Apricot Yellow Cottage.
When Su Yi returned from outside the city, he saw an unexpected person already waiting there.
Lord Fu Shan!
"Mr. Su."
Fu Shan smiled and greeted him, "Fu has come uninvited, I hope you don't mind."
This time, he, like Xiao Tianque and Zi Jin, addressed Su Yi as "Mr."
It was a form of respect.
It also meant that in Fu Shan's heart, he no longer treated Su Yi as a young person.
Su Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Lord Fu, have you encountered an unresolved issue?"
"I knew I couldn't hide it from you."
Fu Shan sighed deeply, a touch of worry appearing between his brows. "I have an unpleasant request, hoping that Mr. Su can help."
"Tell me about it."
Su Yi nodded.
Fu Shan organized his thoughts and said, "In three days, the Dragon Gate Banquet will begin. Originally, everything was under my control. But last night, I received a letter from Li Jianyu, the Lord of Luoyun City."
"Li Jianyu suggested in the letter that the ownership of 'Lingzhu Island' for the next ten years should be determined at this Dragon Gate Banquet."
"If a young person from our Guangling City wins first place in the competition, Lingzhu Island will be included in the territory of Guangling City, under the control of the City Lord's Mansion, for a period of ten years."
"Otherwise, Lingzhu Island will be controlled by Luoyun City."
Su Yi vaguely understood and asked, "Is Lingzhu Island particularly special?"
"Exactly."
Fu Shan explained, "This island is located in the heart of the Dacang River, thirty miles away from Guangling City. It's a small island in the river."
"It's only thirty zhang in size, but it is a gathering place of spiritual energy. There is a ten-zhang bamboo forest on the island called 'Green Jade Spiritual Bamboo.'"
"These bamboo stalks are jade-like in color, lustrous and clear, and they are treasures in themselves. The roots, shoots, and leaves are all like spiritual medicines, containing abundant green wood spiritual energy."
"And mature bamboo is an extremely precious spiritual material, comparable to divine weapons when used for refining."
"In the past, Lingzhu Island was alternately managed by Guangling City and Luoyun City, rotating every three years."
"But ever since Li Jianyu became the Lord of Luoyun City two years ago, he tore up the previous rules and no longer recognizes any of it, intending to completely control Lingzhu Island in his hands."
"In the past two years, I have had numerous conflicts with him over Lingzhu Island, and the contradictions have escalated. If we don't resolve it soon, it's inevitable that a fierce battle will break out."
Speaking of this, Fu Shan smiled bitterly.
Su Yi said, "So you mean he proposed to resolve this matter at the Dragon Gate Banquet, which aligns with your intentions?"
Fu Shan sighed, "If I had known about this suggestion a few days ago, I would have readily agreed. But unfortunately, he only informed me of these matters last night, which makes it difficult."
"Why is that?" Su Yi raised an eyebrow.
"At the Dragon Gate Banquet, any young warrior under the age of eighteen is eligible to participate. If I had known the news earlier, I would have made preparations and invited some powerful individuals to participate."
Fu Shan patiently explained, "But now time is running out, and I no longer have the opportunity to prepare. On the other hand, Li Jianyu, since he proposed this suggestion, must have already planned everything and is confident in his position."
At this point, Su Yi nodded and said, "Li Jianyu is quite cunning."
Fu Shan said coldly, "That old fox is sly and ruthless. He never engages in battles without certainty, and this time is no exception. I have learned that he has already arranged for a young genius named 'Mo Tianling' to participate."
"This Mo Tianling is from the first clan of Luoyun City, the Mo family. He is eighteen years old and has reached the Blood Shifting Realm's Great Perfection. He spent two years cultivating in the inner sect of the Qinghe Sword Sect."
"Later, he left Yunhe County and joined the 'Lord Yunlight's' Red Scale Army, where he experienced more than a year of battles on the battlefield, accustomed to life and death and bloodshed, and has achieved numerous military merits."
"This kind of ruthless character is not comparable to those academy disciples who have never seen bloodshed."
As he spoke, Fu Shan was full of worry, his brows furrowed.
"So, it's him."
Su Yi vaguely felt a sense of familiarity and quickly remembered.
During his third year of cultivation in the Qinghe Sword Sect, Mo Tianling was already an inner sect disciple.
This person had a cold and merciless temperament, and he cruelly severed the right arm of a fellow disciple during a martial battle, which angered the high-ranking figures of the sect and led to his direct expulsion from the Qinghe Sword Sect.
Su Yi didn't expect to hear news of this person after such a long time.
"Mr. Su, I also know that it's a bit excessive to ask someone like you to participate in the competition, but I really have no other choice. If you don't agree, it's fine, I'll think of other ways."
Seeing Su Yi's silence, Fu Shan couldn't help but feel anxious and uneasy.
Initially, Fu Shan hadn't thought of asking for Su Yi's help.
It was only later, when Nie Beihu reminded him, that he suddenly remembered that Mr. Su, who was respected like a deity by Princess Lingyao, was only seventeen years old!
At this age, he could certainly participate in the Dragon Gate Banquet.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally mustered up the courage to seek his assistance.
Of course, he didn't expect someone of Su Yi's status to readily agree. He was just trying his luck.
Suddenly, Su Yi said, "I heard that Elder Zhou Huaiqiu and Ni Hao from the Qinghe Sword Sect are also present. Why don't you ask Ni Hao for help?"
Fu Shan smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Firstly, I have no relationship with Zhou Huaiqiu. Secondly, Zhou Huaiqiu and Ni Hao have been staying at the Li family's residence these days."
