I have Immortality In The Cultivation World

Chapter 88: 88: Abyss of Sky Sun

Dan Ding Sect occupied the Spirit Veins of Cloud Continent, likened to a giant monopoly group, while the cultivation families were like small companies attached to the conglomerate.

Layer by layer, they controlled the production technology, leaving the Loose Cultivators with no choice but to suffer their exploitation.

The beauty of the Cultivation World was relative to that of the common mortals, as cultivators never lacked Gold or Silver for food and drink and could easily live beyond a hundred years.

Similarly, the class structure within the Cultivation World was a hundred times, even a thousand times more solid than in the Mortal World!

The only fairness, paradoxically, lay in the most unfair Spirit Root.

Zhou Yi searched many ancient texts but never heard of a method to increase the chances of offspring inheriting a Spirit Root; perhaps high-level cultivators could achieve it, but the cost was not something a cultivation family could afford.

Therefore, in the Mortal World, cultivation families widely married and had many children to ensure their descendants would have gifts of Spirit Roots.

Take the eight great families of Jiangnan in Da Qian, for example—each with tens of thousands of clan members.

At the same time, the eight great families intermarried and formed alliances so that even with the worst luck, where two or three generations bore no member with a Spirit Root, they could still survive crises with the help of their allies.

"The transformations of Mortal Dynasties are measured in three to five hundred years; the Sects of the Cultivation World often rule for thousands of years!"

Once Zhou Yi understood the reasoning, he stopped inquiring at the remaining shops, knowing there would be no difference, and began browsing the market stalls.

The Spiritual Objects sold by Loose Cultivators, beyond the deceptive fakes, couldn't compare to those of the same type available in shops.

"It seems that the calamity at Little Dan Mountain did indeed disperse quite a few good items—of much higher quality than before."

Zhou Yi didn't bother with Spiritual Objects but focused on inquiring about Spells and jade slips, swiftly acquiring a satisfactory inheritance.

Spiritual Medicine Planting Notes, fifty Spirit Stones.

The work contained tens of thousands of words, detailing the key aspects of cultivating over a dozen types of Spiritual Medicines, including some generalized experiences.

The author was a cultivator named Xu Chuan, with whom Zhou Yi was quite impressed; his yard was planted with many Spiritual Medicines. He once offered to spend Spirit Stones to seek advice from Xu Chuan over drinks in the Phoenix Cry Pavilion, only for the man to stand him up.

The Dual Cultivation business of the Phoenix Cry Pavilion was scorned by many cultivators, who believed that the pursuit of immortality should be pure and resolute.

"So, he amassed all those Spirit Stones, only to suddenly lose his soul?"

Zhou Yi didn't think Xu Chuan was wrong, but this only made him more resolute in his own path, wondering if Facing the Abyss had a branch of Phoenix Cry Pavilion.

After browsing all the stalls, he gained several incomplete inheritances, most of which were cultivation notes.

The real inheritance jade slips were carried by those few fortunate cultivators who survived in the marketplace or by the Dan Ding Sect disciples clearing the corpses and would not be left for latecomers to pick up cheaply.

Others couldn't recognize the authenticity of the inheritances, but Zhou Yi, responsible for maintaining Formations, had basically met each one.

"These Loose Cultivators are quite shrewd, only selling their experiential notes and deliberately concealing the formulas and talismans."

Zhou Yi understood this was the smart approach, selling the knowledge to exchange for initial Spirit Stones, then buying materials to cultivate based on the formulas; in time, they would have a continuous trade for earning Spirit Stones.

In the past, the Daoist Hu supported himself by selling Spiritual Wine, never lacking in Spirit Stones, and later, by chance, discovered a Spiritual Site and established a cultivation family.

If they could preserve their lineage for ten or more generations, the Hu family could also be regarded as a noble house.

"Notes aren't bad either—after obtaining the full formulas and inheritances, one can quickly grasp the essentials, avoiding the hardships like those in practicing Array Dao."

After visiting all the stalls, Zhou Yi also bought some pills to restore Mana and left Little Dan Mountain leading his ox.

...

Moon set and sun rose, sun set and moon rose.

He travelled south for tens of thousands of miles, and because Zhou Yi was not in a hurry, stopping along the way to admire the scenery, it took over a year before he finally reached Linyuan City in the southeast of Chu State.

The city was less than a hundred miles from Tianyang Abyss and was thus named for it.

"In life's journey, it's the scenery along the way that is the most enchanting!"

Zhou Yi came out of Yihong Courtyard, mounted his ox, and continued heading south.

