Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 45

As expected, it was Gu Zhengshun calling him. The other party seemed eager to rope him into his plans. Considering their previous agreement, there was no need to fall out just yet.

Wang Yu smiled and said,

”Senior Brother Gu, itʼs been a while. Youʼre as impressive as ever.”

”Not at all. Just take a look at these people, Junior Brother Wang, and youʼll understand why Iʼm so persistent about Blackbone Mountain.”

Wang Yu nodded in agreement. To outsiders, they appeared to be the very image of brotherly harmony.

The current gathering place was the front plaza of the Various Halls District. Since the Blackbone Mountain mission was a sect-level assignment, involving the handover of two groups, it had to be processed through the Mission Hall.

As such, there were quite a few people present.

Gu Zhengshun secretly pointed out two highly praised individuals and whispered an introduction:

”Junior Brother Wang, take a look at that woman in black with green hair. She is an inner disciple of the sect’s Third Peak, Gu Poison Peak.

”Her name is Liu Jinxian. She is at the eighth layer of Qi Refining. Her father is a Core Formation elder, known as True Personage Green Snake. Since he is the one commanding the Blackbone Mountain mission, she has a stake in it. Those gathered around her are all subordinates of Gu Poison Peak, over two hundred people in total. Among the three Mountain Lords, hers has the largest group.”
Wang Yu raised his brow. The name Liu Jinxian was certainly aggressive and flashy.

”And the other one?”

”Situ Hong. He is an inner disciple of the Seventh Peak, Five Yin Peak. He has an adoptive mother who is also a Core Formation cultivator, known as Peach Blossom Ghost Mother, whose strength surpasses that of True Personage Green Snake by quite a bit.

”He himself is only at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, just barely stepping into the late stage. He is followed by one hundred and twenty-nine disciples of Five Yin Peak.”

Good heavens. Together, the two groups added up to exactly four hundred people. If he had come to the appointment without any knowledge, he would have been a lone outsider among three mountain lords. He would likely be eliminated before they even reached the road.

That dog Zhao Shang should be devoured alive.

Still, to be fair, though Gu Zhengshun had a Core Formation grandmaster, their relationship likely wasnʼt as close as that between him and his own master. In the demonic path, master-disciple bonds were not always as strong as one might imagine.

Compared to Liu and Situ, Gu Zhengshunʼs status was much lower.

So, when Wang Yu looked behind him, he saw only twenty or so followers. Their cultivation varied widely. The weakest was at the third layer of Qi Refining and they were all carrying crude wooden coffins, looking rather shabby.

With such a background... and he wanted to compete with the other two?

Wang Yu gave Gu Zhengshun a puzzled glance and quietly walked away.

”Ahem...”

”Junior Brother Wang, don’t rush. The sect issued over five hundred Blackbone Tokens. There are still eighty or so idle disciples left. We might be able to recruit some. You did promise to share both wind and rain, didn’t you?”

Wang Yu paused, stopped leaving, and instead blended into the group of Heavenly Corpse Peak disciples. He asked someone for a spare coffin and carried it on his back as if he belonged.

Starting today, he was a Heaven Corpse Peak disciple. Blend in and keep a low profile.

Seeing Wang Yu act like this, Gu Zhengshun didn’t stop him. In fact, he was glad. Wang Yu was one of his trump cards, and it was better to keep him hidden for now.

Gu Zhengshun then went to the idle disciples to use his eloquence and recruit people. At the same time, he chatted with older disciples who had rotated back to gather intel.

Five years was not a short time for Qi Refining cultivators.

There could be gaps between his current information and reality, so verifying things was necessary. Asking around wouldn’t hurt.

The area of one province was vast. Blood Abyss Province alone covered around twenty million square kilometers. The Blood Reversal Sect was located at the center of this province. A few hundred kilometers away was the holy land for blood-path cultivation — the Blood Abyss.

This mission would take them north out of the sect, across Qiongye Province straight into Maple Province, which was the northernmost region of the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain, positioned further to the left in a remote corner.

Further north lay the Endless Ice Fields. Desolate and uninhabited, it also suffered from a natural disaster known as the Extreme Ice Storm, which even Nascent Soul monsters found hard to pass through.

The direct distance of this trip exceeded fifty thousand kilometers, longer than the equator in his previous life. It was definitely a long journey.

At the speed of a Qi Refining cultivator, even if flying continuously on a flying artifact, it would take at least twenty-six days, averaging eighty kilometers per hour.

However, that is a straight-line distance. Along the way, one must detour around various danger zones, stop to recover spiritual power, and rest regularly. It is normal for the travel time to multiply several times over. It would take nearly three months to reach the Blackbone Mountain.

By then, it would coincide with the start of a new year. The term of stationing would begin from the moment of arrival.

Fortunately, the route passed entirely through the territory of the Blood Reversal Sect. Otherwise, reaching the destination would be impossible. Surviving the journey would already be considered a blessing from the heavens.

Maps of the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain are difficult for people like Wang Yu to obtain. Maps are a rare resource, heavily guarded by each sect. Common maps are useless; they must mark spiritual veins, power distributions, danger zones, and more. Drawing them carries extreme risks.

Thus, the further down one goes in cultivation, the more “blind” a cultivator becomes. They may know how to get to a place, but what dangers lie ahead can only be guessed. Seeing the full picture is nearly impossible.

For cultivators, long-distance travel is a difficult task.

The waiting time always feels long.

When Gu Zhengshun returned to the group, he had brought no one along. Instead, he was holding a scroll. He said:

”Wang Junior Brother, everything has been settled with the Mission Hall. The five-year assignment pays five hundred contribution points and five hundred spirit stones. Use your disciple token to leave a mark.”

This amount of money was very little. Compared to missions accepted from the Ice and Snow Pavilion, it was quite meager. No wonder people were willing to be exploited for sixty percent of the reward just to take internal tower missions.

”Thatʼs fine.”

The value of Blackbone Mountain wasn’t in the mission itself, but in the opportunities the location held. So whether the pay was more or less didn’t matter.

After completing the imprint, Gu Zhengshun distributed the scrolls to the rest of the group, then returned to hand in the mission scroll. Only then did he speak again.

”All done. Let’s move.”

Wang Yu looked surprised, pointing toward the two groups led by Liu and Situ.

”Not going together?”

”They look down on us. Let’s go.”

”All right...”

Just as he was about to take out the flying artifact ”Black Brocade,” which he had never used since obtaining it, Gu Zhengshun instead brought out a white bone boat. He embedded dozens of mid-grade spirit stones into it. The bone boat instantly expanded, large enough to carry their group of twenty-two.

He had underestimated him.

As soon as they set out, Liu Jinxian and Situ Hong each revealed their own methods. One had a pavilion shrouded in poisonous smoke, containing a world within. The other had a skull filled with wailing spirits that expanded rapidly when spirit stones were embedded.

What surprised Wang Yu was that there were no Foundation Establishment cultivators accompanying them. Instead, disciples who had obtained the ”Mountain Lord Token” were allowed to proceed on their own.

On the bone boat, as they flew away from the sect, Gu Zhengshun seemed to guess what was on his mind and joked:

”Feng Prefecture is remote, and Blackbone Mountain is close to the Endless Icefield. Not many Foundation Establishment cultivators are willing to go there. Once assigned, they may be stuck for forty to fifty years.”

”So that’s how it is...”

It could be summarized in just two words: exile.

After leaving the sect, Gu Zhengshun handed over control of the bone boat to his men. He then sat on the top deck with Wang Yu, drinking and chatting about information regarding Blackbone Mountain and the tasks they would undertake.