moment to discuss matters concerning the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty.
After all, this was a matter of great importance to them. Furthermore, the Sect had assigned this Lower Realm to their management, so they were responsible for it.
"The cooperation is a sham. First, we must lure them into opening the Ascension Passage. Only then will we have the chance to descend into the Lower Realm with our consciousness and regain control of the situation. If they trust us and come to our Spirit Realm, we can simply lie in wait and ambush them," Patriarch Yi Yuanshan said with a faint smile.
"I see! The Patriarch is brilliant!"
"They must all be desperate to ascend. They’ll definitely fall for it!"
"This is so much better than reporting this matter to the Sect!"
"Exactly! If the Sect learns the truth, the higher-ups will be furious with us. They’ll think we can’t even handle a small matter, and might even punish us, especially with rival families fanning the flames!"
The Yi Family Cultivators’ faces lit up with understanding, and they all broke into smiles.
"But what if they don’t take the bait?"
Yi Yuanlin, however, was still uneasy.
Especially when he recalled the previous battle, a knot of unease formed in his stomach.
Because the young Cultivator leading the other side was clearly no pushover.
"If that doesn’t work, then we’ll keep this matter quiet for now and wait. Those Divinity Transformation cultivators will have to ascend sooner or later. Even if they sneak across, their ascension point won’t be outside the range of our Immortal Feather Sect, and will most likely be near our Yi Family’s territory. At that time, we can just capture them and descend through a spatial channel."
"In the meantime, we can take some reserve materials from the family treasury and hand them over to the Sect periodically, claiming they are our harvest from the Lower Realm. As for the Divinity Transformation Cultivators who ascend from the Lower Realm, they are more or less dispensable to the Sect, so we don’t need to concern ourselves with them for now," Yi Yuanshan continued.
"Alright, that’s the plan!"
Yi Yuanlin and the others all nodded in agreement.
—
"I’ve really hit the jackpot this time!"
Inside the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion, Zhang Chi quickly finished tallying his spoils and was extremely pleased.
The haul this time was enormous, greater than ever before. He had even obtained a lot of Tier Five materials, enough for him to advance to the Divinity Transformation Middle Stage.
In addition, he had also obtained a large number of Spiritual Treasures. Although they were almost all Low Grade, they were still priceless and were perfectly suited for upgrading the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion.
The Heirloom Seal of the Realm and the Map of Mountains and Rivers were even Quasi-Upper Grade, making them extremely precious.
Then there were the Primordial Spirits of those Cultivators, which contained vast amounts of Cultivation Knowledge, Cultivation Techniques, and Divine Techniques. This directly and greatly increased Zhang Chi’s foundation. He even obtained and immediately mastered the Great Qian Dragon Fist.
Moreover, these Primordial Spirits themselves were also the best materials for refining Divine Essence Pills.
Finally, in the Storage Rings of the Great Qian Ancestor and other Royal Family powerhouses, Zhang Chi was stunned to discover two bottles of Tier Five Life Extension Pills, the puppet-making legacy he had been searching for, and the Tier Five inheritance of the Celestial Mechanism Inference Skill.
However, the barrier to entry for these two legacies was extremely high. Thus, even though they possessed these inheritances, they had no Tier Five Puppet Masters, let alone anyone who had mastered the Tier Five Celestial Mechanism Inference Skill.
Otherwise, with the help of Tier Five Puppets and a powerful Inference Technique, it would have been far more difficult for Zhang Chi to eliminate them.
However, this was no problem for Zhang Chi. Not only did he possess the Great Dream Heart Scripture, but his Divine Thought was also powerful enough to rival that of a Void Refining Early Stage Cultivator. Mastering these two legacies was, for him, only a matter of time.
’Those Great Qian Cultivators really were good people. It would have been very difficult for me to cultivate to the Divinity Transformation Middle Stage because I simply didn’t have enough resources. But now, not only is it possible, it will save me a huge amount of time.’
’And the Tier Five Life Extension Pills and the two legacies... I finally have them!’
Zhang Chi was in an excellent mood.
But what made him happiest was not any of this, but the fact that the Celestial Repair Sect had indeed left behind clues related to Spatial Nodes, and the Great Qian Royal Family also had related records.
After all, before its destruction, the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty had always been the most powerful Immortal Cultivation Influence in this Lower Realm and had been collecting information on this subject for years.
However, they didn’t collect this information to go to the Spirit Realm, but rather to prevent other Divinity Transformation cultivators from sneaking into the Spirit Realm. This was, in fact, one of the tasks given to them by their family in the Spirit Realm.
If other Cultivators couldn’t sneak across, the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty’s Ascension Passage would naturally become the only one. That way, they could better control the many Divinity Transformation Cultivators.
But now, this all played right into Zhang Chi’s hands.
After carefully consolidating the information, Zhang Chi quickly obtained the coordinates for three potential clandestine passages.
However, these coordinates were constantly changing, so they were only potentially useful. Furthermore, some could only be opened under the right conditions.
’First, I’ll raise my Cultivation and improve my Celestial Mechanism Inference Skill. Then, I’ll go investigate these Spatial Nodes!’
Zhang Chi thought for a moment and quickly made a decision.
