The Clear Sky of Shushan, the heart of Shushan, was indeed a new world.
"Get on your sword."
Shen Xingyu gave a gentle smile as she rode towards the clouds. Wu Yu followed closely behind. As he flew through the dense clouds, the shrouded sky glimmered vibrantly with different colors in the sun.
They continued forward for almost half a day before they finally entered the Huang sword domain. The area below them was only considered the foot of the mountain.
Wu Yu was still quite a distance away from the actual Clear Sky of Shushan. When he looked over there, he noticed a plethora of magnificent and vast palaces decorating the face of the Clear Sky of Shushan. The Clear Sky of Shushan was an extremely steep cliff. The various buildings, spirit designs, and other installations were all neatly embedded in the mountain itself.
In the air, several spirit designs were whirring about. Some of them were even holding a couple of islands afloat in midair.
Even though Wu Yu had done some research on spirit designs, he was but a novice in the field.
These revolving contraptions, along with those built for defensive purposes, were too complex for him to fully understand. Among them was the most complete and perfect spirit design. This was rumored to be built by someone at the Primordial Spirit Transformation Realm, and it was a contraption that was known by all.
A gorgeous world built on the foundation of spirit designs was being displayed before Wu Yu"s very own eyes.
In the Huang Sword Domain, one was only able to travel between the various palaces by flying sword. After all, the sheer face of the Clear Sky of Shushan made it hard to travel on the precipitous mountain. If not for the large number of palaces and caverns that were artificially built there, there would be no place for one to stand on the mystical Clear Sky of Shushan.
In comparison to the monstrous Clear Sky of Shushan, the cultivators were merely the size of ants. Even the densely built palaces and cave abodes that were controlled by spirit designs were considered small as well.
"The Huang Sword Domain has the most cave abodes. Every Huang sword rank disciple has the right to own a cave abode for cultivation. These cave abodes differ in levels of spiritual qi. I"ve managed to pick the best one out for you. It"s too bad that you"ll be leaving for the Xuan sword domain in only a few years."
Following after Shen Xingyu, Wu Yu circled the Clear Sky of Shushan on his flying sword. The Domain Master Palace was on the west face of the Clear Sky of Shushan, whereas they approached from east. There was quite a distance between the two.
Along the way, Wu Yu noticed many cave abodes. However, most of them seemed closed from the outside. This meant that their owners were cultivating in isolation inside.
"The cave abodes belonging to the Shushan Immortal Sect"s four major sword ranks all have defensive spirit designs installed. They require unique spirit design plaques in order to be opened. Without the owner"s permission, outsiders are not allowed to enter these cave abodes. They will be severely punished if they do so. The sect has guaranteed that as long as a disciple is undergoing cultivation, they will not be disturbed."
From Wu Yu"s point of view, it seemed like the sect was a strict organization that was organized like an elaborate bureaucracy. With such strict rules to follow, they managed these cultivators like how an army would manage its troops. An ordinary dan disciple differed from the four major sword ranks just like how a soldier differed from a general. Furthermore, there were the Seven Immortals of Shushan that were like the army"s marshals.
He had managed to join such an organization and also observed the glorious landscape of the boundless path of immortals. As such, Wu Yu no longer had any regrets. He was bringing troops into battle not that long ago. Who would have imagined that he would now be on a flying sword circling these vast mountains, with an immortal dao beauty by his side no less?
After half a day, they arrived at the Huang sword domain"s most majestic Domain Master Palace. The Domain Master Palace was located within the golden palace area of the Clear Sky of Shushan. It was as though a golden blade had been stabbed into Clear Sky of Shushan, and on this golden blade, a thousand palaces had been built.
It was said that the Galaxy Sword Sage resided here.
As soon as they arrived at the Domain Master Palace, things went smoothly since Shen Xingyu was taking the lead. Even before they were about to enter the palace, a spirit design plaque had already been sent to them.
