Just two years later, Renyu was already at the peak of the third grade, but instead of advancing, he took a step back and cultivated the art he created on his own. It was better to start early with self-created arts because there were likely to be faults, and if you discovered them only later, it would truly be too late.

  Anyways, Renyu had only deduced the early Qi Refining chapter and would most likely spend more time refining it, so he was patient. The art he created had his natal talisman as the core, ensuring a secure foundation.

  Like his talisman, it was an art of water and blood cultivation. As a spell cultivator, he needed a lot of qi for whatever he did. Therefore, one of the characteristics of the art was to enhance and strengthen the dantian to store more qi. The other characteristic naturally had to do with blood, and he thought about it deeply.

  The name and meaning behind a cultivation art are much more important than people might think. Naturally, the highest reserves of water would be found in an ocean, and what danger lurks in oceans? Right—water monsters hiding in the great depths. For this reason, blood would naturally not be mentioned in the name. Monsters in the ocean are hidden and won’t reveal their presence unless they are sure of attacking you!

  After some more thought, Renyu decided on the name ‘Monarch of the Boundless Ocean’. A monarch naturally has servants, and it also connected to the ‘Monarch of Lifeblood’, the backside of his natal talisman.

  On this day, just after selling a large batch of talismans, Renyu sat down in his inn room, which he hadn’t changed yet. He began to switch his cultivation art to the ‘Monarch of the Boundless Ocean’ Cultivation Art. It wasn’t easy at all; he had to start step by step. Leaving behind the Water Cultivation Art wasn’t difficult, as it was extremely basic and hadn’t accompanied Renyu for long, but cultivating the new art, which had holes in it, was more challenging.

  He was glad he decided to do so now instead of later, as he was able to remove all the small remaining flaws in the art. It took him three full months to finally succeed. When he looked at his dantian, he saw how it had grown much larger, resembling an ocean, at least visually. Meanwhile, some lifeblood drops that were usually stored in his natal talisman moved about in the sea of water. Occasionally, you could see the shadow of a water creature emerging from them.

  ‘With this, people can’t call me demonic even if I act with blood. It would actually be great if the lifeblood transformed into a true blood creature. By then, it could consume the blood of others to strengthen itself. Blood of the same kind would be the best, while human blood is the second best. In the future, when I hunt some humans, I will have to keep it quiet.’

  With these thoughts, Renyu went back to working for a full year, focusing on the Water Shield and Water Blade spells. He was close to perfecting these two. With his talent, Water Ball was already perfected, and he was sure that once he perfected all of them, the success rate for all would be 50%, and the profit he generated would be huge.

  But instead of achieving this, there were issues with his cultivation art throughout the year as he cultivated. They were all minor, and he thought he had resolved them, but with each little progress, more issues arose. Fortunately, he had great comprehension and only needed a few days each time a new issue came up, but it still delayed him greatly.

  In the end, he even discovered something quite disappointing.

  ‘The quality of lifeblood is too low! How can this be?!’ he contemplated as he looked into his dantian. Even after a whole year, the blood phantom hadn’t formed, even after injections of lifeblood. As he contemplated, Renyu suddenly remembered a sentence in a classic he had read: “Only ten drops of lifeblood can be condensed from any creature.”

  He had always thought that the author wrote about an inferior way of condensing lifeblood, but it seemed that this was the true way! This also explained why the blood phantoms couldn’t form—they were not only made of extremely low-grade lifeblood, but worse still, Renyu had forgotten that the blood he bought was so cheap and low-quality that it might have been made from different monsters, not a single one.

  ‘It’s time to hunt,’ he thought to himself. He took all his finished talismans, selected one from each type he would sell, then went to the stall area and used a communication talisman to inform his repeat customer that he was selling again. They had exchanged talismans long ago; it did cost a bit of fortune, but the time saved for the young man was worth the investment.

  It didn’t take long before he arrived at the stall. Now, he looked like a sturdy and handsome young man, nearly in his twenties. His figure hadn’t changed much, but the temperament around him was colder and full of bloodthirst.

  The young man looked at the stall and frowned. “Why are there only three?” Over the years, he had begun to talk more and wasn’t so cold to Renyu, at least.

  “Little Huo, why are you complaining? I’ve told you repeatedly that when you see someone you know, you have to first greet them nicely before you talk about what you want to talk about. It’s fine if you skip the small talk, but you have to at least greet them!” Renyu said disapprovingly.

