Everything was ready.

All of the BMFS Faction's treasures, weapons, members and possessions had been loaded onto the Captured Slave Galley. Not a single coin of spare change or half-used spirit stone was left behind in the Faction Hall. Bing Meilu was not one for waste.

Tomorrow morning she and all of her subordinates would set sail for the Snake Scale Archipelago. The only exception was Xi Fu, who was at a critical juncture in the discovery of his own Dao and could not be interrupted. That said, she was not willing to wait for him, especially when it was unknown how long he would take. It could be a day, a month, or even ten years.

'He can catch up, Xi Fu is quite fast. While our Galley is capable of incredible speeds, we won't be wasting resources on rushing to our destination, especially since the treasure I am seeking won't be ready for nearly three years. The journey itself will be almost as profitable as the destination.'

Bing Meilu sat atop her black crystal throne in the Bridge of the Captured Slave Galley. Compared to the massive, intimidating construction, her tiny child body seemed comically out of place. From her elevation, the Yin cultivator stared intensely down at the three women kneeling before her.

She turned her sharp gaze over to the youngest of the three, Xia Xuefeng, who shivered in discomfort. The raven-haired teen girl was at the fourth stage of the Foundation Establishment. The blood cultivator's progress had been disappointing when compared to the slaves in her faction. Aside from Bing Meilu, Xuefeng had the most miraculous cultivation method in the entire Bird Talon Continent in the Anthem of the Crucified, treasured legacy of the Blood-Moon Spectral-God.

However, unlike Xi Fu, Li Ji and the others, who had spent months tempering themselves in the Ashen Mountains, a holy land of cultivation, under the direct guidance of Bing Meilu, a former Celestial, Xia Xuefeng's situation had not been so good. She had been trapped in a desolate, nearly resourceless prison with no one to rely on but herself. Even surviving as she had was worth a modicum of praise, so her Master would not be too harsh on her for the slip in progress to her advancement.

Luckily for her, blood cultivation was remarkably simple, especially before the Saint Realm. Just consume blood, and your cultivation would advance. If one had enough blood and time, they could directly leap from the first stage of the first realm all the way to the pinnacle of the fifth, at which point they would still have to comprehend the rhythms of nature to become a Saint.

Of course, Blood would flow aplenty on their voyage in the sea. In fact, Bing Meilu expected the girl to rapidly outpace the Inner Circle of the faction. Nothing less would be acceptable from her current 'First Disciple'.

It was difficult to describe to someone who had never seen it, just how numerous the Sea Beasts of the Grand Expanse Ocean were. Compared to their unfathomable numerosity, even the rampaging and seemingly endless hordes of Demons constantly infringing on human civilization on land could be seen as a single teardrop next to an entire sea. It was not a coincidence that the consistently most wealthy of the Twelve-Headed Bird Sect's branches was the only one focused on exploiting the resources of the Ocean.

Xia Xuefeng relaxed as Bing Meilu's piercing gaze moved onto her 'Second Disciple', Shen Xinyue. The girl had recovered remarkably well from her time as a demonic cultivator's human cauldron. Her previously thin and sunken cheeks had filled out, revealing a beautiful, stoic face. She had frosty white eyes and pale, almost ice-like skin. Even her hair had turned a snowy white.

One’s cultivation and Dao naturally affected their appearance, from the rosy, perpetually flushed cheeks of Xia Xuefeng, the blood cultivator, to the deprived and thin physique of Zhang, a Buddhist cultivator. Or even Bing Meilu's own icy blue eyes, an outward reflection of the Extreme Yin Soul she had been born with.

The rather extreme change to Shen Xinyue's appearance was a monument to her total devotion to her cultivation. Not all ice cultivators would develop such an extreme trait, as it was trivial to reverse when it was initially developing. Only those utterly unwilling to waste even a moment of cultivation time would let it proceed to the stage of being permanent like Shen Xinyue had.

Unlike Xia Xuefeng's stalled progression, Shen Xinyue had been ceaselessly cultivating the Crystal Providence Heavenly Tome, and a powerful Yin chill now emanated from her constantly as the Thirty-Six Yin Foundation in her Dantians circulated. She was already nearing the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment, and would soon be ready to face her Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation.

