Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather Chapter 1848 - 1113: Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters (2)
Previously on Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather...
Very few Immortal Cultivators go back to oppress ordinary people, and few take the initiative to slaughter ordinary people.
However, in the Central Domain, the Immortal Path is prevalent, and Martial Arts also thrive. Few people are willing to be ordinary for a lifetime; everyone desires powerful strength. Everyone envies the Immortal Cultivators flying here and there. Since they lack Spiritual Apertures and cannot become Immortal Cultivators, they choose to become Martial Artists.
The concentration of Spiritual Energy in the Central Domain is relatively high, making it not too difficult for ordinary people to become Martial Artists.
As long as one has a decent Cultivation Technique, essentially everyone can reach the Innate Realm.
Thus, the Central Domain is a place where Innate Martial Artists are as common as dogs and Golden Body cultivators abound. It is quite similar to the Spirit Source Land, with high concentrations of Spiritual Energy and abundant resources, which greatly reduce the difficulty of becoming an Innate Martial Artist, giving many the opportunity to become Martial Artists.
However, Divine Soul Realm Martial Artists are still relatively rare. Although not considered strong in the Central Domain, they are still regarded as experts and can easily bully Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
Wanbao Immortal City is located in the western part of the Wanhua Central Domain, east of the Wanhua Mountain Range and north of the Hengshan Mountain Range, in an incredibly vast plain area.
Logically, plain areas should be regions with sparse Earth Veins and scarce Spirit Veins, but the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters where Wanbao Immortal City is located is a vast Blessed Land.
Although the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters does not have high-grade Spirit Veins, it has numerous rivers, whose sources stem from the Wanhua Mountain Range and the Hengshan Mountain Range, with every drop containing Spiritual Energy.
Though these river waters do not compare to the Spiritual Spring Water gushing from Spirit Veins, they irrigate the entire land of the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters, making it considered a spirit field.
Thus, the concentration of Spiritual Energy in the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters is even higher than that of the Wanhua Mountain Range and the Hengshan Mountain Range.
In simple terms, although the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters lacks many high-grade Spirit Veins, its average Spiritual Energy concentration is extremely high.
This has resulted in the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters being filled with Immortal Cultivators’ forces, spirit fields, and Immortal Cultivation Families everywhere.
It’s said that you can easily cultivate Spirit Rice and Spiritual Fruit Trees by opening a plot of land here.
The entire Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters spans ten thousand miles, similar in size to the Spirit Source Land, but its population has reached one billion.
It is the most densely populated, commercially prosperous, and has the highest ratio of Immortal Cultivators in the entire Wanhua Domain.
Moreover, the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters is a hidden land of crouching tigers and hidden dragons; many Immortal Cultivation Families here have traditions dating back thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
Many seemingly unremarkable Immortal Cultivation Families may have had Golden Core Ancestors in their lineage, and many seemingly ordinary Immortal Cultivation Families may worship a Spiritual Artifact passed down by their ancestors.
Even many overlooked forces might secretly harbor a Golden Core Cultivator.
Yang Zhenshan restrained his aura, flying slowly over towns and villages, encountering countless cultivators in the air.
This made him sigh at the abundance of Immortal Cultivators here.
However, conflicts here are also numerous.
Not long after entering the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters, he encountered a major brawl.
Over a hundred cultivators and Martial Artists were fiercely battling above a river, including four Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
Yang Zhenshan stopped, standing on a cloud to overlook the battlefield below.
This seemed to be two families fighting; one side had three Foundation Establishment Cultivators, while the other had only one, albeit with cultivation at the Peak of Foundation Establishment, though his lifespan was running out.
The three Foundation Establishment Cultivators were besieging that Peak Foundation Establishment elder. Though the elder was strong, he could not resist the combined assault and was heavily suppressed by the three.
...
On Nanshui River.
Pei Lun glared angrily at Shi Yuansheng before him, "Shi, do you really intend to leave no room for courtesy?"
The feud between the Pei Family and the Shi Family has lasted for a thousand years. Once, the Pei Family was a prominent power in the Wilderness of Ten Thousand Waters. Over the past millennium, the Pei Family has been in constant decline, to the point where it lacks successors.
