Immortal Cultivation and Life-Saving Guide

It would be a miracle if the Tenth Princess's mission wasn't dangerous.

Wei Xi was born with a suspicious nature, and her "miraculous" experiences over the past few years had made her already wealthy mind even more cunning. Rather than saying that a pie falls from the sky, it's more accurate to say that what falls on her head are traps.

Therefore, despite the detailed intelligence provided by "Ten Lady," who was incredibly wealthy, richer than a country, extravagant, and skilled at judging people, and was as beautiful as a fairy, Wei Xi still intended to proceed according to his own plan.

Judging from its thickness, this intelligence report should be quite detailed. However, theory is one thing, practice is another. For a mission worth fifty million spirit stones, this so-called "detailed intelligence" is clearly intended to prevent the unlucky quest taker from returning alive.

Wei Xi only realized after a closer look that this stack of seemingly substantial intelligence was actually quite ingenious: the first three pages contained some text, but the rest were all autopsy reports presented in a fantasy-themed style.

Wei Xi would never forget the scene on the first night after leaving Chongxiao City, when the three of them and the bird opened the intelligence report they had been given so much hope for, which was full of pictures of various corpses.

Even Lingyin, a vicious bird born with a history of murder, staggered and collapsed after receiving over thirty pages of anatomical diagrams.

“There were three of us,” Lian Gouyan said sadly, “didn’t any of us even think of opening it to take a look?”

Wei Xi felt dizzy and vaguely saw the words "shame" right in front of him.

“Nothing I say will change anything,” Wei Xi said bitterly, regaining her senses. “She gave us too much!”

Qin Feng, this cultivation fanatic, had developed a conditioned reflex of studying any diagram he saw intensely. "The injuries on these people don't seem to be fatal. If that's the case, we need to consider internal injuries... What did the preceding text say?"

“…Only one page was written by the coroner,” Wei Xi turned to the third page, “'No fatal external injuries, all internal organs normal, suspected to have died from excessive shock and palpitations.'”

"That can't be right," Qin Feng questioned. "Looking at the picture, this person is as strong as an ox. How could he be scared to death?"

“Physical strength and courage are not the same thing,” Lian Gouyan said confidently, stroking his chin. “There might be something shady going on. Didn’t that princess say this matter involves something clandestine?”

Since he had not seen a body, the audacious and experienced Wei Xi chose to remain silent on the issue and instead took a different approach by flipping through the first two pages of intelligence.

Compared to illustrations with mediocre drawing skills, the content transcribed here is obviously more easily understood.

Simply put, what the Tenth Princess wanted wasn't some rare treasure, but rather the token carried by her subordinates who had been sent into the Bone Reef Sea.

Rumors about the Bone Reef Sea have never ceased, with countless versions. One version tells of a disciple of a major sect who stole a magical artifact to cure his beloved, who lacked a Qi Palace.

Before the heavens could even strike, the iron fist of retribution quickly left this man dazed and disoriented. Not only did his beloved die with resentment, but he himself was also severely injured. Surrounded by several forces, he fled into the Bone Reef Sea, disappearing without a trace, never to be seen again…

However, the sect's magical artifact in this story also disappeared without a trace, along with the lovelorn individual. For hundreds of years, it has attracted many groups, some reckless and some overconfident, to search for the treasure.

Besides these inexplicable stories, Bone Reef Sea itself is extremely mysterious. For example, large amounts of white coral emerge from the seabed after the tide recedes; people who stray into this area often mysteriously disappear; and giant fish skeletons are said to emerge from the seabed when the moon is waning and the sea glows green.
However, anyone with basic financial knowledge knows that investing a huge amount of manpower and resources just to loot corpses and steal their belongings is really not worth it.

Having been mentally prepared, Wei Xi took a deep breath and focused on analyzing the information he had. "According to intelligence, the Tenth Princess has sent three teams into the Bone Reef Sea."

"The first team was led by her deputy commander of the guards, Qiao Sen. He was a cultivator supported by the royal family. He was brought into the palace from the orphanage at the age of five and accompanied the tenth princess in her studies for four years. After that, he was sent to the Zhengxin Sect to cultivate. After his strength reached the lower Foundation Establishment stage, he left the sect and returned to Ju City."

The royal family of Ju Kingdom greatly favored raising orphans. Male princes had a fixed number of companions, while female princes had maids who held multiple positions. Princesses had maids and guards reserved for orphans.

This approach has many advantages: First, the loyalty and quality of the people trained in this way can be guaranteed, making them the most reliable original team around the princes and princesses;
Secondly, most of these orphans who followed the princes and princesses had some understanding of the lives of ordinary people, which could provide the imperial family with more comprehensive information and, to some extent, avoid making a fool of themselves by asking, "Why don't they eat meat porridge?"

Furthermore, these individuals represent a fourth talent selection path, distinct from military merit-based titles, family lineage inheritance, and official appointments. This played a crucial role in balancing power within the court and maintaining imperial authority. Even orphans eliminated during the process, when placed in the army or among the officials, served as an extension of the royal power.
Finally, having such a path for orphans to rise in rank gave the common people hope before they died, and the royal family gained a good reputation, which was, in a way, a good deed.

In short, who wouldn't love to do a business that's extremely profitable?

Returning to the matter of the Bone Reef Sea, Wei Xi's finger slid across the intelligence report: "Qiao Sen led a team into the Bone Reef Sea and lost contact three days later. This team included two Core Formation cultivators. Their career paths were not specified."

Qin Feng keenly sensed something was amiss. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "Does the intelligence report mention the purpose of this team's entry into the Bone Reef Sea?"

Wei Xi shook his head, clearly unable to find any relevant arguments.

“That’s right,” Qin Feng affirmed. “Some special missions often don’t specify the personnel involved, precisely to maintain secrecy and prevent those with ulterior motives from guessing the mission’s purpose.”

“This intelligence was given to us by Tenth Sister,” Lian Gouyan immediately followed up on the train of thought. “Did she deliberately conceal it? If so, I’m curious whether this was only kept from us, or from everyone?”

"This was definitely her own task," Qin Feng replied without hesitation. "Otherwise, why would she pay out of her own pocket to resolve this matter? If we hadn't arrived in time, this matter would probably have fallen to Bai Nu City!"

Wei Xi also leaned towards the latter, but without evidence, she couldn't make a hasty conclusion.

“This Johnson must be highly valued, since the next two teams were sent in to find him,” Wei Xi added to ensure accuracy, “at least that’s what it says here.”

"The token we're looking for is on Johnson."

Lian Gouyan sighed, "The sea is so vast, how are we going to search? Are you planning to borrow people from the Devouring Sea Sect and have those merfolk search the sea?"

“Not so,” Wei Xi put down the intelligence report that had been revised countless times, and helped Ling Yin drink water. “Kui Su and Kuo Xun mentioned the Bone Reef Sea. If you can convince those terrified merfolk, I’ll owe you a whole roasted lamb.” (End of Chapter)