Sneaking into the Spirit Realm was an extremely dangerous affair, so he had to make thorough preparations.
Zhang Chi’s plan was to first cultivate to the Divinity Transformation Middle Stage, while also upgrading the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion to Upper Grade. This would greatly increase his chances of success.
In the meantime, he did not plan to reveal too much to the other Divinity Transformation cultivators.
After all, each of these unconventional spatial channels could only be opened a limited number of times and was extremely unstable. A single mistake could cause it to be destroyed, so naturally, he wanted priority use.
Therefore, it was best not to tell the other Divinity Transformation Cultivators yet, lest they try to use the spatial channels themselves.
Furthermore, these three potential spatial channels were all located in treacherous lands. He had to wait until his Cultivation was strong enough to go there himself to ensure everything went off without a hitch.
For example, the channel from the Celestial Repair Sect was located deep within the Demon Abyss.
’Time to upgrade the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion!’
With that, Zhang Chi immediately began tossing one surplus Spiritual Treasure after another into the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion’s Thunderfire Divine Furnace. The Artifact Spirits of the various Spiritual Treasures immediately begged for mercy relentlessly, but Zhang Chi paid them no mind.
One by one, the Spiritual Treasures were smelted down and fused into the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion.
The quality of the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion was instantly and greatly enhanced, bringing it infinitely close to the Upper Grade.
’To think that even after throwing in so many Spiritual Treasures, it’s still not enough to upgrade the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion to Upper Grade. It seems Upper Grade Spirit Treasures truly are precious. No wonder the Yi Family in the Spirit Realm went so far as to establish the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty just to refine an Upper Grade Spirit Treasure.’
Zhang Chi lamented.
After a moment’s thought, he finally steeled himself and threw the three Middle Grade Spirit Treasures—the Golden Dragon Banner, the Heirloom Seal of the Realm, and the Map of Mountains and Rivers—into the Thunderfire Divine Furnace as well.
After all, he had no intention of becoming the Lord of the Immortal Dynasty. The Great Qian Immortal Dynasty would soon be carved up, and these three Spiritual Treasures had no potential for further improvement. Keeping them was of limited use, so it was naturally most suitable to use them to upgrade the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion.
BOOM!
This time, as the three Middle Grade Spirit Treasures melted, the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion finally underwent a qualitative change, successfully reaching the Upper Grade Spirit Treasure level.
The moment it succeeded, a beam of Spiritual Light shot straight into the sky, only dissipating when it reached the Star Departing Flame Layer.
At the same time, the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion emitted an incomparably overwhelming pressure. Its internal structure changed, becoming more flawless and sturdy, and the Thunderfire Divine Furnace also became noticeably more powerful than before.
The defensive and offensive Arrays within the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion also became stronger.
If it were to withstand the bombardment of a Spiritual Treasure like the Golden Dragon Banner now, it would undoubtedly emerge unscathed.
However, with Zhang Chi’s current Cultivation, activating this Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion was already quite strenuous, and he could only bring out less than a tenth of its Mighty Power.
And that was only because Zhang Chi had a solid cultivation foundation, the aid of the Divine Whale Devouring Sea Technique, and a Divine Soul comparable to that of a Void Refining Cultivator.
An ordinary Divinity Transformation Cultivator wouldn’t be able to manage it at all.
But even a tenth of an Upper Grade Spirit Treasure’s Mighty Power was far superior to before.
Furthermore, in the future, when Zhang Chi’s Cultivation reached the Divinity Transformation Middle Stage, activating this Upper Grade Spirit Treasure would certainly be much easier, and the Mighty Power he could unleash would be a great deal larger.
"Retrieve!"
With the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion upgraded, Zhang Chi executed a Spirit Technique toward the Spiritual Vein in the Great Qian Imperial Palace. The entire Spiritual Vein was instantly extracted and then transferred into the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion, without the slightest degradation in quality.
"Excellent!"
Zhang Chi was overjoyed.
With this Tier Five Spiritual Vein empowering it, Zhang Chi could now cultivate inside the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion even when traveling, without having to worry about leaving a Tier Five Cave Mansion and lacking enough Spiritual Qi for his Cultivation.
In addition, this Tier Five Spiritual Vein could also serve as one of the cave mansion’s energy sources.
This way, the Mighty Power of the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion itself would be greatly enhanced, including its Arrays, but the drain on Zhang Chi’s Magical Power would be greatly reduced.
Before, Zhang Chi could only unleash one-tenth of the Immortal Mansion’s Mighty Power, but now he could reach two-tenths.
Even when powered solely by the Spiritual Vein, its Mighty Power could reach one-tenth.
Before this, the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion only had a Tier Four Peak Spiritual Vein, which had long been insufficient.
And now, this Tier Four Spiritual Vein had been directly devoured by the new Tier Five Spiritual Vein.
Of course, this was also because this Spiritual Vein was Zhang Chi’s spoil of war, and he had the right to dispose of it as he pleased. Unlike at Snow Peak Temple, which was ultimately the territory of the Celestial Fragrance Sect, making it impossible for Zhang Chi to completely claim its Spiritual Vein as his own.
Furthermore, the upgrade in the Supreme Profound Immortal Mansion’s quality also greatly increased Zhang Chi’s chances of success.