A thousand years ago, the Shi Family did not exist here, and the Shi Family’s ancestor was a personal follower of a Pei Family member.
Later, with the Pei Family’s support, the Shi Family established its own family, becoming the Pei Family’s vassal.
As time went on, the Shi Family grew stronger while the Pei Family continued to decline, and gradually, their statuses became equal. Despite the historical ties, they maintained a close alliance.
But over two hundred years, the Pei Family’s decline became irreversible, and the Shi Family developed the ambition to annex and replace the Pei Family.
The two families, one in Hedong and the other in West River, truly echo that saying, thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in West River.
No, to be precise, a thousand years in Hedong, a thousand years in West River.
A millennium ago, this place belonged to the Pei Family of Hedong, and barring accidents, it will belong to the Shi Family of West River in the following millennium.
Fortunes change; it is no more than this.
"Elder Pei, it’s not that I show no courtesy, but Elder, you don’t know when to advance or retreat!" Shi Yuansheng said indifferently.
"You~" Pei Lun was furious and was about to speak when interrupted by Shi Yuansheng’s attack.
"There are things I would rather not say, but some matters Elder should not ignore! Over the years, your Pei Family has looked down upon us; do you still see us as your vassal?" Shi Yuansheng’s tone turned icy.
Arrogance stems from heritage; Pei Family’s arrogance arises from a thousand-year history, especially when dealing with the Shi Family. The Pei Family thoroughly displayed this arrogance because the Shi Family’s ancestor was once a Pei Family follower.
The Shi Family could endure Pei Family’s arrogance in the past because they owed much to the Pei Family. But now, the Shi Family owes nothing, and most importantly, the Shi Family is now stronger than the Pei Family.
Is the Shi Family still supposed to revere the Pei Family as their lord?
Pei Lun gazed coldly at him, "A frog in a well. Do you think this is enough to surpass my Pei Family? Hmph, with a thousand years of heritage, how could you compare?"
Evidently, Shi Yuansheng’s accusations were not baseless; Pei Lun internally held an unwarranted arrogance.
Yang Zhenshan, listening to their conversation from the cloud, also heard other curses and rebukes, which allowed him to comprehend the relationship between the two families.
He wouldn’t judge who was right or wrong; in truth, it was impossible to gauge using simple right or wrong.
The Shi Family’s rise would naturally threaten the Pei Family, and to protect their family legacy, the Pei Family would suppress the Shi Family.
The conflict between the two sides is not about right or wrong but about strength and weakness.
On the battlefield, Pei Lun suddenly took out a green bamboo staff, four feet in length, with eight segments, its tail flat, and the handle sculpted into a dragon head. No, the entire bamboo staff seemed to be a dragon, only the dragon head appeared a bit flat, appearing separately carved.
At first, Yang Zhenshan hadn’t paid attention to the bamboo staff, but when Pei Lun swung it at Shi Yuansheng, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
The bamboo staff emitted a beam of green light, containing some kind of profound intent, manifesting as the light landed on Shi Yuansheng, causing him to shiver in terror as bamboo shoots rapidly grew from his body.
The bamboo shoots grew rapidly, crowding together in an instant, but continued to grow, quickly engulfing Shi Yuansheng in a mass of Green Bamboo over three meters long, forming a green sphere.
Seeing this, Yang Zhenshan’s expression immediately turned serious.
"What is this?"
"This is neither a magical treasure nor a Spiritual Artifact, it resembles some kind of Divine Skill!"
"But how can a Foundation Establishment Cultivator master such a Divine Skill? No, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator can master a Divine Skill, but cannot unleash its true power."
"The person below certainly doesn’t have a Divine Skill, he merely borrowed the power of that bamboo staff!"
"But how can a bamboo staff possess such power? Is that life force absorption?"
He stared in a daze at the bamboo staff held by Pei Lun, now radiating vibrant green light, seemingly full of life, nothing like a broken bamboo.
"It’s not life force absorption; it’s life force capture. However, the person has not mastered this Divine Skill, so he cannot gain life force restoration! He even seems to have lost some life force!"
"Lost life force? No, he didn’t lose life force; his lifespan has been deducted!"