After the incident with the elder of Armor Wood Mountain, more and more cultivators started coming to Chen Xia's residence.
Most were sect leaders from the middle realm of the domain, who came to give Chen Xia gifts, hoping to get to know him.
Those cultivators who came with this intention often left fully loaded.
Chen Xia was extremely generous with his gifts, mainly because he was not lacking in money and it was even simpler for him to concoct these pills.
In addition, the cultivators who received Chen Xia's gifts did not dare to just leave like that, at least leaving behind some treasures and spirit stones.
Looking at this pile of treasures, Chen Xia fell into deep thought.
He knew that the cost of the materials he used to concoct pills was actually discounted.
After all, he could upgrade the pills, for example, using top-grade spiritual medicine materials to concoct inferior-grade pills.
However, the treasures and pills these cultivators left behind exceeded the value of the materials needed to concoct top-grade spiritual medicines.
In other words, calculated this way, he was still making money.
What was even more outrageous was that those cultivators who gave gifts also made money.
A win-win situation?!
Chen Xia frowned, feeling like he had opened the door to a new world.
Had he exploited a loophole in the Heavenly Dao?
In the upper realm of the domain...
This was already considered the territory closest to the Forbidden Zones, where one could directly converse with the Forbidden Zone Lords.
Cultivators in the upper realm of the domain were the top combat power of the entire domain, second only to the Forbidden Zone Lords.
Cultivation base, achievements, talent, status.
You had to meet at least one of these four criteria to enter the upper realm of the domain.
For example, if you were the descendant of a certain sage, you could also enter the upper realm.
The benefits of being in the upper realm of the domain were, in addition to more opportunities, being able to speak directly with the Forbidden Zone Lords and choose which one you wanted to follow.
Of course, if you were powerful enough, you could also ignore the Forbidden Zone Lords and do your own thing. The domain had always been tolerant towards the strong.
The "strong" here generally referred to those at the Half-Saint level.
If you dared to be so arrogant at the Heaven Mending Realm, the Forbidden Zone Lords would definitely come to slap you in the face.
As Zhen Hu had told Chen Xia earlier, if a sect had one Heaven Mending Realm cultivator above the 5th Heavenly Layer, plus three more at the Heaven Mending Realm, they could be promoted to the upper realm of the domain.
After being promoted this way, the Starry Sky Pill Sect was still at the very bottom of the upper realm, barely scraping by.
The reason why Zhen Hu wanted to bring the entire Starry Sky Pill Sect up to the upper realm was because of the blessings of the Forbidden Zone Lords. Each sect that got promoted could choose a Forbidden Zone Lord to follow.
They would then receive the protection and cultivation methods of the Forbidden Zone Lord, while all the Starry Sky Pill Sect had to do was make offerings of spirit energy to the Forbidden Zone Lord at regular intervals.
This was somewhat similar to the cultivation methods for becoming a god in other realms.
As long as they obtained the blessings of a Forbidden Zone Lord, Zhen Hu was confident in advancing beyond the Heaven Mending Realm, even changing his own talent to pry open the door to the Quasi-Saint Path. This was not impossible.
For a cultivator, the temptation was far too great.
As long as he became a Quasi-Saint, the entire Starry Sky Pill Sect would also become one of the top sects in the domain. In the great eras to come, his name would be forever recorded in the annals of history.
Even the entire domain would have a record of him.
This was Zhen Hu's ambition, and it could be said to be the ambition of most cultivators in the domain.
At this time, in the upper realm of the domain, in a shabby thatched hut...
The black-robed daoist who had come to visit gently pushed open the door of the hut, stroked his long goatee, and walked in with a smile.
"Don't you knock first?" An annoyed voice rang out from the hut.
The black-robed daoist did not answer. He glanced around the thatched hut, on which were hung all kinds of dried medicinal materials that were considered rare in the outside world. Then he turned back with a smile and asked,
"Have you heard about the situation in the middle realm?"
A tall figure slowly walked out from the gloomy hut, seeming to have a flying sword hanging from his waist. As he walked, the sword sheath lightly tapped the ground, making a clinking sound.
"The emergence of a Quasi-Emperor and two Forbidden Zone Lords fighting. News like this, everyone in the domain should know it well."
The tall figure replied, his voice sonorous.
"Do you know the inside story?" The black-robed daoist continued to ask with a smile, resting his hand on the bright red gourd at his waist, directly facing the sword at the tall cultivator's waist.
"I really don't understand it very well." The tall cultivator shook his head and sat down on his shabby stool.
"They say it was all for the sake of a Reversal Sea Realm pill master, and I find that hard to believe. But apparently that's what happened."
The black-robed daoist said with a laugh.
"A Reversal Sea Realm pill master is quite formidable." The tall cultivator nodded.
"Still not as formidable as you, right?" The black-robed daoist shook his head and smiled. "I came looking for you precisely because of this pill master."
"I won't agree." The tall cultivator seemed to already know what matter it was. He directly shook his head.
"The opening of the Great Death Realm is coming up soon. The domain just happens to lack a pill master. Saint Realm pill masters won't do, as you know. With the emergence of this Reversal Sea Realm pill master, it's simply heaven-sent."
The black-robed daoist continued persuading.
"Didn't that Quasi-Emperor say he would strongly protect this person? You still dare to plot against him like this. Aren't you afraid of death?" The tall cultivator retorted.
"I have protection ready for him, so how could he possibly die? And the Great Death Realm is a land of great opportunities. An entire Great Star Realm destroyed, with more than three Great Emperor corpses, not to mention all kinds of other chances. Who knows how many realms want to explore and search for opportunities there."
"Giving him this kind of chance is already doing him a favor."
As the black-robed daoist spoke, seeing that the tall cultivator did not respond, he continued persuading,
"It's been so many years, yet the domain has never obtained any real benefits from the Great Death Realms. On the contrary, we've suffered quite a few losses. Last time, we even got beaten up by the Immortal Realm and Divine Realm in turns. I for one cannot swallow this anger."
"The domain is already preparing the roster for this Great Death Realm expedition. They are all top experts from the various peak sects, even the Forbidden Zone Lords care about this matter, not wanting to suffer another beating from the Immortal and Divine Realms."
The tall cultivator frowned slightly and asked again, "Which sect of the Immortal Realm was it that taught us a lesson last time in the Great Death Realm?"
"The Seventh Mountain." The black-robed daoist's expression darkened somewhat as he lost his smile and continued, "Of the Immortal Realm's Nine Mountains, the Seventh Mountain is now the strongest. Last time a monster-like Heaven Mending Realm cultivator came, and when the Quasi-Saints could not make a move, he beat up everyone from the domain all by himself."
"How much of a monster was he?" The tall cultivator asked with a frown.
"Invincible within the same realm." The black-robed daoist said only this one line.
The tall cultivator fell silent. After half a moment, he nodded lightly and said in a low voice, "I can try to go persuade him, but whether or not he goes in the end, I'll respect his own decision."
"It should work out." The black-robed daoist said with a laugh, "After all, you are both human race pill masters, so you'll feel more amiable towards each other."
"And you are still the most formidable pill master in the domain at present. He definitely won't reject you. Am I right?"
"Master Wang Yangzi."