  The corner of Yu Huo’s eye twitched. He greatly disliked being called like that by someone younger than him, but over the years, he had become used to it and didn’t say anything anymore. If he did, he wouldn’t get the talismans, and this had actually happened before. At that time, he had nearly died because he was stubborn. From then on, he just accepted the situation.

  But there was some truth to Renyu’s teachings, so he let out a hidden sigh, cupped his hands, and said with some strain, “Greetings, Fellow Daoist Shui!”

  Renyu smiled and waved his hand. “Why are you being so formal? We’ve known each other for so long; you can call me Renyu.”

  Yu Huo murmured to himself, “You always say that, but I still have to greet you.”

  He thought he wasn’t heard, or perhaps he knew he was heard and didn’t care, but Renyu still scolded him. “Look at you! Naturally, I would reply like that. It’s fine if you don’t have the greatest respect for me, but what if you encounter someone of high standing? They might kill you just because of your disrespectful behavior!”

  He said a few more words before reining himself in. “Alright, let’s get down to business. I would like to go out hunting in the Great Lake. Do you want to come together?”

  Huo was greatly surprised. “Hunting? You? You’ve never left the city walls, as far as I know. Why would you want to go out hunting?”

  “Isn’t it obvious? To get some materials. I’ve been working with lowly materials this whole time solely because I didn’t have the strength or capital to ensure my safety. Now that I do, I will naturally go out hunting. The shops barely sell high-quality things, and if you want them fresh, you have to pay extra. Do I look like a wealthy merchant, or why are they so greedy?”

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  Huo was about to speak again but was interrupted by Renyu. “Alright, don’t say anymore. I know the dangers, and I have the strength. How do you think I can make these talismans? By sitting in my room all day playing with a pen?” This was actually nearly exactly how Renyu created talismans, but he did have fighting experience.

  Being invaded and having to fight for his life and the clan had done wonders for his battle awareness. In his imaginary second life, he had also taken missions where he hunted monsters for the clan, so he wasn’t new to hunting.

  After some thought, Yu Huo accepted. “You can come with me, but you’ll be responsible for the talismans and spells.”

  Renyu naturally smiled, packed up his stall, and followed Huo to the northern gate. The north was a harbor for the Great Lake. Over time, Renyu had learned that the city he lived in was actually just the outer city, like a welcoming city for lower cultivators. Only Qi Refining and Foundation Building cultivators lived here, and at most, Core Formation cultivators would pass through occasionally. The real city was an island on the Great Lake.

  Entry was theoretically allowed for anyone, but reaching the inner city from the outer city through a ferry would cost quite a few spirit stones, while reaching it on your own was outrageously dangerous.

  There might be no monsters as high as the Mystique Awakening stage, and Core Formation monsters were probably also absent, but everything below basically swam around and became a hunting ground. If you accidentally missed the inner city and kept driving north, you might very well end up in monster territory.

  Only encountering a Mystique Awakening monster would be the blessings of heaven. Far north were the territories of monsters greater than any faction in this barren northern territory of humanity.

  Renyu entered a small boat in the corner of the harbor with Huo. Apparently, it was his boat, which he had used for quite a long time. Meanwhile, Renyu contemplated the situation of this world.

  ‘It’s really interesting how this world isn’t ruled by humanity at all,’ he thought. This world is immensely large, and all the territory occupied by humanity is less than a tenth of it. The rest is split between different monster races. But, not to mention other monster races, even the human race has several factions that don’t align well with each other.

  The three main factions are the ‘Righteous,’ though the term shouldn’t be taken at face value. It’s more accurate to call them ‘Traditional,’ mainly because they rarely change their ways, and it’s the basic path to take when creating a faction in human territory.

  The opposing faction, which is also the second largest, is the ‘Demonic.’ These are cultivators who don’t care for anything besides their own goals. They often use drastic means and are thereby hated by the victims’ factions.

  Then there are the ‘Rogues.’ They are factionless people who normally start cultivating individually. Normally, they don’t go far in their path. The less successful give up and often join the Demonic to reach their goals in a different way, while the successful give up their path just a bit later and basically join the Righteous faction by following traditional means to create their foundation in the world. Rarely is there a true ‘Rogue’ cultivator.

  Naturally, the three factions ally themselves together as humans.

  It’s not that they like each other—no, the highest and strongest humans probably hate each other to the core and would much rather kill one another. But reaching those heights isn’t a matter of resources, talent, or even luck. No, you need a lot more, and there is no key to reaching it. You either do it or you don’t; it’s a matter beyond even fate. Obviously, humans would rather fight with the enemy than split fully into factions and lose in the fight against monsters.

