Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 190

Or rather, this strange phenomenon was triggered by them.

Wei Shanze, Ding Ming, Xie Xie’an, and Jin Miaoshan were all present, along with several others whom Wang Yu did not know personally, but he could recognize their origins. For example, cultivators of the Yellow Spring Monastery wrapped in Yellow Spring ghost mist, or the Guardians of the Nether Mountain Sect riding flying Yin Pythons.

The Nether Mountain Sect was famous for its inheritance of controlling Yin Beasts, which was almost identical to the Fierce Nether Peak inheritance of the Blood Reversal Sect. In truth, the two had certain connections. Both originated from the Beast Taming Path, but the beasts they controlled were special, known as Yin Beasts.

These were eerie creatures that could switch between the form of wandering souls and that of flesh-and-blood beings. In ancient times they only existed within the Barbarian Wastelands, but now they were spread far and wide.

The Deathly Desert, the White Sand Drought Sea, the Broken Boundary Mountains, the Wind-swept Gobi, and many other places.

As long as there was a barren land with Yin Veins, the traces of Yin Beasts would surely be found.

Legend had it that Yin Beasts were born within the Netherworld Lands. They fed on Yin Qi and living souls, and possessed innate abilities to traverse the path of Yin and Yang and to toy with the waters of the Nether Spring River.

But no one had ever seen a Yin Beast that truly possessed such abilities.

The so-called Netherworld Lands had never been found in this realm, and were only regarded as legends from beyond the world, like the Heavenly Demon Realm. Ding Ming had also cultivated the Dao of controlling Yin Beasts.

Wang Yu wondered whether his intelligence had played a role. The competition for opportunities within the ruins of the Eastern Extreme Capital had clearly entered a white-hot stage. He was extremely curious, but still suppressed his restless heart and quietly waited for his informants to send another Image-recording Stone. It was as if he were watching a film, silently observing the fierce battles three thousand kilometers away.Inheritance or not was irrelevant. Such a vast ancient ruin surely contained far more opportunities than one. They simply had not yet been triggered. Watching more and accumulating experience was also beneficial.

With his abundant financial resources, Wang Yu tinkered with many interesting gadgets. Image-recording Stones were consumed one after another as he continuously watched distant battles.

“Woah.”

“A Core Formation cultivator has made a move. Gui Water Yin Lightning? A divine ability? Looks like it is someone from Yingui Palace, a first-class power beneath the overlords, with only one or two Nascent Soul cultivators.”

“As expected of the demonic path. A Core Formation cultivator ambushes someone at Foundation Establishment. And the unlucky victim is... Xie Xie’an. Ha.”

In the Image-recording Stone image, because the recorder was at a great distance, Wang Yu could not analyze every technique and divine ability. He could only clearly identify those with obvious characteristics and large displays.

The city lord reclined on his couch, leaning against a warm snow fox, nibbling candied fruits and snacks, muttering to himself.

“Little Xie, did you use some trump card? You are still not dead. Hah. A talisman treasure as well.”

This was not Wang Yu’s first time seeing someone use a talisman treasure. He had seen one before in Liu Jinxian’s hands.

Such items required the sacrifice of a Core Formation cultivator’s life-bound treasure essence to forge. Each talisman treasure could be used at most three times. They were common trump cards for second-generation disciples.

Evil God Peak only had three true disciples, and it was normal for them to be valued enough to possess talisman treasures.

Compared to Liu Jinxian’s control, Xie Xie’an’s usage and mastery of the talisman treasure nearly reached perfection.

That black divine light not only scattered the Gui Water Yin Lightning but also struck down the Core Formation cultivator who had attempted the sneak attack, burying him into the ground. The counterattack was a success.

At this moment, Wang Yu saw another scene.

One of the competitors, Jin Miaoshan, flung out a large handful of unknown pills. Soon, the area around the blood-red pillar of light erupted into green flames, spreading across a thousand meters.

Those cultivators who failed to evade in time, even with protective means, were reduced to charred corpses, falling like rain.

A great killing weapon.

“Zzzz.”

Seeing Jin Miaoshan flee into the blood-red pillar of light, the image suddenly cut off. Wang Yu hurriedly shouted.

“The third one. Has the third Image-recording Stone arrived yet?”

“Yes, Lord City Master.”

“Beep.”

The image resumed, the battle becoming even more intense.

Because of the delay while informants swapped stones, a few breaths of time were missing.

When the view cleared again, the blood-red pillar of light that represented Asura was quickly dimming. It seemed Jin Miaoshan had obtained the inheritance. Once the other cultivators realized this, they stopped fighting and began to set up formation flags around the pillar, clearly intending to trap and kill.

As for the gray pillar of light representing Rakshasa, it was utter chaos.

Countless Yin souls and fierce spirits filled the sky in endless slaughter. From time to time, sneak attacks erupted, but no overwhelmingly dominant presence appeared.

If a cultivator controlled only one or two Yin ghosts, they would likely lose track of their own servants amidst the eerie fog. The ghostly mist completely blocked out divine sense.

Above, ghosts rampaged wildly. Below, zombies and Yin Beasts fought each other. At times, the ground split open and a black coffin emerged, swallowing someone before retreating back underground.

This was not a treasure hunt at all. It was practically a banquet to feed their ghostly servants with high-quality blood food, a free buffet.

