Chapter 3: Yang Tianqi

The Sea Soul Eel caused a havoc, destroying two Wind-Facing Ships before easily escaping under everyone’s eyes.
Of the remaining seven hundred cultivators, they had no choice but to crowd into the three surviving ships and continue their journey to the Tianhua Continent.
Naturally, during the rest of the journey, no one dared to focus on cultivation, fearing that another Sea Soul Eel might appear in the ocean and end their lives.
However, Qu Yi didn’t care about such dangers. With the presence of a being like the Artifact God, he could cultivate with complete confidence.
Twenty more days passed, and the three Wind-Facing Ships finally arrived at the Tianhua Continent.
Qu Yi and Qing Wugui stepped out of the ships and headed straight for the Immortal Slaying Valley. It took another month for them to reach the mountainous area where the valley was located.
The Tianhua Continent was divided into eastern and western parts by the Heavenly Punishment Mountains. In the east lay three of the most powerful demon-cultivation sects: the Soul Departure Sect, the Abyssal Fire Cave, and the Immortal Slaying Valley.
The Immortal Slaying Valley covered a vast area of tens of millions of square kilometers—mostly a desert—with surrounding circular snow-capped mountain ranges.
Now, Qu Yi and Qing Wugui stood atop these mountain ranges, overlooking an endless expanse of yellow sand desert with no signs of life.
“Artifact God, please search this desert and locate the Immortal Slaying Valley,” Qu Yi immediately communicated with the Artifact God’s spiritual consciousness.
Qu Yi had reached the later stage of the Yuan Ying phase, and the Artifact God’s spiritual consciousness had also reached the later stage of Fen Shen, covering an area of 30,000 li—more than enough to cover the entire desert.
The Artifact God clicked its tongue twice and began searching.
“Interesting. It turns out this desert is just a cover. Beneath it lies a vast network of underground rivers that run through the entire valley. The people of the Immortal Slaying Valley have set up many surveillance arrays in this desert. If you touch them, you’ll be detected immediately. But these arrays won’t pose a challenge to me. I’ll guide you to the underground river palace of the Immortal Slaying Valley,” the Artifact God said happily.
It turned out that the true entrance to the Immortal Slaying Valley was beneath this desert, where numerous underground rivers flowed. The sect’s disciples built homes by these rivers to cultivate.
Qing Wugui entered the Inch Realm Sphere, while Qu Yi, guided by the Artifact God, flew through the air, rising and falling, drifting left and right, until they reached a certain spot above the desert.
“Qu Yi, do you see that oasis in the desert? Jump in, and you’ll enter the underground rivers,” the Artifact God said at that moment.

Soon, Qu Yi jumped into the oasis lake and quickly found a stone door. He deciphered the water-blocking formation there and entered the underground river network, thus reaching the entrance of the Immortal Slaying Valley.

Immediately afterward, Qu Yi entered the Dimensional Sphere, which then carried him to a grand hall named the Immortal Slaying Palace. The Immortal Slaying Palace was the meeting place of the Immortal Slaying Valley. At that moment, four people were sitting in the central hall, discussing matters.

On one side were two powerful cultivators at the Divine Splitting stage—namely the valley master and the deputy valley master. The valley master, Shi Jue, was at the mid-stage of Divine Splitting and practiced earth-based cultivation techniques. The deputy valley master, Shi Jin, was at the early stage of Divine Splitting and also practiced earth-based cultivation techniques.

On the other side were two more people: a cold-looking middle-aged man at the mid-stage of Divine Splitting who also practiced earth-based cultivation techniques, and a young man with clear features and vibrant energy, but only at the early stage of Soul Emergence, also practicing earth-based cultivation techniques.

If Qing Wu Gui were here, he would surely recognize this young man at the Soul Emergence stage as Yang Tianqi, the one who wanted to steal his “Asura Demon Manual”.

“Valley master, it doesn’t matter that we lost track of that two-headed lizard dragon. I can just take a little longer to reach the mid-stage of Soul Emergence. For now, let’s go search for the Sea Soul Electric Eel to complete the task assigned by our Cangyang Valley,” Yang Tianqi said with a calm smile.

It turned out that after arriving at the Immortal Slaying Valley on Tianhua Star, Yang Tianqi learned about the two-headed lizard dragons in the Heavenly Punishment Mountains, which could be very useful for him to advance in his cultivation. So, he changed his plans and went to the Heavenly Punishment Mountains first to chase after the two-headed lizard dragons, but was stopped by the powerful beasts there. As a result, he had to return to the Immortal Slaying Valley and decide to hunt for the Sea Soul Electric Eel instead.

Shi Jue looked at Yang Tianqi with a worried expression and said slowly, “Brother Tianqi, don’t worry. As long as I get the chance, I will definitely go to the Heavenly Punishment Mountains to hide and find those two-headed lizard dragons, then bring them to Cangyang Valley.”

This esteemed valley master was being so polite to Yang Tianqi, who was only at the early stage of Soul Emergence, simply because of Yang Tianqi’s background—his father was one of the internal elders of Cangyang Valley and a powerful figure there. And since Shi Jue would have to join Cangyang Valley once he reached the Tribulation stage, it was important for him to build a good relationship now.

“Valley master, there’s no need for that. With the resources of our Cangyang Valley, it’s not difficult for me to reach the mid-stage of Soul Emergence. There’s no need to talk about the two-headed lizard dragons anymore. Let’s head to the ocean right away to search for the Sea Soul Electric Eel,” Yang Tianqi said nonchalantly, exuding the air of a powerful figure.

