The Long Life Series medicinal ingredients were successively delivered to Chen Xia's residence.
Xuan Li respectfully laughed by the side: "Here are all the Long Life Series medicinal ingredients from the ferry, and I've also collected some from the other two realms. They wouldn't give me any more, so there's a total of 200 strains here. Take a look and see if it's enough."
Chen Xia's divine sense swept over them, roughly sizing them up, then he nodded: "Not bad."
With a flip of his hand, he threw out another bag of pills and continued: "There are a few top quality Daoyao inside, enough to pay for these medicinal ingredients. Take them to settle the bill, then stop coming to disturb me. I need to go into secluded cultivation to concoct pills."
"Of course." Xuan Li quickly nodded, received the spiritual pills, then took his leave.
Chen Xia organized the 200 strains of Long Life Series medicinal ingredients, sorting them by quality tier and arranging them. Among the ingredients of the highest quality was a 10,000-year Heavenly Grass that could be used to concoct a supreme medicinal pill.
It would take quite a long time, and the ferry still had a year and a half before reaching the Dead Sea Star River, so there definitely wouldn't be enough time to concoct a supreme pill. He could only hurriedly concoct as much Daoyao as possible to increase Ma Xiaohong's capabilities.
Thus, over the next year on the ferry, every two months there would be different pill thunder and the scent of various pills.
The observing cultivators were stunned silly, they could understand pill concocting, and they could also accept refining decent quality pills.
But could pills really be concocted so quickly in succession? Even master alchemists need at least 10 to 20 years between each pill concoction! This person is able to successively produce pills every two months, it's simply defying the heavens!
Moreover, judging by the quality of the pill thunder, the refined pills should at least start from mid-grade Daoyao. For Bu Tianjing cultivators, these were still considered decent pills.
Xuan Li was even more astonished, watching the pill thunder descend. His understanding of Chen Xia's alchemy skills became clearer and clearer.
At the very least, he had attained the level of a master alchemist.
What's more, the final pill brought down dark red thunder, ranked fourth among the Five Thunders of the Heavenly Dao, indicating that this pill was at least an extremely high quality top-grade Daoyao, perhaps even half a supreme pill!
And it was very likely that this pill belonged to the Long Life Series, at the minimum able to increase longevity by 4,000 years. If sold externally, it would be priceless.
What shocked Xuan Li even more upon further reflection was that all the pills Chen Xia had refined seemed to belong to the Long Life Series! Added up, they could directly increase longevity by 10,000 years!
Was this senior planning to transform himself into an undying?
Xuan Li really couldn't figure it out. Based on past records, this senior didn't seem like the type to fear death either, daring to directly battle 100,000 vengeful souls and return heavily injured. It was impossible for him to be so cherishing of his own life.
In other words, for an alchemist able to refine so many Long Life Pills and be so cherishing of his own life, it would have been impossible for him to do something as reckless as staking his life in battle.
Thus, Xuan Li had another guess. He felt that Chen Xia refining so many Long Life Series pills was likely for some other purpose, such as burning away his longevity in battle and the like.
In any case there were many possible uses, and Xuan Li couldn't figure it out so he didn't think about it further. What he was more worried about now was that they would reach the Dead Sea Star River in half a year, and it was very likely that Chen Xia would part ways with them then.
Huangli Realm would still have to rely on itself in the end. But Xuan Li understood clearly that Huangli Realm only consisted of the old, weak, sick and disabled. Although there were many people, they probably still weren't a match for even one Bu Tianjing pinnacle expert.
The longer they stayed in the Great Death Realm, the more Xuan Li felt that Huangli Realm was truly too insignificant. Those so-called ambitions and aspirations from back then now seemed laughable to him in hindsight.
What Huangli Realm's number one genius, what 10th layer of Bu Tianjing, in the Great Death Realm they were merely ants that could perish in an instant.
This was the helplessness of a small realm. They were weaker but still had to come, even if it was just for that shred of hope.
They were the insignificant vanguards before the clash of realms.
Insignificant, yet essential.
Xuan Li gazed at the lifeless stars outside and his brows gradually relaxed as he lightly exhaled. He had finally figured it out.
If someone had to die, why couldn't it be him?
He was the vanguard, he was also the realm's protector.
"If death comes then so be it, I've lived enough anyway."
Xuan Li muttered softly, his gaze towards the stars outside the window gradually becoming firm.
In the same Great Death Realm, tens of thousands of different cultivators came from various realms, each one the pillar of their native realm, perhaps even the peak genius.
There were those who came to the Great Death Realm to find a silver lining for their realms, those who came to make a great name that would shock the myriad realms, and those who simply came due to karmic opportunity.
But in the end, only one path of slaughter awaited.
Of the tens of thousands of cultivators, it was likely that only 3,000 would survive.
Yet the future attainments of these 3,000 people would be no less than Sub-Saint level.
Moreover, the top 50 figures might prove the Dao in their own realms to become Realm Emperors, their great names shocking their corners of the myriad realms into submission.
