Chapter 1004 - 714: Sword Cultivator’s Poisonous Wife

Chapter 1004: Chapter 714: Sword Cultivator’s Poisonous Wife

With his current strength, unless he fell into some carefully laid trap,

otherwise, even if he were to face True Monarch Red Lotus, he would feel no fear.

Even if he could not win, with the Great Success Realm Wind-Thunder Escape Technique and his many hidden cards, getting away safely would be no difficult matter.

At worst, it would just cost him some extra Ice Soul Spirit Crystals.

In fact, if he wished, by relying on his own strength alone, traversing several nations and heading to Myriad Phenomena Immortal City by himself would be entirely within his means.

Yet that would mean eating wind and drinking dew along the way, having to stay constantly wary of Demon Beasts, Demon Cultivators, natural perils, and fellow cultivators with ill intent—trouble unending, exhausting both mind and body.

How could that compare to taking this comfortable, swift, and relatively safe spaceship of the Fuhai Commerce Alliance—saving effort and worry alike.

More importantly, he had to make long-term plans for his life after entering Myriad Phenomena Immortal City.

Though he did not trust any stranger, in the Cultivation Realm it was impossible to remain solitary forever.

Dealing with all kinds of powers, carrying out necessary resource exchanges, and obtaining information were all parts of cultivation.

Essential social dealings could not be dispensed with.

Many trivial matters were not worth his personal attention.

He needed to befriend and cultivate some Core Formation Cultivators as his wings and feelers.

He did not seek a "Peach Garden Oath" kind of life-and-death bond; so long as they could exchange news, handle chores on his behalf, and wave flags for him on certain occasions, that would be enough.

As he was now, his assets were abundant, his accumulation far exceeding that of ordinary Golden Core Cultivators.

There was no need to risk going to the front lines to battle, gathering resources amid blood and fire.

He intended to focus the vast majority of his energy and time on his personal cultivation.

His primary goal was to cultivate his Fire Technique Golden Core to the Middle Stage, to drive the convergence and fusion of the ice and fire Dual Golden Core within his body, laying a solid foundation for his future assault on Nascent Soul.

...

The spaceship finally set sail, Spiritual Light blazing as it drove into the boundless sea of clouds, tearing through the sky toward Myriad Phenomena Immortal City.

Out of caution, Shen Xuan did not circulate Spiritual Power for cultivation in the meditation chamber.

He strolled up to the spacious upper deck of the spaceship.

Leaning on the railing and gazing far into the distance, before his eyes stretched a vast, endless, ever-surging ocean of clouds; the spaceship sailed through it like a single grain of millet in the great sea, so small it stirred a sense of awe.

Gang Wind howled, brushing past the ship’s protective light shield and letting out a low, wailing hum.

Shen Xuan stood still in the wind, his Daoist Robe snapping and fluttering; looking upon this majestic scene of heaven and earth, something stirred suddenly in his heart.

Memories of his previous life surged up, and he could not help but murmur softly, "To lodge a mayfly within heaven and earth, so small, a single grain in the endless sea."

"To seize a flying immortal and roam, to clasp Ming Yue and endure forever."

As he savored again this timeless masterpiece of Elder Su Dongpo, placed against this particular scene and mood, and compared with his own fate of wandering across worlds, the feelings in his heart were truly beyond words.

"What a poem! What grandeur!"

A clear, ringing voice of clapping praise came from his side.

Shen Xuan turned his head; that True Pill Dao-companion pair, Zhang Bufan and Lady Hu, had also come onto the deck.

Zhang Bufan’s eyes shone with constant flashes of light, clearly sincere in his admiration.

"Brother Shen, such talent!"

Zhang Bufan cupped his hands, his tone earnest.

"Such fine lines, with a realm of meaning so lofty they vie with the Dao Rhyme of antiquity. For Zhang to be fortunate enough to hear them is truly a stroke of destiny!"

Shen Xuan smiled faintly and waved his hand. "Fellow Daoist Zhang flatters me. This was not composed by Shen, but is a piece left behind by an old friend."

"An old friend?"

Zhang Bufan was slightly taken aback, then his face showed regret.

"Already passed on to immortality? Alas, what a pity! For one so astonishingly gifted, to fail to seek advice in person—that is a true regret!"

At the side, Lady Hu gently tugged at her husband’s sleeve, reminding him softly, "Husband, Brother Shen’s own cultivation and Alchemy Dao are both extraordinary. Why speak only of poetic talent?"

Zhang Bufan came to himself and hurriedly smiled to Shen Xuan. "Brother Shen, do not take offense—Zhang misspoke. As for cultivation and attainments in the Alchemy Dao, Zhang’s admiration for Brother Shen runs deep."

"It’s nothing."

Shen Xuan’s expression was calm as his gaze swept over Lady Hu.

"Shen is not one of those narrow-minded sorts."

Hearing this, Lady Hu slightly bent her body in a small bow to Shen Xuan, a tacit apology for the earlier slip of the tongue.

This Dao-companion pair was rather interesting.

The names they had registered when boarding were surely aliases.

The cultivation and bearing revealed in their words and actions were hard to fake.

Zhang Bufan’s speech and conduct were refined, carrying a scholarly air rare among Loose Cultivators; he should be of a noble family.

As for Lady Hu...

Shen Xuan was certain that beneath her gentle exterior she had cultivated some formidable Poison Technique; her aura was being forcefully suppressed, but that could not escape his senses.

"Brother Zhang, Hu Family lass, you’ve made this old Dao search high and low! So you were hiding here enjoying the view!"

A slightly tipsy voice cut in.

They saw that wine-blossomed-nose old Daoist Gu Xiaoyao, lugging a huge vermilion wine gourd, sway his way over.

He first gave Zhang Bufan and his wife a wide grin, then turned to Shen Xuan and rather formally cupped his hands. "Greetings, Pill Master Shen."

"Fellow Daoist Gu, no need for such ceremony." Shen Xuan nodded and returned the salute.

The four of them stood by the railing on the deck, meeting the fierce wind of heaven as they chatted idly.

The atmosphere this time was much more relaxed than at their first meeting.

Now that they had a preliminary understanding of one another, and with Shen Xuan being both a Golden Core Cultivator and a Tier Three Alchemist, yet carrying no airs and speaking mildly, it did not take long for the distance between them to shrink.

The way they addressed each other subtly became more intimate.

Relations between cultivators were like this: with more contact and more interaction, outward ties naturally grew familiar.

Even if each held their own schemes in mind.

Anyone able to board this spaceship had paid a ticket of a hundred thousand Spirit Stones—no ordinary cultivator could afford that.

Aside from those seven-month Qizong elders’ descendants, the rest were either wealthy or possessed some particular skill.

This Gu Xiaoyao, besides being a hopeless drunkard, actually knew the methods of brewing Spirit Wine himself.

Shen Xuan spent ten thousand Spirit Stones to buy a gourd of his own brew, "Drunken Cloud Rosy Glow"; its grade was close to Tier Three, with rather marvelous effects in replenishing Spiritual Power and gently nourishing the meridians.