Within the Foundation Establishment realm, the late stage of Foundation Establishment is a rather special phase.
Because after advancing to the seventh level of Foundation Establishment, even ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators will have the opportunity to experience a qualitative change in their spiritual power.
Once a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator successfully completes the qualitative change in spiritual energy, their strength will increase by leaps and bounds. While it's not possible to say they can take on ten people at once, they can certainly handle two ordinary cultivators of the same level on their own.
If it were someone in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, three or five of them wouldn't be a problem. Winning wouldn't be certain, but maintaining a 0-0 record would be normal, and at least escaping wouldn't be an issue.
If we lower it by half a level to the early Foundation Establishment stage, a powerful late Foundation Establishment cultivator (with a qualitative leap in spiritual power, wielding a high-grade spiritual weapon, and cultivating a true technique at the Golden Core level or above) can truly take on ten people at once. It's like an adult fighting a group of children.
Zhao Yunxian didn't know if Zhao Sheng was the legendary Foundation Establishment cultivator who could take on ten people at once, but judging from his extraordinary divine sense, even if the opponent wasn't strong, he couldn't be that weak either.
At a time when the demon tide was about to erupt and the Zhao family was in imminent danger of annihilation, the Zhao family suddenly received such powerful assistance, which can only be attributed to the blessings of their ancestors.
This explains why Zhao Yunxian was so agitated.
Buzz!
After a buzzing sound, the six black lights instantly flew back to Zhao Sheng and reassembled into the Six Harmony Mayfly Shield.
A high-grade spirit shield, about a foot in size, fell down. Zhao Sheng caught it and then casually put it into his storage bag.
If a cultivator wants to control a magical artifact at will, like a swordsman wielding a magical weapon, they must undergo years of refining and fusion of essence, energy, and spirit.
Zhao Sheng just now forcibly manipulated it with his divine sense, making it appear very flexible and free, but in reality it was just a show. A single violent impact would cause the spirit shield to lose control.
"Excellent, I am very satisfied with this Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield. Thank you very much for the gift, Patriarch." Zhao Sheng smiled and bowed to Zhao Yunxian in thanks.
"Haha! I'm glad Daoist Cen Hezi is satisfied." Zhao Yunxian laughed heartily, beaming with joy.
...
From then on, Zhao Sheng settled down on Qionggui Island.
He preferred quiet to activity, and although he repeatedly declined invitations to banquets from various branches of the Zhao family, he did so without being impolite. Each time he politely declined, he would reciprocate by gifting several bottles of pills, some of the first or second rank, and all of excellent quality.
Such an approachable demeanor delighted the various branches of the Zhao family, and invitations in all sorts of creative ways poured in like paper slips.
Zhao Sheng wasn't a truly kind person. He had only done favors out of consideration for the fact that each branch of the family was his descendant, since he wanted to keep the benefits within the family.
However, their greedy desire to take an inch and then a mile is nothing but wishful thinking.
Zhao Sheng's approach was unusually simple: he merely passed all the invitations to Zhao Yunxian.
Within a day, this evil trend vanished without a trace, and Zhao Sheng's area immediately became peaceful.
As a homebody who cultivates immortality, his daily schedule is packed.
I have three fixed hours of practice every day, and half an hour of deep sleep.
I dedicate one hour each day to talisman crafting to avoid losing my skills. I also spend two to three hours each day refining pills, mostly first-tier spirit pills, and occasionally, when inspiration strikes, I'll spend a few days refining a batch of second-tier spirit pills.
During this period, when his condition reached its peak, Zhao Sheng also refined a batch of Foundation Establishment Pills, successfully producing three pills: one mid-grade and two low-grade.
On a side note, after his frantic alchemy practice on Jiuzhen Island, his success rate in refining Foundation Establishment Pills had reached 80-90%. However, the quantity and quality of the pills produced were unsatisfactory, averaging only one to four pills per batch. The total number of Foundation Establishment Pills exceeded thirty, but not a single one reached the superior grade.
The reasons for this may lie in the quality of the medicinal herbs, the alchemy techniques, or the existence of some unknown secrets.
In short, limited by his own knowledge and perspective, Zhao Sheng believes he has reached a bottleneck, and it will be difficult to break through it in a short period of time without external assistance.
Currently, he has accumulated as many as six Foundation Establishment Pills, but only three Thousand-Pattern Star Algae Fruits remain.
Without any new breakthroughs, he has decided to temporarily refrain from refining Foundation Establishment Pills.
The remaining time, aside from refining the Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield, was mostly spent extensively reading and studying ancient texts, secret techniques, cultivation methods, and various knowledge of immortal cultivation. This was not only to accumulate knowledge for advancing to the Golden Core stage, but also to further solidify his own foundation.
The deeper Zhao Sheng studied, the more profoundly he felt how vast, boundless, obscure, and profound the knowledge of a cultivation civilization was.
He was so engrossed in exploring the unknown and the thrill of cultivation that he felt there wasn't enough time and wished there were forty-eight hours in a day.
Zhao Sheng knew his mindset was very wrong. With the Book of a Hundred Lifetimes, he didn't need to be so impatient; enjoying life freely was the right thing to do.
