Immortality begins with upgrading buildings

Chapter 323 Reunion with Senior Brother [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

The contents of Liu Yuan's first letter were:

"Brother Ji, where are you? I've discovered a secret realm near Shang Mountain. It might contain treasures that aid in Core Formation. How about we go explore it together?"

The letter was left a year ago; given Liu Yuan's personality, he most likely went by himself.

Ji Yuan then looked directly at the second letter.

The letter was left three months ago.

Not too long.

"Brother Ji, I've snatched that treasure that aids in Core Formation—it's actually a Golden Forging Pill! But I've made too many enemies; I can't handle it all. I'm heading to the Abyss Continent now. See you there!"

Ji Yuan's hand trembled slightly as he held the letter.

Good heavens, Liu Yuan went to the Abyss Continent first?

However, he was also very lucky; Ji Yuan had heard of the great name of the Golden Elixir Caster.

One Golden Forging Pill can increase the probability of forming a Golden Core by 20%!

However, since one of the ingredients used to refine this Golden Elixir has long since disappeared from Canglu, the Golden Elixir has also been lost.

The one Liu Yuan found must have been left behind by an ancient cultivator.

...This kid is quite lucky. It seems that keeping him around was the right decision.

Then let's meet again in the Abyss.

Ji Yuan felt that with Liu Yuan's talent, even if he went to the Abyss Continent, he would not be mediocre. He thought that it would not be long before he would hear his name.

Even if it's not possible, it's always possible after reaching the Core Formation stage.

Then Ji Yuan looked at Ran Kui's letter.

His senior brother's letter was only sent half a month ago, and its contents were extremely simple.

"Junior brother, I need to ask you for a favor... I really can't find anyone else. If you see this letter, please come to Qingzhan Cave in Linquan Mountain. I will wait for you there for a month."

Senior Brother... what troublesome matter has you encountered?

They even used the word "beg".

Indeed, Ji Yuan's first thought upon seeing this letter was... to go!

If your senior brother needs help and you don't go, are you even human?

Linquan Mountain Qingzhan Cave.

That was one of Ran Kui's previous hiding places, not far from here, and he had mentioned it to Ji Yuan before.

So after reading the letter, Ji Yuan summoned the Sky-Splitting Flying Boat, stepped into it, and the flying boat disappeared from the spot in a flash.

……

Half a month later.

A streak of light flashed by, landing in the forest and finally transforming into a flying boat. On the boat stood a burly man with a bare chest. He arrogantly surveyed the area, and after confirming that no one was around, he steered the flying boat into the mountains.

The Sky-Splitting Flying Boat drifted through the air. Ji Yuan spread his divine sense and quickly found the mountain with the spring among the mountains, but he did not see the Qingzhan Cave.

"It seems my senior brother's concealment technique is truly superb. My divine sense is almost at the late stage of Core Formation, yet I still can't detect the location of Qingzhan Cave."

But that didn't matter, he knew that Ran Kui had most likely already discovered him.

So when he arrived near Linquan Mountain in his Sky-Splitting Flying Boat, he wrote the words "Senior Brother" on the deck of the flying boat with his finger.

Soon, Ran Kui revealed a trace of his aura in the mountains.

Ji Yuan's excited voice also rang out in his mind, "Junior brother, I'm here!"

"They're here."

Ji Yuan's flying boat flashed through the forest, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of a mountain cave.

He had previously used his divine sense to look at this place, and it was just a stone wall. He didn't think much of it, never expecting that the Qingzhan Cave was actually located here.

Ji Yuan was also there, and he met his long-lost senior brother.

With just one glance, Ji Yuan felt a pang of sadness.

Because Ran Kui has changed a lot since we parted ways two years ago.

The most obvious change is that his once robust body has become much thinner, with only his skeleton remaining the same size. In addition, there is a scar on his face, which doesn't look like a knife scar, but more like he was stabbed by something.

She noticed that Ji Yuan kept staring at her.

Ran Kui turned his head away in embarrassment.

"Junior brother, are you alright?"

Ji Yuan sighed without hiding his feelings, "Let's go into the cave and talk about it."

"Okay, okay, look, I got so excited that I forgot to greet you, junior brother."

Ran Kui then realized what was happening and hurriedly led Ji Yuan into the cave.

After they were seated, Ji Yuan could no longer contain his emotions and asked, "Senior Brother, what happened to you...?"

Ran Kui's smile vanished; he simply rubbed the teacup in his hand.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury from before."

