Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation Chapter 51

The skin was ashen gray, entwined with black veins, and clad in a mountain-ridge corpse armor only found on armored corpses. There was an obvious color difference compared to Wang Yu’s right hand.

“What is this thing?”

Wang Yu spoke calmly and openly:

“A second-rank armored corpse’s arm. Gu Zhengshun asked me to help him precisely because of this item and the secret method for joining it.

“It’s just that he acted without loyalty and betrayed me first. Naturally, I, Wang, will no longer help him. Is Senior Sister Liu now interested in the secret he has been hiding?”

Lying caused Wang Yu no pressure. In the current situation, speaking this way allowed him to stand on the more favorable side. Gu Zhengshun would not be able to explain himself clearly.

Upon hearing this, Liu Jinxian’s brows lowered slightly, but she then suddenly smiled.

“Now that I have the support of such a fine talent like Junior Brother Wang, I shall certainly fulfill my aspirations in the next five years with everything going smoothly. Am I right?”

“Of course.”

he would no longer have access to this opportunity related to the Xuan Essence Flower.

Within the sect, he might still have a chance to retaliate, but outside the sect, the danger would increase severalfold. He absolutely could not afford to be careless or underestimate the enemy.

Seeing Wang Yu display a submissive posture, Liu Jinxian also relaxed and, pretending to be magnanimous, said:

“Since this place has already been taken down by Junior Brother Wang, it shall belong to you from now on. Do you have any more intel regarding what Gu Zhengshun has done below?”

“I do not.” Wang Yu shook his head and replied frankly. “Gu Zhengshun was wary of me. He didn’t even allow me to enter the formation. Senior Sister can see this clearly.”

Indeed.

The people of Heavenly Corpse Peak were all hiding inside the formation, while Wang Yu alone lingered outside like a lone wolf. Everything pointed to the fact that they were not on good terms, which allowed Liu Jinxian to rest easier.

“If that’s the case, is Junior Brother Wang willing to assist me in breaking his birdcage of a formation?”

“Please lead the way, Senior Sister.”

After successfully defusing the dangerous situation, Wang Yu followed Liu Jinxian out from the 290th floor. They soon saw Su Qingshan standing at the edge of the 294th floor, gazing downward.

The moment he saw them, his expression slightly changed in surprise, but upon seeing Liu Jinxian’s amiable attitude, he said nothing. From a distance, he offered a respectful salute but did not come closer.

This sense of tact affirmed Wang Yu’s judgment of Su Qingshan: a petty person skilled in exploiting opportunities and navigating through favors. Best to stay alert around such types.

Moments later.

At the bottom of Blackbone Mountain, looking at the boundless black mist, Liu Jinxian took out a wooden seal. Upon activation with spiritual power, it rapidly enlarged. It was a high-grade magic tool.

The seal, shaped like an artificial mountain, smashed down forcefully.

The black mist quickly condensed and surged toward it, but was scattered by the first strike. Upon the second smash, the sound of something slicing through the air was heard. Three copper-armored corpses leapt out simultaneously, blocking the blow with their bodies and forcefully pushing the seal back. Afterward, they retreated back into the black mist, vanishing without a trace.

Liu Jinxian was clearly startled and cried out:

“Earth Yin Corpse Puppet Formation!”

Wang Yu’s thoughts stirred and he asked:

“Is Senior Sister very familiar with this formation?”

“Yes.”

This time, Liu Jinxian did not choose to hide it. She fully agreed with the speculation that Gu Zhengshun was hiding something far more significant. Greed surged in her heart, and she said:

“Gu Zhengshun’s grandmaster called himself ‘Earth Yin Master.’ He inherited the legacy of an Earth Formation Master, among which was this formation. Even within the Foundation Establishment realm, it is considered an upper-rank formation.”

Upper-rank among second-rank formations?

Wang Yu was thoughtful. For Gu Zhengshun to invest this much, the value of what he was hiding must be extraordinary. Wang Yu wanted it as well.

Formation masters differ in rank depending on their lineage. Even within the same tier, there are distinctions. Heaven Formation Masters are the most prestigious, followed by Earth Formation Masters, while ordinary formation masters are the most common.

