While the commotion in Myriad Immortals Planet was getting heated, Wu Qi and his companions were hiding in the underwater cave, watching nervously as the restrictive runes around them were falling and crumbling to pieces. Fearing that some Heaven Immortals might have discovered their trace, Wu Qi made all Long Bo men return to the Spirit Breeding Ring, then killed Yan Xiaoqi and her accomplices.
After waiting for a very long while and discovering nothing unusual, Wu Qi stealthily sneaked out from the cave and gave the surroundings a careful examination. The result rendered him speechless. A giant deep-ocean creature with a body roughly one hundred miles long, shaped like a shark yet having horns growing on its head, had accidentally smashed its body on the coral reef. It savagely crushed the coral reef to shreds, and only then laid down lazily in a nearby underwater valley. It was currently in a deep slumber.
The strength possessed by this giant creature was simply awe-inspiring, as all the primordial runes deployed by Wu Qi were destroyed by it. Wu Qi did not know what to say and was just gaping at it with wonder. Fortunately, this giant creature was only born with a strong fleshly body and a powerful muscle strength, but did not possess any intelligence. It did not know how to absorb natural energy and cultivate, or else, there would be an incredible demon beast making its debut on Xue Yuan Planet.
After probing and monitoring for a moment, and making sure there was no other unusual activity nearby, and the immortal pressure that made one suffocate could not be detected far away or in close proximity, Wu Qi and his company acted like mice in the night. Quietly and stealthily, they put on different outfits and changed their visages. Finally, they left the underwater cave and came back to the surface.
They left the pitch-black deep ocean, where a tremendous water pressure filled every inch around them, and came back to the surface. Although they were surrounded by a vast expanse of whiteness with not even a blade of grass growing, the sunlight, the fresh air, and the wild wind that blew whistling across the snowfield, the snowflakes that blotted the sky and covered the earth, all of these still made Wu Qi and his company extremely happy. It made them throw their heads back and laugh loudly into the sky. Nevertheless, after a few laughs, Wu Qi hastily asked everyone to shut their mouths. Xue Yuan Planet was not a huge planet. It was better for them not to bring any calamity with extreme joy, attracting the few Heaven Immortals with their loud laughter.
With their current overall strength, they were confident in dealing with one or two Heaven Immortals with schemes and intrigues. However, when it came to a face to face battle, any of those Heaven Immortals could kill them easily. Perhaps, only Wu Qi alone could escape with his life. After sternly warning everyone to stay low profile, Wu Qi and his company rode on a dim sword beam each, using the slowest speed as they flew towards one of the nearest cities.
It seemed those Heaven Immortals had given up on hunting Wu Qi and his company, as peace had once again returned to Xue Yuan Planet. Throughout their entire journey, Wu Qi and his company saw ordinary mortals laboring in the snowfield. As a matter of fact, apart from the northernmost and southernmost area of the planet, underneath the thick ice and snow on the other part of the planet was still a solid ground. In Xue Yuan Planet, there were also crustal activities, volcanoes, and underground magma, and hot springs were bursting through the earth as well.
At places where underground fire was more active, hot spring would burst out from the ground, melting the ice and snow, and creating a warm weather similar to that of March on other planets within a small area. In Xue Yuan Planet, these places were considered rare blessed lands. Some smaller cities with weaker overall strength would specially choose places like these to build their cities. With the protection of the heat from the underground fire, they would not have to suffer from the biting cold wind and snow, and could save a lot of expenses in constructing defensive barriers for the cities.
After traveling for half a day, Wu Qi and his company finally saw a small mountain range not far before them. It stretched slightly over one hundred miles long, with white mist rising from it and sending forth a faint smell of sulfur, that anyone could smell from a far distance. They controlled their flying swords and flew straight towards it, then saw a quietly erected small city amidst this green mountain range, which measured several miles in both width and length.
