ICTEUWMN Chapter 173

Although, if you think about it, this wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Since Qi Hanzhou and his father were bound by blood, if the son was handsome, it was unlikely that the father would be too far off in looks.

However, Qi Hanzhou himself had yet to realize that the man who had just flown away on his sword with the force of thunder from the clouds above was actually his father.

Just by simply watching from afar, he directly experienced the shock brought by absolute power for the first time.

The independent cultivators around, who had been watching the grand departure of Tianyan Sword Sect, one of Haizhou’s top sects, were filled with both envy and growing concern that this year’s battle for the secret realm would be very brutal.

Only Lin Shuyi frowned and recalled the original plot. Theoretically, Hanzhou’s scumbag father wasn’t supposed to appear this early.

Could it be that his transmigration into the book had caused a new butterfly effect?

Regardless, he and Hanzhou had to at least reach the Nascent Soul stage if they wanted to have enough control over the chaotic flow of events in Haizhou’s storyline.

Meanwhile, the second volume of “The Vast Immortal Path” had now entered its heated development phase with the “Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm” arc.

The previous volume had not detailed the various unconventional cultivation paths, such as talisman cultivation, weapon refinement, formation mastery, and beast taming etc but now, they were appearing one after another, dazzling the readers eagerly following the updates.

For example, talisman cultivators could use a brush dipped in ink to draw strange symbols on a piece of talisman paper, thereby unleashing astonishing techniques.

There were invisibility talismans that made one completely transparent, anti-theft talismans that ensured belongings would never be stolen, and even face-changing talismans that altered one’s appearance…Almost every time a new talismans appeared, everyone would get excited.

They wished they could collect them all.

Moreover, the detailed descriptions of the talisman crafting process sparked discussions on forums, which led to the emergence of a group of interstellar talisman research experts in the forum, who tried to replicate the pattern styles in the text.

Among them, the most popular was naturally the “Lucky Talisman”, which brought great luck by sticking it on. Whether used as a bookmark or as themed merchandise, its popularity remained sky-high.

As for the formation masters and beast tamers that followed, there was no need to elaborate, every time a new character or sect related to these disciplines appeared, the serialization of “The Vast Immortal Path” would see a notable spike.

[All I can say is that the Upper Spirit Realm is truly powerful, it’s a complete transformation compared to the Lower Spirit Realm. Following the updates daily has me completely hooked!]

[The only downside is that one student actually tried drawing an invisibility talisman in his homework notebook =.= I caught him and gave him a cold sneer.]

[Hahaha, but if you stick an anti-theft talisman on your luggage, it really might make it harder to lose… It gives off a mysterious ancient Blue Star energy, hahaha.]

Even just discussing the newly introduced cultivation elements of Haizhou made the comment section lively and bustling.

And the most highly anticipated climax of the “Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm” arc? It was undoubtedly the moment when Lin Shuyi and Hanzhou ventured into the core area of the secret realm and stumbled upon an ancient great cultivator’s private medicinal herb garden, left behind before his fall.

Countless rare spiritual herbs and mystical flowers, almost impossible to find in the outside world even in ten thousand years, filled the garden in dazzling abundance.

Both protagonists were momentarily stunned, and countless readers outside the book silently widened their eyes as well.

After all, these were worth an unimaginable number of spirit crystals!

Ever since the previous plotline of the young couple refining pills to make money had sent readers into a frenzy, many interstellar cultivators had begun mentally converting everything they saw into spirit crystal value.

They wished Fish Soup Noodles would simply wave a pen and have all the heaven-and-earth treasures fall into the protagonists’ hands.

But just as Qi Hanzhou plucked the most crucial spiritual herb, before he could gather more, Lin Shuyi suddenly lunged over, pulling him into the shadows of the garden and immediately activating a high-level talisman to initiate an invisibility barrier.

Because at that moment, several overwhelming and domineering auras suddenly descended, and it was none other than the members of the Tianyan Sword Sect.

It was a full lineup of Nascent Soul cultivators, a completely impossible sight among independent cultivators. The elder leading the group was even more unfathomable in strength.

Fortunately, Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou had only taken a single herb and left no trace. The remaining medicinal plants were swiftly swept away by the Tianyan Sword Sect, and without lingering, the elder hurried off to plunder more treasures from the secret realm.

As Lin Shuyi stepped out of hiding and looked at the now-ravaged medicinal garden, he let out a soft sigh. “They even took the seedlings… Truly domineering and unscrupulous.”

[What!? I’m heartbroken beyond words. Hanzhou’s father’s subordinates really left nothing behind.]

Seeing this, readers who had initially been in awe of the Tianyan Sword Sect’s overwhelming grandeur instantly had their favorable impressions shaken.

[They even took the seedlings that were in their crucial growth phase? How shortsighted. At least our Central Star’s “Starry Sky Lake” has fishing bans to maintain the ecosystem.]

