Ji Haishan agreed to make concessions,which was both within and beyond everyone's expectations.
The three major top-tier powers,along with the Xiao Family,had dominated the Jiangnan region for centuries.Even though they had shown deference to Su Xin before,it was merely that—deference.
But this time,Ji Haishan agreeing to make concessions wasn't just a step back;it was a complete surrender,a loss of both substance and face.
The people of the Falling Feather Villa were both angry and puzzled,unable to comprehend why their master would bow down to Su Xin.
Even though Su Xin had become a martial artist in the Nascent Divinity Realm,their own master was an existence in the Divine Fusion Realm.
However,Ji Haishan's influence in the Falling Feather Villa was too strong.Even if people were discontented,they didn't dare to confront Ji Haishan and could only grit their teeth and bear it.
Su Xin glanced meaningfully at Ji Haishan.He was even more tolerant than Su Xin had imagined,able to endure such humiliation.
But today,Su Xin had come to assert his authority,not to annihilate the Falling Feather Villa.With Ji Haishan still alive,a desperate counterattack from a martial artist in the Divine Fusion Realm would be terrifying.
Back in Shangshan City,Yan Huangji had already been heavily injured,yet he was still able to defeat or severely injure four martial artists in the Nascent Divinity Realm single-handedly.
Ji Haishan hadn't reached Yan Huangji's level of resilience yet,and Su Xin had no intention of perishing alongside him.
The news of the Falling Feather Villa's surrender would likely spread throughout the Jiangnan region soon.After that,the authority of the Six Gates of Jiangnan in the Jiangnan region would be unshakeable,except for the Xiao Family.
However,a piece of news that would spread even more thoroughly than the Falling Feather Villa's surrender would come the day after:Su Xin had broken through to the Elemental Spirit Realm.
Within a month,the rankings had been updated four times,with two of those updates being due to Su Xin.This time,Su Xin could be said to have truly made a name for himself in the martial world.
Most people had thought that the first to enter the Elemental Spirit Realm would be Feng Linzi,known as"True Person Chisong."No one had expected it to be Su Xin.
So,Su Xin had broken another record this time:he was the martial artist who spent the shortest time at the top of the rankings.
However,these were all comments from outsiders.In the Jiangnan region,things were unusually quiet because of Su Xin's actions.Both the Gongyang Clan and the Nine Profound Sword Sect had become obedient.
After all,Su Xin had crushed them face-to-face,forcing the Falling Feather Villa to make concessions.They felt the pressure.
It could be said that as long as the Xiao Family didn't step forward,they wouldn't dare to engage in these clandestine activities in the future.
After dealing with matters in the Jiangnan region,Su Xin entered the underworld.He had to hand over the Dragon Song Phoenix Blood Sword to the underworld.
Stepping out of his palace,Su Xin knocked on the palace of Cui,the Judge.No one answered,which surprised Su Xin.
Cui,the Judge,had always been like the steward of the underworld,handling most of the matters.It was the first time Su Xin had found Cui,the Judge,absent.
Since Cui,the Judge,wasn't there,Su Xin knocked on the palace of Meng Po.Still,there was no response.
Finally,Su Xin opened the doors of the palace where Hou Tu resided and saw someone who could manage things.
Su Xin bowed,saying,"Lord Hou Tu,I've brought back the Dragon Song Phoenix Blood Sword.The person from the Heavenly Court this time was the Night Wanderer,only in the Pre-Heaven Divine Palace realm.I've already slain him."
With that,Su Xin handed the Dragon Song Phoenix Blood Sword to Hou Tu.
Hou Tu stowed the long sword into a small bag and said in a cold voice,"Very well.You shall come with me to receive the leader of this mission."
Hou Tu and Meng Po,the two administrators under King Yama in the underworld,had completely different personalities.Meng Po was talkative,while Hou Tu was succinct in his speech.
Following Hou Tu,Su Xin arrived at a large hall in the underworld.Hou Tu took out five keys and inserted them into the bronze door,which was several zhang high,and slowly opened it.
Inside,there was a dazzling array of treasures.This was the treasure trove of the underworld,containing almost everything from elixirs to weapons to martial arts techniques.
Hou Tu took out two Big Return Pills and handed them to Su Xin,saying,"In addition to these two Big Return Pills,you can also choose a ground-level weapon for yourself."
Su Xin nodded and began carefully selecting from the shelves of weapons.
Normally,for martial artists in the Divine Fusion Realm,having a Profound-level weapon would already be considered excellent.However,for Su Xin,it was not enough.
During the battle with He Xiu,Su Xin's Rose Sword had already been overstrained and even cracked slightly.Now,he needed at least a ground-level weapon to meet his requirements.
However,Su Xin suddenly remembered something.He took out the fragment of a Heavenly Soldier from his extortion of Yin Xixue and said,"Could you please check if this thing is useful,Lord Hou Tu?"
Seeing the fragment of the Heavenly Soldier that Su Xin had taken out,Hou Tu exclaimed softly,"It's actually a fragment of a Heavenly Soldier stained with the blood of a martial artist in the True Martial Realm.This is quite rare.By using this fragment as the main material to forge a long sword,although its grade would still be ground-level,the probability of achieving a Heavenly Soldier in the future would be close to thirty percent."
