Chapter 109 |
While Xiang Dahu was busy looting the thousand-year spirit herbs...
On a small mountain entirely pitch black.
“Ah!”
Accompanied by a miserable scream, an Sea-Destroying Alliance cultivator collapsed to the ground.
What surprised everyone was that the attacker was not a Blue Sea Sect disciple, but a demonic disciple wearing the same black robes.
“Helping me complete this blood sacrifice for Foundation Establishment is your honor.”
The demonic disciple stared at the blood pill condensing in his palm, a look of pure satisfaction spreading across his face. “Once I swallow this pill and meditate for a moment, I will temporarily possess pseudo-Foundation Establishment mana.”
In truth, both the Blue Sea Sect and the Sea-Destroying Alliance had once considered letting Qi Refining disciples carry Foundation Establishment Pills and attempt breakthroughs inside the secret realm.
They had quickly abandoned the idea. After all, the success rate for Foundation Establishment was only thirty percent.
The secret realm stayed open for only one month, leaving no time at all.
Even more critical was the return trip. The spatial channel could accommodate only Qi Refining disciples. A Foundation Establishment cultivator might dominate inside the secret realm, but they would be trapped with no way out.
Instead, True Personage Heiyuan possessed a secret demonic method that could allow Qi Refining cultivators to rapidly achieve pseudo-Foundation Establishment.
This technique required cultivating a major medicinal blood pill inside the disciple’s body in advance, so it could only be used on their own people.
Moreover, this kind of pseudo-Foundation Establishment combat strength fell short of actual early Foundation Establishment cultivators and would quickly regress. It was ultimately rather useless in the long run.
True Personage Heiyuan had obtained this demonic secret art by chance earlier.
Yet using it here proved perfect. He had therefore selected several demonic disciples long ago, cultivated blood pills inside each of them, and planted mana guides so they could quickly locate one another inside the secret realm and help each other succeed.
At this moment, this particular demonic disciple possessed the strongest combat ability, the highest cultivation, and a personality that perfectly suited Heiyuan True Personage’s taste. Not only had he received the richest rewards, he had also been promised that once they left the secret realm he would directly become a Core Formation true disciple.
“True Personage has ordered me to hunt down several core disciples of the Blue Sea Sect. When it comes to understanding this secret realm, our alliance falls far short of the Blue Sea Sect…”
The demonic disciple patted his storage bag, a faint smile appearing on his face. “But when it comes to demonic secret arts, the Blue Sea Sect cannot compare to us. True Personage actually managed to plant tracking methods on those few Qi Refining disciples right under the noses of the two Core Formation ancestors…”
On the other side.
Several Blue Sea Sect core disciples dressed in blue robes held array flags, trapping a second-rank demon bird inside their formation.
“Haha… This quasi second-rank Five Elements Array truly deserves its reputation as a sect treasure. Not only does it consume very little, its power is overwhelmingly strong. This Flame Eagle that set its sights on us has simply asked for trouble…”
One disciple laughed.
“Let us finish this quickly. If the commotion grows too large, it will attract unwanted attention.”
The leading blue-robed disciple had a tall, imposing build and clearly carried great authority. At this moment he took the jade hand of the female disciple beside him.
Their auras merged perfectly, and their combined mana instantly crossed a certain threshold, reaching the Foundation Establishment standard.
Slash!
A white jade flying knife spiritual artifact was activated, turning into a streak of white rainbow light that severed the Flame Eagle’s head in one clean strike.
“Senior Brother Ruan and Senior Sister Yu truly deserve to be called Dao companions. Your hearts are in perfect sync. By cultivating the Dragon Phoenix Art and using the joint attack technique, you can fight evenly against an early Foundation Establishment cultivator.”
A younger disciple nearby offered sincere praise.
“Enough.”
Senior Brother Ruan waved his hand. “Do not forget our mission on this trip. Junior Brother Linghu, it is up to you.”
The young-looking Junior Brother Linghu, who was only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, nodded. He took out a talisman from his robe, bit the tip of his tongue, and spat essence blood onto it.
