Chapter 32: Yuwen Tianlan

The dust formed from the Miniature Realm Sphere flew above the Sun-Blocking Abyss, then returned to the cultivation room of the tall disciple held by Jin Zun, sending that disciple straight out of the Miniature Realm Sphere.
After that, the sphere fell silent inside the cultivation room.
By the lake within the sphere, Jin Zun descended, holding the head of the Jade Snake King, and smiled faintly at Qu Yi’s true form, as well as Mu Zun, Shui Zun, and Tu Zun.
“My lord, the snake’s head is in hand,” Jin Zun said with a smile.
After discovering the Jade Snake King’s deadly venom, Qu Yi decided to obtain its venom glands, so he specifically asked Jin Zun to bring the snake’s head into the Miniature Realm Sphere.
“Take the venom glands and remove the fangs,” Qu Yi exclaimed happily.
These venom glands could be used to launch surprise attacks on Earth Immortals, while the fangs could kill higher-ranked Soul Immortals—both were valuable treasures.
Jin Zun nodded, took out his Shangjin Sword, and swiftly swung it, sending out streams of sword energy that precisely cut off the two venom glands in the snake’s mouth. The two sharp, white fangs were also completely removed.
The venom glands were actually round, jade-colored discs, so bright white that it was hard to believe they contained venom capable of killing Earth Soul Immortals.
“Jin Zun, keep these Jade Snake King venom glands and fangs safe. You decide how to use them later,” Qu Yi said with another smile.
Hearing this, Jin Zun smiled as well and placed them in his space ring under the envious gazes of Mu Zun, Shui Zun, and Tu Zun.
Soon after, Qu Yi’s true form used chaotic energy to sweep up the remaining snake head and disappeared.
※※※
Zhu Bao had been meditating in a valley inside the Miniature Realm Sphere.
At that moment, Qu Yi arrived with the Jade Snake King’s head.
The head landed on the ground.
Zhu Bao immediately sensed the movement, opened his eyes, and saw a huge snake head facing him. Frightened, he jumped back hastily. Only after seeing Qu Yi did he stop retreating.
“My lord,” Zhu Bao said, now completely submissive to Qu Yi.
Qu Yi smiled faintly and pointed at the snake head. “This is the Jade Snake King, the protective beast of the Yuanxing Sect. I have killed it. From now on, the Yuanxing Sect has no backing. You should understand what to do next.”
Zhu Bao calmed himself down, thought for a moment, then smiled. “My lord, I know how to inform the Yuanxing Sect.”

Without the protection of the Jade Snake King, Yuanxingzong no longer had the strength to resist Huang Yuanzong, Shixing Lake, or the Yuwen family. If Yuanxingzong didn’t want to be annexed by the three major forces of the Xiyang Continent, it had to find another way—by uniting various forces on the Xiyang Continent and finding a Earth Immortal as a backing to sustain its existence.

Qu Yi glanced at Zhu Bao’s expression and knew he already had an idea. Nodding, he smiled and said, “In a year, I’ll send you to Yuanxingzong. Then you can have a proper conversation with Yulinzi.”

With that, Qu Yi disappeared.

※※※

Qu Yi returned to the lakeside. Jin Zun, Mu Zun, Shui Zun, and Tu Zun were still waiting by the lake, smiling as they watched Qu Yi land.

“The Jade Snake King’s head has already been given to Zhu Bao. In a year, send him to meet Yulinzi again. A year from now is also when the Fire Zun will arrive on Fangyang Star. So during this year, you four should take turns using the Divine Formula Cards to comprehend the laws of cultivation,” Qu Yi said calmly.

It was not possible to let Zhu Bao meet Yulinzi right away, as that would make Yulinzi suspect that Zhu Bao had killed the Jade Snake King, making their conversation difficult to progress. A year would be enough for Yulinzi to calm down, and the Zhu family could wait that long as well.

The “Five Elements and Three Flowers” Divine Formula Card contained five regions, each with an Enlightenment Stele. However, once Qu Yi’s five avatars had comprehended all the primal forces, using the Divine Formula Card would reduce those Enlightenment Steles from six to three. But both sides of these three steles were mirrors, capable of displaying scenes to help Qu Yi’s five avatars thoroughly understand the laws of cultivation.

There was only one Divine Formula Card, so Jin Zun, Mu Zun, Shui Zun, and Tu Zun could only take turns using it to comprehend their respective laws.

There were three laws related to metal: the Law of Sharpness, the Law of Severity, and the Law of Contraction;
three laws related to wood: the Law of Growth and Withering, the Law of Flexibility, and the Law of Tightness and Looseness;
three laws related to water: the Law of Submersion, the Law of Coldness, and the Law of Nourishment;
three laws related to earth: the Law of Bearing, the Law of Nurturing, and the Law of Acceptance.

So far, none of Jin Zun, Mu Zun, Shui Zun, or Tu Zun had comprehended even one of these laws. But it wasn’t surprising—after all, these four had arrived in the Immortal Realm less than ten years ago and had already reached the level of Six-Star Human Soul Immortals, truly considered cultivation geniuses in the Immortal Realm.

With the Enlightenment Steles, the four would naturally be able to quickly comprehend their respective laws.

“The True Self, we understand,” replied Jin Zun, Mu Zun, Shui Zun, and Tu Zun together, before disappearing and returning to their own cultivation valleys.

Qu Yi’s True Self smiled faintly, then glanced at the Artifact God lying on the soft chair before flying to his own seat. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, while his immortal consciousness continued to scan the ‘Primordial Energy Dao’ formation taught by the Artifact God.

