Marrying Wives and Attaining Immortality in a Chaotic World

Chapter 328: Exclusive Cultivation Resource Zone

As before, Xu Lian moved cautiously through the spatial passage to avoid detection by the powerful cultivators within the Qian Dynasty’s Exclusive Cultivation Resource Zone. The perception of strong cultivators was incredibly acute-any slight disturbance could alert them.

“Earlier, when I broke down the iron door, there was a noise. Why didn’t the experts inside notice it?” Xu Lian thought for a moment and speculated that the cultivator inside might have been in deep meditation or focused on something else, causing their awareness to diminish slightly.

In fact, this was true for most powerful cultivators. They spent the vast majority of their time cultivating, and only had brief periods of full lucidity. They couldn’t live like ordinary people, day by day-if they did, the endless thousands or even tens of thousands of years of life would drive them mad.

Someone like Xu Lian, who didn’t need to cultivate, was undoubtedly unique in this world.

As he approached the bright exit of the spatial passageway, Xu Lian slowed his pace even further, inching closer bit by bit.

Finally, he reached the end and emerged from the passageway. He found himself in a narrow cave filled with spider webs, resembling a silken labyrinth.

Suddenly, Xu Lian sensed something and looked up at the ceiling of the cave.

Their eyes met.

A pair of large eyes stared into his own.

Hanging upside down from the cave ceiling was a five-colored spider, staring blankly at Xu Lian, clearly surprised by the sudden intrusion.

“Squeak~”

The five-colored spider opened its mouth, about to let out a shriek, but Xu Lian reacted swiftly. With a wave of his hand, he unleashed the Great Desolate Dragon Grasp !

A golden claw instantly seized the five-colored spider, trapping it like a golden cage and completely suppressing it so that it couldn’t make a sound.

“Judging from your shape and colors, you must be a rare variant. You have intelligence, don’t you?”

Xu Lian’s cold gaze bored into the spider. Although the creature was only the size of a palm, it possessed the strength of a Nine Tribulation expert. If Xu Lian hadn’t reached Origin Tracing Realm Stage 8, subduing this five-colored spider wouldn’t have been so easy.

The five-colored spider nodded fearfully, its eyes filled with pleading, clearly begging for its life.

Xu Lian coldly said, “I can spare you, but if you dare to make the slightest sound, I will kill you on the spot. Do you understand?”

The five-colored spider nodded repeatedly, signaling its understanding.

Xu Lian slowly released the Great Desolate Dragon Grasp.

The five-colored spider immediately said, “Thank you, Great One, for sparing my life.”

Hearing the female voice, Xu Lian paused for a moment, remembering Qin Liu’s wife, the Face Spider Beauty. A mischievous thought crossed his mind: If I gave this five-colored spider to Qin Liu as a concubine, I wonder if he’d like it.

Qin Liu might even thank him… what a nice guy.

“What is this place?” Xu Lian asked.

Upon hearing this, the five-colored spider’s expression changed slightly. This young human powerhouse had entered without even knowing where he was – did he have a death wish?

The five-colored spider replied, “Great One, you should leave this place quickly. It was originally an ancient ruin, but later the Qian Dynasty claimed it as an exclusive cultivation resource zone. They use it to grow various rare medicinal herbs and refine the Metamorphosis Substance required for the Sage Realm.”

In truth, Xu Lian already knew all of this. He deliberately asked to see if the five-colored spider was telling the truth. If it dared to deceive him with lies, he would kill it-but the spider was unaware that it had just narrowly escaped death.

Xu Lian stared at it and asked, “Who are you and why are you here?”

The five-colored spider’s gaze darkened slightly. “I originally lived in the Skyfall Forest, but I was captured by the Qian Dynasty and brought here to be raised. I managed to escape and hid in this cave. My relatives weren’t so lucky – some were tamed into spirit pets, while others were kept alive to provide poison. Our poison is one of the tens of thousands of materials needed to refine the Metamorphosis Substance.”

Only then did Xu Lian understand why the Metamorphosis Substance was so precious and rare – it required tens of thousands of rare materials to create.

Xu Lian continued, “Since you’ve been hiding in this cave, you must know that there’s a spatial passage leading to the outside. Why haven’t you escaped?”

The five-colored spider replied, “There is an iron door at the exit of the passage. My cultivation isn’t strong enough to break it open,” 

Then, her expression brightened. “Great One, you must have broken through the iron door when you entered the passageway! Thank you, Great One!”

“…” As Xu Lian thought about it, he realized that even his Origin Tracing Stage 8 cultivation hadn’t been enough to open the iron door – he’d needed the power of the divine bone in his left hand. How could a Nine Tribulation Realm five-colored spider manage it?

Xu Lian said, “I still have some things to take care of here. For now, I can’t let you leave-you might leak information if you go outside.”

The five-colored spider protested, “The Qian Dynasty has captured many of my relatives. I have a blood feud with them-I would never betray you!”

Xu Lian snorted coldly. “How do I know if you’re telling the truth? You’ll stay here for now. When I’m done, I’ll let you go.”

The five-colored spider had no choice but to agree.

Xu Lian added, “From now on, you’ll stay by my side at all times and stay within my line of sight. If you stray, I will assume that you are trying to escape – and I will kill you.”

The five-colored spider quickly agreed.

Xu Lian continued his interrogation. After some probing, he learned more about the Exclusive Cultivation Resource Zone. There was a quasi-supreme overseeing the area, along with a Sage Realm alchemist specifically responsible for refining the Metamorphosis Substance. Under the alchemist were three disciples at the Unity Realm stage, each with specific duties:

The oldest disciple directly assisted the alchemist in the refining process.

The second and third disciples managed the herb gardens and provided materials for refinement.

Aside from these individuals, everyone else was a gardener. Each gardener was responsible for cultivating one type of herb, and there were tens of thousands of gardeners in total.

“Now I understand,” Xu Lian muttered. He could only get this much information from the five-colored spider. He couldn’t risk using his consciousness to probe the area – that would surely alert the Quasi-Supreme.

“Come with me,” he said, heading toward the cave entrance to get a firsthand look at the exclusive cultivation resource zone.

The five-colored spider remembered his warning and followed closely behind him.

They reached the narrow cave entrance and looked out. Xu Lian was stunned by the sight in front of him. A towering cauldron, a thousand zhang in height, was spewing thick clouds of smoke and occasional fiery sparks. It resembled a massive blast furnace from an iron factory.

The walls of the cauldron were dotted with small openings, resembling a giant beehive. Surrounding the cauldron were countless staircases, each occupied by an apprentice carrying various herbs and feeding them into the openings.

At the base of the cauldron was a stone platform on which an old man and a middle-aged man sat cross-legged. Their hands were constantly moving, forming seals and casting secret techniques to fuel the cauldron’s internal operations.

These two were most likely the Sage Realm Alchemist and his eldest disciple.

“This alchemy process is nothing like what I imagined,” Xu Lian thought. In his stereotypical view, alchemy involved holding a small cauldron in one’s palm, with true fire blazing beneath it—like cooking hot pot. Herbs were tossed in, and soon, pills would emerge, perfectly refined… laughable.

He hadn’t expected real alchemy to be so complicated, and far removed from the simplistic “steaming buns” analogy.

Retracting his gaze, Xu Lian retreated back into the cave with the five-colored spider, careful not to linger too long. A Sage Realm expert’s perception was sharp—staring for too long would surely draw attention. A quick glance was enough, and even then, it was best to avoid harboring hostile intent, as that too could be detected.