This was the Bloodline Tracking Talisman!
Many cultivators in the Blue Sea Sect had forgotten that their founding ancestor, the Blue Sea Ancestor, originally bore the double surname Linghu. He was precisely from Linghu Jin’s bloodline!
And this youth was the Qi Refining disciple the Blue Sea Sect had raised who currently possessed the closest bloodline to the Blue Sea Ancestor.
The talisman instantly erupted with blood-red light. It twisted like an earthworm and pointed sharply in a certain direction.
“The remains of the Blue Sea Ancestor? They truly are here?”
Senior Brother Ruan’s eyes lit up. “Set out immediately!”
Unlike these sect core disciples.
Ordinary Qi Refining disciples entering the secret realm first sensed the incomparably abundant spiritual qi and spirit herbs visible everywhere.
Then came all kinds of danger.
Awoo!
A pack of wolf demons howled as they tore at severed limbs and remains scattered on the ground.
Judging by the clothing, victims from both the Blue Sea Sect and the Sea-Destroying Alliance lay among the corpses.
On a nearby hillside, Miao Yifan clutched a second-rank inferior concealment talisman tightly in his hand, panting heavily. His eyes flashed with greed as he stared at the storage bags littering the ground…
“Haha, daring to fight me?”
In another part of the secret realm, beside a third-rank spirit flower, Li Tianlong controlled two superior magical artifacts and suddenly activated a second-rank inferior Sky Thunder Talisman.
A bolt of lightning flashed past. The opposing demonic disciple instantly turned into charred remains.
“Thank you for your help, Senior Brother Li. This junior sister could never repay your great kindness even if she wove grass rings or carried burdens in her teeth…”
Beside him, a twenty-year-old Blue Sea Sect female disciple with delicate features thanked him gracefully.
“Junior Sister need not be polite. Ah!”
Li Tianlong hurriedly helped her up, only to suddenly cry out in pain. A needle-sized wound appeared on his hand, and a ring of black qi immediately spread outward.
“Junior Sister… why?”
He collapsed to the ground, feeling his mana become impossible to circulate. He spoke in utter despair.
“Hehe… Senior Brother Li, just help this little sister one more time. Let this little sister achieve Foundation Establishment. In the next life, this little sister will definitely repay you by working like an ox or horse.”
The Blue Sea Sect female disciple raised her blade and struck. Blood sprayed everywhere.
She quickly picked up Li Tianlong’s storage bag. Her eyes lit up brightly. “Haha… Jackpot.”
Inside a mountain cave.
Embarrassing sounds kept emerging nonstop, followed by a male cultivator’s miserable scream.
Moments later, Shu Rou hummed a soft little tune, straightened her clothes, and walked out of the cave.
Inside the cavern lay a dried corpse, its blue robe hem still faintly visible.
“Truly, this secret realm is overflowing with resources. Even casual scavenging turns up first-rank and second-rank spirit herbs and ores.”
Inside the Mystic Jade Cave, Fang Qing continued watching Xiang Dahu’s live broadcast.
At this moment Xiang Dahu had already activated the lip bead to transform into the image of a cold-faced Sea-Destroying Alliance cultivator dressed in black robes.
After all, his strength had surged dramatically. It would not do for others to see his true appearance.
When it came time to exit the secret realm, Fang Qing would naturally withdraw the empowerment cultivation, causing Xiang Dahu to fall back to the eighth layer of Qi Refining. Besides, attempting to pass through the spatial channel at Foundation Establishment carried far too great a risk. The three Core Formation cultivators guarding the entrance were not fools. If they saw a Foundation Establishment cultivator walk out with almost no harvest, who would believe it?
“Compared to the Yanbo Blessed Land, the resources produced by this secret realm are clearly far richer. As expected, the resources on the Qi Refining path side are far more abundant than those on the Qi Ingestion side.”
“My decision to first elevate my own Qi Refining path great realm was correct.”
“However, this Xiang Dahu truly has shallow insight. He only cares about bullying demon beasts and looting third-rank spiritual materials, completely forgetting the truly important matters.”
