Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Chapter 638 - 623: Exorcism Treasure Robe, True Immortal Inheritance! [Request Subscription]

Finding Jiang Fengxian wasn’t difficult.

During the several decades they spent in seclusion on "Peach Blossom Island," the two of them often engaged in Spirit and Body Dual Cultivation. Zhouyang specifically practiced a Secret Technique with her that allowed them to sense each other’s presence.

This Secret Technique enabled them to faintly sense each other’s location, even across hundreds of thousands of miles, allowing them to find each other.

At this moment, he was riding on the back of the [Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast], tracing that faint connection to find her. It took less than seven days before he located Jiang Fengxian.

Then, he found himself at a loss for words.

It turned out that Jiang Fengxian was delayed because she had been swallowed whole by a giant sea beast on the way.

The sea beast resembled a giant manta ray, likely a type of Barbaric Beast from the sea, with power between Tier Five and Tier Six.

This giant sea beast had been sleeping on the seabed. When Jiang Fengxian passed over its sleeping area using the [Fish Dragon Shuttle], it was somehow startled awake and swallowed both her and her magical artifact whole.

There was a separate world inside the beast’s stomach, and even someone as powerful as Jiang Fengxian, with her Ninth-Layer Golden Core cultivation, couldn’t easily escape. She had been struggling against the sea beast for days.

When Zhouyang arrived, the giant sea beast had already been worn out to the brink of death by Jiang Fengxian.

Thus, with scarcely any effort, he managed to finish it off, successfully slaying the colossal beast, which was at least three or four hundred feet long.

"These sea beasts are indeed more foolish than even Barbaric Beasts. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve tried to convey peace to it, yet it didn’t respond at all. It’s infuriating!"

In the water, a weary-looking Jiang Fengxian stood with Zhouyang on top of the giant sea beast’s corpse, recounting her recent ordeal with a frustrated expression as she looked at the motionless body beneath her.

The ocean is home to many giant sea beasts like the one beneath their feet. These creatures, although possessing formidable brute strength, are mostly dim-witted and cannot be communicated with, making them even less intelligent than high-tier Barbaric Beasts.

Moreover, apart from a few species, most giant sea beasts are of no use to cultivators.

The hearts of high-tier Barbaric Beasts from the Wilderness Jungle provide precious materials, but these giant sea beasts offer nothing but tough flesh, bones, and sinew.

And even the flesh and bones, due to their large size, contain less Spiritual Qi than a truly equivalent-tier Barbaric Beast or Demon Beast.

The giant sea beast that Jiang Fengxian and Zhouyang killed would surely overpower most Golden Core Stage cultivators in terms of strength, yet its flesh and bone value was not even on par with a Tier Four Demon Beast, at most comparable to a Tier Three Demon Beast.

Therefore, in the Overseas Cultivation Realm, unless an island is attacked by a giant sea beast, or a cultivator is unexpectedly swallowed like Jiang Fengxian, the cultivators usually avoid these sea beasts whenever possible, avoiding unnecessary confrontation.

"Alright, alright. As long as you’re safe, that’s what matters. Besides, didn’t you find that [Thousand-Year Clam Pearl] and two clam shells inside that beast’s stomach? It’s not like you came away empty-handed!"

Zhouyang said, glancing at the giant sea beast’s corpse beneath him and shaking his head, feeling quite helpless.

Such a giant sea beast could be sold in the marketplaces, fetching even tens of thousands of Low-grade Spirit Stones if its flesh and bones were sold for cultivator consumption.

But here in the "Celestial Wave Outer Sea," they had no place to store the giant sea beast’s corpse.

And given their current status as wanted individuals, engaging in such conspicuous activities would not be wise, likely leaving the beast’s remains to the nearby Demon Beasts.

Fortunately, as he comforted Jiang Fengxian, it wasn’t entirely a fruitless endeavor.

The giant sea beast, having survived in the ocean for an unknown number of years and consumed countless formidable Demon Beasts, sometimes left behind remnants in its stomach that couldn’t be fully digested.

