Five years!
They were five years of rapid advancement in his cultivation realm! Even without the aid of pills, his progress was swift, placing him among the very top tier even among those with Dual Spiritual Roots.
The dual Placement Columns alone had generated ninety thousand strands of spiritual power, equivalent to a full ninety drops of true essence. Combined with the twelve drops he had accumulated through his own diligent cultivation, his total had grown substantially.
It was now the sixth month of the fifth year of his tenure as Steward.
He had reached the second layer of Foundation Establishment, with his true essence reserves amounting to 132 drops. This placed him a considerable distance into the second layer, far from a recent breakthrough. Once he reached three hundred drops, he could break through to the third layer of Foundation Establishment. Upon cultivating to five hundred drops, he would face the first major hurdle of the Foundation Establishment stage: "True Essence Condensation"!
His current Placement Column arrangement was as follows:
[Placement Column 1: Heaven's Frost Yin Blood Art]
[Placement Column 2: Heaven's Frost Yin Blood Art]
『Heaven's Frost Yin Blood Art (33/100): Forty-eight practices per day. Completion in twenty years.』
[Placement Column 3: Great Yin Nether Pupil (Second Stage)]
『Great Yin Nether Pupil (100/100): No further derivation possible.』
[Placement Column 4: Frost Moon Wings]
『Frost Moon Wings (20/100): Twelve practices per day. Completion in eight years.』
[Placement Column 5: Corpse Demon Secret Art (Under Completion ↑)]
『Corpse Demon Secret Art (50/100): One thousand four hundred forty practices per day. Completion in ten years.』
Regarding his cultivation techniques:
Once the *Frost Blood Ascension Art* reached perfection and activated its effect of enhancing aptitude, it had served its purpose and was no longer useful.
The *Heaven's Frost Yin Blood Art*, being a Foundation Establishment level technique from the start, required only thirty years of placement to reach perfection. Furthermore, due to its inherent profundity, the Placement Columns should be capable of deducing it to the third grade. This single point meant the returns from the *Heaven's Frost Yin Blood Art* were significantly higher. As for cultivation speed, since attaining Dual Spiritual Root aptitude, the minor boost from perfecting a technique had become somewhat negligible. It was worthwhile for him to make the switch.
The Great Yin Nether Pupil in the third column had just reached perfection in the [Illusory Moon Realm] stage today. Based on past experience, to unlock the next stage, he would need to advance to Core Formation and acquire it from the legacy jade slip.
After some thought, Wang Yu placed the *Mountain-Searching Demon-Seeking Art* into the third column. This secret art originated from the Ancient Soul legacy and addressed a capability he currently lacked. He had practiced it relatively little over the past few years.
[Placement Column 3: Mountain-Searching Demon-Seeking Art]
『Mountain-Searching Demon-Seeking Art (10/100): One hundred forty-four practices per day. Completion in nine years.』
The Placement Columns, capable of one practice cycle every ten minutes, truly embodied the "Innate Ox-Horse Saint Body." According to his future plans, techniques like the Celestial Soul Unified Breath, Soul Shattering Finger, and Heart-Controlling Demonic Tone would all need to be scheduled. Wang Yu estimated his entire Foundation Establishment career would be spent grappling with these inherited methods and legacies.
Having taken stock of his gains over the past five years, Wang Yu went out to make purchases, spending almost all the spirit stones he had accumulated. The main expenses were reserves of medicinal ingredients, a second-grade alchemy furnace, a second-grade flying vessel, second-grade formation flags... and so on—all major drains on financial resources.
Thus, ten days later, the day of departure—had arrived!
"Are you really planning to go so early?"
"Yes, one day earlier or later doesn't make much difference."
Wang Yu raised his hand, stopping the Reverse Spirit Three Young Masters who seemed ready to say more. "That's enough. Thank you for your protection during this time. I have my own path to walk."
Aside from the transactional aspects, the three of them were actually decent people. After spending this time together, they understood each other better. However, staying within the sect imposed too many restrictions for certain operations. Simply selling pills was something he couldn't do without bypassing the Alchemy Hall; the constraints were too many. Once his spirit stones ran out, he would have to take risks again, scraping benefits from the sect. Engaging in such activities too often was asking for trouble; it was more comfortable to operate outside.
