Chapter 134: Chapter 126: The Three Great Forbidden Lands, the Abyss-Suppressing Ancient Hall

He had long grown accustomed to the Ye Family’s son-in-law’s peculiar hobby of collecting Dao Pattern Spirit Jade.

He said, "Since you have such a refined hobby, Young Master, as long as I am on duty here at Cangshan Pavilion, I will do everything in my power to assist you."

Ye Yan glanced at Fang Cheng and said, "Husband, Uncle Li is Mother’s trusted confidant. He will naturally be dedicated in his service to you."

Fang Cheng nodded, put away the Dao Pattern Spirit Jade, and asked, "Uncle Li, how big of a deal can your Cangshan Pavilion handle?"

Shopkeeper Li read his expression, his interest piqued. "How big of a deal do you have in mind, Young Master?" he asked.

Fang Cheng lifted his teacup and smiled. "I want to exchange for two hundred Upper-Grade Spirit Stones. I was wondering if you have that many here?"

Shopkeeper Li was startled, then gave a wry smile. "You are truly extravagant, Young Master. Do you know that the Ye Family Treasure Vault has only slightly more Upper-Grade Spirit Stones than that? I only keep fifty Upper-Grade Spirit Stones here, and that’s just to keep up appearances for certain important figures."

He paused, then added, "If you’re not in a hurry, Young Master, I can contact the other shops in the market. Calling in a few favors, I should be able to gather some for you."

Fang Cheng nodded. "Good. Uncle Li is as experienced as they say. However, this transaction must be kept secret. Besides the three of us, no fourth person can know of it."

Shopkeeper Li’s expression turned serious. "I understand. Rest assured, Young Master. I have run Cangshan Pavilion for many years; I still have that much integrity."

Fang Cheng then took out all the wealth he had acquired as a Tribulation Cultivator in Netherworld Valley over the past two years. It was all packed into a single storage bag, which he handed to Shopkeeper Li.

The bulk of it came from the Ten Thousand Poison Gang’s Treasure Vault and the Li Family Treasure Vault!

When Shopkeeper Li sent his Divine Sense into the storage bag, he was so shocked his hand trembled, nearly dropping it.

Even though he was a seasoned merchant who had seen all sorts of major figures and had even handled a few transactions for the Inner Sect Elders of the Yinluo Sect, this was the first time in his life he had ever seen an Outer Disciple produce so many Lower-Grade Spirit Stones and valuables. The small storage bag felt astonishingly heavy.

’This Young Master... he has such a heavy Evil Qi about him!’

He didn’t dare ask about the origin of the items in the storage bag, fearing he might be silenced one day for knowing too much.

"Please wait a moment, Young Master. I need to appraise and calculate everything carefully," he said respectfully.

Fang Cheng made a "go ahead" gesture and continued sipping tea with Ye Yan.

...

Two hours later, Fang Cheng and Ye Yan finally left Cangshan Pavilion, returning to Xiaocang Island with Die’Er.

After being appraised, all the items in the storage bag were valued at a total of 2,370,000 Lower-Grade Spirit Stones! 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Spirit Stones accounted for half the value, while the rest consisted of Magical Artifacts, Talismans, pills, Arrays, Jade Scroll Secret Techniques, and the like.

Shopkeeper Li had to visit more than ten major shops in the market before he managed to convert all of these items into Upper-Grade Spirit Stones.

It came to a total of two hundred thirty-seven Upper-Grade Spirit Stones.

Adding the nineteen extra ones he obtained from the Li Family, Fang Cheng now had a total of two hundred fifty-six Upper-Grade Spirit Stones on him!

With such immense wealth, even the combined Spirit Stones of all the Life Talisman Elders in the Ye Family Elders’ Meeting could likely only just match it.

After completing the transaction, Shopkeeper Li was drenched in a cold sweat.

If anyone found out that a live-in son-in-law of the Ye Family possessed such a huge fortune, it would be like a child carrying gold through a bustling market.

...

「Xiaocang Island, Cangwu Mountain, Star-picking Platform.」

「Madam Ye’s Palace.」

After returning, Fang Cheng and Ye Yan came straight here to report their experiences in Netherworld Valley to Madam Ye.

However, they omitted the parts about Fang Cheng acting as a Tribulation Cultivator and Wen Qianqian’s fortuitous entry into Purple Cliff Cave.

After listening, Madam Ye pondered for a long time before slowly saying, "For such an opportunity, you should properly thank Fellow Daoist Lu Wei."

"We should," Fang Cheng said with a nod.

As for how to thank that beautiful Elder, he wasn’t quite sure yet.

Madam Ye continued, "Your method of classifying the grades of the Myriad Manifestations Celestial Dew is correct. To think the ancestors of the Myriad Phenomena Immortal Sect would use such a method to hide the different grades of Celestial Dew within the ruined tower... If I’m not mistaken, the fourth and fifth floors will only open after the ruined tower truly manifests in the world."

Ye Yan smiled. "That was our conclusion as well."

Madam Ye glanced dotingly at her daughter and said, "That Lower-Grade Celestial Dew can only help one condense a Life Talisman, but its effect on forging a Dao Foundation is minimal."

