Chapter 182: Chapter 71: Yu Lian’s Promotion, a Deal is Reached

The matter of the Outer Realm Demons needed to be resolved, but it wasn’t urgent. Everything depended on Wen Yang’s attitude. Following the incident, Wang Ping immediately used their group’s secret code to send a letter through their designated channels.

After that, Wang Ping stood guard by the pagoda tree, awaiting Yu Lian’s promotion.

Half a month went by in a blur. He first received a letter from Xia Yao of Lishui Prefecture. As Wang Ping expected, Xia Yao readily agreed to the proposed trade and stated that she would gather the necessary items within six months.

Wang Ping gazed at the slumbering Yu Lian in the pagoda tree. After a moment of thought, he wrote separate letters to Guangxuan, Yang Tian, and Xia Yao, setting the trading location at Sanhe Temple. He gave Guangxuan full authority to handle the matter and also had Wang Li send someone to witness and record the event.

Xia Yao’s reply arrived twenty days later.

The day after Wang Ping received Xia Yao’s reply, Yu Lian’s body once again began to contract and expand, just as it had during her previous promotion. Fine blue patterns emerged on the surface of her grayish-white Scale Armor. When the patterns connected, they resembled circles of dancing water ripples.

At the same time, the innate Spirit Veins within Yu Lian’s body grew at a visible rate. Once they reached a certain point, they were absorbed by the swirling Qi Sea inside her. The resulting Water Spirit Qi would be calm as a dead sea one moment, and a violent tempest the next.

Wang Ping watched all this with curiosity, and Hu Qianqian was equally intrigued. Spiritual Objects, the darlings of the heavens—their promotions were a gift from the Celestial Dao. It was impossible for anyone not to be curious.

From the looks of it, Yu Lian’s promotion was more like receiving a gift. Her soul was incredibly jubilant. No matter the state of the Water Spirit Qi, it couldn’t harm her in the slightest.

The reason the promotion was taking so long was simply that Yu Lian was unwilling to wake up so soon. She seemed to be savoring the process.

Wang Ping was ’devastated’ to see it.

Hu Qianqian’s cultivation level wasn’t high enough to perceive the details, so she was just there for the spectacle.

「Another month passed.」

Wang Ping received Yang Tian’s reply; he also agreed to the proposal. Three days after that, Yu Lian woke from her slumber. She looked as if she’d had a wonderful sleep. Her vertical pupils darted from side to side, and then her gaze settled, reflecting Wang Ping’s image.

"That was such a comfortable sleep."

"..."

"What new memories did you gain?" Hu Qianqian asked.

"A new Magic. I think it’s Summon Ocean."

As Yu Lian spoke, her massive, hundred-foot-long body coiled and rose into the air. Specks of azure light appeared on her surface, like mythical sprites dancing gracefully—if sprites were enormous.

"It’s so beautiful!"

Hu Qianqian twitched her furry ears, her azure eyes filled with stars.

The moment she finished speaking, the sound of waves crashing on a shore rang out. A massive wave, about twenty feet high, materialized in the garden. Yet, after it swept past, the Spirit Wood and the pagoda tree stood unshaken. Wang Ping felt no force, no discomfort—in fact, he felt completely refreshed.

The giant wave rolled past and vanished at the end of the garden. The Spirit Wood within grew a visible amount.

’Incredible. It can make Spirit Wood grow rapidly without altering its Spiritual Qi structure at all.’ An interesting possibility flashed through Wang Ping’s mind.

"You’re overthinking things," Yu Lian said as she righted herself, shrank down, and draped herself over Wang Ping’s shoulder. Having sensed his thoughts, she continued, "I borrowed Wood Spirit Qi from the Nine Extremes Array. And this is an attack, not a fertilizer. Against someone who means me harm, or whom I mean to harm, the wave will carry the densest Wood Spirit Qi, drag them to its depths, and extinguish their life force. If ordinary people get swept up, I can even assimilate them into Water Spirits in an instant, if I wish."

"Incredible..."

Wang Ping’s praise was sincere. ’If this were a video game, that would be a god-tier skill. It buffs allies while also being a powerful attack.’

"What about that plan you had? Need my help?" Yu Lian asked eagerly.

"You’ve been asleep for three months!" Wang Ping pointed out.

"Fine."

Over the next half-month, Yu Lian constantly dragged Wang Ping to a desolate island to the south to practice her ’Summon Ocean.’ She used the shrimp on the ocean floor as targets, sweeping up a huge pile with each attack and swallowing them in a single gulp.

April arrived in the blink of an eye. Just as it was nearing the time for Wang Ping’s trip to Hu Mountain Country, Wenhai arrived with the case file concerning the First Sect.

"Our plan went awry because of a mistake in relaying intelligence. That’s what led to us running head-on into the First Sect’s people. It seems the First Sect ran into the same problem."

While handing over the file, Wenhai reported, "Daoist Zi Luan personally supervised the case. A total of six hundred Qi Cultivators were taken into custody, and two Entering Cultivators were charged."

"I remember giving you full authority to contact the First Sect, and I told you to do a clean job of it." In truth, Wang Ping was quite satisfied with the result. After this whole fiasco with the First Sect, their two Second Realm Cultivators had quieted down considerably.

"It was my carelessness. I thought my plan was flawless, but I just made a fool of myself." Wenhai made no excuses for his error. He put away the file and took out two azure bamboo slips. "This is the file on those two First Sect cultivators. They’ve been asking about you, too."

Wang Ping used Wood Spirit Qi to lift the bamboo slips into his hand. As he prepared to read them, Yu Lian immediately leaned in, curious.

The information on the first person gave Wang Ping pause. A Steward of the First Sect who wasn’t a Fire Cultivator was surprising enough. But this man followed an unorthodox path, having fused with a Demon Soldier. In the Western Alliance, he was known as the ’Demon Swordsman’ because the Demon Soldier he had fused with was named the ’Demon Sword.’ When he used it, the souls of two Fake Pill Realm Demon Race members would manifest—one to steal a person’s will, the other to create illusions. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The man’s name was Batu—a name no native of Zhongzhou would ever have.

According to the file, he rarely spoke and was a true Ascetic Monk, as well as the most famous Law Enforcer among the First Sect’s mid-level leadership.

The second person’s file was far simpler. It read like a textbook profile for a cultivator of the Mystic Gate Righteous Dao: apprenticeship, cultivation, Qi Cultivation, Foundation Establishment, Entering the Realm, and then promotion. There were no ripples in his journey. After achieving the Second Realm, he was frequently active in the Western Alliance but had not a single combat record. His proselytizing records, however, numbered over a thousand.

His name was Fire Box. It was a strange name, more like a title than a proper name, but it was his nonetheless. Both his followers and the disciples of the First Sect called him that.

Three days after reading the two men’s files, Wang Ping received a formal visiting card signed by none other than Fire Box.