It was quite easy to find the Immortal Treasures Hall and Immortal Essence Hall in the Huang sword domain.
Wu Yu left the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode to trade for materials to refine immortal medicines and make spirit designs. After that, he went to the Dao Arts Hall to obtain manuals on refining immortal medicines and making spirit designs as well. He now had a good grasp on the basic know-how of immortal medicines and spirit designs. When it came to spirit designs, however, there was a significant amount that could not be learned without the help of Ghostly Wings of the Black Mountain, so he put that aside for now.
The new immortal medicine books that he obtained detailed over 100 ways of refining immortal medicines. This would keep him busy for quite some time.
As for spirit designs, he also found tons of new material. This included information on both defensive and offensive spirit designs. When it came to spirit designs and talisman papers, he had achieved considerable expertise. The knowledge was enough for him to take his skills to an even more advanced level.
He even swapped out his Three-Legged Cauldron for a higher grade one. With all these exchanges, Wu Yu's 10,000 Golden Essence Pills were used up in a flash. Wu Yu no longer had enough Golden Essence Pills to learn a sword technique that was stronger than the Yin Yang Heaven-Earth-Void Sword Art, even though he wanted to.
The opponents that he would face from now on would all be disciples that were Xuan sword rank and above. The quality of his sword techniques definitely trailed behind them.
Given his embarrassing lack of money, he had no choice but to give up for now.
Actually, while he was visiting the Immortal Treasures Hall and Immortal Essence Hall, Wu Yu was recognized by everyone he met. As Wu Yu walked around, many Huang sword rank disciples who were older than him noticed him and started to talk about him. They all looked at Wu Yu with respect and admiration.
"That son of the Crimson Shadow Sword Sage, Chen Fuyou, was wiped out by Wu Yu."
"This man's insight and talent surpass that of others. He's no ordinary fish in the sea for sure."
"It is rumored that only a handful of people in the Huang sword domain match up to him."
"If his defeat of Chen Fuyou wasn't just a one-time fluke, then he should, in fact, be considered the most powerful in the Huang sword domain now."
"I heard that in the past, the Huang sword domain had someone called Zhang Futu who was his master. However, now all the Huang sword rank disciples are considered nothing to him."
Wu Yu was well-known by all within the Huang sword domain. His name even spread far enough to reach some in the Xuan sword domain. If not for the fact that the Galaxy Sword Sage had taken Wu Yu under his wing, many other Shushan Sword Sages would have appeared and accepted Wu Yu as their disciple.
"He seems to have traded for some materials on refining immortal medicines and making spirit designs."
"He has realized the importance of refining immortal medicines and making spirit designs even at such a young age. This young man's future surely knows no bounds."
"Of course, this young man seems to be a little too brash. I'm only afraid that his reckless decision-making may lead to an early death for him. After all, he does not seem to know how cruel this world is. Without any backing whatsoever, how could he challenge someone of Chen Fuyou's stature?"
Everywhere Wu Yu passed by, gossip about him seemed to reach his ears.
This was nothing new. Wu Yu was already used to this and was completely focused on his own personal growth instead.
He headed back to the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode in order to raise his cultivation level to the seventh tier. He started to ponder about new immortal medicines and copied out new spirit designs. His was kept busy every day. Although he was lonely, he still felt a sense of self-satisfaction.
"The true dao masters spent a hundred years in silent meditation. Without such commitment, they would not have been able to achieve such heights."
As such, Wu Yu felt that the loneliness he experienced was no big deal. Within the boundless Shushan Immortal Sect, everyone was pursuing the same path. 100 years was undoubtedly a long time, but in practice, it would pass by with just a snap of the fingers.
Cultivation was akin to pursuing the sun. In the face of the sun's heat and the insurmountable distance one had to overcome, countless disciples had fallen one after the other. Most of them would die on this journey, fading to dust and disappearing with the wind.
Within the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode, Wu Yu rotated between the training room, refining immortal medicine room, and immortal treasure room. In this deathly quiet, he continued to refine himself in search of a breakthrough. At the same time, he also replenished his stock of immortal medicines for future use.
However, this was a costly endeavor. With such a heavy demand on resources, he had depleted all the materials that he had traded for earlier. The immortal treasures that he had smelted and immortal medicines that he had refined were of no use to him. He was only able to hand them out to other ordinary dan disciples, and was unable to trade them for much money.
He was only in the beginning stages after all. It was still impossible for him to refine god-like pills and once-in-a-lifetime weapons.
Wu Yu was single-minded in his pursuit of dao. This was what allowed him to withstand the boredom of staying in the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode for such a long time.
Of course, he also paid attention to any noises from the outside. He was curious if anyone would visit him. Perhaps it would be Shen Xingyao, or Shen Xingyu, or perhaps even Nangong Wei.
It did not seem like anyone came.
Ages passed by.
Wu Yu soon found himself with no Golden Essence Pills, nor merits once again. He realized that it was about time for him to go out and obtain more resources for his cultivation.
Every time he faced this situation, Wu Yu would always lament about his lot in life. If only he was like Chen Fuyou and had a Sword Sage as his father. He would be able to get whatever he wanted then…
"My last battle with Chen Fuyou was too risky. I can't always rely on such methods. In order to obtain Golden Essence Pills, I have to rely on more honest means."
Wu Yu recalled that there were various methods of obtaining merits in the Huang sword domain. Firstly, there was a place like the Demons' Abyss known as the Eighth Sealed Palace of Demons. By killing various demons in that place, one would be able to obtain merits, but it was not too profitable. Wu Yu did not want to go to such places anymore.
