Innate Immortal Seed

Chapter 314: Chapter 312: The First Thunder Sound Bamboo

He withdrew the Moon Xuan Sword. It was a lustrous, pale white, unstained by a single drop of blood.

’The Mystical Immortal Gauze is truly a great weapon for ambushes, but it’s a shame it’s incomplete. It wouldn’t be nearly as effective against human Cultivators...’

Bai Zichen’s heart was still pounding. The Black Flood Dragon had been so heavily wounded that its actual strength couldn’t even compare to a Tier Three Top-Grade Demon Beast.

And yet, it had a Secret Technique for instant recovery, and could even elevate its power infinitely until it was just a hair’s breadth away from a Tier Four Transformed Great Demon.

No, it was more like it already had one foot in Tier Four. The trace of pressure it exuded had been like a needle to his back, a definite sense of threat.

’Among Demon Beasts, bloodline truly is supreme. You can’t underestimate any Dragon Beast. Who knows what kind of Divine Power Secret Techniques they might have inherited?’

If his Sword Light had been a fraction slower, its killing power a touch weaker, he wouldn’t have been able to instantly kill the Black Flood Dragon.

A Black Flood Dragon even stronger than it was at its peak would have left Bai Zichen helpless, and might have even threatened his life in turn.

After all, the exact strength of a Dragon Beast possessing a hint of Tier Four power was an unknown.

He waved the blank Soul-Catching Banner, equivalent to a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact, at the Black Flood Dragon’s corpse. A miniature Black Flood Dragon wriggled and flew involuntarily into the banner’s surface.

The Black Flood Dragon’s Essence was still struggling on the Banner Flag, but the power of a mere Essence was naturally no match for the Forbidden seals on a specialized Spiritual Artifact.

If he were willing, with just a little Refinement of the Black Flood Dragon’s Essence, this Soul-Catching Banner could immediately become a Low-Grade Magical Treasure.

Of course, he wouldn’t do something so shortsighted. This Dragon Soul was related to the Tier Three Cyan Dragon Sea Roaring Sword.

Let alone a Low-Grade Magical Treasure, even a Top-Grade Magical Treasure was less valuable in Bai Zichen’s eyes than a Tier Three Flying Sword.

He then took out the Top-Grade Storage Bag he had gotten from Fairy Taohua and dismantled the entire Black Flood Dragon’s body, placing the parts inside.

After a moment of thought, he also collected the intact pairs of wings from the Cyan-Eyed Dream Butterflies on the ground.

These translucent wings, marked with terrifying eye-like patterns, were excellent materials for refining Feathered Spiritual Artifacts.

In terms of Spirit Stones, they weren’t worth much to him.

However, these dozens of intact pairs of wings, even if only half of them were successfully refined, could add twenty to thirty Feathered Spiritual Artifacts to the Qingfeng Sect.

With these Spiritual Artifacts, the survival capabilities of the Sect’s Foundation Establishment Cultivators could be raised by a whole level.

’To think there’s such a narrow Tier Three Spirit Vein here. Illusion Butterfly Valley is less than a third the size of Cyan Bull Valley, and it’s located deeper in. It’s not going to be usable anytime soon.’

After conquering Hejian County, the Qingfeng Sect’s predicament of having too many Cultivators and not enough Spirit Land had already been alleviated.

Until the Sect had fully absorbed the benefits from Hejian County, it had no motivation to develop new Spirit Veins.

Over a thousand Silver-Edged Mandalas grew in Illusion Butterfly Valley. The sap of this Tier Two Spirit Plant was a favorite of the Purple-Eyed Dream Butterfly and could also be used to aid in the cultivation of Illusion Techniques.

Bai Zichen recorded the situation in the valley onto a Jade Scroll. He would toss it to Gu Xisheng later; it would be useful when the Sect was strong enough to expand deeper into Black Mountain.

Moonlight touched the sky, and only silence remained in Illusion Butterfly Valley.

An unknown amount of time passed before a white figure shot like lightning to the top of the valley.

It was the White Ape, holding a Coiling Dragon Rod in its hand. The rod showed clear signs of having been refined and polished, and a Spirit Light flowed over it.

Its originally snow-white fur was stained with several patches of blood, and a claw mark on its belly had nearly torn it in two.

But now, the wound had already healed and scarred over. Its posture was powerful and its movements as agile as ever.

The White Ape’s nose twitched as it sniffed the air. With two leaps, it landed in the center of Illusion Butterfly Valley, staring at the widespread destruction and the large patches of blood on the ground.

