novelraw Chapter 146
Chapter 146
It was now.
Wang Yu did not even glance at what fate awaited the Crocodile Dragon on the other side. He only unleashed his full strength, casting Mysterious Yin Hand and lunging at the pale-faced Lan Boting.
Compared to the Qi Refining stage, when the giant gray-black hand was no larger than three meters, once cast by Foundation Establishment Wang Yu with true essence as support, the perfected Mysterious Yin Hand stretched a full thirty-three meters.
That colossal spectral hand looked like the arm of a giant.
It suddenly gripped the weakened Lan Boting, whose expression was filled with shock, his features twisted in fear.
"This is... the inheritance of Yellow Spring Temple. You are a true disciple of Yellow Spring Temple? Impossible. Besides... you should have been at that location."
Looking at his panicked enemy, Wang Yu smiled.
"Correct. I am indeed a reserve true disciple of Yellow Spring Temple. How is it? Surprised?"
At this moment the Mysterious Yin Hand was about to unleash the true might of a second-rank high-grade spell. Because Wang Yu’s true essence was insufficient, he had only managed to condense one hand.
But that alone was more than enough."No... Daoist Wang, I know Elder Dizang of Yellow Spring Temple, he and Sword Sect have—"
Hmm?
The instant Wang Yu hesitated, Lan Boting suddenly exploded into a pool of blood in his grip. Wang Yu had not exerted force. He had wanted this Foundation Establishment mid-stage corpse intact.
That was valuable.
With doubt in his heart, he turned toward his companion, the Crocodile Dragon.
But he saw that its neck had been almost completely cleaved open, the spine snapped, only a little flesh still attached below that barely kept the head from falling off.
Such a tyrannical Blood Essence Sword.
Yet this also allowed Wang Yu to breathe a sigh of relief. The crisis was over.
It seemed that in the future he must break through inside the sect, with the assistance of spiritual veins, without consuming his own spirit stones, and far safer besides.
If it could not be avoided and he had to do so in the wild, he must first prepare formation flags that could conceal the commotion.
One learns from suffering, and only then endures to the end.
Now it was harvest time.
The Crocodile Dragon’s corpse was immensely valuable, but Wang Yu did not intend to sell it. Its essence blood could be used for refining secret medicines, its flesh for refining Beast-Nurturing Pills, its bones, tendons, and scales as top-quality materials for magic tools.
And moreover… this Crocodile Dragon possessed a demon core.
A demon core was not the same as a human cultivator’s Core Formation golden core. It was a symbol of concentrated bloodline power. Even a first-rank demon beast had a chance of condensing one.
It represented great talent.
The earlier a demon beast condensed its core, the greater its potential. This Crocodile Dragon clearly had the potential to break through to third-rank. Its value was naturally even greater.
Wang Yu knew of a certain pill called the Earth Dragon Mystic Pill. When refined together with the Earth Spirit Dendrobium he had previously acquired, it could greatly strengthen a body cultivator’s physique.
When matched with the Dragon Spine, it could even awaken a mysterious bodily power. That was worth studying after he returned.
When he walked over to the pool of blood that had once been Lan Boting, he first collected all the storage pouches, his expression solemn.
"If my guess is right, this should be some sort of restriction, or a contract with extreme binding force.
"He violated the contract, so he was punished, turning into a pool of blood, without even leaving a soul behind..."
Yellow Spring Temple. Elder Dizang.
Wang Yu stroked his chin. He had already claimed the identity of a reserve True Disciple of Yellow Spring Temple, and carried the inheritance of Mysterious Yin Hand. Such a status was already high enough to be assumed to know some sect secrets.
That Lan Boting was punished by contract for speaking rashly was normal.
"But… Sword Sect has dealings with Yellow Spring Temple?"
He could not help but recall the origin of Mysterious Yin Hand. Su Qingshan. Could he really be a spy? But to allow a spy to carry a core inheritance with him—how could that be reasonable?
A headache.
