Chapter 31: A Promise

At the Tianfeng Stone Castle of the Tianfeng Fortress, the chief leader Zhu Chen made a decision—to go to Bai Shou Village with Qing Yiyi to meet Qu Yi.
That day, Qing Yiyi summoned the Golden-Crowned Thunder Eagle. Then, she and Zhu Chen mounted its back and urged it to leave Tianfeng Fortress immediately, flying toward Bai Shou Village.
In one day, the Golden-Crowned Thunder Eagle brought Qing Yiyi and Zhu Chen to a mountainous area near Bai Shou Village.
Qing Yiyi and Zhu Chen landed.
“Brother, to avoid arousing suspicion among the villagers of Bai Shou Village, let’s land here first. I’ll go to Bai Shou Village alone, contact Qu Yi, and then bring him here,” Qing Yiyi said crisply, her smile enchanting.
Zhu Chen nodded gently and sat down on a nearby rock to focus on his cultivation.
Knowing that Zhu Chen was a man obsessed with cultivation, Qing Yiyi didn’t say much and quickly walked away on her own toward Bai Shou Village.
Qu Yi naturally knew that Qing Yiyi had arrived in the nearby mountains. So, without waiting for her to leave, he left the San Ding Men Stone Castle himself and headed straight for the mountains.
Some of the villagers of Bai Shou Village still paid attention to the activities at the San Ding Men Stone Castle. They noticed Qu Yi coming out of the castle—this was the first time he had left in decades.
Thus, some villagers were surprised and began to speculate, but no one dared to ask directly.
It wasn’t long before Qu Yi arrived in the mountainous area, where the primal energies of the five elements were chaotic. The villagers’ spiritual senses couldn’t penetrate that area, so Qu Yi didn’t have to worry about their discovery of his meeting with Qing Yiyi.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before Qu Yi and Qing Yiyi met under a tree.
“You’ve come,” Qu Yi said calmly, looking at her.
Seeing the way Qu Yi looked at her—without any trace of admiration or surprise—Qing Yiyi immediately showed displeasure. She stamped her foot and glared at him resentfully.
“Qu Yi, I’ve brought my brother here. Will you meet him now?” Qing Yiyi said angrily, her face flushed with frustration.
Qing Yiyi, who was always confident in her soul magic and possessed a stunning, sexy appearance, had always managed to captivate male cultivators. But none of this worked on Qu Yi, leaving her deeply dissatisfied and feeling a sense of loss.

“One day later, go back. Oh, by the way, let me give you a magical artifact. Next time you pout like this, use it to cut your own lips,” Qu Yi said calmly, already taking out a thin blade the length of a finger and throwing it to Qing Yiyi.
This blade was merely an idea that occurred to Qu Yi while crafting magical artifacts. Once it entered a cultivator’s body, it would merge with the cultivator’s divine essence. Thus, as the cultivator used their divine essence, the blade would flow within their body, naturally destroying it.
Qing Yiyi took the blade without even glancing at it. Her beautiful eyes filled with tears, looking pitiful.
“Qu Yi, you really don’t know how to cherish beauty,” Qing Yiyi said indignantly.
By then, Qu Yi had already sat down on a rock and begun meditating. In his hands, one after another, the beast cores of white-scaled fish appeared—all water-type beast cores that could be used to expand the water-type spiritual body within him.
Qing Yiyi had initially wanted to continue complaining, but after seeing Qu Yi’s meditation, she quickly stopped crying and stared at him in astonishment, especially at the beast cores that kept appearing in his hands, causing her to tremble.
“Qu Yi, how do you have so many beast cores?” Qing Yiyi asked eagerly out of excitement.
But Qu Yi was already deeply focused on refining the beast cores and had no time to answer her.
Surprisingly, Qing Yiyi was no longer angry. She sat down on a rock opposite Qu Yi, her beautiful eyes fixed on him as she tried to figure out what secrets he might be hiding.
Unfortunately, Qing Yiyi couldn’t sense Qu Yi’s cultivation secrets. Neither had anyone heard of chaotic energy or cultivators from the divine realm, nor had anyone practiced it before. Thus, no one understood the nature of chaotic energy, so Qing Yiyi couldn’t uncover the secrets of the chaotic energy within Qu Yi.
A day passed. Qu Yi had refined over 200 water-type beast cores, meaning that in just one day, the number of water-type spiritual bodies in his body had increased by more than 20,000.
If other cultivators knew the speed at which Qu Yi’s spiritual bodies were growing, they would be shocked to death. It took them tens of millions of years to gather just 10,000 spiritual bodies, yet Qu Yi had added 20,000 in just one day—a vast difference.
All of this was thanks to chaotic energy. Due to its inclusiveness, Qu Yi’s body could accommodate an almost infinite number of spiritual bodies, allowing him to add over 20,000 in a day without risking physical collapse.