"Can't even I tell you?"

Ji Yuan's voice became somewhat heavy.

"No... sigh, it's just that I fought with two mid-stage Core Formation demonic cultivators at the Spirit Control Sect earlier and accidentally got poisoned by their scorpion venom. I've lost some weight these past two years trying to get rid of the venom, but it's nothing, I'll recover soon."

"Has it been removed now?"

If not, Ji Yuan will have to see if he can help.

"Pull it out."

As Ran Kui said this, his face unconsciously turned pale and became somewhat unsightly.

...The process must have been extremely arduous, otherwise, the eldest brother wouldn't have become so thin.

While pondering, Ji Yuan asked again, "Then, Senior Brother, the injury on your face... was it from that incident too?"

Mentioning this incident, Ran Kui's face showed a hint of lingering fear.

"No, this was left behind by a late-stage Core Formation elder of the White Bone Sect when I infiltrated the Water Dragon Sect to rescue some fellow disciples. At that time..."

Ran Kui chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I really escaped with my life back then. If it weren't for the Qi and Blood Pill you gave me, Junior Brother, I probably would be dead by now."

Ji Yuan didn't know what to say.

Did Ran Kui himself not know how difficult the path he was on was?

He knew this, but he never considered giving up. Even Hua Yaoyue couldn't dissuade him, so Ji Yuan was even less likely to be persuaded. Therefore, all he could do was ask:

"Do you still have any of these Qi and Blood Pills, Senior Brother?"

As Ji Yuan spoke, he took out another bottle of Qi and Blood Pills.

Yes, yes.

Ran Kui quickly patted his storage bag and said with a smile, "Junior Brother, you gave me quite a lot last time. We don't lack pills. You should keep them for yourself."

Seeing that he wasn't lying, Ji Yuan put the Qi and Blood Pill away.

The two brothers remained silent for a long time, wanting to express their feelings but unsure where to begin. Finally, Ran Kui spoke first:

"Who could have imagined that the once invincible Shangdong Six Immortals Sect would end up like this, with some dead and others fleeing?"

"Perhaps this is fate."

The three demonic sects in Shangxi each have two Nascent Soul cultivators, but in Shangdong, only the Sword Ruins sect has two Nascent Soul cultivators.

Moreover, with the involvement of the Shang family, Shang Dong's side failed to seize the opportunity... It was all a matter of timing and fate.

"By the way, junior brother, I recently gleaned some information from a demonic cultivator. Do you know why the Abyss Continent is setting up this intercontinental teleportation array with our Canglu Continent?"

"Isn't this precisely to facilitate the movement of cultivators between the two continents?"

Ji Yuan countered with a question.

He's been in seclusion lately and hasn't been asking about this matter much.

"No, I learned from that Core Formation stage demonic cultivator that this teleportation array was basically built on the Abyss Continent. We can't do it even if we send manpower and resources..."

Ran Kui shook his head.

"Those people from the Abyss Continent have always been driven by self-interest; could it be... that they've got their eye on some resource from our Canglu Continent?"

Ji Yuan asked tentatively.

Ran Kui pondered for a moment and said, "I don't know the specifics. I've only heard that the real purpose of setting up this teleportation array on the Abyss Continent is only one thing, and that is... to facilitate trade."

"Trade?"

Ji Yuan was taken aback for a moment, but then a sentence suddenly rang in his mind...

"Open the door, free trade!"

The Abyss Continent is much stronger than the Azure Fall Continent. As a result, their skills in alchemy, array formations, talismans, and artifacts are definitely superior, and they may even have more resources.

But resources are never enough; the more the merrier.

If that's the case, what are they really eyeing in the Canglu Continent?

resource!

Or, in a narrower sense, it can be considered as a spirit stone.

They can buy up various resources such as spiritual herbs and minerals from the Cangluo Continent at low prices, then convert them into pills, magical artifacts, and spiritual weapons, and resell them back.

Even the cost of teleportation between the two sides has to be "shared" across the Canglu Continent.

This is a real robbery targeting the Canglu Continent!

"Yes, I heard that in the Abyss Continent, everything from pills to magical artifacts is much cheaper than in our Canglu Continent, and the quality is also higher and there are more varieties."

"It would be a good thing if they could actually sell to us."

Ran Kui couldn't understand the reasoning behind it.

I believe most Canglu people can't figure it out either, but even someone like Ji Yuan who can figure it out... what can he do?

