"No one knows who the ancient cultivator was, but one thing's for sure: He died around a thousand years ago."

Luo Chen frowned slightly. "Why that specific time?"

Ding Yi glanced at him. "Don't tell me you've never heard the tale about the Sunken Sea being reborn a thousand years ago?"

Seeing that Luo Chen did not react, he continued, "The Sunken Sea was dangerous even in the past, but back then, it was only dangerous because of the sea itself, nothing like the terrifying place it had become now. Today, they call it a place where all things sink, and even demons fear to enter. We think the changes started because of what that ancient cultivator left behind. Whatever it is, it completely transformed the Sunken Sea. The pocket world doesn't open on a fixed schedule, but after years of observation, the devil sect figured out some patterns. Before it opens, strange celestial phenomena appear over the sea and only vanish once the pocket world closes completely. Sometimes it lasts a year or two. Other times... forty or fifty years."

"According to the intelligence we have, the pocket world was a portable estate of that cultivator. Inside it, there must be some enormous spirit-gathering formation. Whenever it activates, the disturbance in spirit energy causes those celestial signs. As for what kind of formation could create something on that scale? Haha... even I can't say for sure. But a lot of people suspect the owner of that world was a formation grandmaster. One reason they think so is that after Ascendant Li returned from that place, he advanced to the Divine Transformation Realm by comprehending the Laws of Formations.

"By their estimates, the next opening shouldn't be too far off now. We can only know the exact timing when those celestial signs appear. But before we even think about the pocket world itself, we first need to figure out how to cross the Sunken Sea. And for that... we must talk about the legends surrounding the Sunken Sea, the Abyss of Extinction..."

***

Within the Starry Palace, Luo Chen sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, thinking about the conversation that had taken place in Devil's Cloud Cave. Well, to be more accurate, it was Ding Yi who did all the talking. At first, Luo Chen had not fully believed him. He kept bringing up the devil sect's research and theories, along with its experts. Yet he was not one of their disciples, so how could he possibly know so much?

Only when Ding Yi took out a Golden Core of an Adept of the sect did Luo Chen's doubts dissipate. After the sect had fallen, Ding Yi had captured the person and extracted the information he needed through... unconventional means. Ding Yi had even personally ventured into the Sunken Sea to verify the information for himself. According to Ding Yi, both that tainted Soul-Nurturing Wood and his bloated build were souvenirs from that trip. The information was thus far more believable, which also made Luo Chen far more interested in the ancient cultivator's pocket world. But before anything else, just as Ding Yi had said, they first had to figure out how to safely cross the Sunken Sea.

Luo Chen slowly opened his eyes and touched his robes as a strange smile appeared on his face. Is there really such a coincidence?

The Sunken Sea's reputation as a place where all things sank into ruin, where even demons feared to enter, only emerged a thousand years ago. Before that, it had been called the Abyss of Extinction. In legends, the Abyss of Extinction was the place where all existence returned to nothingness. But a mere sea, dangerous though it was, hardly deserved such a grand title. In truth, it was actually named so because it was the graveyard of a certain species of demonic beasts.[1]

In the ancient days of the Mountains and Seas Realm, Titan Beasts roamed freely, and great demons ruled the world. Even among the long-lived archaic beasts, Black Tortoises were famous for having a long lifespan, but they were not immortal. When they neared the end of their lifespan, they would find a safe place to be buried. The Sunken Sea was one such place. To prevent outsiders from attempting to steal their remains, the Black Tortoises laid down countless safeguards. Anyone without Black Turtle blood was prevented from entering the depths of the Sunken Sea. Thus, to venture inside, one either had to refine Black Tortoise blood into oneself or have some kind of item refined with Black Tortoise blood.

Ding Yi claimed that he had already crafted a treasure containing Black Tortoise blood and was confident it would allow him to enter. As for Devil's Cloud, with his mastery in artifact creation and connections, such preparations were naturally not a problem. Coincidentally, Luo Chen himself had only recently crafted the Profound Dust Armor, which was practically the shell of a Black Tortoise, for all intents and purposes. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Is it really a coincidence, though?

He suddenly recalled something: Back in the Profound Rock Sea Region, while he was hunting demon crabs, there had also been another group of hunters led by Gu Shaoshang from the Flying Cloud Ravine. They had not been after the crabs but the Ring-Head Turtles... which carried Black Tortoise blood!

According to Ding Yi, there were quite a few in the Northern Sea cultivation world who set their eyes on the pocket world. Especially after the examples of the Ascendant Li from the Blue Sea Alliance and Fairy Jadecold, more and more people had begun to entertain such ambitions. Flying Cloud Ravine was one of the factions under the Blue Sea Alliance. Faced with a living example like the Ascendant Li, how could Sage Flying Cloud not be tempted? The reason he had sent his own children and disciples to hunt Ring-Head Turtles was almost certainly to obtain Black Tortoise blood and craft the necessary treasures.

