Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Chapter 633 - 618: Peach Blossom Island Master, Tallying the Gains

This is a vibrant island.

Looking down from the sky, the island is shaped like a scallop, more than 1,900 miles long and over 1,000 miles wide. It boasts mountains, water, and rich vegetation, but most importantly, it contains a Tier Five lower-grade Natural Spiritual Vein.

For Zhouyang and his family, who have been drifting in the East Sea for three years, the crucial point about this island is that there are no traces of any cultivators.

Now the owners of this island are their family, and the island’s previous owner, a Tier Five middle-grade Demon Beast, the Unihorned Dragon Crocodile, has now become their battle spoils materials.

"Alright, from now on, this place will be called Peach Blossom Island. I will be the Island Master, Fengxian, you will be the Island Master’s wife, and Feng’er, you will be the Young Island Master!"

On the island, Zhouyang beckoned, retrieving the flying sword used to slay the Unihorned Dragon Crocodile from its corpse. Looking up at the vibrant island, he joked with his lover and daughter with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yufeng looked at him perplexed and asked, "Why call it Peach Blossom Island? I didn’t see any peach blossoms here. Wouldn’t Crocodile Dragon Island or Dragon Crocodile Island be more fitting?"

"Oh, you girl, why so many questions? Since your father likes the name Peach Blossom Island, then let it be Peach Blossom Island. It’s just a name anyway!"

Jiang Fengxian gently tapped her daughter’s forehead with a smile, interjecting to help her lover respond to their daughter’s question.

"Mom, you’re being biased. I was just asking, not saying much else, but you’re quick to criticize me. That’s too biased!"

With a face full of grievance, Jiang Yufeng grabbed her mother’s hand, dissatisfied with her obvious favoritism.

Jiang Fengxian, however, laughed indifferently and said, "Yes, your mother is biased, what will you do about it?"

"Alright, alright, you two, really, if outsiders saw this, they’d think you two are sisters arguing!"

Zhouyang held both of them with one hand each, smiling wryly as he played the mediator.

Over the years they’ve been together, he found that the relationship between Jiang Fengxian and Jiang Yufeng, this mother-daughter duo, was quite problematic.

Both were headstrong individuals, each with their own ideas, and found it difficult to accommodate the other’s thoughts.

In major matters, they could easily align and make the right decisions.

But in small and trivial matters, the two often insisted on their own views, leading to incessant arguments.

Though no matter how much they argued, the bond of blood never really affected their familial affection, it made Zhouyang, as their lover and father, quite hard to live in between.

If he sided with his lover, the daughter was dissatisfied; if he sided with the daughter, the lover was displeased. It was really too tough!

Finally persuading the mother and daughter, Zhouyang immediately wielded his flying sword, carving out a cave residence at the location of the island’s spiritual vein.

He created two cave residences in total; his daughter Jiang Yufeng lived in one alone, while he and Jiang Fengxian shared the other.

This was not only to reduce the amount of quarreling between the two discordant women but also to facilitate rekindling his romance with Jiang Fengxian.

Though they had reunited for several years, due to years of drifting at sea and with their daughter around, they could at most hold hands or hug.

Now that the cave residences were built and the arrays set up, they finally had their private space, and he certainly wouldn’t suppress himself in this matter any longer.

And while Jiang Fengxian initially stated they shouldn’t repeat past mistakes, after three years together, with Zhouyang explaining his experiences over these years during their journey, her attitude softened, and she no longer resisted being alone with Zhouyang.

After a deep dual cultivation of body and soul, Jiang Fengxian never mentioned living separately again.

As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder. They had been apart for over two hundred years, and even though cultivators have long lifespans, it’s still a long time, and naturally, they needed time to alleviate their longing.

About half a month later, Zhouyang finally found some free time and began handling the spoils from the battle three years ago.

Three years ago, he left in a hurry, only taking a few artifacts used by Dragon Taming Golden Radiance, without time to collect other spoils.

Yet even so, his gains were unprecedentedly rich.

As a direct lineage member of the Dragon Taming Family, Dragon Taming Golden Radiance was truly the wealthiest Golden Core Stage cultivator Zhouyang had ever killed.

After inventorying his spoils, Zhouyang acquired a total of seven Tier Five Spiritual Artifacts, all top-grade, with not a single one being inferior.

Among these seven magical artifacts, except for the True Dragon Treasure Seal which others cannot use, the remaining six artifacts are top-quality items that can be normally refined and used.