"The recently vacated cave abode number nine is yours. You can give it a name."
Wu Yu responded immediately, "It shall be known as Heaven"s Equal Cave Abode".
"Challenging the heavens, how tyrannical."
After that, Shen Xingyu brought Wu Yu directly to the Heaven"s Equal Cave Abode. On the way, she introduced Wu Yu to the Huang sword domain"s various facilities. This included the Achievement Hall, Immortal Treasures Hall, and Dao Arts Hall. Furthermore, there were also other landmarks, such as the Immortal Pair Hall, Immortal Ascension Hall, and Flying Immortal Hall as well. There were even other facilities that did not exist in the Common Sword Domain, and of course, there were areas that were forbidden to enter as well.
"This cave abode number nine has the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. In the Huang sword domain, it is the ninth best, and all its installations are of the best quality. It is the best one among the vacant abodes."
This, of course, had only been possible with Shen Xingyu"s connections.
Wu Yu was quick to thank her. They were greeted with a large door when they arrived at the Heaven"s Equal Cave Abode. Before the door was a defensive spirit design. Only after they placed the spirit design plaque on it did the door open up.
The two spirit designs were identical to one another. This type of spirit design had been used since ancient times to protect one"s valuables or guard one"s place of residence. Should intruders try to break down the door without the spirit design plaque, the spirit design would start to fight back unless the intruders were strong enough to destroy the spirit design itself.
"This place is full of necessities that you will require for your daily cultivation. As for the treasures that you leave here, outsiders will never gain access to them as long as you are still alive. So rest a.s.sured that it"s all right to keep them here."
If one were to die, a Shushan disciple"s belongings would return to Shushan"s possession.
Most travelers would not carry around all their treasures with them. They would suffer great losses if they were to be robbed.
For example, even Shushan"s four major sword rank disciples felt safe keeping their treasures in their cave abodes.
Shen Xingyu was extremely considerate. After she gave Wu Yu all the relevant details, she said, "I won"t hang around any longer. If you need help with anything, just contact me with the core-tail talisman."
Wu Yu would remember all of Shen Xingyu"s help.
Wu Yu actually had something that he was rather worried about. He wanted to ask about the cursed insignia that the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu had put on him. It so happened that Shen Xingyu was here, so Wu Yu stopped her before she took her leave. "Sister Shen, I have something to ask you about."
"What is it?"
Wu Yu spared no detail as he narrated his entire encounter with the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu.
"Are you certain that it was the Crimson Blood Demon and the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu? Meeting them made you retreat?" Shen Xingyu was very taken aback.
"Has Sister Shen heard of this Blood Dragon of Mount Wu?"
Shen Xingyu nodded. "Of course I have. The Blood Dragon of Mount Wu is one of the blood vessels of demon peak. He is comparable in strength to Jiu Ying and the Torch Dragon. Rumors say that he is frighteningly powerful. With the protection of the Torch Dragon, he is the most dominating among the demon race."
She quickly grabbed the back of Wu Yu"s hand and took a closer look. She asked, "How come the curse insignia isn"t here?"
Wu Yu explained, "At first, the color was very dark, but after half a month, it completely vanished. As of now, it can"t be seen at all, but I suspect that it"s still there."
Shen Xingyu furrowed her brow and continued to ask, "The Blood Dragon of Mount Wu didn"t kill you and used his mystique to deal with you instead. What was the reason for that? Apparently, he is the first Blood Dragon of Mount Wu on the divine continent. No one really knows what his mystique really does. Even I"m not clear about this. I have to go ask my brother about it. However, I really can"t seem to figure out what his intentions are."
This Blood Dragon of Mount Wu was merely a descendant of the original, and had apparently only just reached the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm not long ago. He was not that much of a threat to the cultivators, so Shen Xingyu was not really worried about the possibility of some scheme that would affect Shushan as a whole. At most, he was plotting something against Wu Yu.