This was the Great Death Realm, the cruelest slaughtering ground across the myriad realms, yet also the most intense hotbed for grooming peak experts.
Here, the weak would not be tolerated, only the strong would be filtered out.
And this time, the opening of the Dead Sea Star River's Saint Ruins was the first great filtering.
After this round of slaughter at the Dead Sea Star River, there might be less than 10,000 survivors out of the tens of thousands of cultivators.
This was the prediction made by the various realms' authors, based on observations of past slaughters in the Great Death Realm. The outcome of the first filtering could very well be so.
The strong cultivators thought of making a name for themselves, while the weak ones thought of just surviving, striving for that shred of hope that could be their saving grace.
Within a cabin on the ferry.
Qing Xia, hailed as the number one genius of Huangli Realm, shed her clothes, revealing ancient wrappings all over her body, with traces of blood continuously seeping out from them.
She gritted her teeth tightly and pulled the wrappings on her body taut, squeezing out faint traces of blood. She softly chanted:
"Ancestor above, Qing Xia is willing to offer up her skin, blood, organs, soul and longevity. I only ask that my cultivation level rises until I stand at the Bu Tianjing pinnacle, obtaining the opportunity of a Sub-Saint for Huangli Realm to revive itself, allowing the Qing clan to return to its peak, so as to not disappoint the 3,000 clansmen who pin their hopes on me."
She suddenly coughed heavily twice, spurting bright red blood on the floor. Her eyes bulged wide, with orange-yellow divine light flowing within them. She gritted her teeth again and sternly shouted:
"I pray!"
Boom!
Her body let out a muffled thud, as if firecrackers had exploded within her. Her entire body went limp and collapsed, blood flowing out from the ancient wrappings covering her body.
She was drained of all strength, her complexion ghastly pale, yet a delighted smile still hung on her face. Her cheek stuck to the floor and she murmured:
"Thanks to the Ancestor."
The stars in the sky were still dim.
Perhaps there was light, but it was a radiance that no one could see.
Chen Xia sat on the ground with both hands placed on his thighs, propping his head up as he looked at the six pills before him.
These were the trump cards he had prepared for Ma Xiaohong, totalling 10,000 years of longevity.
Would it be enough?
Chen Xia wasn't clear on that either. He wouldn't die - even if his body was destroyed he would be reborn elsewhere.
But what about Ma Xiaohong?
If Chen Xia died, would Ma Xiaohong really still be able to survive?
Chen Xia thought for a long time before finally closing his eyes.
Today, upon stepping into the Sea of Wisdom, Chen Xia faced three million flying swords and made an exchange with half an Immortal Sword.
After his death, the three million flying swords could follow half the Immortal Sword and leave, with the price being that half the Immortal Sword had to protect Ma Xiaohong's safety until Ma Xiaohong's death.
This meant that even after Ma Xiaohong safely returned to the realm, half the Immortal Sword would still have to protect her.
For half an Immortal Sword with endless longevity, this process wouldn't be considered long, so it readily agreed.
The heart devil stood by the side, unusually silent without a word. Sanguine light glimmered within its eyes.
It loved killing and cherished death even more.
Yet when the word "death" emerged from Chen Xia's mouth, it felt an instinctive loathing.
Still, the heart devil remained silent. It didn't want to say anything more about this concept of death. From today on, the heart devil would no longer take the initiative to influence Chen Xia. Rather, it began frantically cultivating on its own. Even if Chen Xia couldn't break through to the next cultivation realm, it ceaselessly raised Chen Xia's inner spiritual energy to an extremely horrifying level.
The Heavenly Dragon Imagery would continuously siphon spiritual energy from the surrounding dead stars, as well as obtain the spiritual energy feedback from the three million flying swords and Chen Xia's inner small heaven and earth. His accumulated spiritual energy was probably around 15 times that of a common early Deity Transformation realm cultivator.
One might say Chen Xia was only in the early Deity Transformation realm after all.
But he was matchlessly profound in the early Deity Transformation realm.
When the time came for him to truly break through, he would likely break through in one go, possibly even straight to the fifth-layer of the Bu Tianjing realm or higher.
"Chen Xia, Xuan Li the True Person said we are almost there," Ma Xiaohong's voice sounded from next door, her little head peeking out from the damaged wall, smiling at Chen Xia.
She was now extremely relaxed in Chen Xia's company, also the first time she could be so relaxed with someone else.
Chen Xia levitated six pills in front of him with spiritual power and handed them all to Ma Xiaohong.
"Um, these pills are for you. Take one to replenish your lifespan when you need it. I'll make more if it's not enough," he said.
Ma Xiaohong nodded with a smile, putting the pills into the storage treasure bag Chen Xia had gifted her, a white storage bag. Chen Xia bought it from Xuan Li. It was fairly high quality, having the function of nurturing pills in addition to storage, making it a superior treasure for storing pills.
The two fell silent for a moment.
Ma Xiaohong suddenly asked, "Are you nervous?"
