Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 452

A beam of white spiritual light descended from the horizon and shot straight into Wang Yu’s forehead. The massive stream of information it contained was smoothly delivered.

“Fifth-rank divine ability… Ice Prison Demon Seal…”

Wang Yu drew in a deep breath.

An ice-path divine ability was indeed perfectly suited for him. In his hands, it would definitely display its maximum power. With the help of the Idle Slots, he only needed to free up one position.

After placing it for more than ten years to reach basic mastery, it could replace his life-bound divine ability and become the strongest trump card in his arsenal. But that was precisely the problem.

The difficulty of bringing a fifth-rank divine ability to perfection was far too great. Cultivating it right now offered poor cost-performance. Its true value lay in using the power of the Idle Slots to break the limit of the Ice Prison Realm.

From a long-term perspective, it was still highly suitable.

The only drawback was that the payback period was a little long.

He had originally thought it would be a physical-body divine ability suited for his physique. After all, the Demonic Dragon Fist was gradually falling behind in strength, and the Ten Directions Frozen Demon Fist was ultimately a spiritual qi divine ability.

After reading through all the information on the Ice Prison Demon Seal, Wang Yu’s expression improved considerably. At least it had not been a waste of effort.

This divine ability condensed an ice prison with extreme cold power, then compressed it into a small seal. The force was packed into the tiniest space before erupting violently, enough to freeze space itself.

It combined control, lethality, and suppression in one.

The first layer [Ice Prison Suppresses Heaven and Earth], the second layer [Extreme Cold Freezes the Infinite], and the third layer [Divine Might Like Prison Seal] each corresponded to different effects.

The fourth layer was the ultimate move, containing the peak Dao intent [Suppression Demon Dao Intent]. It possessed unimaginable demon-suppressing power.

Although the name was “Demon Seal,” it actually drew from the meaning of suppressing demons. It would have miraculous effects against Ancient Demons or any living beings corrupted by their power.

Thinking about it carefully, the Ancient Immortal Dynasty era was the period when the might of the Upper Realm immortals was at its strongest. It was not surprising for such a divine ability to exist.

He had seven Idle Slots. Three were permanently occupied by his foundational techniques.

The remaining four were currently taken by the Guanghan Twelve Phases, Aurora Escape Technique, and Yin Nether Demonic Dragon Art. Wang Yu swapped the last slot for the Ice Prison Demon Seal.

After finishing the reorganization, Wang Yu took out the Rainbow Feather Strange Stone once more.

The reason the Aurora Escape Technique was placed in the Idle Slots was so he could comprehend the Aurora Dao Intent. Once the two were combined, he would obtain a fifth-rank perfected escape technique.

His speed would rank among the very top in the Ice Prison Realm, as long as he could withstand the consumption.

With such speed, he could go anywhere under the heavens.

Speed truly allowed one to do whatever he wanted. However, since he had already comprehended the Asura Dao Intent, comprehending the Aurora Dao Intent would be much more difficult. He planned to leave it entirely to the Idle Slots.

A hundred and eighty years should be more than enough.

At the very least, before the journey to the Holy Lord Heavenly Palace, he would definitely master the fifth-rank Aurora Escape Technique. By then, he would have even greater confidence when competing with those demon kings.

The Rainbow Feather Strange Stone looked like a seven-colored feather-shaped rock and matched the Aurora Escape Technique perfectly. Refining it was as easy as eating and drinking.

After a simple refinement with the Ice Chi Pill Flame, it melted into liquid form and merged into Wang Yu’s body. The brilliant multicolored spiritual light poured into the core of the escape technique runes.

The runes immediately became more profound and complex.

Visible colorful light overflowed from Wang Yu’s body, making him look like a glazed statue. Several hours later, the refinement was complete.

The Aurora Escape Technique successfully advanced to fourth-rank high grade.

Wang Yu’s escape speed surged dramatically, patching the biggest weakness of his Nascent Soul stage. The change was quite significant. If he faced the Sky-Tearing Eagle again, he would be able to win far more easily.

