Beast Taming Clan: I Have a Jade Book

Chapter 1501: Chapter 1079: Slaying the Yin Locust, Reappearance of the Spirit Ginseng

In the Secret Realm, densely packed branches surged forward through the void in waves, blotting out the sky as if they had entered the Ten Thousand Snakes Cave. Moreover, each of these branches bore a bizarre face, emitting a terrifying, ghastly wind that was both demonic and eerie.

As gusts of the ghastly wind blew over them, the three even had the illusion that their Divine Souls were about to leave their bodies. This utterly horrified Li Shangwu. Naturally, he did not possess a Tier Four Divine Soul Defense Treasure. Therefore, he was somewhat worried that his Magical Treasure might not be able to break through these locust branches before being entangled by them.

However, he quickly realized that his worries were superfluous.

Ye Xuecang’s aura unfurled, and fully four Sword Nurturing Bottles appeared in midair. Because the core Sword Cultivators of Taiyi Sect’s Sword Peak all possessed Lifebound Sword Embryos, Li Shangwu was somewhat clear on what these Sword Bottles were used for.

But to his surprise, he saw Ye Xuecang’s first sword fly out. It transformed into a mountain-sized Sword Aura that tore through the void. At the same time, beneath the Sword Aura, a terrifying Sword Intent wreaked endless havoc in the air. As the Sword Aura swept through the void, it instantly cleaved all the branches apart.

One must know that the Old Yin Locust Tree Demon before them was at least at the Late Stage of Fourth Tier. Such branches were not like ordinary wooden willows; it would not be an exaggeration to say their sturdiness rivaled Tier Three Top-Grade Profound Iron. To achieve such an effect, it could only mean that Ye Xuecang’s Sword Dao Cultivation would undoubtedly rank in the top three, or even higher, even within the Taiyi Sect.

Aside from Ye Xuecang’s sword, what also surprised him was that the two men clearly possessed Divine Soul Defense Treasures, and their Divine Souls were absolutely extraordinary. Under that ghastly wind, they were barely affected at all.

With this thought, most of Li Shangwu’s worries instantly vanished. He suddenly felt that coming to the East Wuyu Archipelago to seek out the Ye Family was an incredibly correct decision. If it were any other Nascent Soul Power, they absolutely wouldn’t be able to deploy such formidable Combat Power. And without such strong Combat Power, he had no doubt that he would perish beneath this old locust tree and become one of the Yin Locust Wood Demon’s nutrients. That ghastly wind was a nightmare for all Cultivators who lacked Divine Soul Treasures.

While Li Shangwu was lost in thought, Ye Xuecang drew his sword again; this time, it was his second sword. It was also the second sword after the first sword, Broken Mountain—River Breath. For Ye Xuecang, this was his first battle since breaking through to the Late Stage of Golden Core, making it exceptionally important to him. If not for the sake of stability and wanting to persuade this Wood Demon to surrender, he would have just let Ye Xuefan watch from the sidelines.

Enhanced by the Sword Nurturing Bottle, the release of this sword was like a Sword River hanging high in the sky, cascading downward.

This caused a look of panic to instantly appear on an aged face upon the old locust tree’s original body. Its body also began to sway bizarrely and incessantly. Under the swaying, the red ribbons from earlier transformed one by one into Yin Puppets. Clearly, these were not colorful ribbons hung for blessings, but rather suspended Human Puppets. Although this Wood Demon was not a Ghost Banner, it had cultivated itself into one.

The strength of these Yin Puppets varied; the lowest had not even reached Tier One, while the highest had even reached Tier Four. They bared their fangs and brandished their claws as they surged toward the Sword River. However, the Old Yin Locust Tree clearly underestimated the current Ye Xuecang. The Sword River remained dazzling, but the Yin Puppets shrieked continuously before dissipating into the void. Just before they dissipated, however, they emitted a terrifying, soul-shaking sound.

With this, Li Shangwu, who had been preparing to attack, was once again pierced by the soul-shaking sound, feeling as if his entire Sea of Consciousness was about to explode.

As for Ye Xuecang and Ye Xuefan, Spiritual Light merely drifted across their bodies. The two even condensed a Thousand Moon Soul Needle each, piercing toward the Yinhuai Demon King.

In addition to this, Ye Xuefan took out a large number of Array Discs and countless Spirit Beasts. Among these Spirit Beasts were Ye Jingcheng’s Golden Falcon, as well as Ye Xuefan’s Two-headed Turtle and the Soul-devouring Insect Demon King. As for Tier Four Spirit Puppets, there were a full two of them as well.

This extravagant method of attack was something Li Shangwu, watching from the side, felt was completely unheard of. After all, for normal Golden Core Cultivators fighting a Golden Core Demon King, having two or three against one was already a massive advantage. Now, he calculated that it was basically eight against one. There were even Arrays.