Once Luo Chen pieced everything together, the truth instantly became clear. Yet the thought of competing against Sages still left him uneasy. Normally, Sages might preserve their dignity and ignore juniors like them. But a treasure hunt was the very definition of interests clashing, and under such circumstances, everyone would become a rival. The moment interests overlapped, conflict would become inevitable. Some Sages might even decide to clear the field first and eliminate anyone eyeing the treasures.

But according to Ding Yi, that pocket world is huge and the entrances are scattered according to the nodes of the spirit-gathering formation, so the odds of running into the Sages shouldn't be too high. And those Sages are after different things anyway. Unless I run into someone particularly bloodthirsty, the situation should still be manageable. The real danger will probably come from the other Adepts instead. If that's the case, then I should bring Black King and Heavenjade along. That way, the sea, land, and sky will all be covered. And there's Senior Han as well!

The thought of Han Zhan gave him a measure of confidence. During their recent meetings, he had clearly seen the changes in Han Zhan's Nascent Soul. Ever since obtaining the Soul-Nurturing Wood, his strength had been recovering rapidly. Unlike other Sages, who might have needed a physical body to do anything noteworthy, Han Zhan specialized in divine soul arts. So long as his Nascent Soul returned to a normal state, a big portion of his strength would recover. And Han Zhan was bound by a Great Dao Oath, so naturally, he would protect Luo Chen in a life-or-death situation. In that case, even against a Sage, he would have some ability to protect himself.

After weighing everything over and over again, he finally felt a little more at ease, though only a little. This would be the first time in his life intentionally entering a secret realm, and one of the few true risks he had ever taken. How could he possibly feel completely assured? Yet when it came to an opportunity to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, taking risks was unavoidable.

I guess that's just life.

Luo Chen let out a sigh, then rose and left the Starry Palace, heading toward the Alchemy-Artifact Hall. There was no need for him to craft a Black Tortoise treasure since he already possessed one. With the extra time available, he might as well settle the matter of the Purple Monkey Flower first. After all, the three main ingredients for the Nascent Soul Pill were all indispensable. The Five Elements Lotus Pod was precious, but the Purple Monkey Flower was just as important.

Soon, inside the hall, he busied himself around a flower planted in a clay pot. He extracted samples, drew out its fragrance, analyzed its components, and studied its medicinal properties.

***

A month later, Heavenjade personally visited Lotus Picking Island. Zhang Jiadi and his wife welcomed her in person, both rather puzzled. They had only recently settled the accounts and handed over a share of last year's profits, and this year's matters had already been arranged. Why had she suddenly come again?

Fortunately, Heavenjade did not keep them guessing.

"Coral Infant Face?" Zhou Shanshan frowned slightly. "That's one of our foundational resources. We rarely sell it to outsiders. Senior... you may be overestimating how much say I have in this."

With her family backing her, Zhou Shanshan carried herself with far more confidence than Zhang Jiadi ever dared show before Heavenjade.

Heavenjade did not mind her attitude and simply laid out the conditions. "Rarely doesn't mean never, now does it? And my master isn't asking for it for free. Aside from the appropriate payment in spirit stones, he's also willing to personally craft a custom defensive enchanted treasure for one of your Adepts. That should be more than fair, no?"

Zhou Shanshan's eyes lit up at once. A custom-made defensive enchanted treasure would naturally suit a cultivator far better than something bought off the market. The Zhou family had many Adepts, even more than the Chen family of Sky Passage. The problem was that they were overall less powerful in direct combat. If one of the Zhou family's younger talents could obtain a tailored defensive enchanted treasure, they would surely stand above the younger generation in future exchanges.

Azure Yang had never agreed to make custom enchanted treasures. The outside world claimed his skills were lacking, but now it seemed the issue was not inability at all. He simply did not want to do it.

"Senior Heavenjade, please wait a little. I'll relay your terms and get back to you once the elders have made their decision."

"Mm. As soon as possible."

With that, Heavenjade departed.

Half a month later, when she returned to Lotus Picking Island, Zhou Shanshan handed over three Coral Infant Faces.

***

"No wonder the Purple Monkey Flower can be used in alchemy. Its effect on the divine soul is unbelievably potent. If it's handled properly, so its conductive properties for divine soul power are preserved, the Nascent Soul Pill refined from it would be far more effective. But if I want to neutralize that toxicity... alchemy techniques alone won't be enough."

