Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 467

Three years had passed, and he had gained entry-level mastery in both secret arts.

Especially the Thunder Fire Heavenly Pivot Secret Art. With the Black Demon Thunder and Ice Chi Pill Flame as his two peculiar spiritual materials, as long as Wang Yu refined them a second time and condensed a thunderfire seed in his Qi sea according to the secret art’s requirements, the technique would be complete. After all, it was just a burst-type secret art, with its power closely tied to the grades of those two spiritual materials. In the future, deriving it further could even make it usable up to the Spirit Transformation stage.

The Zhoutian Star Arrow Condensation Art was mainly meant to pair with the Guanghan Twelve Phases. There was no need to cultivate it too deeply; treating it as a supplementary secret art was sufficient.

Only the Return-to-the-Void Concealing Heaven Incantation was of notable grade.

It was also perfectly suited for his current stage. After three years of study combined with the Celestial Enlightenment Dao Platform, he had already reached entry level.

Meanwhile, the Demonic Flame entwining body state was also nearing its end under the constant erosion of the Prajna Heart Sutra. Once his injuries fully healed, Wang Yu could consume the various treasure pills and rapidly enhance his strength.

Calculating the time, he could start preparing.

To digest the fifth-rank treasure pills as quickly as possible, he had prepared a feng shui formation to aid refinement in advance. He had also set up a hidden outpost outside the city.

It was for pill refining. The pills he refined would likely draw moral condemnation in Taihu, so it was best to do it secretly.

The crisp voice like that of a hundred-spirit bird rang in Wang Yu’s ear once again.

“Hey, how come you’re lying down again.”

The newcomer was none other than Dou Zhao, the young lady of the Dou Clan of West Mountain. Ever since they had run into each other by chance in the marketplace three years ago, for some unknown reason this Miss Dou had become convinced that he was some kind of “reclusive expert.”

After his wine shop opened, she began stopping by even more frequently.

Taking the opportunity while buying wine to chat with him for a few moments, and over time, their relationship gradually developed into what it was now.

The kind of friendship which hadn’t quite ripened yet~

Wang Yu had a fairly high tolerance for this impish little sprite who knew no boundaries. Of course, people were always biased; if it were an ugly fool spewing filth, he’d blow the suona right then and there.

Facing her question, Wang Yu raised an eyebrow and glanced at her.

“I’m not feeling well. What’s wrong with getting some sun?”

“You look pretty sturdy to me.”

“This is just superficial.”

To be fair, the effects of the demonic flame had not fully dissipated. Conservatively, it would take several months to half a year to ensure a complete return to peak condition.

He lay there appearing to do nothing, but in reality his mind was immersed within his body, meticulously regulating everything inside with his divine sense to ensure no mishaps occurred during the demonic flame body refinement process.

Dou Zhao pouted but didn’t press further. Instead, she put on a serious face.

“After today, I won’t be able to come as often.”

“Whether you come or not makes no difference.”

“Hey~”

She broke character in a second. Dou Zhao huffed in annoyance.

“You’re impossible. Actually, I’ve always had a question I wanted to ask you.”

“Ask.”

“Have you ever met a mysterious old grandpa who just happened to give you something, like a jade pendant, a token, a talisman… something like that?”

Hearing this, Wang Yu finally understood why Dou Zhao kept pestering him. Though he was handsome, his appearance back then skinny as a bamboo pole, had been like a dying man.

It shouldn’t have sparked any interaction.

Over these years, his physique had gradually recovered, perhaps adding a touch of vitality, but not much. Just a little.

What drove her more was curiosity.

As for the items Dou Zhao mentioned, Wang Yu immediately realized what she meant: the token from Yin Gui! According to him, it allowed entry to the West Mountain Dou Clan’s ancestral grave forbidden area.

Dou Zhao might have some bloodline resonance with that token. After all, the Seaheart Ring was just a storage space, not some world-isolated realm.

After a moment of thought, Wang Yu flipped his hand and took out the token.

“Is this it?”

“That’s the one!”

Dou Zhao’s eyes lit up. Back then, when she had treated Wang Yu to a meal, it wasn’t entirely out of kindness. The words she hadn’t said during her argument with the two martial maids were exactly this: she had sensed it through her bloodline.

This young lady was only in her late teens, yet she already possessed eighth-layer Qi Refining cultivation. Her talent must be quite outstanding. Since this token involved the Dou Clan’s bloodline, her ability to sense it also revealed something.

While Wang Yu was pondering this.

Dou Zhao said somewhat embarrassedly, “Boss Wang, could you sell me this token? Name your price.”

“Not for sale.”

“No matter how much?”

“Mhm.”

Dou Zhao hesitated for a moment but ultimately set the token down.

“Then could you at least tell Dou Zhao how you obtained it? And don’t say it was a gift from some mysterious old grandpa!”

Wang Yu choked slightly. He had indeed planned to respond with her earlier words, but she had anticipated it. This little girl was truly sharp as a tack.