There were small towns and villages scattered across the city's vicinity. The mountain range formed a natural barrier that kept the cold wind and snow out. Hot spring water was gurgling out from within the mountains. The scorching hot water took away the freezing coldness in the air, while large patches of farmland were cultivated on the dark fertilized soil. By relying on the vast amount of hot spring in the mountains, the land that covered several hundred miles in circumference actually transformed into a fertile region. The farmlands were filled with fresh green sprouts; fishing boats were sailing back and forth on the lake, and there was even a large area of fruit trees being planted on the mountains with rich vegetation. These trees were bearing fruits now, densely filling the mountainsides with countless yellowish fruits.
On Xue Yuan Planet, a small city like this could only earn their living by selling their agricultural products. Because of the geothermal energy, this region could never grow the special products of Xue Yuan Planet - the spirit herbs with cold characteristics, and energy stone veins of cold element would never exist here either. Basically, the rare few special products of Xue Yuan Planet that were related to coldness would never be found here. Therefore, the small cultivator clans here could only use a huge amount of agricultural products to exchange the materials required for cultivation with the other bigger clans and powers on the planet.
They would supply their grains and fruits to other bigger powers, allowing them to feed the mortals under their ruling. In return, those bigger powers would pay them with a certain amount of energy stones and spirit pills, so that the cultivators from these smaller clans could cultivate on a tight budget. The reciprocal relationship had been continuing for several tens of thousands of years on Xue Yuan Planet, and if there were no major changes happening, the same relationship would go on until forever.
Wu Qi and his company flew over one village and small town after another. When the mortals beneath them saw sword beams flying above their heads, they quickly dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. To them, cultivators were supreme beings, while mortals would always be mortals. The cultivators on Xue Yuan Planet could punish or reward any mortals based on their liking, granting life or death and giving or seizing properties of the mortals randomly, and no one would interfere with their decisions. Therefore, none of these mortals dared to raise their heads, fearing they would provoke Wu Qi and his company, attracting some undeserved catastrophe.
All the villages and small towns, farmlands, and plantations within several hundred miles circumference in this small mountain range belonged to the Tian clan, a small cultivator clan that lived in the small city in front of them, the 'Tian Le City'. Tian clan was a small clan that was ranked the weakest on Xue Yuan Planet. They only had a few Gold Core cultivators, several tens of Xiantian cultivators, and the rest were not even worth mentioning.
In accordance with the rules in the realm of cultivators, Wu Qi and his company landed before the East Gate of Tian Le City, retracted their sword beams, and walked slowly into the city. Their company consisted of five Nascent Divinity cultivators, Yan Qijun, who was a Nascent Soul cultivator, Zhao Kuo, who had concealed his actual overall strength, causing no one knew the real level of his cultivation base, and Wu Qi, a freak who even he himself did not know how to classify his own overall strength.
When they were entering the city gate, Zhao Kuo produced a jade slip, performed a few incantation gestures, and threw it out. The jade slip transformed into a white beam, shooting up into the sky and disappearing without a trace. Zhao Kuo then said indifferently, "I wonder if those men I brought here are still alive or not. If they are still alive, I'll ask them to find a place to hide. If they are all dead, it is even better, as I can easily answer when return!" Then, he gave True Lord Windbreaking and the other two Great Zhao's Imperial Advisors a glance.
"Don't worry, Younger Brother," Wu Qi said with a smile on his face, "If they are all dead, I can be your witness. You were merely struck by an undeserved calamity as the Heaven Immortals of Xue Yuan Planet were mercilessly killing foreign cultivators. Luckily, the three Imperial Advisors struck and rescued you from being killed!"
Three Imperial Advisors were laughing dryly, while Zhao Kuo's expression looked more like crying than smiling. Nevertheless, when his divine will glanced over his storage ring, where he could see three immortal item grade jade rings lying quietly, he suddenly stuck out his chest, and his mood became much more pleasant.
During the moment when they were entering the city, Wu Qi had used a mystic technique to sense the space around Xue Yuan Planet. Right in the middle of the sky twenty miles from the ground, a layer of densely overlapping defensive barrier had cut off the planet from the outside world. It prevented the Grand Universal Teleportation Formation from functioning properly. Therefore, in order to leave Xue Yuan Planet, they would have to use a planetary ship to break through the defensive barrier. However, upon thinking about those Heaven Immortals searching for them on the planet, Wu Qi shook his head dejectedly.