“Yes, Brother Tianqi, your deputy and I will surely follow your orders,” Shi Jue said with a smile.
Yang Tianqi smiled faintly and took a sip of tea.
……
The Dimensional Ball turned into particles and fell inside the Immortal Slaying Palace.
The spirit consciousness of the Artifact God was stronger than that of the four others, allowing it to hear everything they did as well as the conversation between Yang Tianqi and Shi Jue. Naturally, Qu Yi and Qing Wu Gui also became aware of it.
“It seems Yang Tianqi isn’t ordinary—he’s able to make a mid-stage Divination expert obey him so easily,” Qu Yi said with a laugh.
“Whatever his identity, since he sent people to kill me, I’ll kill him,” Qing Wu Gui said, his expression turning grim.
Moreover, Qing Wu Gui had recently felt that killing Yang Tianqi and resolving that concern of his would allow him to reach the early stage of Departure.
“Of course. Since Yang Tianqi has provoked you, he’s invited death. Right now, among those four, two are at mid-stage Divination and one at early stage. We could use spirit talismans to deal with them, but that would be too easy for them. How about playing a game with them first—accompanying them on a hunt for the Sea Soul Eel?” Qu Yi suggested with a smile.
Inside the Dimensional Ball, there were only Qu Yi, Qing Wu Gui, Bai Man, Mu Han, and Wu Yuan. Aside from Wu Yuan, who was at the early stage of Departure, none of the others had reached that stage yet. Qu Yi, having heard from the Artifact God that the Sea Soul Eel at mid-stage Departure could be very useful to him, wanted to use Yang Tianqi’s help to catch it.
“Good. Revenge doesn’t have to be rushed,” Qing Wu Gui said with a faint smile.
Soon, the Dimensional Ball floated up and fell into the gap of Yang Tianqi’s robe.
In the Immortal Slaying Palace, after talking for a while, Yang Tianqi and Shi Jue were both overjoyed. Suddenly, Shi Jue received a flying paper talisman in his hand.
It was a message-telling talisman that could temporarily store information.
After reading the message, Shi Jue immediately said with a smile, “Brother Tianqi, you’re truly lucky. I just got news about the Sea Soul Eel—a fleet of Wind-riding Ships encountered a Sea Soul monster in the sea area they’re heading to. Its strength is at mid-stage Departure.”
Upon hearing this, Yang Tianqi’s eyebrows widened, his eyes shining with joy as he said, “Great! Let’s set off right away to catch the Sea Soul Eel.”
Shi Jue nodded immediately and said, “Sure, I’ll follow your lead, Brother Tianqi.”
He then went to handle matters in the Immortal Slaying Valley before leaving with Yang Tianqi for the oceanic region.
Naturally, Qu Yi and the others inside the Dimensional Ball went with them as well.
……

A month later, Yang Tianqi and three others searched the waters along the route taken by the Wind-Facing Fleet but found no trace of their target, so they went to nearby areas to search further. At that moment, the four of them encountered another group in the sky above the ocean. “Haha, Brother Shi Jue, Brother Shi Jin, you’ve also come here. May I ask, Brother Shi Jue, what brings you here?” asked a burly man with thick eyebrows and large eyes, who was the leader of the other group. It turned out that this group belonged to the Minghuo Cave, one of the two major demonic cultivation sects, and the man who spoke was its leader, Ming Liyan. “Brother Liyan, you guys from Minghuo Cave have also arrived. This ocean isn’t a good place for you to practice fire-based cultivation techniques,” Shi Jue said with a smile. Although both were part of the demonic cultivation forces, Shi Xian Valley and Minghuo Cave were in constant competition and had many conflicts. Though Shi Jue smiled, he was annoyed that the people from Minghuo Cave had come to cause trouble. The four members of Minghuo Cave—led by Ming Liyan, who was at the mid-stage of the Divination Realm—along with two others at the early stage and one at the late stage of the Soul Departure Realm—were quite powerful. “Brother Shi Jue, there’s no need to beat around the bush. You’re here to find the Sea Soul Electric Eel too, right?” Ming Liyan said with a smile. Upon hearing this, Yang Tianqi’s eyes flashed with a murderous intent—clearly, Ming Liyan’s words had touched a sensitive point for him. Having been born into one of the top ten cultivation sects, Cangyang Valley, he had always lived in an environment where others served him. He would never allow anyone to take what he wanted. Now, Ming Liyan had outright mentioned wanting the Sea Soul Electric Eel, which was a grave offense. The cold-looking man standing beside Yang Tianqi noticed the change in his expression and immediately sent a mental message: “Tianqi, let me kill this man for you.” “Okay, Uncle Leng,” Yang Tianqi replied promptly, showing great respect for the man. It turned out that this cold man’s name was Leng Yu. He had once entered Cangyang Valley with Yang Tianqi’s father and, during an adventure, saved Yang Tianqi’s father, Yang Di, at the cost of his own serious injuries. As a result, his cultivation progress slowed significantly, and he had only reached the mid-stage of the Divination Realm by now. Seeing the looks between Yang Tianqi and Leng Yu, Ming Liyan felt an inexplicable chill in his heart, as if death itself was approaching. Just as the two groups stood facing each other in the sky, those at the mid-stage of the Divination Realm suddenly sensed something in the distant waters—the Sea Soul Electric Eel had surfaced.