Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 440

“Foolish brute!”

Wang Yu inwardly delivered his verdict.

As a latecomer, everything he knew about the actual situation came from the Yin Gui Demon Lord’s own mouth. He naturally would not swallow it all without question. Had he known more details earlier, he would have definitely stopped the man’s reckless actions.

Sure enough, The moment the Gui Water Yin Thunder explosion ended, two lantern-like blood-red points of light suddenly flared within the soaring, viscous water thunder.

Wang Yu slowly turned his head.

“Fellow Daoist, the trouble you have stirred up, please resolve it yourself.”

The Yin Gui Demon Lord’s expression turned somewhat unnatural. In his perception, the life auras of those three Core Formation cultivators had not been extinguished. Clearly they had used special means to transfer away his control secret art.

Now he was also being looked down on by a fellow Daoist, leaving the Demon Lord’s face with nowhere to hide. He could not help but snort coldly.

“This lord is a sixth-layer peak Nascent Soul cultivator. I will naturally resolve this minor trouble!”

Wang Yu assumed the attitude of someone waiting to watch a good show. He stepped aside and retreated slightly.

Crackling sounds rang out.

The noise of raised scales scraping across stone slabs echoed. In the darkness ahead, a colossal creature gradually revealed its true form under the illumination of the shark lanterns.

“Eroding Yin Python!”

Its body exceeded a hundred meters in length. The python, thicker than a water vat, was in a fully flared-scale state. Its hard scales cut into the stone slabs like blades, sending sparks flying from time to time.

This was an ancient beast of the water and yin attributes recorded in the ancient texts.

It followed the demonic beast path of cultivation through the physical body. At the fourth rank it would not take human form and relied purely on raw physical strength. Its lineage was even older than human Body Refinement cultivators.

Moreover, it was born with extremely low intelligence, behaving like a wild beast that ate raw flesh and drank blood.

Precisely because of this low intelligence, its lifespan far surpassed ordinary demonic beasts, measured in nearly ten thousand years.

The racial talent of the Eroding Yin Python was called [Sleeping Serpent].

As long as it was supplied with enough energy, it could continuously evolve while asleep. In ancient times it had been extremely popular and was the top choice for guardian tomb beasts.

This species had long since vanished from the current cultivation world.

No one knew how long this particular one had been sleeping, but its strength had definitely reached the Nascent Soul stage, and it was clearly not at the early stage. Whether the Yin Gui Demon Lord could handle it remained unknown.

Since a place like the Heavenly Yin Water Pool, which contained vast amounts of Heavenly Yin spiritual opportunity, existed here, it was the most suitable nesting ground for an Eroding Yin Python.

Wang Yu could not help but glance toward the spot where the Gui Water Yin Thunder had erupted earlier.

If the Heavenly Yin Water Pool truly lay within this underground palace, that location was the most likely.

The existence of the Eroding Yin Python, however, meant that the Heavenly Yin Divine Pearls had probably already been devoured by the creature. Its long sleep required enormous quantities of Heavenly Yin spiritual opportunity, and nothing was richer in energy than those divine pearls.

Therefore, Wang Yu did not move immediately. Instead, he watched the battle between the Yin Gui Demon Lord and the Eroding Yin Python.

This man truly deserved his reputation as the long-established ancestor of the Gui Water Demon Palace.

His mastery of the Gui Water Yin Thunder was exquisite. In almost an instant he had turned the underground palace into a swamp of water thunder. Although the Eroding Yin Python possessed terrifying physical strength, it lacked divine ability variations.

Its capabilities were single-minded. As long as one avoided being struck at close range by its tail, it was actually quite manageable. After all, human cultivators were famous for their versatile methods and external treasures.

The Eroding Yin Python was deeply mired in the black water-thunder sludge. It kept emitting furious hisses. Under its powerful struggles, the splashing water-thunder droplets could erode huge pits into the azure jade stone, yet they could not harm its scales in the slightest.

The Yin Gui Demon Lord’s brows were tightly furrowed. In his hand he held a black jade glass lamp, his life-bound magic treasure, the Yin Thunder Jade Lamp. Its effect was simple and brutal.

