Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments

Chapter 342 - 183: Obtaining a Core Formation Spiritual Object, the Change in Hezhou

Spirit-Locking Smoke had never been breached by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

At least, as far as Spirit Lake Wanderer was concerned, she had never heard of such a precedent.

This ultimate trump card from the Eastern Domain had saved her many times. Especially when combined with her Five Elements Reversal Saber, she was unrivaled by anyone below the Golden Core realm.

But tonight, both of her mainstays had failed one after the other.

However, this wasn’t the only thing that shocked her. The swarm of Profound Fire Crows blotting out the sky before her also shattered decades of her understanding.

As far as she knew, there could be a thousand Luotian Profound Fire Crows at most.

Even the famous Luoyun Wanderer, who ran rampant across the Li and He States, could only summon a thousand Profound Fire Crows.

But the Profound Fire Crows before her numbered in the thousands. There had to be at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand.

This was completely illogical. ’Just who is Xiao Chen?’

"This is a technique of the Luotian Sect. What is your relationship with them?"

Although Spirit Lake Wanderer was bound, she didn’t panic and actually continued to question him.

Xiao Chen couldn’t be bothered to waste his breath on her. "Tell me everything. What exactly is the deal between the Huidong Commerce Association and the Divine Fire Sect?"

"Cooperate, and I’ll give you a quick death."

Spirit Lake Wanderer shook her head. "You can’t kill me. I can be of great value to you."

"Oh?"

This was the first time Xiao Chen had heard such a reason. "What value?"

Spirit Lake Wanderer gave him a seductive glance. "What do you think of my body? If you need it, Xiao, I can even cultivate Charm Techniques."

Xiao Chen rejected her outright. "Not interested."

Spirit Lake Wanderer changed her tune. "I have a lot of classified intelligence and know many secrets."

A Blood Worm began to form in Xiao Chen’s hand. "You’re my captive now. What do you think? Do I have ways to make you talk?"

Spirit Lake Wanderer’s brow twitched as she looked at the Blood Worm. She recognized this Yellow Springs Secret Technique.

She hurriedly shouted, "We have a strong network in the Eastern Domain! Through us, you can obtain rare Spiritual Objects from there."

"Some items aren’t for sale. You can only acquire them through us."

This offer sounded more like a threat.

Xiao Chen didn’t like being threatened. He pointed a finger, and the Blood Worm burrowed into Spirit Lake Wanderer’s body.

In less than ten minutes, she became much more compliant.

She answered every question asked and confessed every secret she knew.

And as she spoke, Xiao Chen finally came to understand the current situation within the Huidong Commerce Association.

Unlike ordinary powers, the Huidong Commerce Association was composed of three parts.

It had an eastern and a western branch in the Southern Domain, plus an outpost in the Eastern Domain that served as a liaison.

The Eastern Domain operation, simply put, was completely controlled by members of several large local families.

Behind those great families was a sect called the Golden Dawn Sect.

The members of the eastern and western branches in the Southern Domain, however, came from mixed backgrounds. Although they appeared to be predominantly Loose Cultivators, many of them had close ties to various families.

Thus, within the Commerce Association here, they could be roughly divided into the Family Faction, the Loose Cultivator Faction, and the Opportunist Faction, based on their backgrounds.

At the same time, following the rise of the Divine Fire Sect, different stances emerged within the Commerce Association.

This gave rise to the Anti-Demon Faction, which wanted to unite with the Righteous Dao to fight the Demon Cultivators; the Neutral Faction, which intended to wait and see how the situation developed; and the Trade Faction, which wanted to pursue deep cooperation with the Divine Fire Sect.

In short, the internal situation of the Commerce Association was also quite complex.

Spirit Lake Wanderer was an opportunist and a member of the Trade Faction, which supported cooperation with the Divine Fire Sect.

Their confidence came from their connections to the Golden Dawn Sect, through which they could indeed obtain some rare and valuable items from the Eastern Domain.

The members of the Trade Faction believed that even if the Divine Fire Sect took over Hezhou, the sect would still need them to maintain contact with the Eastern Domain.

Meanwhile, many members of the Neutral Faction who came from a Loose Cultivator background were enticed by the high prices offered by the Divine Fire Sect.

Capturing a single qualified sacrifice would earn them three hundred Spirit Stones.

If it was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the reward was as high as five thousand Spirit Stones.

Xiao Chen found this difficult to understand. To say this Trade Faction was short-sighted would be a compliment.

They dared to sell anything for the sake of immediate, exorbitant profit.

Once the Divine Fire Sect actually took over Hezhou, they likely wouldn’t be able to save their own lives even if they spat back out all the Spirit Stones they had earned.

Of course, Xiao Chen was more concerned about two other matters.

First, what exactly did the Divine Fire Sect intend to do by collecting so many sacrifices?

Spirit Lake Wanderer didn’t know the answer to this. She was merely an executor; the real secret was known only to the president of the Huidong Commerce Association.

Second, did the Huidong Commerce Association have any tier-breaking Spirit Medicine that could help a cultivator with Core Formation?

Or any special Secret Techniques that could increase the success rate of Core Formation.

To Xiao Chen’s pleasant surprise, although there was no tier-breaking Spirit Medicine or any Core Formation Secret Techniques...

...Spirit Lake Wanderer had accidentally learned that the Commerce Association was hiding a Five-Colored Jade Coral from the Eastern Domain.

The Five-Colored Jade Coral was also recorded in the *Journey to the East*. It was a rare external object that could slightly increase a cultivator’s chances of successfully achieving Core Formation.

It didn’t need to be consumed. One simply had to smash it during Core Formation, and it would release a special Five Elements Spiritual Power.

By absorbing this special Spiritual Power, a cultivator could increase their success rate for Core Formation by about ten percent.

It couldn’t be used at the same time as other external objects, but its effects didn’t conflict with things like Evil Qi, a Fake Pill, or Core Formation Secret Techniques.

Moreover, this item was hidden in the Huidong Commerce Association’s warehouse, guarded year-round by three late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators taking turns.

Originally, after discovering the Huidong Commerce Association was colluding with demon cultivators, Xiao Chen’s plan had been to report them to the Lingyuan Sect.

But now, he felt he could just go and take care of these traitors himself, and while he was at it, rescue the precious Five-Colored Jade Coral.

This was the kind of matter where it was better to act sooner rather than later. Delays could lead to complications.