Published: March 3, 2025
“Interests.”
At that moment, these two words surfaced in Liu Yu's mind.
It is indeed not wrong to say so; it is because of common interests that the golden core cultivators gathered at the scene.
Yet, it still felt like something was missing.
Such a simple promise of interests could not possibly move so many golden core cultivators.
“Freedom?”
“Beliefs?”
“Righteousness?”
“Or perhaps all of them?”
In an instant, Liu Yu flashed through many thoughts.
Feeling the continuous waves of magical power coming from the cabin, which were affected by the lack of the formation's isolation, he believed that various factors were at play.
Of course, the influence of the Zhang Clan could not be overlooked.
Without this golden signboard, it would be difficult to gain the trust of the majority of cultivators, and it would be impossible for them to gather together.
For an obscure individual, even if they possessed a remarkable level of cultivation, how many people would be moved by their words and promises?
On the other hand, the Zhang Clan had ruled over the Annan Six Continents for over a hundred thousand years; merely mentioning their name inherently carried a sense of “righteousness” and “appeal”.
Thus, it was possible to gather so many complex cultivators together.
Liu Yu even secretly speculated that among the forty to fifty golden core cultivators present, aside from those who had naturally advanced from slavery or were captured, how many had been specifically “sent” in by the Zhang Clan?
After all, once one became a slave, collaborating with the Zhang Clan was the best choice; could there be any facilitation in this process?
If so, what role was the Zhang Clan playing?
“Ha~”
“I really am still accustomed to viewing this world through the lens of interests.”
Thinking of this, Liu Yu smiled faintly, retracting his malicious speculations.
He then closed his eyes, sitting cross-legged and circulating his cultivation technique at a slow pace, keeping himself in the best condition.
At this moment, sitting quietly on the deck with many cultivators practicing their techniques provided a different experience.
Unlike his youth, when he was “refining qi” on Greenwood Peak, he was relatively relaxed at that time.
But at this moment, the deck was filled with a sense of impending storm, as all the cultivators knew that they were about to embark on a world-shattering battle.
If successful, they might be recorded in history and become renowned “heroes”, with glory accompanying them throughout their lives.
If they failed, they could die!
When the number of cultivators reached forty-two, an hour and a half had passed, yet there still seemed to be no additional cultivators arriving.
Liu Yu’s sharp spiritual perception allowed him to sense various movements.
Not far away, he could perceive the fluctuations of cultivators practicing their techniques, and the fluctuations of those refining magical treasures in the cabin—all were clearly within his earshot.
As time ticked by, the yellow flying boat gradually descended into silence, leaving only faint breathing sounds.
The cultivators who had finally shaken off their restraints were seizing the time to refine artifacts and adjust their conditions.
To cultivate to the golden core realm, even those who had risen from slavery understood what they needed, hence they answered the call of the Zhang Clan to take a risk!
Meanwhile, Zhang Tao was completely uninterested in sitting still, occasionally turning to look around, hoping for more cultivators to respond to the action, thus increasing their chances.
A trace of undetectable anxiety flashed in his eyes; the number forty-two was still below his expected fifty.
“After preparing for over two hundred years, is this all there is to show for it?”
“Could it be that something unexpected has occurred?”
With no cultivators continuing to arrive, Zhang Tao could only wait patiently, as there was no better course of action.