Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 413

Maple Prefecture.

After the incident involving the young sect master, Wang Yu and his group quietly left the prefectural city without alerting anyone.

However, the ambush location had already been chosen.

It was the very spot where Wang Yu, Wang Zhenghong, and another companion had once agreed to bury intelligence jade slips in their early years, a remote and desolate place rarely visited by anyone.

It was the perfect battlefield.

With his capabilities as a great cultivator, the clues Wang Yu had left behind would certainly be discovered.

Jin Miaoshan took out a purple-gold seal and fused it into the void before speaking.

“This is the Spatial Suppression Seal, one of the Heavenly Pond Jin Clan’s inherited secret treasures. Only those of Jin bloodline can activate it. Once deployed, all spatial escape techniques will fail, including ours.”

Inherited secret treasures were mostly fifth-rank Spirit Transformation spiritual treasures.

The fact that she had borrowed this item from her clan showed how much effort Jin Miaoshan had invested.

“No problem. With preparation against the unprepared, even if Nine Evil finds helpers, he will not be able to break out of this dead end.”

Wang Yu felt anticipation in his heart.

Success or failure would be decided today.

At the same time, after receiving news from his informants, the Nine Evil Sword Lord immediately traveled north from Cloud Ridge Prefecture and entered Maple Prefecture City, which was currently under the control of Lord Lei Hou.

He had no intention of revealing his identity.

Instead, he secretly entered the city to search for Wang Yu’s whereabouts. The first people he found were naturally the informants of Evil Sword Peak.

After clarifying the entire sequence of events,

Nine Evil stroked his chin, and his instincts told him something was wrong.

He asked again, “That Yu Family wastrel and the courtesan were both taken away by him?”

“Yes, my lord. That courtesan’s identity is somewhat suspicious. We did not investigate deeply, but she is definitely a hidden Core Formation cultivator.”

“Core Formation…”

Narrowing his eyes, Nine Evil calculated the time.

Judging by Wang Yu’s past cultivation speed, he was very likely at peak Core Formation by now. So… was he kidnapping the Yu Family wastrel to extort cultivation resources?

This speculation fit the temperament of people from the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain.

But it did not fit Wang Yu’s past image of being “righteous and loyal.”

Moreover, Wang Yu knew that he was being hunted.

Recklessly exposing his whereabouts was not rational behavior, especially if it was only for some resources. That would be even less worthwhile, unless that wastrel possessed an opportunity related to condensing a Nascent Soul.

Nine Evil analyzed the situation.

He had considered whether this might be a trap.

But on second thought, the Blood-Eyed Demonic Flood Dragon was guarding the sect, and Lord Lei Hou was still stationed in Maple Prefecture City.

All of Wang Yu’s known backers were absent.

How could he possibly set up an ambush?

This was the gap in information.

Even the Heavenly King himself would fall for it under such circumstances.

Unless news of the Ancient Beast Ancestral God Mountain reaching the summit had spread, Wang Yu’s name would not yet be widely known in the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain. The Demon King Banquet’s treasure exchange alone was not enough.

The northern demon clans were far too closed off. Only organizations like Golden Abundance Tower could obtain such news. Even then, it was delayed by many years.

This was directly related to the isolation of the demon race.

After the Five-Colored Holy Lord took power, there had been another internal reshuffle.

Coupled with the chaos of war across various regions, battlefield news had become the mainstream focus. Nine Evil had no network within the demon race, and his deductions gradually drifted further from reality.

They extended toward “opportunities” and “adventures.”

Since he had guessed wrong from the start, falling into the trap was only a matter of time.

“If Wang Yu is after an opportunity, he must have information channels. The Yu Family wastrel’s presence in Maple Prefecture City is no secret, but not just anyone knows about it.

“Especially information related to Nascent Soul condensation…”

As he pondered, realization struck Nine Evil.

“He has high-level informants in Maple Prefecture!”

Maple Prefecture had always been poor.

It had many members in the Core Formation Council, with highly mixed backgrounds, making it the perfect place to plant spies.

In the past, the Blood Reversal Sect had not paid much attention to Maple Prefecture, partly due to these complications.

