It took five or six months.
Ye Qingxuan refined the Realm Suppression Tower, the sixth-rank mid-grade flying boat, and the three sixth-rank mid-grade puppets—all of them, one by one.
Five or six months had passed, and the battle fluctuations from before had long since settled into silence.
As for the specifics, Ye Qingxuan didn’t know, nor did he have any interest in learning the ins and outs of that fight.
Once everything was prepared, Ye Qingxuan put away the formation discs he had used to set up the array and dismantled the formation.
He took out a sixth-rank low-grade directional teleportation talisman from his storage pouch and activated it directly.
A flash of light, and Ye Qingxuan’s figure had already vanished.
If he wanted to develop in the Eastern Pole Region and harvest its resources, he first had to avoid the people of the Tianyuan Merchant Guild.
Before he had built up his foundations, competing with the Tianyuan Merchant Guild would be no different from throwing eggs at a rock.
With the trump cards Ye Qingxuan had prepared, he wasn’t afraid of most local powers in the Eastern Pole Region.
But when it came to the Tianyuan Merchant Guild, Ye Qingxuan was still very much on guard.
Or rather, Ye Qingxuan was wary of all the powers capable of crossing the Endless Sea to establish footholds in the Eastern Pole Region.
In the short term, Ye Qingxuan didn’t want any involvement with the cultivators these powers stationed in the Eastern Pole Region.
Fortunately, given the current situation in the Eastern Pole Region, as long as he avoided the few major provinces near the Endless Sea, there was a good chance he’d steer clear of cultivators or powers from the five inner regions of the Earthly Mystery Realm.
Only by staying far from the Endless Sea and avoiding the powers and experts of the five inner regions as much as possible could Ye Qingxuan freely develop his commercial influence in the Eastern Pole Region without restraint.
Without teleportation arrays.
Ye Qingxuan could only use sixth-rank directional teleportation talismans to move himself deeper into the Eastern Pole Region.
His plan was to first get far away from the Endless Sea territories, then choose a place to develop.
He used a full ten sixth-rank low-grade directional teleportation talismans before he had traveled over a hundred thousand li deeper into the Eastern Pole Region.
But even that distance hadn’t crossed a single province of the Eastern Pole Region.
Naturally, it couldn’t guarantee complete avoidance of the Tianyuan Merchant Guild’s influence in the Eastern Pole Region.
Still, putting over a hundred thousand li between himself and the Tianyuan Merchant Guild’s tower ship docking point at least ensured he wouldn’t run into the Void Piercing stage experts traveling with the ship anytime soon.
Encountering a Void Piercing stage expert might not necessarily lead to anything bad.
But the safety of this external incarnation would no longer be under Ye Qingxuan’s own control.
So Ye Qingxuan would rather waste ten sixth-rank directional teleportation talismans than take that risk.
By the time Ye Qingxuan had used all ten sixth-rank directional teleportation talismans, he had arrived in a valley.
“Roar!”
Ye Qingxuan didn’t even turn his head. He casually waved his hand and smacked away a second-rank demon beast that had been startled by his sudden appearance and was lunging at him.
Bang!
The demon beast Ye Qingxuan sent flying crashed heavily into the mountainside of the valley, letting out a low whimper.
It struggled to its feet and quickly scurried away in disgrace.
Ye Qingxuan had no interest in paying attention to a mere second-rank demon beast.
At that moment, he was holding a map, checking the general geographical layout of the Eastern Pole Region.
This map was one Ye Qingxuan had copied from the Xuandao Sect’s library.
Although it didn’t have detailed terrain descriptions of the Eastern Pole Region, the location of every major province was clearly recorded on it.
The place Ye Qingxuan was currently in was Jihai Province, one of the major provinces in the Eastern Pole Region bordering the Endless Sea.
According to the map’s descriptions, he should still be in the outer area of Jihai Province, close to the Endless Sea.
After getting a sense of his position, Ye Qingxuan frowned:
“No good. Traveling without teleportation arrays, flying on my own is just too slow.”
Jihai Province, being close to the Endless Sea, wasn’t Ye Qingxuan’s ideal area for development.
He needed to go at least a dozen major provinces deep into the Eastern Pole Region, into the inner ring, for it to be his ideal city-building location.
Since he had chosen to avoid the experts of the five inner regions of the Earthly Mystery Realm and build his city in the Eastern Pole Region, Ye Qingxuan naturally harbored no small ambition.
Sooner or later, Ye Qingxuan would make his city’s influence radiate across more than half of the Eastern Pole Region.
To achieve that, the city’s location naturally needed to be as close to the core area of the Eastern Pole Region as possible.
Wasting a bit of time and effort early on to choose a good city-building location…
…was far better than developing successfully later only to find the location limiting the city’s growth and being forced to relocate.
If possible, Ye Qingxuan naturally wanted to get it right in one go.
“Looks like I’ll have to find the local powers first and borrow their teleportation arrays.”