  The territory Renyu is in is named the ‘Central Plains.’ This name was not decided by humans.

  Geographically, it isn’t in the center either. No, this term is used because it has some of the richest resources, and thereby every faction has a seat here. The north, east, and south are occupied by large monster races, while the west is more of a free-for-all territory for the other smaller factions because it is the most barren of the four. The humans occupy the northwest, and this Great Lake is the northernmost territory controlled by the human race.

  The Central Plains are one of the places where the three factions are the most harmonious, even though it’s the greatest battlefield. There are several agreements between the top powers that forbid anyone from greatly harming the human territories. It’s not only something ‘against’ the Demonic—no, the Righteous are very good at using excuses to do many bad things.

  This has caused the Central Plains to be more of a battle-ridden world for the humans. The rear is occupied by the Righteous, with the job of providing resources and personnel. The border is managed by the Righteous but quantitatively dominated by Rogues, while the Demonic sneak into enemy territory, causing issues and robbing whatever they can.

  Not to mention the west, even the north, which borders the humans, is greatly annoyed and bothered by the humans. There is never great chaos, but all the small battlefields are like a huge debuff for all enemies of humanity in the Central Plains. It’s like bugs annoying you while you fight; there is no great difference, but only a split second of losing attention will have your head beheaded.

  In most cases, those strong powers could just push the humans fully out of the Central Plains, but the humans also have backers. They would have to fight the enemies in their caliber on their own, but when it comes to larger monster tribes of the north, the east would show up and attack the north when they are occupied with fighting humans.

  Over time, the eastern tribes developed a great relationship with the humans, and exchanges happened. The main reason was that they never felt threatened by humanity, but they were very useful. It’s like hiring a mercenary corps when you have an army; the corps can’t compare, but they can do well on their own. Most trades only do well when both sides think they get more out of it.

  “We’re here.”

  “What?”

  The corner of Huo’s eye twitched as he asked himself, ‘Is he really an old man? He’s so dazedly staring into the distance. His quietness is so much weirder than when he talks.’

  Seeing the look on Huo’s face, Renyu instantly scolded him. “Are you scolding me in your heart? I knew you weren’t any good when you were bargaining with me a lot back in the day, but now I see I was right. I am always right. Alright, this is your farming spot? There’s a lot of movement below; at least you can do something right.”

  “You can feel movement below?”

  ‘Naturally, I can feel movement below. I am the Monarch of the Boundless Ocean, you dunce,’ Renyu thought while he rolled his eyes. He stood up from the boat, walked out leisurely, and stepped onto the water, taking a few steps to confirm his ability to do so.

  ‘There have been so many things in the past that proved this is an actual cultivation world, but doing something deemed impossible in my past life is still the biggest proof. After all, there is probably a way to create a water shield or water blades, not to mention water balls.’

  After some amusing thoughts, Renyu straightened his arm and pointed it downward. Then, his hand made a claw-like motion, and he pulled his hand with immense power before instantly jumping on the water and returning to the boat.

  Huo looked at him questioningly, so Renyu just waved his hand and explained, “I baited three early Qi-stage fish-like monsters. This is my contribution; now it’s your turn.”

  This was, as it would be to anyone, a shock for Yu Huo. He couldn’t comprehend how this was possible so quickly with so little movement, but he just believed Renyu, tapped the spatial storage bag on his side, and summoned a rolled-up whip. Then, he stood ready to fight.

  ‘What a good child. He isn’t only obedient but also doesn’t fight with a sword but an unconventional weapon like a whip.’ With this thought, Renyu just flicked his finger, and then the monsters were actually pulled. Before, it was just a show to see how Huo would react. He simply willed his talisman to pull the blood in his direction to make the sea monsters aware of his presence; there was no more he could do.

  Soon, even Huo could feel the movement below and was now sure that Renyu had real powers. He loosened his grip around the rolled-up whip and was ready to fight the moment anything showed up in his vision.

  He didn’t need to wait long. Just ten seconds later, one monster popped up after the other. “They’re sharks—just normal sharks that are a bit stronger than mortal creatures. Do your best; I’ll ensure our safety.”

  In actuality, early Qi-stage cultivators were infinitely close to mortals, and the strongest ‘martial artist’ could easily fight inexperienced cultivators and kill them with no loss. A usual shark was weaker than a real martial artist, while a cultivator-shark was basically just as strong as an experienced martial artist. The difference was minimal.