Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 186

“After so many years, my left arm has finally returned.”

The newly regenerated left arm was still fragile. Wang Yu needed to continuously mobilize his true essence and blood force, washing through the arm so that it would gradually catch up with the strength of his body.

This process would take one or two years. Only through subtle transformation could it reach the same level as the fleshly body.

The Corpse Demon Secret Technique originated from Old Man Can, who was born without limbs. Fortunately, he possessed a yin-attribute spiritual root. After bitter cultivation for many years in the cultivation world, he finally created this secret art during the Nascent Soul stage.

If cultivated to perfection, the blood within the body would be filled with Yin Blood Pills condensed from this secret power. With a single thought, even severed limbs could regenerate. Even injuries to vital areas would not be fatal.

This regenerative ability and vitality were rare even among Nascent Soul cultivators. It could truly be called an undying body.

For Wang Yu now, this was still something he could only look toward from afar.

Once his body was whole again, it was already dusk. Wang Yu went out and hosted Zhuo Shouqing for another evening, then prepared to enter seclusion to break through.

Both his Body Refining realm and Foundation Establishment third layer could advance further.

According to the established pattern, the sixth Idle Slot was also about to appear.
This was a major event, and he had long awaited it.

“First, let me try the Yin Nether Demonic Flood Dragon Technique. Back when I was at Body Refining second rank early stage, my physique had already been polished to perfection, my strength surpassing others of the same stage.”

As the technique circulated, Wang Yu’s entire body exuded vigorous blood energy, overflowing from his muscles and bones. Yet this blood energy resembled gloomy ghostly mist, carrying traces of demonic aura.

It lacked the blazing masculine heat of normal blood vitality. Instead it was like corpse qi. The dragon spine that had already formed twisted along mysterious trajectories, stretching his tendons and bones inch by inch.

The Yin Nether Demonic Flood Dragon formed by his blood energy appeared naturally, circling around him endlessly.

His essence blood gradually condensed.

The overflowing power began to retract, finally condensing into ninety-nine drops of blue-black blood.

This was the limit of Body Refining second rank early stage.

When ninety-nine return to one, it is a breakthrough. After three rounds of condensing and dispersing, one drop of fused true blood would be obtained. When the power of true blood spread into the limbs and bones, his physique would undergo a minor transformation.

At mid stage, one must condense nine hundred ninety-nine drops. At late stage, nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine drops. Each time the process required three rounds of condensing and dispersing, fusing the last drop of true blood into the body.

Only then could one break through to Body Refining third rank, equivalent to a Core Formation cultivator.

The path of the Body Refining warrior had long been abandoned by the mainstream cultivation world. Those who still practiced it usually combined it with spirit refinement techniques, such as the inheritance of Barbaric Ghost Peak in the Blood Reversal Sect.

Few walked the path of pure body refinement like Wang Yu.

Which was stronger or weaker was hard to say. Abandonment had its reasons. Regular Qi Refining cultivation also resulted in strong physiques.

They were just not as overpowering as dedicated body refiners, and their vitality was slightly weaker. But they could wield the marvelous powers of true essence and magic tools.

Pure body refiners also absorbed spiritual qi to cultivate. But they did not have true essence and could not control magic tools of great power. Their weapons were called bloodline true artifacts.

These were now extremely rare. Even in the ancient and primordial eras, pure body refiners were few.

Wang Yu’s original intent was only to strengthen his blood vitality, to avoid failure in breaking through Foundation Establishment. For this he even trained his divine sense, pursuing versatility.

In the end, everything was in service to his realm.

Foundation Establishment had three barriers, and Core Formation had three barriers as well. They were even harsher and harder to pass.

Essence, qi, and spirit were difficult to cultivate. Everyone knew this. Since he had this chance, he would persist without pause until the day he could act freely.

“Condense!”

His will was firm. His body rippled with energy.

His already refined essence blood fused once again.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

In the secret chamber, the blue-black essence blood within Wang Yu’s body shimmered with golden light, finally fusing into true blood. As his hand seals shifted, the sound of a dragon’s roar echoed within the enclosed space.

His bones cracked loudly. His flesh density increased greatly.

“Scatter!”

The True Essence formed through three condensations and dispersions merged into his body, completing the final step.

A thunderous yet silent boom resounded. The Yin Nether Demonic Flood Dragon formed by his blood energy had repeatedly grown during this time. Now it surpassed the former ten meter limit, soaring in one breath to over twelve meters.

Body Refining second rank mid stage was achieved.

Now, when Wang Yu mobilized the blood force of his body, his fists and kicks could be accompanied by this Yin Nether Demonic Flood Dragon. Splitting mountains and breaking rocks was no problem.

Even a sturdy first-rank shield-type magic tool could be torn apart barehanded, even ground into powder. His brute strength rose by a full tier, though in subtler aspects he was slightly lacking.

After a long time, he finished and collected his power.

Once he grew familiar with his new strength, Wang Yu decisively opened the Idle Slot. His pupils shrank sharply.

“Where is my sixth slot?”

An unexpected situation occurred. According to past patterns, each time he broke through a small threshold, a new Idle Slot would appear.

But now, it did not.

As for whether it was because body refinement did not count, this was impossible. Last time in the Black Mountain Demonic Lands, when he combined body refining with Foundation Establishment, the fifth Slot had still appeared. There was no reason for this not to count.

His thoughts circled back to the beginning.

Back when he was still mortal, he already had one Idle Slot.

Stepping onto the path of cultivation, after successfully breaking through the first layer of Qi Refining, the second Idle Slot appeared. In mid-stage Qi Refining, the Third Slot appeared. In late-stage Qi Refining, the fourth. Upon reaching Foundation Establishment, the fifth appeared.

