Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 181

Watching his reliable disciple depart, Wang Yu also began to ponder. Indeed, Jade Spirit City was still better suited to have a Core Formation city lord in charge. Although he had some abilities, he was still lacking.

He could manage matters within the city, but outside the city… even opportunities close at hand were beyond his grasp. This was a matter of strength.

If he were strong enough, the Guan Clan’s opportunity would have been his, since the Guan Clan could not hold on to it.

In the short term, the only thing that could give him the power to directly contend with a Core Formation cultivator was corpse refinement. The living corpse in his possession had been at late Core Formation.

If he could find a cultivation method to use it, even if imperfect, refining a third-rank Fiend Corpse would not be a problem. As for the Armored Corpse… that old man clearly had never cultivated a Body Refining technique.

It was simply not his specialty. Fiend Corpses had many means and were not necessarily inferior to Armored Corpses. Furthermore, a third-rank Fiend Corpse corresponded to a Flying Zombie, capable of sucking blood from a distance, making it far more versatile.

He glanced at the Idle Slot.

At present, the Ice Spirit Pill formula had been replaced by the Ancient Soul Art. With this technique, plus the automatic absorption of lunar essence, and later the “Evil Soul Devouring Body” constantly sharpening and surging his divine sense, Wang Yu’s divine sense power level was already approaching the peak of Foundation Establishment.

If he could fully cultivate the Ancient Soul Art, allowing his soul to gain the Ancient Soul trait, he might be able to wield divine sense power at the Core Formation stage ahead of time. Paired with seven or eight soul-based combat methods, he might even stand a chance against an early Core Formation opponent. As for actually killing one, that was unlikely. But now that he had grown wealthier, he had many options.

There was more than one path to increase his combat strength. There was still plenty to work with.“Right, I forgot to ask about treasures that could help with breaking through to mid Foundation Establishment.”

With his dual spiritual roots aptitude, this barrier would not stop him, but it could still delay him for months or even half a year. If there were ways to break through immediately, there was no reason not to use them.

Wang Yu had no shortage of spirit stones. He continued to order the City Lord’s Mansion staff to search the city for related treasures and also sent people to Golden Abundance Tower.

Wang Yu himself entered the Scripture Repository, wishing to investigate the unique treasures of this region.

At the same time.

Three thousand kilometers east of Jade Spirit City, at the Eastern Extreme Capital ancient ruins.

In both sky and earth, Core Formation cultivators were arriving in their magical conveyances. Various types of traveling treasures dazzled the eyes: spirit boats, palaces, pavilions, bone mountains, dark clouds… treasures shining everywhere.

The presence of powerful cultivators could be sensed every few steps. Roughly estimated, at least a hundred Core Formation cultivators had arrived. And that was only those lingering outside, not including those who had entered the ruins.

Foundation Establishment cultivators filled the area like swarming ants. Call out at random and one would appear.

This was mainly thanks to the scale of the Eastern Extreme Capital.

As one of the four capitals of the ancient immortal dynasty, it was absolutely a major place. Just the surface-level residential districts and architecture could accommodate tens of millions of people.

And naturally, the dynasty’s methods were not so simple.

Going underground, people had encountered upside-down floating mountains, palatial estates spanning half a city, and at the core even an imperial palace.

Due to the difficulty of gauging scale underground and the lack of an aerial view, the earliest-discovered government office street now seemed to be only a fragment. As exploration deepened, more and more people obtained treasures and inheritances.

Battles grew fiercer. The dead became countless.

Underground.

A group of cultivators emerged from a place marked “Jingzhao Evil-Suppressing Prison,” smiles of delight on their faces. Each had obtained something that could be called an ancient treasure.

It was a blood-red shackle, entirely crimson, reeking faintly of blood.

According to their appraisal, this treasure possessed extremely strong sealing power, not only able to block the circulation of True Essence, but also to suppress bodily strength.

The inscribed runes even carried a trace of spatial power. It could affect even Core Formation cultivators. Its preciousness went without saying.

“By the way, these shackles and fetters should be part of a set. Could they have been used by the ancient immortal dynasty to imprison criminals?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

The middle-aged man leading them pointed at the plaque behind them. “This is a prison. What we hold should be newly forged items, stored in the armory and preserved fairly well.”

“Yes, it is a pity about those torture devices. Those must have possessed true offensive power. Sealing treasures are ultimately a bit weaker.”

“Having any harvest is already good. These are third-rank ancient treasures. We have rarely come to this place before. All thanks to Jade Spirit City’s intelligence.”

“Indeed, indeed, hahaha.”

This group, all from the same sect, unexpectedly did not fall into schemes or betrayal. They even openly displayed their harvests.

In the environment of the demonic path, this was far too strange.

It did not feel real.

And on their way out, they encountered no ancient monsters buried underground. They walked smoothly to the edge of the subterranean ruins.

“Just a bit further and we will reach the surface. There are more cultivators here now.”

Suddenly, a female cultivator spoke without warning.

“Yes, so many people.”

Someone’s eyes flashed with a trace of red. He abruptly pulled out the blood-red shackles they had obtained earlier and carelessly said.

“The treasures inside the Jingzhao Evil-Suppressing Prison are truly many. Once we have rested, next time I must seize that blood-colored sword.”

Whoosh whoosh whoosh.

Nearby, cultivators who had used concealment techniques leapt aside. An ambush was quietly resolved, and the villains looked on with astonished expressions.

Something was wrong. Such a crude trap was incomprehensible.

A Core Formation cultivator coldly snorted: “What are you trying to do?”