"And as Mr. Su knows, due to my attitude at the birthday banquet of the Old Lady Wen, Li Tianhan was quite displeased, so..."
Su Yi nodded. "I understand. Well then, when the Dragon Gate Banquet begins, I'll also pay a visit."
No matter what, Fu Shan had helped him a lot back at the Ju Xian Tower. Even though Fu Shan was acting on orders at the time, Su Yi couldn't just ignore his request.
Now that the other party had come seeking his help, he couldn't stand by idly.
The opponent might not be worth his attention, but it would be good to go and see the scenery of the river and the dragon-like lights.
Fu Shan was overjoyed and politely smiled. "With Mr. Su's presence, the overall situation is certain! Fu Shan has no worries anymore!"
Fu Shan soon bid farewell and left.
Su Yi returned to his room, took off his clothes, and immersed himself in the wooden tub prepared for medicinal bathing.
For him, agreeing to participate in the Dragon Gate Banquet was more important for his cultivation.
In recent days, Huang Qianjun had been delivering a pot of bone broth brewed with medicinal herbs every morning.
Combined with the fifty spiritual stones available for cultivation, Su Yi's progress in cultivation was astonishing.
Just last night, he had completely refined the "Refining Tendons" stage to the Great Perfection. His tendons were like coiling dragons, containing terrifying explosive power within their flexibility.
If it were him now facing Wu Ruoqiu at the "Gathering Qi Realm - Connecting Apertures" stage, he could easily kill her.
"As expected, as I begin 'Refining Bones,' ordinary herbs have little effect..."
Soon, Su Yi furrowed his brows. He stood up from the wooden tub, revealing his lean and tall figure, with muscles distinct and his fair skin resembling jade.
His bones were not bulky, but every inch of his skin, flesh, and tendons harbored a strength that surpassed other warriors.
After wiping his body and dressing himself, Su Yi sat cross-legged on the bed, holding a spiritual stone in each hand.
"Refining Bones" was the final stage of the Blood Shifting Realm.
Reaching this stage was far more difficult to cultivate than "Refining Tendons," with the core challenge being to refine the bones to the extent of "frost-like bone marrow" which was exceedingly difficult!
Most martial practitioners in the Great Zhou Dynasty would spend their entire lives trapped in this stage, unable to achieve higher breakthroughs.
Like the city of Guangling.
There are countless martial practitioners in the Blood Shifting Realm, but there are only a handful of individuals in the Gathering Qi Realm. The reason is that "Refining Bones" is too difficult, like a great barrier that hinders their breakthrough into higher realms.
For Su Yi, the challenge lies not in refining bones but in obtaining cultivation resources.
In the past, he could rely on ordinary medicinal herbs for cultivation.
But now, ordinary herbs were completely useless.
He could only use spiritual medicine, spiritual stones, or cultivate in places with dense spiritual energy!
However, in the Great Zhou Dynasty, such resources were extremely scarce.
"I still have more than thirty first-grade spiritual stones in hand. Without the assistance of spiritual medicine, it will cost me five stones for daily cultivation..."
"This is not a sustainable approach. Perhaps I should consider leaving Guangling City."
As Su Yi cultivated, he pondered over these thoughts.
The Great Zhou Dynasty had vast territories, divided into "Six Provinces and Thirty-Six Prefectures."
Each province covered six prefectures, and each prefecture had several cities.
For example, Yunhe Prefecture was one of the six prefectures under Gun Province and had nineteen cities.
Guangling City was just one of them.
On the territorial map of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Guangling City could only be considered a remote and secluded small city.
Several years ago, Su Yi chose to come to Yunhe Prefecture and join the Qinghe Sword Sect precisely because of its remote location, far away from the capital city, Yujing.
By doing so, he could escape the influence of the Su family in Yujing.
However, he did not expect that when the day came when he lost his cultivation, the power of the Su family in Yujing would find him in the shortest time possible!
Therefore, after awakening his memories from his previous life, Su Yi had already made a decision:
To leave Guangling City only when he reached the peak of the Blood Shifting Realm.
By doing so, even if he encountered some troublesome situations after leaving, he would have the power to deal with them.
But now the situation was different.
Guangling City was ultimately just a remote city with extremely scarce cultivation resources.
If he wanted to continue cultivating, he had to consider going to a more abundant place.
For example, Yunhe Prefecture City.
Otherwise, it would be like a skilled woman without rice to cook with.
"The matter of leaving is not urgent. Regardless, I must visit YunCang Mountain before leaving."
Su Yi didn't forget that on the Ghost Mother Ridge, there was a Six Yin Corpse, Six Yin Grass, and Extreme Yang Flower.
There was also a high possibility of a fragment of Yin Sha Spiritual Vein buried there!
"Hmm, it is said that Ghost Mother Ridge has always been a place where ghosts appear. When the time comes, I can take Qing Wan with me."
Su Yi remembered Qing Wan in the Soul Nurturing Gourd, and his eyebrows raised slightly.
This girl has a deep connection with spiritual fate!
Whether it's the Yin Sha Spiritual Vein or the Six Yin Grass, he didn't need them at his current cultivation level.
But for her, as a low-level Yin soul, they are valuable nourishment!
Three days later.
The highly anticipated "Dragon Gate Banquet" was about to begin tonight.
Su Yi stepped out in the morning light and went to the bank of the Dacang River outside the city, heading towards the mulberry tree forest.
For him, today was not much different from before.