Chương 85: Yuanchi Immortal Land

"I hope they don't overreact and send out some kind of distress signal. It would be bad if a bunch of Foundation cultivators swarm this place and start investigating," Shu Yang said, feeling a bit worried.

"Sorry," Xiaorong said, nudging his cheek.

"It's fine," Shu Yang said. He hadn't made it clear to Xiaorong not to steal anything from the palace, and since they had stolen money from the wealthy on their way a few times, it wasn't strange for Xiaorong to not see a problem with it. The problem being that these people were cultivators, and presumably, only a strong cultivator would be able to steal from them, which would certainly alert them.

Shu Yang guessed that the Imperial family should have stronger cultivators backing them, and this incident could alert someone who might be a threat to them.

'Well, what's done is done.'

"Either way, these things are far from useless. Do the pills help your recovery?" Shu Yang asked.

"A little," Xiaorong answered.

"Just let me know when you want another one, then," Shu Yang said. Xiaorong had managed to get her hands on a storage ring. And not just any random storage ring. It was the one the Emperor had worn on his hand. The Emperor was sure to notice it missing almost right away, so Shu Yang and Xiaorong had left the capital at full speed, not wanting to get caught up in the aftermath. But while it was troublesome, it was also quite a significant gain.

Shu Yang had just managed to break the strange seal on it and gained access to the space inside the ring, and it contained a vast amount of resources. It would take some time to go through it all and figure out its purpose, but he had recognized the same kind of pills he had swallowed when he advanced, so he gave some to Xiaorong to help her recovery. He also recognized a cultivation technique, different from the one he got from the Qing family, which excited him greatly.

With more techniques as references, he would be able to deduce a more complete and suitable technique for himself to practice. He hadn't had time to read it yet, though. He was still escaping from the capital as fast as he could. It had been two days since they left, and Shu Yang had gotten quite far, but he still felt that the further away, the better. Just in case some Elders would be summoned from somewhere.

Besides, the books he had bought contained a map of the surrounding area, so Shu Yang wasn't running aimlessly. He had thought that since the man in the bookstore knew so little about the Yuanchi Immortal Land, there would be no information about it in the books he got from there. But to his surprise, it was even marked out on a map. It wasn't very detailed, as the map mostly focused on the Empire and its vassal kingdoms. But the area northeast of the Empire was still labeled 'Yuanchi Immortal Land.'

Needless to say, that was the direction Shu Yang was now heading in.

'Please let me find an ordinary cultivator soon so I can get some answers.' …

"Do you think we made it yet? It feels a bit different here," Shu Yang said after another two days of travel.

"Spiritual qi," Xiaorong said.

"Really?" Shu Yang asked. He closed his eyes and tried to sense the spiritual qi, but there was nothing.

"Are you sure? I can't feel anything."

"Yes. Very weak," Xiaorong answered.

'That's great! I guess it's too sparse for any cultivators to actually make use of, but spiritual qi being present should still be a sign of having left the Empire and entered the Yuanchi Immortal Land.' Shu Yang started feeling a little nervous. He was like a god in the areas he had passed through so far, but things would be different from now on. He was still a Foundation cultivator and was by no means weak. But there would certainly be people stronger than him around.

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"Can you sense any place around with denser spiritual qi?" Shu Yang asked. Xiaorong was quiet for a moment before answering, "Not yet."

"Alright, we'll just keep heading north then," Shu Yang said, and took off running again. … Shu Yang had thought he had finally reached his destination when Xiaorong first felt the presence of spiritual qi, but in the end, they traveled for a week straight without seeing anything other than a few weak beasts.

"What is going on? I've crossed an enormous distance by now, and we've not encountered a single person," Shu Yang said, feeling exasperated.

'I guess no cultivator would stay in an area where they can't cultivate, but are there no ordinary people around at all?' Shu Yang continued his journey, constantly on the lookout for any signs of people. And as luck would have it, just two hours later, he felt the presence of two people further up ahead.

"Can you feel their strength, Xiaorong?" Shu Yang asked.

"Both 5th stage Qi Refining," Xiaorong answered.

'Good!' Shu Yang slowed down his pace so as not to give away his strength and continued running toward the two people. But as he got closer, the two men separated and then stopped moving. He kept walking toward them and soon figured out they were hiding.

'Did I scare them away? Can they feel my aura?' Just as Shu Yang got close and was about to speak up to ask them a question, the two men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked him.

'What!?' Shu Yang wasn't prepared for an ambush at all, but since they were so weak, he didn't have to be. He reacted straight away, gripping his sword and getting ready to finally make use of his sword intent in battle. But before he had a chance, the two men fell to the ground in quick succession, their heads cut off. Shu Yang looked over at Xiaorong, who was standing on the ground next to one of the bodies, and sighed, "Xiaorong, thank you.

But in the future, try to leave at least one of them alive if they aren't a big threat. We need to find out information." Xiaorong hadn't overheard anything of interest at the palace that she could relay to him. Shu Yang didn't know whether she had actually tried to listen, or if she had just thought about the Emperor's spatial ring as soon as she saw it.

"Sorry," Xiaorong said.

"It's fine," Shu Yang said. He approached the two men and looked through their clothes. Just like he expected, they each had a storage pouch on them. He opened them up and took a quick glance inside.

'Some pills, some more of those spirit stones, and…Oh! Another cultivation technique?' He couldn't help himself and took out the cultivation technique to give it a quick read-through.

'A different one again. Good. But it only seems to go up to the 7th stage of Qi Refining. That's a shame.' There was no cultivation technique in the other man's storage pouch, but still some pills and such. Shu Yang stuffed both pouches under his shirt, feeling a bit worried about overloading himself.

'Well. It's not like I'm planning on killing everyone I meet. These might be the last storage pouches I get my hands on.' A storage pouch couldn't be put into another storage pouch, so he had to carry all four of them separately. The same was true for his new ring.

'I'll take some time to sort out everything in them and see what I can get rid of. That should make some more space and let me store things more efficiently.'

"Eat?" Xiaorong asked. Shu Yang turned to look at her and saw her staring at the bodies. Shu Yang hurriedly shook his head, "Absolutely not. They are people, not meat. Let's bury them."

"Meat," Xiaorong argued.

"Well…Just indulge me. Don't eat human meat in the future; everything else is fine," Shu Yang said.

"Okay," Xiaorong said, turning away from the dead men. Shu Yang knew it might not be completely logical. If he was fine with eating beasts who had developed intelligence, he should be fine with eating humans, but it just felt wrong. Even if it would help Xiaorong recover, and burying their bodies was a 'waste,' Shu Yang felt having some human emotions, even illogical ones, wasn't something to try to get rid of.

If he were just interested in power and wanted to gain it quickly at all costs, there were many things he could do. But what was the point of living a life like that? He wanted power and immortality, but he would prefer to keep his humanity and conscience as best he could in the process. If he had to live with himself for centuries or even millennia, he didn't want to be riddled with regret and guilt during all those years. Shu Yang dug two graves for the men and put the bodies inside before covering them again.

It only took a few minutes with Shu Yang's strength. Xiaorong jumped back onto his shoulders when he finished, and he took off again, continuing north.

'At least we finally encountered cultivators. That should be a sign that we're getting closer to some sort of society.'

'Let's hope the other cultivators in these parts are a little more friendly.'

'I would hate it if every meeting meant a fight to the death.'