[Could it be that this reflects Qi Hanzhou’s father’s way of handling things, which has influenced his entire sect?]

But before readers could wail in agony while clutching their light brains, the plot took a sudden turn.

As Yu Mian would say: In this cool and refreshing upgrade flow cultivation novel, how could the protagonists suffer losses? Taking a loss? That’s absolutely impossible.

Losing “A” would only mean gaining an even better “B”!

Thus, while Lin Shuyi sighed, Qi Hanzhou hesitated and looked toward a wall.

Something about the flow of qu here seemed… off.

Sure enough, under the influence of Qi Hanzhou’s protagonist halo, he quickly discovered a hidden cultivation chamber, where a truly top-tier spiritual herb was being nurtured: “Bixue Flower”!

Even adding just a trace of this flower into the “Bixue Pill” for promotion that was sought after by all cultivators could increase the success rate of advancement by ten percent. And this particular “Bixue Flower” had “ten full blossoms”!

And this became a crucial opportunity for the two to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

In the path of cultivation, time passed like a fleeting horse. In the blink of an eye, decades had gone by.

On this day, it was the final moment before the closure of the Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm. Any cultivator who had not yet appeared would die within it.

Because of this, the ancestor waiting outside, whose anxious expression had gradually turned to despair, nearly had his soul leave his body in relief when he finally saw the figures of the two emerging.

“You’re back, you’re back! Whether or not you obtained any spiritual herbs is secondary, as long as you’re alive…”

But before he could finish his words, he stared at the two people in front of him with wide eyes as if he had seen a ghost.

“You both actually broke through to the Nascent Soul stage?”

What kind of fortuitous encounter was this?!

As always, Qi Hanzhou remained silent, while Lin Shuyi couldn’t help but purse his lips into a slight smile.

“Not just that, we also brought back a pill for you. From now on, you don’t have to keep telling us to find you a burial site for when you die.”

Back in the cave dwelling, Lin Shuyi opened his palm, revealing a bottle of Bixue Pills..

The ancestor, who had been stuck at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage for nearly nine hundred years, would have an extremely high chance of advancing to the Soul Transformation stage after consuming this pill.

But, as silence stretched on, Lin Shuyi looked up in confusion, only to see that the usually frivolous and carefree old man, who always seemed to have no heart or lungs, was for the first time, rendered speechless with tears streaming down his face.

The ancestor’s true name was Li Xiao. Before heading to the Upper Spirit Realm, he had been the most revered genius in the Miao Xuan Sect, honored as the greatest cultivator of a thousand years.

But upon arriving at Haizhou, he realized that in this land teeming with prodigies, the genius he had always prided himself on being was nothing more than an ordinary cultivator among countless others.

Even though he worked tirelessly to make up for his shortcomings, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage and founding his own sect, he still faced suppression due to his refusal to be absorbed by the major sects of Haizhou, leaving him starved of cultivation resources.

After being stuck in the Nascent Soul stage for a thousand years, he had resigned himself to his fate, believing that his life would soon come to its end.

He never expected that at the very last moment, he would see this bottle of Bixue Pill in the hands of these two little ones.

“But I can’t take this.”

To Lin Shuyi’s surprise, the old man shook his head with tears in his eyes and waved his hands, refusing the pills.

“I’m already old. Even if I try to improve myself and survive for hundreds of years, it’s meaningless. These pills can only provide a 1% boost in breaking through to the Soul Transformation stage…you two should keep them for yourselves. That would be the best use of them.”

Lin Shuyi and Qi Hanzhou looked at each other, momentarily at a loss for words.

At this moment, the cute and stubborn old man, who was always sharp-tongued yet soft-hearted, unexpectedly made Lin Shuyi feel warm in his heart.

“Is it possible… that Hanzhou and I actually obtained more than one bottle?”

A few breaths later, Lin Shuyi took out a gold-threaded wooden box.

The old man, who had mentally prepared himself for his demise, stood frozen in shock as if struck by lightning.

The appearance of a single Bixue Pill was enough to cause a bloody storm and a scramble for it from all factions, yet these two little brats had somehow managed to acquire an entire box as if they were snacking on candy?!

“So just take it and stop overthinking.”

Even Qi Hanzhou cast a subtly amused look at the dumbfounded old man.

Perhaps the ancestor’s long-cherished dream of rebuilding his sect could finally be realized after reaching the Soul Transformation stage?

By then, the Miao Xuan Sect might finally secure a proper foothold in Haizhou.]]

This unexpected turn of events in the Rakshasa Sea Secret Realm left the cultivation fans, who had been following along on their light brains, with an inexplicable sense of satisfaction and emotion.

They had all thought that after Hanzhou’s villainous scum of a father had his men seize all the spiritual herbs, nothing could be salvaged. But, in the most critical moment, the rarest and most precious spiritual herb had still been discovered by Hanzhou.

