Clan Cultivation: Starting with Building an Island Immortal City

38: The Land of Absolute Spirits, a Great Sect of a Thousand YearsLinhai City changed hands, and the storm gradually subsided, though its aftershocks remained.

Inside and outside the Li Family manor, lights burned brightly all night.

Li Qingshan hurried through the halls and corridors, directing affairs with calm assurance.

Under his command, everyone was busily engaged in various post-incident matters.

Even the Disciples who had returned from overseas were not idle.

Everyone was assigned duties, whether assisting in inventorying spoils, leading patrols of the city, or comforting frightened Clan members.

Having been tempered on the isolated island, battling Yao Beasts and responding to anomalies, they had long since transformed. Though still young, their actions were steady and capable, and their gaze sharp, far surpassing ordinary youths, earning the admiration of all the Clan Elders and stewards.

During breaks from their busy work, everyone gathered to rest, and inevitably, questions arose about their overseas experiences.

With Li Yinglong’s tacit approval, they selected the most eloquent among them to briefly recount their arduous Cultivation on the island, their combined efforts in battling the mutated giant crab, identifying Spiritual Plants, and even the initial sensation of Spiritual Qi.

Although core secrets like Spiritual Veins and Cultivation Techniques were omitted, the perilous journey, the camaraderie forged, and that profound and mysterious ”Qi sensation” were enough to captivate listeners, eliciting continuous gasps of astonishment.

”So the Clan Chief led you through such tempering!”

”Immortal fate... is truly wondrous!”

”The rise of our Clan is hopeful!”

The Clan members were stirred, feeling honored, and the Clan’s cohesion reached an unprecedented high. All were proud to be members of the Li Family, working with renewed vigor.

Within the manor’s dungeon, it was deep and damp, a world apart from the outside clamor.

Li Yinglong dismissed his attendants and entered the lowest level, the Blackwater Prison, alone.

This place was built with special black stone, bone-chillingly cold, capable of suppressing the flow of spiritual energy.

Three rune-etched iron chains, as thick as a child’s arm, hung from the ceiling, piercing through the shoulder blades of Loose Cultivator, Old Ghost, and Charming Lady, suspending them in mid-air. The bloodstains on their wounds had darkened to black, and their surrounding Spiritual Qi had almost completely dissipated, making them no different from Mortals.

Li Yinglong dragged over a worn wooden chair and sat down calmly before the three, his gaze placid, revealing neither joy nor anger.

”Speak.”

His voice echoed in the confined cell, clear and cold.

”Where did you come from? Why did you help Xia Donghai? And why do you repeatedly mention ’Spirit-Severing Land’?”

The three had already had their cultivation completely abolished, resembling withered wood, with only the will to survive remaining.

Upon hearing the question, Loose Cultivator was the first to struggle and raise his head, his face devoid of any arrogance, replaced only by fear and pleading:

”Senior... Senior Li, spare our lives! We... we are all Loose Cultivators, with inferior talent and impure Spiritual Roots, with no hope for the Great Dao... We could only attach ourselves to various powers within the Mortal Dynasties, doing some... some unspeakable deeds to exchange for a bit of Cultivation resources, barely clinging to life...”

Old Ghost’s voice was hoarse as he interjected:

”Now... now the Great Xing Imperial Dynasty’s destiny is nearing its end, the world is in turmoil, and lords are carving up territories. Our days are becoming increasingly difficult... So... so we wanted to make a few big scores, find a quiet place to live in seclusion, and live out our remaining years...”

Charming Lady, gasping for breath, forced herself to speak:

”Xia Donghai... Xia Donghai returned to the capital to make arrangements, seeking Cultivators to assist him. Through... through an old friend’s connection, he... he found us... He said Linhai City was... was a Spirit-Severing Land, with no true Cultivators, only Mortal martial artists... He said that Fellow Daoist Liu Yi, invited by the Lin Family, also... also perished in this manner... We coveted the generous reward, and... and foolishly believed there was no danger here, so... so we came...”

Li Yinglong listened quietly, his finger tapping the back of the chair:

”Spirit-Severing Land... elaborate.”

Loose Cultivator hastily replied:

”It’s... it’s a widely circulated saying in the Cultivation world... referring to... referring to certain regions where the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi is so scarce as to be almost nonexistent, nearly depleted... Cultivating in such a place, not only is progress extremely slow, but if Spirit Stones are insufficient, it can even... even cause one’s own Spiritual Qi to dissipate, flowing back into heaven and earth, with cultivation decreasing instead of increasing...”

