Family cultivation of immortality: from Fairy Cat Valley to the Nine Divine Realms

Zhang Xuan nodded: "Senior Xingyao said that if one can refine this Tribulation Core, even a Golden Immortal peak cultivator can advance further."

He put away the tribulation core and looked at Zhang Yuhuai, saying, "This tribulation core is my only hope. If I can reassemble the ferry and restore my cultivation, perhaps... there will still be a chance to find Jiao'er."

“If I cannot…” he paused, “then it is my fate.”

Zhang Yuhuai's eyes welled up with tears, and he knelt heavily on the ground.

"Rest assured, Immortal Lord, my Zhang clan will certainly protect the Nine Realms and await your arrival!"

"Alright, I'll relay it back to the Nine Divine Realms immediately."

Several days later, in the Immortal Gourd Realm, at the Xuan Tian Palace.

When the Buddha King of the Western Paradise, the Fairy of Wonderful Sound, Zhang Dawu, and others saw Zhang Xuan's appearance, their faces showed shock and grief.

"Immortal Venerable!" Zhang Dawu rushed forward, "You...how did you become like this?"

Zhang Xuan looked at him, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth: "Da Wu, I'm fine."

The Buddha King of the Western Paradise stepped forward, his voice heavy: "Immortal Venerable, what exactly happened? Where is Immortal Venerable Jiao'er? She..."

Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, slowly opened his eyes, and recounted his experiences over the years in a hoarse voice.

After hearing this, everyone was speechless.

Fairy Miaoyin's eyes reddened as she tightly grasped Zhang Xuan's hand.

After a long silence, the Buddha King of the Western Paradise spoke: "Immortal Venerable, what are your plans next?"

Zhang Xuan was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Heal my wounds, restore my cultivation, and then... go find Jiao'er."

The Buddha King of the Western Paradise clasped his hands together and said, "Immortal Venerable, rest assured, the entire Nine Realms will provide full support."

Fairy Miaoyin said softly, "Husband, you should focus on recovering from your injuries. Leave everything else to us."

Looking at these familiar faces, Zhang Xuan felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

However, reality is far crueler than imagined.

Zhang Xuan's Dao injury was a Dao injury at the mid-stage of the Golden Immortal realm.

The ferry shattered, the foundation collapsed, and the inner world was reduced to ruins.

Such injuries would require the use of an eighth-tier immortal vein and a ninth-tier sacred medicine from any major power in the myriad realms to have any chance of recovery.

But the Nine Realms do not have these.

The highest spiritual vein in the Nine Realms is only of the seventh rank, superior grade.

High-level resources in the Nine Realms are already scarce, and now they also have to support the recovery of a mid-stage Golden Immortal with Dao injuries...

too difficult.

The True Immortal Realm was too weak for Zhang Xuan.

He sat cross-legged in the core of the secret realm, drawing in the Daoist energy to his body in an attempt to nurture the shattered fragments of the ferry.

The moment those Daoist principles touched his body, they were absorbed by the fragments.

But it only absorbs the nutrients; it cannot repair them at all.

It's like trying to irrigate a parched desert with a single drop of water—a drop in the ocean.

A year later, Zhang Xuan emerged from seclusion.

He absorbed all the divine essence of the Great Dao from more than a dozen True Immortal Realms, but the effect was still minimal.

Three years later.

Dozens of True Immortal Realms were used to heal Zhang Xuan, but they were eventually exhausted.

The high-level resources stored in the Nine Domains are being consumed rapidly.

Zhang Xuan's injuries had recovered by less than half a percent.

By the fourth year, problems began to emerge.

First is the Xuan Tian Merit Pavilion.

This merit exchange system, personally established by Zhang Xuan, has been operating perfectly for the past few centuries.

True Immortals and cultivators below True Immortal level can exchange high-level pills, secret realm cultivation time, and other resources by completing merit tasks and making breakthroughs in various arts.

However, due to Zhang Xuan's massive consumption, there are not many high-level resources left to exchange.

"Why can't I exchange three thousand merit points for a single seventh-tier breakthrough pill?"

"Where's the promised training time in the secret realm? I've been waiting in line for three years!"

"Is the Hall of Merit just fooling us? Where did all those resources go?"

The cultivators from the Nine Realms who wanted to exchange resources were all complaining bitterly.

