Vessel of Worlds

The Kingdom of Tianwu occupied the southeastern corner of the Tianyuan Continent, nestled against the Eastern Sea. Its coastline stretched for thousands of kilometers, but its territory measured less than a tenth of its neighboring kingdoms—a small nation that lived and died by the sea. Nearly half its common folk were fishermen who trawled the waters or salt workers who dried sea salt along the shore. Whenever great waves or tsunamis struck, the losses to Tianwu were devastating.

Red Forest Market was situated in a vast, densely vegetated, and seldom-visited mangrove forest within the kingdom. It was a trading market organized jointly by several of Tianwu's cultivation factions, catering primarily to Qi Condensation cultivators—similar in nature to the Drifting Cloud Market in the Golden Flame Kingdom.

Unlike the Drifting Cloud Market, however, there were few pavilions or cave dwellings available for rent here, and Red Forest Market didn't open daily. It typically operated only during the three to five days every two months when a trade fair was held.

This happened to be one of those open days. The mangrove forest, normally devoid of any human presence, was dotted with cultivators.

A handsome, wide-eyed youth of seventeen or eighteen walked alongside a young man of twenty-four or twenty-five whose smaller eyes held a certain quiet refinement. The two chatted as they made their way toward Red Forest Market. Judging by their spiritual energy, both were at the tenth layer of Qi Condensation.

"If not for Brother Yang stepping in just now, I might not have been able to handle that rank-one mid-stage Gold-Thread Serpent on my own. It could have been dangerous," the youth said.

The young man waved it off with a smile. "I just happened to be passing by and lent a hand. To be fair, if you hadn't already wounded the beast badly, I wouldn't have finished it off so easily. And if not for you showing me the way, I'd still be wandering around trying to find Red Forest Market."

The youth blinked his large eyes. "Brother Yang isn't from Jiangzhou Prefecture here in Tianwu, is he? Otherwise you'd definitely know where Red Forest Market is. It's the largest Qi Condensation trading venue within three thousand kilometers. They even hold a grand annual fair that Foundation Establishment seniors attend."

"I'm not a local cultivator, no. I'd be grateful if you could tell me more about Red Forest Market and the local cultivation scene along the way—I could use the education." The young man clasped his fists in a gesture of deference.

The youth's face lit up. "That's easy enough! I may not be very old, but I know quite a bit about the cultivation world in Jiangzhou Prefecture." He was clearly thrilled at the chance to show off his knowledge. Slowing his pace, he launched into a lengthy account of every detail of Tianwu's Jiangzhou Prefecture cultivation landscape. "The strongest cultivation power in our prefecture is, without question, the Azure Sea Sect. Red Forest Market has the Azure Sea Sect's backing behind the scenes. They say the sect is built on a spirit-energy-rich island not far from shore..."

The young man listened attentively, occasionally interjecting with a question that only spurred the youth on further.

This young man was Andy, who had left the Great Void Sect more than half a year ago.

After being forced to kill his fellow sect member, the Kuang surnamed cultivator, Andy had feared investigation and suspicion. He had no choice but to flee beyond the Great Void Sect's sphere of influence.

As the foremost sect in the Golden Flame Kingdom, the Great Void Sect maintained a presence throughout the entire country. To escape their reach entirely, Andy had to leave the kingdom itself.

The Kuanglu Mountain Range lay in western Golden Flame Kingdom. Heading west would have quickly taken him into the Kingdom of Wulin. But Andy had heard that in the countries west of Wulin, heterodox cultivation factions held the upper hand, and that Wulin itself was seeing increasing infiltration by such forces.

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"Heterodox factions" was a term used in contrast to the orthodox path. Andy had learned about this only after joining the Great Void Sect, piecing the picture together from sect texts—most of which he had found in the White Deer Pavilion's second-floor collection.

