ICTEUWMN Chapter 172

In any case, the hot debate about mermaids on the hot search list had, under the voices of Ke Ke, other aquatic descendants, and Lady Landis, taken a turn that no one had expected.

“Star Beast World” also took the opportunity to collaborate with several aquatic species experts to release a new announcement, stating that many of the descriptions in the novel were scientifically accurate and that no fundamental errors had been found.

After this official announcement came out, the mysterious connection between Fish Soup Noodles and a mermaid became a widely discussed topic among Fish fans as they eagerly followed his updates.

After all, when many veteran fans looked back, they realized something. Fish Soup Noodles’ rise from his first work to his current explosive popularity had indeed been filled with a legendary air.

His novels were full of creativity and mysterious origins. They became popular at an unprecedented speed, and his ability to manipulate readers’ emotions through words was eerily sharp and skillful.

Who could forget the first book, “Contract Marriage”, and its infamous “chasing wife to the crematorium” trope? Before the fallout, the entire comment section was shouting for a divorce before the crematorium, but once the divorce happened, everyone was crying and begging for a reconciliation.

Because of that, the “crematorium” trope became one of the hottest themes in the current interstellar novel scene.

Now, “The Vast Immortal Path” had introduced a grand and wondrous cultivation world, triggering an unprecedented craze for the xianxia genre in interstellar literature.

Among every hundred newly launched novels on any interstellar fiction site, at least twenty to thirty were set in cultivation worlds.

Even authors from outer star systems had started writing xianxia stories, some of them even traveling to the Central Star specifically to study and gather materials on ancient Blue Star’s Huaxia culture.

The magazine “Blue Star Expo”, founded by students and faculty from Waltz Academy, had successfully expanded its distribution across the major star systems of the universe, becoming an essential read for Huaxia culture enthusiasts.

Additionally, the academy’s museum had established a dedicated Blue Star exhibition hall, showcasing various cultural relics from ancient Blue Star.

Of course, the “The Vast Immortal Path” archaeology blind boxes remained a consistent best-seller in the museum’s cultural merchandise section.

Many readers from outer star systems who traveled to the Central Star had to buy dozens, and even hundreds of boxes to take home.

One particularly devoted reader even chartered a starship just to stock up on these exquisitely crafted collectibles. He said that he liked the exquisite little peripherals so much and planned to collect them and distribute them to relatives and friends.

The purchasing power of Fish fans had shocked the public again and again with each new hot search, to the point that people were getting used to it.

Especially as the plot of the second volume of “The Vast Immortal Path” progressed, with Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou continuously growing stronger, the unfolding plot was even more thrilling, dazzling, and captivating than the first volume.

The serialization’s data and influence were quietly skyrocketing.

In the first volume, during the climactic battle at Miao Xuan Sect, Elder Gu was exposed for secretly dealing with a demonic sect. After his betrayal was revealed and his escape attempt failed, he fell to his knees for the first time, sobbing as he recounted his past contributions to the sect.

However, this only fueled the fury of the Miao Xuan Sect members.

If it weren’t for the Young Sect Master successfully advancing to the Golden Core stage and Qi Hanzhou stepping in to help despite past grievances, Miao Xuan Sect might have been completely wiped out after this battle.

Just as everyone was immersed in righteous anger, Elder Gu, the ever cunning elder, attempted one last desperate move…abandoning his physical body and trying to flee as a disembodied soul, scaring readers outside the book.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Qi Hanzhou used his Wufeng Sword to strike down his soul and shatter it.

With a final scream, Elder Gu’s death marked the end of the great battle.

Though he was dead, the emergence of the demonic sect made the Miao Xuan Sect more acutely aware of the dangers they faced.

After handling the aftermath of the battle, the sect master, who was already feeling deeply guilty, summoned Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou to the main hall at the mountain’s peak. In the presence of the elders, he sincerely apologized to Qi Hanzhou and offered him compensation.

He also revealed an earth-shattering secret–there had not been a single cultivator in their continent who had reached the Nascent Soul stage in the past thousand years.

The reason was that although the lower-realm the Miao Xuan Sect was located had spiritual earth veins, the spiritual energy was too thin to support the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage.

Thus, every top-tier cultivator who reached the threshold had no choice but to journey to the more dangerous sea islands, Haizhou, a perilous realm filled with other powerful cultivators, in search of a breakthrough. The mortality rate was terrifyingly high.

