Chapter Thirty-Two: The Alliance of Immortal Cities

Ye Mo opened the tattered ancient volume chronicling the cultivation world. The first part mainly recorded the history of the immortal realm, while the latter part contained scattered foundational knowledge about cultivation.

“A Chronicle of Immortal Cultivation?” Ye Mo was deeply intrigued.

He had grown up in the mundane world of the Wu Kingdom, knowing almost nothing of the cultivation world beyond a handful of tales about immortals. Now, for the first time, this vast and mysterious world slowly unfurled before his eyes.

Eagerly, Ye Mo read on.

“The Tragedy of the Eastern Sea!”

“In the first year of the Continent’s calendar, the Alliance of the Heavenly Dao led the final army of the human cultivators in a decisive battle against the allied tribes of the Eastern Sea’s demon clans. The result was a devastating blow—human cultivators’ main force was annihilated!”

“That year, the demon tribes of the Eastern Sea overran the Nine Provinces, ruthlessly hunting down the surviving human cultivators.”

“The Alliance of the Heavenly Dao, which had led the human cultivators of the Nine Provinces in a war against the demon tribes for hundreds of thousands of years, finally collapsed!”

“With the demon tribes of the Eastern Sea invading in full force, the ghost tribes of the Western Nether and the spirit tribes of the Northern Abyss followed suit. The human race of the Nine Provinces was driven to the brink of extinction!”

The opening lines left Ye Mo ashen-faced, his body trembling.

In just a few strokes, an unfamiliar and brutal war of cultivation was laid out, filling him with dread.

What had happened? The cultivators were annihilated, and the humans of the Nine Provinces pushed to the verge of extinction? The demon tribes had conquered the Nine Provinces!

So many mighty immortals, sword-riding and transcendent, all perished in the war between immortals and demons.

Ye Mo felt as if the road ahead was shrouded in endless darkness, an overwhelming pressure suffocating him.

He had risked everything, braving storms to sail across the sea, all to seek out the fabled Immortal Village and pursue the path of cultivation. But if the most powerful human cultivators had all perished in the war, what hope was left for him?

It took a long while for the turmoil in his heart to settle.

He continued reading.

“The Nine Provinces fell, and the human race neared extinction!”

“At this moment, the demon clans’ ‘Supreme Sacred Relic,’ lost for millennia, abruptly resurfaced!”

“Huge upheaval rippled through the hundreds of powerful demon tribes of the Eastern Sea as they vied for the sacred relic. Amidst fierce infighting, the demon alliance fractured. The ghost and spirit tribes joined the fray, seeking the relic for themselves. Alliances across the races collapsed, and a chaotic, unprecedented war broke out among the demons, ghosts, and spirits in the Nine Provinces. Top cultivators of all three races fell, their strength greatly diminished.”

“Surviving human cultivators scattered and fled for their lives, enduring until the demon alliance splintered. They took root once more across the Nine Provinces and the Eastern Sea, founding cities and fortifying them, gradually recovering their strength. The lords of these Immortal Cities became the leaders of cultivators, commanding all those within to wage ongoing battles against the demon, ghost, and spirit tribes.”

“The lords of the Immortal Cities established a covenant: the Alliance of Immortal Cities. The terms were as follows: First, all city lords, regardless of the size of their domain, hold supreme status in the cultivation world and are protected by the alliance. Second, other cultivators may choose to follow a city lord and become citizens of that city, enjoying special rights. Those who follow no lord become wandering cultivators and forfeit certain privileges.”

“With this, the tragedy of the Eastern Sea ended, and the cultivation world of the human race entered a new era—thus began the Age of the Immortal City Alliance.”

Having finished reading, Ye Mo took a deep breath, restoring his composure.

Fortunately, the cultivators had not been utterly wiped out. They had managed to recover, growing stronger once more.

He read on.

The first part of the ancient text was the chronicle of cultivation history; the latter part recorded scattered knowledge of cultivation.

“The path of cultivation lies in essence, qi, and spirit. Refine the essence into qi, refine qi into spirit!”

“Martial artists temper the body, focusing on nurturing the essence of their blood and energy. At the final stage of body refinement, one can ‘refine essence into qi’; upon breaking through, the vigorous essence transforms into the precious true qi. The denser the martial artist’s essence, the greater the chance of converting it into true qi.”

“At the Spirit Core stage, cultivators refine qi into spirit—fusing the cultivated true qi with a wisp of their own soul. The union of qi and soul gives birth to the Spirit Core!”

“With the Spirit Core forged, one becomes a true cultivator, embarking upon the path of immortality, wielding mysterious spells and powers. With a mere gesture, they can level mountains a thousand fathoms high or dry up lakes hundreds of feet deep.”

“To cultivate true qi, a martial artist must possess a spiritual root!”

“All mundane mortals have spiritual roots, but the vast majority have no more than five points, considered extremely poor and unsuitable for cultivation. Even if, by some twist of fate, they barely cross the threshold, a lifetime of arduous training yields little progress.”

“The True Qi Pill is one of the main ways for cultivators to acquire large quantities of true qi!”

“A single first-grade True Qi Pill can greatly enhance a martial artist’s essence, instantly boosting their cultivation by an entire level. It can enable a martial artist at the ninth level of body refinement to form a Spirit Core and break through to the first layer of the Qi-Condensing stage!”

“The immortal clans do not encourage ordinary people to cultivate, for True Qi Pills are ruinously expensive. Even a single pill could bankrupt a wealthy household.”

At this point, Ye Mo stopped reading, his eyes fixed joyfully on the pill bottle atop the stone altar.

“One first-grade True Qi Pill can instantly raise a martial artist by an entire level! What does this mean?”

Three dragon-eye-sized pills rested quietly in the bottle, exuding a rich, spiritual fragrance.

“So, these three True Qi Pills are enough for me to break through to the eighth and ninth layers of body refinement, and perhaps even form a Spirit Core, officially stepping onto the path of cultivation!”

With this revelation, Ye Mo closed the ancient volume.

The book contained no methods for cultivating spells or techniques. Yet the wealth of historical records and cultivation knowledge was equally invaluable to him.

“Three True Qi Pills to become a cultivator, a map to the Immortal Village, a Golden-Spirit Sword, and a chronicle of the cultivation world—these rewards are already more than enough.”

Ye Mo put away the bottle of pills, the ancient volume, and the Golden-Spirit Sword in his pack. Bowing inwardly toward Li Zhao’s skeleton, he vowed, “Senior, I accept these items with gratitude. If your enemy Sun Siyi still lives, I will find a way to avenge you!”

He hurried out of the cave, clambering down the cliff. Then, striding quickly, he made his way back toward the encampment at the mountain cave. He had been gone for half a day already—it was time to return and see how things stood.