DiploNovel Chapter 1853 Faces a Resource Crisis Again
Chapter 1853 Faces a Resource Crisis Again
Just as Zhang Xuan's causal threads were about to retract, he suddenly sensed that in the depths of the sea of tribulation, in the distant direction that the token pointed to, there seemed to be... an extremely faint starlight!
Within that starlight, there was a faint, vast aura that shared the same origin as the token!
But in just a moment, the starlight was completely submerged by the raging torrents of the calamity sea and could no longer be sensed.
Zhang Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils bursting with golden light!
"Husband?" Jiao'er noticed his unusual behavior.
“I saw it…” Zhang Xuan’s voice was low and filled with disbelief, “Deep in the Sea of Calamity, in that direction… something seemed to be responding to my thread of cause and effect, though only for a moment.”
Upon hearing this, both Jiao'er and Tie Zhan paled.
what does this mean?
This means that the unknown realm pointed to by the causal threads not only exists, but may also... be constantly trying to make contact with the outside world.
That immortal corpse may have met with misfortune while carrying out some kind of reconnaissance mission.
“We should not linger here.” Zhang Xuan made a decisive decision. “We must return to Xuhai Market immediately. Tie Zhan, what we saw and felt today is classified as top secret and must not be leaked.”
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tie Zhan replied resolutely.
The three quickly returned, even faster than they had come.
Upon returning to the main hall of the Xuhai Market Town Guard Office, Zhang Xuan immediately held a private meeting with Jiao'er and Zhang Yuhuai behind closed doors.
"The situation is more complicated than we expected," Zhang Xuan told the two about his discoveries deep within the Sea of Calamity.
"That unknown realm not only exists, but it is also very likely to maintain a certain degree of attention or infiltration over the Sea of Calamity and the surrounding area. That True Immortal's corpse is probably just the tip of the iceberg."
Zhang Yuhuai said with deep concern: "In that case, isn't our Xuhai Market, and even the Nine Divine Realms, constantly exposed to the enemy's potential surveillance?"
"Not necessarily." Jiao'er analyzed calmly, "The isolation effect of the Tribulation Sea is extremely strong. Even for a Golden Immortal, it would be extremely difficult to cross it. The other party may just be conducting intermittent probing through special means."
Zhang Xuan nodded: "What you say is absolutely right, Madam. The most important thing right now is to immediately set up a special monitoring team to keep a close watch on any abnormal fluctuations around the Void Sea, especially in the direction of the Calamity Sea."
Zhang Yuhuai solemnly accepted the order: "This old man understands, and will do his utmost to guard the gateway to the Ruins Sea!"
Jiao'er added, "Furthermore, cooperation with the Xuanxu Great Realm needs to be closer. This matter concerns the safety of both realms. They have a longer lineage and may have many secrets about the Tribulation Sea and other realms that we do not know. We can invite Venerable Dongxuan or Fellow Daoist Xuanweizi to come to the Ruins Sea for a meeting at an opportune time to discuss countermeasures."
Zhang Xuanshen agreed: "That's exactly right."
After staying in the Xuhai Market for ten days, Zhang Xuan and Jiao'er returned to the Nine Divine Realms once again through the ninth-order teleportation array.
Two hundred years later.
Deep within the Xuan Tian Palace, at the heart of the Gourd Realm.
Zhang Xuan sat cross-legged on a chaotic platform, with a thousand-foot-tall illusory ferry behind him appearing and disappearing, and the sixteen-colored radiance of the Great Dao flowing endlessly.
Zhang Xuan slowly opened his eyes, the golden light in them dimming slightly.
He opened his palm, revealing an eighth-order golden core covered in a pale golden elixir.
The elixir still exuded a powerful Daoist aura, its fragrance refreshing and invigorating, but Zhang Xuan sighed softly.
"The 779th..."
More than four hundred years have passed since he became a Golden Immortal.
Over the past four hundred years, he and Jiao'er have consumed a large number of eighth-order golden cores and fragments of the Golden Immortal Dao Ferry.
