Beast Taming Clan: I Have a Jade Book

Chapter 1499: Chapter 1077: News of the Cold Flood Dragon, God-Blocking Stone

Wuxin Island was roughly the same size as Celestial Cloud Island, which the Ye family previously controlled. In terms of sheer area, it was not considered small among islands.

It boasted a Tier Four Middle Grade Spirit Vein, ensuring a generous abundance of spiritual energy that nurtured a considerable amount of spirit medicine across the island.

However, the vast majority of these herbs were only Tier One or Tier Two. Anything above Tier Three was exceedingly rare.

Through his Soul Contract, Ye Jingcheng knew exactly why—the Golden Light Cranes had already devoured all the spirit medicine above Tier Three. The dozen or so nearby islands shared a similar fate, with only a few seedlings spared from their voracious appetites.

As a result, Li Shangwu felt highly apprehensive by the time he reached the center of the island. He had arrived via the Teleportation Array alongside Ye Jingcheng. Initially, he had stayed back to guard the array with Ye Xuefan and Ye Xuecang, only making his way to Wuxin Island after receiving a transmission.

Along the way, he noticed the glaring lack of high-tier spirit medicine on the surrounding islands. It was a disappointing harvest that would undoubtedly dissatisfy not only the Ye family, but his own Li family as well.

The moment he arrived, he took out a Jade Talisman.

“Elder Ye, this is the only Jade Talisman we found,” Li Shangwu reported, not daring to hide anything. “We also acquired the Teleportation Array while exploring a Secret Realm. It was that very realm that provided our Li family with the Qi Mechanism needed to become a Golden Core Clan, which subsequently earned us the Taiyi Sect’s cultivation.”

In truth, Li Shangwu had no idea where the Tier Four Secret Realm was located.

The Cultivation Realm held countless hidden Secret Realms, with new ones or Mini Worlds being discovered every few decades. Some were naturally concealed by the environment, while others were masked by arrays set up by the cultivators who had previously occupied them.

Secret Realms were inherently elusive due to their connection with spatial divine techniques, and once hidden behind arrays, finding them became akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.

Li Shangwu had already done a sweeping scan with his divine sense, but he found no traces of a Secret Realm. Nor did he witness the Ye family subduing the Demon King; he only saw them clearing out the remaining demon beasts.

A massive swarm of Soul-Devouring Insects blotted out the sky like a plague of locusts. Not a single demon beast was spared. Their eyes glazed over as they lost all vitality, either dropping from the sky or floating lifelessly to the ocean’s surface.

While deeply shaken by the display of power, he also felt uneasy. Handling a low-tier demon beast tide like this was supposed to be the duty of an affiliated clan like the Li family. They were meant to execute the task flawlessly and hand over the spirit beast materials to prove their loyalty.

If the Ye family handled everything themselves, it would render the Li family useless. Historically, such lopsided relationships never ended well for the subordinates.

Ye Jingcheng did not reply immediately. Instead, he took the Jade Talisman and began to inspect it.

He discovered that it was left behind by a cultivator from the East Wuyu Sect, a faction based in the East Wuyu Archipelago. Information regarding the Star Sea was scarce. The contents mostly consisted of deep-seated resentment, suggesting that a cultivator from Star Island had caused a devastating beast tide in the past.

In the end, a Demon Emperor had appeared. Unable to fend it off, the various factions of the Star Sea had retreated to the Star Islands in the center of the region. Peripheral forces like the East Wuyu Sect naturally perished in the onslaught.

The talisman contained no mention of the Cyan Cloud Sea Domain or the Four Sects of the Eastern Domain. However, it did mention a pure-blooded Cold Flood Dragon. This was a pleasant surprise for Ye Jingcheng, as the essence blood of a pure-blooded Cold Flood Dragon was precisely what he needed to refine a Tier Five Jade Qilin Pill. He could only wonder if the creature was still alive after all these years.

After reviewing the entire record, Ye Jingcheng formed a rough estimate of their current maritime location.

This was likely not the East Sea. At the very least, based on the talisman’s descriptions, there were no records of any continents. Even if they were in the East Sea, they had to be in its deepest reaches, a region dominated by archipelagos and scattered islets.

