Wei Tu felt a little speechless.
Before coming to the Xiao Kingdom, he had worried that something major might happen here and delay his return. That was why he'd asked the Moon Condensation Palace in advance to swap out Wei Yan's Mortal Shedding Pill.
And now, that concern had come true.
"But, senior, if you really want to go to the Kang Kingdom, it's not impossible." At this moment, the merchant guild manager hesitated briefly, then secretly sent Wei Tu a voice transmission.
"What method?"
Hearing this, Wei Tu's heart stirred.
"Right now, cross-border caravans between the Xiao and Kang Kingdoms have stopped running. But those heading to the Chu Kingdom and Wushan Kingdom are still active. Senior could travel to Chu or Wushan first, then transfer from there to the Kang Kingdom..."
The middle-aged manager explained slowly.
Wushan Kingdom was the fourth inland country alongside Xiao, Kang, and Chu. Its national strength was roughly equal to that of the Kang Kingdom.
"It's just that..." When he got to this part, the manager hesitated again, as if there was more he wanted to say but held back.
"Speak freely."
Wei Tu frowned slightly and waved his hand, signaling the manager not to worry too much.
"Since senior asks, I'll be frank." Hearing this, the middle-aged manager seemed to set aside his concerns. After glancing around carefully, he opened his mouth and said, "Traveling through Chu or Wushan before transferring to Kang is doable, but based on what I've learned, recently those trade routes have been plagued by frequent robberies, hard to contain..."
With that, the manager pointed meaningfully at the nearby bases of several large merchant guilds.
Wei Tu instantly understood. Those so-called 'bandits' on the other routes were most likely cultivators from these major guilds in disguise.
This kind of self-sabotaging move was clearly aimed at putting pressure on Tianyi Sect.
If cultivators like him could take alternate routes, it meant Xiao-Kang trade didn't have to rely solely on their direct corridor.
With bandits now showing up on other routes, these big guilds could jointly pressure Tianyi Sect, making sure the pain was felt and concessions were made.
"Ji Zhang and the Six Desires Sect robbing cross-border caravans didn't really cause huge losses for the big merchant guilds. Now they're using it as an excuse to gang up and pressure Tianyi Sect... looks like they're after something much bigger..." Wei Tu thought silently.
After all, Tianyi Sect wasn't some small sect. It was second only to Shengya Mountain in all of Haizhou.
By normal standards—
Even if Ji Zhang's robberies were harmful, these major merchant guilds operating on Xiao Kingdom soil should still give Tianyi Sect some face. At most, they'd demand reasonable compensation.
They wouldn't go as far as pressuring Tianyi Sect into total submission.
Still, limited by his intelligence sources, Wei Tu had no way of knowing exactly what these guilds were really after.
"Is there any other way to get to the Kang Kingdom?"
Wei Tu asked again.
Last time he was attacked by bandits, he got dragged into trouble with Wang Tianwu and the Fu siblings. Even though he escaped safely afterward, he didn't want to go through anything like that again.
He just wanted a safe return to Kang.
"Aside from transferring through other countries, there's also the black ships. But we at the Wufu Merchant Guild don't know much about them."
The middle-aged manager replied.
Each country had border checkpoints. Besides guarding against invasion, they also imposed tariffs on passing caravans.
Black ships referred to cross-border caravans that deliberately avoided these tariffs.
While the major merchant guilds had banned their caravans from traveling the Xiao-Kang route in order to pressure Tianyi Sect, black ships weren't under their control and thus weren't subject to the same restrictions.
"Black ships?" Wei Tu raised an eyebrow.
At a time like this, the major guilds were even attacking legitimate alternate routes. So those unregulated black ships would clearly be even more vulnerable.
Black ships were no less dangerous.
"Thank you, Manager."
After gathering the intel, Wei Tu gave a polite nod and left the Wufu Merchant Guild's compound.
He planned to first ask around more in White Phoenix Immortal City about the situation with cross-border caravans and black ships. After carefully weighing the risks, he'd decide his next move.
As for crossing the border alone...
Wei Tu wasn't considering that yet.
The dangerous regions along the Xiao-Kang border were far more perilous than the Black Blood Marsh in the Zheng Kingdom.
The border's "Zhaoming Dead Sea" was not only a spiritual void, but the nearby areas were filled with lethal spirit toxins. Even birds and beasts couldn't cross it.
Without a third-tier spirit boat for support, even a Golden Core True Lord crossing this spiritual dead zone would end up poisoned and exhausted.
Of course, if a cultivator could fly into the sky above the clouds, into the realm of the Nine Gangs Heaven, then that would be a different story.
Nine Gangs Heaven—also called the Ninefold Heaven—was filled with all kinds of divine wind currents, hence the name.