After a moment of thought, he said,

“A gift from an old acquaintance. Does this answer satisfy you?”

“—Impossible!”

“Why impossible?”

Dou Zhao’s pretty brows furrowed into a knot. She stammered, “Anyway, this Blood Token is from eight hundred years ago. It’s a personal item belonging to one of my Dou Clan’s ancestral figures. How could it be a gift from an old friend? Then you…”

Eight hundred years ago?

Wang Yu calculated in his mind. To cross the Black Mountain Demonic Lands without a safe route map, one would need at least Foundation Establishment cultivation.

And Yin Gui had only fled from Taihu to the Crimson Kite at peak Foundation Establishment.

Now, he was over a thousand years old. That talent was still quite impressive. As for this Dou Zhao, Wang Yu suspected she might be a bloodline descendant of Yin Gui’s line.

The generational gap… He might accidentally become this little girl’s grand-uncle?

These thoughts flashed through Wang Yu’s mind in an instant. In reality, Dou Zhao was murmuring to herself, her eyes growing wider and wider until she fell completely silent.

Wang Yu couldn’t help but chuckle. Teasing the little girl was indeed amusing.

Compared to her age of eighteen or nineteen not even twenty yet, a prodigy like Wang Yu, who rarely emerged in the cultivation world, could indeed be considered an old fogey.

“So, what about me?”

Dou Zhao paused for a moment, then said in a daze, “Then aren’t you some thousand-year-old monster?!?”

“Hm, not quite that old. By my count, this lord is only about 207 or 208. I can’t recall the exact number. By seniority, you should call me Grand-Uncle.”

The sudden revelation left Dou Zhao somewhat unable to accept it.

But what she felt more was doubt. For example, how could a cultivator in his early two hundreds have a close friendship with a thousand-year-old ancestor? And from the looks of it, a deep one at that.

It was a bit too fantastical.

If she knew Yin Gui called him Brother Wang, she would probably be even more incredulous. There was no need to elaborate on that point. The shock he had given the little girl this time was already plenty.

At this moment, the two martial maids walked out carrying the packaged wine.

“Miss, we’ve bought everything. Let’s go.”

“Oh…”

Dou Zhao left in a daze, lost in thought about who-knows-what.

Wang Yu, bored out of his mind, had just been making casual conversation.

Several months later.

…

…

Early winter.

The season of falling snow arrived in an instant. Pedestrians breathed out white puffs of air, hunching their necks and rubbing their hands as they hurried into the wine shop.

They shouted loudly.

“Ninth Bro, bring a pot of fire grass wine—the strongest kind.”

Called “Wine Brother” too often, it had become Ninth Bro, Old Ninth, or Boss Ninth.

Wang Yu didn’t mind the title. He called to the shop assistant: “Go fetch the wine. Give Third Brother an extra half-jin.”

“Alright, got it.”

He then turned to the customer.

“Third Brother, this winter’s colder than last year’s.”

“Isn’t it just?”

Having gotten an extra half-jin of good wine for free, Third Brother’s smile became much more genuine. His small eyes darted left and right, as if sharing some top-secret intel, before he whispered:

“Heard about it? Ever since those Crimson Kite demons re-invaded Lingxi Prefecture two years ago, there’s been fighting at Ice River Pass too. They say it’s cultivators from Cold Blood Peak manipulating the weather.

“We’re in the affected area here. The slums are bound to freeze a bunch of folks to death.”

Though he was just a mortal, living in a place like Water Cloud Immortal Capital meant even a well-off family could brush up against cultivation world matters.

This was different from remote backwaters like Stone Lake City, where an entire city might have only a couple dozen Qi Refining cultivators. As the capital of a prefecture, guarded by Nascent Souls.

Access to cultivation news was simple. A relative might be a Qi Refining cultivator working for some family, and with ears perked up, one could hear plenty.

Wang Yu, on the other hand, simply avoided contact with Taihu cultivators.

His information was quite closed off.

After all, with his body full of pure demonic essence, exposure would definitely bring trouble to his door. Listening to these “little informants” had its own unique flavor.

Some major events couldn’t be concealed.

Like how the Blood Reversal Sect and Yellow Springs Monastery led the charge, breaking straight into the Taihu Spiritual Domain from Black Mountain Pass.

Tianling Prefecture at the northernmost edge of Thunderfire Temple, Lingxi Prefecture at the easternmost of Sword Sect, and Zelu Prefecture at the southernmost of Azure Cloud Sect.

These three prefectures were the frontlines of the demonic invasion.

Now it was a complete mess, like a pot of porridge. The Joyous Union Demon Sect was clashing head-on with Thunderfire Temple’s main force, constantly assaulting around the “[Desire] Demon Sealed Ground” in Black Mountain Demon Lands.

It showed their unyielding obsession with releasing the ancient Demons. To that end, reinforcements from Crane Return Valley in the Taihu inland had been dispatched to assist.

After all, the Black Mountain battlefield was too close to the three prefectures. It was easy for them to link up and form a major strategic push. They had to guard against it.

