Chapter 156: Massive Consumption

A month later, more than a dozen supreme masters gathered once again to discuss with Wang Li the development and utilization of Yin energy.

The process of profit distribution this time was fierce, and no one was entirely satisfied with the outcome. However, to avoid a complete fallout, they ultimately compromised.

Wang Li was utterly astounded by these big figures' obsession with benefits. The issue of mortal aspiration power had not even been resolved yet, and they were already scheming to devour a newly discovered power. It truly proved that human greed knows no bounds.

Still, he could understand their choices. Each of them was an overlord of their own territory with countless subordinates relying on them for survival. If they did not fight for resources, the people under their command would likely go hungry.

That being said, Wang Li had no intention of tampering with the Reincarnation Path just yet. Massively exploiting the Yin energy within it right now would likely do more harm than good. After all, the reincarnation system across the entire realm was not yet fully formed, and since Xuan Tong had already messed things up over there, he needed to ensure the safety of reincarnation first before attempting any rational development and utilization of its power.

This matter could not be rushed.

Therefore, Wang Li simply gave a brief overview of how Yin energy could be utilized and sent them back first, instructing them to secure the three sacred artifacts needed for collecting the aspiration power of all living beings.

If an agreement could not be reached, there would be no need for subsequent cooperation.

Wang Li believed these bigwigs were wise enough to weigh the pros and cons. It was just that sacred artifacts also served to suppress the destiny of their sects, and no one would willingly hand them over without sufficient benefits.

Following the meeting, Wang Li accepted Venerable Kun's invitation and headed to the East China Sea.

The East China Sea demon clan had reached an internal consensus, agreeing to let Wang Li refine the forbidden grounds of the sea demon race into an aspiration power collection device.

Jiang Yue, still infatuated with their child and reluctant to be apart from Wang Li, made a fuss about following him to the East China Sea. Jiang Yu, on the other hand, preferred to stay home in seclusion to cultivate.

After completing her engagement with Wang Li, the dao oath binding Jiang Yu had been lifted, and her cultivation progress had accelerated rapidly.

Possessing a competitive nature, she found it unacceptable that Jiang Yue had already reached the Heavenly Immortal realm while she remained stuck in the Earth Immortal realm, and she was eager to catch up.

A woman's competitive psychology was truly unpredictable; one never knew which aspect they would obsess over before engaging in a secret rivalry.

Ordinary women were like this, and women who had attained immortality were no different—their competitive drive remained entirely unaffected by the elevation of their state of mind.

Helpless, Wang Li had no choice but to bring Jiang Yue along.

To prevent Jiang Yu from throwing a tantrum, he promised to bring her a gift back from the East China Sea—a classic tactic used by mortal men to appease their wives.

As it turned out, immortal maidens fell for this trick just as easily, and they enjoyed it immensely, becoming remarkably open-minded and yielding that very night.

The next day, Wang Li arrived at the undersea city belonging to the East China Sea demon clan.

He was only the second human cultivator to visit this city in thousands of years; the last one to come had been Xu Jing.

The difference was that when Xu Jing arrived, the entire undersea city had been on high alert, nearly fighting him to the death. When Wang Li arrived, the whole city was decked out with lanterns and colorful streamers in a warm welcome.

...Though Wang Li didn't quite understand why the sea demons were spraying sand all over themselves, he could still vividly feel their enthusiasm.

Aside from Venerable Kun, the supreme powerhouse, the sea demon race only had three other Heavenly Immortal experts, which spoke volumes about how arduous cultivation was for the demon race.

The three Heavenly Immortals were Venerable Swallowing Sea of the whale clan, Venerable Big Tooth of the tiger shark clan, and Venerable Longevity of the sea turtle clan.

Demon cultivators were remarkably casual and literal when it came to choosing their dao titles.

Venerable Swallowing Sea had a mouth so huge he could swallow Wang Li whole, and that was just in his human form.

Venerable Big Tooth belonged to the tiger shark clan, which considered large, formidable teeth to be the standard of beauty. To be able to claim the title "Big Tooth" within the clan showed just how prominent his buckteeth were.

