Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 487

A five-colored deer phantom, vast as heaven and earth, looked down from above at Ice River Pass. The five-colored divine light radiating from its sky-supporting antlers caused almost everything it touched to vanish or collapse.

The cultivators of Ice River Pass fell from the sky like dumplings dropped into water, plummeting one after another. Each wore a peaceful smile as they sank into slumber directly amid the ice and snow.

This five-colored divine light was not the famous Kong Xuan divine ability from primordial myths. Its full name was [Five Colors Five Virtues Peaceful Heart-Calming Divine Light]!

It was originally a divine ability meant to aid cultivation.

Yet now it produced the effect of forced slumber. Clearly, the Five Colors Holy Lord had brought his mastery of this technique to a pinnacle level.

The grandeur of the scene was enough to leave anyone speechless.

Only Nascent Soul cultivators could resist this overwhelming drowsiness. Those who had not yet managed to retreat immediately cried out in alarm.

“It’s the Northern Demon Holy Lord!”

“The Northern Demon Holy Lord has allied with the demonic path! This is terrible!”

With a major crisis unfolding and the commander nowhere to be seen, the blow to morale was as devastating as sinking the ship itself. The battle at Ice River Pass could no longer be sustained.

The demonic cultivators, for their part, fought with renewed ferocity. They charged toward the thousand-zhang ice wall with wild laughter.

The Nascent Souls of the Nether Mountain Sect finally understood.

So the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect had secretly reached an agreement with the Northern Demon Race. With such powerful reinforcements, capturing Ice River Pass was no longer an issue.

The order for them to launch a full assault was flawless.

After High Priest Youpeng had pierced through the final layer of pretense, his performance became godlike. With no Red Cloud Ancestor of equal strength to stop him, his power when merged with his life-bound yin beast, the Nether Dark Azure Peng, was utterly terrifying.

From the moment the Five Colors Holy Lord descended until the protective spiritual formation of Ice River Pass was completely shattered and the no-flight restriction vanished, cultivators were no longer limited in their flight altitude.

The environmental advantage was no longer so pronounced. Even Foundation Establishment cultivators could now circle far around the incoming ice storms from North Ridge and descend directly into the interior of Ice River Pass from high above.

Once the defensive line collapsed, the Nascent Soul experts from the Azure Cloud Sect and Blazing Flame Sect were the first to be targeted by the ravenous demonic cultivators. High Priest Youpeng spread his wings and soared.

In an instant he swept past countless people and blocked the retreat path of Daoist Golden Flame. His subordinate, the first general Flood Dragon Yin Demon Lord, was already relentlessly pursuing him.

With High Priest Youpeng now free to act, his impact was astonishing. Of the twenty-plus Nascent Soul experts present today, only a handful would escape.

The outcome of the battle here was already decided.

At the same time.

At Kuangmei Mountain.

After Wang Yu displayed his divine might and killed the leader of the Northern Suppression Tower group, the enemy’s will to fight collapsed. No one could restrain the Ice Soul Fairy anymore.

The imbalance in high-end combat power was fatal for cultivators. Anyone could fall if targeted by the Ice Soul Fairy.

What had been a fierce siege quickly turned into a great escape.

Blueheart Elder swiftly issued orders.

“All Cold Blood Peak cultivators, hear my command! Immediately seize the cloud route, board the war spirit ships, cross the astral wind layer, and descend upon Ice River Pass to provide reinforcements!”

According to the original plan, Kuangmei Mountain should have been dealt with first. Then, coordinating with the Northern Demon Race experts, they would have pincer-attacked from both sides. Combined with the convenience of Kuangmei Mountain’s Cloud route, a three-sided assault would have rendered even Red Cloud Ancestor’s presence at Ice River Pass useless.

But now there was no need for a three-sided attack. After discovering the danger of possible death, Red Cloud Ancestor had simply run away. This absurd result was both within reason and completely unexpected.

While pursuing the Northern Suppression Tower cultivators.

Wang Yu carried a hidden anger in his heart. He had locked onto the opponent previously handled by the Shadow Hound King — a late-stage Nascent Soul old woman cultivator.

Though she appeared hunched and slow, her escape speed was not slow at all.

Unfortunately, the Aurora Escape Technique at full speed could not be caught even by Spirit Transformation cultivators. This left the old-woman-like cultivator extremely frustrated. After dragging the chase out of the Kuangmei Mountain region and realizing she could not shake Wang Yu no matter what, she finally resolved to fight him.

“This old body wants to see just what capital you have to chase me so relentlessly. I refuse to believe you can unleash an attack of that scale again in such a short time!”

Wang Yu sneered coldly in response.