The only reason the Li family assumed they were in the East Sea was that their cultivators had never actually been there. They were a newly promoted Golden Core Clan. For inland sects from places like the Yan Kingdom, establishing a foothold in the East Sea was already extraordinarily difficult.

Even the Ye family had to scheme for a long time to seize a Teleportation Array from the Mo family just to enter the East Sea. Otherwise, a standard Golden Core influence would waste immense amounts of time just traveling back and forth, let alone developing a power base there. Even if they managed to expand, the lack of a Teleportation Array would eventually cause the main branch and the outpost to splinter into two completely separate families over the years.

Armed with this new information, the Ye family might actually be able to expand aggressively across the East Wuyu Archipelago.

The fact that the center of Star Island had never been breached implied that there might not be a Demon Saint in the vicinity. A region devoid of a Demon Saint was the perfect playground for the Ye family.

Otherwise, they would constantly have to worry about drawing the ire of a Demon Saint after killing too many Demon Emperors—a scenario that would spell absolute doom for the clan. This fear of retaliation was the primary reason the Ye family had acted so conservatively in the Cyan Cloud Sea Domain, the Taihang Mountain Range, and the Celestial Departure Grassland.

Were it not for that threat, the Celestial Cyan Demon Emperor, the Celestial Roc Demon Emperor, and all those Tier Five Chenjing and Tier Five Flood Dragons would have already become the Ye family’s prey.

Moving forward, the only thing the Ye family needed to be wary of was whether this area fell under the jurisdiction of the South Sea. If it did, it meant they had stumbled back into the territory of the Profound Celestial Demon Sect.

That would be highly unfavorable. The Ye family now had a decent understanding of the two major demon sects, and it was certain that they communicated with one another.

With this in mind, Ye Jingcheng decided it was time to contact the family’s demon cultivator members stationed in Jiayuan Prefecture to make arrangements. By his calculations, they had been undercover for over fifty years. The two most outstanding members of that group should have already reached the Purple Mansion realm by now.

He planned to send them some Corpse Refining Skills and evil cultivation methods he had acquired over the years. However, before doing so, he needed to test them to ensure they hadn’t forgotten their roots and remained fully loyal to the Ye family.

“Are there any other Jade Talismans? This one doesn’t contain any information about a Tier Four Secret Realm,” Ye Jingcheng said, turning his gaze back to Li Shangwu after a moment of contemplation. A faint chill had seeped into his tone.

Ye Jingcheng never let his guard down around the patriarchs and elders of smaller factions. He knew full well that if these cunning old men truly wanted to hide something, even a Spirit Inquiry Talisman might fail to uncover the truth unless the interrogator dug deep and asked the right questions. He himself had once exploited linguistic loopholes to bypass the effects of a Spirit Inquiry Talisman. Not to mention, he hadn’t even used one on Li Shangwu yet.

“There are no others. We only found some cultivation techniques,” Li Shangwu quickly replied. “If Elder Ye wishes to review them, I can have the Li family members work through the night to make a copy.”

Ye Jingcheng waved his hand dismissively.

“I’ll search for the Tier Four Secret Realm myself. For the time being, have your family members exercise some restraint. Within the East Wuyu Archipelago, the Li family may choose three adjacent islands, excluding the one housing the Teleportation Array.” He pulled out a rough map and handed it to Li Shangwu to make his selection.

Naturally, the Ye family would never surrender the Spirit Milk Cave where the array was located. Having contributed absolutely nothing since his arrival, Li Shangwu didn’t dare voice any complaints and carefully chose three islands situated on the periphery of the archipelago.

Noticing that his selection didn’t even include a single Tier Three Spirit Island, Ye Jingcheng drew a circle around a nearby Tier Three Spirit Island and added it to the Li family’s territory.

The Ye family would never indulge the greedy, but they also wouldn’t allow those who showed appropriate deference to suffer a loss. Becoming a subordinate of the Ye family might not grant them heaven-defying benefits, but it would certainly be a decision they’d never regret.

“I will eventually move the Teleportation Array to Wuxin Island,” Ye Jingcheng added. “I will also set up a Tier Four Top-Grade Array that will cover the majority of the archipelago.”

