The spirit beast mounts of the Violet Sword Palace moved slowly along the wide, bustling avenues of Linhai City.

Within this thoroughfare, the four prominent figures of the Violet Sword Palace finalized the necessary preparations they needed to discuss. The true arbiters of the Violet Sword Palace's grand strategy were Palace Master Zhou and the Grand Elder; any decision made between the two of them was essentially settled.

Half an hour later, Ye Qin descended from the Violet Sword Palace's carriage with a calm expression, melting into the throng of cultivators and walking along the animated streets.

In recent years, a massive influx of Nascent Soul and Core Formation cultivators—a truly mixed bag—had poured into Linhai City, the immortal city closest to the Blood Sea, transforming it into one of the busiest hubs for cultivators.

Linhai City was simply too small to accommodate so many cultivators. Many lower-tier cultivators had set up camps outside the city walls or on nearby islands in the surrounding waters. The multicolored streaks of flying swords and magical artifacts crisscrossing the sky outside the city remained dazzling even in daylight.

Unless the carriage belonged to the Sovereign of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, a titan from the Demonic Heaven Alliance, or a leader from another major immortal cultivation faction made a grand appearance, it would only elicit fleeting gasps of awe and speculation from the passing crowd. Ordinary immortal palace carriages were commonplace within the city walls and largely unremarkable; nobody paid them much mind.

Along the side of the street, stalls overflowed with all manner of wares.

"Selling Grade Nine Dark Iron Ore! The essential high-grade material for forging top-tier Metal elemental flying swords! Fair prices—you get what you pay for with spirit stones..."

"Good stuff here! Nine-tailed Sea Demon Black Python skin—perfect for crafting magical boots, come take a look!"

Cultivators streaming in from all corners of the East Sea shouted out, displaying the bizarre materials and rare treasures they had collected, hoping to capitalize on the massive crowd and secure a good price.

Ye Qin strolled along, listening to the cacophony of the street, his mind calm and contemplative.

He had already agreed to the supply transport mission arranged by Palace Master Zhou after only a brief consideration.

The most perilous task, establishing the frontier city, had been personally taken on by Grand Elder Zhou Hong as the leader. As the Fifth Elder of the Violet Sword Palace, his own assignment was merely to escort war preparations from the rear lines to the front—not to serve as cannon fodder on the front lines. Moreover, this task would not impede his own cultivation.

Ye Qin understood clearly: the more strength he possessed, the greater his chance of cultivating safely in the East Sea. His cultivation base and alchemy skill were strengths, but his status as a member of the Heavenly Dao Alliance Elder Council and the Fifth Elder of the Violet Sword Palace was another form of power entirely.

Although he was already a council member, he still needed to rely on the deterrent force of the Violet Sword Palace's vast body of cultivators. The larger the faction one belonged to, the safer one was; lone cultivators wielding a single sword had an exceedingly difficult time surviving in the East Sea cultivation world.

Conversely, the Violet Sword Palace valued his rapidly increasing strength and the intangible influence brought by his membership in the Heavenly Dao Alliance Elder Council.

Their interests aligned perfectly; each received what they needed.

This was precisely why Palace Master Zhou confided in him so openly.

It was also the reason he accepted the mission to transport war supplies.

Within the foreseeable century, there was no possibility of a rift forming between him and the Violet Sword Palace.

Ye Qin walked past several side alleys and returned to the entrance of his private residence within the city. Just then, he saw Bing'er escorting two beautiful female cultivators dressed in the robes of the Water Cloud Palace out of the gate. The two female cultivators recognized Ye Qin when they saw him, bowed slightly, and said, "Greetings, Senior Brother Ye..." before smiling knowingly and departing.

"Greetings to both junior sisters!" Seeing the two Water Cloud Palace disciples emerge, Ye Qin was slightly puzzled and quickly returned their salute, watching them leave.

"The two junior sisters from the Water Cloud Palace, did they need something from you?" After they left, Ye Qin entered the residence with Bing'er and then asked.

"The Central Sect has begun mobilizing the major immortal palaces under its jurisdiction; there's movement. The Water Cloud Palace falls under the Central Sect's command. Palace Master Liu has gathered a group of mid- to late-stage Core Formation disciples from the Water Cloud Palace, preparing to travel from Linhai City to the Blood Sea to build the immortal city. The two junior sisters came to see me today to deliver the Palace Master's message," Huangfu Bing'er replied with a smile.

"Is True Person Liu summoning you to the Blood Sea?"

Ye Qin instantly grew tense; he was deeply uneasy about letting Bing'er travel alone to the dangerous Blood Sea.

"The Palace Master's message was that she is dispatching a batch of Water Cloud Palace disciples to Linhai City soon. Since I am currently residing in Linhai City and am familiar with the local situation, she asked me to help manage some miscellaneous palace affairs here; I do not need to go to the Blood Sea. Although immortal palace cultivators are mobilizing frequently now, it is only for preparations; we are nowhere near the point of open warfare..."

Seeing Ye Qin so anxious, Bing'er couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Besides, the Palace Master knows I am a grandmaster alchemist. Even if she were dispatching people, the first few batches heading to the Blood Sea probably wouldn't include me. At most, I'll be assigned alchemy-related tasks."

"That’s a relief! Before reaching the Nascent Soul stage, going to the Blood Sea to fight the Demon Race is truly unsafe! The last time I fought that Silver Flood Dragon demon cultivator, if it weren't for the Skeleton Demon and the Great Wing Warship, I might not have managed to scratch it at all..."