Among them, three artifacts he had already used in his confrontation with Zhouyang: the Golden Flood Dragon Sword with the "Artifact Soul" of a golden flood dragon, the Red Profound Golden Pearl with powerful defense, and the Profound Golden Light Mirror that can emit Bone-Dissolving Golden Light.

Additionally, there are three more artifacts: the Tier Five High-Grade Flying Spiritual Artifact Cyan Nether Flying Ship, the Tier Five High-Grade Spatial Spiritual Artifact Exquisite Jade Bracelet, and the Tier Five High-Grade Auxiliary Spiritual Artifact Illusory Treasure Pearl.

These artifacts, the Golden Flood Dragon Sword and Red Profound Golden Pearl, were refined by Jiang Fengxian, who had no artifacts to use, on the way, while the Profound Golden Light Mirror was given to his daughter Jiang Yufeng for refinement and use.

Now, in his possession, he still has the Cyan Nether Flying Ship, Exquisite Jade Bracelet, and Illusory Treasure Pearl.

Among these three artifacts, the Exquisite Jade Bracelet is the most special one, as it is actually the Spirit Beast Ring used by Dragon Taming Golden Radiance for containing flood dragons.

The difference is, the internal space of this artifact is much larger than that of ordinary Spirit Beast Rings, enough to accommodate two or three flood dragons without feeling cramped, and the spiritual qi environment inside is much better than ordinary Spirit Beast Ring spaces.

Currently, within the Exquisite Jade Bracelet, there are two flood dragons used by Dragon Taming Golden Radiance, sleeping to recover.

These two flood dragons had their Jiao Pills cracked by Zhouyang and had to enter the Spirit Beast Ring to sleep for recovery, and now they probably don’t even know Dragon Taming Golden Radiance has died.

And Zhouyang had been fleeing for years, so he had no time to deal with them.

At this time, Zhouyang held this artifact and rubbed it for a long time before deciding not to deal with the two flood dragons inside, and wait until he needed them.

Anyway, the two flood dragons inside had their Jiao Pills severely damaged and fell into slumber, unlikely to recover within decades or centuries; as long as he doesn’t wake them, they probably can’t awaken before their Jiao Pills recover.

Apart from the artifacts, there are many other treasures inside Dragon Taming Golden Radiance’s Storage Ring.

The most important treasures among them are the Fetus Nurturing Pill, Profound Embryo Pill, and Jade Soul Liquid, three Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects for auxiliary use.

Dragon Taming Golden Radiance was a Ninth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator, regarding Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects, the Dragon Taming Family and he himself were certainly well-prepared, but since the opportunity for true Nascent Soul Formation only comes once, he wanted to maximize his success rate by waiting until marrying Jiang Yufeng and entering the Dragon Transformation Pool of the clan for cultivation before breaking through to the Nascent Soul Stage.

The result was that the auxiliary Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects he painstakingly prepared became Zhouyang’s spoils.

When all three auxiliary Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects are used, they can approximately increase success rate by more than thirty percent, not inferior to the Holy Infant Fruit that Jiang Fengxian was robbed of by Lou Feifeng.

Upon seeing these items, Zhouyang also breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been anxious, wondering if he should give the auxiliary Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects he had to Jiang Fengxian if she reached the Ninth-Layer Golden Core before him.

After all, the opportunity for true Nascent Soul Formation only comes once, and if one fails, it’s the fate of body and soul obliteration; he didn’t want Jiang Fengxian to fall at this hurdle and become his heart demon when he goes through Nascent Soul Formation later.

But now he no longer needs to worry; the auxiliary Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects that Dragon Taming Golden Radiance prepared are sufficient for Jiang Fengxian’s use, though not as good as the set he has.

If, with the aid of these treasures, Jiang Fengxian still fails in the future, then Zhouyang would have to say it’s fate and simply accept it.

In addition to those three auxiliary Nascent Soul Spiritual Objects, there are other precious treasures in Dragon Taming Golden Radiance’s Storage Ring.

For instance, a spiritual object that can extend lifespan and strengthen the flesh, Blood Dragon Rice, Zhouyang found more than a hundred pieces of it.

This Blood Dragon Rice not only has hard-to-find seeds, but also is extremely difficult to cultivate, requiring frequent watering with flood dragon spirit blood as nourishment to mature, a condition few forces in the Cultivation Realm can meet for large-scale cultivation.

Only forces like the Dragon Taming Family that have tamed a large number of flood dragons can cultivate Blood Dragon Rice on a large scale, and distribute it as a welfare offering to direct lineage family members.