Although given the current layout of the Eastern Pole Region, even if there were teleportation arrays, they were probably only regional ones within a province.
But even so, that would still be much faster than flying himself!
With that thought, Ye Qingxuan took out a fifth-rank flying boat and continued flying deeper into Jihai Province.
The sixth-rank flying boat was a Spirit Transformation level item. Unless necessary, Ye Qingxuan didn’t want to use it—it was too conspicuous.
Better to keep a low profile when you’re new in town.
Piloting the fifth-rank flying boat along the way, Ye Qingxuan could occasionally sense quite a few demon beasts in the small mountain ranges he passed over.
He flew for a full day and night before finally leaving the area of endless interconnected small mountain ranges and arriving at a plains region.
Glancing back at the small mountain ranges, Ye Qingxuan secretly let out a breath of relief.
Finding local cultivators of Jihai Province in those beast-infested small mountains was naturally difficult.
Fortunately, it had only taken a day and night of flying to leave that region of countless interconnected small mountain ranges.
After entering the plains area.
Ye Qingxuan relaxed completely and started brewing tea inside the flying boat.
Humming a tune while sipping tea, he enjoyed the scenery outside the boat.
After flying for another few hours, Ye Qingxuan’s flying boat suddenly jolted to a stop, halting directly in midair.
Inside the boat, Ye Qingxuan’s divine sense surged out and quickly detected the details ahead.
Several hundred li below Ye Qingxuan’s flying boat, two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators were hunting a second-rank demon beast.
Ye Qingxuan had only stopped the high-speed flying boat after detecting fluctuations ahead.
After his divine sense revealed the details ahead, Ye Qingxuan said with interest:
“Running into Foundation Establishment cultivators here—looks like I’m not far from a human settlement in Jihai Province.”
His divine sense surged out again, confirming there were no other hidden dangers nearby.
Ye Qingxuan piloted the flying boat toward the two Foundation Establishment human cultivators.
By the time Ye Qingxuan arrived, the man and woman—both Foundation Establishment cultivators—had just finished their battle, having slain the wolf-like demon beast.
Whoosh!
The sound of Ye Qingxuan’s flying boat cutting through the air quickly alerted the two.
Their expressions changed drastically. By the time they traced the source of the sound—
Ye Qingxuan’s figure had already emerged from the flying boat, standing in midair, looking at them.
Seeing Ye Qingxuan, the male cultivator immediately grabbed his companion’s hand and respectfully bowed:
“Junior Zhao Yu and Lin Yu greet Senior!”
Ye Qingxuan nodded slightly and asked:
“No need for formalities. I’d like to know—where is the nearest teleportation array?”
Teleportation array?
Though Zhao Yu was puzzled, he still respectfully replied:
“Reporting to Senior, the nearest teleportation array is in Yudu City!”
After saying that, Zhao Yu even pointed out the detailed direction for Ye Qingxuan.
Having gotten the information he wanted, Ye Qingxuan tossed Zhao Yu a storage pouch containing spirit stones he had prepared.
“Thanks!”
After expressing his thanks, Ye Qingxuan returned to his flying boat and sped off toward Yudu City.
After Ye Qingxuan left, Lin Yu, standing beside Zhao Yu, couldn’t help asking curiously:
“Brother Yu, what cultivation level was that senior just now?”
Zhao Yu paused in thought for a moment, then with a trace of longing and envy in his eyes, said:
“Judging by the aura of that flying boat behind the senior… I’d say he’s probably a Nascent Soul stage ancestor, isn’t he?”
Hearing this, Lin Yu covered her mouth with both hands and exclaimed:
“Nascent Soul Ancestor?”
Ye Qingxuan, already far away, had just picked up his teacup when he froze, then chuckled:
“Nascent Soul Ancestor? My, what a grand title!”
Having grown accustomed to being cautious and meticulous in the five inner regions of the Earthly Mystery Realm, being called a Nascent Soul Ancestor all of a sudden—Ye Qingxuan actually felt a bit unused to it.
Still, the upward curve of his lips betrayed Ye Qingxuan’s pleasant mood.
The feeling of being treated like an ancestor or a sect master… actually wasn’t bad at all.
He continued flying for several more days.
The flying boat, amid Ye Qingxuan’s boredom, finally reached the area not far from Yudu City.
Ye Qingxuan didn’t brazenly pilot his flying boat and recklessly charge into Yudu City.
Shortly after Yudu City entered Ye Qingxuan’s perception range, he put away the flying boat.
He suppressed his cultivation aura to the early Purple Mansion stage, then flew all the way to the vicinity of Yudu City.
After observing for a long while, once he saw cultivators entering and exiting Yudu City in an orderly fashion…
Ye Qingxuan followed behind the other cultivators and slowly entered Yudu City through its gates.
Entering Yudu City.
Ye Qingxuan discovered that Yudu City was a place where mortals and cultivators lived together.
The city was quite large. In Ye Qingxuan’s perception, there were at least several hundred thousand mortals and roughly a few thousand cultivators.