The yin thunder liquid stored inside was power he had accumulated over many years. When used, it could temporarily boost the might of his water-thunder divine abilities to a terrifying degree.

He poured out a single drop. The Gui Water Yin Thunder instantly erupted with a corrosive, bone-melting ferocity. The Eroding Yin Python’s struggles weakened noticeably.

The Yin Gui Demon Lord suddenly spoke.

“Something is wrong. This Eroding Yin Python seems to have suffered a heavy injury before. There is a very long wound running along its back, from head to tail…”

Boom!

The giant tail of the Eroding Yin Python lashed high into the air and slammed down violently, smashing a massive crater into the water-thunder swamp. The terrifying brute force sent liquid thunder spraying in all directions.

Like a boulder crashing into water, the brief contact created a momentary void in the center. The Eroding Yin Python leaped upward. From its blood-red snake pupils shot two beams of gray light.

Wherever they passed, ice shards flew. The effect was somewhat similar to the Ice Soul Divine Light.

This ice path further prevented the water thunder from closing up.

Seizing the opportunity, the Eroding Yin Python surged forward and rammed straight into the Yin Gui Demon Lord. Black demonic light flashed. At the critical moment the Yin Gui Demon Lord summoned a water flag.

The light shield released by the magic treasure blocked the impact.

The battle had entered its white-hot phase.

Not far away, Wang Yu stroked the ring on his finger. His peak mid-stage Nascent Soul divine sense had already invaded the Eroding Yin Python’s body. This was one of the advanced divine-sense techniques from the ancient Heavenly Soul Sect.

It was a small trick used to check whether an opponent’s body contained other divine thoughts, but it could also be employed to probe the true condition inside.

In his perception, the Eroding Yin Python’s body was filled with vast, surging energy. That was not normal.

Where was the flesh? Where were the bones? Where were the tendons?

This was not the structure a normal creature should have. It was more like a mass of energy wearing a layer of skin.

He could not help recalling the Yin Gui Demon Lord’s earlier cry of alarm.

A bizarre guess surged into his mind, making his scalp tingle.

Could it be… that the Eroding Yin Python before them was not a real ancient beast at all, but merely a layer of skin… a shed snake skin? Or rather, a python molt?

Then where was the real Eroding Yin Python?

Was it secretly controlling this skin from the shadows? With the intelligence of an ancient beast, it should not possess such cunning thoughts.

Countless questions surfaced. Wang Yu grew even more vigilant. The feng shui compass in his hand began to link with the local layout, ready to borrow the terrain to escape at a critical moment.

“Fellow Daoist, please lend me a hand!”

Suddenly, the Yin Gui Demon Lord shouted without regard for face. Because of his initial misjudgment, he had been pinned down by the Eroding Yin Python’s shed skin and could not break free for the moment.

Wang Yu had been about to act, but his expression suddenly turned cold.

“Fellow Daoist, stop pretending. If you cannot even deal with a mere layer of python skin, then you are unworthy of your peak mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation.”

This brute appeared reckless, but in truth he was extremely meticulous.

He could still use carelessness as an excuse after being schemed against by three Core Formation cultivators. Later, when he had no choice but to cooperate with Wang Yu, he had harbored the intention to test him.

The main reason was that Wang Yu’s aura-hiding secret art was far too effective.

Unable to gauge Wang Yu’s exact cultivation, he felt uneasy and naturally employed the strategy of “I can’t handle it, please help” to test him.

It was fortunate that he had reacted in time.

Otherwise, once they reached the Heavenly Yin Water Pool, the two of them would definitely have fought. After all, according to common sense, an early-stage cultivator could not defeat a mid-stage one.

Wang Yu had placed himself on equal footing, but the other party might not think the same.

With his thoughts exposed, the Yin Gui Demon Lord’s face remained unchanged. The power of his Gui Water Yin Thunder suddenly surged dramatically. He smashed the Eroding Yin Python’s shed skin into the viscous thunder swamp. The massive beast body instantly shriveled.

When he went all out, this was the true strength of a peak mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. From Wang Yu’s judgment, it felt roughly equal to his own full-powered Blood Slaughter Heart Butchering Sword.