If he wanted to continue improving his spiritual root aptitude, he had to go outside to find suitable targets. Disciples within the sect were mostly Triple Spiritual Roots, which no longer provided any enhancement effect for him. There were plenty of Dual Spiritual Roots as well, but most were taken as disciples by the Master-Disciple faction and were not easy to target.
He only needed the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect as a backer to provide subsequent cultivation techniques; other resources he would naturally acquire himself.
Bowing slightly to the three, Wang Yu summoned a small spirit boat-type flying artifact he had refined not long ago, named the **Soaring Cloud Skiff**.
Its capacity was three to five people. A single low-grade spirit stone could power it for half an hour. Its speed was comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator's flight, and it was rated as a mid second-grade item—a fine, quality piece.
"Old Four, take this."
Just as he boarded the Soaring Cloud Skiff, Qiu Ming tossed him a jade slip.
"It contains information about Spirit Tortoise City: the families within the city, the surrounding forces, and some past revenue records. It marks out a few troublesome elements and details several Core Formation cultivators. When outside, your main reliance will be the third-grade mid-tier formation array set up by the sect within the City Lord's residence. You must be careful."
Wang Yu understood. He had gathered some intelligence himself, but it certainly wasn't as detailed as what they provided. He could study it carefully during his journey.
"I understand. In that case, I bid you farewell. The next time we meet might be a hundred years from now."
With that, Wang Yu turned, activated the skiff, and swiftly departed into the distance.
In places he could not see:
Situ Hong was in the final stage of his secluded cultivation breakthrough.
Tantai Chan stood on a side peak of Cold Blood Peak, gazing afar in the direction he had left.
Zhuo Shouqing and the others watched from their spot for a long while before sighing and returning inside.
The relationships between them were largely maintained by interest, but they were also tinged with a faint thread of feeling. Not too much, not too little—they could barely be considered friends.
This departure marked the beginning of the fleeting passage of years.
...
...
Wang Yu flew eastward the entire way. The so-called Spirit Tortoise City was located in the smallest of the four provinces within the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect's territory, and the only one laid out vertically.
Its name was—**Cloud Ridge Province!**
Green mountains, clear waters, layer upon layer of misty peaks—mountainous and forested land accounted for over eighty percent of its area. The demon beasts scattered throughout its lands were scarcely fewer in number than those in treacherous regions. However, none were particularly powerful, making it suitable for low-level cultivators to gain experience.
Moreover, the entire province was shrouded in heavy mist and haze. Those clouds and vapors seemed to seep from the very ground—not only were they dense, but they were also generally low-lying, causing Cloud Ridge Province to be perpetually enveloped in mist, with a notably cold climate. Yet, some precisely enjoyed this "immortal" and ethereal environment, delighting in the sensation of stirring up puffs of white mist with every step, as if living in a celestial realm. This was Cloud Ridge!
Sitting at the prow of the skiff, Wang Yu controlled its direction with a part of his mind while meticulously examining the information within the jade slip.
After reviewing the general situation of the province, it was time for the focal point—*Spirit Tortoise City!*
The city was built on a plain and consisted of five districts. It had a permanent population of five hundred thousand, with a floating population exceeding one million. Every day, people from other regions came to seek shelter. From this point alone, Spirit Tortoise City was undoubtedly a top-tier city within the red kite region; with such a large population, it couldn't be poor.
It possessed one third-grade mid-tier spiritual vein and three second-grade upper-tier spiritual veins, giving rise to several dozen first-grade spiritual sites. Its environment was also top-notch.
Outside the city were eighty thousand *qing* of spirit farmland and two hundred ninety thousand *qing* of ordinary farmland. Half of this land was owned by the City Lord's Residence. Within the city, the five districts were divided into East, South, West, North, and Central, with the City Lord's Residence situated in the center.
Three of the four peripheral districts were controlled by cultivation families. They operated three market districts and also held law enforcement authority. Only the Central and Northern districts were under the control of the City Lord's Residence.