Over the following days, Nine Evil secretly searched the souls of several Core Formation elders.

Relying on his vast divine sense as a great cultivator, he erased their memories afterward and threw them back, leaving no trace.

It was foolproof.

Finally, he caught a clue.

Someone had been inquiring about the whereabouts of Evil Sword Peak disciples.

Wang Zhenghong had been captured.

…

…

“We’ve been squatting here for half a month already, Wang Yu. Are you actually capable or not?”

There was no need to ask. Everyone knew that was Jin Miaoshan speaking.

“Impatience won’t help you eat hot tofu.”

Jin Miaoshan glanced around. Wang Yu was sitting cross-legged in meditation, eyes closed. Demonic essence surged rapidly around his body, and his cultivation was visibly rising. According to rumor, he was refining a Great Yin Demonic Essence Pill.

She could not help feeling a little envious.

True Lady Jin Xiyuan sat atop a golden lotus, silently comprehending divine ability principles. The Shadow Hound King was hidden within the shadow of True Lord Word King, impossible to perceive.

The old monkey was not good with words. He lay sprawled on the ground, utterly carefree.

A stalk of sugarcane was clenched in his mouth as he chewed nonstop. The ground was covered in scraps. Ever since the ambush began, he had never stopped eating, showing just how deep his love for sugarcane ran.

Only Jin Miaoshan had nothing to do. She kept staring at Wang Yu without blinking.

“They’re here.”

Suddenly, True Lady Jin Xiyuan opened her eyes. A whisk with a coiling-dragon handle appeared in her hand. With a gentle flick, golden speck-like light scattered outward and enveloped everyone.

Gradually, their figures faded and vanished into the air.

This was the Golden Light Concealment Art, one of the inherited divine abilities of Golden Light Temple. True Lady Jin Xiyuan also possessed another divine ability, Earth-Striding Golden Light, known as the fastest movement technique in the mortal world.

It could rival Thunderfire Temple’s Shrinking the Earth to an Inch.

This was why she claimed to specialize in speed. Even perfected Earth-Striding Golden Light could be difficult for Spirit Transformation cultivators to catch up to. She was far from as weak as she claimed.

On the desolate land.

The Nine Evil Sword Lord descended onto a massive boulder, his black hair dancing wildly. With a sweep of his divine sense, he detected traces of excavation underground. The most recently placed spiritual jade slip had not been touched.

His brows furrowed slightly.

“So they haven’t come yet. Then I’ll wait a little longer.”

Clearly, he had already soul-searched Wang Zhenghong and the others until their souls were scattered. The black paper boat Wang Yu had planted in their Niwan Palaces had been triggered, destroying most of their memories.

But who was the Nine Evil Sword Lord?

Under his profound soul techniques, he had forcibly preserved the most critical information, such as this hidden intelligence relay point.

“Hmph. No matter how sly and cunning you are, it all means nothing before absolute strength.”

After boasting to himself, he was just about to cast a concealment technique when his expression suddenly changed. His fourth-rank high-grade life-bound treasure, the Sacred Evil Sword, burst from its sheath.

A gray sword light that split all things cleaved the land in two.

From the pitch-black shadows, a towering nine-foot-tall man leaped out. With an arrogant curve at the corner of his lips, he commented.

“Not bad. You managed to detect my presence.”

They were both late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. Although the gap of one realm layer was significant, it was not enough to result in absolute suppression. Moreover, although the Shadow Hound King’s talent was shadow evasion, he was actually better at frontal combat.

Seeing the enemy appear, Nine Evil narrowed his eyes.

“A demon king of the Shadow Hound Clan? Do you know that I am an ancestor of the Exalted Sect? Attacking me means…”

Before he could finish, Nine Evil transformed into sword light and suddenly shifted sideways.

A shadowy canine claw stretched out from his shadow and grasped at empty air.

“Stubborn fool.”

Sacred Evil Nine Slashes: Spirit-Devouring!

Among the Nine Peaks and One Hall of the Blood Reversal Sect, only the Blood Demon Hall possessed Spirit Transformation inheritance. Evil God Peak had only half a set, not enough to reach that realm.

