Chapter 158: The First Village of Aolai, the Lou Clan!

Wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a spiritual sword at his waist, Ye Mo disguised himself as a travel-worn young rogue cultivator. After entering the cabin, he sat cross-legged the entire time without speaking a word.

As the lord of the Ye Clan Immortal Village, he was recognized by many within his own territory. To avoid unnecessary inconvenience during this trip to other immortal villages, he had no choice but to disguise himself as an ordinary rogue cultivator.

Such attire and demeanor were common among rogue cultivators in the Ao Lai Sea, drawing little attention.

A Shui sat quietly and obediently on her knees beside Ye Mo. Her delicate, boneless hands habitually rested upon the spiritual dagger at her waist. With lowered eyes, she cast an imperceptible yet sharp glance across all the rogue cultivators in the cabin, assessing potential threats.

Though quiet by nature, she was undoubtedly an exceptional personal bodyguard.

Several other cultivators sat near Ye Mo.

"I wonder which is better, the Shen Clan Immortal Village or the Ye Clan Immortal Village?"

A young cultivator in his early twenties asked aloud.

Accompanying him were two other young cultivators of similar age.

None of them were old, and for rogue cultivators, achieving the status of a cultivator at such an age was quite rare.

The two companions evidently knew nothing about the merits of either immortal village, wearing blank expressions upon hearing their companion's question.

Not far away, an elderly man in his fifties chuckled upon hearing this and said, "The Ye Clan Immortal Village, of course. How could the Shen Clan possibly compare to the Ye Clan?"

"Oh? Since it cannot compare to the Ye Clan Immortal Village, why are we heading there?"

The young cultivator asked, puzzled.

The old man smiled and asked, "It seems you know nothing, Daoist Friend. How did you even end up on this boat heading to the Shen Village?"

A look of embarrassment crossed the young man's face. "Er, the three of us brothers just arrived in the Ao Lai Sea region. We wanted to walk around, learn more about the various immortal villages, and simply picked a random boat."

"So that's how it is."

The old man nodded in realization. "New arrivals, that explains it. The teleportation array here only recently opened, and this old man arrived months ago, so I've come to understand a good deal about this place.

The Ye Clan Immortal Village is universally acknowledged as the strongest immortal village within a radius of a thousand miles. Even the Ten-Village Alliance could do nothing against City Lord Ye, and he has practically no rivals in this vicinity. The Shen Clan Immortal Village is merely an ordinary one that has never fought other immortal villages, so naturally it cannot compare.

Based on estimates from recent times, the Ye Clan Immortal Village can rank within the top thirty among the three hundred and sixty immortal villages in the Ao Lai Sea."

Hearing this, A Shui let out a soft giggle and gently poked Ye Mo, looking rather proud of the Ye Clan Immortal Village's current standing.

Ye Mo glanced at her, understanding her intent, and could not help shaking his head with a quiet smile.

"Is that so?"

The young cultivator's interest surged instantly, and he pressed on, "I thought the Ye Clan Immortal Village was already extremely prosperous; how is it only ranked around thirtieth? What are the top twenty or top ten immortal villages like?"

Many of the rogue cultivators in the cabin could not help but laugh.

A cultivator in his thirties remarked, "Any of the strongest villages among the surrounding dozen or so can enter the top thirty. But once inside the top thirty, getting a precise ranking becomes unclear. Unless someone specifically investigates and calculates their strength, an exact ranking is difficult to determine."

"That is indeed the truth,"

the old man nodded in agreement. "Even among those in the top thirty, a small fraction of the immortal villages are clearly stronger than the rest. Such villages basically belong among the top ten.

For instance, there is a Meng Clan Spirit Island a thousand miles away, established by City Lord Meng of Blazing Fire Immortal City. It is somewhat stronger than the Ye Clan Spirit Island and should qualify for the top ten."

The young man nodded repeatedly, memorizing the name of the Meng Clan Immortal Village, and said to his companions, "Let's go take a look at the Meng Clan Immortal Village!"

"If you want to list all the top ten immortal villages, an ordinary person might not be able to name them all. But when it comes to the number one immortal village in Ao Lai, it is unmistakable; there is one universally recognized top village."

"Oh?"

The young cultivator was immediately astonished. "What immortal village is so formidable that its top position is already secured?"

The old man nodded and said, "Naturally, the number one immortal village in the Ao Lai Sea is the Lou Clan Immortal Village located in the central region. The Lou Clan belongs to the strongest batch of newly emerged city lords from Azure Cloud Immortal City, and they were also among the very first batch of immortal villages to arrive in the Ao Lai Sea.

Not just the Lou Clan, but the other nine city lords from Azure Cloud Immortal Academy are also exceptionally powerful. Shortly after their arrival, they began aggressively establishing villages, frantically carving out territory and seizing massive amounts of spiritual islands. It is very difficult for later immortal villages to compete with them.

Even this Ye Clan Immortal Village actually originated from Azure Cloud Immortal City. It's just that City Lord Ye didn't go with those nine to the central region, choosing instead to build his village here in the eastern district."

Hearing this, Ye Mo could not help a slight stir in his heart.

Lou Junjie, the number one immortal village in Ao Lai—to think it was the Lou Clan Immortal Village. Cultivators from major clans truly extraordinary; he had already done his utmost to develop and had even defeated nine surrounding immortal villages, yet he still could not surpass the momentum of the Lou Clan Immortal Village!

Even rogue cultivators of the Ye Village had heard of the might of the Lou Clan Immortal Village.

"Are all the city lords of Azure Cloud Immortal City this formidable?"

The young cultivator exclaimed in surprise, turning with a delighted expression to his two companions. "Then let's just go straight to the Lou Clan Immortal Village! There's bound to be a future in a village like that."

