Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 172

As time flowed, ten years passed in a flash.

In the eleventh month of Wang Yu’s fifteenth year as Deacon, the weather: heavy snow.

Inside the quiet chamber of the Jade Spirit City Lord’s Mansion.

“Hu…”

A narrow streak of white breath shot out like a sword from his throat, blasting a pit into the hard wall. The young man sitting cross-legged and bare-chested had a pitch-black flood dragon tattoo on his back, which gradually took on a faint crimson hue.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes and whispered softly.

“Even without a cultivation method, relying on the Dragon Blood Elixir refined from ‘Blood Dragon Essence’ has allowed me to reach a higher level. My Body Refining has reached second-rank early stage peak, equal to the strength of Foundation Establishment third layer.”

He clenched his fists and put on a crow-blue embroidered crane cloak once again.

“But that is the limit. Without a matching cultivation method, Body Refining cannot break through from early stage to middle stage. Yet the placement time of Flood Dragon Force still lacks fourteen years.”

At this thought, a trace of bitterness appeared at the corner of Wang Yu’s mouth.The Idle Slot is not enough.

Blood Dragon Essence, formed from the condensed blood of an ancient flood dragon, had taken Wang Yu ten years to obtain. Naturally, this was not his only gain.

The improvement in Body Refining was only incidental.

If one observed carefully, the Blood and Qi-formed [Yin Nether Demonic Flood Dragon Spine] on his back had already changed in appearance, becoming more like a pure-blood flood dragon. Along with this, the mysterious “dragon force” within his body had also risen significantly. This was the effect of strengthening his foundation. Even if others cultivated the same technique, without Blood Dragon Essence their physique could never compare.

Among Body Refining cultivators of the same rank, his body was second to none. The mingling mutations of Flood Dragon Spine, Yin Blood, and Corpse Demon Bone had been enhanced to the extreme of the current stage.

Even so, he still had half of the Blood Dragon Essence unused, and the Dragon Blood Elixir deposited in his body had reached its limit. He needed to find a chance to engage in battle with his body to stimulate full absorption of the medicinal power. But that could wait until after he had derived the second-rank Flood Dragon Strength technique.

Ten years had brought abundant harvests.

High-grade movement technique Frost Moon Wings reached perfection, the Dual-path Soul Arts, Demon-Controlling Soul Sound and Ghost Crow Soul-Devouring Sound both reached perfection.

The Ancient Soul Art reached minor completion, his divine sense advanced further, and the ferocious souls in the Black Fiend Armor were all drained dry, falling into slumber.

Other techniques had progressed as well, though not as greatly.

For example, Ice Wheel Technique, Searching Mountains and Hunting Demons, Heavenly Soul Qi, Wailing Heart-Shattering Blade, and so on, mostly remained at minor completion plus two, still short of great completion.

Once those arts reached perfection, only one Idle Slot remained.

He arranged it for Heavenly Soul Qi, a divine sense secret technique. The earlier it reached perfection, the better he could borrow the effect of “Evil Soul Devouring the Body,” which would help raise his divine sense realm.

As for alchemy, once the Mysterious Yin Hand reached perfection years ago, he had already arranged it. Because of delays in the supply of Situ Hong’s Yin Marrow Liquid, success would come in a few months, allowing him to advance to second-rank perfection.

The completion of Corpse Demon Secret Technique was delayed until the last two years. Because he encountered bottlenecks in other techniques, he kept replacing it month by month. Slowly it added up, leaving nearly two years still unfinished. The closer it was, the calmer his heart grew. According to the Corpse Demon Secret Technique’s “Yin Blood Pill,” completion at second-rank would already allow an attempt at remolding.

Of course, reaching third-rank would ensure absolute success.

However, the fusion mutations caused by Yin Blood and Corpse Demon Bone with his Body Refining technique had strengthened his life force essence. This in fact helped him.

Remolding his left arm… was not far away.

Finally came the change in cultivation.