It roared at the sky, pointed its Coiling Dragon Rod upward, and the rod grew into a thousand-foot-long iron club before it swung it down with all its might.

The earth cracked, and mountainside rock turned to dust. A bottomless chasm appeared in Illusion Butterfly Valley.

After retracting the rod, the White Ape limped away, using the Coiling Dragon Rod as a crutch. The white fur on its right hand suddenly fell away, revealing an arm like forged steel, its skin pink beneath the snow-white hide.

...

More than half of the Tier Three Peak Black Flood Dragon was given to Han Qing to use as the main ingredient for a Body Refining Elixir.

The remaining Dragon Sinew and Dragon Hide were simply refined and then sent to the Secret Hall. In the future, anyone who needed materials for refining a Magical Treasure could exchange for them.

Bai Zichen didn’t think he would still have a use for these Spiritual Materials once he became a Tier Three Refiner.

Over a thousand pounds of Black Flood Dragon Dragon Meat remained, which was a boon for Genggeng. The little guy wouldn’t lack the flesh of Tier Three Demon Beasts for the next few years.

”How has this little guy not changed at all? He’s just getting wider.”

Bai Zichen had to wait for Han Qing’s alchemy results, so he first returned to Celestial Thunder Cliff and picked up Genggeng, who was lying comfortably on his Cultivation Wood Stump.

Sprawled on the wood stump, Genggeng looked just like a flattened pancake. From a distance, he resembled a thick, black-and-white plush cushion.

Having not seen its master for a long time, Genggeng excitedly waved its limbs, trying to climb onto him.

Considering the treatment it received, being only a Tier Two Low-Grade Spirit Beast by now meant its growth was definitely slow.

However, Bai Zichen didn’t expect a Spirit Beast to keep up with his own cultivation speed. Only Ancient Wild Beasts and descendants of Immortal Beasts from the Ancient Era were explicitly recorded as becoming powerful Demon Beasts in a short period.

He had never heard of any other Demon Beast, no matter how special its bloodline, growing to a level approaching a Tier Four Great Demon within a hundred years.

That being the case, raising Genggeng, a Spirit Beast with a talent for finding treasure, was still a good choice.

At the very least, petting the bear felt nice. It wouldn’t be the same with some bizarre, slimy, mucus-covered Spirit Beast.

”Ancestor, I was just about to report the good news! A few days ago, the first Thunder Sound Bamboo finally mutated!”

Fang Xiran, knowing his Ancestor had returned, had rushed over at once, his voice trembling as he spoke.

Since his failed attempt to break through to Foundation Establishment the year before last, his Primordial Qi had been greatly damaged, and he had visibly aged a great deal.

”Good! Which disciple’s achievement was it? The reward is unchanged—they can choose anything up to the value of ten thousand contribution points!”

Bai Zichen was overjoyed and immediately ran to the base of the Celestial Thunder Wall to have a look.

The number of Sacred Sound Bamboos was already quite large. They grew lush and vigorous, and when the wind blew, melodious Jade Sounds would rise and fall, swirling through the air.

In the eastern corner, one stalk of Spiritual Bamboo was clearly a head taller than the rest. Its body was covered in mottled Thunder Marks, and a light touch of the hand produced a numbing, electric sensation.

Even its leaves were very different, translucent as jade, with veins that resembled lightning.

”Have someone take careful watch over it. Strive to have a second stalk of Thunder Sound Bamboo appear as soon as possible.”

With Bai Zichen’s current Artifact Refining skill, he wasn’t even confident in refining a Sound Bamboo Sword, so there was no way he would harvest the Thunder Sound Bamboo directly.

However, now that he had all the Spiritual Materials for refining the Thunder Sound Bamboo and the Cyan Dragon Sea Roaring Sword, he had to set aside some time for Sword Refinement.

Otherwise, in a few years, even if the Thunder Sound Bamboo on the Celestial Thunder Wall grew in number, it would be useless if his Sword Refining Skill couldn’t keep up.

He had Fang Xiran pick twenty of the worst-growing Sacred Sound Bamboos, those with no chance of mutating and advancing, so he could try his hand at Sword Refinement later.

He then summoned the siblings, Bai Ziying and Bai Ziyu. With Cultivation Conditions even more favorable than those of the Qingfeng Sect’s True Disciples, the elder sister had finally reached the Qi Refining Great Perfection realm, taking the final step before Foundation Establishment.

