Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 474

At the same time.

Below the midpoint of Kuangmei Mountain, on the side facing the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain, a platform protruded from the mountainside. After repairs, the Crimson Kite demonic cultivators’ main camp had been established here.

The offensive and defensive battle at Ice River Pass was jointly handled by Cold Blood Peak of the Blood Reversal Sect and the Nether Mountain Sect. The latter had deployed a large number of Nascent Soul main forces to oversee the battlefield, and the command authority was also in their hands.

After all, following the Eastern Extreme Capital incident, the internal war among the demonic path had officially ended.

With the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect entering the fray.

The main forces of Yellow Springs Monastery had been sent to the Black Mountain Pass battlefield as the vanguard. The Blood Reversal Sect had done the same. If not for the fact that Cold Blood Peak cultivators were better suited to fighting in icy and snowy environments, they would not have come here at all.

Ice River Pass would be the battlefield belonging to the Nether Mountain Sect faction.

It was only natural for the command authority to fall into their hands. Meanwhile, Cold Blood Peak had a limited number of Nascent Souls. With the Cold Blood Mountain Lord stationed at the sect.

Elder Blue Heart and Ice Soul Fairy.

These two late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivators formed part of the main force. Together with the mid-stage Nascent Soul Heavenly Frost Demon Lord and a large number of Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators from the four great families of Cold Blood Peak.

This force exceeded three thousand in scale and was already a formidable power. It also served as a main army on the Ice River Pass battlefield.

In cultivator wars, what mattered was the depth of powerhouse foundations and the strength of war treasures.

In this regard, the demonic path’s war spirit ships were not inferior to those of the righteous path. The two sides were evenly matched, which was why a stalemate had persisted for so long.

Using the Return-to-the-Void Concealing Heaven Incantation, Wang Yu smoothly passed through the Blazing Sun Sect’s encampment and directly blended into the Crimson Kite camp.

Considering that the Nether Mountain Sect held a personal grudge against him, Wang Yu chose to appear in Ice Soul Fairy’s tent. She belonged to the Zuoqiu Clan and had the additional connection of dual-cultivating the same technique with him.

Although the two had not interacted much, basic trust still existed. Moreover, Wang Yu was here to help.

Ice Soul Fairy’s tent was quite spacious.

Every aspect of the conditions had been maximized. Even this encampment had multiple fourth-rank spirit veins temporarily drawn in by earth formation masters for the daily cultivation and recovery of the numerous Nascent Soul experts.

Passing through layer after layer of sentries, Wang Yu walked straight into the tent.

Ice Soul Fairy was sitting cross-legged on her bed. Her veil had been removed, revealing a face with elegant brows and white teeth, as pure and refined as a lotus on a distant mountain.

Her face was indeed very beautiful. Otherwise she would not have earned the title of “Fairy.” But in truth, her status as a great cultivator was even more attractive.

Excluding a few oddballs, men’s desire to conquer was innate.

Wang Yu leisurely appreciated the sight for several breaths before lightly coughing to announce his presence.

Ice Soul Fairy abruptly opened her eyes. Her sharp gaze swept over, and upon seeing Wang Yu’s handsome face, she quickly calmed down. Then she spoke with some surprise:

“What secret art is this? It actually managed to evade my perception…”

Wang Yu pretended not to hear and went straight to the point.

“Does Fairy have confidence in capturing this natural moat of Kuangmei Mountain?”

Ice Soul Fairy frowned slightly.

“It seems you have made another breakthrough in this short time. Your aptitude is truly terrifying. No wonder you were able to toy with a venerable in the palm of your hand.”

“Fairy flatters me. I merely borrowed the power of the Yellow Springs Monastery Lord to put up some resistance. The path of cultivation is arduous, and all living beings are struggling to cross it. How could I be an exception?”

“You say that, yet you rose from wasted spiritual roots. The Mysterious Origin Demonic Embryo is indeed profound and unpredictable. Did Nine Evil also die at your hands?”

Wang Yu continued to dodge the question.

“There is no need to speak of past matters. Let us talk about Kuangmei Mountain and Ice River Pass instead. I have not betrayed the sect. I am still one of Cold Blood Peak’s Nascent Soul ancestors.”