With the successful refinement of the Bixue Pills not only did the two of them break through to the Nascent Soul stage, but even Ancestor Li Xiao, who received the pills as a gift, had a chance to escape death by cultivation exhaustion.

[Honestly, the moment the old man accepted the pills, I found him so endearing and cute. QwQ]

[That’s right! He even hesitated to take it, wanting to give it to Shuyi and Hanzhou instead, only for Shuyi to casually pull out an entire box! Hahaha!]

[I just really hope the ancestor can live long enough to see them reach the pinnacle of cultivation, okay? The side characters in Teacher Fish Soup Noodle’s long-form works always leave such a deep impression.]

Many readers were very excited by this invisible BKING plot, and at the same time, couldn’t help but recall the many endearing supporting characters that had appeared in “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King”.

*Bking means something that’s cool in every way.

This overwhelming wave of excitement from the final rewards of the secret realm naturally fell within Yu Mian’s expectations.

After all, in an upgrade-focused power fantasy, aside from the protagonist’s own journey of treasure hunting, leveling up, and defeating cannon-fodder villains, one often-overlooked yet immensely satisfying aspect was the act of lending a helping hand.

[[The atmosphere within the Tianyan Sword Sect had turned extremely cold.

“You mean to tell me that not a single top-grade spiritual herb was brought back from this secret realm?”

Inside the grand hall, a misty, ethereal voice sent shivers down the spine of the elder, who had prostrated himself to the ground.

The elder desperately tried to explain, but before he could say anything, he stopped breathing. Without a ripple of emotion, the surrounding cultivators, who were long accustomed to such scenes, silently dragged the corpse away.

In the Tianyan Sword Sect, lack of strength was the greatest sin.

The man in white stood before the massive astrolabe in the hall, silent.

The Rakshasa Sea expedition… had deviated from the fate originally foretold by the Tianyan Star Chart.

Someone had dared to seize his fortune?

His fingertip lightly tapped the star chart, and a droplet of light golden blood fell onto its surface. As immense spiritual power surged, two celestial stars emerged and their trajectories unfolded before him.

Two people?

No…one of them possessed an exceedingly peculiar fate, one that seemingly did not belong to the five elements of this world.

But before he could discern the truth, the star chart’s image abruptly plunged into chaos. The man instantly let out a muffled groan and coughed up blood, sending shockwaves through the surrounding subordinates.

His Excellency had already stepped into the Great Ascension stage. For a thousand years, he had been but a single step away from ascending to the upper realm…how could he suddenly suffer an injury?!

“On the day this child steps into the Great Ascension stage will be the day of my demise…”

As the man stroked the shocking cracks on the star chart, the prophecy he uttered sent waves of astonishment and terror rippling through the high-ranking officials in the hall.]]

From that moment on, an unprecedented hunt had officially begun.

And the development of this father-son battle of fate in the next volume naturally became a crucial factor in the soaring serialization data of “The Vast Immortal Path”.

The number of daily active readers logging into the Huanyu Reading Platform to follow the updates repeatedly shattered historical records in the platform’s existence.

The expansion of the outer star system division for the Huanyu Reading Platform also rode the momentum of The Vast Immortal Path’s serialization fever, rapidly increasing its download count on multiple interstellar app ranking lists and drawing in countless cultivation fans.

“I even have a feeling that the ‘ascension effect’ after the completion of “The Vast Immortal Path” will be the most terrifying among all of Fish Soup Noodles’ works.”

As the editorial department examined the backend data, they found themselves torn between excitement and anticipation.

“After all, this time it’s an entirely new world concept. The main plot is tightly interwoven, the side story arcs are fast-paced, and the characters are all vividly distinct. The final climax is bound to be explosively powerful.”

Shaxs had witnessed firsthand how his author had risen from a rookie to the sensation he was today.

Works like “The Vast Immortal Path” and “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” belonged to the highly popular refreshing and satisfying power upgrade flow, which had always had a massive audience and the potential for explosive success.

Moreover, “The Vast Immortal Path” was visibly more refined in its details and plot execution, making it a culmination of Fish Soup Noodles’ writing mastery.

“The chief editor has already instructed that the finale event this year must be grand, let’s give Teacher Fish Soup Noodles a real surprise.”

Everyone in the editorial department was instantly filled with renewed determination.

Although Yu Mian himself didn’t know all this, after writing today’s update, he finally met a long-lost guest.

Lady Landis.

Thank you Teacher Fish Soup Noodles for reducing on the number of ancient sayings and poems used in “The Vast Immortal Path” compared to other works. My shoes were almost worn out from curling up my toes out of embarrassment knowing that am way off from the wisdom of the ancients. Anyway, here’s to hoping no native Chinese speakers ever read them. 〜⁠(⁠꒪⁠꒳⁠꒪⁠)⁠〜