“A young man’s stamina is indeed much better than an old thing like you. This lord is actually afraid you won’t be able to endure it.”

She was referring to the Guanghan Twelve Phases. This was Wang Yu’s life-bound divine ability, one that grew alongside his realm. Once it reached a certain level, it required comprehension.

It needed his insight to add bricks and tiles to the technique.

Because of this connection, the burden of using it was extremely low. Even when performed through the Zhoutian Star Arrow Condensation Art, he could continue until his demonic essence ran dry.

The benefits of a powerful physical body were precisely reflected in such details.

A durable body truly provided a significant advantage.

In the next instant.

The old woman summoned her life-bound magic treasure, a basket-shaped artifact filled with ice-blue flowers. Each bloom was part of her life-bound treasure.

Deep within the Endless Ice Plains grew a rare flower called the [Ice Heart Three Lives Flower]!

Legend said it could freeze the body and soul, halting the passage of lifespan until the flower itself naturally withered. It was a heaven-born self-sealing treasure.

Unfortunately, it had gone extinct in ancient times. The ice-blue flowers filling the old woman’s basket-shaped treasure were imitations of that legendary bloom.

They possessed a fraction of similar power.

The flower basket spun rapidly. Countless ice-blue petals, guided by her mana, transformed into long dragons of petals, gorgeous and elegant.

Unfortunately, the one wielding them was a nauseating old hag.

It greatly diminished any fantasy of a flower immortal. Facing the sudden assault, Wang Yu had a flash of inspiration and summoned his Gu Dao Ice Bell treasure!

Led by the Iceflame Empress Butterfly, thousands upon thousands of Iceflame Butterflies poured out like a broken dam. This rare insect was also something Wang Yu had captured from the Endless Ice Plains.

In theory, they should not have posed a threat to a late-stage Nascent Soul. Yet in practice, the Iceflame Butterflies seemed to be the natural counter to the flower-basket treasure.

The extreme cold power that froze flesh and soul was something the Iceflame Butterflies had high resistance to. The extreme cold expressed in the form of flames completely countered the petals’ power.

Thus.

The long dragons of petals manifested from mana were quickly ignited by the ice flames, one after another. They were burned to ashes with almost no resistance.

The sight made Wang Yu’s eyes light up. He simply added fuel to the fire by releasing the Ice Chi Pill Flame from his body. The two types of ice flames merged, catalyzed by his frozen demonic essence.

The old woman’s expression looked as if she had eaten shit.

Her face was full of disbelief.

“How is this possible… Iceflame Butterflies? Weren’t these heaven-and-earth rare Gu supposed to have gone extinct long ago? This old one searched the entire Endless Ice Plains and found none, yet you…”

This was simply a matter of personal fortune.. or, as some would say, destiny.

Many heaven-gifted prides encountered endless opportunities in their youth. They defeated strong enemy after strong enemy, clearing every obstacle on their path and advancing triumphantly on the road of cultivation.

By middle age or old age, when cultivation hit a bottleneck, opportunities seemed to die off completely. They never appeared again. This invisible luck only favored those in the prime of their lives.

In feng shui, deeper study of formations also touched upon the concept of fate and destiny. However, the Earth Mother Scripture did not cover this aspect, and Wang Yu’s knowledge of it was limited.

With less than three hundred years of cultivation experience, much of what he knew came from ancient texts. The only time he had truly encountered an opponent countered by heaven was this old woman.

It could only be said that the timing and fate had aligned perfectly.

Her life-bound magic treasure was almost completely suppressed. Left with no choice, the old woman could only attempt to break the deadlock using the Northern Suppression Tower divine ability.

Wang Yu deliberately paused for a moment, waiting for her to make the first move.

This was also an opportunity to observe the Ice Race’s divine abilities. According to the leader he had killed earlier, the Northern Suppression Tower was not merely the Ice Race’s black glove for capturing human females. It was also deeply connected to the Ice Race’s inheritance of the Ice Frost Dao. The two were far more inseparable than expected. The Gatekeeper Tribe’s actions had created far too many hidden dangers.

No one had noticed it along the way.

It was probably a case of dogs meeting shit, they hit it off instantly. But there was no luck in racial wars. The Ice Race was destined to become an enemy in the future.

If he could gather some intelligence in advance, he would not be completely blind when they truly clashed.

“Ice God’s Eye!”

The old woman let out a low shout. A massive ice pupil immediately appeared behind her. In its enlarged form it exerted a terrifying oppressive force. The strange ice-crystal vertical pupil stared fixedly at Wang Yu.

A mental attack?

Familiar with this kind of power, Wang Yu instantly identified its true nature. The Asura Killing Heart in his mind lake space began to throb violently.

