Vessel of Worlds

"Linbo Island. One small mid-grade spirit vein, twenty kilometers long and fifteen wide. Population: three hundred thousand. Fifty spirit stones per year."

"Guanghua Island. One small high-grade spirit vein, thirty kilometers long and twenty wide. Population: two hundred thousand. Two hundred spirit stones per year."

"Chenghuan Island. One mid-grade spirit vein, ninety kilometers long and sixty wide. Population: four hundred thousand. Eighty spirit stones per year."

"Duoxia Island. One low-grade spirit vein, two hundred kilometers long and fifty wide, with one small spirit herb valley. Population: three hundred thousand. Forty spirit stones per year."

...

Andy noticed that islands with high-grade spirit veins commanded much steeper fees, while low-grade veins cost far less. This was because high-grade veins had a much denser concentration of spiritual energy—cultivation there could proceed a quarter faster than on a mid-grade vein—which naturally made them highly sought after.

For Andy, who could afford the extravagance of meditating with high-grade spirit stones, the quality of the spirit vein was irrelevant, and any fee short of outrageous was no obstacle either. That made the low-grade vein with the small herb valley the most worthy of consideration—even if such a valley was unlikely to contain any truly rare spirit herbs.

But the next island's information caught his full attention:

"Luojia Island. One low-grade spirit vein, one hundred ten kilometers long and forty wide. Subterranean earth-lung fire, with one earth-fire chamber built. Population: one hundred fifty thousand. One hundred spirit stones per year."

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could now channel the true essence in his dantian to produce Innate True Fire for crafting artifacts and refining pills. But doing so consumed enormous amounts of spiritual power and couldn't be sustained for long.

For someone like Andy, who would be crafting and refining regularly in the years ahead, substituting earth fire for Innate True Fire would save a tremendous amount of spiritual power—which amounted to saving countless hours of meditation. The low-grade vein and the hundred-stone fee weren't worth a second thought.

His mind made up, Andy said to the elder: "I'm interested in this Luojia Island. May I rent it?"

Before the elder could answer, a voice called from outside the hall: "Hold on!"

"I want to rent Luojia Island as well!" A rough-hewn, stubble-faced man strode briskly into the hall, his booming voice arriving before he did.

Andy and the elder both blinked in surprise. The elder found it bizarre—for years, this little island's poor spirit vein and considerable price had left it without a single inquiry, and now two cultivators wanted it by name on the same day.

Andy's mood soured as well. The big man's cultivation was mid-stage Foundation Establishment—a full stage above his own. Was he really going to have to hand over the island he'd chosen?

"Fellow Cultivator Weng, I've set my heart on Luojia Island too. I ask you to decide the matter!" the big man declared loudly.

"Well..." The elder looked pained. "This fellow cultivator arrived first. First come, first served. Perhaps Fellow Cultivator Xun could look elsewhere?" Against any other mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, a man of the elder's cultivation would hardly have needed to be so careful. But he knew this particular man—not only was his strength considerable, he was also sworn brothers with a highly respected late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator of West Star Island. The elder didn't dare offend him lightly.

"Hmph! First come, first served? I'm here now, and the island has no master yet. Why not settle it through fair competition? Doesn't this island have a rule for exactly this? When two cultivators want the same cultivation site, they may spar, and the winner takes the prize!" The big man's voice thundered, his words tumbling out fast as a roar.

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"That is..." The elder was displeased but didn't dare show it. He turned to Andy. "The island does have such a rule. What does this fellow cultivator say?"

"A sparring match—not to the death, I presume?" Andy said with a frown.

"Hmph! Killing is forbidden, of course. But if I'm a little careless, I can't promise you won't be gravely injured!" the big man said with a cold laugh, the threat unmistakable.

Andy smiled faintly. "In that case, I'm not inclined to give up this island either. I'll trust you to hold back. When and where shall we compete?"

Since it wasn't a fight to the death, and since Andy had been wanting a chance to measure the gap between himself and a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, he chose to contest the island. If he proved outmatched, he could concede at any time; with a little caution, he wouldn't come to harm.