In the Tianyuan Continent's cultivation world, Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian cultivation sects were considered orthodox. Ghost Gate, Demon Gate, and Monster Gate were regarded as heterodox. In some kingdoms, orthodox and heterodox forces coexisted, neither able to overwhelm the other. In others—the Golden Flame Kingdom, for instance—only orthodox forces held sway, and heterodox cultivators were treated as mortal enemies. In still others, the heterodox dominated, and orthodox cultivators were driven out.

According to what Andy had read, orthodox cultivators viewed heterodox practitioners as monsters who drank fresh blood, devoured living souls, and refined corpses into puppets at the drop of a hat. The descriptions made Andy's skin crawl, and he had no desire to visit kingdoms where such forces ran rampant.

So he had taken the longer route eastward instead. After months of flight covering hundreds of thousands of kilometers, he reached the far eastern edge of the Tianyuan Continent. It wasn't the modest Kingdom of Tianwu that had drawn him here, but rather references in several texts to a route from this region to the legendary Three Immortal Islands of the Eastern Sea. Every account agreed that for Foundation Establishment cultivators and above, the Three Immortal Islands were a true paradise for cultivation. Andy knew few details beyond that, but since he had nowhere else to go, he decided to try his luck in Tianwu.

Using his Concealment Technique, he suppressed his spiritual energy to the tenth layer of Qi Condensation, disguised himself as an ordinary rogue cultivator, and entered the kingdom. After some deliberate searching, he encountered a fourth- or fifth-layer cultivator who pointed him toward Red Forest Market's general location.

Where there were crowds, there was information. Perhaps he could pick up leads about the Three Immortal Islands. With that goal in mind, Andy had made his way to the mangrove forest, where he happened upon a young cultivator struggling against a rank-one mid-stage Gold-Thread Serpent. He dispatched the beast with a casual swing of the Gongbu Sword—a high-grade artifact—and the grateful youth promptly volunteered to guide him to Red Forest Market. When the boy asked his name, Andy offered "Yang Guo" without hesitation.

"Brother Yang, where did you cultivate before? Which sect's technique do you practice?" the wide-eyed youth asked suddenly.

"I'm just a rogue cultivator, training on my own with no fixed home. I practice a common water-attribute technique called the Chasing Waves Technique. I couldn't tell you what school it belongs to," Andy said vaguely. On the surface, his answer sounded remarkably forthcoming—he had even named his technique—but in reality, it revealed nothing of substance.

"That's a Daoist school technique. Most cultivators follow the Daoist path. It has the fewest restrictions—no special requirements—and it's the easiest to pick up. Though I've heard that some heterodox techniques are faster when it comes to cultivation speed," the youth remarked casually, and Andy's attention sharpened.

"Heterodox techniques? Are there heterodox sect forces in Tianwu as well? You seem to know a fair bit about this, Brother Xia. Could you elaborate?" Andy asked with interest.

The youth smiled sheepishly. "I actually know very little about heterodox cultivators. I've only heard that in recent decades, a number of cultivators practicing heterodox techniques have appeared in Tianwu. But there aren't many of them, and they don't cause trouble, so they've coexisted peacefully with us orthodox cultivators. What I have heard is that quite a few young disciples with mediocre aptitude, tempted by the faster cultivation speeds, have chosen to practice quick-advancement heterodox techniques. Unfortunately, these methods are extremely secretive and never circulate on the open market, so nobody really knows what makes them special."

"I see. By the way, Brother Xia—do you know anything about cultivation forces in the Eastern Sea? I've heard there are so-called Three Immortal Islands out there. Some even say immortals live on them." Andy steered the conversation to the point that truly mattered.

"The Three Immortal Islands of the Eastern Sea? Of course I've heard of them," the youth replied. "They say every cultivator who reaches Foundation Establishment dreams of going there, but very few ever come back. Rumor has it that only cultivators from the Azure Sea Sect have actually been there. As for immortals living on them—that's probably just hearsay. I've never heard anything to confirm it."

"The Azure Sea Sect!" Andy committed the name firmly to memory.