Firstly, the situation is not as favorable as that of the other side.

Secondly, it means that they don't care if it doesn't concern them.

Ji Yuan shook his head, trying to stop thinking about it.

Ran Kui continued, "Once this teleportation array is completed, cultivators from both sides will definitely be able to travel back and forth. With the wondrous uses of your shape-changing talisman, Junior Brother, why not go and cultivate on the Extreme Abyss Continent? Canglu is still too dangerous here."

"Senior Brother, aren't you going?"

Ji Yuan hurriedly asked.

If Ran Kui is willing to go, he can send him there right now.

"I?"

Ran Kui laughed nonchalantly, "If I wanted to leave, I would have left with my master and the others long ago. Why would I have waited until today?"

Ji Yuan remained silent.

"Alright, enough of the small talk, let's get down to business!"

Ran Kui sat up straight, and even his voice became a few decibels louder.

"Well, Senior Brother, what do you need my help with?" Ji Yuan leaned forward a little and asked earnestly.

"Have you ever heard of Ye Chen?"

"Ye Chen?"

Ji Yuan repeated the sentence, feeling that the name... sounded somewhat familiar.

"Yes, Ye Chen from the Yu Ling Sect."

With a little guidance from Ran Kui, Ji Yuan immediately remembered.

He heard about it when he was on his way to Mirror Lake in the north to gather the Firefly Flying Sword, passing through a city called Lanshan City.

There was a dragon-slaying auction at the time, selling a third-tier flood dragon, which was freshly killed. The people involved in the hunt were Ye Chen from the Spirit Control Sect and Cao Lang from Corpse Driving Mountain.

As a result, both of them were ambushed and injured.

Since the dragon-slaying attempt failed, the auction naturally had to stop.

"What's wrong with him?"

Ji Yuan asked curiously.

"He... was my closest friend." Ran Kui sighed. "He didn't know that the entire Yu Ling Sect had defected to Shang Xi's Demonic Path. By the time he found out, it was too late."

"So, Senior Brother, you mean... the entire Yu Ling Sect surrendered, but Ye Chen didn't?"

Ji Yuan understood what he meant.

"Hmm, his personality is like mine. It's better to just kill him than to make him surrender to the demonic path."

"Where is he now?"

Ran Kui said in a deep voice, "He has good talent, and with his master vouching for him, the Yu Ling Sect did not kill him immediately. Instead, they imprisoned him and demanded his surrender. Over the years, I have been inquiring about his whereabouts."

Until recently.

Ran Kui looked up at the stone wall above him as he spoke, "I heard some news that he and some other cultivators who refused to surrender were all imprisoned at the old site of our Water Dragon Sect."

Ji Yuan vaguely understood Ran Kui's meaning.

"So, when Senior Brother returned to the Water Dragon Sect last time, he actually had the intention of finding out this information?"

"I guess so. I used the shape-shifting talisman you gave me to sneak in, and I actually saw him, as well as many fellow disciples of the righteous path."

Ran Kui clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he said, "Those damned demonic cultivators tortured them terribly... terribly..."

"So, Senior Brother, you've come to me because you want to join forces to rescue them?"

Ji Yuan didn't mince words; he asked the question directly.

"Um."

Ran Kui nodded, acknowledging the matter. "They are all righteous men who would rather die than surrender for the sake of justice. I didn't know before, there was nothing I could do. Now that I know where they are, if I don't go to save them... I can't get over this in my heart."

Ran Kui took a deep breath and then exhaled a long, stale air.

"But I know this journey will be extremely dangerous. If you are worried, junior brother, I understand."

Ji Yuan neither agreed nor refused immediately, but instead got up and paced back and forth in the cave.

He walked slowly with his hands behind his back.

Ran Kui just stared at him, his gaze following the movement of his body, his heart clenching with anticipation.

He was both hoping that his junior brother Ji Yuan would agree... because he could see that Ji Yuan's cultivation had now reached the Pseudo-Core Realm.

He had witnessed Ji Yuan's methods firsthand.

There are countless kinds.

They act with extreme caution and experience.

If he were willing to help, the success rate of this trip could increase by at least 20%.

But he was also afraid that his junior brother Ji Yuan would agree.

Because this matter was different from others, he was more aware than anyone else of the dangers of this trip.

The current situation is different from before. In the past, I always had my master, Hua Yaoyue, to back me up whenever I did something. But now that Hua Yaoyue is gone, if I really encounter danger, I can only rely on myself.

