Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

Two hours later, Zhang Chi concluded the conversation and left the City Lord’s Mansion, having obtained contact information for about a dozen Golden Core Cultivators, including Cen Huayun.

During their exchange, Zhang Chi learned a great deal of useful information and benefited immensely.

This included not only intelligence about the competition and Haoyue Immortal City but also a significant amount of knowledge regarding Cultivation.

After all, there was a vast difference in the depth of Cultivators’ foundations between the Great Abyss and the Endless Desert Sea.

However, Zhang Chi wasn’t looked down upon by the other Cultivators. In fact, they had also gained from the conversation and were quite impressed with him, even suspecting he came from a major Oasis.

This was because Zhang Chi possessed some memories of an Ancient Cultivator from the Great Abyss and was also well-versed in the Rare Treasures Record, giving him an immense reserve of knowledge.

At the same time, Zhang Chi’s Divine Soul was powerful, so he could absorb and process large amounts of information with extreme speed, allowing him to extrapolate further insights.

’If I get the chance, I should get to know more Golden Core Masters in the Endless Desert Sea. Exchanging knowledge like this would be helpful for my Cultivation, and it would also make it easier for me to collect and sell various Cultivation Materials.’

’However, the Cultivation of those Golden Core Masters I just met is a bit low. It’s enough just to be acquainted with them for now.’

Zhang Chi mused to himself.

Afterward, Zhang Chi and Shang Deyi did not leave Haoyue Immortal City.

The competition was set to begin in just three days, which wasn’t nearly enough time for Zhang Chi to travel there and back with Shang Deyi.

So, the two of them simply found an inn in Haoyue Immortal City and settled in for the time being.

In fact, the Golden Core Cultivators he’d met earlier had invited Zhang Chi to be a guest at their cave residences.

But since they weren’t familiar enough with each other and Zhang Chi didn’t want to owe a favor over such a trivial matter, he politely declined.

For a change, Zhang Chi did not spend the next three days in closed-door cultivation. Instead, he spent his days strolling around Haoyue Immortal City.

This allowed him to experience the local customs, cuisine, and scenery of this foreign land, as well as to collect and sell some materials.

After all, he had looted the Ten Thousand Treasures Tower when he left the Great Abyss and acquired a huge amount of materials from Demon Beasts and Demons, as well as the Storage Bags of True Demon Cultivators, during the invasion of the Cangwu Sect. As a result, his personal fortune was quite substantial.

Moreover, items that had been too hot to sell back then, such as the Middle Grade Magical Treasures he’d acquired from the Cyan Cloud Elders and Yu Wan, could now finally be sold without him having to worry about their origins being traced.

However, those Middle Grade Magical Treasures were rare even in Haoyue Immortal City, so Zhang Chi wasn’t in a hurry to sell them. He planned to keep them to trade directly with other Golden Core Cultivators for the High Tier Cultivation Materials he needed.

As for the Storage Bag from the True Demon Cultivator Nascent Soul Powerhouse, the items inside were even more valuable.

However, the aura of Nascent Soul Magical Power on the Storage Bag was far more stubborn than Zhang Chi had anticipated. Even though his Cultivation was restored, he couldn’t open it right away.

Fortunately, his Magical Power had recovered, his Divine Thought was very powerful, and he had his Tier Four Spirit Fire to help. He was confident he could wear down the lingering Magical Power aura within a few years.

Furthermore, through observation, Zhang Chi discovered that Haoyue Immortal City was on par with Golden Crow Immortal City from the Great Abyss. He had never been to Golden Wind Immortal City, but he presumed it was even more prosperous.

However, to purchase more materials, or even a Tier Four Array, he would probably have to travel to an even larger Oasis.

Fortunately, large passenger Flying Boats traveled between the major Oases, so as long as Cultivators were willing to spend Spirit Stones and time, they could reach the others.

The passenger Flying Boat services were especially frequent for travel from smaller Oases to nearby medium-sized ones.

