Big Data Cultivation

Seeing this strange phenomenon, Feng Jun couldn’t help muttering under his breath, "You’ve got to be kidding me, this counts as... divine grace?"

He actually knew a bit about the Insect World’s Incense Fire Ascension path, so while everyone had been fighting across several planets, he’d been stressing over and over that they should try their best not to provoke the Divine Lord Temple.

Thus, in the series of battles within this star system, everyone had been avoiding the temples. Especially on the Third and Fifth Planets, which each only had a single Insect Race Nascent Soul left; Human Cultivators could have swept everything clean and monopolized the planets, yet they still hadn’t gone that far.

Feng Jun’s explanation to everyone was that the Divine Lord Temple was usually not very concerned with the outside world, so as long as they didn’t go block the door and provoke it, they’d be fine.

Some people really couldn’t wrap their heads around this way of thinking—or you could call it a cultural gap—but since Feng Jun was the one saying it, they figured they might as well believe him. After all, he was the one with more experience, right?

Feng Jun had always felt that his intentions had been implemented pretty well, and that nothing should go wrong. He never imagined that after a smooth ride all the way, he’d end up overturning the cart here on the Second Planet.

He wasn’t surprised that the Insect Race had invited out their Divine Master—if you walk the Incense Fire Ascension path, what else are you going to play at if not this? But what he couldn’t wrap his head around was, "There was a response? Where did things go wrong?"

In truth, nothing had really gone wrong. It was just that the Divine Lord Temple here worshipped—a Spider God!

The Spider was originally ranked among the eight Supreme Gods, and among the insects on this planet, spiders made up more than half the population. Add in the Spider Nest, and it was clearly an excellent place to reap incense power.

At the start of the battle, there had been two Insect Race Nascent Souls guarding the Divine Lord Temple, one a Bloodthirsty Mantis and the other a Spider.

This Nascent Soul Spider had been watching the battle at the Nest the whole time, feeling extremely anxious, but it was responsible for guarding the Ancestral Gods’ incense and couldn’t just abandon its post, so it could only watch.

Only when the Nest was on the verge of being overrun and it really couldn’t hold back anymore did it directly teleport to the side of the Nest and begin calling out to the Ancestral Gods.

So this really wasn’t a matter of something going wrong; it was simply that this was the kind of Divine Master it was. Looking after its own kind—what’s wrong with that?

He wasn’t the only one who noticed something was off; many cultivators realized that something serious had happened—there were piles of Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators present, how many of them would be blind?

In no time at all, the True Immortals of Xuanhuang Sect, Yuangang Sect, and the Artifact Refining Path all contacted Feng Jun together, "A divine descent’s happening, hurry and go get reinforcements."

In an instant, Feng Jun’s mind was filled with all sorts of Divine Sense messages, and he even faintly felt an echo. He couldn’t help giving his head a shake and blinking, thinking, Could you all stop yelling for a second? It feels like I’m being hit by a Divine Sense Attack.

Still, even with that little bit of resentment, he didn’t dare slack off. Knowing how serious the consequences of a divine descent would be, he didn’t even bother with teleporting to the portal to the Insect World and instead teleported straight into the Void.

Either way, time flowed slower in the Void, didn’t it?

And just his luck—right after he teleported into the Void, the first thing he saw was Han Hai True Sage and Yang Jing True Sage, standing there chatting with easy smiles.

Feeling a spatial fluctuation nearby, Yang Jing True Sage didn’t even think before raising his hand and grabbing. By the time he realized the person he was grabbing was Feng Jun, he couldn’t stop his hand anymore, and could only look stunned, "How could it be..."

Feng Jun was already silently chanting his exit while sticking up a thumb. "You’re amazing."

He really was anxious. When it was time to let you off the hook, I let you go. You couldn’t give me a specific return time, and I swallowed that. Now I’ve got an emergency and I’ve come looking for you, and this is your attitude—didn’t even think before grabbing me?

And you still have the face to talk about owing me a favor? Looking at it now, that favor’s not worth having.

He left, and Han Hai True Sage and Yang Jing True Sage were both left dumbfounded. "How was it him?"

"You ask me, who am I supposed to ask?" Yang Jing True Sage honestly didn’t feel he’d done anything wrong, and still spoke with a grin, "I just wanted to be on guard a bit. How was I supposed to know he’d suddenly pop out... Are we being set up by someone?"

"I’ve got a bad feeling about this," Han Hai True Sage’s brows furrowed slightly. "Maybe he was here to ask for help."

"Even if he wanted help, he should’ve said something first..." Yang Jing True Sage’s words suddenly cut off. He actually didn’t lack experience and very quickly found the key point. "He was trying to ask for help... Ten-to-one time flow."

Han Hai True Sage shook his head. "You might not be wrong—but he’s already gone."

"Whether he leaves or not, what’s that got to do with us?" Yang Jing True Sage retorted righteously. "A little cultivator suddenly appears, that close to us, shouldn’t he take the initiative to explain himself?"

"And what if he doesn’t explain?" Han Hai True Sage looked at him, half amused and half exasperated. "Martial Uncle, it’s no big deal if he ignores us, but we do need to think about how we’re going to get out of the Void... The only people around here are from our Xuanshui Sect."

Hearing this, Yang Jing True Sage was instantly stunned. "Wait... we can’t get out?"

Don’t be fooled by the fact that he was an Emergence Stage True Sage; once trapped in the Void, he really couldn’t get out. It was generally accepted among cultivators that a Divine Spirit Stage expert could basically traverse the Void. In other words... even the Divine Spirit Stage couldn’t guarantee a safe passage through it.

