For nearly a year, Ye Qin remained in secluded cultivation, honing his alchemy and refining his mastery of the Lian Dan Mu (Alchemy Wood). During this time, he would only emerge briefly once a month to spend a single day with Huangfu Bing'er, perhaps taking a short stroll before immediately returning to his dedicated seclusion for further practice.

Residing on this isolated spiritual island suspended over the sea, nothing of major consequence had occurred, and he held little interest in the affairs of the Eastern Sea Cultivation World.

During this period, Elder Wutu visited personally on several occasions seeking an audience, but Ye Qin remained in seclusion and paid him no mind.

It was only on Elder Wutu’s ninth attempt, after waiting patiently outside the cave dwelling for nearly a month, that he finally managed to intercept Ye Qin just as he emerged, intending to take a walk around the island.

“Immortal Elder, Immortal Elder!” Upon seeing Ye Qin emerge, Elder Wutu, overjoyed, rushed forward, preparing to take to his sword.

Ye Qin paused, fixing the elder with a cold gaze. A flicker of annoyance crossed his heart, yet he refrained from showing outright displeasure and shouting him down. After all, this island had originally been inhabited by the Wu Tribe, making them half-owners of this land; he could not afford to offend them excessively by his presence.

“Immortal Elder, please do not misunderstand! The Elder has come this time because our Tribe Leader wishes to invite the two Immortal Elders to a feast at our settlement. Our entire tribe has long admired your majesty since hearing of the Immortal Elder’s arrival on the island. Coincidentally, our tribe is holding a grand tribal gathering and feast—an event we host only once every ten years. The Leader feels deeply ashamed that, despite the Immortal Elder residing here for so long, we have offered no warm hospitality. Thus, he wishes to invite the Immortal Elder to attend the banquet.”

Elder Wutu hurried up to Ye Qin, his face etched with apology.

Ye Qin’s expression darkened.

What ten-year grand event? It was clearly just an elaborate excuse to discuss Xiu’er joining the Wu Tribe!

This matter should have been left to Xiu’er’s own discretion; whether she agreed or not was her own affair, and he hadn’t paid it much mind.

However, the notion that a mere minor Wu Tribe would dare attempt to exchange goods for Xiu’er enraged him.

Although Xiu’er was nominally just a maidservant, Bing’er treated her as a younger sister, and he himself did not regard her as an ordinary local tribal woman.

“What is this? Does your tribe’s territory not normally prohibit outsiders? Why the sudden invitation to a feast?” Ye Qin asked coolly.

“Oh no, Immortal Elder, you have misunderstood! Previously, the facilities within our tribe were simply too crude and disorganized, and we dared not offend the senses of the Immortal Elder. Now, the areas where our tribe resides have been completely renovated and refurbished. Only then did our Leader dare send this old servant to extend the invitation.”

Elder Wutu appeared somewhat embarrassed but pressed on with a thick skin. Seeing that Ye Qin seemed hesitant about attending, he quickly added, “It is purely an invitation to a simple banquet, absolutely nothing else. If I speak even half a falsehood, may I be struck down by the heavenly lightning bolts!” This oath was potent enough for Eastern Sea cultivators, as being struck by the Five-Element Heavenly Tribulation lightning meant near-certain death. But for the Tu Clan, who would never face a heavenly tribulation, swearing such an oath was meaningless.

Ye Qin regarded Elder Wutu calmly, musing for a moment before stating, “Very well. Having resided on the island for a long time, we have yet to pay our respects to the Tribe Leader and the Elders. This feast presents a good opportunity to visit.”

“Tomorrow then! This old servant will await the arrival of the two Immortal Elders at our tribal residence!” Elder Wutu’s face lit up with joy. After speaking, he hastily took his leave, rushing away under the escort of more than ten high-level Lishi (Strongmen), fearing Ye Qin might change his mind.

Ye Qin, however, remained thoughtful.

The real reason he agreed was to use this opportunity to gauge the true strength and depth of the Wu Tribe. He did not wish for any unforeseen complications arising from this tribe during his future Tribulation Ascension.

The next day.

Ye Qin summoned the Wuyun Zhang (Dark Cloud Veil), and together with Huangfu Bing’er and Xiu’er, flew towards the mountain peak where the Wu Clan settlement was located, alighting at the Giant Wood Sentry Post.

The few Tu Clan guards stationed at the post were already aware of their impending arrival and showed no hostility.

By then, Elder Wutu and several accompanying high-level Lishi were already waiting. Moreover, there was an empty, spacious, luxurious carriage, drawn by eight nimble low-level spirit beasts possessing antlers.

“Immortal Elder, please!” Elder Wutu greeted Ye Qin with a broad, fawning smile.

Ye Qin, Huangfu Bing’er, and Xiu’er boarded the carriage pulled by the eight antlered beasts. Escorted by over a dozen high-level Lishi fore and aft, they proceeded unhurriedly into the cave network within the mountain.

The group entered the mountain belly through a concealed, narrow passage halfway up the peak.

Within the mountain, a vast cavern had been carved out. The layout of the cavern was extremely complex, densely crisscrossed by thousands of interlocking passages, forming an enormous cave complex.

Ye Qin’s divine sense probed slightly and discovered that this cavern system pierced through the entire continuous mountain range, astonishingly vast. Furthermore, in many areas, the probing was blocked, seemingly concealed by Tu Clan secret techniques.

Within the caverns, numerous structures built of stone and wood lined the passages, with a sentry post posted at regular intervals. These were guarded by mid-level Lishi, indicating a severely strict defense.