Of course, what he didn’t know was that inside Ye Xuecang’s Spirit Beast Bag, there were currently three more Demon Kings: the Vermilion Bird, the White-Browed Cyan Wolf, and the Roc Fish. It was just that, in the eyes of Ye Xuecang and Ye Xuefan, it was already unnecessary.

As the Array dispersed, it formed a square chessboard with Ye Xuefan at the center, perfectly enveloping the Old Yin Locust Tree in the middle. Countless Chess Puppets swarmed toward the Old Yin Locust Tree’s Wood Demon Body.

The latter was instantly struck with immense shock, clearly not having expected that aside from the one staring blankly, the rest of the intruders would be so terrifying. The roots in front of it immediately burst out of the soil. Unlike its branches, its roots were all incomparably thick and sturdy, resembling golden chains. They wove together in the air to form a wall of chains, blocking the charging Chess Puppets.

However, while it blocked the Chess Puppets, it was somewhat powerless to fend off the Golden Falcon, the Two-headed Turtle, the Soul-devouring Insect Demon King, and Ye Xuecang’s Techniques.

Ye Xuecang’s third sword slashed out first. This sword was like a descending Silver Moon that dimmed heaven and earth—it was exactly his third sword, Moon Slash. Wherever the Sword Light passed, countless branches that had yet to even touch the Sword Aura rapidly vanished into nothingness under the illumination of the Sword Light, just like melting ice and snow. Even the wall of chains formed by the roots shared the same fate.

It was only at the last moment that the Old Yin Locust Tree Demon forcefully shifted its body a significant distance, thereby dodging a fatal blow. Nevertheless, more than half of its body was still cleaved off, causing its face to instantly contort. Anger, fear, and resentment all intertwined at that moment.

“Surrender, or die!” Ye Xuecang said. His voice rang out with solemn authority, akin to heavenly Thunder.

The Old Yin Locust Tree also wore a face full of resentment. As if it had thought of something, all of its roots and branches suddenly began to writhe agitatedly. It had absolutely no intention of yielding or surrendering. Instead, it seemed as if it had been enraged.

“Slash!” Ye Xuecang brought two fingers together and pointed into the void.

The fourth sword, Thunder Collapse, was unleashed in an instant. Slashing out with golden Sword Light alongside it was the Golden Falcon. Its Cultivation was already slightly stronger than Ye Xuecang’s to begin with, so as it swooped down with a sword strike, the resulting power was relatively not inferior in the slightest.

Gold and blue Sword Light intertwined relentlessly. When the Sword Light finally dissipated, the area was already left in total devastation. An old locust tree collapsed with a loud crash. A section of Wood Heart was swept up by a Flying Sword and landed in Ye Xuecang’s hand.

This Old Locust Tree Demon was clearly rather sensitive about being contracted by a Cultivator, so Ye Xuecang simply decided not to keep it. After all, the Ye Family still had the Five Demons Nascent Soul Secret Technique, and they happened to be lacking the Beast Soul and Wood Heart materials of a Tier Four Wood Demon. The only troublesome part was that this Old Yin Locust Tree had slaughtered countless beings and possessed an extremely heavy aura of resentment. If it were to be used to execute the Five Demons Nascent Soul Secret Technique, it would be best to process the Demon Soul first.

Once the residual Beast Soul and original body of the locust tree Wood Demon were all collected, Ye Xuecang finally began to withdraw his sword. Ye Xuefan, on the other hand, did not retract the Array; on the contrary, the Array he had set up expanded to cover an even broader area.

“The formidable strength of you two Daoists makes those of us who have just entered the Golden Core realm feel as insignificant as if we were still in the Purple Mansion realm.” Li Shangwu didn’t know how many times he had been shocked, but he was, after all, someone who had managed the Li Family for a hundred years. He quickly recovered and began to offer words of flattery.

“Li Daoist is too kind. It is merely the advantage of age,” Ye Xuecang replied casually. Then, his Divine Sense began to meticulously inspect the entire Secret Realm.

Although this Secret Realm was a Tier Four Secret Realm, it was also not considered large, roughly comparable in size to Wuxin Island. The entire Secret Realm was abundant in Spiritual Energy, with an extreme multitude of Spirit Wood and vegetation. It was full of Vitality and indeed exceptionally suitable for development. There were also three or four Spirit Medicine Gardens. It was just that they had clearly been abandoned for a long time, and not many Spirit Medicines were left within them.

“I’m afraid the people of the East Wuyu Sect perished at the hands of that Wood Demon a long time ago,” Ye Xuecang said, looking toward Ye Xuefan.

The Ye Family naturally hoped that someone had been left alive. Whether through bribery or a Soul Search, the Ye Family still needed information about the East Wuyu Sect and the Star Sea. After all, whether it was hunting Demon Beasts in the future or going to find that Old Cold Flood Dragon, they would need accurate information to proceed.