How was he going to travel safely across space when there were Heaven Immortals chasing behind him? Jiangcheng Zi might have such a heaven-defying luck that enabled him to achieve that, but Wu Qi felt it was better for him to not try such a dangerous activity. "We'll find a safe place here and cultivate peacefully. Let's see what can you do to us." He murmured under his breath.
Tian Le City was not big. In the city measuring four miles in both width and length, the mansion of Tian clan alone had occupied 1/4th of the area. The rest of the city area was divided by two straight and two crossing streets. The residents of the city were mostly merchants with fame and prestigious status, and were Tian clan's relatives by marriage. Apart from that, there were only two not very big inns in the city, and some brothels and taverns.
Those cultivators that came here from the outside to purchase grains, fishes, meats, fruits, and some other agricultural products would be treated as distinguished guests by Tian clan, being welcomed into their mansion. Therefore, the only two inns in the city hosted mainly tradesmen from other cities or miscellaneous personnel. Although the living condition was not considered bad, it was not really decent either.
In the Garden Inn that was located on the west side of the city, Wu Qi and his company found a rather clean small courtyard and settled down.
Under the warm hospitality of the inn's owner and servants, Wu Qi and his companions settled down in the courtyard. After that, he went ahead and paid Xiong Wanling and He Qianqiu a visit. Wu Qi was well disposed towards these two old demon kings, as they had protected Yan Qijun at the critical moment and even rescued him out of the calamity. After entering the room, he did not say anything but straightaway took out the blood crystals and soul crystals he obtained after refining three Heaven Immortals, then gave thirty pieces to each of them.
Xiong Wanling and He Qianqiu had devoured countless cultivators and demon beasts before, and they were able to tell the good from the bad. The blood crystals and soul crystals given by Wu Qi contained a copious amount of immortal energy and magical power. They immediately realized these were essences refined from Heaven Immortal's flesh and soul. "You had refined those three old fogeys? Tsk, tsk... Do you own a Heavenly Flame?"
He Qianqiu gave Xiong Wanling an angry look. He retrieved the blood crystals and soul crystals, cupped his fist, and bowed at Wu Qi while saying, "Duke of Tianyun, no matter what is the order you have for me in the future, Old Crane will definitely help you with all my strength. Old Bear, why are you still standing like a fool there?"
Smacking his lips, Xiong Wanling finally regained his sense. Then, he too cupped his fist and said casually, "White Feather Bird is right. If you need any help in the future, just tell us anytime. Tsk, tsk, with all these, perhaps both of us will soon..." Xiong Wanling's face was blooming with a smile, such that even his eyes narrowed into two fine lines.
Wu Qi chuckled. He did not say too much to them and just took his leave straightaway. As long as both old demons digested these blood crystals and soul crystals, they would definitely break through the realm of peak-stage Nascent Divinity. At that point in time, he would have two additional formidable helpers. Once Wu Qi found a way to help them transcend their thunder tribulation, he would be supported by two Heaven Immortals who were on friendly terms with him. With that, his power would take another great leap.
After a brief moment of pondering, Wu Qi called upon True Lord Windbreaking and the other two Great Zhao's Imperial Advisors. Similarly, he gave each of them thirty blood crystals and soul crystals. The three of them were struck with wild joy. They hastily thanked Wu Qi for the reward, while the grievances they had after being forcibly subdued by Wu Qi were immediately reduced by nearly eighty percent, leaving with only a slight discontent. After all, the blood crystals and soul crystals of Heaven Immortals were not something that were easy to come by. It was extremely difficult to completely kill a Heaven Immortal.
After settling all this, as Wu Qi was about to find himself a room, preparing to quickly improve the cultivation of his ten Gold Cores by digesting the blood crystals and soul crystals, the manager of Garden Inn suddenly brought an old man and two middle-aged men to visit him.
Not waiting for the manager to introduce him, the old man with late-stage Gold Core cultivation base had already cupped his fist and bowed deeply at Wu Qi.
"Senior, please forgive junior for paying you a visit without any advance notice."