Due to controlling the output of Blood Dragon Rice, many Nascent Soul Stage cultivators in Donghua Continent’s Cultivation Realm trade favors or other precious spiritual objects with the Dragon Taming Family to obtain Blood Dragon Rice.

Having obtained over a hundred pieces of Blood Dragon Rice this time, Zhouyang would attract Nascent Soul Stage cultivators willing to lower themselves to rob him.

Besides Blood Dragon Rice, Zhouyang also found five Dragon Blood Treasure Pills in Dragon Taming Golden Radiance’s Storage Ring.

This item is refined mainly from Tier Five flood dragon essence blood and Blood Dragon Rice. Ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivators can enhance their physical strength by 20-30% and slightly extend their lifespan by consuming just one.

Moreover, Zhouyang also discovered many flood dragon scales and flood dragon spirit blood, seemingly derived from Dragon Taming Golden Radiance’s two flood dragons.

Surprisingly, he found no healing spirit pills or spirit talismans, perhaps because Dragon Taming Golden Radiance felt he didn’t need such items and thus did not prepare them.

There was an array found, and its grade is very high, unexpectedly being a rare Tier Five High-Grade Array named Water Dragon Fury Array, a water attribute killing array.

Then there were the Spirit Stones. The number of Spirit Stones inside the Dragon Taming Golden Radiance Storage Ring was enough to shock Zhouyang.

There were as many as one hundred and seventeen Top-grade Spirit Stones, plus more than twenty-three thousand Middle-grade Spirit Stones. There was not a single Low-grade Spirit Stone.

Lastly, there were various miscellaneous items. There weren’t many miscellaneous items in the Dragon Taming Golden Radiance Storage Ring, probably because he wasn’t the type to collect things. Zhouyang found only a few Tier Five Spiritual Materials, along with some miscellaneous items like jade scrolls and clothes.

The value of these things wasn’t significant, and Zhouyang didn’t care much. The only thing that caught his attention was a Tier Six Flood Dragon Scale.

This silver Tier Six Flood Dragon Scale had been refined using a special artifact refining technique, seemingly a Token Spiritual Artifact.

Zhouyang was quite cautious about it, not daring to activate it rashly, but rather carefully sealed it in a Jade Box for future research.

After inventorying the items, Zhouyang began to make arrangements for their disposal.

He first distributed the Blood Dragon Rice to Jiang Fengxian and her daughter, twenty grains each, and also gave them each a Blood Dragon Treasure Pill. The remaining part was kept aside for his Dao Companion Xiao Ying and son Zhou Guangcheng to use later; as for himself, he didn’t really have much use for it.

Then, he handed over those three Nascent Soul assisting Spiritual Objects to Jiang Fengxian and gave the Thunderbolt Golden Light Divine Shuttle, a discarded Tier Five Lower-Grade Flying Spiritual Artifact, to his daughter Jiang Yufeng.

Additionally, Zhouyang copied the cultivation techniques of divine sword techniques like "Great Derivation Sword Technique," "Void Refining God Technique," "God-slaying Sword Technique," and "Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique" for Jiang Fengxian and her daughter, allowing them to decide for themselves whether to cultivate them.

With everything distributed, Zhouyang truly began his life as a reclusive Island Master.

He first used the True Dragon Essence Blood extracted from the Dragon Taming Golden Radiance and added the Flood Dragon Spirit Blood collected to elevate the Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique to the Fourth Layer, mastering the long-awaited Cyan Dragon Transformation Divine Technique.

The Fourth Layer of the Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique not only allowed Zhouyang to master the Cyan Dragon Transformation Divine Technique but also strengthened his physical body to the extreme a Golden Core Stage Cultivator could achieve, comparable to a same-tier Flood Dragon.

Now, he could engage in hand-to-hand combat with a Tier Five Top-Grade Flood Dragon purely with his physical strength, and an average Tier Five Middle Grade Flying Sword could no longer penetrate his physical defense.

This was much stronger than described in the Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique, and Zhouyang speculated that it was the benefit of using True Dragon Essence Blood as an auxiliary material.

The benefits didn’t stop there. The power of True Dragon Essence Blood was incredibly mystical. After absorbing and refining it, Zhouyang felt as though his lifespan had been extended, perhaps not significantly, but surely by dozens of years.

Moreover, whether it was due to the hidden benefit of reaching the Fourth Layer of the Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique or the effect of True Dragon Essence Blood, now whenever he activated the Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique, his aura would carry the Dragon Power aura.