Jiang Fengxian acquired a [Thousand-Year Clam Pearl] and a clam shell from a Tier Five Clam Demon within the stomach of the giant sea beast.

The [Thousand-Year Clam Pearl], merged with the Clam Demon’s Demon Pill, has been preserved for so long due to this fusion, making it an extraordinarily rare treasure.

As for the Clam Demon’s shell, it is an excellent Artifact Refining Material that can be used to refine a Tier Five Defense Spiritual Artifact, and is equally valuable.

Jiang Fengxian chose to wear the [Thousand-Year Clam Pearl] with her.

Even without refinement, wearing this magnificent item provides beautifying and calming effects. When infused with Magical Power, it can create a protective barrier with water-repellent properties, offering defense comparable to ordinary Tier Five Lower Grade Defense Magic.

As for the two clam shells, they naturally went to Zhouyang for future Artifact Refining.

Immediately, the two of them rested on the sea bottom for half a day to restore their Magical Power before riding the [Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast] back to the island containing the sealed and suppressed [Corpse Demon].

"Zhou Lang, are you really confident about this? After all, it’s a [Corpse Demon] with Nascent Soul stage strength. Your [Qianyang True Flame] is formidable, but it might have its own ways to counter it!"

Outside the sealed dungeon suppressing the Corpse Demon, Jiang Fengxian and Zhouyang stood outside the cavern. She glanced at the deep, dark dungeon, her eyes filled with worry as she turned back to look at Zhouyang, expressing her concerns in a low voice.

According to her suggestion, the two could find another place to refine the pill and form the infant; there was no need to deal with the Corpse Demon at their current Golden Core Stage cultivation. They could easily wait until after the Nascent Soul Formation to deal with it.

However, Zhouyang was worried that the Corpse Demon would escape early, insisting on trying.

To be fair, Zhouyang’s concerns were not without reason.

The Corpse Demon needed to gather the blood sacrifices of nine Golden Core Stage cultivators to escape, but this was just the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast’s version, which might not be entirely accurate.

Now it had already captured eight Golden Core Stage cultivators, and who could guarantee that it wouldn’t launch the blood sacrifice early and break free ahead of time?

Moreover, Zhouyang had already formed a deep enmity with this Corpse Demon, as he had not only disrupted its plans to escape but also seized the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast.

If the Corpse Demon breaks free early, Zhouyang would undoubtedly become its primary target for revenge. If that happened while he was guarding Jiang Fengxian during her preparation for Nascent Soul Formation, they might have no hope of escape.

For these reasons, he insisted on testing the Corpse Demon’s strength to see if he could eliminate it before it escaped.

"Don’t worry, even if the Corpse Demon isn’t suppressed and sealed, there’s no guarantee it can kill me. Don’t forget, I still have the Nirvana Mark you planted on me!"

Zhouyang confidently reassured his partner, gently holding her jade-like hand. "Just do as I said and manage this Water Dragon Fury Array well. If there’s danger, this is our only means of escape!"

The Water Dragon Fury Array is a Tier Five Top-Grade Killing Array, a trophy Zhouyang had acquired from Dragon Taming Golden Radiance, and he had already set up this array outside the cave, sealing an area of a hundred miles around it.

With the power of a Tier Five Top-Grade Array, combined with Jiang Fengxian’s Ninth-Layer Golden Core Stage cultivation presiding over it, they could even hold off a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator for a while.

Hearing Zhouyang’s words, Jiang Fengxian knew it was futile to persuade further, and she reluctantly nodded, "Alright, Zhou Lang, be careful."

"I’m going in."

Speaking, Zhouyang directly cast the Cyan Dragon Transformation divine technique and leaped into the dungeon.

Inside the dungeon, it was pitch black. Even after Zhouyang transformed into a half-dragon, half-human form with dragon-like vision, his visibility was only about twenty or thirty zhang.