If he used his magic treasure and Dao intent as well, he should be able to surpass him by a notch.

The yin thunder transformed into a giant hand that seized the python skin. The Yin Gui Demon Lord acted as if nothing had happened.

“Fellow Daoist, the true body of this shed-skin demonic creature is still hiding in the shadows watching us. Do you have any ideas?”

Wang Yu stared at the skin and said, “The Eroding Yin Python is usually favored by ancient cultivators as a guardian tomb beast. If it can shed its skin three times, it can transform from python to flood dragon and be called an Eroding Yin Flood Dragon Beast.

“If it can shed its skin nine times, it can transform from flood dragon to dragon and be known as the Extreme Yin Dragon King!”

The Yin Gui Demon Lord’s expression froze. He asked seriously, “A true dragon?”

“I do not know. The ‘dragon’ spoken of in feng shui mystical arts is not the same as the True Spirit bloodline recognized in the common cultivation world. If it were truly that easy to achieve, there would be no need to test it with this python skin.”

The logic was sound, yet hearing the domineering name “Extreme Yin Dragon King” still left the Yin Gui Demon Lord somewhat hesitant.

He tested the waters.

“Then I shall gift this python skin to Fellow Daoist as an apology for my earlier test?”

“Thank you.”

Wang Yu immediately “seized” the python skin into his hand.

Although the Eroding Yin Python had shed its skin many times, the one before them was definitely the final molt. This could be judged from its freshness and the python’s strength.

This treasure could be used to strengthen his fourth-rank magic robe, the Three-Foot Snow.

It was a rather rare prized item. In the right hands its value was considerable. It was perfect for a round of strengthening with the Demon Refining Artifact Art.

He had no shortage of high-grade demonic corpses in his possession.

Seeing him “gladly” accept it, the corner of the Yin Gui Demon Lord’s eye twitched once or twice. He continued, “Fellow Daoist, do you have any method to deal with this Extreme Yin Dragon King?”

Taking someone’s hand makes one short.

Since he had already spoken of it, Wang Yu naturally had some ideas of his own.

“The method those three feng shui masters are using—I can roughly guess one or two things. Since this place was arranged by the ancestor of earth masters and left with tomb-guarding beasts to protect it, it proves that within the so-called Heavenly Yin Water Pool, there might be a tomb chamber. Fellow Daoist, do you have any other information?”

“Tomb chamber… within the Heavenly Yin Water Pool…”

Yin Gui repeated it like a broken record, then recalled the ancient records stating that each of the four capitals east, west, south, and north—had one Heavenly Yin Water Pool.

His heart skipped a beat.

“Could it be… an imperial tomb?”

Wang Yu was similarly stirred for a moment, but he quickly shook his head and said, “I don’t know on what basis fellow Daoist made that judgment, but it’s impossible.”

After the era of the Ancient Immortal Dynasty ended in the Ice Prison Realm, no second immortal dynasty ever emerged. The reason was precisely because the first ancient Human Emperor’s cultivation had towered above the world.

When the supreme powerhouse was no longer within the dynasty, rule would naturally be overthrown.

Wang Yu had some speculations about the Immortal Dynasty system.

If it truly were an imperial tomb, it could only be a fake imperial tomb, meant to trap and deceive grave-robbing scoundrels—or perhaps a concubine burial tomb used as feng shui accompaniment.

Who would bury an emperor in the capital city!

It made no logical sense. Moreover, based on his judgment, the feng shui layout here was a man-made formation imitating an earth formation, known as the [Si River Heavenly Yin Formation]!

Therefore, when Yin Gui previously mentioned Heavenly Yin Divine Pearls, Wang Yu had believed it to about sixty percent.

He trusted his own judgment.

As for what to do next, the Extreme Yin Dragon King lurked in the shadows, watching with covetous eyes. Wang Yu was far more interested in the Water Token held by those three feng shui masters.

“How about we first find those three hidden rats? What does fellow Daoist think?”

“Exactly what I was thinking!”

The other party readily agreed. Since that was the case, Wang Yu no longer hid anything. The so-called Si River Heavenly Yin Formation necessarily had four hidden water channels concealed in darkness, continuously supplying water and Yin qi to the so-called Heavenly Yin Water Pool.

