A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 189 Heading to Red Sand Island

After being refined, the Xuan Yuan Pearl was surrounded by a flowing stream of mysterious light, making it more agile to control and doubling its speed.

With a thought, Luo Ming instantly transformed the twelve Xuan Yuan Pearls into twelve golden-blue spiritual lights, darting through the air as fast as lightning. With another thought, the Xuan Yuan Pearls condensed into a flying sword, its body displaying both gold and blue colors, with golden light flashing at the tip, faintly exuding a sharp aura, completely devoid of the heaviness of the Xuan Yuan Pearls in the past.

"Such a contrast in importance is absolutely unexpected."

Luo Ming chuckled, flicked his finger, and the flying sword suddenly accelerated, hurtling towards him with a whooshing sound, yet its force remained substantial.

He understood that although the Xuan Yuan Pearl appeared light, its power was still considerable. If his opponent rashly resisted, he would definitely be injured by this "light yet heavy" force and suffer a great loss.

After playing with it for a while, Luo Ming put the Xuan Yuan Pearl into his body to nurture it. Then he took out the black Thousand Demon Banner and a piece of demonic gold that glowed with a ghostly light, preparing to start refining the last magic weapon.

The Thousand Demon Banner seals countless demon souls, and the Demon Essence Gold is an extremely yin and yang material, most suitable for enhancing its power. However, this gold is not as easy to condense as ordinary materials.

He summoned the Zhiyang Bird, placed the Demonic Essence Gold into the Spirit Gathering Cauldron, and under the dual blessing of the Zhiyang Bird's spiritual fire and Luo Ming's elixir fire, began the final refining process of the magic weapon.

Time passed slowly, and three months went by in the blink of an eye.

Luo Ming had mastered the Concealing Yuan Technique to perfection. Disguised as a burly, honest-looking man, he concealed all his aura, revealing only his late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation. He mingled among the passing cultivators and quietly arrived at the Red Sand Island teleportation array.

As soon as they stepped out of the teleportation array, a bustling scene came into view. Cultivators came and went in an endless stream, their auras varying in strength. Cultivators from various forces wore different clothes and exchanged greetings. Amidst the surging spiritual energy, the grand scene of the Nascent Soul Ceremony was on full display.

Luo Ming lowered his eyes and walked slowly, pretending to be a simple-minded person, as if he were just a cultivator passing by. He walked out of the teleportation array and prepared to go to the remote place that Tianjing Sanren had mentioned.

Just as he was observing the surrounding movements, a jet-black streak of light suddenly pierced the sky at an astonishing speed, landing on a plaza in an instant. As the light dissipated, two figures appeared.

Luo Ming glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye and was suddenly shocked—the leader was Wen Tianren, whom he had met once before. Now, the man's aura was powerful, and he had already reached the peak of the mid-stage of Core Formation, only one step away from breaking through to the late stage of Core Formation.

Beside him was an old man with a withered face and cloudy eyes that exuded a chilling aura. His aura was subtle yet heavy. Even without his divine sense probing, it was clear that the other party was a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stage!

"This is nominally Star Palace territory, yet the Demonic Path has sent a Nascent Soul cultivator here in person, and Wen Tianren has even openly revealed his true form. Do they no longer take Star Palace seriously? Or are they testing Star Palace's reaction?"

Luo Ming thought to himself, pretending to be an inconspicuous rogue cultivator, and silently observed.

He remembered that as the opening of the Void Heaven Palace approached, the covert struggles between the Star Palace and the Reverse Star Alliance intensified, and they were just one step away from declaring war in public.

The Liu family is a renowned family of weapon refiners, boasting several master weapon refiners. They control both mineral veins and weapon refining techniques, and both sides seek to win them over. Especially now that the Liu family patriarch has advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, his weapon refining skills are likely not far from the Grandmaster level.

This further demonstrates the value of the Liu family.