”Your Magical Power is solid enough. Go and polish your physical body for two years, then come find me for a Foundation Establishment Pill.”

”Thank you, big brother.”

In recent years, Bai Ziying seemed to have become much quieter, her personality no longer as flighty as before.

”Ziyu, how has your Cultivation been lately?”

”Reporting to big brother, although I haven’t broken through in my Cultivation, I have successfully cultivated a stalk of Sacred Sound Bamboo. Also, by tending to several Spirit Plants in my Cave Mansion, I’ve reached the realm of a Tier One Top-Grade Spirit Plant Master.”

Bai Ziyu was still at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer in his cultivation, but his entire demeanor was vastly different—he was calm, peaceful, and had a restrained temperament.

”It’s good that you can be patient. Don’t worry too much about the so-called ’qi and blood’ age limit... If you get too old, I have my own ways to solve that problem.”

Bai Zichen nodded with satisfaction. His younger brother was neither arrogant nor impatient. He carried the vibrant aura of plants and trees, having already set foot on the true path of the Spirit Plant Technique.

Although he seemed to be falling behind now, it was hard to say who would go further in the future, him or his sister.

For an ordinary disciple, achieving such an epiphany at his age would have been too late. They would have missed the optimal window for development and would have to live with regret for the rest of their lives.

But who could say anything when Bai Ziyu had such a good cousin? As long as he could achieve something, as long as he could have an epiphany, it was never too late.

For someone at the level of a Core Formation True Man, there were several ways to solve the problem of a decreased success rate for Foundation Establishment caused by the decline of qi and blood after the age of fifty.

The simplest method was to consume a Golden Jade Green Heart Pill.

When a person’s lifespan limit increased to one hundred and twenty years, their optimal age for Foundation Establishment would naturally rise to sixty.

Returning to his courtyard, Bai Zichen was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry when he saw a portion of Primordial Magnetic Gang Sha delivered from the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

Just after he had reached Core Formation, he had posted a mission for the Sect Disciples to search for various types of Gang Sha for him.

He had soon forgotten all about it, but how could the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall dare to forget a request made by a Core Formation Ancestor?

A Tier Three Flying Sword was hard to find, and a Tier Three Sword Refining Secret Technique was just as difficult to locate. But the last item, the Primordial Magnetic Gang Sha, while rare, was ultimately just a special type of Tier Two Spirit Object.

Year after year, they posted this mission at the top of the board. Finally, this month, an Outer Sect Disciple had turned it in and completed the mission.

The Elder from the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall had brought the Primordial Magnetic Gang Sha to his door as if it were a supreme treasure. Of course, he hadn’t managed to see Ancestor Bai, only his eldest disciple, Tong Huan.

Since he had nothing better to do anyway, Bai Zichen simply infused the Primordial Magnetic Gang Sha into the Seven-Quartet Profound Bead, sensing the subtle changes as it upgraded from a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact to a Magical Treasure, hoping it might help his Artifact Refining Skill.

As a cluster of black magnetic light was refined into the Treasure Bead, a seven-colored luster flowed over it, and a Low-Grade Magical Treasure was born.

’Seven different forms of defense. The refining method is extremely exquisite... It’s a pity that it’s limited by its materials. Unless I can find a Tier Three refined Gang Sha to replace them, it’s unlikely the Magical Treasure’s grade can be raised again.’

Bai Zichen appraised the strengths and weaknesses of the Seven-Quartet Profound Bead and discovered another advantage.

Because it had seven clusters of Gang Sha refined into it, the Seven-Quartet Profound Bead could borrow the power of the Gang Sha at specific times, allowing someone with a cultivation at or above the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment to barely activate it.

It could probably be activated about once a year, for a duration of around thirty breaths.

”You’ve been managing things well at Celestial Thunder Cliff. I heard you even killed two Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators in the last sect war. It seems you’ve made a lot of progress.”

Bai Zichen called Tong Huan in, reached out to wipe his own imprint from the Seven-Quartet Profound Bead, and sent it flying over.

”Go to Ten Thousand Immortals Creek and have your second martial brother switch places with you. His cultivation still depends on the Celestial Thunder Wall... I’m giving you this Magical Treasure for your protection. I’ve already attached the refinement method to it.”

”Thank you, Master, for this treasure.”

Tong Huan accepted the Seven-Quartet Profound Bead, overjoyed, especially after seeing that it could be used at the Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment.

While this treasure was active, it would be impossible for any Foundation Establishment-level attacks to harm him.