The island suited him well. He didn't know what the other man saw in it, but he wasn't about to yield without a fight.

Seeing that Andy refused to back down, the big man laughed rather than taking offense. "Ha ha! So you've got some spine after all! No time like the present—let's do it now. We'll settle this outside the hall. Fellow Cultivator Weng, please stand witness!" The big man was impatient by nature and loved a good sparring match. With Andy accepting the challenge, his palms were fairly itching to begin.

Andy nodded, and together with the elder, followed the big man out of the hall.

"Be careful, fellow cultivator. His artifact is the Wave-Rolling Halberd—a water-attribute peak-grade artifact with quite a history behind it. Its power is not to be underestimated!" the Weng surnamed elder sent to Andy via voice transmission.

"Thank you for the warning!" Andy transmitted back, reflecting that his mid-grade spirit stone hadn't been spent in vain. The elder was clearly worried about watching those spirit stones slip away and was leaning toward Andy's side. If the match ended in a draw, the elder would most likely award the island to him. Neither reason nor self-interest would put the old man in the big man's corner.

The hall occupied nearly the entire summit, leaving no open ground for a match, so the big man and Andy rose into the air, facing each other at a distance of a dozen zhang, and exchanged salutes.

"Look sharp!" the big man bellowed. His right hand swept out, and a gleaming blue halberd shot toward Andy.

Andy was ready. Both sleeves swept outward, and eight glinting points of red light streaked forth—some toward the blue halberd, others toward the big man himself.

These were several of the thirteen flying needles Andy had taken from the Kuang surnamed cultivator—the full set was called the Red Cloud Thirteen Needles. A text in the Kuang surnamed cultivator's storage pouch had mentioned that when all thirteen needles were deployed together, they could be arranged into a formidable formation with endless applications, nearly unmatched among Foundation Establishment cultivators. Unfortunately, with his current spiritual sense, Andy could barely control ten at most; with nine or fewer, he could wield them with complete fluidity, commanding them as he pleased.

Even this was only possible because his spiritual sense far surpassed cultivators of his rank. The Kuang surnamed cultivator, also early-stage Foundation Establishment, had managed to deploy only six.

"Peak-grade flying needles—and that many of them!" The big man's face registered open shock at Andy's opening move.

Nor was he alone—even the late-stage Foundation Establishment elder watching from the side looked aghast.

Flying needles were the fastest-striking of all artifacts and nearly impossible to guard against; of all the many varieties of artifacts, they were the kind cultivators least wanted to face. If the needles were made of superior materials as well, they could readily punch through defensive artifacts—an utterly vexing mode of attack.

And facing a matched set of many needles at once was more troublesome still.

Two sharp clangs rang out as two needles struck the blue halberd from the side, knocking it a zhang off course. The halberd was no common piece either—the needles left not a scratch on it.

"Fine—I concede!" Seeing two or three needles deflect his halberd's strike while several more bore down on him, the big man knew at once that his opponent was not to be trifled with. One careless moment and a needle would find him, leaving him gravely wounded. So he conceded, swift and clean.

Even as the words left his mouth, he produced a blue shield and held it before himself.

Andy gave a light sweep of his sleeve, and the eight points of red light wheeled around and vanished into it. The man had conceded the instant he saw his artifact outmatched—a decisiveness Andy found rather admirable.

"Might I ask your name, fellow cultivator? Those flying needles of yours are fearsome indeed. Losing to you is no injustice!" The big man chuckled, taking the defeat in remarkably good humor.

"You were letting me win. My surname is Zhao, given name Di," Andy replied. Then his lips moved almost imperceptibly as he sent the big man a few words by voice transmission. The big man froze for a moment, then nodded at Andy, as though agreeing to something.

The Weng surnamed elder was burning with curiosity but asked nothing. Instead, he briskly processed the claim on Luojia Island and handed Andy a token-shaped credential—proof of his status as the island's new lord.

Token in hand, Andy walked out of the hall—and there, hovering in the sky not far off, the big man was quietly waiting for him, just as expected.