Now that he was in the mid-stage… where was the sixth?

Although Wang Yu had long anticipated that this thing would not endlessly appear, when reality confirmed it, he could not help but feel disappointed.

Since it did not appear now, it would certainly not appear at late-stage Foundation Establishment either. He could only wait until Core Formation to check again.

His intuition told him: the Idle Slots might have a limit, but it definitely was not only five.

It took him half a day of quiet meditation to stabilize his mindset. What was meant to be would eventually come.

Now it was time to break through to the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment.

Both of his paths happened to advance at this exact time. It could only be said that the third-rank treasure, Blood Dragon Essence, truly had a miraculous effect on his body refinement cultivation.

Taking out the “One-Pattern Condensing Essense Pill” from his storage bag, Wang Yu swallowed it without hesitation. He wanted to break through immediately without any delay.

This was a long-renowned breakthrough spirit pill.

As soon as he began refining it, he felt its wondrous power. True essence surged in his dantian and spirit sea, gathering into three small streams.

From three starting points, they spiraled inward toward the center.

They spun and accelerated, forming a funnel-shaped whirlpool of True Essence.

The medicinal power dispersed.

It felt as though roots were taking hold in his spirit sea. The Demonic Embryo within also emitted a faint light, as though it had brushed against some kind of spiritual root powder. Perhaps so. Regardless, since this barrier was not firm to begin with, the Condensing Essense Pill easily shattered it.

In less than half a day, a spring of True Essence appeared at the center of his spiritual sea. Wang Yu’s body now possessed the ability to automatically absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Foundation Establishment, fourth layer, achieved.

Wang Yu checked the Idle Slot panel again and looked disappointed. Still nothing.

It seemed he truly could only wait until Core Formation.

He never doubted his ability to form a Core. It was only a matter of time.

After stepping into the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment, it remained a matter of accumulating quantity. From five hundred drops to eight hundred, he could break through to the fifth layer. From there, to one thousand two hundred, he would reach the sixth layer.

When he reached two thousand drops, he could begin the next breakthrough.

At that point he would undergo a second condensing of essence, advancing the “Spring Of True Essence” into a “Lake Of True Essence.” Cultivation in that stage would progress more quickly.

With supreme-grade Ice Spirit Pills to assist him, two pills in four years could push him to the fifth layer, and only two and a half more to reach the sixth. It looked as though the difficulty of Foundation Establishment cultivation had been greatly reduced.

But in truth, it was not so.

The real challenge of this realm lay in the late-stage of Foundation Establishment. Accumulating an ocean-like volume of True Essence consumed vast amounts of time, requiring medicinal pills and countless heaven-and-earth treasures to accelerate progress.

Even then, one might still fail to reach the end.

The peak of the seventh layer required four thousand drops. The peak of the eighth required six thousand. The final condensation at the ninth layer demanded nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine drops.

The escalation was astonishing.

That was why, back when Wang Yu infiltrated the Bai estate at night, he knew he could not possibly defeat the Bai clan’s Great Elder head-on. He could only use profound inheritances and the strength of his divine sense to restrain him.

Even so, he barely delayed the man for the time it takes to burn a single stick of incense.

However, as cultivators condense a spring, then a lake, their cultivation speed increases greatly. Aside from those with Heavenly Spiritual Roots, no one could possibly reach the peak of Foundation Establishment by bitter cultivation alone.

That was why people said Heavenly Spiritual Roots were guaranteed to form a Core.

Give him ten years, and he was confident he could reach the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment. But beyond that… it would truly require grinding slowly.

The further one went, the greater the difference in strength between cultivators. Especially after Core Formation, accumulation of quantity still mattered, but mastery of profound techniques became equally critical.

Crossing realms in combat during Qi Refining was commonplace.

Crossing realms in Foundation Establishment was the mark of exceptional talent.

Crossing realms in Core Formation was the work of stunning geniuses.

At the Nascent Soul stage, it was impossible. Not to mention across great realms, even fighting across small realms could only be achieved by peerless prodigies. In battles of the same realm, it was rare to kill an opponent.

At most, one could destroy the body, but the Nascent Soul itself was hard to annihilate.

Of course, that was the case in this world. As for other realms, he could not say.

After completing his breakthrough, Wang Yu cultivated in seclusion for three more days to fully stabilize his realm. He also replenished his zombie-in-gestation with another dose of Lunar Fiend Qi before emerging.

This thing, he would nurture for as long as possible.

He could sense that the more Lunar Fiend Qi the corpse absorbed, the stronger it would be after animation. With such an opportunity, talk of “third-rank early stage is enough” was nonsense.

The Yin Fiend Corpse Refinement Technique had to be improved. Otherwise, controlling the corpse carried risks. He would wait until the body could no longer absorb Lunar Fiend Qi before considering animation.

After leaving seclusion, Wang Yu first sent people to inquire about Zhuo Shouqing’s whereabouts, while also listening to intelligence about the Eastern Extremes Capital. Finally, he met Zhuo Shouqing outside the prison where the Guan family head was being held.

Seeing Wang Yu again, Zhuo Shouqing said irritably, “I wondered where you had gone. So it was for a breakthrough. I nearly misunderstood you.”

“What did you misunderstand me for?”

Wang Yu only smiled without answering. He had always hidden his cultivation well. Even if it had been seen through this time, it was better not to say more.

A shadow passed through Zhuo Shouqing’s eyes, clearly recalling past experiences.

“Forget it. You would not understand even if I told you. That shackle on this fellow’s body, it came from the Eastern Extreme Capital, did it not?”

“Yes, have you seen it before.”

“Then there is something to discuss. The True Disciples of Evil God Market came here for that very thing.”

Wang Yu’s eyes immediately lit up.

“Explain in detail.”