"No," Chen Xia shook his head. "I rarely get nervous."
"Haha, have you ever been nervous before?" Ma Xiaohong asked with a laugh, tilting her head slightly. Her grown out hair draped over her shoulders, with a small braid specially tied beside her ear, making her look even more mischievous.
This was a rare behavior from Ma Xiaohong, who had always worried about how to survive.
"I guess I was nervous a long time ago, after all, it really troubled me back then," Chen Xia thought for a bit and replied.
Ma Xiaohong opened her mouth as if to ask something, but soon stopped, falling silent for a while. Then she asked, "Do you think we can survive?"
"We can," came Chen Xia's brief reply. His indifferent eyes didn't look at Ma Xiaohong.
He really wasn't good at earnestly lying to people.
Ma Xiaohong rested her head on the damaged wall and asked again, "If we survive, will we go back to the realm?"
"Where do you want to go?" Chen Xia asked back instead.
Ma Xiaohong was taken aback. She shook her head in confusion and replied, "I don't know either."
Where could she go?
Over a thousand years had passed and she no longer had a home. In all the heavens and myriad realms, perhaps only Chen Xia was familiar to her now. Other than him, she would be very worried and afraid no matter where she went.
"Then let's go back to the realm first. I still have to hurry back and see the old man. Don't know if he'll still be there..."
He paused for a bit, then smiled, "Even if he's gone, I'll still see him off. After all, it was a relationship that spanned thousands of years. When the time comes, you'll go back to the realm with me and I'll protect you."
"Okay, okay," Ma Xiaohong nodded vigorously like a chick pecking rice. She firmly believed Chen Xia's words.
That was their plan for the future.
But that plan hinged entirely on one prerequisite―they had to survive and not die.
Chen Xia blinked. This time, he looked straight into Ma Xiaohong's eyes with a smile. "I will make sure you live to go back."
Yet he didn't say that he would go back alive too.
"Mm."
Ma Xiaohong nodded. Her head resting on the wall slowly retracted, her mood clearly dampened.
Chen Xia wasn't lying about this part.
She pursed her lips, fingers playing with the little braid by her ear.
She'd rather he lied to her instead.
Dead Sea Star River
Tens of thousands of cultivators were already stationed amongst the sea of stars surrounding the soon-to-open ancient saint's relic, occupying good positions.
Naturally, cultivators with formidable strengths were close to the relic. Not only was this convenient to be the first to enter, it was also a display of power.
The weak stood at the back, obediently watching. Some low level cultivators from minor interfaces were even standing hundreds of miles away, only daring to observe the situation with their heavenly eyes, not bold enough to peer deeper for fear of inviting a beating from formidable cultivators.
The positions the cultivators occupied also followed certain conventions. They would usually stand on dead stars―the bigger the better, since there was still some residual spiritual and stellar power left in them for cultivators to absorb.
Cultivators from the Divine Realm occupied the three largest dead stars closest to the ancient relic, standing opposed to the Immortal Realm and Celestial Realm. Confrontations and skirmishes often broke out between them.
Most were one on one fights between heavenly prides at the Firmament Transformation realm. They usually couldn't determine a clear victor, exchanging several moves before stopping as though it were just a warm up.
However, once a winner emerged, things would escalate.
No matter which side lost, even stronger cultivators would come out to issue challenges.
The fiercest skirmish in recent months was between the Celestial Realm's third ranked heavenly pride, the so-called Water God of the River Deity, and a peak Firmament Transformation cultivator from the Divine Realm. They fought until the last hundred stars crumbled, yet still failed to determine a victor before being forcibly stopped by other major realms.
This battle brought tremendous shock to the present cultivators, being the first time they witnessed top heavenly prides fight to such a state, both sides playing their hidden cards.
In addition, confrontations often broke out between the God's Son of the Divine Realm and Xu Zhen of the Immortal Realm.
The God's Son believed only those of noble bloodlines should be considered top heavenly prides. Xu Zhen, however, was almost a good-for-nothing from the human race, one of the lowest races in the heavens and myriad realms. This was unacceptable to the God's Son, so he seldom missed a chance to taunt Xu Zhen.
Xu Zhen would retort as well, somehow armed with vicious curses likely picked up mixing with street thugs down in the mortal realms.
"Your horse probably died. How else could it bear an idiot son like you?"
"Go check if anyone is still alive in your home. They'll be two people fewer by tonight."
"Fu*king moron."
Even the God's Son couldn't out-curse Xu Zhen. He was often angered into embarrassment, yet didn't dare incite combat and lose face. So he could only continue the taunting. But whenever that happened, Xu Zhen would disdainfully laugh.
"Anxious, eh? Go f*king die from anxiety then, you moron."
The gathered cultivators were bemused at first. Could this really be Crown Prince Zhen from Mount Penglai, meant to revive their declining sect?
He didn't quite seem the part, more like some small time punk off the streets.
It just went to show how well Chen Xia had taught Xu Zhen.
Simple trash talking for the ultimate enjoyment.