It was a high-altitude zone. In the cultivation world, only the magical shields of Nascent Soul ancestors could withstand the brutal wind there. Any other cultivator who accidentally entered would be shredded to nothing in seconds.
Compared to that deadly environment, the Zhaoming Dead Sea on the surface was actually the safer option.
…
Two days later.
Wei Tu heard in White Phoenix Immortal City that a black ship was preparing to head for the Kang Kingdom.
He kept his movements hidden and watched from the shadows, closely observing everything about the ship and its crew.
According to the intel he'd gathered, over the past four years, black ship smuggling had an impressive success rate. Almost none had run into trouble or failed mid-route.
But Wei Tu didn't believe it so easily.
Even regular cross-border trade was risky, with a certain rate of loss and casualties—let alone these black ships that avoided official safe routes.
Sure enough.
Not even two months had passed.
Wei Tu once again saw one of the crew members he'd previously observed board this very black ship.
—Traveling from Liaozhou in Haizhou to the Kang Kingdom on an Ascending Cloud Flying Boat would take at least eight months round-trip.
A black ship wasn't anywhere near that level. There was no way it could go and come back safely in under two months.
"Maybe the earlier black ships were doing legit trade," Wei Tu narrowed his eyes, "but now, these black ships have only one service left—slaughtering passengers…"
By slaughtering, he meant it literally—killing the clients.
After all, making honest money came with risks and lower profit. Killing was much easier and more profitable.
Most black ships were merchants on the dock, bandits on the sea.
'I wonder when Tianyi Sect will give in? When will normal trade between the Xiao and Kang Kingdoms resume?' Wei Tu glanced in the direction of Tianyi Sect.
Even as a foreign cultivator, he could feel the suffocating pressure now that the major guilds had joined forces.
Let alone those in other industries who relied on cross-border commerce to survive.
All that anger and frustration would end up aimed squarely at Tianyi Sect.
Such an enormous weight, even for a top-tier sect like Tianyi, probably wouldn't be bearable for long.
It was only a matter of time before they caved.
'Since… I can't leave right now, I might as well stay a while longer and do what I said I'd do before parting from Fu Linglong—travel around the Xiao Kingdom…'
Wei Tu thought casually.
Earlier, he'd been in a rush to return to the Kang Kingdom because he didn't want his loved ones to worry if he was away too long.
But worry was just worry.
If he rushed back recklessly and something went wrong along the way… that was the last thing those who cared about him would want.
Before coming to the Xiao Kingdom, Wei Tu had already prepared himself to possibly not return to the Kang Kingdom for decades.
Decades sounded long, but to a Golden Core True Lord, it was just a blink of time.
But—
Just as Wei Tu was about to leave White Phoenix Immortal City, he spotted someone familiar.
"Yu Wencheng?"
Wei Tu was a bit surprised.
He hadn't expected to see Yu Wencheng here—the same Yu Wencheng who fled from the Ascending Cloud Flying Boat four years ago.
But after thinking for a moment, it actually made sense that Yu Wencheng would show up in White Phoenix Immortal City.
It was the largest marketplace in Haizhou and the main starting point for cross-border caravans between Xiao and Kang. Traveling from elsewhere in the Xiao Kingdom to the Kang Kingdom vian Ascending Cloud Flying Boat wasn't impossible, but it usually involved long waits. This place, as the primary hub, was far more convenient.
'I wonder why Yu Wencheng came to the Xiao Kingdom?' Wei Tu rubbed his chin, thinking.
He was already enemies with the She Ri Tribe and Feng Wu Tribe. He didn't want to see their power grow stronger or more stable.
If they did, some of that power might be used against him.
Standing on the street, Wei Tu watched as Yu Wencheng—just like him—walked into the Wufu Merchant Guild, pulled out a VIP token, and spoke with the same middle-aged manager.
Seeing this familiar scene, a strange look crossed Wei Tu's face.
Sure enough, after getting intel from the manager, Yu Wencheng's expression turned gloomy. He glanced in the direction of Tianyi Sect, cursing under his breath.
After all, compared to Wei Tu, Yu Wencheng was the one who truly got caught in the crossfire of the Six Desires Sect's mess.
If it hadn't been for the Six Desires Sect's raid, Yu Wencheng wouldn't have been set up by Wei Tu, wouldn't have drawn the attention of Wang Tianwu from the Shenjia Sect, and wouldn't have been forced to flee in panic, losing his protector "Old Hong" in the process.
In terms of hatred, Yu Wencheng's top target was Wang Tianwu, followed by Wei Tu who framed him, and then Ji Zhang, who hijacked the Ascending Cloud Flying Boat.
Of course, Yu Wencheng didn't yet know that it was Wei Tu who pinned the deaths of the three Qingming Sect members on him.
