It took about half a month.

Su Qing flew back into the waters of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect.

He immediately teleported back to the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect Master Island.

On the master island, many cultivators were busy rebuilding.

Many structures had been destroyed, reduced to ruins.

Su Qing stopped a Qi Cultivation Cultivator.

"What do you want?" the cultivator demanded, on the verge of attacking.

But then he saw Su Qing hand over a few Spirit Stones.

He then put away the Spirit Stones.

"What happened to the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect’s Master Island? How did it get damaged this badly?"

"Oh, so you just had a question."

"That’s an easy one. I heard a Demon King came to assassinate a True Disciple of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect. The attempt failed, and he ended up fighting two of the sect’s Golden Core Masters."

"The master island got caught in the crossfire, and this is the result."

"They say the Demon King was seriously injured and fled, his power greatly diminished."

"I see. Thank you for the information, brother," Su Qing said with a chuckle, then walked into the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect’s Teleportation Array.

Seeing Su Qing use the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect’s Teleportation Array, the cultivator remarked to himself, "So he’s a disciple of the sect. No wonder he was asking me about it."

—

—

Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect.

After teleporting back, Su Qing flew toward Cold Extremity Peak.

He kept his cultivation hidden at the Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer.

Unchanged.

This would suggest his progress had slowed down.

When Su Qing returned, he saw Luo Lanxin and Liu Linlin sparring and practicing their moves.

Both of them had comprehended Sword Intent, which was quite rare.

They both stopped sparring when they saw Su Qing return.

"Junior Brother!"

"Senior Brother!"

"Where did you go, Junior Brother?" Liu Linlin couldn’t help but ask. She had a craving for good food; she had been back for over half a year, and Su Qing had been gone the whole time.

Liu Linlin found making her own delicacies to be too troublesome.

She was the type who only wanted to eat, not do the work.

"I just took a trip to the Celestial Sea Realm to look around," Su Qing said with a smile.

"Senior Sister, do you know why there are no Demon Fiends in the Celestial Sea Realm?"

"Demon Fiends, huh."

"Let me think..." Liu Linlin seemed to be pondering.

But Luo Lanxin knew.

"Senior Brother, the emergence of Demon Fiends is because the continent was once cursed."

"Legend says that a Great Power of the Soul Path was Crossing the Heart Tribulation but failed. The Great Power perished, and his Soul Cultivation shattered and scattered across the land, allowing resentful energy to gather everywhere on the continent without dispersing."

"Over time, Demon Fiends began to appear."

Luo Lanxin was recounting legends from her previous life.

"Oh, so that’s why Demon Fiends appear on the continent."

Su Qing finally understood. It was a man-made problem. Even though Luo Lanxin had framed it as a legend, it must have some basis in fact, meaning the Demon Fiends were indeed created by someone.

"Junior Brother, you should be careful. The three disciples in our Sect with the Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Body were all targeted for assassination by a Demon King."

"Bai Ranmo is still recovering from serious injuries."

’Is it that serious? They’re specifically targeting the Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Body.’

However, if a Demon King really came for him, Su Qing wouldn’t be afraid.

It wouldn’t be certain who would come out on top.

Now that Su Qing was in the Golden Core Realm, he was naturally no longer so afraid of suddenly losing his life.

He had Divine Techniques, a high-level form of Swordsmanship, and powerful Magical Power.

With his Life and Death Reincarnation Dao Foundation as a safety net, Su Qing had nothing to fear.

"The Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Body... does it really bring so much trouble?" Su Qing shook his head with a smile and said, "I won’t be going out much recently anyway."

"By the way, why would a Demon King come to assassinate people from our Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect?"

Liu Linlin shook her head. "It’s not just people from the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect. The prodigies from all Human Race Sects are being targeted."

"You were lucky, Junior Brother. The Demon Race didn’t discover you."

"Lately, the Demon Court’s offensive against our Human Race has been very aggressive."

"Martial Aunt said that there might be changes among the Human Race Sects in the next few years."

"Changes? Does it have anything to do with us?" Su Qing asked.

"Of course it has something to do with us. Otherwise, why would she say there will be changes?" Liu Linlin said very seriously.

Su Qing stopped pondering it. "Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Is Junior Brother making something delicious tonight?"

Su Qing was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Liu Linlin, who was staring at him expectantly.

"Alright, alright."