Moreover, these large Flying Boats usually had a powerhouse on board for protection, making the probability of encountering danger mid-journey very low.

Over the three days, Zhang Chi visited several large shops and sold off large quantities of his unneeded and relatively common materials in batches, earning a hefty sum of Spirit Stones.

In particular, many materials common in the Great Abyss but relatively rare here fetched excellent prices.

For each transaction, Zhang Chi would change his appearance, use the Divine Concealment Technique to alter his Magical Power aura, and scan his surroundings with his powerful Divine Thought. Thus, despite offloading a large volume of goods, his identity remained undiscovered.

A few people tried to follow him, but Zhang Chi easily detected and shook them off every time.

Originally, Zhang Chi only had enough Spirit Stones to upgrade his Corpse Puppet to the Golden Core Peak, but now he had enough to also raise the Eye of the Spirit Spring to the Tier Three Peak Realm.

This way, as soon as he obtained the miniature Oasis, he could devote himself to Cultivation in Seclusion and strive to reach the Golden Core Peak as soon as possible.

While Zhang Chi was strolling around and trading materials, Shang Deyi witnessed the prosperity of Haoyue City and was completely dazzled. He secretly vowed to become a High Tier Cultivator in the future so he could live in an Immortal City like this.

After all, it was the first time in his life that he had ever set foot in such a High Tier Immortal City.

Before, even as the Young Master of the Shang Family, he had been perfectly content with just an occasional visit to Black Origin Immortal City.

This made him admire and feel even more grateful toward Zhang Chi.

Because without Zhang Chi, a mere Qi Cultivation practitioner like him would never have had the chance to come to a place like this.

「Three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Early that morning, Haoyue Immortal City was even more bustling than usual. Numerous Golden Core Powerhouses gathered from all directions, congregating in the massive square in front of the City Lord’s Mansion.

The overall layout was not much different from Black Origin Immortal City’s, but the square was larger, and the arenas and protective Restrictions were of a higher grade. There were also far more Golden Core Cultivators among the crowd.

Without exception, all participants in this competition were Golden Core factions and Golden Core Masters.

However, the rules were slightly different from those of the competition for Tier Two Spiritual Lands.

For example, there were a total of one hundred thirty-six Golden Core factions participating, while the number of Tier Three Spiritual Lands available was a high one hundred twenty-eight.

In other words, only eight factions would be eliminated. The only difference for the rest would be the quality of the Spiritual Land they received.

Additionally, before the competition began, each Golden Core faction had to pre-select the Tier Three Spiritual Land they wished to vie for.

The Golden Core factions that chose the same land would then compete against each other.

The losers would then be paired up for more battles to determine their ranking, after which they would choose from the remaining unselected Spiritual Lands in order.

Even if no Spiritual Lands were left, the losers would not be eliminated, as they would get one final chance to issue a challenge.

Zhang Chi and the Shang Family chose the very same miniature Oasis that Zhang Chi had his eye on: Qin Mountain Oasis.

Zhang Chi had also learned from the information provided by Cen Huayun and the City Lord’s Mansion that this miniature Oasis was indeed an excellent fit for him.

A few other miniature Oases also met his requirements, but they were not fundamentally different from or better than Qin Mountain Oasis, so Zhang Chi didn’t bother changing his selection.

Soon, all the participating factions and Golden Core Masters had arrived. A middle-aged Cultivator at the Golden Core Peak with a commanding presence flew into the air, announced the start of the competition, and acted as the referee.

This Cultivator was none other than the Haoyue City Lord, who was also a high-ranking member of the Golden Wind Sect.

"We will now begin the contest for the Tier Three Spiritual Land, Nanxing Lake. The competitors are numbers one, three, seven, thirteen, thirty-nine, sixty-six, eighty-three, one hundred eight, and one hundred twenty-one. You will now be randomly paired and will compete in sequence."

"The final winner will occupy the Spiritual Land, while the rest will be eliminated from this contest. The Fellow Cultivator who receives a bye in the pairings will advance directly to the next round..." the Haoyue City Lord announced.