Chapter 124: Everything is Ready

Calming his mind, Li Changsheng continued to look at the system panel.

[This battle solidified your reputation in the Cangqing Realm. Even the South Li Empire has to pay tribute to you annually.]

[You spend your days in seclusion, diligently cultivating.]

[At the age of 179, you can no longer suppress your cultivation and step into the Human Immortal realm.]

[You begin searching for immortal jade throughout the realm and obtain 130 pieces from the South Li imperial family.]

[You follow the same approach and scour the Cangqing Realm for more immortal jade. However, other sects have little to offer, with less than ten pieces in total. You feel disheartened.]

[At the age of 185, you arrive at the Void Sanctuary and seek out Elder Gu, asking him for a way to leave the Cangqing Realm.]

[Elder Gu opens a portal to the Dragon's Remnant Illusory Realm for you, and you enter it.]

[Inside the Dragon's Remnant Illusory Realm, you compete for opportunities with prodigies from countless worlds.]

[At the age of 190, while competing with Han Zhi, a prodigy from the Glazed Great World, for the Dragon Transformation Grass, you severely injure Han Zhi. Three months later, you are ambushed by several prodigies from the Glazed Great World, sustaining heavy injuries before escaping.]

[The prodigies from the Glazed Great World relentlessly pursue you. Six months later, they kill you. You die!]

[Simulation ends. You may retain one of the following:]

[Option 1: Cultivation level at the age of 190.]

[Option 2: Cultivation and combat experience at the age of 190.]

"Dragon's Remnant Illusory Realm?"

Li Changsheng frowned slightly. The information provided by the simulator was too limited, touching on a gap in his knowledge.

From the text, it seemed that the Dragon's Remnant Illusory Realm wasn't exclusive to the Cangqing Realm—people from other worlds could also enter. The Glazed Great World was one of the ten major Great Worlds of the lower realms, home to countless strong cultivators, far beyond what the Cangqing Realm, a Mid-Tier World, could compare to.

Moreover, the prodigies from the Glazed Great World seemed to be almost as strong as him.

"It's better to first reach the peak of the ninth stage of the Divine Demon Nine Transformations and cultivate the Heavenly Vault Physique before seeking out Elder Gu for more information," Li Changsheng murmured to himself.

Looking at the two options on the system panel, Li Changsheng immediately dismissed the first option. Breaking through to the Human Immortal level wouldn't significantly boost his combat strength, and during the simulation, he had scoured the entire Cangqing Realm, only managing to obtain a little over one hundred pieces of immortal jade from the South Li Empire. He wasn't even sure if it would be enough for a single simulation after his breakthrough.

"Choose option two!"

There was no noticeable change, except for the addition of some combat experience.

"I'll save the remaining ten or so simulation opportunities for now. After I deal with the Crown Prince's residence, I'll loot more spirit stones and cultivation techniques, then use them to prepare for my breakthrough to the Human Immortal level!"

With this in mind, Li Changsheng immediately sought out Mo Chengkong and instructed him to have all talisman crafters and formation masters of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion at the seventh tier and above focus on crafting high-tier defensive formation arrays and talismans. The Hundred Herbs Pavilion was now incredibly wealthy, and even if Li Changsheng used all the spirit stones for recharging, the pavilion would still have no shortage of materials.

In the Hundred Herbs Pavilion, Li Changsheng was now akin to a god.

With a single command, although no one knew why so many defensive formation arrays and talismans were needed, the entire Hundred Herbs Pavilion sprang into action.

Li Changsheng didn't commission anyone to craft defensive artifacts, mainly because he had obtained two quasi-immortal-grade defensive treasures during the recent battle. Although the Hundred Herbs Pavilion had two eighth-tier artifact forgers, they were incapable of crafting quasi-immortal-grade defensive treasures.

Li Changsheng didn't idle either. He began crafting ninth-tier defensive formation arrays himself.

Before entering seclusion, Li Changsheng announced that he would be in seclusion for some time. All the factions that had attacked the Hundred Herbs Pavilion must come to Pearl City to apologize. Otherwise, once he emerged from seclusion, he would personally visit them!

This announcement caused an uproar throughout the Cangqing Realm.

Especially those factions that had already suffered heavy losses and were teetering on the brink of collapse, they feared that this was just a ploy to gather and eliminate them all at once. But at the same time, they were terrified of not going to Pearl City, as they would be doomed once Li Changsheng emerged.

Initially, some people secretly contacted these factions, hoping for a last-ditch effort.

But the recent battle had already shattered the courage of many to oppose the Hundred Herbs Pavilion. That mysterious Li Changsheng was simply too powerful. Even those major sects with connections to the immortal realm didn't dare to provoke the Hundred Herbs Pavilion.

As long as that figure in green robes remained in the Cangqing Realm, they wouldn't dare to act against the Hundred Herbs Pavilion.

In the end, the leaders of dozens of factions arrived with countless precious spiritual treasures to offer their apologies.

These past few days, Pearl City had been bustling with activity.

Apart from the factions coming to apologize, there were also those who wanted to establish connections with the Hundred Herbs Pavilion, all of whom came to Pearl City.

Song Xiu also came to Pearl City with his father. Although their Beast Taming Sect hadn't attacked the headquarters in Pearl City, they had intercepted some of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion's assets when the latter withdrew from Beast Taming City.

Now, they not only brought back the intercepted items but also brought materials worth tens of millions of spirit stones to apologize.

Although their Beast Taming Sect had an ancestor who had ascended to the immortal realm, they could only contact him once every few thousand years. Moreover, for an immortal to descend to the mortal realm, they had to pay a great price, and success wasn't guaranteed. If Li Changsheng didn't forgive the Beast Taming Sect, they would be in grave danger.

"Song Xiu, you are friends with Senior Li. Later, you will be the one to go," the leader of the Beast Taming Sect, a powerhouse at the half-step Human Immortal level, whispered to Song Xiu.

Song Xiu's face flushed red, but in the end, he could only sigh and agree.

Although he felt too ashamed to face Li Changsheng, the Beast Taming Sect was the place where he was born and raised.

However, it turned out they had overthought things.

Li Changsheng's order was simply to get these factions to cough up more valuable treasures. He needed more spirit stones to push the Divine Demon Nine Transformations to the peak of the ninth stage.

After these people arrived in Pearl City, they didn't even get to see Li Changsheng, who was in seclusion.

Throughout the process, Mo Chengkong was the one who met with these people. Before entering seclusion, Li Changsheng had instructed Mo Chengkong to extort as much as he could from them.

Mo Chengkong used his years of experience in business to the fullest, first eliminating a few of the most notorious factions to intimidate the others, then negotiating reparations with the remaining factions.

These factions, already severely weakened, had nearly 60% of their spirit stones and spiritual treasures confiscated by Mo Chengkong, leaving them with just enough resources to maintain a semblance of dignity.

Moreover, having offended the Hundred Herbs Pavilion, even though the latter publicly stated they wouldn't pursue the matter further, no one knew if they would seek retribution later. No one dared to associate with these factions.

The inevitable decline of these offending factions was now unavoidable.

Six months later.

Li Changsheng opened his eyes in his cave abode.

Looking at the three storage bags filled with defensive talismans and the nine ninth-tier defensive formation arrays he had crafted himself, he couldn't help but smile. These talismans were one-time use items, worth tens of billions of spirit stones.

Li Changsheng looked in the direction of the capital, a cold smile on his face as he murmured:

"I spent a fortune on spirit stones to block that one strike."

"I hope the Crown Prince's residence has something good to offer!"