“Let’s find that Transformation Spirit Medicine first. I feel a sense of familiarity with it.” Ye Xuefan likewise sighed, but he quickly focused his attention.

Hearing this, Ye Xuecang nodded.

“Li Daoist, our Ye Family will search for the treasures first, and when the time comes, we will share twenty percent with you,” Ye Xuecang said. He then released the Celestial Treasure Rat.

Unlike when it was in the hands of its previous owner—where it hadn’t lived well and was only the size of an ordinary wolfdog—ever since arriving at the Ye Family, it had become like a fat piglet. There was no longer any trace of its former scrawny appearance. Even its Cultivation had already reached the Late Stage of Third Tier.

Upon receiving Ye Xuecang’s command, the Celestial Treasure Rat twitched its nose and began to search. Before long, it stopped in a dense forest. What was strange about this dense forest was that the Spiritual Energy here was extremely rich, yet these Spirit Woods were only ordinary Tier Two Spirit Woods. Clearly, there was a secret hidden within.

“It should be hiding down below. It seems to still be capable of escaping,” Ye Xuecang said, looking toward Ye Xuefan.

Ye Xuefan instantly understood and began setting up an Array as well. In a short while, the Array enveloped the entire forest. At this moment, even Li Shangwu could not see anything inside the forest. He could only wait outside.

However, there was no disappointment on Li Shangwu’s face; instead, he breathed a sigh of relief. As the Patriarch of the Li Family, he naturally understood the principle that sometimes, the more one knows, the more dangerous it becomes. Therefore, he would rather not see what kind of Spirit Medicine this was. Just knowing that it was a Transformation Spirit Medicine was already a massive secret. After all, Transformation Spirit Medicines were exceptionally rare even in the Eastern Domain. It was said that only Medicine King Valley possessed a scarce few stalks. Not only did a Transformation Spirit Medicine possess Spiritual Wisdom, but it was also far more likely to produce Pill Patterns during the refining of Spirit Pills.

Li Shangwu didn’t dare to look at the Spirit Medicine, but neither did he go harvest any other Spirit Medicines. Instead, he began to recall Ye Xuecang’s four swords. He would wait for the Ye Family to distribute the other gains, but regarding this Swordsmanship, if he could memorize even a single technique or a half-move and pass it on to his family, that might be the true grand harvest.

Meanwhile, inside the Array, Ye Xuecang and Ye Xuefan were equally profoundly moved. When the Celestial Treasure Rat had landed in this forest, they had already discovered the true body of the Transformation Spirit Medicine. They also finally understood why the East Wuyu Sect had sealed off this Tier Four Secret Realm. Inside this Secret Realm, a Nine Curves Spirit Ginseng was actually being nurtured, and it was a Transformation Spirit Medicine.

Recalling how the East Wuyu Sect Cultivators had resentfully felt that this Beast Tide had been triggered by some Cultivator from the Star Sea, everything now made perfect sense. It was likely that someone had received the news and wanted to obtain this Transformation Spirit Medicine. It was just that even though they had slaughtered all the Cultivators of the East Wuyu Sect, they never anticipated that the Transformation Spirit Medicine would be in a Secret Realm they couldn’t find.

“What a pity. This Nine Curves Spirit Ginseng was not transformed from an Original Curved Root, so there is no possibility of proliferation.” Although it was a Transformation Spirit Medicine, the Ye Family possessed a Spirit Talisman specifically for capturing such Spirit Medicines. Coupled with the Array set up by Ye Xuefan, they quickly caught the rabbit Spirit Shadow, and the main body of the Nine Curves Spirit Ginseng was also carefully extracted from the soil by the two of them.

“This is already a great opportunity for our Ye Family. Hoping for an Original Curve on top of that would be a bit too greedy,” Ye Xuecang said with a laugh from the side.

Afterward, Ye Xuefan looked outside the Array. A trace of coldness flashed through his eyes, and his questioning intent was glaringly obvious.

“Our Ye Family is also a Nascent Soul Clan. We don’t need to act like we did in the past anymore. Even if the news leaks out, someone has to dare to come and snatch it. Moreover, since he has become a vassal of our Ye Family and all of his core clan members are on the East Wuyu Archipelago, there’s no need to worry about anything.”

“The most crucial point is that he shouldn’t have seen anything either.” Ye Xuecang naturally pondered over this as well, but this opportunity had been brought to them by the Li Family. Since the Li Family knew when to advance and retreat so well, if the Ye Family still harbored crooked thoughts, what difference would there be between the Ye Family and Penglai?

Hearing this, Ye Xuefan nodded.

Coupled with the fact that the Ye Family had promised to give twenty percent, what the Ye Family needed to consider now was what kind of reward they should give to the Li Family.