Hearing this, Ice Soul Fairy suddenly understood.

“I almost forgot. You also hold the title of Profound Pill. It seems you intend to use blood-path spirit pills to rapidly increase your cultivation. That path is not easy. You will make countless enemies.”

“There is no need for Fairy to worry about that. Instead, please give me the list of Nascent Souls from the Blazing Sun Sect and Azure Cloud Sect, as well as the Nether Mountain Sect’s latest strategic deployment.”

After a moment of silence, Ice Soul Fairy said:

“In theory I should not give it to you, but since you truly are a Nascent Soul ancestor of Cold Blood Peak, I will provide you with a copy.”

After receiving the divine sense jade slip, Wang Yu had already achieved most of his goal. He continued asking:

“Is there a detailed terrain map showing the locations of the fourth-rank spirit veins on Kuangmei Mountain?”

“There naturally is one, but Taihu also has copies. If you hide among them, it will be very easy to fall into a trap.”

“No problem.”

Wang Yu cultivated the Earth Mother Scripture. Although he focused more on feng shui mystical arts, he could still be considered half an earth formation master. Capturing spirit veins was also one of his specialties. He simply had not cultivated the profound mysteries of Array Formations.

Formation masters were divided into three lineages: Heaven, Earth, and Human.

Human formation masters were the weakest. They understood neither feng shui nor celestial phenomena and were at the bottom of formation master inheritance. Earth formation masters integrated the mystical arts of feng shui earth masters. Surveying terrain and capturing veins was part of their core duties.

Heaven formation masters, building on that foundation, possessed the ability to set up celestial phenomenon grand formation. If they could combine the wonders of heaven and earth, they could derive the peak power of the Ice Prison Realm. Their numbers were extremely few.

Finding spirit veins was preparation for Snowjade’s breakthrough. Kuangmei Mountain was vast. As long as he avoided some battle nodes, borrowing a few spirit veins would not be difficult.

Once he triggered the lightning tribulation, no one could stop the breakthrough.

Having achieved both goals, Wang Yu immediately examined the information in the divine sense jade slip. Soon his brows furrowed.

“The Nether Mountain Sect is slacking off?”

Ice Soul Fairy nodded.

“More than twenty years ago, Elder Blue Heart and I cooperated with the Heaven Formation Master Xu Yao to activate the [Heavenly Cold Earth Freeze Soul-Shaking Grand Formation] and trigger the Falling Snow celestial phenomenon. Our original plan was to use the cold current disaster to tie down Azure Cloud Sect’s main forces.

“At the same time, we would attack Ice River Pass and Kuangmei Mountain together to settle everything in one go. Unfortunately, the Vice Sect Master of the Nether Mountain Sect, High Priest Youpeng — strongly advocated a war of attrition.

“The opportunity was thus wasted. After the Blazing Sun Sect used the [Fire Crow Blazing Flame Grand Formation] to offset the cold current’s impact, the war fell into a long stalemate.

“Up to today, only two early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators have fallen — one righteous, one demonic. The results have been meager.”

Ice Soul Fairy explained it very clearly. High Priest Youpeng’s goal was not hard to guess.

Their cooperation with Yellow Springs Monastery had already fallen through due to the losses in Eastern Extreme Capital.

But Yellow Springs Monastery and the Nether Mountain Sect shared a border.

As long as Yellow Springs Monastery consumed too many high-end combatants, once the righteous-demonic war ended, the Nether Mountain Sect could naturally push northward and bite off a chunk of Yellow Springs Monastery’s territory.

Their sect’s territory was already located at the southeastern corner of the Crimson Kite.

Even if they gained vast new territory as war spoils, it would be extremely difficult to take over fragmented lands that were not connected. No matter how fertile those lands were, they held little value for the Nether Mountain Sect.

Looking back at history, regardless of who won the righteous-demonic war, the borders between the two sides had never changed. The Northern Severed Boundary Mountain Range had always served as the dividing line. Therefore, High Priest Youpeng’s thinking was practically an open book.

Whether they fought hard or slacked off, the end result would be roughly the same.

It was better to plan for the benefits after the war ended.

After thinking for just a moment, one could see through High Priest Youpeng’s little scheme completely. He did not even care if others guessed it.