There were not many places in the underground palace where one could hide. These four water channels were perfect hiding spots—though there was also the chance of running into the Extreme Yin Dragon King.

Wang Yu twisted the feng shui compass. The star track instrument on its surface shot out a beam of starlight to guide the way.

“Fellow Daoist, after you.”

“No need to stand on ceremony.”

…

…

At the same time.

In the four small courtyards on the surface of the underground palace, attracted by the Water Virtue Star shining from the Water Token, a total of seventeen or eighteen feng shui earth masters had rushed to this place.

Solo feng shui earth masters basically all possessed Nascent Soul cultivation.

Those traveling in groups or accompanying cultivators with outstanding combat power were mostly Core Formation, bringing the total number to over thirty.

As soon as these people appeared around the four small courtyards, they immediately realized they were all fellow Daoists drawn by the Water Token. For a moment, they could only look at one another.

You look at me, I look at you.

Among them were even quite a few acquaintances who began greeting each other.

“Brother Lu.”

“Brother Gao.”

“Senior Brother Chen, you came for the Water Virtue Star as well?”

“Yes, I never expected that even the outer city of Eastern Extreme Capital would have a heavy treasure related to feng shui masters. What do you all think… could it be that some fellow Daoist deliberately set this up?”

Some exchanged pleasantries, while others were impatient.

“We’re already here—what’s there to talk about? Let this lord break this damn illusion formation first. Once I go inside and take a look, everything will be clear.”

A hot-tempered solo Nascent Soul feng shui earth master acted directly.

He twisted his feng shui compass, and a layer of golden-patterned feng shui array immediately spread out from it, directly dissolving the multiple feng shui formations in this place.

As a result, The four small courtyards vanished like an illusion in the wind, leaving behind an underground cavity eroded into a deep pit by yin thunder. Someone in the crowd exclaimed in surprise: “This is the trace of Gui Water Yin Thunder divine ability. That person has already been here—just about half a shichen before us.”

[T/N:- half a shichen means one hour in modern time]

“Let’s go down and take a look.”

The group jumped into the pit one after another. Before long, they arrived inside the underground palace. The battle traces left here were even more exaggerated. The Si River Heavenly Yin Formation was not something only Wang Yu could recognize.

Soon someone stated the key point.

—Four water channels!

Wang Yu had anticipated the arrival of latecomers, which was why he wanted to capture those three Core Formation feng shui masters first. No matter what, he had to get the Water Token in hand.

And eliminate the Water Virtue Star that was attracting even more people.

At this moment, He and Yin Gui were inside one of the water channels. The place was square like a tomb passage, with water deep enough to submerge up to the chest and abdomen. There was still about two meters of airless space above the water.

Yin Gui took the lead. After closing his eyes to sense for a moment, he shook his head and said, “Those three are not in this water channel.”

“Not here?”

Wang Yu’s brows lightly furrowed. This was the fourth water channel they were searching. The first three had shown no trace at all. Logically, only this one should remain.

“Wait a little longer.”

Wang Yu pressed his palms together. His divine sense turned into threads, combined with the Ten Thousand Miles Tracing technique, meticulously searching every inch of space.

After one-third of an incense stick’s time, his eyes suddenly widened.

“—They’re here!”

“Who?”

Yin Gui instinctively asked back, then quickly realized that the only thing capable of making Wang Yu’s expression change so drastically could not be three Core Formation ants.

That left only one possibility… the Extreme Yin Dragon King!

Splash~

Water sprayed everywhere. A small snake so astonishing it left one speechless leaped out from the midst. Its body length was no more than a meter, its thickness less than an adult’s thumb.

Its scales were pitch-black and gleaming, with a dragon head.

Aside from the deer antlers being replaced by small black spiral horns, every other part was identical to the legendary true dragon.

The yin thunder took form. This tiny Extreme Yin Dragon King shot out like an arrow loosed from a bow, abruptly bursting through the yin thunder mud pool and piercing straight through the center of Yin Gui Demon Lord’s brow.

Brain matter splattered out in a spray.

Wang Yu: “…”