The strongest among them was merely a cultivator at the peak of the Purple Mansion stage.
After entering Yudu City, Ye Qingxuan wandered around for a long time and found the city’s teleportation array at the center.
Yudu City’s teleportation array was guarded by two peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, but it wasn’t restricted to the public.
As long as one paid enough spirit stones, any ordinary cultivator could use it.
Ye Qingxuan didn’t immediately go to use the teleportation array to leave Yudu City.
Having finally reached a human city in the Eastern Pole Region, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
Besides, Ye Qingxuan didn’t even know where Yudu City’s teleportation array would take him.
He wasn’t short on a few days’ time anyway.
Having just arrived in Jihai Province of the Eastern Pole Region, Ye Qingxuan was still very unfamiliar with the province’s specific circumstances.
So Ye Qingxuan wanted to take this opportunity to gather some intelligence about Jihai Province.
As for intelligence on the entire Eastern Pole Region?
A city guarded by mere Purple Mansion stage cultivators—Ye Qingxuan didn’t expect to get much information from it.
As long as he could figure out the general situation in Jihai Province and learn the routes out of it, Ye Qingxuan would be satisfied.
Over the next few days, Ye Qingxuan hid within Yudu City, secretly gathering commonplace information.
When necessary, he would also resort to some less conventional methods.
With his Nascent Soul stage cultivation and his formidable concealment abilities…
He wasn’t worried about any cultivator in Yudu City noticing his activities.
Seven days later.
Ye Qingxuan finally had a general understanding of Jihai Province.
In all of Jihai Province, there were openly seven Spirit Transformation level powers.
Four of them were established by human cultivators, and the remaining three Spirit Transformation level powers were actually the three major demon beast gathering grounds.
The Yudu City Ye Qingxuan was currently in belonged to the Spirit Transformation level power, Lieyang City.
Almost all the major cities under Lieyang City’s banner had teleportation arrays leading to Lieyang City.
Lieyang City itself was the transit hub for all the major cities under its rule.
To leave Jihai Province, Ye Qingxuan needed to use Yudu City’s teleportation array to first teleport to Lieyang City.
Then, through Lieyang City’s teleportation array, teleport to a city at the border between Lieyang City’s territory and another Spirit Transformation level power, the Heavy Blade Sect.
After reaching that city, fly to the Heavy Blade Sect’s territory.
Using the teleportation arrays established by the Heavy Blade Sect, teleport step by step to the border of Jihai Province.
Then fly all the way into Jitian Province, which bordered Jihai Province.
Having obtained the information he wanted, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but slap his forehead, feeling somewhat frustrated:
“Is this the trouble of poor transportation?”
If he were in the Eastern Region, Ye Qingxuan would only need to reach a prefectural city and could then use interconnected teleportation arrays to cross several major provinces—no need to fly himself at all.
But now? Teleport a stretch, then fly a stretch—stop and go, time-consuming and exhausting.
Thinking about having to cross multiple major provinces to reach the core area of the Eastern Pole Region, Ye Qingxuan felt a headache coming on.
Shaking his head, Ye Qingxuan consoled himself:
“One step at a time! Just treat it like a vacation.”
With that, Ye Qingxuan headed toward Yudu City’s teleportation array.
He paid a hundred low-grade spirit stones. A flash of light, and Ye Qingxuan’s figure had already vanished from Yudu City.
Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, twelve years had passed.
A full twelve years—only then had Ye Qingxuan crossed Jihai Province and Jitian Province, arriving travel-worn at Xingluo Province, which bordered Jitian Province.
“This is the place. No more moving!”
The moment he piloted his flying boat into Xingluo Province’s territory, Ye Qingxuan said in exasperation.
For twelve whole years, aside from riding teleportation arrays, Ye Qingxuan had spent most of his time flying.
Along the way, he had even encountered a demon beast siege that trapped him inside a city in Jitian Province.
Fortunately, that city wasn’t large, and the demon beast horde was weak.
The strongest demon beasts were only at the Golden Core stage.
Ye Qingxuan, already in a bad mood, suddenly encountered this pack of demon beasts—so he simply hid his figure and began slaughtering them wildly within the horde.
While venting his frustrations, he also indirectly saved that human city.
After that, he occasionally ran into minor matters here and there, stopping and going along the way.
Having finally reached Xingluo Province after much difficulty, Ye Qingxuan finally abandoned his earlier plan.
He decided to develop in Xingluo Province for a while first.
When his true body broke through to the Void Piercing stage and he no longer had to worry about travel, he would then relocate his city to the core area of the Eastern Pole Region for development.
Ye Qingxuan looked back at the road he had traveled and said viciously:
“Sooner or later, I’m going to cover the Eastern Pole Region with teleportation arrays.”
Of course, the territories where he laid those teleportation arrays would naturally be his own turf!
With that fleeting thought, Ye Qingxuan turned back and piloted his flying boat deeper into Xingluo Province.
Now, it was time to find a place and build his foundation in the Eastern Pole Region.