As long as the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect kept its main focus on Black Mountain Pass.

Whether this place ended in victory, stalemate, or retreat made no difference, unless a Venerable personally descended to supervise the battle.

“A bit tricky…”

While Wang Yu pondered ways to break the deadlock, he browsed through the lists of powerhouses from the Blazing Sun Sect and Azure Cloud Sect, along with the numbers and strength composition of their forces.

Suddenly, an idea struck him.

The Nether Mountain Sect had no real need to break through Ice River Pass. They were purely responding to the call of the demonic path’s leader. However, both Azure Cloud Sect and the Blazing Sun Sect absolutely wanted to achieve merits.

Especially after being hit by the cold current disaster — they had already lost face.

On top of that, Wang Yu had gone on a killing spree in Water Cloud Immortal Capital. As long as Azure Cloud Sect cared even slightly about face, they could not swallow the humiliation. They would definitely find a way to strike back.

Otherwise, the righteous sects’ most cherished reputation would be completely trampled into the mud.

After pondering for a long time.

Wang Yu believed the key still lay with Golden Flame Dao Lord and Yin Flood Dragon Demon Lord. High Priest Youpeng was the commander of the Crimson Kite camp and a great perfection Nascent Soul existence.

He would not easily enter the fray and would even try his best to avoid situations that required him to do so.

Yin Flood Dragon Demon Lord was the strongest expert under his command.

At peak eighth-layer Nascent Soul. Golden Flame Dao Lord was the Blazing Sun Sect powerhouse matched against him. Their strengths were roughly equal. Golden Flame definitely wanted to kill Yin Flood Dragon.

This “motivation” might be the breakthrough point.

The specific plan would still require careful consideration. Wang Yu handed Ice Soul Fairy a voice transmission jade talisman. It would be no problem for them to contact each other in the Kuangmei Mountain area.

He then activated the Return-to-the-Void Concealing Heaven Incantation and took his leave.

He remembered that the main activity area of the Moluo Horde was in the Northern Severed Boundary Mountain Range. Lei Yao might be able to help him.

Of course.

Directly asking her to help hunt Azure Cloud Sect Nascent Souls would definitely not work. However, if he revealed a vulnerability in the Crimson Kite’s defensive line, there might be room to maneuver.

The only downside was that this move would very likely cost him the friendship of this direct-line disciple of the Thunderfire Temple. Considering that Wang Yu had once served as a demon-slaying vanguard for a period of time.

The first deception would succeed with one hundred percent certainty.

After that, they would become enemies.

That was one option.

The second option was to contact the northern demon race and have them dispatch more Demon King-level experts to lure Azure Cloud Sect powerhouses deep into their territory.

During the previous cold current disaster, the Fire Crow King of the northern demon race had provided assistance. Therefore, they already had an alliance with Azure Cloud Sect. The possibility of further cooperation was not low.

His goal of hunting Nascent Souls could still be achieved.

It would simply require a much greater price, unlike deceiving Lei Yao, which would only cost him a friendship.

He still owed the Heavenly Roc King one favor, and each of the Shadow Hound King and True Word King one free pill-refining favor. He really did not owe a small amount of debt.

Owing a few more… seemed to make little difference?

His mind kept turning with thoughts.

Moments later.

At the outer perimeter of Kuangmei Mountain, Wang Yu smoothly reunited with Snowjade and Dou Zhao, who had been waiting there.

“Master, how did it go?”

“I’ve found the breakthrough location. There are still some issues with the hunting plan, but you don’t need to worry about that. Let’s focus on your transformation first.”

“Mhm~”

Snowjade was like a yes-man, agreeing to whatever Wang Yu said.

Dou Zhao, on the other hand, wanted to actively share his burdens. Seeing this, Wang Yu briefly explained the situation. She analyzed it seriously:

“Throughout history, the only way to lure the enemy deep is to show weakness and use battle achievements to tempt the enemy’s main force into venturing into dangerous territory. But in this war, Taihu is the defending side.

“For them, holding Ice River Pass is the fundamental goal. The significance of the Kuangmei Mountain battle is also to ultimately capture Ice River Pass.