The Dragon Power aura might not affect cultivators much, but it had a strong deterrent effect on many demon beasts in the sea.

The "Peach Blossom Island" they now occupied was not inherently safe, with many high-tier demon beasts frequently appearing in the surrounding seas.

Initially, with the deterrent aura of the Tier Five Middle-Grade Demon Beast, the Unihorned Dragon Crocodile, such demon beasts wouldn’t approach the island easily. However, with the Unihorned Dragon Crocodile slain by Zhouyang, its residual aura gradually dissipated, likely attracting a multitude of demon beasts coveting the island.

Zhouyang had originally planned that if high-tier demon beasts came to compete for territory, he would let the Seven-Colored Peacock Jiang Cai’Er repel them, never revealing himself to maintain his secrecy.

However, realizing he could imbue his aura with Dragon Power, he simply roamed the island and surrounding seas frequently while operating the Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique, leaving his aura all over the island like a true demon beast to assert his sovereignty over the island to other beasts.

This way, his Late Stage of Golden Core cultivation made it easy for other high-tier demon beasts in the nearby seas to mistake it for a Tier Five Top-Grade Dragon Descendant Demon Beast occupying "Peach Blossom Island," thus deterring them from approaching within a thousand miles of the island.

In the future, he just needed to come out periodically, spread some aura, and would generally ensure that no other demon beast dared set foot on "Peach Blossom Island," naturally no longer worrying about exposing his whereabouts.

Moreover, while leaving aura around the island, Zhouyang also took the opportunity to survey the island and understood the resources available on it.

Because the island was not very large, Zhouyang did not find any ore veins on it, but there were plenty of Spirit Herbs and Spirit Elixirs, though not of particularly high grade, indicating that the place was quite suitable for growing spiritual herbs.

What pleased him most was discovering a large patch of wild Cloud Breath Grass around a water mist-covered pond, numbering over a thousand plants!

The guardians of these wild Cloud Breath Grass were a group of Tier Three Demon Beasts, Mist Shadow Mice, creatures resembling coypu. They resided in the pond, and the mist surrounding the pond was a special weather condition formed by the abundance of Cloud Breath Grass growing there.

Zhouyang knew that few demon beasts fed on Cloud Breath Grass, so those Mist Shadow Mice were likely protecting and nurturing these spiritual herbs to gather moisture and form clouds to shield their habitat.

Such things even beasts in the wild would consciously do, let alone demon beasts with considerable spiritual wisdom.

However, now that Zhouyang discovered the presence of these Cloud Breath Grass, he certainly wouldn’t miss them.

Considering the credit of the Mist Shadow Mice for planting the grass, he did not initiate a slaughter but harvested all the mature Cloud Breath Grass, totaling eight hundred and ninety-seven plants, leaving behind two to three hundred immature saplings to continue growing.

With so much Cloud Breath Grass, Jiang Fengxian and Jiang Yufeng’s task now was to focus on cultivating the Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique until they reached the Small Success Realm in the technique.

And Zhouyang entered the Artifact Refining Chamber to repair the Great Derivation Geng Metal Sword, which was damaged during the battle with Dragon Taming Golden Radiance. This set of Flying Swords was refined by himself, so repairing it was not troublesome at all.

What is troublesome is the Flaming Dragon Shield, which was pierced with a large hole by the golden horn of a Flood Dragon used by Dragon Taming Golden Radiance, severely damaging the magic ban inside. Even with Zhouyang’s artifact refining skill, it cannot be repaired and has to be discarded for now.

Fortunately, his Azure Dragon Body Refining Technique has now been cultivated to the Fourth Layer, greatly enhancing his ability to defend himself and preserve his life. Even losing the Flaming Dragon Shield doesn’t have much impact.

In the following time, Zhouyang and his companions all focused on secluded cultivation on Peach Blossom Island, rarely leaving the island.

This kind of secluded cultivation time always passes quickly, and unknowingly, forty-seven years have gone by.

These forty-seven years can be said to be the most relaxed and comfortable time Zhouyang had after the Core Formation.

On this Peach Blossom Island, he doesn’t have to worry about any family affairs, doesn’t have to worry about anyone, doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to do, and doesn’t even need to leave home.

For most of the time, he is cultivating, occasionally feeling tired, he stops cultivating and enjoys the mountain and river scenery with his lover and daughter, brewing tea and discussing the Dao. Life couldn’t be more comfortable.

Such days are truly wonderful, if it were not for the longing for his wife and children and family far away in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, Zhouyang would really wish to remain here for life, to be an unrestrained recluse overseas.

