Immortal Refiner

The wooden barrel was massive, requiring five spirit wine jars to hold even ten percent of the Monkey Wine.

Li Qing, a renowned connoisseur of fine spirits, couldn’t resist his curiosity about this legendary brew. He immediately took a hearty swig from one of the jars.

The Monkey Wine crafted by the monkey demons wasn’t particularly potent in flavor. Its color was a crystalline crimson, resembling liquid red agate.

”Tch, the taste is just average,” Li Qing remarked after swallowing a large gulp. ”It feels like drinking spiritual milk. How can this be so precious?”

He felt no immediate changes after the drink, save for a slight surge in his qi and blood.

Xia Wushuang watched this scene with visible pain, his face contorted in anguish. ”You’re such a wasteful fool!” he exclaimed. ”That single mouthful just cost you nearly fifty thousand spirit stones!”

”Monkey Wine isn’t meant for people like us whose innate aptitude has already been fixed. It’s for newborns to drink!”

”When newborns consume Monkey Wine, it lays a solid foundation for their future cultivation. Their Dao path will be far smoother and brighter.”

”Even newborns without spiritual roots will find the path of body refinement much smoother after consuming Monkey Wine!”

With that, Xia Wushuang quickly stowed away his large barrel of Monkey Wine. He had already seen through Li Qing’s insatiable thirst for alcohol and feared he might try to steal his precious brew.

Li Qing shook his head, unimpressed by the mediocre Monkey Wine. He had no intention of drinking any more.

”By the way, where did your little formation teleport us to? We’re surrounded by endless sea, and I can’t see the Azure Floating Islands anywhere.”

Hearing this, Xia Wushuang finally realized the problem. He slapped his forehead. ”Damn it! My formation was supposed to teleport us to a small island on the outskirts of the Azure Floating Islands. How did we end up here?”

”That palm strike from the Black Ape King earlier must have disrupted the formation’s teleportation coordinates.”

Li Qing’s face darkened. He hadn’t expected Xia Wushuang to be so unreliable.

”I’ll remind you: the Floating Azure Teleportation Array opens in just three days. If we’re delayed, those thirty thousand spirit stones will be coming out of your pocket.”

Xia Wushuang chuckled dryly and hastily produced a star compass, an instrument used for navigation on the vast sea. By observing the positions of celestial bodies, it could determine one’s approximate location.

”Don’t worry, don’t worry,” he said, glancing at the compass. ”My formation only allows for short-range teleportation. We shouldn’t be too far off.”

As he spoke, the star compass lit up in his hand, allowing him to pinpoint their current position.

”Phew, good, good. Not too far. We should reach our destination within two days, barring any unforeseen circumstances...”

Perhaps fearing his own jinxing words, Xia Wushuang quickly clamped his mouth shut and retrieved a massive sea ship from his storage bag with a backhanded motion.

”Let’s go! We’ll take my sea breeze back to the island. This has been my greatest asset during my thirty years navigating these seas!”

”The ship isn’t just equipped with a wind-propelled formation; it can also conceal our presence on the water’s surface. Even the most powerful sea beasts won’t detect us.”

”Get aboard! I’ll tell you about the Heavenly Origin Continent!”

Li Qing raised an eyebrow. This sea ship was larger than a small mountain, unlike ordinary spirit boats. It was inscribed with multiple formations and had been refined into a treasure in its entirety.

This ship was a perfect fusion of formation and artifact refinement, far surpassing the Golden War Boats he had seen in the lower realm.

The multiple formations on the ship worked in seamless coordination, their dao patterns interconnected with those of the refined artifact, creating a harmonious whole without any visible seams.

”Has the art of formation and artifact refinement truly reached such a mature state on the Heavenly Origin Continent?” Li Qing couldn’t help but ask in admiration.

Xia Wushuang, who had taken the helm, replied, ”Of course. The human race has always been the most adept at innovation.”

”It’s not just artifact refinement and formations. All our arts have advanced greatly. Take the talisman dao, for example. Twenty thousand years ago, a senior talisman dao practitioner pioneered the Treasure Talisman Technique.”

”These are reusable talismans. By nourishing them within one’s dantian like magic treasures, they can be activated repeatedly.”

As they spoke, the sea breeze had already set sail. The ship’s multiple formations roared to life simultaneously, operating autonomously without human intervention.

The small spirit gathering formation served as the ship’s energy core. This formation drew in the abundant spiritual energy from heaven and earth, channeling it into the wind-propelled formation to power the entire vessel.

The sea breeze moved with remarkable speed, though not quite as fast as Li Qing’s own flight speed, it far surpassed the escape speed of ordinary divine transformation cultivators.

After marveling at the ship’s unique design for a while, Li Qing gradually shifted his gaze away and said, ”Alright, it’s time to talk about the Heavenly Origin Continent. Tell me about the news from there and how to get there.”

Xia Wushuang remained true to his word. As he steered the ship, he began sharing information about the Heavenly Origin Continent.

”Where should I begin? The Heavenly Origin Continent is indeed a continent where the great dao flourishes. Powerful clans stand in abundance, Enlightened Masters emerge endlessly, and even true spirits have descended there multiple times. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the central continent of the spirit realm.”

”There, our human race also controls a vast territory, protected by two great ascension realm heavenly venerable who safeguard the survival of billions of humans.”

”Yet even so, our human race isn’t the strongest power on the Heavenly Origin Continent. Some primordial race possess astonishing legacies, having witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations for millions of years.”

It was a long and intricate tale. Li Qing listened attentively, absorbing every detail about the Heavenly Origin Continent.

On the Heavenly Origin Continent, the human race held a respectable position, barely ranking among the top ten races. This status was maintained only under the protection of two heavenly venerable in the great ascension realm, highlighting the fierce competition for power.

Races lacking great ascension realm experts were relegated to vassal status, unlike the Wild Bull Ridge and Flying Spirit Clan on Tonggu Continent, which maintained independence despite lacking such a powerhouse.

In essence, cultivation at the body integration realm was considered unremarkable on the Heavenly Origin Continent, hardly worthy of praise.

Xia Wushuang didn’t elaborate much on external affairs, focusing instead on internal human affairs.

Though the human race on the Heavenly Origin Continent appeared unified, it was fractured into numerous factions, their power dynamics complex and intertwined.

”While it’s complicated, you can generally understand it this way: the heavenly venerable rarely interfere in internal human affairs, only intervening to protect the race against external threats.”