Ye Qin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Over the next half-month, the number of cultivators gathering in Linhai City grew steadily. Huangfu Bing'er remained in Linhai City, responsible for the Water Cloud Palace's logistics, and gradually became very busy.

The entire Violet Sword Palace also began a full mobilization, making extensive preparations for the upcoming expedition to the Sea of Blood. Given the numerous disciples in the Violet Sword Palace, these trivial matters did not require the attention of Elder Ye Qin.

During this half-month period, Ye Qin stayed confined in his Linhai City residence, cultivating diligently and refining spiritual elixirs.

One day, Ye Qin received a summons from an attendant of the Heavenly Dao Commercial Pavilion. The artifacts he had commissioned for crafting a month and a half prior were finally complete, and he set off to collect them.

Entering the Heavenly Dao Commercial Pavilion, Ye Qin did not wait long before being led by Manager Wang into a luxurious private chamber.

After the attendant served spiritual tea, Ye Qin sipped it while waiting patiently. Manager Wang personally retrieved three treasure chests emitting a lustrous glaze from the Pavilion's storeroom, each containing an artifact, and presented them on a tray before Ye Qin.

"Elder Ye, these three artifacts were forged by our Pavilion's top artifact refiners, strictly according to Elder Ye's specifications. The spirit stones required have already been deducted from the spiritual elixirs Elder Ye consigned previously. Please inspect the artifacts," Manager Wang said with a smile.

"Mhm, let me see..."

Ye Qin nodded with a slight smile, picked up his storage bag, and opened the three treasure chests containing the commissioned artifacts directly.

The first treasure chest held three sets of Silver Light Armor crafted from Silver Bream scale armor.

These shimmering silver armors, unrefined and without spiritual power infused, were only palm-sized and looked exquisitely detailed.

Since these three sets of Grade Ten Silver Scale Armor were refined from the purified scales of a Silver Merman demon cultivator, they offered complete coverage, from head to toe, for the wearer. Yet, they did not appear bulky and would not feel heavy even when worn normally.

Furthermore, these three sets of Silver Scale Armor were aesthetically refined. The seamless, streamlined body of the armor was inscribed with cloud-patterned runes that enhanced defensive capabilities, making the silver armor's defense even more outstanding.

The second treasure chest contained a complete set of bow and arrow artifacts, assembled from a Silver Merman tendon, top-tier spiritual wood materials selected from the Pavilion's inventory, and Silver Flood Dragon Tooth Arrows forged from hundreds of silver flood dragon fangs.

Ye Qin examined them as he listened.

"This set of Silver Scale Armor artifacts offers superb defense against flying sword artifacts and spells. It can also be infused with spiritual power during combat, whereupon it will automatically envelop the wearer for defense and emit dazzling silver light, providing a decent spell-warding effect..." Manager Wang explained with a smile, following Ye Qin's gaze.

He then pointed to the nearly half-human-tall longbow, which featured a black carved bow body and a silver bowstring, and the quiver of Flood Dragon tooth arrows, saying, "This set of bow and arrows bridges the gap between top-tier artifacts and minor divine ability artifacts. Not only were top-tier Star Iron spiritual wood used for the bow and arrow shafts, but the city's most accomplished Earth Clan craftsman was invited to participate in the forging process. This is a peerless weapon of extremely high quality..."

"The Bream Fangs Arrows are equipped with blood grooves and holes for applying poisons; poison can be added independently. Once a Merman Tooth Arrow is loosed, its destructive power is formidable, capable of piercing even the protective shields of Core Formation cultivators. While they lack spiritual magic effects, their sheer armor-piercing and physical attack power are astonishing. However, this set of bow and arrows requires immense strength—truly tons of force—to draw and release freely..."

"Not bad..."

After closely scrutinizing these two sets of artifacts and sensing the spiritual pressure fluctuations emanating from them, Ye Qin couldn't help but utter a word of praise.

Putting away these two sets of artifacts, Ye Qin turned his attention to the final set: the set of Minor Divine Ability Silver Blade artifacts.

A complete set of Minor Divine Ability artifacts was exceedingly rare, especially one forged from the Silver Flood Dragon’s sharpest primary fangs and the Silver Flood Dragon demon cultivator's soul, which served as the artifact spirit.

The reason Minor Divine Ability artifacts were so potent lay in the existence of the artifact spirit. Artifact spirits were usually the souls of demon cultivators at Grade Ten or above. Whether an artifact possessed a spirit made a significant difference.

"Elder Ye, if you intend to use this set of flying blade artifacts personally, you can drip a drop of vital blood onto it to activate the artifact spirit," Manager Wang suggested, pointing to the silver sphere, currently only about the size of a fist, composed of thirty-two interlocking, serrated silver blades.

Since this artifact set was commissioned through the Heavenly Dao Commercial Pavilion, they understood its power and function intimately. Ye Qin saw no need for reservation. He nodded slightly, drew a streak of sword light from his fingertip, and let a drop of vital blood fall onto the silver sphere, sealing it with a hand seal.

As a massive influx of information flooded Ye Qin's mind, the silver sphere, which had previously emitted a faint silver glow, seemed to come alive. As its silver light sharpened, accompanied by several crisp clinks, the silver blades actively and agilely arranged themselves into the vague shape of a silver flood dragon. The artifact spirit, manifesting as a silver light phantom, which had been refined from the Silver Flood Dragon soul, immediately began circling Ye Qin dynamically, enveloped by the silver blades.

Ye Qin was startled by the sudden transformation of the silver sphere but quickly calmed down, remembering that the consciousness of a demon soul is erased before it is refined into an artifact spirit.