Yihui Stockade

"Yagu, you've suffered so much hardship. Bitterness has finally turned to sweetness, and receiving the Witch God's favor and meeting the Shamanic God's envoy is what you deserve. Follow him, and never come back." Looking out the empty window with a hollow gaze, the old man murmured toward the desolate glow of the setting sun. ... Yihui Stockade. It was the largest and most powerful stockade in the region, as well as the only one with immortal cultivators. It was an undisputed overlord, holding absolute power over life and death. Yihui Stockade even possessed an elderly priest at the Foundation Establishment stage, whose status could not be underestimated across the entire Bear Mountain region. The stockade stood at the foot of an imposing mountain covered in verdant jungle. Below the mountain lay a vast lake connected to the largest tributary of the Qingyi River. The lake's surface was smooth as a mirror and exceptionally clear, like an eye of the earth. Yihui Stockade was built around the lake's southern shore. A continuous sprawl of various wooden and bamboo buildings was far more luxurious than the stilt houses of Qianhu Stockade. The people of the stockade lived in affluence; sheltered by immortal cultivators, they could be considered the elite among mortals. At nightfall. The stockade was brightly lit. Many people—both adults and children—were playing along the shore or splashing about in the water. None of them noticed a figure appear soundlessly right in the center of the lake. The strongest expert in Yihui Stockade was merely in Foundation Establishment. Qin Sang could have swaggered right in without worry, easily wiping out every cultivator in the stockade with a wave of his hand. Yet he did not do so. As the saying went, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. To save a person, one had to strengthen their will first. Floating above the lake's center, Qin Sang unfurled his spiritual sense without restraint. The next moment, Qin Sang's eyes brightened. He had finally found Yagu. She and the other "Holy Maidens" were confined within a wooden building on the southern shore of the lake. From the look of it, she had not suffered. The building was partitioned into many rooms, each Holy Maiden having a room of her own. Inside each room were two stout women, acting as guards. Outside the building's entrance, a squad of highly skilled guards stood watch; the girls had no chance of escaping whatsoever. The rooms of these Holy Maidens were all exceptionally lavish, with incense burning within, exuding a peculiar fragrance. At this moment, Yagu was sitting by the bed, staring blankly at the Qingfu coin in her hand. The two stout women glared like fierce beasts, their eyes glued to Yagu as if terrified she might flee. This came as a surprise to Qin Sang. He had assumed that Yagu either lost the Qingfu coin or had it confiscated by the priests of Yihui Stockade. Yet it was still in her hands—so why hadn't she broken it to call for help? Seeing that Yagu had not come to harm, Qin Sang was no longer in a hurry. He had found no cultivators in the stockade, nor was there anything unusual in the depths of the lake. Looking toward the mountain summit, Qin Sang vanished into thin air. After traversing several mountain ridges in succession, he found a completely different world tucked away deep within the mountains. Amidst verdant peaks, a waterfall tumbled down a cliff face into a small lake below, around which stood several exceedingly elegant bamboo pavilions. The spiritual energy here was quite dense, no worse than that of the dark-winged eagle's cave dwelling—a blessed land immortal cultivators dreamed of. No wonder there were no priests down below; they were all here. "They certainly know how to enjoy themselves!" Qin Sang cast a cold glance at the bamboo buildings. He easily saw right through the depths of the Yihui Stockade priests inside, while they remained completely oblivious to the world outside. In one bamboo building, two young men were lazily drinking wine. Their faces were tattooed with strange, multicolored patterns that denoted the esteemed status of priests. One of them had a slick, oily appearance. Gulping down mouthfuls of wine, he sighed dolefully, "Alas, every Witch God Festival, the Old Ancestor refuses to let us out, terrified we might ruin the Holy Maidens. These girls are the most spirited maidens selected from each stockade—tender and delectable, perfumed with exotic incense, and fed spiritual items to make them as pure as can be. Instead of us enjoying them, they're fed to the snakes. What a tragic waste of good things!" The other, appearing slightly more prudent, cautioned, "Watch your mouth! If the Old Ancestor hears you, he'll surely punish you harshly again. We are the Shamanic God's envoys—what kind of girl could we not have? Insect gu is our very foundation. Extracting the purest yin qi from these girls to refine Huahong Pills to feed our winged huis allows us to advance our insect gu. Is your own pleasure more important, or is our natal insect gu?" "Fine, fine..." The slick youth waved his hand impatiently. "Do you think I'm a fool who doesn't understand anything? Cultivating so bitterly when the chances of reaching Foundation Establishment are so bleak, yet we have to stay confined here all the time without any fun. Just thinking about it irks me. I'd rather be a stockade master living carefree and untamed!" The slick youth took a sip of wine and sighed, "Too bad that the primary ingredient for the Huahong Pill, Redleaf Grass, can only be harvested a few stalks a year, so we can't refine many. Otherwise, we could just plunder all the young girls from those stockades and refine them into pills to feed our little darlings. Maybe that would push them straight to the second metamorphosis, and we wouldn't have to work this hard!" As he spoke, the slick youth spread his palm. In his hand lay a peculiar winged snake. The bizarre serpent was completely snow-white, slender, and about as long as the slick youth's finger, but its tongue and eyes were vivid crimson, appearing exceptionally sinister. This was a spirit insect known as the winged hui, and the natal insect gu of Yihui Stockade's priests. The slick youth dripped a drop of spiritual wine onto his palm. The winged hui was very docile, lapping up the wine. The other youth shook his head and laughed softly. "And what good would it do for your natal insect gu to undergo metamorphosis? If your own cultivation doesn't rise to match, aren't you afraid of the insect gu turning on you?" ... Upon seeing the name Yihui Stockade, Qin Sang had already guessed as much: the priests' natal insect gu was most likely this creature. The winged hui favored feeding on yin qi and excelled at concealment. Within its body, it could produce a potent yin poison of extreme toxicity. Those afflicted would feel freezing cold throughout their bodies, their internal spiritual power would become sluggish, and their combat strength would be severely impaired. Rearing such a spirit insect made for quite an effective ambushing and poisoning method. The winged hui couldn't make it onto the Exotic Insect Registry because it possessed the potential for only three metamorphoses, but it ranked 473rd on the Witch Insect Registry, even higher than the Ghosthead Bee. In a place like Yihui Stockade, where generations of priests chose the same kind of natal insect gu, there had to be a unique method of nurturing them; the Huahong Pill mentioned by these two was precisely that sort of thing. ... Red candles burned in the room. Yagu kept staring at the Qingfu coin, barely blinking for long stretches, lost in thought. Suddenly, both stout women at the door collapsed unconscious to the floor at the same time. Startled, Yagu hastily got to her feet, only to discover a person standing beside the bed at some unknown point, giving her quite a fright. "One-armed Brother, your injuries are healed..." Yagu recognized Qin Sang at a glance. Starting from her eyes, a radiant, touching smile bloomed across her face in an instant. Yet right after, her gaze dimmed, and urgent panic took over her expression. "One-armed Brother, you have to leave quickly! Don't worry about me! Yihui Stockade has Shamanic God envoys too..." "Silly girl, were you afraid I couldn't beat the priests of Yihui Stockade and would be dragged down by you, which is why you didn't call me for help?" Qin Sang gave a soft sigh. "Did you forget? I told you before: I am very strong." Yagu was still deeply uneasy. "But Yihui Stockade has so many Shamanic God envoys..." "So what if there are many? They're all trash! They've harmed you—do you have the courage to strike them down with a sword?" Holding the Cold Metal sword reversed, Qin Sang presented the hilt to Yagu.