Strictly speaking, it was ten years and five months of growth.

The Idle Slot had increased his cultivation by 187.5 drops of True Essence. His own cultivation raised 25 drops. Added to his original 132 drops, his total accumulation of True Essence surpassed 344.5 drops.

More than two years ago, he had smoothly broken through to Foundation Establishment third layer.

In another eight to ten years, he would accumulate five hundred drops of True Essence and reach the threshold for his first condensation of essence. This speed was very fast.

Once he broke through to Foundation Establishment middle stage, his sixth slot would be ready. That would be his true great leap forward.

Through years of management, the new alliance of interests in Jade Spirit City had become unshakably stable. Annual income grew by 4 to 5 percent, a very healthy curve.

In addition, at the Golden Abundance Tower’s Jade Spirit City branch, Wang Yu had cultivated his own network. He could use the resources of this massive merchant house to seek out the most suitable cultivation resources.

After all, compared with bitter cultivators, his only advantage was a rich spiritual energy environment. He had not yet reached his fastest cultivation speed.

At this time, the supreme-grade ice attribute materials he had commissioned should be arriving. Wang Yu always prepared ahead of time. He never liked to buy pills for himself from elsewhere.

Even if Golden Abundance Tower had excellent credibility, he was not at ease.

But preparing third-rank treasures in advance was something he could do.

Ordinary cultivators, after breaking through to Core Formation, exhausted their wealth and often had to toil for over a decade to gather materials for their life-bound magic treasure. But he, wealthy and with a clear path, could collect in advance and instantly transform into a complete Core Formation cultivator.

Having a life-bound magic treasure was the mark of a complete Core Formation stage. As for the life-bound divine ability that also required cultivation, Wang Yu still lacked knowledge. That information was hidden, and only after reaching late Foundation Establishment could it be exchanged from the sect.

At present, he already held two third-rank yin attribute treasures. Adding the previously obtained [Living Soul Blood Gold], refining not only one life-bound magic treasure but even a second would be effortless.

Investing spirit stones in one place was not a loss. After all, only when spent did they have value.

The underground spiritual vein of Jade Spirit City also produced spirit stones.

After years of excavation, the limit had already been reached. Digging further would damage the integrity of the spirit vein. Therefore, mining was only conducted once every ten to twenty years.

Spirit veins were originally formed by the gathering of heaven and earth’s spiritual energy. They were extremely similar to earth veins and could even be said to be earth veins that had undergone spiritual mutation.

As time passed, spirit stone mines would naturally regenerate. After each recovery cycle, a large number of spirit stones would be produced.

The third-rank mid-grade spirit vein of Jade Spirit City even had a chance of producing high-grade spirit stones. These were hard currency among higher-level cultivators.

It was said that for Nascent Soul cultivators, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was not as pure as the mana within their bodies. They generally needed to refine it externally before absorbing it and refining it repeatedly inside.

However, if high-grade spirit stones were used to set up a Multiple Spirit Gathering Formation, such troublesome steps would not be necessary. The higher one cultivated, the more difficult the path became, until even heaven and earth themselves became obstacles to progress.

Storing more now would only be beneficial for the future.

Wang Yu had checked the records from previous years.

After the restoration cycle ended, the yield of high-grade spirit stones should be between five hundred and one thousand. He held sovereignty over Jade Spirit City for a full three hundred years.

Even if mining was conducted once every twenty years, it could still accumulate between seven thousand five hundred and fifteen thousand high-grade spirit stones. This was a fortune.

The additional yield of mid-grade and low-grade spirit stones was relatively minor, their total value being around one million low-grade spirit stones, all considered his personal profits.

At present, in Jade Spirit City.

Calculated on a five-year cycle, after deducting city maintenance costs, personnel expenses, and the tribute of one million spirit stones, his net profit was about six hundred thousand.