"I just got back from the Celestial Sea Realm, so let’s have seafood today. Master and Martial Aunt will be coming tonight, right?"

Luo Lanxin and Liu Linlin shook their heads.

Liu Linlin said, "They’re busy with something."

—

"Junior Brother, did you gain anything from your trip to the Celestial Sea Realm?"

"Gains? Of course. I just got a Spirit Fruit, that’s all."

"I also bought three Tier Two Pill Formulas on Spirit Bamboo Island, which was very nice."

"If you needed a Tier Two Pill Formula, Junior Brother, you could have just bought one from the Holy Pill Hall."

"You think I didn’t try that? They only sell Tier One formulas."

"They don’t sell any pill formulas of Tier Two or higher, only the refined elixirs."

Liu Linlin looked blank. "Oh, is that how it is? I don’t really know much about how the Holy Pill Hall operates."

"Spirit Bamboo Island... Senior Brother, did you buy any Spiritual Bamboo while you were there?"

"Could you sell me some Tier Two Spiritual Bamboo?" Luo Lanxin asked. She happened to need Spiritual Bamboo to make a Tier Two puppet, the Thousand Spirit Crane.

Su Qing shook his head. "I don’t have any Tier Two. I only bought pill formulas there."

Luo Lanxin was disappointed.

Liu Linlin was around the Foundation Establishment Middle Tier.

Luo Lanxin had reached the Foundation Establishment High Tier; Su Qing could sense it.

’Her cultivation is so fast.’

Su Qing couldn’t help but feel something was a bit strange, but he didn’t ask any more questions.

They had a good meal.

Then they each went their separate ways.

—

—

「The next morning.」

Cold Extremity Peak was as cold as ever.

"Su Qing! Su Qing!"

Hearing someone shouting his name, Su Qing stopped circulating his energy.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw Song Zhining.

He had the strength of someone around the Foundation Establishment Initial Tier, and the aura of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Body.

"Song Zhining, what brings you here?" Su Qing asked coolly.

Song Zhining smiled and said, "Su Qing, long time no see. Do you have any more of those Nourishing Yuan Pills?"

"I’m willing to buy one for five hundred thousand Spirit Stones."

Su Qing shook his head. He didn’t feel like synthesizing one, and besides, he wasn’t short on Spirit Stones at the moment.

"I don’t have any."

"Then how about this: I’ll give you a piece of information, and you give me a Nourishing Yuan Pill in return?"

"It’s about our master."

"Then tell me," Su Qing said, just as he was about to say he wasn’t interested.

"Our master actually went out to contact the various Human Race Sects about forming an alliance."

"The Demon Court’s power is growing, and I heard they’ve even formed an alliance with the Demon Fiends."

"If the Human Race doesn’t form an alliance, I’m afraid we’ll be devoured one by one."

"The next few years might be very chaotic. Is this information good enough?"

Su Qing nodded. It was acceptable. The information was somewhat useful, and he had heard the name "Demon Court" again.

"Wait a moment, I’ll go get an elixir for you."

Su Qing returned to his room and was back in less than a minute.

[Top Grade Nourishing Yuan Pill (Evolution): Ten times the effect of a Top Grade Nourishing Yuan Pill. Increases a cultivator’s innate cultivation aptitude by ten percent.]

This was the elixir. Su Qing had casually synthesized it using one of his remaining Nourishing Yuan Pills.

"Thanks, Su Qing!" Song Zhining was extremely excited after receiving it.

He ran off as soon as he finished speaking.

Just as Su Qing was about to go back inside, he saw Luo Lanxin come out of the house next to his.

"Senior Brother Su," Luo Lanxin called out, stopping him.

Su Qing tilted his head to look at her. "Junior Sister Luo, what is it?"

"Senior Brother, could I buy one of your Nourishing Yuan Pills?"

Luo Lanxin was curious. ’In my past life, there was a Song Zhining, but he was nothing like this. His achievements now are far too great. And to think Senior Brother Su’s elixirs are in such high demand...’

"Sure. I’ll give you a discount. I have one left; ten thousand Spirit Stones will do."

"Okay, Senior Brother. I’d like to try it."

The effects of the Nourishing Yuan Pill were certainly excellent, but Su Qing had to give a disclaimer: "This elixir is most effective the first time you take it. The effects of subsequent pills will be weaker."

"That’s fine, Senior Brother."

...