Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 253

Of course.

That was only his way of showing off. In truth, he understood his own situation clearly. The Core Formation Lightning Tribulation could indeed wound his current body, but not severely. The benefits he could obtain from it far outweighed the injuries.

Therefore, he simply did not bother avoiding it.

As for the Heavenly Heart Lightning Dispersion Tribulation Formation Flag and the Tribulation Avoiding Spiritual Treasure that he would acquire in the future, they were not useless. He could give them to the Three-Tailed Snow Fox or the Demonic Corpse to use.

Later, when he returned to the Jade Spirit territory, he could even rent them to rogue cultivators crossing their tribulations. That too was a path forward. Sooner or later, he would recover the cost and even make a profit. All of those were fine uses.

After putting his clothes back on, Wang Yu saw Long Yiran in the distance, her face rosy. His brows lifted slightly as he approached and asked,

“When did you wake up?”

“Just now.”

Wang Yu fell silent. He did not have an exhibitionist tendency;

it was simply that when using the Glazed Lotus Heart Liquid, he had to do it that way to achieve the best effect.

“Get ready. We will continue exploring the Heavenly Soul Sect ruins.”“Mm.”

Long Yiran hesitated for a moment, then shyly asked,

“Brother Wang, do all men like beautiful women?”

“Out of admiration for beautiful things, I suppose.”

Wang Yu sensed a faint omen and did not wish to become entangled any further. Honestly, this trip to the Demonic Bone Forest had already affected him more than enough.

Yet Long Yiran looked rather happy. She asked again, “Then what type does Brother Wang like?”

Wang Yu paused for a moment and said calmly, “I like beautiful ones.”

Long Yiran: “…”

Though he said they would leave soon, Wang Yu still spent a few days adapting to his newly gained divine power. The Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art was a third-rank body refinement technique.

With his current insight and comprehension, using the Idle Slot to forcibly deduce it was astonishingly inefficient.

Advancing it to fourth-rank would take even longer than perfecting the Prajna Heart Sutra—at least five hundred years. He did not have that much lifespan. Once he formed his Golden Core and advanced all aspects to the third rank, deducing a fourth-rank technique would become far easier.

For a second-rank cultivator to deduce a fourth-rank art was nearly a myth. After all, the Idle Slot’s effect was based on his main body’s fundamental qualities.

Thus, the Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art was honorably retired and replaced in the slot by the third-rank combat art Demonic Dragon Fist.

[Idle Slot 4: Demonic Dragon Fist (Third-Rank / Combat / Divine Ability)]

“Demonic Dragon Fist (1/100): 96 practices per day, 100 years to perfect.”

“It is still limited by cultivation, but with body refinement at the proper level, one hundred years to perfect…”

While thinking this over, Wang Yu checked his other Idle Slots. After years of accumulation, several key secret arts were about to advance.

The fastest among them was the Heavenly Cold Yin Blood Art.

This technique’s peculiarity lay in enhancing the extreme cold power within his true essence. It had reached perfection years ago and had long been evolving toward the third rank.

Even with the assistance of the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Bed and the power of the Yellow Springs, the improvement it brought was still tremendous.

Not to mention, techniques advanced through the Idle Slot reached perfection immediately once successful.

When perfected, such a technique would trigger its unique effects.

With a third-rank perfected art, the Foundation Establishment stage would progress even faster.

It was just that Wang Yu’s cultivation rose too swiftly. This kind of “transcending rank” advantage was something he had only enjoyed during the Qi Refining stage. The higher the realm, the harder it became to reach perfection in advanced arts and secret techniques.

Even with his cultivation and insight keeping pace, the time required continued to grow longer.

He still needed something like the Exquisite Inner Core, a rare treasure that could permanently increase comprehension.

With two Idle Slots supporting it, the Heavenly Cold Yin Blood Technique was advancing quickly and would reach completion within a few years.

Next was the Corpse Demon Secret Technique, which was in the process of evolving from second-rank to third-rank. The Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art had actually been born from this secret technique’s influence.

The two were naturally compatible.

It would be completed in about ten years. Before the Chasing Moon Prefecture conflict reached its conclusion, both of these arts would advance, pushing his strength to another level.

In other aspects, whether it was the Wind and Thunder Spirit Patterns or the Yin Fiend Corpse Refining Technique, the former’s “Wind Pattern” was still stuck at minor accomplishment, while the latter, due to the many mutated zombies he had refined, had already reached major accomplishment, providing strong support.

After this assessment,

He realized he had reached a critical point where all aspects of his cultivation were about to surge simultaneously. Starting from third-rank body refinement, everything would soon advance explosively.

After gaining a clear understanding, Wang Yu delayed a few more days—mainly to handle the Dragon Vein Treasure.

Heaven-gifted usage—he instinctively knew how to maximize its value without needing to study it much.

The Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art contained diagrams of bloodline true artifacts, divided into three types:

Attack, defense, and control.

[Yin Nether Demonic Spear], [Fiend Dragon Armor], [Ghost Dragon Seal].

Wang Yu could choose one of the three to fuse into the Dragon Vein Treasure, nurturing it within the divine marrow of the dragon spine. It would be forged through blood and essence, continuously merged with materials, and shaped over years into its final form.

A Bloodline True Artifact was a Body-refining cultivator’s life-bound treasure.

Once refined, it became perfectly compatible with its master, naturally achieving the unity of man and artifact.

However, spear techniques were not his forte, and the Demonic Dragon Fist did not match them. The Fiend Dragon Armor and Ghost Dragon Seal suited him better—especially the former.