This was what had happened in the last two years.

The war’s intensity had gradually escalated, with casualty rates soaring. The Ice River Pass conflict had intensified this year, with Nether Mountain Sect, some Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect disciples, and Cold Blood Peak Nascent Souls leading the assault.

Azure Cloud Sect and Blazing Sun Sect were on defense, and the fighting was fierce.

Now they were even resorting to weather tactics.

Wang Yu could even guess this was likely the handiwork of Ice Soul Fairy or Old Man Blueheart. Taihu prided itself on righteousness and purity, but with temperatures dropping steadily, countless mortals would freeze to death.

The righteous sects had to intervene, and with Taihu’s population.

If they intervened thoroughly, it would tie up massive amounts of manpower. This was a blatant open scheme.

To deal with these “gentlemen” on their moral high ground, the demonic cultivators had plenty of ways. The previous direct assaults had just been testing the waters.

To see if their old rivals, after years of peaceful recuperation, had grown weak. Finding their strength still high, they naturally turned to these conspiracies and tricks.

After chatting idly with Third Brother for a while.

Wang Yu felt a twinge of emotion, but joining the war was impossible. His injury recovery was just a few days from completion. He still needed a lot of time to digest the resources he’d accumulated over the years.

He was far from ready to go out and stir things up again.

After seeing off a few more waves of customers, the sky had already begun to darken.

Wang Yu instructed:

“That’s enough for today. Head home early. Looks like it’ll snow again tonight.”

“Alright, Ninth Bro.”

“Um… Boss, could you advance this month’s wages? We’ve been burning a lot of coal these past few days.”

“Sure.”

Wang Yu agreed readily. He didn’t rely on this for a living anyway. Over the past three years, plenty on this street had come to him for loans.

Some had failed in business and sold their shops to him.

Others were just short on cash. Within his means, he helped where he could. This had earned him a great reputation; during holidays, he received no shortage of gifts.

It had given him a whole new perspective on life.

Once the assistants had left one after another, Wang Yu was about to close up and head home when he suddenly heard a timid, childish voice from beside him.

“Uncle, you… those things you left on the table, could you give them to Niannian?”

Wang Yu paused.

He spotted a little girl in ragged clothes squatting under the eaves. Her hair was messy, and she looked filthy. She was staring hungrily at the leftovers he hadn’t finished, swallowing hard.

Unless necessary, he rarely used divine sense to constantly scan his surroundings. After all, in Water Cloud Immortal Capital, other Nascent Souls might detect anomalies in his divine sense.

Since he was disguising himself as a mortal, Wang Yu handled many things personally, truly living like one. He had overlooked this for a moment.

He immediately squatted down and patted the little girl’s head.

“Those leftovers are cold. Eating them might upset your stomach. Uncle has other food here. Can you wait a bit longer?”

“Mhm, Niannian will wait right here. Thank you, Uncle.”

“No problem.”

Wang Yu hadn’t used his divine sense in a while. He quickly steamed some buns and egg custard, then sliced a small plate of sauced beef.

“Come inside and eat.”

As the little girl sat at the table and wolfed it down, Wang Yu watched with a faint appetite of his own and chuckled.

“Slow down. No one’s going to fight you for it.”

“Mmm…”

Once her initial ravenous hunger passed, Wang Yu asked: “Little sister, where are your family? How come you’re squatting alone in the corner?”

She suddenly realized, covering her face with her small hands.

“Mommy went to buy black rocks. She told me to wait here for a bit.”

Wang Yu: “…When was that?”

“When the sun came up.”

Her childish voice rang out, but Wang Yu felt something off.

Waiting since morning? No wonder she was starving!

He immediately sent his divine sense out in threads, surging toward the nearby coal shops. Passing a dark alley, his expression froze.

Moments later.

In the alley, Wang Yu stood before the corpse of a middle-aged woman. She had been dead for some time. There were no external wounds, nor signs of freezing to death.

Instead, her soul had completely dissipated, as if by a cultivator’s hand.

But how could a mere mortal buying coal possibly be killed by a cultivator?

That night, Wang Yu took the little girl in for the evening.

The next day, her father came looking. Amid his thanks, he returned her, then went out to inquire about the situation at the nearby coal shops from yesterday.

And sure enough, there was an issue.

The boss next door ran a three-story tea shop and was on good terms with Wang Yu, often drinking here.

Hearing him ask about yesterday’s events. The man’s words came pouring out.

“Brother Wang, you really shouldn’t say that. Yesterday, a batch of disciples from the Azure Cloud Sect delivered new charcoal. Your old brother here was standing on the third floor and saw everything clearly.

“There was a woman pushing through the crowd trying to buy the new charcoal. She accidentally bumped into one of the cultivators. That fellow immediately flew into a rage. Not only did she fail to buy any charcoal, she even offended the cultivator.

“What happened afterward, I don’t know. But in any case, that woman’s fate probably won’t be very good.”