"Enough. Not thinking about it. It has nothing to do with me anyway."
Time to tally the harvest.
Second-rank high-grade Binding Demon Rope, second-rank high-grade Jade Water Sword. Apart from these two magical tools, the rest were very ordinary, not even as good as the earlier harvest, the Earth Essence Cauldron.
He harvested thirty-two thousand spirit stones, quite a fat gain.
There were also five bottles of second-rank spirit pills, as well as miscellaneous items, including a large amount of information and maps related to the Taihu Spiritual Domain, and even the internal intelligence from the Heavenly Void Sword Sect regarding the Withered Leaf Marsh.
The last one in particular was of great help to Wang Yu. He had been troubled over how to safely cross the marsh, but with this internal intelligence, the difficulty would be greatly reduced.
Other than this, there were several identity tokens inside the storage pouch, which should be for movement within the Sword Sect. Beyond that, there were no other gains.
As for cultivation methods and techniques, there was not a single one.
This was in line with the situation of disciples from large sects. Their skills were all learned from the sect, unlike rogue cultivators who carried everything with them.
Even if they obtained some inheritances outside, most of the time they were not as good as what the sects provided, so they were not even willing to cultivate external inheritances.
“With these, it is already enough. Once I sell off those miscellaneous items, magical tools, and pills, I will once again have assets of over one hundred thousand spirit stones.”
He had one hundred thousand when he came, and one hundred thousand when he would return.
Even though he had consumed quite a lot, his strength had greatly improved. The Taihu Spiritual Domain truly was full of good people, unlike the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain, where almost everyone was a penniless pauper.
After finding a secluded place and restoring his true essence, he spent several days refining the Glazed Soul Lamp, Earth Essence Cauldron, Binding Demon Rope, and Jade Water Sword, all four of them second-rank magical tools.
Naturally, his strength increased a step further. Once at the Foundation Establishment stage, a cultivator’s powerful divine sense was sufficient to control two magical tools at once, and by late Foundation Establishment they could even control three.
With proper coordination, this was enough to establish an overwhelming advantage.
Taking out the map carefully prepared by Lan Boting, Wang Yu chose his direction and set out toward the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain.
Having intelligence was completely different from having none.
Even so, along the way he encountered many dangers, which grew worse the deeper he went. Especially after entering the territory of Core Formation demonic beasts, even though Wang Yu had the Invisibility Technique, he could not fool such beings.
He could only circle around the edges. But these relatively safe routes had, over countless years, been filled with prohibitions and arrays set up by both righteous and demonic sides.
Some were even illusion arrays formation used for baiting people.
Three days after departure, he saw a fourth-rank spiritual ginseng growing beneath a tree. If not for the map’s note that it was an illusion formation paired with a killing formation, he might very well have fallen into the trap.
The two domains had been at war for many years, using every tactic imaginable. From smuggling across dangerous grounds, to bypassing heavenly checkpoints straight into enemy territory, all these methods had already been used to exhaustion.
From this, it was clear how many traps lay hidden along these so-called safe routes.
In some places, the foothold was less than three feet wide, and he had to walk sideways.
“Old Lan, old Lan, I wronged you. You are a good man after all.”
Two months later.
Having just escaped pursuit from a pack of wolf beasts, Wang Yu noticed that the strength of the demonic beasts was gradually declining. This meant he had already passed through the most dangerous core area of the Withered Leaf Marsh.
He was now advancing toward the outskirts closer to the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain.
His heart immediately lightened. The most dangerous part had already been crossed.
Time passed on the road.
At the beginning of the first month of his fifth year as an inner disciple, on a silent snowy night, nine twisted mountain peaks appeared before his eyes. The spiritual energy in the environment carried a sweet fragrance.
“Long time no see, Exalted Sect.”
[Author: Calling it the Exalted Sect meant that Wang Yu had already acknowledged his demonic path identity, no longer forced but accepted. Soon the second volume is about to begin, and next goal—Core Formation.]