With two rounds of collection over ten years, plus the steady side income from this spirit stone mine, he had even more wealth than when he had suddenly struck it rich ten years ago, despite recent expenditures.

In addition, the Hall of Offerings now had three early Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Wang Yu had assigned them as temporary commanders in the city guard and patrol forces. Once the disciples he was personally training reached Foundation Establishment, they would return to the City Lord’s Mansion.

They followed his orders. Each Foundation Establishment cultivator required many spirit stones every five years, so his expenses were steadily rising.

“It is time to create more income, Snowjade.”

The three-tailed Snow Fox had grown slightly. Wang Yu’s alchemy still required more time to be perfected, but he could already refine second-rank pills.

He simply could not yet produce supreme-grade ones. Over ten years, even with the second-rank spirit pills he personally refined, the Snow Fox Pills, it had only just broken through to the second layer of Foundation Establishment.

Its cultivation speed was much slower than his. Snow Fox Pills were an advanced version of beast-feeding pills, and Wang Yu often managed to refine high-grade ones.

He had purchased the pill formulas and materials from Golden Abundance Tower. They were said to have originated from the mysterious power known as the Northern Suppression Tower.

These were specially developed for the snow beast clans of the Extreme Northern Icefields.

After Wang Yu improved and adapted the formula, the Snow Fox Pills became perfectly suited for Snowjade. The effects were even better, continuously stimulating the potential hidden in its bloodline.

Accumulation over time became its foundation. In the future, if it could obtain the chance of bloodline baptism in a rare heaven-and-earth treasure ground such as the Spirit Spring Cold Pool, there was a small chance it could continue to evolve.

……

……

Having remained in seclusion for some time.

The sky was filled with falling snowflakes. The temperature was only a few degrees.

Standing at the entrance of the main hall of the City Lord’s Mansion, Wang Yu naturally overlooked the entirety of Jade Spirit City. In recent days, he had encountered many small troubles, but all were solvable.

Occasionally, he encountered Core Formation cultivators. They would be repelled by the three sects outside the city. Unless they were unaffiliated wanderers, they would receive polite hospitality or even be invited to participate in exhibitions.

If they belonged to any sect or faction, they were generally unwelcome.

Who knew what hidden motives they carried.

In all these years, Wang Yu had only encountered one such case. The cultivator claimed to be from the Overturning Sea Sect, a Core Formation sect to the north near the Chaotic Ancient Sea.

Passing through Jade Spirit City, he only purchased some supplies. His true destination was the Yanluo Ghost Market, three thousand li south of the Reed Marshes.

At present, their relations remained ambiguous.

Wang Yu occasionally left the city, but he never ventured too far. For him, the City Lord’s Mansion of Jade Spirit City was the safest place. Few could break through its defenses.

While he was contemplating how to expand his wealth.

Two fragrances drifted in from the side. It was the sisters Guan Yingdong and Guan Yingxue, who had grown into young ladies. Since childhood they had been beautiful, and now they were strikingly lovely.

Whenever Wang Yu was pleased, he would reward them with supreme-grade first-rank spirit pills.

Because of this, together with the Jiang children, their cultivation had all reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining. Compared to their three-spiritual-root talent, this speed was several times faster.

By around sixty or seventy years of age, they might touch the threshold of Foundation Establishment, with two chances to attempt the breakthrough and a fairly good chance of success.

This time, they had come with a report. The elder sister, Guan Yingdong, spoke calmly. “Master, a senior cultivator from the Ink-Water Sect has come to visit. We have already escorted him to the reception hall.”

“Ink-Water Sect? I understand.”

Wang Yu nodded and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Guan Yingxue carefully added.

“Master, it seems that person has come because of the Ancient Ruins. Recently, many reports have spread. It is said that another cluster of ancient ruins has been discovered.”

“Other factions may also come in the next few days.”

“Very well, let us go take a look.”

He rubbed Yingxue’s head. This girl was more clever than her sister, more proactive as well, and often received rewards from Wang Yu.