"I"ll go ask him right away. If even he has no clue, then I"m afraid I won"t be of much help. After you"re back in the cave abode, pay attention to any noise from outside. If he has time, I think he"ll come looking for you." Wu Yu was rea.s.sured by these words.
After Shen Xingyu made her leave, he closed the door to the cave abode. While the interior of the cave was a completely sealed off s.p.a.ce, an exceptionally heavy aura of spiritual qi filled the air due to the effects of the spirit design. The immortal fog drifting around gave off an impression of the legendary immortal realm.
Within the cave abode was a training room, enlightenment room, dan training room, weapon room, talisman room, and so on. In particular, the training room was the spot with the most concentrated spiritual qi. This training environment was indeed may times better than that of the Common Sword Domain. However, it paled in comparison to the other three sword ranks, as well as the Shushan Immortal Domain, where Chen Fuyou grew up.
The matter of the curse insignia could only be dealt with once Shen Xingyao got back to him.
After familiarizing himself with the cave abode, Wu Yu sat in the lotus position on a praying mat in the training room. He was deep in thought.
This praying mat was a spiritual immortal treasure. It was able to concentrate spiritual qi and channel it throughout Wu Yu"s body. This allowed Wu Yu to conveniently refresh his Jindan.
"As of now, I have three things to deal with.
"Firstly, the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu curse insignia. I can"t deal with this matter for now. I"ll just have to see if the Galaxy Sword Sage has any suggestions for me.
"Secondly, now that I"m a Huang sword rank disciple, I can probably return to Dong Yue Wu." He dearly missed Wu You, Feng Xueya, and Su Yanli.
"Thirdly, Nangong Wei."
The first matter was not that important for now. The second and third, however, had to be dealt with.
"Wei Er probably hasn"t returned from the Shushan Reincarnation Realm, but I"m sure she"s not far off. Now that I"m in the Huang sword domain, maybe I"ll wait for her a little longer. If I"m fortunate, I"ll be able to return to Dong Yue Wu with her and let my older sister meet her."
Wu Yu made his decision quickly.
For now, he would wait for Nangong Wei before proceeding.
"She should easily hear of my battle with Chen Fuyou the moment she returns. She"ll come find me then. All I have to do now is cultivate in peace."
In conclusion, the only thing he had to do for now was continue his cultivation.
After all, he had earned 10,000 Golden Essence Pills today. This was of no small value.
Wu Yu eyes lit up as he stared at his prize. He could not help but exclaim, "Having a Shushan Sword Sage as a father is such a privilege. 10,000 Golden Essence Pills thrown away just like that. It would be great if I could meet other rich heirs like him."
He plucked out the 10 doppelgangers from his head.
The 10 doppelgangers sat around the praying mat in a circle.
"I have no need for the Golden Essence Pills now. For now, I still have to attain enlightenment along the path of dao and strengthen my Jindan essence in order to refine my Jindan. But my clones, you have not reached your limits."
Wu Yu was now rich from his unexpected windfall. He was not selfish at all as he distributed his winnings with the rest of his doppelgangers to consume to their heart"s content.
In the meantime, he focused his efforts on refining immortal medicines and drafting spirit designs. These two processes allowed him to truly walk further down the path of a cultivator.
After a month pa.s.sed by, the dopplegangers used up approximately 7,000 Golden Essence Pills and were pretty much satiated. Unless Wu Yu managed to cultivate the mystique to the second tier or reach the seventh tier of the Jindan Dao Realm, the Jindan essence of his doppelgangers would not be able to grow any further.
As of now, the power of 10 doppelgangers combined would be able to defeat a ninth tier Jindan Dao cultivator without his help.
Of course, the Unshackled Doppelganger"s strongest use was its supportive abilities during combat. From his battle with Chen Fuyou, Wu Yu was able to understand this first hand.
With the remaining 3,000 Golden Essence Pills, Wu Yu prepared to trade them for some books and resources for refining immortal medicines and spirit designs.