“The real treasures of this secret realm have not even appeared yet.”
At this thought, Fang Qing immediately sent a reminder, directing Xiang Dahu to change course.
With his divination ability, calculating a greatly auspicious direction was still possible. What came next would depend on luck.
More than half a month passed quickly.
Only then did the disciples exploring the secret realm suddenly realize that the heavenly paradise they had thought they were in earlier was merely the outer perimeter.
To reach the core area of the secret realm, they still had to pass through layer upon layer of restrictive mist.
Ordinary late-stage Qi Refining disciples basically gave up at the sight.
Only those who had reached the perfect stage of Qi Refining, cultivated one or two powerful techniques, and worked together in groups dared to attempt the crossing.
The exploring disciples immediately split into two groups. Some were satisfied with the outer harvest and prepared to hide somewhere until the secret realm closed.
Only the core elites carrying heavy responsibilities and armed with precious treasures dared venture toward the core zone.
Xiang Dahu was naturally among them.
He held the Hundred Souls Banner and gave it a sudden shake.
A shattered petrel spirit flew out, pecking at something within the dense fog.
The black shadow let out a shrill, miserable shriek, then abruptly retreated back into the mist and vanished.
“This fog not only blocks Foundation Establishment divine sense, it actually contains such dangers as well.”
Xiang Dahu frowned, but with his second-rank body refinement he had a high tolerance for error. He continued forward a short distance.
Splash!
The view ahead suddenly opened up, revealing peaks brimming with abundant spiritual qi. Faint traces of ruined buildings could be seen atop them.
Outside many of the cave residences, restrictive formations still lingered.
“What rich spiritual qi. The main peak here should possess a fourth-rank spirit vein. It is a pity…”
Xiang Dahu glanced toward the central peak and sensed that the restrictive power there was overwhelmingly strong. Not to mention Foundation Establishment cultivators, even Core Formation cultivators would need to attack for a long time before having any hope of breaking through.
He shook his head, followed the direction his Young Master had indicated, and headed toward another mountain peak.
Along the way, broken walls and ruined structures lay everywhere. A few scattered cave residences remained, their restrictions weakened to the point that even Foundation Establishment cultivators could break them.
Xiang Dahu casually chose one, smashed through the barrier, and found only an ancient cultivator’s skeleton inside.
“Hmm?”
He shook the remains. The corpse immediately fell apart, revealing a storage spirit shell.
“This is the ancient cultivators’ standard storage format.”
Xiang Dahu opened the spirit shell and immediately felt disappointed.
Time was the most majestic force. After countless years of erosion, most of the items inside the storage spirit shell had lost all spirituality. The pills and such had turned into nothing more than sludge.
Only a few spiritual artifacts remained, their patterns still clear, yet their power had degraded all the way down to the level of ordinary magical artifacts.
“Sigh…”
Xiang Dahu dug a pit outside the cave residence, preparing to bury the remains casually.
Suddenly his spiritual artifact trembled as it struck the corner of a massive rock.
“This thing…”
Xiang Dahu swept it with his divine sense. As his mana surged, layer after layer of gravel peeled away, revealing a stone stele.
“Zhoutian Star Palace?”
“What kind of force was this? Possessing a fourth-rank spirit vein, it should have had a Nascent Soul old monster in residence. How did it turn into a mere secret realm?”
Fang Qing watched through the live broadcast and felt slightly startled when he saw the blurred ancient cloud-seal script on the stele.
After repeated checks confirmed the stele was nothing special, Xiang Dahu moved to another spot, dug a new pit, and buried the ancient cultivator’s corpse.
At that moment he sensed violent combat fluctuations coming from the peak of a nearby mountain!
“The intensity of this battle is dangerous even for me…”
Xiang Dahu hurriedly raised the Hundred Souls Banner. His eyes caught sight of a black halberd and a blue circular ring clashing fiercely atop the distant peak.
“These are… talisman treasures?”
Joy surged in Xiang Dahu’s heart. ‘Young Master truly possesses divine foresight. A Qi Refining disciple capable of using talisman treasures must be one of the core targets this time!’