He understands the reasoning, but it's really hard to describe his current state.
"Obsessed and unenlightened" is not a good adjective. But it is quite fitting to describe Zhao Sheng in this world. He only gained the word "obsessed," but he did not truly "achieve enlightenment."
Perhaps in some future life, when I feel tired, I will truly "enlighten" myself to the truth.
In this life, he was "enjoying it, obsessively so."
...
The demon tide is coming!
It's hard to say exactly when it started, but after a grain transport ship was attacked and sunk by a sea monster near Qionggui Island, the island was thrown into chaos, with everyone on edge, seeing threats everywhere.
The entire Zhao family realized that the demon tide had finally arrived. Amidst their panic and fear, a strange sense of relief arose within them. It was as if a heavy hammer hanging high in the sky had finally fallen to the ground, freeing them from their constant anxiety.
According to the pre-established plan, Qionggui and its affiliated islands implemented a scorched-earth policy, with the population retreating to settlements deep within the islands, leaving the surrounding areas vacant.
At the same time, apart from the Qiong Turtle Treasure Ship and two Tier 1 Spirit Ships, all other ordinary ships returned to the dock, and not a single sail was allowed to go out to sea.
Unless war is deliberately provoked, the siren generally will not land.
Therefore, the 300,000 members of the Zhao clan stayed on the island peacefully and their safety was temporarily assured.
And so, half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
In the past six months, the Zhao family has received countless pieces of intelligence from people of other ethnic groups, especially the most detailed and accurate intelligence sent back from Dragon Head Island.
But one afternoon, a sudden and shocking piece of bad news left all the cultivators of the Zhao family stunned.
Dragon Head Island has fallen!
A thousand years later, the Heavenly Gate of Dragon Head Island was once again breached by sea monsters.
Ten days ago, Elder Lingyuan of the Sea Demon Clan led three seventh and eighth-level demon kings and more than a hundred third-level or higher Core Formation Sea Demons, using a strategy of feinting east while attacking west, and managed to deceive everyone's attention. In a single day, they crossed thousands of miles of ocean and launched a surprise attack on Dragon Head Island.
After holding out for less than three days, the defensive array of Dragon Head Island was breached. The Four Saints Immortal Cultivation Group, led by Ancestor Chongfeng, suffered heavy casualties, and only one-tenth of the island's millions of inhabitants survived.
In the days leading up to the fall of Dragon Head Island, six key spirit islands, including Fufeng Island and Zhi'ao Island, were easily breached by the sea beast army. Within ten days, the vanguard of the army had already reached Dragon Head Island. They would soon storm into the Inner Star Sea.
It seemed that a massacre was inevitable. However, the Zhao family was surprisingly relieved.
Since Qionggui Island is located on the edge of the outer star sea, and the sea monster tide will sweep through the inner star sea, this means that the annihilation is unlikely to befall the Zhao family.
As for the Shattered Star Sea race, countless people will inevitably die, but so what? As long as our own people survive, why should we care about the lives of others?
It must be said that the Zhao family's mentality is very similar to that of most cultivation families.
Such is the characteristic of island civilizations. Due to the isolation caused by the terrain, communication is inconvenient. In addition, living on a small island, over time, most mortals and even some cultivators have developed an indifferent attitude towards things that do not concern them.
Upon learning this devastating news, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Zhao family who remained on Qionggui Island were extremely anxious.
Not only because one member of the Zhao family, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and five members of the late-stage Qi Refining cultivator are now trapped on Dragon Head Island, their fates unknown, but also because of the severe consequences caused by the fall of Dragon Head Island.
Located between the Inner and Outer Star Seas, Dragon Head Island not only guards the main transportation route but is also the core location of the entire Outer Star Sea.
The island not only has a third-order spiritual vein, but also nearly a hundred first- and second-order branch spiritual veins distributed in the surrounding thousands of miles of sea. There are countless spiritual mines and spiritual fields under the seabed, and all kinds of cultivation resources are abundant and plentiful. It can be said to be a rare high-spirit area in the Heavenly Pillar Realm.
Normally, Dragon Head Island is guarded by at least one Nascent Soul Ancestor, and the Four Saints Immortal Cultivation Group is also stationed on the island.
Every time the sirens horde arrives, Dragon Head Island is the first to be hit.
If the three overlords—the Spirit Race, the Tyrant Sea Octopus, and the Flood Dragon—want to lead the endless sea beasts into the Inner Star Sea, they must conquer Dragon Head Island.
If they choose to go around it, firstly, they will face the danger of being attacked from both sides. Secondly, on the way back, they are likely to be trapped and beaten, or the sea monster horde will be divided and defeated one by one.
Putting aside the resources and military significance of Dragon Head Island, it is also the undisputed center for trade and logistics in the entire Outer Sea.
Leaving aside cultivation resources, the most important commodities for mortals, such as meat and food, used to be traded centrally on Dragon Head Island, and then distributed and transferred before finally being transported to the islands of the outer sea.
This is the invisible control exerted by the major cultivation forces in the Inner Star Sea over the numerous spiritual island families and sects in the Outer Star Sea.