He would no longer suffer such severe injuries.

During the remaining rest time, Wang Yu continued sitting in meditation to circulate his energy and restore his condition. The damage his body had taken had long since been healed by his life force. Unless his physical body was completely destroyed, ordinary injuries meant nothing to him.

His recovery ability was also one of his major strengths. Whether it was the Corpse Demon Secret Technique or the powerful life force of a Body Refiner, both made him stand out from the crowd.

Twelve hours later.

The tower spirit’s voice rang out once more.

【Do you wish to enter the one hundred and fifty-first floor?】

“Abandon. Send me out of the tower.”

If he forced himself to keep climbing, he could still clear another ten or twenty floors, but reaching the top was absolutely impossible. It was better to quit early and go outside the tower to ambush the rich fellows from Yellow Springs Monastery.

The moment Wang Yu made his choice, a white pillar of light suddenly fell from the sky. His vision went black, then bright again. In the blink of an eye, he had arrived at the Celestial Star Tower entrance.

A token came with him.

On the front were the words [Celestial Star Ranking, 299th Place]. On the back was a short evaluation and recommendation.

It read: A person of unmatched combat power and heaven-defying talent. Recommended for recruitment into the Imperial Guard for training. Start as a twelfth-division Valiant Cavalry General.

The evaluation was very high, but there was no other reference point.

It was hard to judge exactly what level this placed him at.

“Celestial Star Ranking… 299th.”

He murmured to himself.

Barely scraping into the top three hundred meant this token could take him into the imperial palace—an area no one had explored yet. Who knew how many opportunities were hidden inside? Just thinking about it was enough to make one’s heart race.

After standing still for a moment and calming these chaotic thoughts, Wang Yu raised his vigilance and even drew the Blood and Flesh Demonic Sword.

The instant he stepped out of the tower gate, a strange power enveloped him. In the next breath, he left the front of the tower and appeared beside Scorching Sun Old Demon.

He felt slightly surprised, but he sheathed the sword he had raised.

“Greetings, Ancestor Liezu.”

“Sigh… you should have climbed a few more floors…”

Scorching Sun Old Demon sighed with genuine regret. Since Wang Yu had chosen to give up the Celestial Star Tower opportunity, he naturally hoped the younger generation would keep pushing forward.

The higher one climbed, the better. At the moment, Wang Yu held the best ranking among them. Among the Core Formation cultivators, Tong Du from Five Yin Peak ranked the highest.

Eight hundred and eightieth place, one hundred and ninety floors.

Although his floor count was higher than Wang Yu’s, the difficulty had been much lower. According to the usual pattern, Tong Du had only faced late-stage Core Formation opponents at most, so reaching higher was not surprising.

He was simply over a hundred years older than Wang Yu.

Among the Nascent Soul cultivators, very few had made it onto the ranking. Only those close to peak Nascent Soul, such as Earthnether Master, Master Youming, Ice Soul Fairy, and a few others, had squeezed into the Celestial Star Ranking.

Even then, they were all hanging at the very bottom.

After looking around, Wang Yu had actually climbed the highest. No wonder Scorching Sun Old Demon was sighing.

Wang Yu withdrew his gaze from the Celestial Star Stone Stele.

He recalled his earlier guess and roughly understood what Scorching Sun Old Demon was thinking.

He said, “Do you think Master Youming anticipated this? If he obtained a pill that could help him break through, he would definitely choose to refine it inside the tower. The environment there is extremely safe.”

Scorching Sun Old Demon frowned.

“You believe the Celestial Star Tower can provide an opportunity to break through to Spirit Transformation?”

“This junior does not dare to claim it for certain, but the possibility is quite high.”

Wang Yu sighed inwardly.

It was simply that his strength was still insufficient. Otherwise, he would have dared to claim the entire Eastern Extreme Capital for himself. Just thinking about the effect of the Heavenly Yin Dragon Pearl showed that there were treasures inside capable of helping Spirit Transformation cultivators break through bottlenecks, let alone ordinary Spirit Transformation opportunities.