Li Yinglong’s eyes flickered slightly, remembering that when he first embarked on Cultivation, if not for the dozens of Low-Grade Spirit Stones left by Li Qingzhu’s mother, he might still find it difficult to draw Qi into his body.

”Why did this place become a Spirit-Severing Land?”

The three looked at each other, all appearing bewildered.

Old Ghost hesitated:

”Such... such secrets are not something we low-level Loose Cultivators can fully comprehend... We... we only heard some ancient rumors...”

”Speak.”

”Rumor has it... thousands of years ago, the coast of the East Sea was not like this... At that time, Spiritual Qi was abundant, and it was a Holy Land for Cultivation... There was a massive Immortal Sect, named ’Three Immortals Sect’, whose Sect was not on the mainland, but deep in the East Sea, said to be based on three huge Immortal Islands, dominating a region...”

Charming Lady seemed to recall something and added:

”Yes... yes, three islands, with different names... One was called ’Azure Sea Soaring Sail’, another ’Crashing Waves’, and the third ’Autumn Water Sunken Jade’... Although the three islands had different names, they originated from the same lineage. The three island masters were fellow Cultivators, and their Cultivation Techniques were also of the same origin but different streams, hence they were collectively called the Three Immortals Sect, or the Three Immortal Islands... At that time, the entire East Sea coast and many islands were their Dao fields and sources for selecting Disciples, and their power was extremely prosperous...”

Loose Cultivator took over, his tone tinged with awe:

”However... afterwards, a heaven-shattering cataclysm occurred... Rumor has it that the overseas Japanese island Cultivation world, with wolfish ambitions, disturbed the Divine Land and brought disaster to the common people... The Three Immortals Sect, under the command of the contemporary Imperial Family, took on the responsibility of protecting the world, using the full strength of their Sect to lay down an unprecedented Seal, completely sealing... sealing that Japanese island and its affiliated archipelagos, severing their Dao lineage, blocking their path outwards, and protecting the peace of the East Sea and even the coastal regions of the Divine Land...”

”However... since then, the Three Immortals Sect has vanished without a trace, as if evaporated from the human world... And the sea area where their Sect was located, along with this vast East Sea coast, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi also suddenly withered and became increasingly sparse, gradually depleting over thousands of years, finally becoming what it is today... a Spirit-Severing Land...”

”We... we only heard this, the details are unknown...”

As their words fell, the dungeon was enveloped in a deathly silence.

Li Yinglong remained silent, his eyes deep, as if waves were surging within them.

So that’s how it is... so this is the reason!

The scarcity of Spiritual Qi throughout the East Sea was actually related to a great Sect from thousands of years ago.

And this secret, he, as a local, had never even heard of.

The Spiritual Vein on that isolated overseas island was probably a sliver of life newly conceived due to geological changes or some unknown reason, which he just happened to find.

And the strange beasts on that island, as well as the sea soul moss discovered by the Lin Family, might just be anomalies born in the Spirit-Severing Land, nourished by this nascent Spiritual Vein.

Could all of this... be related to those vanished millennia?

”Is there anywhere I can inquire about the details of the Three Immortal Islands?”

Li Yinglong continued to ask.

”We are not sure either... But Senior, you might be able to go to various market towns and seek out the various branches of the Thousand Mechanisms Hundred Know Sect; perhaps you can find some information there.”

The three hastily replied.

”Market towns? Thousand Mechanisms Hundred Know Sect?”

Li Yinglong murmured, he had never heard of these.

”Senior... in our qiankun bags, there are all guide Jade Slips. Input Spiritual Qi, and you can inquire about the nearest market towns. You can find them yourself!”

Fearing Li Yinglong’s impatience, the three began to scramble to answer.

After a long while, Li Yinglong slowly stood up.

”Senior! Senior, spare our lives! We have reported everything we know, without any concealment!”

”We are willing to be your servants! We beg Senior to give us a way to live!”

Seeing this, the three pleaded in terror.

Li Yinglong’s gaze swept over the three, and he said indifferently:

”I will temporarily spare your lives. When this old man returns from the market towns, if there is no falsehood, I will let you go.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the dungeon, the heavy iron door clanging shut behind him, cutting off all wails and despair.

In the dim passage, Li Yinglong’s footsteps were steady, but his heart was already churning.

Three Immortals Sect... unprecedented Seal... Spirit-Severing Land... The mist before his eyes seemed to dissipate yet not quite, revealing a more magnificent, yet also perilous, path.

It seems he needed to go out and seek answers.