…
Elsewhere.
After a brief moment of thought, a cold glint surfaced in Wei Tu's eyes. He disguised himself and walked directly toward Yu Wencheng, who had just exited the store.
As he passed by, he flicked his sleeve and scattered a bit of Thousand Leaf Dew around Yu Wencheng.
Thousand Leaf Dew was a tracking potion Wei Tu had learned from a jade slip passed down by the rogue cultivator Yu Ji.
The drug was colorless and odorless. Once it touched someone, it wouldn't dissipate until seven days later.
Back in the Great Void Realm, Wei Tu had once fallen victim to this same trick. That was how Bao Siyan had easily found him, laid in ambush nearby, and nearly succeeded in her assassination.
If he hadn't been both a body and qi cultivator, Bao Siyan's attack might have ended him decades ago in the inner region of the Great Void Realm.
Now, having scattered this tracking potion on Yu Wencheng, Wei Tu was confident Yu Wencheng wouldn't notice anything.
"If there's a chance, I'll kill him."
Watching Yu Wencheng's figure disappear into the distance, Wei Tu silently made up his mind.
He didn't normally like killing. Unless someone threatened his safety, he'd rarely strike first.
Honestly, he and Yu Wencheng didn't even have that deep of a grudge.
But after being targeted by both the She Ri Tribe and the Feng Wu Tribe, he'd had enough.
The Feng Wu Tribe had gone so far as to use Lou Sanhua as a pawn and even burned through the lifespans of Granny Ke and Granny Ma, using a secret technique to push both of them to late-stage Golden Core just to kill him.
The She Ri Tribe's attacks weren't as direct, but he still sensed some danger from them within the Ying Ding Tribe.
Four years ago, when he framed Yu Wencheng on the Ascending Cloud Flying Boat, he'd already turned Yu Wencheng into a life-or-death enemy.
Even though Yu Wencheng didn't know it yet, Wei Tu figured it was safer to strike preemptively.
Half a year ago, he let Sun Chixin go because Sun Chixin wasn't strong enough to pose a threat.
Besides, the death of Sun Yu had already turned into an unsolved mystery. As long as Wei Tu didn't speak, no one would know.
But framing Yu Wencheng was different. If Yu Wencheng spent enough effort investigating, he might trace the incident back to him.
And Yu Wencheng's strength wasn't to be underestimated either.
Although his cultivation was only mid-stage Golden Core, his real strength was nearly equal to that of a typical late-stage Golden Core cultivator—almost like a weaker version of Daozi Situ Yang.
That kind of threat couldn't be ignored.
Still, the next seven days turned out to be frustrating for Wei Tu.
After leaving the shop, Yu Wencheng didn't leave White Phoenix Immortal City. Instead, he rented a cave residence and started cultivating.
That move left Wei Tu with no opportunity to act.
Not that he got discouraged. He rented a nearby cave residence himself. While cultivating, he sent out his Seven-Colored Phantom Moth to monitor Yu Wencheng.
After staying in the cave for a few days, Yu Wencheng showed no movement at all.
But inside Wei Tu's spirit beast pouch, his Wind Cleaving Eagle had finally made a breakthrough.
Four years ago, the Wind Cleaving Eagle had already been close to reaching mid-tier third-rank. After years of being fed all sorts of spirit pills by Wei Tu, it had long been on the verge of advancement.
Unlike with the Mountain-Crushing Bear, Wei Tu didn't hold out high hopes for the Wind Cleaving Eagle's potential. So when it came to feeding it pills, he didn't place many restrictions.
With a third-rank alchemist as its master, the Wind Cleaving Eagle had little trouble advancing in its rank.
A few days later.
With a sharp screech, the Wind Cleaving Eagle successfully broke through. Its demonic aura solidified, and its one-zhang-tall body looked majestic and powerful standing on the ground.
"Go!" Wei Tu ordered the Wind Cleaving Eagle to use its innate divine ability—Wind Rift Escape.
Hearing the command, the Wind Cleaving Eagle flapped its wings. A bloody crack split open on its forehead, releasing a strange blood mist.
Within that mist, a sudden breeze appeared. In less than a blink, the Wind Cleaving Eagle had instantly relocated several hundred zhang away.
"A mutated divine ability?"
"Escape speed rivaling a peak Golden Core?"
A flash of joy appeared on Wei Tu's face.
According to Beastmaster Sect records, a normal third-rank Wind Cleaving Eagle using Wind Rift Escape wouldn't produce that bloody mist effect.
That detail confirmed a guess he had made a hundred years ago—the Wind Cleaving Eagle's bloodline had mutated after consuming a large amount of Immortal Spirit Dew.
And it was that mutation that left the Wind Cleaving Eagle infertile, unable to produce offspring.
…