145: Ambergris

Ziyang Immortal City is the only city on Ziyang Star equipped with a Teleportation Array.

This city is vast and is jointly managed by the four major forces of Ziyang Star: Ziyang Palace, Heavenly Sword Sect, Myriad Spirit Valley, and Heavenly Sound Gate.

Among the four major forces responsible for managing Ziyang Immortal City, only "Ziyang Palace" has continuously held a position for tens of thousands of years.

The main reason is that Ziyang Immortal City was built during the peak period of "Ziyang Palace," and its prestige has lasted until today, thus guaranteeing it a fixed quota.

However, because Ziyang Immortal City offers substantial benefits, all other forces on Ziyang Star were envious. Therefore, all parties negotiated and decided to hold a Management Rights Competition every ten years, regardless of life or death.

Due to the cruel rules, the older generation of the various factions were unwilling to participate. It was finally decided that young Disciples under the age of one hundred would compete for the management qualification.

Heavenly Sword Sect has a branch in the Eastern District of Ziyang Immortal City, which is responsible for governing the area and recruiting Disciples.

You arrived in front of a magnificent pavilion, glanced at the three gilded characters "Heavenly Sword Sect" on the lintel, and stepped into the main hall.

The hall was quite deserted, with only one man snoring heavily in a comfortable seat.

You walked closer and softly called out, "Brother, it's dawn."

The man continued to snore like thunder.

"Ahem," you raised your voice and cleared your throat.

The man opened his sleepy eyes, rubbed them, and sized you up: "It's all your fault for waking me from my good dream. I was dreaming of marrying Fairy Yuting..."

"Yuting? Lan Yuting?" you blurted out.

The man stared at you: "You know Senior Sister Yuting?"

"I've heard of her great reputation. I have long admired several Geniuses of the Heavenly Sword Sect," you replied with a smile.

After confirming it was Lan Yuting, you felt both angry and pleased.

You were angry because of Lan Yuting's character, but pleased because, judging from the man's tone, Lan Yuting did not seem to have started betraying the Heavenly Sword Sect yet.

You secretly wondered—more than fifty years had passed, so why hadn't Lan Yuting handed over the roster yet?

Was it because you fled to the Heavenly Sword Sect last time that caused Liu Jinfeng to target the Heavenly Sword Sect prematurely?

Or was it because of Liu Ruyan's death this time that she was unable to attend to this matter?

You thought about the heavy price of killing Liu Ruyan. If you were to face a situation in the future where you had to choose between the destruction of the Great Yan Imperial Capital and the Heavenly Sword Sect's crisis, how would you choose?

But then you reconsidered: as long as your strength was sufficient, there would be no dilemma—at that point, it would be the Liu Clan that should be worried.

You looked at the man and asked, "Fellow Daoist, how should I address you? I want to join the Heavenly Sword Sect. Please arrange the test."

"My name is Pang Jia. What should I call you?" Pang Jia looked at you seriously.

"Pang Jia...?" You were stunned, not expecting him to be Pang Jia, so your gaze softened considerably: "My name is Qin Chen."

Pang Jia noticed your look and smiled: "You don't need the assessment. You pass directly."

After speaking, he handed you a qiankun bag: "Inside are the identity jade token and other items for new Disciples. You can decide which Peak you want to go to yourself."

You were both surprised and dissatisfied, your tone carrying a hint of anger: "As a Disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect, how can you be so irresponsible? Aren't you afraid of Spies mixing in?"

Although you had a good impression of Pang Jia, his perfunctory attitude genuinely angered you.

You even couldn't help but clench your fists, wanting to punch him.

Seeing this, Pang Jia looked serious: "Do you think those Spies who genuinely want to sneak in won't have a way?"

"Those assessments are just formalities. They might not be as effective as my eyes."

"I can tell from your eyes that you genuinely admire the Heavenly Sword Sect."

"Someone with eyes like yours would never harbor ill intentions toward the Heavenly Sword Sect."