The girl's absolute dedication to her thirst for power was praiseworthy. Of all the girls, Shen Xinyue had been the most distraught after being saved, not speaking for several days. But having recovered, the steel of her Dao-Heart had only grown more refined, whereas in Chang Xili and Tang Wuhan it had shattered completely.

That said, it was clear she was still battling her own Heart-Demons. She had nearly cut off the head of an Outer Circle faction member when he had bumped into her and the furious yet terrified expression she had shown at the time made it quite clear why.

There was nothing wrong with having high standards for one's subordinates, and harsh punishments for failure. Bing Meilu herself had executed more than one or two followers for minor failures in the past. Sometimes anything less than perfection was a catastrophe.

However, those standards had to come from one's own rational choices and an unbiased system of rewards and punishments. Certainly, not instinctual fear caused by past traumas. It was clear, despite her growth in cultivation power, that Shen Xinyue would not make a good leader, at least not any time soon. Meanwhile, Xia Xuefeng had already proved herself in said area, having successfully grown and managed her own faction while locked in the Shadow Pit.

Bing Meilu could only say it was lucky that Xia Xuefeng was the First Disciple, and would, according to the standards of seniority, have to be obeyed by Shen Xinyue.

Last was Sima Yazhu. She too was nearing the peak of Foundation Establishment, but her aura was completely different. Unlike the blood and ghostly aura that Xia Xuefeng's cultivation base emanated, or the absolute yin chill of Shen Xinyue, her qi gave a warm, benevolent and comforting feeling, like the embrace of a mother.

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Bing Meilu could sense the soul-bound Terracotta-Warrior earthen Dharma Protectors produced by the Queen Mother's Westward March, stored in a basement within the Captured Slave Galley. There were Sixty-Five in total, pulsing with the power of the Kun Trigram that represented the broad and fertile Earth. Yazhu only needed to refine seven more, and she would complete the array of Seventy-Two representing the Earthy Fiend Stars and reach the pinnacle of the Second Realm.

These three disciples, alongside their Master and Sect Leader, Bing Meilu, were now the sum total of the Crystal Providence Heavenly Palace. Once a supreme force in their local sector of the Deathless Domain that could field Twelve Celestials, and dominated uncountable chiliocosms.

A supreme, exalted and mighty sect that had been put to song by the greatest of bards. That had crushed demons and devils, overthrown kings and emperors, brought order to the lawless and chaotic. Unfathomable masses adored and worshiped them as heavenly gods.

Now reduced to four lowly, mere mortals!

For a moment, Bing Meilu felt a great stirring of regret and hopelessness in her dao heart, as she was stuck by now bittersweet memories of her countless disciples and sect sisters, all dead now. At her hands. Even worse was that many would now never be born, due to the numerous butterflies brought about by the regressor's different actions. There was a sinking feeling in her gut. Something like dread and regret and self-loathing, and then Bing Meilu broke out into a pleased smile.

'That was an impressive attempt, Jin Luo,' she thought.

Bing Meilu tapped a rune on her obsidian throne, and a shimmering mirage appeared, depicting the current state of the Captured Slave Galley's dungeon. Wherein a single man screamed and struggled against the searing hot chains burning into his skin. Jin Luo writhed in resentful fury as he noticed yet another failed attempt to kill his tormentor.

'Taking advantage of my moment of nostalgia for my old sect, he poured every drop of his qi into a curse intended to stoke my negative feelings about its destruction. Not only that, but he has progressed beyond just ordinary curses. This was a self-sustaining entity that would have fed on and exaggerated my negative emotions into a feedback loop of exponential growth-devouring my cultivation base and Dao-Heart until I inevitably committed suicide. It would have worked... on anyone else.' The girl's lips curled into a small, self-satisfied smile.

'I am the lone overlord of the Dao of Yin. Every curse bows before me. Submit!'

