Chapter 4: Heading to the Inner Sea

In Huobao Town, Fangqi Pavilion now had ten shops.
After the great battle, almost all the alchemists at the Divine Weapon level had died, meaning the core forces of various alchemy sects were gone. Yet, two people from Fangqi Pavilion survived—Pavilion Master Fang Xinfei and alchemist Qu Yi.
Especially Qu Yi, who had once produced half a million divine weapons in fifty thousand years—any trading group now wanted to strengthen its relationship with Fangqi Pavilion. As a result, the Pavilion’s financial resources expanded rapidly, allowing it to open eight more shops and bring the total to ten.
Fang Xinfei had been in Shop No. 1 all these years.
Over the past nine hundred thousand years, aside from various trading groups coming for business, some special individuals also came to gather information. Of course, they mainly came to inquire about Qu Yi.
Fang Xinfei had been studying the array knowledge Qu Yi had given him, and he had secretly instructed the shop’s salespeople to respond that Qu Yi was in seclusion whenever anyone asked about him. Thus, without Qu Yi appearing in person and with no information coming from Fangqi Pavilion, those with ulterior motives could only wait in Huobao Town, hoping for the day when Qu Yi would emerge.
One day, in Shop No. 1 of Fangqi Pavilion, the head of a trading group turned out to be a stunning beauty. She entered the shop gracefully and went straight to a counter.
This woman had a cold and beautiful appearance, a voluptuous figure, and an extremely alluring aura. She stared intently at the salesperson behind the counter without saying a word for a long time.
Sensing the woman’s aura, which was only at the Divine Being level, the salesperson breathed a sigh of relief. But under her fixed gaze, he became nervous, with sweat beads forming on his forehead.
“Dear, I’d like to purchase divine weapons at the Divine Weapon level from your store. How many do you have in stock?” the woman suddenly spoke, her voice crisp and bright, with a hint of coquetry.
Ah!
The salesperson, who had worked in Shop No. 1 for seventy or eighty thousand years, had never seen anything like this before and was instantly stunned into fainting, collapsing to the ground.
A nearby salesperson with a delicate appearance stepped forward and said calmly, “Madam, our store has a rule: every ten thousand years, we only sell one thousand divine weapons to one trading group. So, if your group wishes to do business with Fangqi Pavilion, we can sign a contract right now, and you can take away one thousand divine weapons.”

The peerlessly beautiful woman nodded gently after hearing this, then asked, “I’ve long heard that Fangqi Pavilion has a miraculous master blacksmith. Where is Master Qu Yi now? I’d like to visit him. Is that possible?”
The female salesperson shook her head and said apologetically, “Madam, Master Qu Yi left for the Inner Sea not long ago. He might have gone to Nan Yin Island or Bei Yang Island.”
Upon hearing this, not only was the peerlessly beautiful woman surprised, but even the other customers in the shop, who had various motives, showed signs of concern.
Qu Yi had been in seclusion not long ago, yet now he was heading to the Inner Sea, disrupting the plans of various factions.
The peerlessly beautiful woman calmed down and immediately smiled, saying, “I already know Fangqi Pavilion’s rules of business. How about this? I’ll go consult with the head of our trading group first, then come back and discuss it with you.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and left the shop.
Similarly, some people in the shop also left in a hurry.
“These people really… they’re here to inquire about Master Qu Yi again. How boring,” the female salesperson complained unhappily as she watched them leave, then kicked the unconscious male salesperson lying on the ground.
※※※
In a luxurious private room in a restaurant in Huo Bao Town.
At that moment, a handsome and imposing man sat there, his aura restrained, yet his gaze carried a power that made one’s soul tremble—undoubtedly, his cultivation level was extremely high.
A woman entered the room; it was none other than the peerlessly beautiful woman who had gone to Fangqi Pavilion’s first store to gather information.
“Master, I’ve found out that Qu Yi left Fangqi Pavilion a while ago and went to the Inner Sea. According to the salesperson at Fangqi Pavilion, he might have gone to Nan Yin Island or Bei Yang Island,” the peerlessly beautiful woman said respectfully.
Upon hearing this, the handsome man’s eyes lit up.
“The Inner Sea… It seems Qu Yi’s cultivation has reached the Divine General stage. Well, I, Yan Feng, haven’t been out in a long time either. Not many people in the Divine Realm know my fame. I’ll go to the Inner Sea this time,” the handsome man said with a smile.
It turned out that this Yan Feng was a prominent figure from the Yan clan of the Huoli Divine Realm, with a cultivation level of Divine General. He also ranked 30th on the Earthly Ranking List. After receiving orders from the Yan clan’s leader, Yan Qing, Yan Feng came to Huo Bao Town, constantly investigating Qu Yi’s whereabouts, intending to capture him and take him to the Yan clan for interrogation.