You gave a helpless smile and angrily asked, "Then what kind of look does Lan Yuting have?"

You knew Pang Jia was loyal to the Heavenly Sword Sect, but you truly couldn't agree with his methods.

Coupled with the fact that he liked Lan Yuting, it made it even harder for you to accept.

You secretly resolved that you must find a way to eliminate Lan Yuting in secret.

Pang Jia just smiled after hearing your words: "Many things in this world are not as simple as they appear on the surface. If you want to live a long time, it's best to keep some words to yourself."

He paused, then added, "Oh, right, I won't escort you to the Heavenly Sword Sect. Go by yourself."

You didn't say anything more to him, turned around, and prepared to leave.

Just as you reached the door, you stopped, looked back at the deserted hall, and asked in confusion, "Why is it so quiet here?"

Pang Jia looked at you and shook his head helplessly: "The Ziyang Immortal City Management Rights Competition, which occurs every ten years, is about to begin. Our Heavenly Sword Sect has no hope this time, so fewer and fewer people are coming to register."

"How can that be? I heard that the Heavenly Sword Sect... doesn't it have many powerful Prodigies?" you asked.

Every Sect has Prodigies, but outsiders don't know their specific names or appearances, so you raised the question tactfully.

"Alas," Pang Jia sighed, "They were poisoned while training outside. After returning to the Sect, they lost all their cultivation."

"And even if they were fine, the Sect wouldn't let them participate in this kind of Life-and-Death Duel," he added.

Your heart trembled upon hearing this.

You understood that this was not an accident at all, but someone acting intentionally.

You realized then that last time, you had given Liu Jinfeng an excuse to act; even without an excuse, they would have used other means to achieve their goal.

You immediately set off and rushed quickly toward the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Pang Jia watched your departing figure, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes, and muttered, "Strange, why was that person looking at me so gently? Does he have a special fetish?"

Year Fifty-Seven,

You have been at the Heavenly Sword Sect for over half a year. Just like last time, you chose to join Wuji Peak and were assigned an independent Immortal Cave.

This time, you only displayed your Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivation. At your current age of seventy-five, this is considered bottom-tier in the Cultivation World.

In the eyes of the Heavenly Sword Sect members, you were just an inconspicuous, ordinary Disciple.

The entrance to your Immortal Cave was also very deserted this time. There were no greetings from Senior Sister or loud clamoring from Meaty—because both of them had been poisoned and rendered useless.

Fortunately, Peak Master Wuji arranged a Mountain Villa for them, allowing them to recuperate there for the rest of their lives.

When you had nothing to do, you often visited them to chat and familiarize yourself with them.

At the same time, you were thinking that you must first help them detoxify—after all, you wouldn't dare take poisoned Vital Blood.

Therefore, you secretly investigated the poisoning incident—over the past thirty years, more than fifty young Disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect have been poisoned.

You discovered that the poison was named "dragon saliva purple gallbladder."

It originates from a Yao Beast called the "Spirit-Corroding Dragon Eel." It resembles a Dragon but has no claws or horns and lives only deep within the Rakshasa Demon Domain.

Releasing this poison is very simple: one only needs to throw out the "dragon saliva purple gallbladder." Once the purple gallbladder shatters, it emits a Poisonous Mist that contaminates the surrounding Spiritual Qi. Those who inhale it will, at best, lose all their cultivation, and at worst, fall into a coma.

This poison has another strange characteristic: it is only effective against Cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage, but for Nascent Soul Cultivators, it is a Heaven And Earth Treasure for Cultivation.

The method for detoxification is also extremely unique—one only needs to consume a Nascent Soul to detoxify. This will not only restore cultivation but also greatly increase it.

This poison can be described as malicious and multi-purpose—to save their Geniuses, they would have to send powerful experts to risk seizing other Nascent Souls, an action with an extremely high probability of failure and death.

After all, Nascent Soul Cultivators are extremely difficult to kill, and most have deep backgrounds. How could one succeed easily?

If things go wrong, they might even put themselves in danger.