"The Bai, Guan, and Jiang... three families. Their ancestral founders are at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Each family typically has five to eight Foundation Establishment cultivators, with over a thousand cultivators per family, proficient in multiple cultivation arts."
This number was not small. For family-based cultivators, every individual with a spiritual root was essentially breeding stock. Having three wives and four concubines was commonplace, all to increase the family's numbers. Any child born with a spiritual root was guaranteed to step onto the path of cultivation. This was different from the Spirit Measurement Day led by major powers.
Spirit slaves were a unique product of the demonic path, ranging from Qi Refining to Core Formation. However, that was a feature of wartime. Normally, the highest were Foundation Establishment spirit slaves, all captured from righteous path practitioners.
The families had another arrangement for clansmen with low aptitude: the simplest and most common was to become spirit farmers, planting spirit rice for the broader cultivation world. This method of exploitation was a characteristic of the Taihu Spirit Domain.
The Red kite people hadn't yet learned it perfectly. The mortality rate was much better than for spirit slaves, but they couldn't achieve a lifetime of无损 (wú sǔn - loss-free) exploitation. In this regard, Taihu was more experienced. They could use housing in the cultivation market districts to firmly control the entire lives of spirit slaves, having them pass down their line generation after generation in that very place, providing all the support for their descendants' cultivation, all in the hope of rising above their station and producing a single Foundation Establishment expert.
The more Wang Yu read, the deeper his frown became. It all felt strangely familiar.
But still.
While they could learn, the methods of Taihu couldn't be entirely applied to the Red kite people.
The Taihu Spirit Domain used sects to establish numerous market districts, acting as the governing bodies to exploit resources from the endless sea of rogue cultivators and first-generation practitioners.
The Red kite Demonic Domain used cities as secondary governing institutions, and the level of support was still quite substantial. In Wang Yu's possession was not only the City Lord's Token for Spirit Tortoise City/Spiritridge City but also the control object for the third-grade mid-tier defensive formation. As for how to earn spirit stones, that was delegated to the City Lord himself. He could do pretty much whatever he wanted, as long as he ensured the normal propagation of the population. The higher-ups didn't interfere much.
The Spiritridge City, secured through the Zhuo family's influence, was clearly more valuable than an ordinary spiritual vein city.
Looking back at the records, previous City Lords were mostly Core Formation cultivators, with the lowest being inner sect disciples promoted from the late Foundation Establishment stage. Wang Yu was the lowest cultivation level among all past appointees.
Under these circumstances, achieving complete control would be truly difficult. However, with the authority of the upper sect and the protective mansion formation as guarantees, the situation would gradually improve as his cultivation increased. Once he could truly dominate the city, resources would naturally flow in continuously.
"It presents a certain level of difficulty, but it remains within the realm of challenge."
And it would only get better.
The Reverse Spirit Three Young Masters had indeed given him a fat piece of meat, but whether he could keep hold of it would depend entirely on his own methods.
A long time later, he set down the jade slip containing the information and pondered how to establish his footing. Arriving as a newcomer, there were only a few choices:
1. Promote Harmony and Generate Wealth: Share the profits to stabilize the situation temporarily. However, the other parties would grow increasingly greedy, inevitably leading to collapse.
2. Wield the Sect's Authority: Borrow the sect's influence to pressure others. Those with weak backbones might be intimidated, but those with strong resolve would likely provoke a direct conflict.
3. Feign Compliance: Pretend to be amicable while secretly targeting their weaknesses, then directly eradicate one family to establish dominance through杀戮 (shālù - killing/slaughter) and暴虐 (bàonüè - tyranny/ferocity).
4. Immediate Display of Authority upon arrival...
After much thought, if he could deliver an immediate show of force to demonstrate his strength, then later offer a carrot, he might stabilize the situation for a time. Once he broke through to the mid Foundation Establishment stage, he would have the confidence to fully control Spiritridge City.
"Let's proceed like this for now. Everything can be decided after I arrive."
Currently, Wang Yu was primarily considering matters within the city. The troubles outside the city walls were, in fact, even greater.
(End of Chapter)