“That will greatly protect the safety of the Li family members. To this junior, it is already a massive blessing. I have no objections whatsoever; I defer entirely to your arrangements, Elder Ye,” Li Shangwu said, waving his hands in gratitude.

Ye Jingcheng nodded in acknowledgment. Shortly after, he traveled to Bi Fu Island. He thoroughly sealed off the Spirit Milk Cave before relocating the Teleportation Array to Wuxin Island. Following that, he requested the family members in the Eastern Domain to send over the Void Spirit Insects.

These Void Spirit Insects had originally been a gift from the Wan family, who had generously provided a breeding pair. They had successfully reproduced once over the years, but Void Spirit Insects were highly peculiar—even if they laid a thousand spirit eggs, only two would ever hatch into live offspring. Thus, the Ye family only possessed four Void Spirit Insects in total.

Had it not been for this expedition, the Ye family would have been preparing to artificially induce another breeding cycle. With their rapidly expanding territories, there were bound to be countless undiscovered Secret Realms within their domain. Naturally, they needed a large number of Void Spirit Insects.

Once the Void Spirit Insects arrived on Wuxin Island, Ye Jingcheng fed one of them a spirit pill. The insect immediately took to the air, flying outward from the island.

Evidently, the Secret Realm was not located on Wuxin Island.

Ye Jingcheng followed it for a long time before arriving at a barren island covered entirely in rocks.

The Void Spirit Insect finally landed on a large boulder and began to chirp loudly: SQUEAK SQUEAK.

Ye Jingcheng’s gaze sharpened. Activating his Star Illusion Eye, he peered beneath the boulder and finally spotted the anomaly—a massive God-Blocking Stone was pressing down on the area.

These God-Blocking Stones were also known as Divine Barrier Stones. They could completely isolate divine sense. If a cultivator merely scanned it with their mind, they would register it as nothing more than an ordinary rock. And to the naked eye, it was nearly impossible to tell the difference.

If not for the Void Spirit Insect, Ye Jingcheng might never have found this place.

However, finding the entrance was only half the battle. Deciding who would go inside first—and whether there was anyone currently hiding within—required careful deliberation.

This God-Blocking Stone had clearly been placed here deliberately by a cultivator. It was highly probable that cultivators were hiding inside to escape the beast tide. There might even be a Golden Core Cultivator lying in wait.

Since Ye Jingcheng could not personally enter a Tier Four Secret Realm, the ideal candidates to investigate were Li Shangwu, Ye Xuefan, and Ye Xuecang. Paired with a few of his spirit beasts, this vanguard team would be practically foolproof.

He had briefly considered leaving Li Shangwu out of it, but ultimately decided to summon everyone and let Li Shangwu make the choice himself. If Li Shangwu wanted to enter, he would naturally have to go first. This wasn’t the Ye family trying to set him up as cannon fodder; rather, if he were to go in second, there would be no point in the Li family participating at all.

The Ye family’s cultivators weren’t just going to do all the heavy lifting for nothing.

Following Ye Jingcheng’s transmission, Ye Xuecang, Ye Xuefan, Ye Xuefu, Ye Xueliang, and Li Shangwu quickly gathered by his side.

The group immediately noticed the God-Blocking Stone. They all came to the same conclusion: someone might be inside.

As cultivators, they weren’t particularly burdened by misplaced pity. Their primary concern was whether the occupants would attack them.

“Elder Ye, this junior is willing to enter first,” Li Shangwu declared after a long moment of silence. He pulled out a Jade Talisman and sent a quick transmission to an elder of the Li family, clearly leaving behind some final instructions.

Then, he turned back to Ye Jingcheng.

“Elder Ye, if anything untoward happens to me, I implore you to look after the Li family for the next hundred years.”

With that, Li Shangwu drew out all the defensive treasures on his person, followed by several spirit talismans.

“This is a Small Celestial Gate Talisman. It can break through the vast majority of arrays, ensuring you won’t be trapped or killed by their formations,” Ye Xuecang said, stepping forward. He handed over the talisman, a Jade Talisman, and a Tier Four Spirit Puppet. “I am temporarily lending you this spirit puppet. As for the Jade Talisman, crush it only when you determine it is safe to enter. We will be able to sense the signal from out here.”