These old seniors had still underestimated the value of the Ancient Immortal Dynasty ruins.

He suspected that part of the reason Scorching Sun Old Demon had made this judgment was because none of the Spirit Transformation Venerables had shown up yet. Since even they did not seem to care, the chance of a Spirit Transformation opportunity naturally dropped.

After all, Eastern Extreme Capital could be explored in the past as well. It was just that no one had ever been able to observe the entire layout before, nor had anyone reached this depth.

Scorching Sun Old Demon said, “It is too late for regrets now. As long as we can kill this batch of Nascent Soul cultivators from Yellow Springs Monastery, their overall strength will drop sharply. The Cloud Ridge Prefecture war can end ahead of schedule, and we can focus all our efforts on dealing with the Taihu cultivators.”

After receiving so much information from Wang Yu, Scorching Sun Old Demon regretted his decision so much that his insides turned green. But since he had already made the choice, he had to see it through to the end.

Otherwise, would the loss not have been for nothing?

“I wonder what arrangements Master Youming has made…”

Only a few days passed.

The first unlucky cultivator to step into the trap appeared.

It was none other than Cold Bone!

The moment he came out, he looked toward the Celestial Star Stone Stele. Seeing no name for himself, he could not hide his disappointment. When he spotted several Core Formation elders from Yellow Springs Monastery, he immediately tried to approach them.

The moment he moved, he sensed something was wrong.

Everything around him seemed to grow farther and farther away. The heavens and earth suddenly flipped. Countless tall, lush green bamboo stalks shot up in an instant.

“A formation?”

This was the Pure Heaven and Earth Green Bamboo Formation, an illusion formation combined with spatial formation techniques. A classic trapping formation secretly set up by Scorching Sun Old Demon.

Its rank reached fourth-rank high grade. Even if Master Youming arrived personally, he would not be able to break it immediately.

Cold Bone’s heart sank. He knew things had gone wrong.

Following Master Youming’s instructions, he hurriedly took out a jade slip from his storage ring and crushed it. At the same time, every Yellow Springs Monastery cultivator who had entered the Celestial Star Tower had their own jade slip shatter simultaneously.

This was the signal that something had gone wrong.

It meant all cultivators should immediately stop climbing, exit the tower to provide support, and gather everyone as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, people always had selfish motives.

Take Master Youming for example. While he still had strength left and the floor rewards were still accumulating, his eyes had already turned red. He completely ignored the shattered jade slip, as if he had forgotten everything else.

No matter the outcome, as long as he could break through to Spirit Transformation, the entire Yellow Springs Monastery would belong to him. He would not fear the loss of a few Nascent Soul cultivators.

The other Yellow Springs cultivators harbored similar thoughts.

They were afraid that if they left too early while their companions left too late, unnecessary losses would occur. It was better to climb a few more floors first and secure the benefits already in hand.

Earthnether Master thought exactly this way. Dead fellow Daoists do not die poor Daoists.

He only cared about filling his own stomach. As for the lives of others, he showed concern only with his mouth.

This situation had formed partly by coincidence.

But it was also related to the overall environment of the Crimson Kite. When everyone behaved this way, it was no longer strange.

And so, a bizarre scene unfolded.

Cold Bone had exited the tower, yet no one knew. The quietly activated formation transferred him directly in front of Scorching Sun Old Demon. His face was filled with despair.

Even so, he forced himself to speak.

“Senior Youming will be here very soon. You cannot kill me. If the demonic path overlords start a war inside Eastern Extreme Capital, the ones who laugh last will definitely not be us… do not forget that the people from Nether Mountain Sect are also here.”

In other words, when two tigers fight, both will suffer. The only outcome would be mutual loss. It would have been better not to fight from the beginning. They had clearly maintained this tacit understanding all along.

He still could not understand why they had suddenly made a move.

Scorching Sun Old Demon clearly had no intention of explaining.

He raised his right hand and made a grasping motion toward the sky. Above the Green Bamboo Formation, a blood sun suddenly appeared. The bloody setting sun matched the old demon’s age, already at dusk.