At times, desperate cultivators unleashed trump cards. Wang Yu saw one cultivator with a locust-tree spirit summon a hundred-meter ghost tree, which slaughtered its way through many foes.

But soon, overwhelming attacks buried him. The scene was even more chaotic than a mortal battlefield, like a great deathmatch. Anyone who stood out too much became the target of concentrated attacks.

Playing weak? That made one more likely to be struck down by a sudden full-force ambush from some lurking enemy, dying on the spot and reincarnating as a pig in the next life.

Wang Yu was astonished and kept absorbing experience. In such killing grounds, concealment was most important. The best choice was to strike only at critical moments.

The great battle lasted a long time. The victor of the Rakshasa pillar, shrouded in ghostly mist, was unknown to Wang Yu.

On the Asura pillar side, it was certain that Jin Miaoshan had won.

She came out only to be surrounded by multicolored formations, unable to move even a strand of hair. It was the last surviving protector at her side who saved her, throwing out more than ten third-rank Forbidden-Breaking Talismans.

Those stacked formations were all shattered, and only by using a spatial-type magic treasure along with a third-rank Void-Escape Talisman did they manage to escape. Such a method of throwing money into battle was something others could not replicate.

Even so, both of them were severely injured.

What surprised Wang Yu was that throughout the entire battle, no Nascent Soul cultivators made a move. This was a top-tier Spirit Transformation inheritance, and yet not one was tempted.

He did not believe that something all these juniors knew about could be unknown to the Nascent Soul cultivators.

Could it be that the cultivation method itself had a problem? But it did not seem like it.

Otherwise, the disciples of these major powers would not be fighting so desperately to seize it. So did this mean that Nascent Soul cultivators did not need Spirit Transformation methods? That speculation was far too absurd, and even he did not believe it.

As his thoughts turned, another idea surfaced.

Could it be an issue with the cultivation path? But there were always Nascent Soul cultivators on the soul path, and even more on the sword path. For example, True Lord Nine Evils of his own Blood Reversal Sect… and yet not one of them was tempted.

It seemed that the hidden truth behind all this was not something someone of his status could know. He would have to ask Zhuo Shouqing later.

With the end of the inheritance indicated by the anomaly, the Eastern Extreme Capital ruins returned to their usual state, shifting back into scattered small groups or lone cultivators exploring.

That was the nature of ruins.

Some ruins were fully developed, and no one would ever visit again.

Others were too vast and deep, hiding endless dangers. The truly valuable things inside would often give rise to anomalies.

Whenever such things appeared, a wave of exploration would follow until the treasure was seized, and only then would people disperse.

Secret realms, however, were usually controlled by the great powers, and rogue cultivators rarely had the chance to enter. For them, ruins were the best places to defy fate and change their destiny.

When a lucky one truly triggered a supreme-grade opportunity, the great hegemonies would come to pick up the spoils. This was the common pattern of ruin-based opportunities.

Everyone was waiting to eat the good stuff.

A few days later.

The corpses and remains had almost all been taken away. Even the fragments of magic tools destroyed during battle had disappeared without a trace. If someone were to pick up a fragment of a treasure, they would strike it rich.

All the low-level scavenger rogue cultivators who cleaned the battlefield came here with that purpose in mind.

Of course, before they arrived, storage bags and the corpses of higher-realm cultivators had long since been taken away. Nothing of that sort would be left for them.

The battlefield gradually grew quiet, and even the flow of people in Jade Spirit City dropped sharply. Wang Yu adjusted the sales focus of his shops, reducing battle consumables and increasing daily cultivation goods.

The peaceful Jade Spirit City was thriving again.

Ding Ming, Wei Shanze, and the others did not return, and Jin Miaoshan also left the Jade Spirit branch building. Everything was calming down and truly returning to peace.

However, Zhuo Shouqing did not leave.

In his own words, play was play no matter where it was done. He had stayed too long in the sect and felt stifled. Tasting something fresh outside was not bad either.

As for why no Nascent Soul cultivators fought for it, Zhuo Shouqing’s answer was intriguing.

He said: Demonic-path Nascent Souls have already begun to absorb demonic qi, and demonic qi also comes in different types, just as spiritual qi is divided into five elements, ice, wind, lightning, yin, yang, and so on.

There are also higher-quality demonic qi. Once refined, this power becomes irreversible. And in this world, the source of demonic qi comes from the sealed Ancient Demons.

At that point, Wang Yu more or less understood.

This information had to be combined with what he already knew. For instance, the demonic inheritance in this world also originated from various Ancient Demons.

Just as he had suspected, the main cultivation path could not be easily changed.

He had originally thought the restriction would not be absolute, that there would always be ways to draw parallels or borrow insights to elevate his path. Now it seemed that this was not workable, at least not in the demonic path.

Because its shackle lay in the different attributes of demonic qi.

For example, if Jin Miaoshan cultivated the Asura Slaughter Sacred Scripture, after reaching Nascent Soul, the amount of Asura demonic qi she could draw from heaven and earth would be extremely scarce, perhaps even nonexistent.

The best solution would be to go to the Desolate Ancient Plains and find the sealing ground belonging to Slaughter. There, Asura demonic qi would certainly be leaking out.

This bizarre restriction was something Wang Yu could not explain.

But… could the Idle Slot provide him with the corresponding demonic qi? It seemed likely, since it could even absorb Heavenly Demon malice without side effects.