Tianyang Abyss was located in the southeastern part of Chu State—a great rift valley that stretched a thousand miles, connecting mountains in the west to the sea in the east, with its depths shrouded in fog, unfathomable and perennially veiled in mist.

Cliffs hung over an abyss that was so deep it seemed bottomless.

Commoners often saw a rainbow light flying out and believed it was the dwelling of gods.

In the Jianghu, there were no shortage of bold martial artists who would climb down along the cliff face, only to never return, and over time, it became known as a fatally dangerous place.

This was precisely Zhou Yi's goal, under the jurisdiction of the Tianyang Market of the Dan Ding Sect.

The Tianyang Market had been established for over two thousand years, one of the earliest spirit veins occupied by the Dan Ding Sect, also of the yellow rank, but with a far deeper heritage than that of Little Dan Mountain.

Zhou Yi chose this place for a simple reason, guarded by cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage, there hadn't been a major incident in a thousand years.

"In the eyes of others, the Tianyang Market is nothing special, neither producing unique spiritual objects nor mineral veins. However, in my eyes, being ordinary and stable is the greatest advantage!"

After circling the periphery for several months, he steered the Mountain and River Cauldron and flew deep into the abyss, descending hundreds of feet before finally touching upon clouds and mist.

Mana was circulated, and the clouds and mist opened a path on their own.

Zhou Yi passed through layers of dense mist, and the view below suddenly cleared up, revealing city buildings in the distance and other territories bordered by endless spiritual fields.

"First, I must register my name!"

...

Tianyang City.

Its size was comparable to that of a mortal county city; unlike the quiet Little Dan Mountain, the streets were bustling with people.

This was because the pedestrians were few cultivators and mostly mortals practicing martial arts, who in the outside world might be masters but could only be the lowest class in Tianyang City.

Zhou Yi toured the city and witnessed the extraordinary sight of immortals and mortals living together.

"Indeed, as the rumors say, when the Tianyang Abyss was established, the Dan Ding Sect had not yet enacted the rule prohibiting cultivators and mortals from cohabiting. After disciples established themselves in the sect, they would often bring their families to the marketplace for convenience and trustworthy assistance."

"As the marketplace's population grew, the trading area gradually transformed into a city."

Even the powerful Dan Ding Sect could not forcibly expel the mortals from the city, many of whom were descendants of true immortals and celestial nobles. Even if their family ancestors had passed away, evicting their descendants would inevitably discourage the living disciples.

Zhou Yi could vaguely guess that the new rule added by the Dan Ding Sect was likely related to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

A thousand years ago, the minimum requirement for accepting disciples was having three spirit roots, which qualified one to become an official disciple. Now, the standard had been raised to dual spirit roots.

Perhaps in a few hundred years, only those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots would be accepted into the sect, while the others would merely be nominal disciples.

"Changes in heaven and earth don't concern me much; being merely at the tenth level of Qi Refinement, I can only meekly endure. In another twenty or thirty years, I will have reached the limit of ascension."

"What's most important now are the Foundation Establishment Pill and the inheritance of the four arts of cultivating immortality."

"There are quite a few descendants of true immortals in the city who have lost their previous glory. With more people comes scattered intentions, which means more opportunities to obtain inheritance!"

Zhou Yi arrived at the city center's administrative office and subtly revealed his complete Qi Refinement cultivation level, and easily registered his name.

Sun Xing, from the Chu State.

The identity token was similar to that of Little Dan Mountain, with different engraved patterns along the edge, perhaps to distinguish between different marketplaces.

Second floor.

The cultivator in charge of distributing caves and spiritual fields respectfully said, "Senior, there are currently no available spiritual fields, but you can choose among these orange areas which are currently cultivated by mortals."

Zhou Yi asked in surprise, "Can mortals also perform the Spiritual Rain Technique?"

The cultivator explained, "They choose to plant spiritual medicines that take years to mature, and after meticulous care, they can yield some harvest."

Zhou Yi inquired further, "If I take over this spiritual field, where will they go?"

The cultivator responded, "According to the sect's rules, cultivators have the priority right to lease. If there are no available spiritual fields in the marketplace, one can either wait in line or choose to leave the Tianyang Abyss."

"Understood, I just want a cave dwelling."

Zhou Yi suddenly realized, the Dan Ding Sect couldn't explicitly expel the descendants of disciples, so they restricted them through the rules.

Mortals held much lower status than cultivators in the marketplace, and after enduring various forms of discrimination, it's likely many would choose to leave the Cultivation World and, relying on their martial prowess, live a carefree and prosperous life in the mortal world.

The cost and benefits were theirs to weigh!