The group drew out more and more bloody shackles. Their bodies began to glow faintly with strands of blood light. Their eyes turned scarlet, their pupils vanished, and unknown liquid dripped from the corners of their mouths.

In an instant, terrifying killing intent and a surge of baleful blood energy shot up into the sky.

This group, mostly at Foundation Establishment with only one Core Formation cultivator leading, launched attacks at all nearby living beings.

“Madmen.”

“They are being controlled by some strange means inside these ruins. Kill them.”

“I will do it.”

A Core Formation expert unleashed his divine ability, summoning a lightning sword that crackled with thunder. He swept through the frenzied Foundation Establishment cultivators like chopping vegetables.

Then with one strike to the throat, he ended the irrational Core Formation cultivator.

His strength was clearly at Core Formation late stage. Since his opponent had lost his mind and could not use magic treasures or divine abilities, the kill was effortless.

The cultivator wielding the thunder sword casually picked up several storage bags and said disdainfully:

“Ants are still ants. Once mad, they are even easier to kill.”

After speaking, he unconsciously snatched a bloody shackle from a corpse and placed it around his own neck. This act made the surrounding people retreat in shock.

“Senior Gui Lei…”

“What is it?”

He removed the shackle again. He seemed unaffected. After a moment of silence, the onlookers saw he was indeed fine, and they relaxed.

They then used retrieval techniques to seize the bloody shackles and corpses from afar before vanishing swiftly.

Such looting should have drawn Gui Lei’s pursuit, yet he did not act. Instead, he softly murmured:

“Jingzhao Town’s Evil Suppressing Prison is a fine place. Find the blood-colored sword… gather more companions. Seize the treasure, seize the treasure, seize the treasure.”

……

Jade Spirit City.

It had been some time since Wang Yu left seclusion. As usual, he kept watch over news from the Eastern Extreme Capital, and he had also received word of an item that could assist with Condensing Essence.

His current true essence had already reached a limit of more than four hundred drops. With supreme-grade Ice Spirit Pills inside his body not yet fully digested, he was already at the threshold of Foundation Establishment fourth layer.

Condensing Essence meant transforming the true essence in the dantian into a unified spring of true essence.

Within Wang Yu, there were already three streams of true essence, each accumulated drop by drop.

Fusion was not difficult. The core lay in opening the spring’s eye so that it could truly become a spring of true essence, which was harder.

Once condensed, the spring of true essence would naturally draw in spiritual energy from heaven and earth, producing an extra drop of true essence at intervals. It was a form of automatic cultivation.

Though its efficiency was slightly less than personal cultivation, it still doubled one’s gains.

The better the spiritual roots, the faster one crossed these minor bottlenecks, and there were also treasures that aided breakthroughs.

In the area around Jade Spirit City, only a few options could be found.

“One-Pattern Condensing Essence Pill, suitable for opening the spring of true essence, price thirty-eight thousand spirit stones. Golden Abundance Tower has no stock, needs time to transfer.”

“Water Essence Crystal, a second-rank spiritual item, suitable for a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s first Condensing Essence, price twenty thousand, in stock, slightly weaker effect.”

“Spring Emergence Ground, a second-rank blessed land, one-time use for a single cultivator, entry ticket twelve thousand, no guaranteed success, jointly controlled by Earth Demonic Valley and Locust Wood Sect.”

Among these, Wang Yu leaned toward the first option. He was not short of money.

Condensing Essence Pills were a series.

Above it was the Two-Pattern Condensing Essence Pill, for Foundation Establishment cultivators breaking into late stage, the second Condensing Essence. It sold the most in the series and was also expensive.

The Three-Pattern Condensing Essence Pill aided in forming a Sea of True Essence. Once formed, it meant half a step into Core Formation, only a step away from condensing a golden core and producing mana.

However, this pill could not be used together with a Core Formation Pill.

Compared to true breakthrough pills, the Three-Pattern Condensing Essence Pill only affected true essence. It was somewhat chicken-rib, so sales were lower than expected.

Forming the core also required passing three barriers, much like Foundation Establishment, but at much higher standards. And after successfully condensing the golden core, one would face lightning tribulation.

At such a time, a tribulation-defying treasure made success much smoother. Eight out of ten would succeed.

Major sects had Tribulation-assisting Formation. Cold Blood Peak had one. Spending a contribution token allowed one to rent it. Wei Zhong was said to have broken through this way.

Such thoughts were still far away. Wang Yu shook his head.

He took out the Golden Abundance Tower’s VIP token and sent in his request. At the latest, the pill would arrive in three months. This was a benefit of relying on a giant overlord.

Ordinary VIP tokens did not have such privileges.

This was only possible because Jin Miaoshan had face.

That day.

While studying the secret art Wind and Thunder Spirit Mark, Wang Yu was surprised when Yingdong and Yingxue brought up a demonic man. A flash of the Taiyin Nether Eye mark appeared in his eyes.

Under his Moon-Observation vision, he had a trace of penetrating truth, even glimpsing the soul flame of living beings.

What the Guan family sisters brought was their own patriarch, shackled at the limbs. What Wang Yu saw was a scarlet soul flame, as if reflecting a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

It carried endless killing intent and baleful energy. It was a force that could affect the heart-mind.

The heart-mind was different from divine sense.

Divine sense/consciousness and divine soul were two sides of one whole, growing together.

The heart-mind was bound to willpower. It leaned toward a mysterious state of mind, highly subjective and extremely difficult to cultivate.

Once the Dao heart shattered, one would fall into endless calamity. The hard-cultivated power of the heart would be broken back to its origin.

That was not something he dared to touch.

His gaze involuntarily fell on the strange shackles.