As soon as the two landed, several Liu family cultivators dressed in brocade robes quickly came to greet them. The leader had a refined appearance and a calm demeanor; he was none other than Liu Chengye, the current head of the Liu family.

He bowed deeply to the old man with the pigeon-faced expression, his tone extremely respectful, not daring to be negligent in the slightest: "I was unaware of your arrival, senior. I have failed to greet you properly and hope you will forgive me. You must be tired from your journey. Please come with me to the mansion to rest. The patriarch has prepared spiritual tea in the mansion, specially awaiting distinguished guests from all directions."

The old man with the pigeon-like face nodded slightly, his tone calm and devoid of much emotion: "Patriarch Liu, you are too kind. I have come on the orders of my sect to congratulate Fellow Daoist Liu and to discuss a matter of cooperation with the Liu family."

Wen Tianren stood behind the old man, his face arrogant, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings with a scrutinizing look. Only when facing the old man with the pig-faced expression did he show some respect.

Liu Chengye quickly agreed, exchanging pleasantries while leading the two toward the interior of the Liu family's territory. Along the way, many cultivators gave way upon seeing this, secretly speculating about the connection between the demonic path and the Liu family.

Shortly after the two sides entered, a flash of spiritual light appeared in the direction of the teleportation array, and a middle-aged cultivator dressed in Star Palace attire slowly stepped out. His aura was pure and upright, and he exuded an extraordinary air.

The middle-aged cultivator who had just arrived glanced at the old man with the pigeon-like face and Wen Tianren, his brows furrowing slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. He then pondered to himself:

"I didn't expect the Demonic Path to send a Nascent Soul cultivator like Old Monster Black Wind. It seems they're determined to win over the Liu family. If I don't raise my offer, I'm afraid the Liu family's patriarch will be swayed by the Demonic Path's rhetoric and side with them, which would be extremely detrimental to my Star Palace."

He pondered this in his mind, and without stopping, he walked towards the Liu family mansion with the cultivator beside him.

Upon seeing the people from the Star Palace arrive, Liu Chengye's heart tightened. He quickly instructed a steward of the Liu family beside him to properly escort the old man with the pig-like face and Wen Tianren to a side hall to rest. He then hurried back, running all the way to them, bowing deeply, his tone respectful to the point of humility: "So it is the Ninth Elder of the Star Palace who has come in person. I, Liu, have failed to greet you properly and have been negligent in my respects. I hope the Elder will forgive me!"

The Ninth Elder raised his hand slightly and said in a calm and gentle tone, "Patriarch Liu, there is no need for such formalities. I have come here for two reasons: first, to congratulate Patriarch Liu on his advancement to the Nascent Soul stage; and second, to discuss some matters with the Liu family."

Liu Chengye quickly replied "Yes," but he was a little nervous inside.

Their Liu family is openly subordinate to the Star Palace. Although they have dealings with both righteous and demonic cultivators because they are a weapon-refining family, he also knows some things. Recently, the relationship between the Star Palace and the righteous and demonic paths has not been harmonious.

They just wanted to quietly do their weapon-refining business and didn't want to get involved in those conflicts.

At this moment, the old man with the pigeon-like face and Wen Tianren had followed the Liu family steward into the Liu family estate. Just as they turned a corner, they caught a glimpse of the Ninth Elder of the Star Palace being respectfully led by Liu Chengye towards the main mansion.

Wen Tianren frowned slightly, a look of surprise on his face. Without showing any emotion, he used his divine sense to transmit his thoughts to the Black Wind Old Monster: "I didn't expect the Star Palace to actually send the Ninth Elder. It seems they value the Liu family quite a bit!"

As the nominal ruler of the Chaotic Star Sea, the Star Palace has dominated the Chaotic Star Sea for tens of thousands of years. It has dozens of Nascent Soul elders. In the past, when other cultivators advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, the Star Palace would send at most two Core Formation cultivators to congratulate them. Unexpectedly, this time they sent an elder with such a high ranking, which shows how much the Star Palace values ​​the Liu family.