Shi Feiyang, when he emerged from seclusion, found that Jin Xunu had already returned to the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, and Deng Bagu was still transporting water from the South Sea to fill the Tarim Basin.

Xiong Man's sister, Fairy Xiao Xiang, faced a calamity. Xiong Man had rushed to her aid while Huo Wuhai was abroad on business. Only Lin Han and Shi Sheng remained at the Mingyu Immortal Market, pursuing their cultivation.

The two recounted to Shi Feiyang the events of the past few years and presented him with the Nine Child Mother Thunder Pearl Jin Xunu had collected.

With a quick divination, Shi Feiyang guessed the situation, "That Blood Shadow is Deng Yin, the Blood Divine Monarch. The demonic sound emanating from the clouds is from the Red Corpse God Monarch of West Kunlun. Hmm, he took the Dragon Sparrow Ring from your sister Xiong. It matters not; I could do with an excuse to seek him out."

He could guess what Deng Yin was thinking. Knowing that Shi Feiyang was after him, Deng Yin wanted to cultivate his own power. So, he brazenly rescued the Jiulei God Monarch, not only to rely on him as a powerful ally but also to apply pressure to Shi Feiyang by granting refuge to an enemy of the Emei Sect.

Shi Feiyang reviewed their cultivation progress which was quite substantial. Although they did not compare with Jin Xunu, Huo Wuhai, or Deng Bagu, they were not far behind Yuan Hua. Once released into the world, they could establish their own sects and hold authority within them.

Their root bone qualifications were naturally the finest, stronger than all others. Rapid progress was only to be expected. They were taken in earlier by Shi Feiyang than in the original story, Lin Han an era earlier and Shi Sheng fifty years sooner. With such an accumulation, it would be a waste if they still failed to succeed.

Despite possessing the Daoist power and mana equivalent to former Sect Hierarchs like Bai Gu, Xu Wan, and others, they lacked their insight and experience. After all, those individuals had cultivated for hundreds of years and had refined their skills further.

Shi Feiyang felt profoundly gratified. He called over the heads of various departments within the Immortal Market and audited the accounts.

Whether it was the Outer Heaven Divine Country or the Mingyu Immortal Market, he was a hands-off manager. But the power came from within himself. He might not use this power regularly, but he could wield it anytime he chose, conducting sudden audits and inventory checks. Once he detected corruption and abuse of power, severe punishment followed.

In just half a day, he uncovered sixteen cases of major corruption and one hundred thirty-four minor ones, including an admiral involved with forty-six murder cases. Operating at sea, this admiral had even colluded with Independent Immortals overseas in the illicit trade of state goods, notably with the chieftain of the Blue Whale Clan from Outer Heaven Divine Mountain.

Shi Feiyang personally sentenced the ringleaders of the major cases to death, their estates were confiscated, and their souls were turned to magic lanterns, drifting across the Immortal Market. Those implicated in lesser cases were also beheaded, but their souls were not detained, free to reincarnate, with all property seized.

Even Jiang Dachuan and Li Zhenchuan, two supervisors, received punishment. Jiang Dachuan was fined one million Dragon Coins and received five hundred lashes of the Flood Dragon Whip, while Li Zhenchuan was fined one hundred thousand Dragon Coins and received three hundred Iron Rod strikes.

Then Shi Feiyang handed Lin Han and Shi Sheng a list and assigned them a mission, "This year, at the Winter Solstice, you will go back and ask Jin Xunu to gather five thousand Daoist Soldiers for me to clean out the Forty-Seven Islands. Don't spare anyone; execute them all. Drive the rest out, and tell Yuan Hua to find someone to build an overseas base on the Forty-Seven Islands relying on those locales; I want it completed within ten years!"

The Forty-Seven Islands, located on the main route leading out from the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, had long been on Shi Feiyang's mind to seize as a forward base and trading spot for overseas cultivators for his Divine Country. Henceforth, it would be known as the Antarctic Immortal Market.

But these past years, he had been preoccupied with acquiring treasures and had no time for this. Moreover, he had felt a measure of mercy for those Independent Immortals on the islands. Little did he know they would be so ungrateful as to collude with domestic officials and trade national resources. They should blame no one but themselves for his ruthless retaliation!

After understanding the current world's situation and using divination to confirm and fill in the details, Shi Feiyang was well informed. Once he sorted out the affairs of Mingyu Immortal Market, he set out to find Deng Yin.

Deng Yin was not hard to locate; he was in West Kunlun.

That year, when Shi Feiyang went to the Holy Mausoleum to retrieve treasures, the Emei Sect had taken over the Illusion Wave Pool and established their base.

The inauguration of Emei Sect was far more modest than described in the original texts, with fewer guests attending. Half of their Elders had perished, and they had not taken many new disciples.

Thankfully, they managed to secure the Illusion Wave Pool, eliminated the Enchanting Corpse Cui Ying and Poison Hand Mo Shen, repelled the Xuanyuan Dharma King, and helped the Saintess Jiayin survive a deadly trial, changing her location to continue her cultivation, which would take many more years before her Ascension to Pure Land.

The Emei Sect acquired numerous Magical Treasures from the Illusion Wave Pool and took in several new disciples.

Aware of the emergence of the Blood Divine Monarch, the Emei Sect was no longer in the same position as before. With stalwarts such as Yan Yingmu and Li Jingxu in residence, and Zen Masters Bai Mei, Fen Tuo, and You Tan attending in celebration, as well as Zen Master Tian Meng who came to usher in Li Hong—Qi Shuming's beloved ninth-generation descendant—the gathering of such matchless masters meant that Deng Yin naturally wouldn't risk walking into a trap.

He planned to ambush the Emei Sect disciples outside Emei Mountain with Zen Master Xiao Yue...

However, the sect had foreseen his actions, and all members had returned to the mountain. Even those who had established their abodes elsewhere also returned to Emei Mountain, such as the sword-wielding virtuoso Tong Yuanqi from Jicui Cliff on Mt. Taibai in Shanxi and Zen Master Bai Yun who had been cultivating at the White Bamboo Stream in the Wushan Gorges, Yunling Mountain, in Sichuan. All Emei Sect Sword Immortals returned with their disciples to Emei Mountain, sealing their external compounds temporarily.

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