Qing Yiyi kept staring at Qu Yi. Seeing him open his eyes now, she gazed at him in a dazed state.
“Qu Yi, in just one day, you’ve increased the number of spiritual entities in your body by 20,000?” Qing Yiyi still couldn’t believe it. Just one day had shattered her understanding of cultivation completely.
“It’s nothing. Don’t be surprised. Let’s go meet the chief of Tianfeng Fort now,” Qu Yi said calmly as he stood up.
Qing Yiyi obediently responded with an “oh,” shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then followed Qu Yi obediently.
※※※
Qu Yi arrived before Zhu Chen.
Zhu Chen had also sensed Qu Yi and Qing Yiyi’s auras and opened his eyes. Smiling, he jumped down from the rock to greet them.
“Qu Yi.”
“Zhu Chen.”
They simply introduced themselves, meeting each other’s gazes for a long time.
Inside, Zhu Chen’s mind was tumultuous. With his current cultivation level at the Divine Weapon stage, his pressure should have had an effect on Qu Yi, yet Qu Yi remained unmoved. Moreover, his eyes held a condescending tone as he calmly sized up Zhu Chen.
Since the emergence of chaotic energy within Qu Yi, his mindset had completely changed. He could view everything in the world indifferently, as if he were already the ruler of this universe.
“Qu Yi, my fifth sister said your strength was mysterious and would be of great help to our Tianfeng Fort. It seems she wasn’t wrong,” Zhu Chen said with a smile, realizing that his pressure couldn’t subdue Qu Yi and seeing no need to test further.
Qing Yiyi burst into giggles at that moment.
Qu Yi glanced at her and immediately told her to be quiet. Then he calmly looked at Zhu Chen and said, “It’s not impossible for your Tianfeng Fort to conquer and rule the Hundred Forts Mountain Region. I can help you. But unfortunately, my conditions might not be acceptable to you.”
Zhu Chen was surprised by Qu Yi’s confidence but remained calm. He asked, “Qu Yi, my fifth sister said you can craft divine weapons?”
Qu Yi nodded and smiled. “For divine weapons at the Divine Being stage, as long as your Tianfeng Fort provides the materials, I can help you produce them on a large scale. Three years should be enough.”
So confident!
Hearing Qu Yi’s words, Zhu Chen’s expression finally changed, clearly shocked by his tone. Tianfeng Fort currently had 2,000 members, which meant at least 2,000 divine weapons were needed. Qu Yi confidently claimed it could be done in three years—this was utterly unbelievable.

In the Divine Realm, it usually takes thousands of years for an ordinary armorer to craft a divine artifact. And this is only for artifacts at the level of Divine Human. For those at the level of Divine Weapon or Divine General, even more time is required.

“Qu Yi, are you serious? Our Tianfeng Camp currently has 2,000 members. Can you really guarantee that you can craft 2,000 divine artifacts within three years?” Zhu Chen asked excitedly.

Qu Yi nodded with a smile.

“Good, I trust you. Now, Qu Yi, state your conditions,” Zhu Chen said, confirming his decision and promptly deciding to cooperate with Qu Yi.

Qing Yiyi immediately fixed her eyes on Qu Yi, her lips slightly parted, eager to hear his conditions.

Qu Yi chuckled and said calmly, “My conditions are actually quite simple. It depends on your courage, Chief. Chief, you just need to agree to one condition with me, and I’ll help your Tianfeng Camp conquer the entire Baizhai Mountain Region.”

“One condition? Please state it,” Zhu Chen asked quickly, his eyes narrowing.

“When my strength is inferior to yours, Tianfeng Camp will be under your control. If my strength surpasses yours, then Tianfeng Camp will be under my control,” Qu Yi said calmly.

Naturally, if Tianfeng Camp came to rule the Baizhai Mountain Region and Qu Yi’s strength surpassed Zhu Chen’s, then Qu Yi would also control the entire region.

Hearing this, Zhu Chen was momentarily stunned before sitting down on a nearby rock and began to think calmly.

Qu Yi, unhurried, also sat on a rock and continued refining beast cores to expand his spiritual body.

Qing Yiyi looked around, unsure whether to speak, then pouted and found a rock to sit on as well.

After a while, Zhu Chen burst into laughter. He stood up from the rock and looked at Qu Yi happily.

Qu Yi remained seated, smiling at him.

“Good, this condition only benefits me. I agree,” Zhu Chen declared loudly.

In the Divine Realm, strength is what truly matters.

Zhu Chen had already considered that, with Tianfeng Camp’s current strength, it was doubtful they could even avoid being annexed by the top-ranked Tianyu Camp, let alone conquer the Baizhai Mountain Region. With the divine artifacts crafted by Qu Yi, Tianfeng Camp’s strength could rival that of Tianyu Camp, allowing them to start annexing other strong bandit camps in the region.

It could be said that Qu Yi played a crucial role in enhancing Tianfeng Camp’s strength.

And once Qu Yi’s strength surpassed his own, Zhu Chen could still keep control of Tianfeng Camp. Most of the cultivation resources obtained after conquering the Baizhai Mountain Region would belong to him, naturally speeding up his own cultivation progress.

If Qu Yi could catch up at such a cultivation speed, it meant his cultivation talent was superior to his own. Once Qu Yi took control of Tianfeng Fort, Zhu Chen would have nothing left to say.
Moreover, if Qu Yi truly had such exceptional cultivation talent, it meant he would surely achieve something significant in the Divine Realm in the future. In that case, Zhu Chen, by following Qu Yi, would also receive plenty of cultivation resources.
After careful consideration, Zhu Chen concluded that whether he controlled Tianfeng Fort himself or had Qu Yi take over in the future, he would still reap great benefits. With such an opportunity, how could Zhu Chen refuse?
The Divine Realm was a place where strength mattered most. As long as one could obtain cultivation resources to enhance their strength, superficial trappings held no meaning.
Zhu Chen had been navigating the Divine Realm for tens of millions of years and had long seen through everything, so he didn’t place much importance on holding or losing the position of the chief of Tianfeng Fort.
Qu Yi smiled, nodded, extended his right hand, and said, “Your ability to see through the essence makes you worthy of my help.”
Zhu Chen shook Qu Yi’s hand.