Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 180

“So it actually increased this much.”

After calculating, the supreme-grade Ice Spirit Pill that had been strengthened by Cold Flame did not reach the perfect fifty percent enhancement but instead only increased by about thirty to forty percent.

The actual effect should fluctuate between one hundred and thirty to one hundred and forty drops of true essence. This was because his technique was still somewhat lacking.

“The impact is not that great. It is only this one pill. Within two years I will be able to reach the peak of the third layer of Foundation Establishment and can prepare for the first attempt at Core Formation. Moreover, the Corpse Demon Secret Technique is also nearly complete.”

Closing his eyes in thought, Wang Yu realized that these past two years he had indeed been extremely busy.

Among the plans that needed completion was also the goal of expanding the market of Jade Spirit City.

“Continue refining.”

Beside him, the three-tailed snow fox let out a few low calls. This made Wang Yu smile. “Do not worry. The next furnace is for you. You will have enough to eat.”

When consuming supreme-grade spirit pills, the pill resistance that formed was minimal, and compared to the first-rank stage, the upper limit was greatly increased. This was due to the improvement in a cultivator’s life level, which raised their resistance against the laws of heaven and earth.

Wang Yu estimated his limit at around twenty pills. This was actually not very important, since there were plenty of pill formulas that could improve cultivation. Once the limit of one type was reached, he could always take another kind.
While he was in seclusion refining pills within the underground spirit vein, he did not completely ignore worldly matters. His disciples would occasionally come to report on the recent events of Jade Spirit City.

Many of these reports involved the Ancient Ruins of Eastern Extreme Capital.

This was different from a secret realm. A secret realm had opening cycles, while ruins simply lay there, available to be explored at any time.

The reason so many people were attracted during this period was because heavenly phenomena had appeared.

This wave of exploration would likely continue for several years. When some lucky person obtained a treasure related to the phenomena, it would surely ignite a great massacre.

Because Jade Spirit City was nearby, its population increased several times over. All kinds of businesses inside the city grew severalfold. This was a good opportunity for the development of the city.

However, public order and stability were also declining daily. Chaotic phenomena multiplied. Cases of killing and robbing for treasures within the city happened from time to time.

On this point, Wang Yu was helpless. He did not dare leave the City Lord’s Mansion.

He could only give the Ink-Water Sect more enforcement authority as compensation for leaking their intelligence. This compensation was somewhat troublesome, because Jade Spirit was truly in chaos now.

Enforcement power was not always a benefit.

But once this period passed, their influence in the northern district would also expand. Wang Yu would not take back that authority. He could still make such trade-offs.

Outside the city, certain resource sites were attacked by unknown groups of cultivators. Wang Yu adopted a strategy of hiding and tolerating, abandoning what could be abandoned.

He was waiting for a great event to occur at the Ancient Ruins of Eastern Extreme Capital that would attract everyone’s attention. Then he could secretly reclaim those resource sites.

He had no other choice. His reputation had grown too conspicuous in recent times. Even his easily triggered mentality was known throughout Cloud Ridge Prefecture. Even within the demonic path, he was ranked among the madmen.

This unexpectedly added a few degrees of notoriety.

Of course, Jade Spirit City had gathered many powers and had the potential to become the center of the storm. The Ancient Ruins of Eastern Extreme Capital to the east had already become the true storm center.

Many people, before entering, would make a special trip to Jade Spirit City to look at the publicly available intelligence.

This included ruin maps produced by the city lords of Jade Spirit through the generations, “safe routes” produced by the Ink-Water Sect, various treasures compiled by Golden Abundance Tower, and conjectures or clues about inheritances.

These were the sources of chaos.

Wang Yu had hidden a little in his publicly shared intelligence. Although most of it was true, when it came to certain rare and powerful monsters, this concealment was deadly.

Alas.

Grandpa Wang was kind-hearted. After repeatedly using these people, he would send their strongest to their deaths.

There was no other way. Since he had offended them, he might as well use geographical and temporal advantages to casually harm them once, thereby lessening the pressure he would face in the future.

As for ordinary monsters, he did not conceal them. For example, corpse demons formed from ancient corpses gaining spirit, corpse fiends, as well as certain formations and restrictions. His information on these matters was still very accurate.

As time passed, the capable gained more and more harvests. These treasures and inheritances, far surpassing what came before, drew even more people.

Some of these people, owing City Lord Wang a favor, helped improve Jade Spirit’s situation a little.

But at the Ancient Ruins of Eastern Extreme Capital, the number of people devoured each day grew even greater. Under these circumstances, a year slipped by quietly.

Even while immersed in pill refining, Wang Yu did not neglect his daily cultivation. With the aid of pills, his efficiency increased tremendously.

His accumulation of true essence skyrocketed to over four hundred drops. At the latest, by next year, he would reach the peak of the third layer of Foundation Establishment. At that time, he might need to search for some treasures to help him cross the bottleneck.

For instance, the Xuan Essence Flower. This treasure had helped him cross the threshold of late Qi Refining, and it was a great aid in reaching half-step true essence transformation. His direct promotion back then was built upon the foundation laid during the Blackbone Mountain period.

Speaking of which, he planned to visit the underground palace of Blackbone Mountain again after breaking through to Core Formation, as even deeper secrets and opportunities were hidden there.

But he had to wait.

Moreover, one matter required communication with the Three Young Master. This was regarding the contract they had signed back then, which involved the Mystic Heaven Secret Realm.

This secret realm was extremely famous in the entire Blood Reversal Sect, because it could steadily produce Core Formation spiritual objects. supreme-grade Core Formation items were not uncommon there.

