Chapter 18

Canglan City—

Chun Chou and Ling Wuji knew that because of the beast tide, the common people had been placed under quarantine. However, what they knew was limited.

So even after the rumored three-month period had passed, the two of them merely felt a moment of worry before returning to their quiet little lives—cultivating, tending spirit plants and spirit beasts, drawing talismans, reading books, and then watching the stars, watching the moon, and watching each other.

Chun Chou still remembered that when they had first arrived in Canglan City, the young attendant who received them had said that this “quarantine” could last as long as three to five months. Perhaps this time was simply one of the longer ones—maybe five months?

Ling Wuji found Chun Chou’s reasoning entirely sensible.

However, the native residents of Canglan City were growing increasingly anxious.

The beast tide that occurred once every ten years was said to last anywhere from ten days to half a month at the shortest, and three to five months at the longest. Yet in recorded history, none had ever exceeded three months.

Canglan City, City Lord’s Manor—

A graceful female cultivator in white robes sat casually at a high place, drinking wine.

A maidservant who considered herself somewhat close to the City Lord could not help stepping forward to ask, “City Lord, when will this beast tide subside? Why is it lasting so much longer this time?”

The woman in white was none other than the City Lord of Canglan City.

She let out a cold laugh. “Those people are never satisfied. In the past, it was enough to have sufficient beasts for Foundation Establishment and Golden Core disciples to temper themselves. But this time? They actually want their Qi Refinement disciples to train as well. Aren’t they afraid those Qi Refinement disciples will just be sent to their deaths?”

The maidservant looked confused. She did not quite understand what the City Lord meant.

The City Lord drained the gourd of wine in her hand and casually tossed it aside before standing up.

“I’m afraid it won’t end in less than half a year this time. Tell everyone in the manor to stay put and be at ease.”

The maid froze in shock.

“But—But in Canglan City, the West District where mortals live has always had street arrays activated, with the spirit stones supplied by the City Lord’s Manor. But the East District is full of cultivators. Each household provides the spirit stones for their own arrays.

Half a year’s worth of spirit stones… many cultivators simply won’t have enough! And as for the mortals in the West District, how many families have provisions stored for half a year? Wouldn’t that mean…”

Only death awaits?

The City Lord lowered her gaze slightly, a mocking smile curving at her lips.

That was precisely the intention—to reduce the population of Canglan City.

This was the cultivation world, not the Immortal-Mortal Realm or the mortal world. Why should mortals be allowed to remain in the cultivation world? Even if this was the most dangerous city within it.

As for the cultivators in Canglan City—most were rogue cultivators with no sect or backing. If they died, so be it. It would only remove a few more competitors struggling against the heavens.

Guiyuan Continent. The Seven Great Sects.

Good. Very good indeed.

Outside the Canglan Secret Realm—

A small boy emerged with his senior brothers and sisters, sword in hand, his steps somewhat unsteady.

One of his senior brothers quickly supported him. “Junior Brother Xie, are you alright?”

The boy replied gratefully, “Senior Brother, I’m fine. The injuries aren’t serious. By the way, have the Qi Refinement disciples from the Pill Sect come out? I want to see if my younger sister came.”

“Your sister? Isn’t she even younger than you? No need to look. Among the Seven Great Sects this time, aside from you, all the Qi Refinement disciples are fourteen or older. Your sister definitely didn’t come. It’s only because the Sect Master values you highly that you were allowed to train here at such a young age.”

The boy let out a long breath of relief.

It was good that she hadn’t come.

Then he looked toward the direction of the Canglan Secret Realm.

“Senior Brother, beyond the Canglan Secret Realm… is that the Immortal-Mortal Realm?”

“No. Beyond it is Canglan City, then the Ten Thousand Demon Forest. After that, across several mountain ranges and an endless sea—on the other side of that sea is the Immortal-Mortal Realm. Why ask? Missing home?”

The boy lowered his head and spoke softly.

“I don’t dare.”

How could he dare think of home?

The four siblings had come out together, only to encounter a sudden ambush. His younger brother and younger sister vanished, their fates unknown. Yao Yao clearly had no fire spiritual root, yet the Pill Sect’s Sect Master had traded a vast amount of cultivation resources to take her away.

The boy dared not even think about home.

Time passed swiftly.

Two more months went by, and even Chun Chou and Ling Wuji began to sense that something was wrong.

The beast tide was still ongoing.

They were now only maintaining the defensive array. The soundproofing and concealment arrays had been shut off—not for any special reason, but because their household’s spirit stones were running low.

To be precise, if they held on for two more months, they might manage. But if it lasted three more months, they would run out completely.

And they were certainly not the only household facing this problem.

Since the isolation array had been lifted, sounds from outside filtered in. They could hear human voices.

There were always cultivators whose spirit stones were insufficient.