Bing Meilu circulated the Crystal Providence Absolute Tome, the icy moon Dao Platform in her Dantian spinning at a dizzying rate. A black tar-like structure inlaid with countless tiny runes polluted her qi, like a perverse spider web. Its languid tendrils reached through her flesh, meridians and even her soul. This was the fundamental structure of the Curse, a near-living entity of Ghostly Qi.

If simple, low-level curses were like poisons or toxins, sufferably advanced curses became like autonomous living things, parasites or diseases that could act to preserve their own life and cause maximal harm to the programmed target.

The Resentment Curse writhed and wriggled and protested as it was forcibly sucked toward her Dantian by the power of the revolving Dao Platform. The structure of the curse melted into an amorphous blob of cursed Ghostly Qi that gathered in a black lake above which her moon hung, joining the countless other curses produced by Jin Luo over the months.

Bing Meilu had had many exceptional ideas over her many years, but this one was truly a stroke of pure genius. Even worthy of being placed on the same level as the ruse she had pulled to escape from the heiress of the Vajra clan, and the time she had refined the soul of the Empress of the Golden Dragon Celestial Firmament when said woman had attempted to possess Bing Meilu with a sealing mark.

Enslaving a curse master, giving them a more powerful curse technique and mentally and psychologically torturing them until their sole reason for living was to see you suffer and die, not only that, but giving him a chunk of her hair to use as a direct sympathetic focus!

It resulted in the creation of what she could only describe as a farm that fed into her constantly growing reservoir of various curses. The only thing better would be if the Curse-Master had a drop of her Essence Blood, but even Bing Meilu would die to such a curse at her current power level. Perhaps an idea to shelve for when her cultivation reached Core Formation?

Jin Luo, the disrespectful Captain of the Rampage Faction, had been given to her as a slave by Commodore Rampage Sword as an apology and bribe. So far, he had proved himself to be quite the profitable cattle so far Fueled only by sheer spite towards her, he was rapidly rising towards the Nascent Soul Realm.

It gave Bing Meilu the thought that if she enslaved and tortured even more Curse-Masters, she could build up an even greater reserve of energy to wield.

'I could hire some but... when it comes to curses, there really is no substitute for true, unbridled hatred!'

It was not like Bing Meilu couldn't sit down and spend a few months making her own curses, but having someone else do it for her passively while she focused on more important things was just brilliant.

'Not to mention, since I am no longer a Chosen of Heaven, I will need every advantage I can get...'

Bing Meilu possessed a cultivation base forged by the Absolute Tome created by the ancient and mighty Crystal Providence, thus she need not fear anyone in the same realm as her. But, a Chosen of Heaven with a cultivation base just one or two full Realms above her may prove a serious threat. If she were to fight the current Daoist Skyfall, he would surely kill her.

Of course, the quickest way to deal with this threat was simply to out-cultivate any opponents. However, having trump cards like a massive reserve of potent curses could also be critical to victory.

Not to mention the Techniques she would be creating once she was in Core Formation. The Tribulation of Art that would certainly arise from any technique created by Bing Meilu was sure to be apocalyptic, but the Core Formation Realm was the largest relative power jump in the Crystal Providence Absolute Tome, so it was the ideal Realm for her to take on such lethal tribulation.

Bing Meilu finally turned her attention to her own progress, which had at last reached the pinnacle of the tenth stage of Foundation Establishment. She could break through to Core Formation at any time she wished. However, she fully intended to delay it until she could refine the Shed-Skin Dragon Lotus. Swallowing its elixir as she broke through would result in an even greater increase in power.

'Roughly three years then,' Bing Meilu nodded in satisfaction. 'A little longer than I would have liked, but it is better to do things right than to do them fast. There is no point in me coming back to the start of my life if I don't make sure to build myself an incomparably solid mortal foundation.'

"Xia Xuefeng," Bing Meilu finally spoke. "Your cultivation progress is insufficient. You are my first disciple and must be a pillar for your junior sisters to rely on. I expect you to reach Core Formation by the end of the month. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master," the teen girl exclaimed, bowing her head lower, and cheeks flushing in embarrassment.

The yin cultivator nodded in acknowledgement.

"You are all dismissed then."

The next morning, the Captured Slave Galley departed from Port Snake.