He cultivated the high-grade demonic art Soul Devouring Evil Armor, which condensed into the Black Fiend Armor, a naturally perfect weapon embryo.

By refining it with the Dragon Shadow Pearl and fusing it with the Living Blood Gold he had obtained in his early years, the result was close to flawless. Later, he could further integrate other materials to enhance it.

As a weapon embryo, it was absolutely qualified.

He had also purchased third-rank Yin-attribute material—Ten-Thousand-Year Locust Tree Bark—from the Heaven Treasure Pavilion over the years. It could be added to the forging of the Fiend Dragon Armor.

“It will be this one.”

Once he decided, the Ice Chi Fire flared up. The already easy refining process seemed to press the acceleration key.

Aside from the pain when removing the Black Fiend Armor Seal from his abdomen, the rest went smoothly. In just ten days, the Fiend Dragon Armor settled within the spiritual marrow of his spine.

Its entire body was black-gold in color, the fine scales fitting his flesh like those of a true dragon.

The beastly face on the chest was shaped like a dragon head, its eyes set with two blood-red gemstones, exuding fierce malice.

Both arms and legs were covered with dragon-shadow patterns engraved with golden edges.

Hard, fierce, savage.

The Fiend Dragon Armor not only inherited the defensive traits of the Black Fiend Armor but also gained immense physical resilience. For a Body-refining cultivator, the flesh itself is the greatest weapon.

Such a bloodline true artifact could greatly enhance one’s combat strength.

Unfortunately, it was only an embryo and could not take its final form yet. After fusing with a Dragon Vein Treasure, however, its potential would be limitless.

If he could later hunt draconic beasts or even flood dragons, he could let the armor devour their flesh and soul entirely. That was the advantage of the demonic path—turning every enemy into nourishment.

Usually, a true artifact would need eighty or ninety years of nurturing within the divine marrow to fully mature. Wang Yu believed he could accomplish it in just five or six years.

That day, after completing all preparations, the two of them re-entered the ruins of the Heaven Soul Sect. With her breakthrough, Long Yiran could now employ more geomantic secret arts.

Right before Wang Yu’s eyes, she displayed the Heavenly Star Positioning Secret Art. Its name resembled a formation master’s technique, and indeed, it was of similar nature.

Formation masters cultivate the three paths of Heaven, Earth, and Man simultaneously.

Long Yiran’s lineage was extraordinary—descended from a disciple of the Ancestor of Earth Masters. Knowing several Heavenly Master secret arts was natural for her, though she was not versed in the path of Heaven formation.

If she had been useless, they would not have partnered for so long.

Now, she appeared somewhat excited.

“Brother Wang, with the Heavenly Star Positioning Secret Art, I can observe the terrain within thousands of miles. Based on the sect’s feng shui structure, locating the Scripture Pavilion has become much simpler. We no longer need to search everywhere.”

Wang Yu nodded.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

After this experience, Long Yiran’s potential had far surpassed that of ordinary rogue cultivators. Once she fully absorbed her inheritance and mastered those profound geomantic techniques, she could thrive even in the Taihu Spiritual Domain and perhaps one day glimpse the Nascent Soul Realm.

“Let’s go.”

With her reborn self leading the way, their pace was much faster than before. She even avoided most areas infested by blood corpses.

The residual formation and restrictions scattered through the ruins became tools she could freely manipulate.

Such was the terror of a formation master.

After alchemists and artifact forgers, Wang Yu now truly grasped the essence of formation masters. Among the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, Alchemy, Artifact, Talisman, and Formation were ranked at the top for good reason.

After several dozen days of travel, the two avoided numerous perilous ruins filled with unknown horrors, taking a wide detour from the front gate to the rear.

Once they arrived, Wang Yu immediately spotted their target.

A few hundred meters ahead stood a four-sided ancient tower carved with dragons and phoenixes, twelve stories tall. On its blue-and-gold plaque glowed three ancient characters—Scripture Pavilion.

This area had suffered less destruction than the front gate. Many buildings remained intact. The wide streets spread in all directions, broad enough for a hundred carriages to pass side by side.

At the end of this avenue lay their destination.

“We’ve finally found it.”

Even as they advanced, the two stayed alert. Long Yiran retrieved her repaired identity tokens and handed both the Heaven Token and the True Inheritance Token to Wang Yu, keeping only the Earth Token herself.

Seeing this, Wang Yu returned the Heaven Token to her but kept the True Inheritance Token.

“I already possess the Heaven Soul Sect’s inheritance. I only need to complete it. You can use the Heaven and Earth Tokens to claim your inheritance, then make a copy for me afterward.”

Such an arrangement was fair. When venturing together, cultivation methods and secret arts could be duplicated and shared. The truly scarce things were spiritual treasures and rare materials.

However, Long Yiran did not think that way.

She said, “Brother Wang, these Heaven and Earth Tokens seem to outrank even the True Inheritance Token. Why don’t you hold all of them? Once the inheritance is completed, we can discuss the rest.”

“There’s no need.”

Wang Yu smiled helplessly.

After surviving life-and-death battles together, Long Yiran trusted him deeply. Were they in the Taihu Spiritual Domain, they would already be sworn companions.

But here in the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain, true hearts could not be shared.

Moreover, her personality carried traces of a people-pleasing nature. He did not dislike having her as a friend;

after all, more allies meant more paths forward.

Especially the paths leading back to Taihu—those could not be missed.

“Enough. Just do as I say. I know what I’m doing.”

He was certain.

The subsequent inheritance of the Ancient Soul Scripture could indeed be obtained through the True Inheritance Token.