“With the average age of Nascent Soul old monsters, pretending too obviously definitely won’t work. But if we go all out, there’s also the risk that they seize the opportunity and crush us in one battle.”

The balance was extremely delicate. That was why even though Wang Yu had two choices, he still felt quite troubled.

He truly wished his enemies were all idiots who could be fooled with simple tricks. Unfortunately, that was impossible. Unless it was an open plot or an information gap.

Otherwise, the number of people who could scheme against old monsters was pitifully small!

After a moment of silence, Dou Zhao suddenly said:

“Master, why not look at the bigger picture? There might be a breakthrough opportunity there.”

“The bigger picture?”

Wang Yu pondered silently. A flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind.

He blurted out:

“Water Cloud Prefecture… Water Cloud Immortal Capital?”

Looking at the overall situation, the stalemate at Ice River Pass and the stalemate between the Joyous Union Demon Sect and Thunderfire Temple were both ongoing.

Then there was the three-prefecture region that Black Mountain Pass was pushing into within the Taihu Spiritual Domain.

Because the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect was supervising the battle, along with the massive number of experts from the Blood Reversal Sect and Yellow Springs Monastery, those three prefectures had already been secured.

When Wang Yu left Water Cloud Immortal Capital, the City Lord and the Inspector were still considering how the Crimson Kite demonic cultivators would attack next. They were worried that Water Cloud Immortal Capital itself was a target.

They had therefore implemented many defensive measures, increasing border patrols, setting up hidden sentries, adding road checkpoints, and so on.

As long as the main forces on that side continued pushing northward.

Azure Cloud Sect, which would bear the brunt, would definitely panic. After all, they only controlled four prefectures in total. The fighting at Ice River Pass was fierce, and Zehu Prefecture had already been lost.

If Water Cloud Prefecture was taken as well, they would lose more than half their territory.

The longer sovereignty was lost, the greater the damage. Moreover, this war had the hidden purpose of consuming excess population. Many places were practically handed over to the demonic cultivators for slaughter.

Under the strategy of sustaining war through war, the demonic cultivators who obtained countless living beings and resources were actually growing stronger and stronger, especially the mid- and low-level cultivators, whose progress was extremely fast.

Azure Cloud Sect would also worry that the lost territory might never be recovered. The Seven Righteous Sects were not truly united internally either. There was plenty of infighting and scheming.

Just like the Nether Mountain Sect’s open plot — if another righteous sect pulled something similar on Azure Cloud Sect, and the territory could not be taken back after the war ended.

The losses would be devastating.

As for Wang Yu’s flash of inspiration.

—Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao![1]

Water Cloud Immortal Capital was rich and fertile land. After Wang Yu exterminated the Yuan Clan of the Red Cloud lineage, ownership would definitely be contested. At that time, if pressure was applied from the Black Mountain Pass side.

The Ice River Pass side would definitely become more conservative and might even pull experts southward to provide support. That force would be Wang Yu’s target and the best way to complete his hunting plan.

“My Zhao’er is truly clever.”

Wang Yu did not hold back his praise, causing Dou Zhao’s face to redden.

She stammered:

“Even without Zhao’er, Master would definitely have thought of a way after thinking a little longer.”

“That’s not necessarily true. What people fear most is getting stuck in a dead end.”

The master-disciple interaction made Snowjade twist uncomfortably.

In a coquettish voice she urged:

“Master, let’s go already! Metamorphosis, metamorphosis!”

“Alright.”

Because they needed to travel through many dangerous areas, Wang Yu once again used the human-seed bag magic treasure. It could temporarily hold Dou Zhao. Snowjade returned to the spirit pet bag to wait.

In truth, Snowjade’s breakthrough path no longer had any difficulties.

All obstacles had been cleared by Wang Yu.

She only needed to focus on breaking through in peace.

And so.

In merely half a year, a majestic heavenly might descended upon a wind-sheltered spot near the peak of Kuangmei Mountain, beside a small inward-curving spiritual spring. Demonic qi soared into the sky, and snow covered the ground everywhere.

[1]:- This is a famous Chinese idiom from the Warring States period. Meaning: Instead of confronting the enemy directly, you attack something they must defend, forcing them to withdraw.