There were all kinds of types and attributes. The secret realm could be opened once every fifty years, but if one possessed the Secret Realm Key, the cycle could be bypassed, allowing someone to be secretly sent inside.

The agreement he made with Zuo Qiuming and Zhuo Shouqing was precisely of this kind: those at Foundation Establishment peak could enter at any time, but they were only allowed to take one Core Formation spiritual item from within.

After all, the secret realm belonged to the sect. He could not simply monopolize everything for himself.

Yet considering Golden Abundance Tower’s unexpected gains, his own desire for Core Formation spiritual items no longer seemed so pressing. This matter required careful thought and long-term consideration.

“It is time to leave seclusion. Snowjade, let’s go.”

In one year, Wang had increased his wealth by one million spirit stones, along with nearly eight hundred supreme-grade spirit stones that could not be exchanged downward. This was an immense fortune.

They were also high-level resources. The treasures that could be exchanged with them far exceeded his current stage’s needs, so he stored them all away. They were one of the hard currencies in treasure exchange gatherings.

The three-tailed Snow Fox, well-fed to the point of being round-bellied and plump, moved lazily step by step.

Since recognizing Wang Yu as its master, it had been living its most comfortable life. Hardly any battles, every day was just eat, eat, eat. It was simply too comfortable. Recently, while digging deeper into its bloodline, it awakened another inherited technique. Named Ice Cloud Escape, it was an escape art, and now it could soar into the skies.

This was a clear sign of Snowjade’s bloodline transforming and growing.

Ordinary demonic beasts such as the Earthrock Bull or the Stiff-Backed Boar, even if they managed to break through to second-rank, could not gain the ability to fly. For demonic beasts, bloodline was everything.

As for the Crocodile Dragon, its draconic bloodline was not low. By right, once it reached second-rank it should have been able to fly. Yet in truth, it could unleash its full power only in the marshes.

Able to fly but choosing not to—that described the Crocodile Dragon.

Still, there was a great difference between having the ability and not having it. Wang, the City Lord, did not need to fly on his own. Sitting atop Eastern Extreme as it tread on icy mist, he shot out of the cavern in a single motion.

The miners who had labored for a year had already withdrawn, leaving only Guan Yingdong waiting for him.

“Let’s go. Tell me about the major events that have happened recently.”

“Yes, Master.”

……

……

Inside the main hall of the residence.

The steady disciple Guan Yingdong reported the recent situation from the most important matters to the least.

“Master, the first matter: Senior Jin Miaoshan sent a message. The agreed time must be postponed. Her opponents in the tower have continuously attacked her using the last incident as an excuse.

“She requires more time to gather support from other prefectures’ secret realm branches.”

Wang Yu’s lips twitched.

Mm, the reason was quite reasonable. Fine then, if things are delayed, let them be delayed. It would never take longer than his own cultivation up to Foundation Establishment peak.

“Continue.”

“Yes. The second matter…” Guan Yingdong hesitated slightly, not unwilling to speak, but unsure of how to phrase it.

“The Guan Clan has acquired a secret treasure from the Eastern Extreme Capital.”

“Oh?”

Wang Yu’s interest was indeed piqued. Based on past experience, the number of inheritances within the ruins of the Eastern Extreme Capital far exceeded the number of treasures. This was the natural effect of time.

Even if treasures had been well preserved back then, they were hard to withstand the erosion of tens of thousands of years. Inheritances were different. With a bit of effort, they could be preserved until the present.

Ancient inheritances and modern inheritances—by logic, current methods should be superior. Yet due to various disasters and wars, history had many breaks.

For example, during the Ancient Blood Demon Calamity, at least ninety percent of cultivation forces were wiped out, leaving nearly two hundred years of historical blankness.

Therefore, ruins, ancient abodes, and secret realms, all steeped in historical depth, were places where one might encounter a chance to soar into the heavens in a single leap.

Stories of such fortunate individuals had never ceased to spread.

“Explain in detail.”

“Yes. The Guan Clan obtained a pair of shackles, used for imprisoning criminals. Unlike the current treasure-refining system, they are considered an ancient treasure, containing a faint trace of spatial power.

“In grade, they are equivalent to a magical treasure usable by a Core Formation cultivator. The acquisition was done rather discreetly, yet still noticed by others. Among them were two Core Formation cultivators.

“One was a loose cultivator of Cloud Ridge Prefecture, Core Formation early stage, known as Daoist Master Yellow Sand. The other was the third valley master of Earth Demonic Valley, Core Formation mid-stage, called Earth Puppet True Personage.”

Two Core Formation cultivators—this was no small pressure for the Guan Clan. Guan Yingdong brought this up before him with simple intent, hoping he could lend assistance.

Could Wang Yu help? Yes, he could.

Just hide within the City Lord’s Mansion and play turtle. Surely no one expected him to personally strike down two Core Formation cultivators.

The outside world was chaotic, and death came easily.

“Alas.”

Wang Yu sighed. By rights, being in the same alliance of interest, he should help. But his own troubles were not small either.

“That secret treasure should simply be discarded. What must be abandoned must be abandoned. If the Guan Clan Head refuses, then hide within the City Lord’s Mansion for a while. Beyond that, I can do nothing.”

Guan Yingdong understood. This result was already quite good.

Caught between two sides, she was only a tool, not truly biased toward either.

“Disciple understands. There is also a third matter… The Corpse Refining Technique you previously sought has news. They ask whether you want a Armored Corpse or a Fiend Corpse. At the latest, it will arrive in Jade Spirit City within three months.”

“A Fiend Corpse. Handle it quickly.”

“Yes.”