Moreover, as soon as he entered the dungeon, his powerful divine sense was significantly suppressed, leaving his alert range to less than a hundred zhang.

Seeing this, he summoned a fireball to illuminate his path.

That fireball was not Qianyang True Flame but rather an ordinary magic flame.

He didn’t want the Corpse Demon to learn prematurely that he possessed Qianyang True Flame, a demon refining flame, and prepare defenses accordingly.

However, once the fireball appeared, the light was equally suppressed by an eerie force, affecting only a few zhang around him.

Even if he didn’t continuously supply magical power, that fireball would likely be extinguished by the strange force.

This bizarre power was something Zhouyang had never encountered, and it both startled and alerted him.

With a wave of his hand, he dispersed the fireball, then a flash of golden-red divine light appeared in his eyes, using the Separation Fire Golden Eye divine technique, finally extending his vision to see clearly objects seventy to eighty zhang away.

This visual distance allowed him to barely see the cave walls.

The cave walls were not smooth but rather uneven black stone, all naturally formed.

That kind of black stone was not any material Zhouyang knew of that could affect the divine sense, suggesting that the suppressive mysterious power was not from a natural ore vein but most likely a man-made array restriction.

If this was the case, it should be the work of the powerful being who suppressed the Corpse Demon, a method that indeed could maximize the seal on the Corpse Demon, even preventing its divine sense from spreading underground.

The dungeon wasn’t deep. Descending about two to three hundred zhang, Zhouyang reached the bottom, where a passageway, clearly widened by force, appeared before him.

He knew that following this passageway forward about two thousand zhang would lead to where the Corpse Demon was sealed and suppressed.

Sigh!

Taking a deep breath, Zhouyang raised his hand, and the lifebound spiritual artifact, Qianyang Golden Tower, appeared in his palm. Then, carrying the golden tower, he strode into the passageway.

The heavy footsteps echoed in the underground passageway, and listening to these sounds issued by himself, Zhouyang inexplicably felt tense.

Despite displaying such confidence in front of Jiang Fengxian, he wasn’t as assured in his heart as he appeared on the surface.

After all, that is a legendary "corpse fiend," a creature far rarer than a Nascent Soul Stage demonic cultivator.

Faced with such a mythical demon, how could he not be nervous?

If it weren’t for previously verifying the Qianyang True Flame’s demon-refining effects on the "Celestial Killer Corpse King" and the "Heaven-Sundering True Demon," he would never have dared to come down and face this Nascent Soul Stage "corpse fiend" alone.

Ten zhang, a hundred zhang, a thousand zhang...

Zhouyang walked forward step by step for over two thousand zhang before finally exiting the underground passage and entering a brightly lit underground hall.

The underground hall was enormous, over a hundred zhang tall, and three to four hundred zhang in length and width.

The light throughout the hall originated from a golden glowing magic robe in the center of the hall.

The magic robe was quite different from the ones worn by cultivators, looking more like the ceremonial attire emperors and nobles wear during grand ceremonies.

The robe itself was red, with the golden glow coming from numerous golden runes on its surface, known as "Golden Seal Text" passed down from the "True Immortal Realm," representing an immortal rune.

When Zhouyang was in the Kunxu Realm, he had obtained an analysis of "Golden Seal Text" and "Silver Talisman Text" from a True Immortal Avatar. Over the years, he had taken time to study their meanings. Now, upon careful examination, he could recognize the meanings of the golden runes on the robe.

Thus, he immediately recognized it as a cultivation technique for a demon suppression divine technique.

Someone had engraved this demon suppression technique onto the robe and used its power to suppress the demon.

The demon suppression technique is called the "Golden Sun Demon Suppression Spell," a special divine technique that can be imbued into magical artifacts.

If Zhouyang learned the "Golden Sun Demon Suppression Spell" and cultivated the "Demon-Suppressing Golden Light," he could imbue it as a spell onto his "Great Derivation Geng Metal Sword," granting it a powerful evil-breaking effect.