The entire cave passage was supported by massive, reinforced stone pillars. The walls were illuminated by torches and wall lamps burning oil that emitted a faint, fragrant smoke. Large sea pearls, though of ordinary quality, were embedded between the ceiling and the pillars, providing substantial brightness. Coupled with the torchlight, the interior of the cavern was brilliantly lit.

What truly astonished Ye Qin was that within the core of this mountain belly, centered around one main thoroughfare, a large-scale subterranean city had been constructed. Residences built from rock and timber stood alongside numerous shops and canals—a complete infrastructure.

In the outer reaches of the cavern, peeking out from various side passages, were many wide-eyed men and women, ordinary Tu Clan members filled with awe. Moving further into the interior, one began to see Tu Clan Lishi, whose stone residences were clearly superior.

After traveling some distance in the antlered beast carriage, several major branching paths appeared ahead along the main artery of the mountain cave system.

These large fork-offs all sloped downward, stretching far into the distance.

At the mouths of these side paths stood heavy stone gates, guarded by numerous Lishi. Judging by the strength of their physique and vitality, they must all have been high-level Lishi. These side passages were evidently extremely critical routes within the caves.

As they passed these forks, Ye Qin distinctly felt the expressions of Elder Wutu and the escorting high-level Tu Clan Lishi beside the carriage tense up, their hands gripping their weapons tightly, betraying subtle nervousness they tried to mask.

Ye Qin’s mind stirred slightly.

Clearly, there were things of supreme importance to the Wu Tribe hidden within their cavern complex that they did not wish him to know.

He directed his divine sense deep into the diverging paths.

It extended dozens of miles, perhaps even further, reaching the bellies of several other mountains.

Upon probing, Ye Qin was secretly astounded.

Although these subsidiary peaks were not particularly high or conspicuous, their mass was substantial, and having their bases hollowed out revealed internal spaces of incredible magnitude.

The conditions inside the caverns of these subsidiary peaks varied.

One of them housed a massive spiritual stone mine, where numerous low-level Tu Clan Lishi were digging for spirit stones using various mining implements within the shafts.

Another was a large spiritual herb cultivation base, layered across dozens of tiers, densely planted with all manner of strange spiritual medicinal materials. This included the Blood Spirit Fruit, which Ye Qin recognized.

However, the Blood Spirit Fruit cultivated here appeared to be of extremely high grade and seemed to have been growing for a very long time.

The spirit stones excavated by the low-level Lishi were transported to the spiritual herb fields, ground into powder, and scattered between the plots, intensely boosting the spiritual energy of the fields. With abundant spiritual energy, these medicinal herbs were surely growing much faster.

Beyond that, within that mountain, rows upon rows of neatly constructed alchemy workshops, built from colossal stones, numbered in the hundreds. Inside, many alchemists clad in Wu robes were refining spiritual elixirs. The elixirs they were concocting were likely—barring any surprises—the Spirit Strengthening Pills that enhanced the divine power of the Tu Clan Lishi, including the Blood Spirit Pill.

There were also other spiritual elixirs Ye Qin did not recognize, their specific uses unknown.

Yet another peak was dedicated to the production of a strange black ore. Low-level Tu Clan Lishi mined this peculiar black ore and transported it to rows of weapon smelting workshops. These workshops, connected directly to underground earth fires, melted the ore into a black metal, accompanied by the rhythmic clang of hammering from within.

The blacksmiths forging weapons here were almost exclusively high-level and mid-level Lishi. They shaped this metal into various types of weaponry.

Ye Qin was deeply shocked, yet remained silent.

“Blood Spirit Fruit!”

“With so many fields in the mountain, and vast stretches of Blood Spirit Fruit planted within them, they must be using it all to refine Blood Spirit Pills. This Wu Tribe can mass-produce Blood Spirit Pills to feed their Lishi. This explains why this tribe possesses such an extraordinary number of high-level Lishi!”

“And hundreds of weapon smelting workshops, capable of forging quite a few weapons daily! No wonder their armaments are so exquisitely refined. Even Xiu’er’s Azure Ancient Halberd couldn't destroy their weapons in one blow.”

“What is this Wu Clan tribe, hidden deep within this bloody outpost, planning with such large-scale alchemy and weapon manufacturing?”

Ye Qin glanced towards Huangfu Bing’er.

Huangfu Bing’er had clearly also discerned much of the situation, and worry flickered in her eyes.

“Husband, this Wu Tribe likely harbors immense ambition! I fear they are far more than just the remnants of the Wu Clan left adrift in the Blood Sea, as they claimed.” Huangfu Bing’er transmitted via divine sense.

“Mhm. Let’s observe for now. As long as it doesn’t interfere with our Tribulation Ascension, there’s no need to delve too deeply.” Ye Qin shook his head faintly.

The strength of this Wu Tribe was certainly no less than that of an Eastern Sea Immortal Palace. However, they appeared to lack any Saint-level Lishi—those capable of contending with Nascent Soul cultivators—so this tribe could not challenge any established Eastern Sea Immortal Palace.

His cursory inspection suggested this Wu Clan tribe had a population of around one hundred thousand members, making it an ordinary large tribe in the Eastern Sea, not excessively scaled.

But one must remember that the Bai Clan, to which Bai Xiu’er belonged, was also once a tribe of a hundred thousand people, yet they had never produced a single high-level Lishi, only a handful of mid-level ones.

This Wu Tribe, however, had a surprisingly high number of high-level Lishi, and the number of mid-level Lishi was so great Ye Qin could barely count them.

1 vote per day~!