“Master, the Inner Sea is vast. How will you find Qu Yi?” That peerlessly beautiful woman seemed to hold a certain status among Yan Feng’s followers, as she asked without hesitation.
Yan Feng smiled faintly and replied, “Given Qu Yi’s actions over the years, he’s not the kind to stay hidden. As long as he gets the chance, he’ll surely show off his strength. So, once Qu Yi takes action, I’ll be able to track his whereabouts and rush over quickly.”
“Your wisdom is remarkable,” the peerlessly beautiful woman exclaimed in surprise.
Yan Feng smiled again and said calmly, “I think the people from the Gouye family who came from the Zedui Divine Realm must also be aware of Qu Yi’s movements. They’ll head to the Inner Sea as well. Good—now there are two groups watching over Qu Yi. It’s even more impossible for him to escape the tracking of the Divine Realm.”
With the Yan clan’s influence in the Huoli Divine Realm, they had control over everything happening in Huobao Town. Naturally, the people sent by the Gouye family from the Zedui Divine Realm to deal with Qu Yi were also under Yan Feng’s surveillance.
“The Gouye family has sent two people, both at the Divine General level. It seems they’re determined to kill Qu Yi,” the peerlessly beautiful woman said with a smile.
Yan Feng stood up, hiding the brilliance in his eyes and concealing his aura completely. He smiled faintly and said, “Gouye Ping and Gouye Jing—both of them are roughly on my level. If they want to kill Qu Yi, they first have to overcome me. Well, I can go to the Inner Sea alone. You should return to your clans.”
Without waiting for a reply from the people in the booth, Yan Feng flew out of it immediately.
At the same time, in another large restaurant in Huobao Town, a man and a woman also flew out from the top floor of the restaurant and headed straight to the Time and Space Hall in Huobao Town, using the time and space array to leave the town.
Within Huobao Town, spies from various factions were also sending messages about Qu Yi’s movements back to their respective factions.
※※※
Over 900,000 years later, all members of Tianfeng Camp had undergone tremendous changes.
The 19,000 people who returned from the Galaxy Battlefield, after practicing the “Refining Essence into Body Technique,” had their physical strength pushed to its limit, and the number of fused spiritual bodies in their bodies had increased to one million.
Subsequently, the members of Tianfeng Camp continued to refine the soul orbs obtained from the Meteor Domain Divine Realm, allowing them to advance to the Divine General level.
Approximately 18,000 of them had now reached the Divine General level.

At the same time, the 1,000 people from Tianfeng Fort who later entered the Meteor Domain Divine Realm also obtained the soul beads they needed and all reached the Divine Weapon stage of cultivation. By then, Qu Yi had arrived in front of Tianfeng Fort. The 18,000 people who had already reached the Divine General stage gathered in front of Tianfeng Fort, standing in formation, waiting for Qu Yi to speak. “Brothers, congratulations on all of you reaching the Divine General stage. Each of you has a million aggregated spiritual entities within your bodies, which is an incredible achievement. I’ve called everyone here today to tell you that soon I’ll take you to the Inner Sea to turn you into pirates,” Qu Yi said with a smile after glancing at them. Pirates? The 18,000 people from Tianfeng Fort paused for a moment upon hearing Qu Yi’s words, then loudly replied, “Yes, Fort King.” Bandits existed in the Hundred Forts Mountain Region, and being pirates in the Inner Sea was of the same nature—after all, it was all about stealing. Naturally, knowing Qu Yi’s plan, these people from Tianfeng Fort were sure it had other intentions and would not harm them, so they immediately voiced their support. Seeing the excitement in their eyes, Qu Yi smiled and said, “There’s no need to hide it from you. Since everyone has reached the Divine General stage, to enhance our strength, we need to increase the number of spiritual entities in our bodies. On the lands of the eight regions in the Divine Realm, we can’t kill Divine General-level cultivators in the towns, so we have to go to the Inner Sea. There, there are various pirate groups, and almost every group has a Divine General-level cultivator. By eliminating these pirate groups, killing their Divine General-level cultivators, and seizing their essence blood, we can expand our spiritual entities and thus boost our strength.” There were pirate groups everywhere in the waters of the Inner Sea, and it was a lawless place where killings and robberies occurred frequently. Qu Yi saw this opportunity and wanted to use Tianfeng Fort’s formidable strength to wipe out these pirate groups one by one, seizing their essence blood while also claiming control over the entire Inner Sea. Upon hearing Qu Yi’s words, the 18,000 people from Tianfeng Fort immediately understood and became overjoyed, shouting happily. “Fort King, you are truly magnificent!” “Fort King, we will definitely complete the mission and seize plenty of essence blood.” “Fort King, with you leading us, the Inner Sea will soon belong to Tianfeng Fort!” … The people of Tianfeng Fort were filled with enthusiasm, as if they could already see their future glory and sense that their strength would rise rapidly.

Qu Yi nodded in satisfaction, then waved his hand to quiet the crowd. Smiling, he said, “Alright, everyone, don’t get so excited. It will be another 100,000 years before we can go to the Inner Sea. During these 100,000 years, each of you must go to a place in the Fire Separation Divine Realm and take control of a pirate stronghold. The strength of that stronghold will be the force you’ll command when you go to the Inner Sea.”

In the Inner Sea, Qu Yi didn’t want to bring 18,000 Divine General-level warriors and charge around recklessly—that would be too conspicuous. After all, the sudden appearance of a force of 18,000 Divine General-level warriors would be highly unusual; no pirate gang had such strength. Therefore, Qu Yi planned to split up the people from Tianfeng Stronghold, having each of them lead their own pirate gang to various parts of the Inner Sea to fight against other pirate gangs there.

“Yes, Stronghold King,” the people of Tianfeng Stronghold replied immediately.

With their Divine General-level cultivation, it would be far too easy for them to take control of a pirate stronghold.