As a result, many cultivators chose to remain in the lower realm, searching for alternative methods of breaking through.

On hearing this, Lin Shuyi, who had always been perceptive, immediately understood the unspoken implication.

After exchanging a glance with Qi Hanzhou, he eventually smiled slightly, and the two made their decision, which was to go to Haizhou!

The sect master was both relieved and proud, but also deeply worried. He personally handed Lin Shuyi a treasured “Immortal Inquiry Token”.

With this token, they could seek out a great ancestor of the Miao Xuan Sect residing in a major sect in Haizhou.

Lin Shuyi knew that his father probably wished for him to stay in the lower realm, given his congenital frailty. After all, the fact that he had even managed to reach the Golden Core stage was already a miracle.

[[“Maybe I just want to see more of the story.”

Was he being too greedy?

In his study, Lin Shuyi gazed at the notes he had written down when he first transmigrated into the book, and his expression became even more determined.

A mere cannon fodder character, fated to die early in the original plot, was now unknowingly carving out a new plotline.

Perhaps this world was too fascinating, and what had initially been a simple desire to meet the protagonist had gradually changed into something else.

Would he actually get to witness Qi Hanzhou’s eventual journey through Nascent Soul, Soul Formation, and even the Great Ascension stages with his own eyes?

Although Lin Shuyi didn’t know it, Qi Hanzhou had made his decision for another crucial reason.

“You’re out of your mind! The young sect master has reached the Golden Core stage but even he still faces an uncertain fate in Haizhou, and you’re only at the peak of Foundation Establishment…do you really think you can follow him? Just because you can challenge opponents above your level doesn’t mean you’re invincible.”

“Not to mention, even though the Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm is in Haizhou, you’d be throwing your life away trying to fight for the spiritual medicine there!”

At their farewell, Divine Physician Gu bluntly exposed Qi Hanzhou’s true motive.

The main ingredient needed to cure Lin Shuyi’s congenital weakness was recorded in ancient texts to exist within the Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm of Haizhou.

“Even if death is certain, I still want to give it a try.”

When they finally said their goodbyes, the determination in Qi Hanzhou’s response, knowing it was impossible yet still willing to proceed, left Divine Physician Gu speechless.

However, thinking about it, it seemed that the young master had indeed picked the right person when he had taken in this pitiful little fellow all those years ago.

Divine Physician Gu stroked his beard and finally smiled.]]

So, after the first volume, “Mao Xian Sect”, concluded with the map of the Lower Spirit Realm, the second volume began with the new map of the Upper Spirit Realm,”Haizhou”, leading to even more thrilling and extraordinary plots.

Just the unique customs and peculiar landscape of the Upper Spirit Realm when they first arrived at Haizhou stunned many interstellar readers.

The legends of the three sea-bound immortal mountains, Peng Lai, Fang Zhang, and Ying Zhou, became vividly real, just like the lines “Suddenly, I heard of an immortal mountain in the sea, with exquisite pavilions and towers, cloud five reaching high”.

Moreover, the qi in the Upper Spirit Realm was indeed far superior to the Lower Spirit Realm. Lin Shuyi could feel the abundant and agile flow of qi just from breathing the air, and the previous sluggishness disappeared without a trace.

However, when the two of them, holding the “Immortal Inquiry Token”, arrived at Haizhou to find the great ancestor of the Miao Xuan Sect, whom Lin Shuyi’s father had tasked them to locate, they discovered that the once-glorious Nascent Soul master was now in a dire state, and was barely holding on between two powerful factions.

Upon seeing Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou, the old man could only offer a bitter smile, thinking that with one at the initial stage of Golden Core and the other at the peak of Foundation Establishment, they had come only to die.

He entrusted them with his natal magic weapon and urged them to leave as soon as possible, stating that Haizhou was no longer the same as it used to be. The resources here were monopolized by ancient powerful beings and their descendants, leaving no chance for ascended cultivators from the Lower Spirit Realm like them to break through.

Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou, however, were soon deeply involved in the situation, leading to a series of exhilarating and dangerous events.

In the end, not only did they survive the crisis, but Qi Hanzhou also advanced to the Golden Core stage, revealing the mighty potential of the protagonist who would soar from the dragon’s trap.

After entering the Golden Core stage, with his Wufeng Sword in hand, and the help of Lin Shuyi’s Quqin music, the two of them killed dozens of peak Golden Core cultivators from two major sects, even severely injuring the Nascent Soul expert with the help of their master.

