Chapter 24: Gathering of Powers

Qu Yi decided to go to Baiyin Star to compete for the soon-to-be-born Eight Directions Sword. Before leaving, he naturally needed to make some arrangements. Bai Man and Wu Yuan had been wandering around in the Heavenly Punishment Mountains with the Golden Qilin, fighting against various monsters from time to time. Wu Yuan was now at the mid-stage of the Divided Mind cultivation level and was practically invincible in those mountains, so his main focus was on having fun. Only Bai Man was highly enthusiastic, insisting that Wu Yuan catch a mid-stage Yuan Ying monster every day for battles to hone her sword skills.

Qu Yi’s hidden Dimension Ball was attached to Wu Yuan’s body, and now Qu Yi emerged from it.
“Senior sister, Wu Yuan, the Eight Directions Sword is about to be born on Baiyin Star. I want to go there and fight for it. Do you two want to come? If not, you can just wander around Tianhua Star.” Qu Yi asked with a smile.
“Qu Yi, of course I’ll follow you! Wherever you go, I’ll go there too!” Bai Man exclaimed anxiously.
“Ugh, Qu Yi, I’ll stick with you!” Wu Yuan said firmly, shaking its dragon head.

As for the Golden Qilin beside them, Qu Yi didn’t give it a choice—it was already his pet, so it had to follow.
“Then it’s settled. The four of us will go to Baiyin Star together,” Qu Yi said decisively, finalizing the group.

Unexpectedly, the Golden Qilin came over to Qu Yi. Its once mighty and strong appearance had changed; it spoke to Qu Yi shyly, “Master, can we take Phantom Dance Butterfly with us too?”

Qu Yi was surprised upon hearing this. Looking at the tall and mighty Golden Qilin, he suddenly burst into laughter. “Golden Qilin, so you have a secret crush on Phantom Dance Butterfly? Alright, I’ll help you with that.”

Phantom Dance Butterfly, in her human form, had an extremely alluring figure—her skin was delicate and smooth, her chest full and round, her legs slender. What was even more eye-catching was her outfit, which was very revealing. Her dress, made of pale purple and pink feathers, only covered a few key parts of her body, leaving the rest fully exposed.

For a strong-looking man like the Golden Qilin, it was hard not to be tempted by such a beauty.

Hearing Qu Yi’s promise, the Golden Qilin started giggling foolishly, looking at Qu Yi with deep gratitude in its eyes.

Then, Qu Yi summoned the Instrument God to order Phantom Dance Butterfly to come over. Thus, the four of them waited another half month in the Heavenly Punishment Mountains.

Over the past half month, eight demon beasts in the early stage of the Diversion phase, such as the Flying Shadow Black Panther, returned. They had gone to the Golden Soul Sect, Wanlu Lake, and Yuanhuo Sect, completely destroying those three sects and bringing back a great deal of wealth. Qu Yi took all the material for refining weapons, while the remaining spirit stones, medicinal herbs, magical treasures, and so on were distributed among the demon beasts. Of course, Qu Yi also obtained the Yuan Ying in the later stage of leaving the body—specifically, one Yuan Ying of each of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Thus, as long as Qu Yi’s soul reached the middle stage of leaving the body, he could begin to strive for further advancement.

The Illusory Dance Butterfly finally arrived at Qu Yi’s side and looked at him in confusion, unable to understand why Qu Yi had gone to White Yin Star without bringing along the skilled Three-Tailed Dragon but instead bringing her, a woman. With an extremely alluring figure, the Illusory Dance Butterfly stood in front of Qu Yi, her full breasts proudly displayed, her charming eyes smiling as she sized him up from head to toe. Qu Yi shuddered and immediately turned away, then grabbed the Golden Qilin and pushed this mighty youth in front of the Illusory Dance Butterfly. “Illusory Dance Butterfly, the Golden Qilin recommended you. With your help, I will surely be able to obtain the Eight Directions Sword, that’s why I brought you here,” Qu Yi said quickly. The Golden Qilin stood there in confusion, not expecting Qu Yi to introduce it in such a way. The Illusory Dance Butterfly looked at the Golden Qilin, giggling softly and winking, clearly signaling to it that it would suffer consequences in the future. Qu Yi didn’t bother explaining further and immediately took the Golden Qilin and the Illusory Dance Butterfly into the Dimensional Sphere, then sent the Five Elements flying into the air, with the Dimensional Sphere attached to them, heading toward Demon Reception Island.

A month later, Qu Yi arrived at Demon Reception Island alone and then used a spatial teleportation array to go to White Yin Star. …

White Yin Star was currently the hot topic in the entire cultivation world. Cultivators who had reached the Diversion phase or above would take chances and come to White Yin Star, either to search for the Eight Directions Sword on the Ice Continent or to attack other cultivators, killing them to seize their treasures. All these incidents took place on the ten islands of White Yin Star. The ten islands in the northern hemisphere of White Yin Star were evenly distributed across the oceans there, seemingly connected in a line. They were named in sequence: Xingguang Island, Qilong Island, Yinhui Island, Jige Island, Yuhan Island, Xianglan Island, Miaoyang Island, Chenbo Island, Huoyin Island, and Yunxia Island. The ten major sects of White Yin Star each occupied one of these islands, and the names of the sects were derived from the names of the islands.

