Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1065: Azure Sapphire Kingdom
The Azure Sapphire Mountain Kingdom wasn't the most stable place in existence. Officially, it was classified as a rank-three kingdom with a long history, but for the past 600 years, it had been a fractured kingdom. The reason for this lay in its leader and its abundant resources.
True to its name, the kingdom was filled with mountains formed entirely of sapphire, each imbued with unique properties suitable for cultivation. Many of these sapphires carried elemental attributes.
For instance, the Green Sapphire Mountains were rich in wood-based spiritual qi, making them excellent alchemical resources. They were also ideal for cultivation, particularly for individuals with wood-based physiques or those practicing wood-based cultivation arts.
The Red Sapphire Mountains brimmed with fire-based spiritual qi and were highly sought after for artifact refinement and blacksmithing. Like their green counterparts, these mountains also provided an optimal environment for cultivators with fire-based physiques or those practicing fire-elemental arts.
Records showed that the Azure Sapphire Mountain Kingdom had four distinct types of sapphire mountains. Aside from the green and red sapphire mountains, there were the Baleful Sapphire Mountains, also known as the red-brown metallic earth sapphire mountains.
These mountains were infused with a mix of earth and metallic spiritual qi, which naturally blended to produce baleful qi. This corrosive qi was ideal for body refinement in both human cultivators and spirit beasts, with a particular edge for the latter. It not only strengthened their bodies but also helped them refine their bloodlines.
Interestingly, despite its corrosive nature, the baleful qi also served as a fertile ground for certain types of spiritual plants. These plants, rare and highly valuable, thrived in the harsh environment of the baleful sapphire mountains.
Lastly, there was the Azure Sapphire Mountain itself—the namesake of the kingdom. Unlike the other types of sapphire mountains, which were scattered across the kingdom, the Azure Sapphire Mountain was a singular existence within the kingdom. There was only one azure sapphire mountain, a behemoth of a mountain. Not only was it the largest mountain in the entire kingdom, towering at an astounding 50,000 meters with the width of an entire town, but its uniqueness went far beyond its sheer size.
What truly set the Azure Sapphire Mountain apart was its extraordinary composition. It contained a harmonious blend of multiple elements: water, earth, wood, and a delicate balance of yin and yang. Among these, water was the most dominant, acting as a unifying thread that interconnected the other elements, much like a sturdy tree that supports both a creeping vine to help it reach sunlight whilst simultaneously serving as a nesting hold for a sparrow.
This rare combination of elements made it the most coveted cultivation ground in the entire kingdom. The spiritual qi in its environment rivaled that of a mature dragon spirit vein in density, though it lacked the same level of grand dao essence.
What it lacked in grand dao density, it more than compensated for in purity and gentleness. The qi there was so pure and gentle that it became an ideal environment for cultivators, especially those setting their foundations from the body refinement realm to the peak stage of the core formation realm.
It was no surprise, then, that the cultivation arrays at the Institute were modeled after landmarks like the Azure Sapphire Mountain. Its unique properties served as a reference point, inspiring spiritual formations across the continent.
The path to greater heights in cultivation was built upon solid foundations, with the stronger they were, the deeper and longer one's journey could extend. This underscored just how invaluable the Azure Sapphire Mountain truly was. Not only did it foster the growth of cultivators, but it also nurtured a rich environment for spiritual herbs and plants to thrive.
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Given these advantages, it was no surprise that the mountain became highly coveted. It became the central focus of the kingdom, with the royal family leveraging its benefits to produce numerous talented and powerful figures, solidifying their dominance over the kingdom.
Despite the wealth and power of other noble households, none could rival the royal family, whether in numbers or quality. Envy brewed among the other households, as year after year, they watched the royal family grow ever stronger, all thanks to the Azure Sapphire Mountain.
Then, nearly 1,000 years ago, an opportunity to disrupt the established order emerged. One of the most powerful members of the royal family, who had cultivated all the way to the peak of the palace realm, failed their domain tribulation.
For all the Azure Sapphire Mountain's blessings, the royal family had never managed to produce a domain expert. They always fell short, lingering in the late stages of the palace realm—until that one fateful member, who reached the peak of the palace realm and triggered the tribulation.
That royal descendant had been one of the most gifted cultivators the royal family had ever produced, a blessing that ultimately led to her downfall. The domain tribulation was known to be volatile and unforgiving, especially toward those with extraordinary talent.
The more talent one displayed, the more ruthless the tribulation became, and this was reflected in the color of the tribulation lightning. Domain tribulations were typically black, with a deeper shade of black indicating greater danger. However, in rare cases, when the cultivator's talent was extraordinary, the lightning could turn red, with the intensity of the color rising in proportion to the cultivator's potential.
The royal member faced a tribulation of deep black with a trace of red, and tragically, she did not survive it. To make matters worse, the tribulation occurred atop the mountain, and the calamitous energy unleashed by it caused significant damage to the Azure Sapphire Mountain.
Her death and the subsequent damage to the mountain gave the other noble families and neighboring powers the opportunity they had long been waiting for. They did not act immediately, knowing the royal family still held a more solid foundation despite the loss. But the damage to the mountain opened a window for them to act.
For nearly 300 years, these noble households meticulously plotted, enlisting the help of other powers in their schemes. When they finally felt confident enough, they moved to strike. A grand battle ensued, lasting fifteen years. In the end, both the nobles and their co-conspirators discovered just how deeply the royal family's foundations ran, and the royal family learned just how far the conspirators were willing to go to seize control of the mountain.
In it all, both sides suffered heavy losses, and the Azure Sapphire Mountain, which they had desperately fought over, also bore the brunt of the damage. From what Yang Qing had read, the mountain was now about one-third of its original size and quality, both in physical form and spiritual essence.
The war wasn't confined to the regions surrounding the Azure Sapphire Mountain. In an effort to control or slow the conflict, the royal family launched attacks on the territories of the noble households. They possessed the strength in numbers and quality to fight battles on multiple fronts, and it was this decisive action that eventually led to the current stalemate in the kingdom.
The supposed unified alliance against the royal family wasn't as unified as it seemed. It was a coalition of greedy factions, all eyeing the Azure Sapphire Mountain. Despite their common goal, they didn't trust one another, and had they succeeded in toppling the royal family, it was almost certain they would have turned on each other.
When the royal family attacked their strongholds, cracks quickly formed within the alliance. Each faction scrambled to protect its territory, fracturing the once-unified front. The royal family seized the opportunity, using the split to force a stalemate, leading to the present situation.
The kingdom was now fractured, with constant infighting. The nobles turned on one another, forming factions with outside powers, all eager to contribute to the chaos to keep the kingdom in disarray. As for the royal family, their efforts to reclaim control had come at a heavy cost, forcing them to retreat and focus all their remaining resources on the last portion of the Azure Sapphire Mountain. This meant sacrificing their influence over the rest of the kingdom.
The Azure Sapphire Kingdom had essentially become a kingdom without a ruler. One could only imagine the chaos it had descended into, which was why Yang Qing was surprised that the escort agency had planned a route through such a volatile territory— and why he suspected the mercenary agency might have deliberately delayed their response, given the precarious state of the region.