Yet the power it displayed was simply terrifying.

If not for the formation’s seal, the moment this blood sun descended, the entire Eastern Extreme Capital would have been affected. Its killing range would even surpass Wang Yu’s Moon Falling Eye technique.

It was truly unbelievable.

“So this is the strength of great perfection… it seems I am still very, very far away.”

After silently reminding himself, Wang Yu watched Cold Bone’s powerless struggle. This person’s strength was still inferior to his own. A dignified peak early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was crushed like an ant by Scorching Sun Old Demon.

Killed with ease.

No matter how powerful Cold Bone’s bone-path divine abilities were, they were all ground into powder by the falling blood sun. The remaining blood and flesh essence was casually tossed to Wang Yu.

“I heard you also raise corpses. This thing is a great tonic, so I’ll give it to you.”

“Thank you, Ancestor Liezu.”

“Hahaha, this is only the first. There will be many more.”

The mood that Wang Yu had disrupted earlier finally recovered somewhat in the face of gains. Giving him the leftovers was neither particularly generous nor stingy.

As for Cold Bone’s Nascent Soul and storage ring, they were naturally taken by Scorching Sun Old Demon.

A moment later.

Seeing that Wang Yu still seemed to be savoring the divine ability from earlier, Scorching Sun Old Demon smiled.

“This is the Blood Sun World-Destroying Art. Only cultivators with pure yang spiritual roots can practice it. I obtained it from the ruins of the Blood Sun Sect at the end of the ancient era. It is also my signature divine ability. What do you think?”

It was excellent. Far too excellent!

If he had not seen wrong, that blood sun also possessed a spatial-locking effect. With such a large range, unless he used the extreme speed of the Aurora Escape Technique, even Wang Yu would have had no confidence in escaping.

The importance of escape speed had once again been proven.

“Ancestor Liezu is too modest. If even this divine ability is not good enough, then there are no powerful divine abilities left in the world.”

After a small bit of flattery, Scorching Sun Old Demon’s mood improved further.

They continued waiting in ambush for the Yellow Springs cultivators.

Unfortunately, although Master Youming’s arrangements could not allow them to launch a counter-kill, they had still resolved this crisis.

As long as no one came out, or those who failed to climb stayed on the first floor without exiting, once enough people gathered, even an array trap would be torn apart by their combined strength.

Once the formation failed, the ambush would lose all meaning.

It would become no different from a straightforward slaughter. This caused Scorching Sun Old Demon’s previously smiling face to darken again in no time.

Wang Yu could not help at all from the side.

He rubbed his chin, and a sudden idea came to him. He quietly activated the stealth technique he had not used in a long time and crept toward the Celestial Star Stone Stele.

With one hand holding the token and the other touching the stele, he secretly tried to communicate with the tower spirit. His request was simple: directly eject any cultivator who failed the climb out of the Celestial Star Tower, as long as the teleportation point was not on the first floor.

That way, the hidden Green Bamboo Formation would be able to play its proper role.

This request was both reasonable and unreasonable.

It all depended on the tower spirit’s own judgment.

Then, something that surprised Wang Yu happened.

【Alternate Valiant Cavalry General’s application to reduce the complete experience of tower-climbing cultivators violates the immortal dynasty’s etiquette. Treatment shall be reduced and the offender shall be confined in the Reflection Hall for thirty years…】

【Requesting judgment from the Celestial Star Venerable—】

【Requesting judgment from the Pagoda Envoy—】

【Requesting judgment from the Void Spirit King—】

【No response to judgment. Alternate Valiant Cavalry General’s reasonable application approved.】

Wang Yu: “…”

Reasonable. Far too reasonable.

The Celestial Star Tower spirit was similar to a mechanical mind. It had no real emotions or personality. This was also one of the reasons it had existed for countless years.

The authority of his token was actually not great. It could only let him enter the imperial palace for a stroll. He could not open any random palace or barge in freely with the token.

But in this era, countless years after the immortal dynasty’s fall, the benefits still showed themselves.