So for someone in the Emergence Stage, getting lost in the Void was about as normal as it got.

Han Hai True Sage let out a sigh. "Then we’ll just have to discuss it again."

Feng Jun didn’t go looking for Luan Xiong True Sage or anyone like that again, nor did he go to the passage entrance to ask the two sects for help—by the time I manage to invite you big shots over, the cucumbers will have gone cold.

He went straight to find the Guardian. "Senior, I’ve run into a bit of trouble that needs urgent handling. I earnestly beg Senior to lend a hand."

"What’s your business got to do with me..." The Guardian’s words cut off halfway. "Huh, a Divine Path karmic link?"

"Doesn’t really count as karma," Feng Jun gave a wry smile. "I mainly thought their parents wouldn’t bother with such a small matter, but who knew..."

"You don’t have to say it, I get it," the Guardian didn’t even wait for him to finish. "Insect World, right?"

"Yeah," Feng Jun nodded. "That’s the only world where I’ve actually come into contact with the Incense Fire Ascension path."

"So how come I feel like you’re running Incense Fire Ascension back in the Earth Realm too?" The Guardian couldn’t help but complain. "You really think you haven’t done that?"

"I definitely have," Feng Jun didn’t deny it. "As a Cultivator, I don’t reject any kind of attempt. If I can help others achieve something and at the same time spark my own inspiration, that’s a wonderful thing... but what I want to ask now is about a solution."

"You already have the solution yourself," the Guardian replied coldly. "I don’t see any need for you to ask me."

"I don’t," Feng Jun answered very bluntly. "I don’t know any solution, Senior. My friends are currently in danger... I’m hoping to get extremely prompt help—they can’t hold on much longer. Take it as me begging you, all right?"

The Guardian was silent for two seconds before finally speaking. "That Mountain and River Seal in your hand—is it fake?"

"Mountain and... River Seal?" Feng Jun thought for quite a while before dredging up a sliver of memory. "The Traveler’s Seal I robbed from Kunlun?"

"You can take your time remembering, I’m in no rush," the Guardian said lazily. "But just now you looked pretty anxious, so I suppose I should say something."

"Senior, this isn’t a time for jokes," Feng Jun really was a bit anxious now, and his words lost their usual polish. "There are people over there waiting for me to save their lives... The Mountain and River Seal is for the Emergence Stage, but I’m already a Golden Core now."

"Who told you that thing was for the Emergence Stage?" the Guardian asked unhurriedly. "Qi Refinement can use it too—does that mean it’s a Magic Artifact for the Qi Refinement Realm?"

Feng Jun shuddered, then raised his hand and cupped his fist. "Please enlighten me, Senior."

"Aren’t you pretty concerned about Jin Province?" the Guardian was still unhurried. "You even had those abandoned coal mines covered with Gold—did it never occur to you what the main body of the Mountain and River Seal is?"

Feng Jun’s memory was instantly triggered. His body gave a slight tremor, and he asked in disbelief, "That broken Stone Lock?"

The Guardian let out a soft sigh. "I truly have never seen someone as blessed with fortune as you, yet so oblivious to it. You’ve been happily using the imitation of the Overthrowing Heaven Seal, but you just won’t repair its main body. Behavior like that—how am I supposed to even comment?"

"So that really is the Overthrowing Heaven Seal?" For a moment Feng Jun was overjoyed, but then he slumped and let out a sigh. "But I can’t repair it... Could it be that Senior can?"

The Guardian answered proudly, "If it were a thousand years ago, I’d probably be a bit short of strength."

Which meant he could do it now; Feng Jun could handle this level of reading comprehension. "Then I earnestly ask Senior to take action. Spirit Stones or whatever, we can discuss... ah, I’m afraid there’s no time now!"

No matter how powerful this Overthrowing Heaven Seal was, repairing it would definitely take time, and they’d already invited the Insect Race progenitor over there; the divine descent was practically at the doorstep.

"Five thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones," the Guardian replied leisurely. "I’ll lend you three strands of qi from the Mountain and River Seal—won’t hit immortals, won’t hit mortals, only hits Incense Fire Ascension... pfft, daring to make yourself a god without a formal investiture?"

Hearing this, Feng Jun even forgot about the Human Race over there for the moment. "Senior, you really are someone from back then."

"Back then my ass," the Guardian denied flatly. "Don’t try to fish for my words. If you want the Overthrowing Heaven Seal fully repaired, that’s fine too—ten thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones."

Feng Jun fell silent. After a long while he finally asked, "Can I... put it on the tab?"

This was the Overthrowing Heaven Seal, after all. If it really could be repaired, what was ten thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones?

"You mean a loan, right?" the Guardian answered very crisply. "Sure. For every nine in, you pay thirteen out."

"Where did you even pick up this weird crap?" Feng Jun couldn’t help shouting. "That’s usury!"

"I knew about it a thousand years ago," the Guardian replied with half-hearted interest. "You think this only showed up recently? Still, given your fleeting little lifespan, I can understand your ignorance. So, do you agree or not?"

Feng Jun thought it over and realized that made sense. The lending business, while not as ancient as bandits and prostitutes, had objectively existed ever since a certain level of social order formed.

So rules like ’nine in, thirteen out’ might have existed a long time ago.

Of course, maybe back then it was ’eight in, fourteen out’, but that really didn’t matter anymore. Feng Jun stated very simply, "I don’t spend on credit. I’ll just give you the five thousand Top-Grade Spirit Stones first."