These treasures helped him solidify his early-stage Golden Immortal cultivation and even allowed Jiao'er to touch the threshold of the mid-stage Golden Immortal.
"The drug resistance is getting stronger and stronger," Zhang Xuan muttered to himself.
It's not that the quality of the elixir has declined.
Refined by celestial ants, each golden pill is a masterpiece.
Rather, their Great Dao Ferry has become adapted after experiencing hundreds of impacts from the same source of Golden Elixir medicinal power, and its role is becoming smaller and smaller.
To make matters worse, the fragments of the Great Road Ferry captured during the great battle have all been used up.
The Golden Immortal Daoist essence contained within those fragments directly benefits the growth of the ferry, something that an eighth-order Golden Core cannot replace.
Now, both paths have reached a bottleneck.
"Husband."
A cold voice came from outside the hall, and Jiao'er pushed open the door and entered.
"Are you worried about resources again?" Jiao'er walked to Zhang Xuan's side and asked softly.
Zhang Xuan handed her the eighth-order golden pill in his hand: "This one can only be used to repay two years and seven months of hard cultivation."
Jiao'er took the golden pill, scanned it with her divine sense, and remained silent for a moment: "My situation is even worse. One eighth-grade Xuanbing Ninghua Golden Pill only lasted for one year and three months."
The two looked at each other in silence.
The Golden Immortals, seemingly carefree and immortal, actually require massive resources to support every step of their lives.
Especially for Golden Immortals with strong foundations, the resources they need are several times or even ten times that of those of the same level.
If they were in a great world like the Xuanxu Great World, which possesses a complete eighth-order immortal vein, they could occupy a blessed land and slowly grow by borrowing the power of the immortal vein.
But the Nine Divine Realms... do not have any eighth-order immortal veins.
The highest spiritual vein currently existing in the Nine Realms is only a seventh-grade superior one.
It's enough for a True Immortal, but for a Golden Immortal... it's a drop in the ocean.
"In the past two hundred years, two new True Immortals have been added to the Nine Realms: one is Sister Miaoyin, and the other is the Ghost King of the Dragon Spine Divine Realm. The number of Mahayana cultivators has increased by one hundred and twenty-seven, and the overall strength has steadily improved."
"But... the proportion of resources supporting our cultivation has increased from the initial 30% to the current 65%."
She paused, her voice low: "If this continues, the Nine Realms will be slowed down, or even... brought to ruin by us."
Zhang Xuan clenched his fist.
How could he not know?
Over the past four hundred years, the resources consumed by each True Immortal and each Mahayana cultivator nurtured in the Nine Realms have been astronomical.
He and Jiao'er together accounted for more than half of the resources.
This is not due to their greed, but rather the needs of Golden Immortals in their cultivation.
Although he refined a large number of eighth-grade spirit pills, he then refined them into golden pills.
As the effects of the eighth-order Golden Core on their cultivation diminished, it seemed that the Nine Realms, their "home," could no longer support the two of them.
Zhang Xuan got up and strolled to the star-gazing platform of the Xuantian Hall.
Looking out from here, the starry sky of the nine divine realms is dazzling, and billions of living beings thrive here.
In the Xuhai Market, Zhang Yuhuai sent multiple messages, mentioning that there were occasional abnormal fluctuations in the depths of the Calamity Sea, suggesting the presence of other realms.
On the other side of the Abyss of Beginning Demons, although Old Oil Head and his group have gained a foothold, their relationship with local forces such as the Corruption Swamp and White Bone City is becoming increasingly delicate, and conflict could break out at any time.
Although the situation within the Nine Realms remains stable for the time being, the situation is becoming increasingly dire as cultivation resources become more scarce.
“We must find new resource channels,” Zhang Xuan said in a deep voice. “Otherwise, within three hundred years, our cultivation will stagnate, and we may even damage our Dao foundation due to insufficient resources.”
Jiao'er's icy blue eyes reflected the starry sky: "My husband already has a plan?"