Moreover, no one had expected this“quarantine” to last so long. Once the spirit stones at home ran out, the defensive arrays would automatically shut down—and the demonic beasts would simply trample their way through the door.

Some cultivators who were stronger—or simply luckier—might survive.

But those who lacked strength and luck would have only one path left: death.

What Chun Chou was hearing at this moment were the cries for help from cultivators outside.

Yet no one could save them.

He sighed, then went up to the rooftop and began stimulating the growth of the three spirit herbs.

Two of the Marrow-Cleansing Grasses were already growing quite well. They could even be trimmed and replanted in separate pots.

Chun Chou thought that once they were able to leave, he would be working for the City Lord’s Manor. If the opportunity arose, he also wanted to search for other spirit herbs to cultivate. So he cut branches and replanted two more pots of Marrow-Cleansing Grass, waiting for all four pots to thrive.

The remaining pot held a seed Ling Wuji had purchased—a supposedly very powerful vine-type spirit plant.

It had already taken root and sprouted, growing tall. Chun Chou had specially built a frame for it to climb.

However, once it matured and he consulted the spirit plant manuals at home, he discovered that while it was indeed powerful, it was not powerful in combat.

Rather, it was powerful because it was extremely toxic. Once fully grown, the entire plant could be ground into powder and used as a highly valuable alchemical ingredient.

Chun Chou: “……”

Ling Wuji: “……”

To be fair, the person who sold the seed to Ling Wuji hadn’t exactly lied.

With the soundproofing array deactivated, Chun Chou and Ling Wuji could still hear, almost every day, the miserable screams of humans and the rushing thunder of demonic beasts outside.

Sometimes Chun Chou couldn’t sleep and would go sleep beside Ling Wuji instead. Whenever he was with Ling Wuji, he always felt especially at ease.

Ling Wuji was very pleased about this.

After six months, the beast tide finally ended.

Chun Chou heard the sound of the demonic beasts retreating toward the Ten Thousand Demon Forest.

Hope had finally arrived.

Seventeen days after the six-month mark, the great bell at the gates of Canglan City rang out—

Dong! Dong! Dong!—nine times.

Then the City Lord’s cold voice echoed throughout the entire city.

“The beast tide has ended. All residents of Canglan City may close their defensive arrays and resume normal life.”

However, unlike in the past, the people received this news with grief-stricken wails.

In the West District, where mortals lived, the street defensive arrays were powered by spirit stones supplied by the City Lord’s Manor, so the mortals did not need to worry about that.

But food had always been each household’s own responsibility.

Families with insufficient stores began robbing neighbors on the same street. And why should the neighbors hand over their grain?

Bloody conflict became inevitable.

On nearly every street, there were not just one but multiple cases of entire families slaughtered.

Among the households that survived, countless women and children—the most vulnerable—had died.

The number of mortals in West Canglan grew even smaller.

As for the East District, one third of the cultivators’ households had lacked sufficient spirit stones to maintain their defensive arrays. Once the spirit stones ran out, the arrays shut down automatically.

Among these people, some were fierce, some were lucky. Perhaps they survived—but they had ended up moving together with the demonic beasts, and now no one knew where they had been driven. In any case, they were no longer in Canglan City.

Those who had died—some had entered the stomachs of demonic beasts, while others had been trampled into pulp.

Chun Chou and Ling Wuji remained cautious. They waited another day to ensure there was truly no further movement of demonic beasts before finally deactivating their defensive array and stepping outside.

But the world beyond seemed entirely transformed.

Many neighboring houses had been crushed into piles of broken bricks, with no one left inside.

Even their landlord was gone.

For the time being, no one came to collect rent.

Yet Chun Chou did not feel happy in the slightest.

Death on such a scale was never something to celebrate.

Under the Heavenly Dao, however, human lives in the cultivation world did not amount to much.

Within three days, Canglan City once again filled with cultivators—busy and excited.

The reason was simple.

The longest beast tide in the city’s history had just ended. Within Canglan City and along the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Demon Forest, there were countless opportunities to scavenge valuable remains.

Cultivators fought against the heavens for survival; they required spirit stones above all else. Many had traveled great distances to seize this “excellent opportunity” to make a fortune.

On the second day, Chun Chou and Ling Wuji wandered through the city and picked up thirty or forty demonic beast cores and four storage pouches.

The beasts themselves had likely been eaten—or trampled beyond recognition—leaving only their cores behind.

As for the owners of those storage pouches—

Chun Chou preferred not to think about how they had died.

On the third day, Ling Wuji continued searching the city to see whether anything else could be found.

Chun Chou, meanwhile, went to report to the City Lord’s Manor.

And on the way there, he picked up two more demonic beast cores and one storage pouch.

Chun Chou: “……”

No wonder so many people were flocking to Canglan city.

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