"If you use Middle-Grade Celestial Dew to condense a Life Talisman, you’ll have a ten percent chance of breaking through to the Life Soul Realm in the future."

"If you use Upper-Grade Celestial Dew, the chance of breaking through to the Life Soul Realm rises to thirty percent!"

"Top-Grade Celestial Dew gives you a fifty percent chance, and Holy-Grade Celestial Dew gives you seventy percent!"

"There certainly won’t be much Celestial Dew on the fourth and fifth floors of the ruined tower. For an ordinary Sensing Cultivator, obtaining even Lower-Grade Celestial Dew is a blessing from the heavens, enough to guarantee entry into the Life Talisman realm. Obtaining a higher-grade Celestial Dew would be a monumental stroke of luck!"

"Whenever the Myriad Phenomena Immortal Sect’s ruins have appeared, the true benefits have always been monopolized by the major powers. Their legacies have all ended up in the vaults of various sects and families to enrich their own foundations. Loose Cultivators can only ever get the scraps, which is why there are so few rumors about the Celestial Dew in the outside world."

In the five thousand years since sects were established in the Abyssal Marsh, they have experienced the emergence of the Myriad Phenomena Immortal Sect’s ruins only once, at most. Furthermore, the location of that last emergence was an unknown distance from the Yun Country. Consequently, very few people within the borders of Yun Country know the details of the ruins.

Ye Yan’s eyes lit up as she listened. "Mother, Husband is going to participate in the Inner Sect trials soon. If he passes and becomes an Inner Sect Disciple, he’ll be able to cultivate the Yinluo Sect’s nine ultimate techniques. When he goes to the ruined tower then, with his skills, he’ll surely be able to seize the Holy-Grade Celestial Dew and have a chance to reach the Life Soul realm in the future."

Madam Ye glanced at Fang Cheng, then said to Ye Yan, "When the ruined tower appears, the situation will be chaotic, and deadly conflicts will be inevitable. I’m somewhat at ease with him going, but you must not go again."

Ye Yan wanted to protest but stopped herself. Seeing her mother’s expression turn stern, she said no more.

The three of them chatted for a while longer before Fang Cheng and Ye Yan bid farewell to Madam Ye and returned to the Cyan Demon Cliff Jade Tower.

「The next day.」

Fang Cheng left Xiaocang Island by himself and went to the Dragon Spine Archipelago.

He wore the Magical Robe of an Outer Disciple with a Sect Disciple Token hanging from his waist. He passed through the Dragon Spine Archipelago, heading toward the Inner Sect.

At the point where the water met the sky, a majestic peak soared into the clouds, standing tall and proud like a great pillar holding up the heavens.

Below this massive mountain were nine other perilous peaks, each slightly shorter.

Together, the ten great mountains formed a colossal island that dominated the center of the Abyssal Marsh.

—Yinluo Island.

He had not yet set foot on Yinluo Island before he was stopped by a patrol of Inner Sect Disciples who asked his reason for being there.

Fang Cheng answered truthfully, "I wish to apply for the Inner Sect trials. I hope you senior brothers might pass on the message."

The patrol consisted of three people—two men and a woman—all of whom had an extraordinary bearing. One of them had attended the Dong Family’s pill banquet and had witnessed Fang Cheng slay the Island Lord of Mist Island and use his Sword Qi Thunder Sound technique at the Floating Cloud Immortal Residence.

He quietly explained who Fang Cheng was to his two companions. They were both startled and looked at Fang Cheng with curiosity.

One of the Inner Sect Disciples asked, "Junior Brother Fang, has it been three full years since you joined the Outer Sect?"

Fang Cheng cupped his hands. "It was three full years just a few days ago."

The man laughed. "With your strength, Junior Brother, passing the Inner Sect trials should be no problem. We’ll have Junior Sister Wu escort you to the Earth Abyss!"

Fang Cheng looked at the beautiful Female Cultivator and smiled. "Then I’ll be troubling you, Senior Sister."

The Female Cultivator smiled and nodded. "No need to be so polite. This is our duty. When it’s your turn to be on patrol one day, you should do the same."

With that, she led Fang Cheng and flew deeper into Yinluo Island.

The two remaining Inner Sect Disciples watched Fang Cheng’s departing figure, sighed softly, and each used their own methods to send a message to their families that the Ye Family’s live-in son-in-law was taking the Inner Sect trials.

There was already a consensus within the circles of the great families that after Wang Yuntian and Feng Ling, the Ye Family’s capable son-in-law, Fang Cheng, would become the undisputed third most powerful figure among the Yinluo Sect’s current generation of Inner Sect Disciples.

They just hadn’t expected this day to come so soon.

Meanwhile, Fang Cheng followed the Inner Sect Senior Sister deep into Yinluo Island, arriving at the edge of a rift valley.

On the cliff’s edge stood an ancient Black Stone Hall. A plaque hung above its entrance, bearing two words written in grand, flowing calligraphy: "Zhenyuan Hall."

The Senior Sister said, "Junior Brother, our Yinluo Sect has three great forbidden grounds, and this is one of them. After you go down, you must be careful to follow the rules. Don’t be reckless, or not even a Supreme Elder could save you."

"Senior Brother Gao should be on duty in the hall today. You can go to him to apply for the Inner Sect trials."

...