When the old ancestor later exclaimed in shock that the younger generation was formidable, Lin Shuyi merely smiled.

After all, the climax in the original book only began with Qi Hanzhou’s breakthrough to the Golden Core.

Up until his encounter with his ruthless Daoist father in the Great Ascension stage, this was the classic “Long Aotian” plotline that countless readers re-read and showered with rewards and praise.

Although Lin Shuyi felt a bit puzzled. Qi Hanzhou, who should have radiated with a Long Aotian aura by now, seemed a bit different in this life.

“He’s incredibly talented and decisive in battle, but how is he so skilled at making tea and serving water? Could this also be a way of hiding his true strength? Have you made any progress?”

After the crisis was resolved, the ancestor’s playful personality gradually showed itself after becoming familiar with the two younger cultivators.

However, despite the old ancestor’s teasing, Qi Hanzhou remained firm in his stance: I don’t care, I enjoy it.

Without saying a word, he could always make the old ancestor speechless.

Lin Shuyi was also amused by the interactions between the old and the young, both cold and warm. Their journey in the Upper Spirit Realm had taken on a different hue.

Furthermore, upon Qi Hanzhou’s inquiry, the ancestor revealed the opening time and harsh conditions for entering the fifty-year-closed Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm, where they could find the vital herb for Lin Shuyi’s condition.

During this time, Lin Shuyi used the affinity of his spiritual root with spiritual herbs to create medicinal pills with Qi Hanzhou and began gathering “spirit crystals” from Haizhou.

After arriving at Haizhou, the spirit stones that everyone fought for in the Lower Spirit Realm became worthless compared to the Upper Spirit Realm’s spirit crystals.

The old ancestor, a lover of wine, had no savings aside from a pile of magic weapons, essentially an alternative version of being “poor but rich in treasures”.

The pills Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou sent for auction naturally triggered a buying frenzy.

Among them, the “Anti-aging Pill” didn’t enhance strength, but many beauty-conscious cultivators pursued it relentlessly, waving their spirit crystals to bid.

The two made their first fortune in spirit crystals, and the entire plot was so satisfying and smooth that the corners of the mouths of countless interstellar readers outside the book were almost curled up to the point of being on par with the solar system.

It could only be said that this kind of plot has always been Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ comfort zone. Every book that featured a similar plot line could always pull in readers who loved refreshing and satisfying narratives.

With an ample supply of spirit crystals, Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou, accompanied by their master, visited the Wanbao Building in Haizhou to purchase various magical props and weapons to prepare for entering the secret realm.

As for the classic “picking up bargains” plot in the auction house, this was, of course, a classic and exciting point that many Fish fans were familiar with.

They could read it over and over again without getting tired of it, and it always felt new.

Many old readers of “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” revisited this transformed version of the plot in “The Vast Immortal Path” and were so excited that they opened “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier Kin” and read it again that night. They even hoped that Fish Soup Noodles would extend the length of the novel this time and never let it end.

After all, satisfying plotlines rarely fail to captivate readers.

[If we get the main medicinal herb from the Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm, could it finally cure our Shuyi’s illness?]

[Exactly, this has been like a cloud pressing on my heart. I’m so happy that it’s finally going to be resolved after such a long time. The only problem is why can’t Teacher Fish Soup Noodles write ten thousand words every day?!]

[Every day I’m struggling in this cycle of waiting for the number of chapters to fatten up and catching up on updates, who understands this bittersweet feeling?]

Sensing that a new wave of exciting plot lines were about to arrive, readers also generously boosted the number of requests urging for more updates, causing the data of the comment section to skyrocket.

However, the key climax involving the Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm in the second volume was far from being as simple as expected.

Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou happened to meet Qi Hanzhou’s powerful and formidable father who appeared in the original book!

When this villainous father made his appearance, his aloof, cold, and handsome image caught many interstellar readers by surprise.

After all, as handsome as he was, his actions in the original book were just as ruthless and evil.

So, when this ultimate big boss from the second volume of “The Vast Immortal Path” appeared, the level of discussion instantly skyrocketed:

“Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, you made the villain so handsome, are you deliberately testing us?” O皿O

Spent most of the day trying to figure out why an ad keeps appearing to the side when I could be doing more chapters (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

Anyway, so I went back to the chapter where the stages of cultivation were first introduced and found that I used the term “Mahayana Stage” instead of “Great Ascension stage” like I’ve been doing later on. Hope that didn’t confuse anyone.