His cultivation manual was called the Sacred Evil Sword Codex, a fourth-rank technique.

His divine abilities and treasures all originated from it, perfectly complementing one another and producing terrifying power. If ordinary sword cultivators pursued ultimate offense, then demonic sword cultivators walked a more unorthodox path.

His sword path fused the Dao of devouring living beings.

The Spirit-Devouring Slash cleaved forward.

The Shadow Hound King threw back his head and let out a long howl. A gigantic hound with blood-red eyes manifested from demonic essence, while two masses of blazing pitch-black flames on its shoulders spun into vortexes.

It swallowed the Spirit-Devouring Slash in a single bite.

Raising his right hand high, a pair of fang-claws appeared in his grip. They were forged from the sharpest and hardest canine teeth of his entire body, radiating a wild and primitive aura.

In the next instant, he appeared behind Nine Evils and struck toward his waist.

“Clang!”

Nine Evils reversed his grip and blocked with the Sacred Evil Sword at his back. Azure light and fang-claws collided violently, and the two transformed into afterimages as they engaged in a ferocious exchange.

The shockwaves of their battle shattered the ground completely.

The commotion surged straight into the clouds.

In the shadows, Wang Yu and Jin Miaoshan sat together. The former commented calmly.

“Although Nine Evils hasn’t been promoted for long, he does have some real skill. Let the Hound King wear him down a bit more. When True Word King makes his move, the outcome may be decided.”

Jin Miaoshan looked slightly dissatisfied.

“What about Senior Jin Xiyuan? She’s a real expert. My father praises her highly.”

Hearing this, Wang Yu gave her a strange look.

Men understood men best. With Jin Xiyuan Immortal Lady’s ascetic daoist nun appearance, she was actually even more tempting. Especially when combined with the sense of conquest brought by powerful cultivation.

Tsk, tsk.

Seeing his odd smile, how could Jin Miaoshan not know what he was thinking? She angrily slapped him lightly in protest.

Meanwhile, the situation on the battlefield changed again.

The Shadow Hound King was, after all, a veteran powerhouse. Even though Nine Evils had deliberately reinforced his physical body, it was still inferior to that of a demon race expert. In close combat and assassination exchanges, he fell into a disadvantage in less than a hundred moves.

After transforming into sword light to dodge a claw, he shouted angrily.

“What is your relationship with Wang Yu? What conditions did he offer you to ambush me?!”

By now, no matter how dull he was, he had realized the truth.

The clues were wrong. They were likely traps deliberately left behind by Wang Yu to lure him in.

To be fair, given that little bastard’s scheming, if he truly wanted to get rid of him, the Shadow Hound King was probably not the only helper. Although the Hound King was strong, he alone was still not enough to keep him here.

Once his vigilance rose, Nine Evils began diverting part of his focus to his surroundings. At the same time, every strike of the Sacred Evil Sword became more vicious than the last.

Gray sword shadows poured down from the sky, completely engulfing the Shadow Hound King.

To a shapeshifted demon king, these sword shadows were little more than scratches.

However, each strike carried strange properties, capable of devouring qi, blood, and demonic essence. When accumulated in large numbers, they still weakened the Hound King’s condition significantly.

At that moment, the manifested shadow of the Shadow Hound appeared again. This time, he was getting serious. A profound dao intent descended upon the giant hound, causing its agility to skyrocket.

Like a living creature, it spewed dark flames that incinerated all the sword shadows. With four consecutive steps, it leaped directly into the shadows and reappeared behind Nine Evils in an instant.

This was Shadow Dao Intent, one of the Shadow Hound King’s primary methods after entering late-stage Nascent Soul.

“Command!”

Nine Evils refused to fall behind. Since he had broken through to late stage, he had naturally comprehended his own dao intent as well, successfully strengthening his Nascent Soul.

His dao intent was called Evil Sword.

His life-bound magic treasure fused perfectly with his dao intent, combined with sword-path divine abilities.

Sacred Evil Nine Slashes: Heavenly Punishment!

This was the pinnacle of a sword cultivator’s artistry.