Secondly, one could complete missions for Shushan in exchange for merits. Just like the mission regarding Ghostly Wings of the Black Mountain back then, most of these missions required one to leave Shushan. While the rewards for these were rather impressive, leaving Shushan was an issue for Wu Yu. Wu Yu was afraid that Nangong Wei would not be able to find him once she returned, so he gave up on this method as well.
The third method was none other than the Immortal Battleground.
This was Wu Yu's goal for now.
The Immortal Battleground was a special place that did not exist in the Common Sword Domain. The four major sword ranks each had their own Immortal Battleground. Naturally, only Huang sword rank disciples were able to participate in the Huang sword domain's Immortal Battleground.
The format of the battles at the Immortal Battleground was similar to Wu Yu's previous bout with Chen Fuyou.
Every Immortal Battleground consisted of 100 individual arenas. Each of these arenas had a Xuan sword rank disciple as an official that impartially judged matches and prevented fatal incidents from occurring.
The two challengers would willingly engage each other in a friendly duel to determine the victor and loser. They were not allowed to go overboard and no killing was allowed. Even if your opponent has inflicted serious damage, such behavior would not go unpunished.
Of course, this entire setup was built on an important premise. That was that every duel had to have a wager involved.
For instance, if there was a vacant arena, Wu Yu could be the first one to enter and offer 1,000 Golden Essence Pills as his wager. Once someone else noticed this, they could challenge him and would obtain this 1,000 Golden Essence Pills if they won.
Of course, the challenger would have to wager 1,000 Golden Essence Pills as well, or something of equivalent value subject to Wu Yu's agreement. It was only then that the duel could commence, and the victor would obtain their opponent's wager.
Those with abilities that were too strong could not really fight others in the Immortal Battleground. This was because nobody would challenge them…
Wu Yu had yet to go to this place, so he wanted to experience it first hand. He was eager to find out if any spendthrifts would be willing to challenge him. However, he had no money on him. After some thought, he retrieved the spiritual immortal treasures that he had given to his dopplegangers. They totaled to about 2,000 Golden Essence Pills in value. If anyone defeated him, they would be able to trade them for Golden Essence Pills at the Yi Treasure Vault.
After making appropriate preparations, he left the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode and rode his sword towards the Immortal Battleground.
The Immortal Battleground was located on a large, floating island beside the Clear Sky of Shushan. It spanned 100 kilometers, and 100 arenas were scattered across it. Every arena had a Xuan sword rank disciple overseeing it.
As Wu Yu looked across from the sky, there were at least 200 Huang sword rank disciples loitering about the area and interacting with one another. They were all looking for an appropriate opponent to challenge. Both parties usually believed that they had the upper hand. This was the only way that a duel would successfully begin. After all, nobody wanted to be taken advantage of by others.
The Immortal Battleground was covered with green fields of grass. The entire floating island it was on was kept afloat by a large spirit design. This spirit design absorbed the surrounding spiritual qi in order to continue operating.
Wu Yu rode his sword over and landed directly on the battleground. An immortal fog lingered throughout the place. As though they were immortals, the Huang sword rank disciples were shouting as they watched battles and roamed around.
Wu Yu circled around and found an arena that was empty. He quickly leapt onto it and, without any further words, he tossed his 10 or so spiritual immortal treasures into the wager area. Then he directly addressed the throng of Huang sword rank disciples below him. "It is I, Wu Yu, who wishes to learn from my fellow disciples. I have no other possessions on me besides these immortal treasures. They amount to about 2,000 Golden Essence Pills in value, so please do not look at them lightly."
The truth was that there had yet to be a wager that was as large as 2,000 Golden Essence Pills in the 100 arenas to date. Wu Yu did not really consider how hard money was to come by, he just had a penchant for gambling. This shocked all the Huang sword rank disciples in the Immortal Battleground.
"I'm not mistaken, it's Wu Yu indeed! He defeated Chen Fuyou and has just arrived in the Huang sword domain."
"He has unexpectedly come to the Immortal Battleground!"
Wu Yu was a well-known figure in the Huang sword domain by now. His appearance immediately caused a commotion in the Immortal Battleground. Huang sword rank disciples who were surrounding other arenas looking for challenges dropped what they were doing and flooded over. The other arenas were only left with a handful of onlookers.
Wu Yu did not expect his appearance to cause such an uproar. Standing on the battlefield, he noticed over 1,000 pairs of eyes on him. There were not many who considered challenging him, and many were here just to watch this bustling scene.
A Xuan sword rank disciple inspected the wager area from the side and announced, "There is no mistake. These add to just a little above 2,000 Golden Essence Pills. Does anyone wish to challenge Wu Yu? As long as you defeat him, these Golden Essence Pills will be yours."
A boisterous uproar began in the crowd below.
Someone laughed. "We're no idiots. Rumors have spread that Wu Yu has defeated Chen Fuyou. Chen Fuyou is a ninth tier Jindan Dao cultivator, yet Wu Yu was able to defeat even him. He is probably the strongest in the Huang sword domain now. These 2,000 Golden Essence Pills aren't that easy to obtain."
Many people laughed in agreement.
Wu Yu was starting to feel dispirited. It seemed like finding an opponent would not be that easy.
The Huang sword rank disciples below all felt like they were no match for him.
However, he did not leave yet. Perhaps someone would show up? If so, then the 2,000 Golden Essence Pills would easily be his. This was still faster than grinding it out for merits.
The countless Huang sword rank disciples had not left. As they discussed the matter with one another, someone suddenly said, "Maybe that battle was a fluke? He seems to only be a sixth tier Jindan Dao cultivator. Nobody wants to test out the credibility of that myth?"
"That's true. Are the top 10 on the Leaderboard of Huang Sword Immortals really so spineless?"