The Earth Yin Corpse Puppet Formation used a refined corpse as its core, linking to the Earth Yin energy, allowing power to flow continuously. Nourished by the formation itself, over time the corpse could grow, even mutate.

Such a solid formation could not be entered unless one had a specialized artifact or talisman designed to break formations.

This clearly showed preparation for not coming out. As long as it did not involve the third foundational barrier of Foundation Establishment known as the True Essence Barrier, a first-rank Xuan Essence Flower would be sufficient for a Qi Refining cultivator's cultivation needs.

Thinking from this perspective, the probability was greater that he was using the excuse of a breakthrough to bide his time and wait for a favorable opportunity.

What Wang Yu thought of, Liu Jinxian could also deduce. She looked at Wang Yu and said, “I will contact Situ Hong and ask whether he has any treasure that can break formations. If you think of something, come to me.”

“Yes.”

After finally sending Liu Jinxian off, he let out a breath of relief. Looking at the silent black mist, he shook his head and sighed, then flew straight to the 290th floor. He needed to guard the flower and had no time for foolish matters.

Returning under the protection of the Blood Mist Maze Formation, Wang Yu took out the two storage pouches he had acquired.

There were over 2000 spirit stones, eight corpses of Dire Bone Lions, and various pills and miscellaneous items. Wang Yu usually did not consume pills of unknown origin, so their value was limited for him.

Only one item stood out: a bronze bell-shaped artifact, a high-grade magic tool, mainly used for defense and capable of delivering area-of-effect attacks via soundwaves. It was decent.

Once refined, it would give him another method at his disposal.

“It’s a pity. These sect disciples learn their spell techniques and secret arts directly through spiritual imprint jades, and they are never shared. Unless one gains fortune from outside the sect, obtaining cultivation methods or secret technique in the short term is basically impossible. The probability is near zero.”

He did, however, have some interest in the Gu techniques from the Poison Gu Peak.

Logically, among the ten inheritances across the nine peaks of the Blood Reversal Sect, aside from the core Nascent Soul inheritance, they should be allowed to share with each other. Yet the sect rules inexplicably forbid it. He could not understand it.

Perhaps only in the future could the reason behind it become clear.

After that day, Wang Yu basically did not step out again. He dutifully guarded his small assigned plot, surviving on Fasting Pills like a bitter ascetic cultivator, refining the medicinal power of the supreme-grade Cold Blood Pill every day.

It had already been six months since he broke through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining.

The Idle Slot had passively increased his spiritual power by 72 strands. The supreme-grade Cold Blood Pill contributed 50 strands. His own cultivation efforts had added 1 strand.

Now his total spiritual power had accumulated to 423 strands. The progress was outstanding, the effects remarkable. It far exceeded what a Wasted Spiritual Root should be capable of and was in no way inferior to a dual spiritual root.

But he knew his own limits. Even if he cultivated every day to the extreme limit his meridians could bear, the improvement was minimal. Aptitude was a heavenly chasm. He had to find a way to change it.

The Cold Blood Technique and Corpse Demon Secret Technique had limited effect. Even if he advanced these techniques to the second-rank, it would still be hard to raise his aptitude to the level of a mid-grade spiritual root, unless he sought out some related demonic secret arts.

Seizing another’s root foundation was something that only demonic cultivators excelled at.

The demonic path had a long history. There were definitely powerful lineages where heirs struggled to cultivate due to poor aptitude. Heroes emerged from the demonic path. There must be supreme-level secret arts that could reverse one’s aptitude.

The Blood Reversal Sect was his opportunity. As long as he climbed upward, he would eventually gain the capital to access such things. But before that, he had to reach Foundation Establishment to hold more power and status.

“Xuan Essence Flower… I hope you can help me take one step further up the towering pole.”

After Liu Jinxian had seized the valley and most of the Blackbone Mountain without any intervention from Situ Hong, time flew like clouds in the sky.

By the end of May the following year, between late spring and early summer, the Xuan Essence Flowers bloomed in sequence. The fragrance attracted more Venomous Bees and Dire Bone Lions to attack. Wang Yu was already prepared. He noticed that most of these beasts and insects came out from the desolate caves.