"Buddha King, the Merit Pavilion's inventory is almost empty," the Merit Pavilion manager said with a solemn expression. "We only have less than thirty seventh-grade pills left. The cultivation time in the secret realm has already been scheduled for ten years from now. The exchange of those eighth-grade materials has long since stopped."

After a long silence, the Buddha King of the Western Paradise slowly said, "High-level resources are being prioritized for Immortal Venerables."

The steward sighed and said, "But... if this continues, the Hall of Merit will be ruined."

The Buddha King of the Western Paradise looked at her, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes: "The Immortal Venerable's injuries cannot go untreated."

“If cultivators from the Nine Domains cannot exchange for the resources they deserve, their morale will decline over time.”

The Buddha King of the Western Paradise closed his eyes, his brows furrowed.

He knew the steward was right.

But he also knew that Zhang Xuan's injuries were a top priority for the Nine Domains.

This is a dilemma.

At the same time, problems began to arise in the supply of resources from the Abyss of Beginning Demons.

The Venomous Granny of the Rotten Poison Swamp is nearing the end of her life.

Throughout this no-man's-land, hundreds of large, medium, and small factions are engaged in undercurrents and constant friction.

The trade routes have been intermittent, and the resources that can be delivered to the Nine Domains have been greatly reduced.

The resource shortage in the Nine Realms is growing ever larger.

The resources supplied from the Abyss of Beginning Demons could have filled 30% of the gap.

It has now shrunk to less than half a percent.

The remaining gap can only be squeezed out from within the Nine Realms.

But within the Nine Realms, where can one squeeze out?

Meanwhile, the ranks of True Immortals in the Nine Realms are constantly expanding.

Two more True Immortals were born in the Nine Realms.

One of them is the Star Lord of the Celestial Star Divine Realm.

One of them was the high priest of the old human race, a remnant of the ruins.

In addition to the original three True Immortals—the Western Heaven Buddha King, the Fairy of Wonderful Sound, and the Ghost King of the Dragon Spine Divine Realm—there were also three True Immortals.

The number of True Immortals in the Nine Realms has reached five!

Five true immortals!

This was an unprecedented spectacle in the history of the Nine Realms.

In normal times, the combined strength of these five True Immortals would be enough to elevate the power of the Nine Realms to a new level.

However, during this special period, the era of the Five Immortals became the root of the problem.

Because of resources.

Every True Immortal's cultivation requires the supply of various rare materials.

The resources consumed are also a hundred times more than those of Mahayana cultivators.

In the past, when the Nine Realms only had three True Immortals—the Western Heaven Buddha King, the Fairy of Wonderful Sound, and the Ghost King of the Dragon Spine Divine Realm—resources were already scarce.

Now that there are two more people, the pressure is immense.

What's even more critical is that the high-level resources consumed by Zhang Xuan in healing alone accounted for 70% of the total resources of the Nine Domains!

Seventy percent!

The remaining 30% will be allocated to the five True Immortals, used to maintain the operation of the Hall of Merit, to support the billions of living beings in the Nine Realms, and to sustain trade between the Void Sea Market and the Abyss of Beginning Demons...

How can that be enough?

Under pressure from the resource crisis, the five True Immortals from the Nine Divine Realms had no choice but to gather together once again.

As the Western Heaven Buddha King who temporarily governs the nine divine realms, he glanced at the other four True Immortals and said:

"Seventy percent of the high-level resources of the Nine Realms will be used to heal the Immortal Venerable, and the remaining thirty percent will be divided among the five True Immortals, the Hall of Merit, the Ruins Sea Market, and the Abyss of Beginnings Trade."

"Currently, the Merit Pavilion's inventory is almost depleted, the supply of seventh-grade pills is cut off, and the time allotted for cultivation in the secret realm is fifty years in advance. The trade between the Ruins Sea Market and the Abyss of Beginning Demons has shrunk by 60% because we cannot offer enough high-grade resources in exchange."

"Among the five True Immortals, the cultivation resources of the Ghost King of the Dragon Spine Divine Realm and the Fairy of Wonderful Sound have been reduced to 50% of the normal level. The cultivation resources of the newly promoted True Immortals, the Star Lord of the Heavenly Star and the High Priest of the Ruins Guardian, have been reduced to 30%."

He paused, then looked at the crowd: "What are your thoughts?"