In fact, many overseas loose cultivators live like this.

In this vast ocean, who knows how many cultivators who have no interest in the conflicts within the Cultivation Realm, or whose paths have broken, carry their wives and children to live quietly on unknown small islands, spending their lives in carefree bliss.

Perhaps this kind of carefree and joyful mindset is indeed helpful to cultivation, Zhouyang successfully made another advancement in cultivation during these forty-seven years, reaching the Eighth-Layer Golden Core, Jiang Fengxian as well.

Of course, the dual cultivation skill between the two also cannot be ignored, after all, it’s rare to find Dao companions with the same level of cultivation like them.

Besides making further progress in cultivation, Zhouyang also advanced the Void Refining God Technique to the Third Layer during this time, enhancing his divine sense by more than ten percent, and also cultivated the God-slaying Sword Technique, a Spiritual Sense Attack Divine Technique, to a minor achievement realm, and even successfully comprehended and mastered the Third Layer of the Great Derivation Sword Technique, acquiring the high-level swordsmanship Flying Sword Silk.

Additionally, he opened the furnace for artifact refining dozens of times in these years, successfully refining seven Tier Five Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, and his artifact refining skill made significant progress, he is not far from advancing to a Tier Five Middle Grade Artifact Refiner.

Overall, through these forty-seven years of cultivation, Zhouyang’s strength has once again made a great leap forward.

If he had the strength he now possesses when he clashed with Dragon Taming Golden Radiance before, it definitely wouldn’t have been so difficult to kill him.

Not only did he make progress, Jiang Fengxian and her daughter Jiang Yufeng also made great advancements.

Although Jiang Fengxian was imprisoned for decades, wasting decades of cultivation time, she never neglected cultivation, she still regularly sat in meditation and contemplation daily, realizing the path of cultivation, her mental cultivation greatly improved.

Now, with her seal completely gone, after decades of hard cultivation, aided by dual cultivation with Zhouyang and some elixir from Zhouyang, her cultivation also made rapid progress and quickly reached close to the Ninth-Layer Golden Core, seemingly advancing to the Ninth-Layer Golden Core even faster than Zhouyang.

Jiang Yufeng, possessing the True Phoenix Blood and having an acquired unique True Phoenix Body, her cultivation speed is even stronger than a Spirit Body by a notch, forty-seven years have passed, and she similarly made further advancements reaching the Second-Layer Golden Core and will soon enter the Third-Layer Golden Core in at most ten years.

Furthermore, during these forty-seven years, the mother and daughter both cultivated the Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique to a minor achievement realm, also advancing the Void Refining God Technique to the Second and First Layers respectively, and each mastered one or two others suited to themselves Divine Techniques.

Meanwhile, the Blood Dragon Rice and Dragon Blood Treasure Pill Zhouyang distributed to them before, have been consumed by the mother and daughter over these years, nourished by these spiritual objects, their physical strength now has also reached the standard of ordinary Tier Five Lower Grade Demon Beasts, and their lifespan has been extended by decades as a result.

And after forty-seven years of secluded cultivation, Zhouyang feels it is time to go out and see the situation.

"Fengxian, after your cultivation reaches the Ninth-Layer Golden Core, you will need to find a place for Nascent Soul Formation. The Spirit Vein Grade on Peach Blossom Island is too low to support Nascent Soul Formation, so we need to prepare in advance and find a suitable place for Nascent Soul Formation!"

In the cave dwelling, after a cloud and rain, Zhouyang inadvertently voiced his thoughts to the beauty lying on his chest.

"I have thought about this matter, however, I originally intended to wait until Zhou Lang, your cultivation also reaches the Ninth Layer before considering the matter."

Jiang Fengxian lifted her head and glanced at him, responding with blushing softly.

Seeing this, Zhouyang gently stroked her long hair and shook his head gently, "That would be a waste of time, your Nascent Soul Formation can’t be completed in just a few years, I can guard you without it interrupting my cultivation."

Unexpectedly upon hearing this, Jiang Fengxian suddenly opened her mouth and bit his shoulder, tenderly hummed, "Hmph, what you said is only a small part of it, I think the real reason is you miss your wife and children in Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, want to quickly complete Nascent Soul Formation to go back and reunite with them!"

"Ah, ah, as long as you know, why say it out loud!"

Zhouyang awkwardly coughed, muttering after, and hurriedly flipped over to pin the vinegar-filled beauty down, using practical action to dissolve the grievance in her heart.