Inside the Tiny Realm Sphere, everyone was cultivating.

※※※

Yu Linzi, the leader of the Yuanxing Sect, found the corpse of the Jade Snake King at the bottom of the Sun-Shielding Abyss. Filled with rage, he created dozens of large holes in the mountainous terrain before calming down.

Soon after, the seventeen senior soul immortals of the Yuanxing Sect also arrived at the abyss bottom. Undoubtedly, they saw the Jade Snake King’s corpse as well and were deeply saddened, understanding why Yu Linzi was so enraged.

The reason the Yuanxing Sect had remained neutral and why the three major forces on the Xiyang Continent—Huangyuan Sect, Shixing Lake, and the Yuwen Family—had not dared to pressure them was due to the threat posed by the Jade Snake King’s deadly venom. Now that the Jade Snake King was dead, if the three major forces found out, the Yuanxing Sect would no longer be able to resist them.

The Yuanxing Sect’s skills in taming beasts had always piqued the interest of those three major forces, who surely would not spare them. They must have planted spies within the sect, so the truth about the Jade Snake King’s death wouldn’t remain hidden for long.

Yu Linzi and the elders stood there in grief, silent for a long time.

“Elders, the Jade Snake King’s combat strength was comparable to that of a Earth Soul Immortal. From its corpse, it seems it was killed with a single strike, indicating that our enemy is likely a skilled Earth Soul Immortal. Such a person is beyond what our Yuanxing Sect can afford to offend. We must accept defeat. Our next priority is to keep the secret of the Jade Snake King’s death and find ways to contact various factions. If we can unite the smaller forces on the Xiyang Continent, our sect can gain a dominant position within the alliance, allowing it to survive,” Yu Linzi suddenly said.

The seventeen elders pondered Yu Linzi’s words carefully before nodding in agreement.

Thanks to the Yuanxing Sect’s skills in taming beasts, they had already domesticated many rare monsters, allowing them to maintain connections with various factions on the Xiyang Continent. If the Yuanxing Sect took the lead in forming an alliance, it could still unite many smaller forces.

Soon after, Yu Linzi and the seventeen elders returned to the Yuanxing Sect’s headquarters, where they discussed in detail and formulated a comprehensive plan for the alliance.

※※※

One of the three major forces in the Xiyang Continent, the headquarters of the Yuwen family. The clan leader, Yuwen Qitian, is currently in a very bad mood. The two high-ranking Soul Immortals he sent out, Yuwen Chuanpeng and Yuwen Ningfei, only Yuwen Ningfei returned, while Yuwen Chuanpeng has not returned yet, and there has been no message from his communication card. Naturally, Yuwen Qitian has already guessed that Yuwen Chuanpeng is likely dead. And the person who killed Yuwen Chuanpeng is probably a master from the Zhu family. However, what troubles Yuwen Qitian the most is that Yuwen Chuanpeng was a high-ranking Soul Immortal; with the people from the Zhu family in the Xiyang Continent, it’s impossible for them to have killed him, which makes it difficult for Yuwen Qitian to figure out the real murderer. “Only a Earth Immortal could kill a high-ranking Soul Immortal. Chuanpeng was likely killed by an Earth Immortal from the Zhu family,” Yuwen Chuanpeng murmured to himself in his study. Suddenly, Yuwen Chuanpeng’s entire body trembled, his gaze becoming panicked—he was shocked by this conclusion he had drawn. With the Yuwen family’s intelligence network, they naturally knew that the Earth Immortal of the Zhu family, namely Zhu Li, the ancestor of the Zhu family, had not come to Fangyang Star. But the fact that there was another Earth Immortal behind Zhu Bao posed a great threat to the Yuwen family. The Yuwen family had only one Earth Immortal. Yuwen Qitian never expected that the person who killed Yuwen Chuanpeng was not an Earth Immortal at all, but rather one of Qu Yi’s four avatars. As soon as he reached this conclusion, Yuwen Qitian immediately went to the central hall of the headquarters, where the ancestor of the Yuwen family, Yuwen Tianlan, the only Earth Soul Immortal of the family, practiced. “Ancestor, Qitian requests an audience!” Yuwen Qitian called out loudly, his voice filled with urgency. “Enter!” came a light voice. Immediately, Yuwen Qitian’s entire body was drawn into the central hall by some force. Inside the central hall, in a meditation room with green stone walls, sat a middle-aged man with a fierce aura, his eyes like swords fixed on Yuwen Qian. This man was Yuwen Tianlan. “Ancestor, recently, a group from the Zhu family on Zhu Yan Star arrived. Their interests are in direct conflict with ours, the Yuwen family. I sent Yuwen Ningfei and Yuwen Chuanpeng to monitor the movements of the Zhu family members. Yuwen Ningfei has returned, but Yuwen Chuanpeng still hasn’t come back, and there’s no message from his communication card,” Yuwen Qitian quickly explained. Upon hearing this, Yuwen Tianlan’s expression became even sharper; he had already understood why Yuwen Qitian wanted to see him.

“Qitian, there’s no need to rush. I am already a Five-Star Earth Soul Immortal and am on the verge of reaching Six-Star Earth Soul Immortal. No matter how many Earth Soul Immortals the Zhu family has, as long as the Yuwen family’s interests are harmed, I will make them pay a heavy price,” Yuwen Tianrun said coldly.
Yuwen Qitian immediately knelt down and exclaimed, “Wishing our ancestor great success in his cultivation!”
“Go. Avoid conflict with the Zhu family for now,” Yuwen Tianlan waved his hand.
“Yes, ancestor!”
Yuwen Qitian replied before standing up.