The golden runes on the robe were left by the adept in the "Golden Sun Demon Suppression Spell," who used special means to leave a permanent imbuing effect on the robe.

Now, this robe was worn by an elderly figure with a gaunt physique.

The elderly figure was emaciated like a skeleton, wearing the wide robe, making Zhouyang think of the term "a monkey putting on a crown."

As he walked into the underground hall, the elder’s dry face was facing his direction, and the shriveled eyes with a green hue stared intently at him, filled with greed and covetousness.

This creature, neither human nor ghost, was indeed the "corpse fiend" that had been sealed and suppressed.

The golden robe on the "corpse fiend" was the key to its suppression, and the cyan jade bed it was on, the four red-gold copper pillars at the corners of the bed, and the silver chains connected to the pillars and binding its hands and feet, were auxiliary treasures for its detention and suppression.

Meanwhile, eight Golden Core Stage cultivators, including Wei Tao, Huang Yunxing, Qian Bingyun, and Liu Xingping, lay pale-faced around the cyan jade bed, eyes closed with no consciousness.

If it weren’t for sensing the lingering vitality in them, Zhouyang might have mistaken them for dead people.

In reality, although these eight were not dead, their state was even more unbearable and miserable than death.

An invisible line connected to the eight’s chests at one end and the "corpse fiend’s" mouth at the other.

The essence, Qi, and spirit of the eight were being siphoned and devoured along this line by the "corpse fiend" to help it break free from the sealing and suppression.

"Gāgāgā, since you made it here, it means that waste Ruan Xiong is dead, and my Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast should have fallen into your hands, right?"

At this moment, seeing Zhouyang walk into the underground hall, the "corpse fiend" laughed strangely and proactively asked Zhouyang about his situation.

This indicated that, being trapped in the underground hall, it was indeed completely ignorant of the events outside.

Zhouyang heard its words but did not intend to respond. Instead, with a hint of curiosity, he asked back, "It’s said that ’corpse fiends’ can inherit most of their memories from life and possess almost an immortal lifespan. I’m curious, how many years ago were you a person, and why were you sealed and suppressed here?"

"You have quite the nerve!"

The "corpse fiend’s" smile froze, staring coldly at Zhouyang. It opened its mouth, exposing sharp fangs, and sneered viciously at him: "You want to know this? First, see if you have the ability to survive under my hands."

Before the voice fell, a shadow suddenly leaped from the wall behind Zhouyang, directly pouncing towards his back.

The shadow appeared silently, with no signs beforehand for Zhouyang to detect.

But fortunately, he had already been informed by the Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast about some of the "corpse fiend’s" methods and understood what this shadow truly was.

Therefore, just as the shadow was about to pounce on him, he suddenly let out a low shout and directly activated the [Qianyang Treasure Pearl] to release the enhanced [Qianyang True Flame].

Golden flames rose from Zhouyang’s body, and a piercingly shrill scream echoed throughout the underground hall.

Then, a monster in the shape of a rat, engulfed in golden flames, suddenly tore itself away from Zhouyang’s body, screaming as it charged towards the [Corpse Demon] in the center of the hall.

But it only made it halfway before it ran out of strength and was completely reduced to a wisp of black smoke by the golden flames.

Roar~ Howl!

A beast-like roar suddenly emanated from the [Corpse Demon]’s mouth. Its face twisted as it stared at Zhouyang with a look of hatred and fear, glaring at the bright golden flames on Zhouyang’s body.

"It seems you’re not as clever as I thought. Since you knew the [Water-Resistant Golden-Eyed Beast] fell into my hands, how could I not be prepared for your clone? Now your painstakingly cultivated clone is destroyed, can you answer my previous question now?"

Faced with the [Corpse Demon]’s hateful gaze, Zhouyang smiled faintly and mocked it without any courtesy.

When he found out that the [Corpse Demon] had refined a monster clone skilled in ambush attacks, he came up with this plan. Unexpectedly, the [Corpse Demon] really fell for it.

