Grinding EXP From a Demon Hunting Ship

The old man was calm and composed, seeming to merge with heaven and earth in a state of perfect naturalness.

"Hm?"

The old man’s eyes snapped open, his gaze fixed on the distance.

His face was unremarkable, save for his eyes, which were crystal clear and shone with a wisdom accumulated over the ages.

A few moments later.

WHOOSH.

An Escape Light from a sword flashed across the sky, revealing a figure in green robes.

Fuyunzi descended on his sword. He landed, his expression grave as he offered a solemn salute.

"Senior Brother!"

"Junior Brother Fuyunzi..."

The old man rose slowly, a flicker of surprise in his eyes that quickly turned into a grave expression.

After all, he knew his junior brother well enough to understand he would never act this way unless something truly urgent had occurred.

The old man took the initiative. "What happened?"

Fuyunzi got straight to the point. "A short while ago, while patrolling the Day Flame Sea Region, I encountered an unknown Nascent Soul cultivator..."

"When I pressed him, he utilized a law-based technique. But the strange thing is, I had never seen this technique before and couldn’t identify it."

The old man’s brow furrowed slightly upon hearing this.

’With Fuyunzi’s breadth of knowledge, he should be familiar with nearly every active Nascent Soul cultivator in the Yaoguang Islands.’

’Even if they disguised their identity, their unique law-based technique should have allowed Fuyunzi to narrow down the suspects.’

’But now...’

’Unidentifiable?’

’An unknown law-based technique?’

A sense of foreboding washed over the old man.

Given his understanding, he almost instantly deduced one possibility.

It meant that the Nascent Soul cultivator Fuyunzi had encountered was newly ascended and had never before revealed themselves in the Yaoguang Islands.

The implications of this were far from reassuring.

The Divinity Transformation Daoist Monarchs of the Yaoguang Islands were elusive figures, rarely seen. And it seemed these Divinity Transformation experts had some kind of tacit agreement among themselves.

Despite possessing mysterious Divine Techniques and heaven-defying abilities, no Divinity Transformation cultivator had interfered in the changing tides of the Cultivation Realm since the Blood Moon Demon Monarch passed away several thousand years ago.

Therefore, for the Yaoguang Islands, Nascent Soul True Monarchs represented the highest echelon of power!

The birth or death of a single Nascent Soul True Monarch was like a weapon of mass destruction, capable of dramatically shifting the balance of power in the sea region and the status of their affiliated faction!

Now, with the Yaoguang Islands already descending into chaos and conflict, the appearance of a new Nascent Soul cultivator was anything but good news.

Or, to be more precise, it wasn’t good news for the Jade Void Sword Sect.

After all, this new Nascent Soul cultivator was clearly not one of their own.

’I wonder if this new Nascent Soul cultivator is from the Star Casting Hall or one of the other inner-sea sects...’

The old man’s head began to ache. As for being a Loose Cultivator, that was impossible.

Ascension to the Nascent Soul True Monarch realm requires a fifth-rank Spirit Vein. In the current Yaoguang Islands, even a Loose Cultivator with heaven-defying luck would struggle to find an unclaimed one.

’Of course, there is one other possibility... a remnant from the Blood Moon Demon Palace...’

At the thought, the old man’s gaze turned grim.

As the former rulers of the Yaoguang Islands, the Blood Moon Demon Palace had dominated the archipelago for thousands of years. Their foundations were deep and their connections were intricately woven.

Times had changed, but a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. If the remnants of the Demon Palace had a Hidden Spirit Vein and had quietly nurtured a new Nascent Soul cultivator...

...the old man wouldn’t have been surprised.

In any case, no matter what.

This unknown Nascent Soul cultivator made the Jade Void Sword Sect’s goal of stabilizing the Yaoguang Islands and regaining control even more difficult.

"Sigh..."

"Such troubled times..." The old man sighed and looked at Fuyunzi.

"Junior Brother Fuyunzi, I assume you’ve come to me to perform a divination on this unknown Nascent Soul cultivator?"

Fuyunzi nodded, his voice heavy. "Precisely."

"Senior Brother Shishanzi, please send word and arrange for several of our sect’s divination Grandmasters to make an attempt."

As he spoke, he turned his palm over, revealing a glazed flask. Within it, a strand of dark energy thrashed about like an enraged serpent, repeatedly slamming against the glass.