The old man gently shook his head instead. "Daoist Friend, are you thinking of joining the Lou Clan Immortal Village and becoming one of their villagers?"

The young cultivator nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, we came out this time precisely to join a powerful immortal village in the Ao Lai Archipelago so we can have a settled home."

Inside the cabin, the remaining rogue cultivators were also quite tempted.

Finding a powerful immortal village to rely upon was the aspiration of many rogue cultivators.

This Ao Lai Sea region presented a tremendous opportunity for many newly emerged city lords, and it was equally a huge opportunity for numerous rogue cultivators.

If a suitable immortal village was willing to take them in, no one wished to remain a rogue cultivator forever.

The newly established immortal villages across the Ao Lai Archipelago naturally attracted the gaze of rogue cultivators from all over.

The old man smiled bitterly. "You can forget about the Lou Clan Immortal Village. Although this village is wonderful, they don't really recruit outsiders; it's all for their own clan members.

If a rogue cultivator wishes to become a villager, the requirements are even stricter than those of established immortal villages. Not only are there restrictions on age and cultivation level, but they also demand exceptional aptitude and outstanding talent in a certain field.

Regarding age, Daoist friend, you are in your twenties and already a cultivator, so you barely meet the standard. But do you have any standout abilities? If you were an alchemy apprentice or a weapon-crafting apprentice, you could at least give it a try."

The young cultivator's face flushed red, and he stammered, "I... I am only a weapon-crafting boy."

The old man immediately shook his head. "Then don't even think about it. The boy rank is never accepted."

After a moment of silence, the young cultivator said stubbornly, "No matter what, I still have to go take a look."

Seeing that he refused to give up, the old man said no more.

Everyone in the cabin had been drawn in by the conversation and now opened the floodgates of discussion.

"What is the background of this Lou Clan?"

"I heard the Lou Clan is a prominent family of Azure Cloud Immortal City. City Lord Lou's father is a Golden Core stage city lord who owns an immortal city. How could he ever lack people under his command? With such an extraordinary family background and being among the very first to arrive in the Ao Lai Sea, it's no wonder they became the number one immortal village."

"How could he possibly look down on rogue cultivators like us?"

The crowd murmured in low discussions.

Ye Mo no longer paid attention, secretly pondering whether to go take a look at the Lou Clan Immortal Village himself.

He had some understanding of Lou Junjie.

Aside from his prominent background, this individual possessed exceptionally outstanding personal capabilities, always holding the top position on the City Lord Potential Ranking in Azure Cloud Immortal Academy.

The city lords of the other thirty-six major cities were certainly comparable to Lou Junjie in terms of family background.

Yet the Lou Clan Immortal Village had become the universally acknowledged number one village in Ao Lai; there must be strengths unique to the Lou Clan.

The Ao Lai Archipelago possessed a vast territory spanning tens of thousands of miles of sea. This maritime region was broadly divided into five major areas according to direction: East, South, West, North, and Center.

The Ye Clan Immortal Village was located on the edge of the eastern district.

Ye Mo spent several days taking small fishing boats and transferring through multiple immortal villages before finally arriving at the central region.

In the central land, islands were scattered like stars across the sky.

Island after island was lush and verdant with emerald foliage, wreathed in rising spiritual mist. Under the sunlight, they refracted dazzling rays of multicolored, iridescent light, adding an extra layer of mystery.

A small fishing boat seemed to weave through a celestial painting with a blue backdrop, bypassing island after island brimming with spiritual charm as it headed toward an immortal village at the very center.

Ye Mo and A Shui stood at the bow of the fishing boat, gazing out.

On the boat, the accompanying rogue cultivators were arguing animatedly.

"This place is probably the most spiritually rich location in the entire Ao Lai Sea. City Lord Lou truly has an eye for choosing such a fine place!"

Though he had traveled back and forth several times, a brawny and robust cultivator could not help sighing in admiration.

"This is indeed the nexus of spiritual veins. However, the notion of him 'choosing' this place is debatable. Without sufficiently formidable strength, even if one chose this spot to build an immortal village, it would still suffer simultaneous assault from all sides. For the Lou Clan Immortal Village to establish a foothold at the very center, and even suppress the numerous surrounding immortal villages to claim supremacy—is that really as simple as having a good eye?"

Hearing this, a scarred-face cultivator in his forties with third-layer Qi Condensation cultivation sneered slightly.

"As long as the Lou Clan Immortal Village is the number one immortal village in Ao Lai, joining it means making no mistakes. Why worry about all the rest?"

The brawny cultivator turned his head to glare at the scarred-face cultivator, let out a cold snort, and grinned, his expression carrying a hint of disdain.

His skin had a bronze tone, and a sharp, piercing aura emanated from him vaguely, causing even his companions to stand far off to the side.

"There must be at least eighty or a hundred rogue cultivators wanting to join the Lou Clan Immortal Village. As for your strength, I'm afraid... hehe."

The scarred-face cultivator turned his head back, swept a glance at the brawny man, and ended with a cold laugh.

Upon hearing this, the brawny man froze, sizing up the scarred-face cultivator with a bizarre look before slowly nodding. "It seems you have a lot of opinions about me. I heard the Lou Clan Immortal Village has a martial dueling platform, and I've been worrying about finding a suitable opponent to showcase my skills. Do you dare to step onto the martial dueling platform with me for a bout?"

At the conclusion of his words, the aura around the brawny man suddenly shifted, resembling a sheathed spiritual sword as he locked his gaze onto the scarred-face cultivator.

The scarred-face cultivator involuntarily took a step back, covered in cold sweat. Only at this instant did he realize that the brawny man had concealed his cultivation level, which was shockingly at the fifth layer of Qi Condensation.