However, Dragon Head Island has now fallen.
what does that mean?
All the Zhao family leaders who knew the severity of the consequences wore grim expressions and furrowed brows.
"Dingda, quickly go and fetch your master!"
In the Tongxin Hall, all the elders of the Zhao family and the cultivators were gathered. After a moment's thought, Zhao Yunxian decisively gave instructions to Zhao Dingda.
"Yes, Master." Zhao Dingda quickly replied and turned to leave.
A short while later, Zhao Dingda respectfully led Zhao Sheng into Tongxin Hall.
Looking at the layout and furnishings of Tongxin Hall, Zhao Sheng felt as if he had returned to Longli Lake hundreds of years ago.
He was momentarily dazed, but quickly regained his composure and bowed to Zhao Yunxian and Zhao Hanguang, two cultivators of the same realm.
As soon as he sat down, Zhao Yunxian couldn't wait to tell everyone about the fall of Longshou Island and the current perilous situation.
After Zhao Sheng processed this devastating news, he frankly admitted that the island's food supplies could only last for a maximum of six months.
The fall of Dragon Head Island means that this siren tide will not end easily.
Will this catastrophe last a year? Two years? Or even longer?
Faced with 300,000 hungry clansmen, Zhao Yunxian, as the clan leader, had to prepare for the worst.
Without needing a detailed explanation, Zhao Sheng immediately realized that his life of seclusion and asceticism was over.
"As a guest elder of the Zhao family (ancestor), it is my duty to do my part for the Zhao family. Besides, I have not yet repaid my debt for the matter of the Six Harmonies Mayfly Shield. Please feel free to give any instructions, patriarch," Zhao Sheng said frankly.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yunxian was overjoyed, his face beaming with gratitude and satisfaction. After repeatedly expressing his thanks, he revealed his plan.
In short, the key is to dispatch the Qiong Turtle Treasure Ship to the Star Sea Islands as soon as possible, do everything possible to purchase food, and at the same time trade cultivation resources.
The first target is Biluo Island, also known as "Dragon Claw". It is the second largest spirit island in the Outer Star Sea after Dragon Head Island. Within a few hundred miles, there are thousands of small and medium-sized islands. It is not only famous for its developed commerce, but also a well-known grain-producing area.
...
Seven days later, in a certain sea area.
The once calm and azure sea surface now seemed to boil over, with large swathes of white seawater foam churning and surging forth. Hidden beneath the foam, three-meter-long blue swordfish suddenly leaped out of the water, frantically crashing into a gleaming black, three-masted ship with two decks.
Interspersed among these blue-flag swordfish are even larger first-tier swordfish.
Sharp, sword-like beams of blue light shot out from the spikes on their heads, relentlessly killing all living creatures on the ship.
The Blue Flag Swordfish is a gentle, schooling, small to medium-sized marine fish. It has a long, bony spine on its head, a flag-shaped fin on its back, and its body is covered with hard scales.
A typical adult swordfish can grow to over three meters long, swim faster than a galloping horse on land, and easily travel a thousand miles in a day and night.
Generally speaking, one first-tier demon fish may be born from ten swordfish, and a school of more than one hundred fish often produces a second-tier Azure Flag Swordfish leader.
The second-tier Azure Flag Swordfish is at least two zhang in size. Its swimming speed in the sea is comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator flying on a magical artifact. The spiritual spikes on its head are not only exceptionally tough, but also as sharp as a low-grade flying sword.
Normally, the Blue Flag Swordfish do not attack passing ships, but at this moment they have transformed into a group of incredibly efficient and terrifying killers.
At this moment, at the hatch below the second deck, Zhao Dingda, hiding timidly behind the crowd, mustered his courage and loudly encouraged everyone's morale.
"Hold on! My master will definitely come back. Brothers and uncles, hold on!"
The defensive shield of the Qiong Turtle Treasure Ship had been shattered a quarter of an hour earlier by the Azure Flag Swordfish's frantic ramming and slamming.
The twenty-five Qi Refining members of the Zhao family had no choice but to retreat to the cabins and corners, where they formed small groups of two or three, using the sturdy hull as cover, and struggled to resist the attacks of the swordfish swarm.
At this moment, blood was flowing everywhere on the deck, and the strong smell of blood filled the cabins.
The deck of the treasure ship was covered with deep scratches resembling sword marks, and the three sails were riddled with holes and torn to shreds. Two of the three masts had also been broken.
Faced with a large school of nearly a thousand swordfish, everyone on the ship felt a sense of despair.
Unfortunately, ever since the attack, Daoist Cen Hezi, who was in charge of the treasure ship, suddenly plunged into the sea and never reappeared. No one knows whether he is alive or dead.
In the waters a hundred feet below the Qiong Turtle Treasure Ship, Zhao Sheng stood with a solemn expression, surrounded by three layers of mysterious ice walls.
Outside the ice wall, six streaks of black light flew at lightning speed, blocking the thick, blue sword beams that shot towards them from three feet away.
At the same time, in the dark seawater a few feet away, five huge and slender dark blue shadows rapidly circled around Zhao Sheng, moving swiftly back, forth, left, and right.