Venerable Longevity was, as the name implied, long-lived. The sea turtle clan was naturally long-lived by nature, and with even a tiny bit of cultivation, they could live for several millennia.

Venerable Longevity had lived for an immensely long time; it was rumored that he had witnessed Venerable Kun when the latter was still just a tiny little fish fry—and Venerable Kun was already over 170,000 years old... Goodness knows how many years Venerable Longevity had actually lived.

Venerable Swallowing Sea was steady and honest, Venerable Big Tooth had a fiery and irritable temper, and Venerable Longevity always wore a sleepy expression. Each of them had distinct characteristics.

After enjoying the hospitality of the undersea city, the four venerables accompanied Wang Li and his wife to the forbidden ground located deep within the ocean trench.

Though called a forbidden ground, it was actually an undersea graveyard. No matter where members of the sea demon race passed away, they were invariably buried here.

Over the long accumulation of time, countless sea demons had been laid to rest here. After the baptism of endless years, this undersea graveyard had evolved an existence akin to consciousness, capable of communicating with the will of the world.

However, it was not a living being, but merely a form of instinct, and Wang Li intended to exploit this very instinct to gather the aspiration power of all living beings.

The undersea graveyard was vast in area, and refining it would not be an easy task for Wang Li, requiring considerable assistance.

Together with Jiang Yue and the four venerables, he first used a formation to encircle the undersea graveyard, driving away the living entities within. Then, they summoned over thirty Earth Immortals and True Immortals from the undersea city, placing large quantities of artifact-refining materials at pre-marked positions.

"Next, I will begin refining the artifact. It will consume a massive amount of power and cannot be interrupted halfway. The four of you must transmit primordial heaven and earth energy to me when my internal power runs low," Wang Li instructed before starting the process.

"I cannot be disturbed during the refining process. Within a radius of a hundred miles around the entire forbidden ground, no one is allowed to approach..."

He gave a long list of instructions—detailed, tedious, but entirely necessary.

Fearing they might forget, Wang Li even recorded the precautions using a jade slip.

Having finished his instructions, Wang Li prepared to make his move.

"Fellow Daoist, you know the importance of the forbidden ground to the sea demon race. This venerable still wishes to confirm: after the collection device is completed, will our sea demon clan still be able to return and be buried here?"

Venerable Longevity remained somewhat uneasy and once again sought confirmation from Wang Li regarding the refining process and its outcome.

Wang Li replied, "Please rest assured, everyone. I am merely utilizing the special ability of the forbidden ground without affecting the ground itself. Once successfully refined, I will channel the aspiration power gathered within the forbidden ground into a space just outside of it, allowing you to absorb it without ever needing to enter the forbidden ground."

Venerable Longevity nodded with satisfaction. "That is good to hear. We leave this in your hands, Fellow Daoist."

The refining process went smoothly at the beginning. The technique itself was not difficult; the challenge lay in the sheer scale of the object being refined, which demanded immense physical and mental stamina.

Once all the materials had merged into the formation bases, Wang Li began inscribing the formation diagrams.

This was the most difficult part, requiring him to wield the spatial laws to connect all the waters across the entire Xuan Heaven World. It was a massive undertaking, and just as it began, more than half of Wang Li's energy was instantly depleted.

Seeing this, he hurriedly swallowed medicinal pills to recover, operating his internal cultivation technique at full capacity to frantically absorb all surrounding energy and ensure a steady output.

The expanse of water he connected grew larger and larger, and all the energy within a radius of a thousand miles was completely sucked dry by him.

"Venerable Kun, transmit primordial heaven and earth energy to me! I can no longer absorb the ambient energy around us."

Venerable Kun immediately moved behind him, revealing his massive true form and using his short fins to channel his own inner power directly into Wang Li.

Venerable Kun's body was remarkably colossal, startling Jiang Yue—who was seeing his true form for the first time—into thinking some ferocious beast was launching an attack on Wang Li.

Fortunately, Venerable Big Tooth stopped her from launching an attack on Venerable Kun in the nick of time.

Not long after, the gigantic Venerable Kun felt as though he was about to be completely drained dry, and he hurriedly asked Venerable Big Tooth to take over, rushing off ten thousand miles away to recover his strength.