Hearing this,Su Xin's eyes lit up.
No wonder when he extorted this thing from Yin Xixue,Yin Xixue had looked so pained.
Don't think that a thirty percent chance of promoting to a Celestial Soldier is low;in reality,this probability is already remarkable.
Celestial Soldiers possess spirituality.To transform an Earth Soldier into a Celestial Soldier,not only does the material and craftsmanship of the weapon matter,but it's also crucial for martial artists to continuously nourish the Earth Soldier with their true qi,connecting it with their blood and essence,eventually giving birth to its spirituality.
Sometimes,even a generation of martial artists might fail to achieve this,and a single Earth Soldier might need to be passed down for several generations,nurtured by the same type of true qi before it can become a Celestial Soldier.
Su Xin didn't have the energy to nurture a Celestial Soldier into form.So,if this Celestial Soldier fragment indeed had a thirty percent chance of achieving Celestial Soldier status,Su Xin would definitely choose to forge it into his own weapon.
Thus,Su Xin directly asked Hou Tu,"Lord Hou Tu,I wonder if I can use this reward to ask you to forge a weapon for me?If it's not enough,I can offer additional compensation."
Su Xin remembered that Hou Tu was capable of repairing Celestial Soldiers,a skill only possessed by grandmasters of artifact forging.
Hou Tu shook his head."It's enough,but I'm not a true grandmaster of artifact forging,just half of one.I can only repair on the original basis but cannot create a new Celestial Soldier from scratch.With this broken blade,since it still retains half of its essence and abilities,I can reshape it and repair it.However,your Celestial Soldier fragment is too small;it's already lost its original form,and treating it as material for a new creation,I'm afraid I'm powerless.If I were to forge it,given its poor quality,the chance of producing a ground-level weapon that can ascend to Celestial Soldier status would be less than ten percent,and it would be a weaker type of Celestial Soldier."
However,after some thought,Hou Tu added,"But I can recommend someone who can forge a Celestial Soldier for you."
"Someone from the underworld?"Su Xin asked.
Hou Tu shook his head."No,it's an elder from the Bashu Sword Pavilion,the Master Forger Gongshu Yu.I'll write a letter for you to give to Gongshu Yu;he'll surely forge this weapon for you.Although Gongshu Yu hasn't forged a Celestial Soldier before,it's only due to his bad luck.When it comes to forging swords,Gongshu Yu is on par with a grandmaster of artifact forging."
Su Xin raised his eyebrows.He hadn't expected Hou Tu's recommendation to be an elder from the Bashu Sword Pavilion.
Anyone who could become an elder of the Bashu Sword Pavilion must have exceptional skills in forging.
The Bashu Sword Pavilion,one of the Five Sword Sects,was indeed peculiar compared to the other four sects.
The Bashu Sword Pavilion was best known for forging swords rather than swordsmanship,which was ranked second.It was said that the Bashu Sword Pavilion had originally been a sacred place for sword forging.The region was rich in minerals,perfect for sword forging,attracting numerous swordsmiths.
Later,these swordsmiths discovered that to forge a good sword,one must first understand the sword.Hence,some of the talented swordsmiths began practicing swordsmanship.Unexpectedly,this practice became uncontrollable,and a union formed by a group of swordsmiths eventually became the Bashu Sword Pavilion,one of the Five Sword Sects.
The forging skills of an elder from the Bashu Sword Pavilion were unquestionable to Su Xin.So,after receiving the letter from Hou Tu,Su Xin promptly expressed his gratitude.
Back in the Jiangnan region,Su Xin began seclusion,preparing to consolidate his cultivation in the Nascent Divinity Realm.The timing of these two Big Return Pills couldn't have been better.
However,when Su Xin began his cultivation,he found that the two Big Return Pills seemed insufficient.
For ordinary martial artists,a Big Return Pill,which could increase ten years'worth of power,would be more than enough for them to break through from the early stage to the middle stage of the Nascent Divinity Realm.
But martial artists were different from ordinary people,and Su Xin was even more exceptional.
The cultivation base of ordinary Nascent Divinity Realm martial artists could be compared to a water bucket,and a Big Return Pill would be sufficient for them.
However,Su Xin's various types of internal energy were terrifyingly abundant.His cultivation base was no longer at the level of a water bucket but rather a whole water tank.
Although this was astonishingly powerful in battles,it also meant that the resources and time required for cultivation were several times greater than that of an ordinary Nascent Divinity Realm martial artist,like now.
Su Xin frowned.Blind cultivation was what he disliked the most.
In his view,the way of martial arts was originally a path of conquest,battle,and slaughter.Breaking through in combat was much faster than arduous cultivation.
Just like how Su Xin broke through to the Elemental Spirit Realm after his battle with Xiang Tianlong,if it weren't for that battle,Su Xin might not have been able to ascend to the Elemental Spirit Realm yet.
So,when it came to cultivation,Su Xin didn't mind using pills to enhance his cultivation.
Although using pills to enhance cultivation could lead to an unstable foundation,Su Xin chose the most wasteful method to avoid this problem—extracting only the essence from any pill he swallowed and discarding the residual medicinal power that needed careful refining.
This was the fastest and most reliable way of cultivation,despite being wasteful.