"This is a faint trace of his aura that I managed to capture. It’s incredibly weak, but it should be just enough to serve as a medium for the divination."

A man leaves his voice, a goose leaves its tracks.

Everything that exists leaves a trace.

Su Ye had used a law-based technique. Despite his caution, traces of it lingered in the environment, ready to be extracted.

"Give it to me." Shishanzi held out his hand, his expression solemn.

Fuyunzi reflexively handed over the flask, then paused, his expression turning to one of shock. "Senior Brother Shishanzi, you’re not going to perform the divination yourself, are you? But...?"

"Of course." Shishanzi’s gaze was calm as he produced a tortoise shell.

Fuyunzi’s face was a mask of conflict. He raised a hand, but the words caught in his throat.

Seeing his hesitation, Shishanzi joked, "What’s wrong? Don’t you trust your senior brother’s skill in divination?"

"Those young ones are all disciples I taught. Their skills can’t compare to mine!"

At these words, a worried look clouded Fuyunzi’s eyes. He quickly said, "That’s not it at all... But, Senior Brother, if you do it yourself, your lifespan..."

The art of divination allowed one to glimpse the workings of the heavens, but the universe was boundless. Compared to it, even a Divinity Transformation Daoist Monarch was but a drop in the vast ocean.

Thus, divination always exacted a price. The cost varied, but the most common currency was lifespan itself!

Simple practice divinations were one thing, but to divine a matter of great importance... the cost in lifespan was staggering!

To divine the details of an unknown Nascent Soul cultivator would cost at least thirty years of life!

Of course.

A Nascent Soul True Monarch has a lifespan of two thousand years.

Thirty years might not seem like much, right?

However.

But Shishanzi had performed such divinations for the sect countless times.

He and Fuyunzi were disciples of the same generation, both at the Nascent Soul Realm. Yet while Fuyunzi still appeared to be in his prime, Shishanzi was already old and gray at the temples.

The reason was the lifespan he had sacrificed for his divinations.

That was why, for the last two hundred years, Shishanzi had rarely performed divinations himself, choosing instead to pass on his knowledge to his disciples.

So now, seeing Shishanzi prepare to make a divination, Fuyunzi frowned, unable to bear the sight.

He tried to dissuade him. "Senior Brother, several of your disciples have reached the Golden Core Realm and mastered Celestial Secret Techniques. The results won’t be much worse if they do it."

"Say no more." Shishanzi waved a hand, his voice deep.

"I insist for a reason. To be honest, after you finished speaking, a deep and inexplicable sense of unease washed over me."

"With my level of skill, a premonition like this is never baseless. This unknown Nascent Soul cultivator... he is very likely a pivotal figure who will influence the entire future of the Yaoguang Islands!"

Shishanzi’s tone was resolute.

Seeing this, Fuyunzi could only sigh in resignation. "Senior Brother," he said, "please, take my share of the next batch of Lifespan Extension Pills."

"Very well."

Shishanzi agreed and began the divination.

"Hexagram of Six Trigrams, the Yin-Yang Principle..."

HUMMM.

A true flame ignited, searing the tortoise shell.

As it burned, the aura around the shell grew viscous.

From the unseen world, it felt as though something was demanding payment from Shishanzi.

PSSSH!

Seeing this, Shishanzi bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the shell!

As the essence blood left his lips, his face paled—that blood contained his very own lifespan!

Fed by the essence blood, the tortoise shell crackled loudly. Smoke billowed up, coalescing into a blurry image. A red landmass was faintly visible.

"Volcano State?"

"Thirty years of my life... for this?" Shishanzi frowned, then spat out another mouthful of essence blood, sacrificing fifteen more years.

But the smoky image merely wavered for a moment before stabilizing, unchanged.

"This..."

"The resistance... it’s too strong..."

Shishanzi muttered, his expression ugly. In a mere moment, he had already lost forty-five years of his life!

All for practically nothing!

The sunk cost was too high. He was in too deep to stop now; his only choice was to raise the stakes!

"I refuse to believe it!"

Shishanzi pressed on, spitting out more blood, sacrificing more of his life!

Sixty years, eighty, one hundred, one hundred and twenty!

Finally!

A total of one hundred and sixty years of his life had been consumed!

The image in the smoke abruptly sharpened, finally revealing itself!

"What is it?!"

Shishanzi’s eyes widened, his gaze locked on the scene!

...