Inside the Alchemy-Artifact Hall, Luo Chen refined detoxifying pills while pondering ways to counter the miasma. The alchemical formula in his possession was known as the Poison-Repelling Pill, and he had acquired it from Qian Ting's storage belt. It was by no means a bad recipe; in fact, it was actually a fourth-tier pill. That was why Luo Chen had felt confident enough to let Black King travel to Purple Spirit Island alone, despite knowing the risks. Yet he had not expected even a fourth-tier Poison-Repelling Pill to fail against the flower's effects on the divine soul.

It was not entirely useless against the flower's poison, but it was not fully effective either; in the end, Black King had only been affected because he stayed too long on the island. Because of this, he planned to modify the pill.

The Zhou family of Coral Sea possessed a unique third-tier plant known as the Coral Infant Face. Whenever it was disturbed, it emitted cries like those of an infant. The sound could disturb a cultivator's mind, yet those who endured it would find their willpower and divine soul greatly tempered.

Luo Chen intended to use it instead of one of the original main ingredients in the Poison-Repelling Pill, to strengthen its defensive effects on the divine soul. In the past, he would never have been able to modify a fourth-tier alchemical formula. But after refining the Transformation Pill and becoming a fourth-tier alchemist, his attainments in alchemy had only deepened. Moreover, antidote and detoxification formulas were relatively straightforward, making them far easier to deal with than cultivation pills.

There was one other factor, too: The more widespread an alchemical formula was, the harder it became to improve. After all, whoever got their hands on the formula was free to modify it, and over time, formulas became more and more optimized. Meanwhile, niche or high-tier formulas like this one always had room for improvement, and once the alchemist understood the principles behind it, they would be able to do something. That was where Luo Chen's confidence came from. So once the Zhou family delivered the plants, he immediately immersed himself in the research.

***

About half a year later, Luo Chen arrived on an island. Taking in the lush greenery around him, with green leaves and clusters of purple fruit hanging everywhere, he could not help but take a deep breath. "Earth Mulberry Island... really lives up to its reputation. This truly is a fine place!"

Beside him, Sang Jiugong perked up immediately, though he still put on a modest expression. "You flatter me, Fellow Daoist. It's only a small island with a low-grade third-tier spirit vein."

"That only makes your herbalist skills all the more impressive." Luo Chen blinked, then casually plucked a dark-purple mulberry right in front of Sang Jiugong and tossed it into his mouth. The juice burst across his tongue, and satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

"A fine fruit indeed. In fact, it's no worse than the most famous spirit fruits!"

Sang Jiugong was delighted. "So even you think so! These are my specially tended Heavenly Ink Mulberries, bred from Ink Blood Mulberries and Heavenly Mulberries. Not only is the spirit energy within them exceptionally rich, but they're also highly beneficial for the meridians."

Luo Chen silently sensed the changes within his body and merely smiled. A bit exaggerated, but fair enough.

Sang Jiugong's expression soon shifted into one of bitterness. "Unfortunately, the Heavenly Ink Mulberry is a new variety. Its reputation hasn't spread yet, so it can't fetch a good price."

"It's only because outsiders don't know how to appreciate it. Old Sang, don't take it to heart." Luo Chen took out a handkerchief and wiped the dark-purple juice from the corner of his mouth.

Sang Jiugong shook his head. "Reputation is only part of the problem. The real issue is distribution. I heard your Azure Yang Treasure Pavilion has become one of the most renowned shops in the city. If the Heavenly Ink Mulberries could be put to sale there..."

Luo Chen calmly listened to Sang Jiugong's complaint, nodding in understanding. But as he spoke, the old man trailed off, seemingly having realized something. "Fellow Daoist, you didn't come all the way to my island just to admire the mulberry groves and spirit fields, did you?"

Luo Chen smiled slightly. "The Heavenly Ink Mulberries can be placed in my pavilion; that much is not a problem. But Fellow Daoist... do you still remember the favor you owed me back then?"

Sang Jiugong's expression immediately turned serious. Azure Yang was already an exceptionally capable figure, and on top of that, he carried the reputation of a master artisan. Yet even so, he was still offering the sales channels and calling in an old favor just to ask for help. Whatever he wanted done was bound to be both important and difficult.

"I mean... it's not like there aren't any buyers for the mulberries..."

This time, Luo Chen cut him off directly and revealed the true reason for his visit. "I heard you're quite skilled in spirit planting, especially when it comes to breeding new varieties and accelerating growth. So tell me... how much do you know about the Purple Monkey Flower?"

1. In Chinese mythology, the Abyss of Obliteration/Extinction(归墟, Guīxū) is the a bottomless chasm where all waters converge, even the Heavenly River (the Milky Way), yet the water level never changes. It symbolizes the final resting place of all existence and wandering souls. The original uses a homophonic pun, as Tortoise Abyss (龟墟) shares the same pronunciation, guīxū. We have edited the paragraph to make it make sense in English. ☜