These ten sects are all supported by the ten major forces in the cultivation world, and are essentially direct branches of these forces. The Xingguang Sect belongs to the Taiyuan Gate, the Yuhan Sect belongs to the Qingyun Sect, the Yunxia Sect belongs to the Lanyang Palace, and the Xianglan Sect belongs to the Yingtian Sect—these are the four major cultivation sects. The Jige Sect belongs to the Jinyang Sect, the Huoyin Sect belongs to the Biyan Peak, and the Chenbo Sect belongs to the Cangyang Valley—these are the three major demon cultivation sects. The Qilong Sect belongs to the Baishou Peak, the Yinhui Sect belongs to the Xianyue Cliff, and the Miaoyang Sect belongs to the Jiugong Island—these are the three major fiend cultivation sects. Successively, the ten ultimate sects of the Liupan Stars each sent a team to Baiyin Star, heading to the islands belonging to their respective forces. At Cangyang Valley, Li Zhen, the head of the valley’s defense force, brought ten elders in the early stage of fusion cultivation. After arriving at Yingxian Island via a spatial teleportation array, they immediately took a windship to Chenbo Island, where the people of the Chenbo Sect promptly welcomed Li Zhen and his group. At the headquarters of the Chenbo Sect, on Panhu Mountain, Li Zhen and Chen Han, the sect leader, sat facing each other in a pavilion and began to talk. “Chen Han, the news of the emergence of the Eight Directions Sword this time is bound to attract all the outstanding masters in the cultivation world, and it will surely be quite lively. Does your Chenbo Sect have any plans or strategies?” Li Zhen, with his cold appearance, managed to force a smile as he asked. Li Zhen was at the late stage of fusion cultivation, while Chen Han was at the middle stage. Since Chen Han was the sect leader, Li Zhen did not give orders rudely but instead used a consultative tone. Even if Li Zhen had given orders, Chen Han would have had no choice but to accept them, as he would need Li Zhen’s support in the future when he went to Cangyang Valley. Nevertheless, Li Zhen considered the importance of the Eight Directions Sword matter and did not want Chen Han to feel resentful, which could affect their future actions. Chen Han, with his broad forehead and face, who appeared honest, immediately replied upon hearing Li Zhen’s question, “Senior Li Zhen, our Chenbo Sect has decided to suspend all disciples from going outside and seal the sect tightly. As for those cultivators who came to Baiyin Star, let them make trouble if they want to.” Li Zhen smiled lightly, glanced at the surrounding scenery, and said indifferently, “Before I arrived, your approach was correct. But now, there’s no need for that. Since those people want to come and take their chances, just kill them. The Eight Directions Sword can only be contested by our ten major forces—those of immortals, demons, and fiends. Anyone else who tries to compete must die.” Chen Han’s body trembled slightly as he repeatedly agreed.

“Senior Li Zhen, with our Chenbo Sect’s strength, it’s quite difficult to kill so many cultivators,” Chen Han said cautiously.
In the Chenbo Sect, aside from Chen Han who was at the mid-stage of the Fusion Realm, there was one more at the early stage of Fusion Realm, and five others at the Divination Realm. It would be very hard to use such strength to drive away the cultivators who came to Baiyin Star.
Li Zhen smiled at Chen Han before suddenly saying coldly, “Chen Han, the ten elders from Cangyang Valley I brought are here to help you. I estimate that the emergence of the Eight Directions Sword won’t happen so soon; it will likely take a few more years before any signs appear. So, during these years, you should kill these cultivators who came to try their luck and intimidate those who want to take advantage of the situation. I think the other nine sects will do the same. This is an opportunity for your Chenbo Sect to strengthen itself—don’t let it slip away.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Han was overjoyed. With these ten strong cultivators at the early stage of Fusion Realm, they could easily kill all the foreign cultivators on Chenbo Island and seize countless treasures, allowing some members of the sect to advance in their cultivation.
“I understand, Senior Li Zhen. I’ll follow your instructions completely,” Chen Han promised immediately.
Li Zhen smiled, then after a moment, sighed and said with a worried expression, “Chen Han, besides killing these foreign cultivators, you have another task: find out more about the other nine sects, especially those from Liupan Star. The struggle for the Eight Directions Sword will ultimately be fought among these ten strongest forces. So, you need to gather information about them so I can plan our next steps.”
Chen Han naturally understood what he meant. Just as the Chenbo Sect had the support of Cangyang Valley, the other nine sects on Baiyin Star would also have the support of the nine forces from Liupan Star. Therefore, knowing more about those nine forces would allow Li Zhen to come up with corresponding countermeasures.
“Yes, Senior Li Zhen. I’ll do my best to handle these tasks,” Chen Han promised again.
Li Zhen looked at him satisfactorily, closed his eyes for a while, then suddenly opened them and said, “By the way, there are three forces you must investigate thoroughly: the Taiyuan Sect, Jiugong Island, and Xianyue Cliff.”
Chen Han didn’t understand why Li Zhen emphasized these three forces, but he knew he shouldn’t ask further and quickly replied, “Yes.”

While Li Zhen and Chen Han were having this conversation, the other nine sects of Bai Yin Star also encountered the nine factions of Liu Pan Star. After their leaders met, they had a conversation as well, whose content was not much different from that between Li Zhen and Chen Han. All the factions wanted to understand the situation of the other factions before heading to the Ice Continent to begin the search for the Eight Directions Sword.