However, he knew in his heart that it wasn’t because the [Corpse Demon] was not clever, but that aside from this monster clone, it had very limited means at its disposal.

Moreover, the monster clone wasn’t weak at all. If it hadn’t been caught off guard by colliding with the [Qianyang True Flame], Zhouyang wasn’t entirely confident about eradicating this monster clone.

"That trash Ruan Xiong died too comfortably! It seems I was too kind; I should have decisively made him the ninth sacrifice back then!"

The [Corpse Demon] stared intently at Zhouyang, not reacting much to his mockery but instead cursing the already dead Ruan Xiong.

Yet Zhouyang, who had killed Ruan Xiong himself, actually spoke up in his defense at this moment.

"You’re not kind; the reason you spared Ruan Xiong was probably because you planned to use him to hide your identity after escaping! After all, for an existence like you, whether humans, demons, or even those demon cultivators, none would allow you to live if they discovered you!"

At this, the [Corpse Demon]’s eyes flashed with a fierce light, as if Zhouyang had hit the nail on the head, and it coldly said, "So what? Kid, you think possessing the [Qianyang True Flame] makes you capable of hurting me? My strength is something a mere Golden Core stage cultivator like you cannot compare to!"

"Whether it can or not, we have to try to find out!"

Zhouyang’s expression turned cold as well. With a wave of his sleeve, he hurled a ball of golden true flame towards the [Corpse Demon].

Roar!

The [Corpse Demon] let out an angry roar and opened its mouth to spit out a mass of ghostly green corpse fire that met the golden true flame.

The corpse fire grew with the wind, transforming into a firebird that swallowed the golden true flame into its belly and suppressed it, then continued to charge towards Zhouyang.

Seeing this, Zhouyang was unafraid. Instantly forming a hand seal, he directed a large cluster of golden true flame to transform into a flame dragon that met the corpse firebird.

After a brief exchange, the encounter ended with the flame dragon completely tearing the corpse firebird to shreds and burning it into oblivion.

"This is impossible! You’re clearly only at the Golden Core stage, yet the [Qianyang True Flame] you wield approaches great success level in power!"

The [Corpse Demon] stared at Zhouyang with a face full of shock, utterly astounded by the information gleaned from the brief skirmish.

Its corpse fire had been cultivated for thousands of years, its power surpassing the nascent flame of ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

Under normal circumstances, even when countered by the [Qianyang True Flame]’s demon refining properties, it shouldn’t have fallen so quickly to a Golden Core stage cultivator’s [Qianyang True Flame].

"If you’d like to know the answer to that question, you can trade the intelligence on [Donglai Immortal Island] for it. I heard you once used an opportunity for Nascent Soul formation to entice Ruan Xiong to work for you!"

Zhouyang smiled faintly at the astounded [Corpse Demon] and stated his terms.

Based on the prior exchange, he felt more confident about the operation. The [Corpse Demon] before him indeed possessed Nascent Soul stage cultivation, but it likely only matched the strength of an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

Dealing with a [Corpse Demon] that’s only at early-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, especially with most of its power sealed, wasn’t beyond his capabilities.

"You want the intelligence on [Donglai Immortal Island]? No problem. Help me break free, and I’ll not only gift you this [Exorcism Treasure Robe], I’ll also personally take you to [Donglai Immortal Island] and assist you in obtaining the immortal heritage left by [Master Donglai] there!"

With green light flickering in its eyes, the [Corpse Demon] regarded Zhouyang as a potential trading partner, willing to exchange the legacy of a Tribulation Crossing True Immortal for Zhouyang’s aid in escaping.

ps: The pursuit and subscriptions for the past two days have been too low. If today’s Chapter doesn’t recover, I can only attempt to use anti-piracy Chapters. This message is placed here to urge those reading pirated copies to return and subscribe to these recent Chapters. Don’t go too far, or you’ll drive the author out of writing, leaving you with nothing to pirate!