Reliable to oneself... if one can be depended upon.

Then you won't be in danger.

Ji Yuan paced back and forth in the cave for a while before finally clasping his hands together and turning to Ran Kui, "Senior Brother, besides the two of us, is there anyone else on this trip?"

"have."

Ran Kui quickly stood up and replied, "There are three others, one of whom, Junior Brother, you know."

"Oh? I know him. Who is he?"

"Junior Brother Qinghe."

"What? It's him?"

Admittedly, Ji Yuan was somewhat surprised when he heard the name.

This Qinghe Island Master is the Foundation Establishment cultivator who used to work at the Tianji Hall and introduced Ji Yuan to Hua Yaoyue. Ji Yuan even met him in Lanshan City.

I even had my doubts about him at the time, but I only found out about it later from Ran Kui.

They learned that he was also secretly fighting against the demonic forces.

"Yes, after our sect left, Junior Brother Qinghe and I have been fighting against the demonic path all these years. He was the one who found out that Ye Chen and the others were sent to the Water Dragon Sect for imprisonment."

Ran Kui quickly explained.

"It seems that Senior Brother Qinghe is quite capable."

"Yes, he is very meticulous, but his strength is slightly lacking. Even after so many years, he is still only at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, so he can't be of much help in this battle."

"What about the other two?"

Ji Yuan pressed for an answer.

"The other two are Fellow Daoist Su Huaimin from Sword Ruins and Fellow Daoist Shi Yan from Corpse Driving Mountain. They are both also Pseudo-Core cultivators. I have refined my natal magic weapon at the early stage of Core Formation. Junior Brother, you should be at the Pseudo-Core stage as well, right?"

"Um."

Since Ran Kui was one of their own, Ji Yuan naturally stopped hiding his secrets.

"What about the other side?"

Now that we have a clear understanding of our own strength, the next step is naturally to learn about the situation on the other side.

"Their words..."

Ran Kui said with some difficulty, "If we only count the Demon Prison, there are three Core Formation cultivators, one in the mid-Core Formation stage, two in the early-Core Formation stage, and six Pseudo-Core Formation cultivators."

Ji Yuan: "..."

Senior Brother, this isn't just reckless.

What's the difference between this and sending someone to their death?

But, thinking of himself as one of their own, Ji Yuan continued to ask, "Does Senior Brother mean that besides the people from this Demon Prison, there are other people?"

"Um."

Ran Kui nodded. "If a fight really breaks out, the demonic cultivators near the Water Dragon Sect will definitely get involved. Conservatively speaking, there will be at least ten Core Formation stage demonic cultivators involved."

Ji Yuan shook his head immediately after hearing this.

"You can't do this. If you really want to die, Senior Brother, at least find a meaningful way to die. There's no point in going like this."

These are actually very strong words.

But Ji Yuan felt it was necessary to speak up because he felt that Ran Kui was a bit crazy.

"actually……"

Ran Kui wasn't angry when he heard this. Instead, he continued, "Actually, I have another way. I have a way to lure away all the Core Formation cultivators nearby. Then we'll only have to face the people from the Demon Prison."

"As for the Demon Prison... I'll handle the mid-stage Core Formation demon cultivator. As for the remaining two early-stage Core Formation demon cultivators, Junior Brother Su Huaimin can hold off one, but Junior Brother, are you confident you can hold off the other?"

Ji Yuan pondered for a long time before speaking again, "If this matter can really succeed, I can hold off one early-stage Core Formation demonic cultivator... but can Shi Yan from Corpse Driving Mountain stop the remaining six pseudo-Core Formation cultivators?"

"That can't be possible."

"No, no, no."

Ran Kui quickly shook his head, "At that time, we will definitely have to sneak into the Demon Prison first and try to release some of Ye Chen and the others. When we are fleeing for our lives, we can at least hold off a few of them."

Ji Yuan returned to his original seat and rubbed his temples.

"Senior Brother, you want to give them the Qi and Blood Pills I gave you so they can recover from their injuries quickly and then lend us a hand, right?"

"Yes."

Ran Kui did not deny it.

"When I went in last time, I already scouted it out. Although the outside of the Demon Prison is under strict guard, the inside is relatively loose. I'm confident that I can get the key... and at least let four fellow disciples at the Pseudo-Core Realm get out."

"With their help, we might have a chance to hold off three more Core Formation cultivators."

After Ran Kui finished speaking, he looked at Ji Yuan with a complicated expression.

(End of this chapter)