Like a line of light splitting open a heavenly abyss, it collided with the shadow hound. The resulting explosion annihilated the land completely, leaving behind a crater hundreds of meters deep.

“Now!”

Golden light flashed.

The second late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator, True Lady Jin Xiyuan, finally made her move. Using the extreme speed of the Golden Light Earth-Striding Technique, she arrived in front of Nine Evils in an instant.

Golden curse inscriptions transformed into a talisman banner, stretching endlessly, with no visible boundary.

Like a spear piercing through bamboo, it penetrated Nine Evils’ protective demonic light and bound his limbs layer by layer. As the curse inscriptions spread, his aura plummeted drastically.

After clashing head-on with the Shadow Hound King, his strength was already stretched thin.

But since he had long been on guard, how could he not have prepared a backup plan?

Although the appearance of a second great cultivator had driven his mood to rock bottom, he still had to preserve his life.

As long as the green mountains remained, there would be no shortage of firewood.

A demonic light sphere emitting dark radiance was spat out from his mouth. The black light it released dissolved the golden curse banner entirely, and his aura rapidly recovered.

True Lady Jin Xiyuan flicked her horsetail whisk. A streak of golden light lashed fiercely against the demonic sphere. The two clashed evenly, neither gaining the upper hand. Her cold voice spread through the battlefield.

“Demonic Light Relic. A relic left behind when a demonic monk of the Buddhist sect passed away. A fourth-rank high-grade magic treasure from the ancient Demonic Light Temple.”

Nine Evils had explored many ruins and secret realms. The Demonic Light Relic was his greatest gain from one such expedition, and also one of his trump cards.

Great cultivators were difficult to kill partly because of these strange and rare treasures. Each had a mysterious origin, making them hard to counter with modern methods.

“Good eye.”

Nine Evils sighed. Seeing the Shadow Hound King charging again, and adhering to the principle of avoiding needless losses, he developed thoughts of retreat.

Relying on the Demonic Light Relic’s ability to repel all techniques, he neutralized both opponents’ attacks, then once more transformed into sword light and fled toward the distance.

Unless pushed to utter desperation, he would never easily abandon his physical body and use the Nascent Soul soul shifting technique.

At that very moment, “In this place, sword escape is as slow as a turtle.”

The old monkey, True Word King, made his move.

He cultivated only one divine ability: “Words Become Law.” With absolute specialization, his so-called boasting technique was arguably the strongest support divine ability in this world.

Once affected, Nine Evils’ sword escape became barely faster than crawling. Before he could recover from his shock, a streak of golden light crashed down on his head, blasting him straight into the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, the Hound King leapt out from the shadows. His fist, as large as a sandbag, smashed Nine Evils’ right arm into powder and continued forward, about to punch through his chest.

The Demonic Light Relic flew out once more.

The old monkey said calmly, “The Demonic Light Relic is beside me.”

Whoosh!

The treasure crossed several hundred meters in an instant and was seized by True Word King. Suppressed by surging demonic essence, it struggled wildly but in vain.

The Hound King’s iron fist continued its advance. Countless shadow spikes exploded along his knuckles, trying to completely annihilate Nine Evils’ physical body.

At that moment, the Sacred Evil Sword split into nine, forming a sword shield.

It barely blocked the attack, but Sword Lord Nine Evils’ body was grievously damaged. The right half of his body had almost turned into minced flesh, with many internal organs exposed.

Gritting his teeth, he said, “Three late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators… Wang Yu… I really underestimated you.”

His gaze turned sinister as he stared at the old monkey.

He knew very well that if he could not seal Words Become Law, there was no way he could retreat safely.

In the shadows, Wang Yu had already stood up. His eyes burned as he stared at the old monkey, muttering,

“Words Become Law… Such terrifying Words Become Law.”

In his eyes, this ability was practically a cheat.

Seeing this, Jin Miaoshan curled her lips.

“It only looks impressive. If you say something like ‘die in the next instant’, a direct judgment like that, then before the other person dies, you’ll be killed by backlash from the divine ability first.”

Wang Yu frowned and turned back.

“What do you mean?”