Killing intent seeped out, forming blood-colored ripples that seemed to pierce through the mind lake space and dye the real world a bloody red.

The mental illusion of mountains of corpses and seas of blood quietly replaced the effect of the Ice God’s Eye. The old woman reacted a beat too slow. In the blink of an eye the world had completely changed, filling her heart with horror.

She muttered: “A flawless mind… How can anyone in this age still cultivate mind dao techniques… Body, divine sense, demonic dao, heart dao.

“Less than three hundred years old, yet he has reached such heights. This is impossible… What kind of monster are you?!!”

If they had continued comparing divine ability power normally, she could have fought Wang Yu evenly. Extracting the information he wanted would have required considerable effort.

But the moment she ran straight into Wang Yu’s force domain, things became much simpler.

In an instant.

Wang Yu transformed into an eight-armed Asura. His upper body enlarged infinitely within the mind lake space. The old woman was like a lone boat in a storm.

The surrounding environment of lightning, thunder, raging winds, and pouring rain pressed down on her with boundless force. The Ice God’s Eye collapsed rapidly, and her mental will teetered on the brink.

As the Asura’s malicious, enormous face drew closer.

Her entire mind shattered. In the real world, she suddenly fainted without any warning.

Wang Yu flew over, sealed her with the ice coffin technique, and sent her to the bottom level of the Glazed Pagoda for suppression. As for searching her Niwan Palace to seize her memories, that would require further preparation.

After all, she was a great cultivator-level divine sense. Soul searching was extremely difficult, and he had to be careful not to touch any hidden secrets or inheritances. He could only extract the information he needed from the past scenes in her memories.

With that, the battle at Ice River Pass came to an end.

Wang Yu contacted the True Word King and prepared to visit the Vajra Ape Race as a guest for a while. He knew the Five Colors Holy Lord’s ambitions, using this as a pretext, went far beyond this.

Now that Ice River Pass was in their grasp, there was an eighty percent chance they would next attack the Azure Cloud Sect’s mountain gate at the Color Cloud Mountain Range. That was the essence of Azure Cloud’s four prefectures.

It gathered the highest-grade spiritual veins of all four prefectures. The mountain range was vast and beautiful, rich in all kinds of resources, and highly suitable for the demon race to inhabit.

If the Northern Demon Race wanted to step out of the Severed Boundary Mountain Range, they first needed their own territory. No one knew what would happen now that the Five Colors Holy Lord had set his sights on the Azure Cloud Sect’s mountain gate.

The core factor here still depended on the Sword Sect!

If they were willing to help, the Azure Cloud Sect could survive. If not, the Azure Cloud Sect’s fate would be grim.

Therefore.

Wang Yu had no intention of continuing to participate. Attacking Kuangmei Mountain had already fulfilled Crimson Heaven Demon Venerable’s conditions.

Now that Ice River Pass had fallen, according to the agreement the other party would announce to the world that their grudge with him was written off. Whether the promise was genuine or not did not actually matter.

He knew the truth in his heart.

If the chance arose, Crimson Heaven would definitely try to kill him. But this attitude would help him continue operating in the Crimson Kite without being expelled from the “demonic register” — an utterly ridiculous outcome.

His own matters could wait.

…

…

Color Cloud Mountain Range, Azure Cloud Sect’s mountain gate.

The once lush, vibrant green mountain forests were now covered in the fires of war. Spiritual light from divine abilities exploded everywhere, mixed with screams of agony. How tragic it was.

The current situation could not even be adequately described as “beacons of war everywhere.”

In the sky, the bird-type demon race held an overwhelming advantage. Their innate aerial combat ability was far more flexible and experienced than most cultivators. In realms below Nascent Soul and above Qi Refining, the demon race usually held the upper hand.

Moreover, the Azure Cloud Sect’s territory was vast, and many cultivators had been transferred south to deal with the invasion. The forces stationed at Ice River Pass had already been routed and had not yet regrouped at the mountain gate.

It could be said that the sect had reached an unprecedented state of extreme weakness. Aside from the six Supreme Elders of the various peaks, there was almost no extra strength left.

Inside the council hall.

The atmosphere was even heavier than when Wang Yu had ambushed the Azure Cloud Sect’s support team. This time it was a true catastrophe. No one could escape!

Yellow Cloud Ancestor was inwardly extremely anxious, but as the sect’s pillar, he could not show any panic. Otherwise there would truly be no hope left.

He could only pretend to be calm as he analyzed the situation.

“Red Cloud still has not sent any news. Since the Northern Demon Race has joined the battle, the situation at Ice River Pass is dire. We now have only two choices.

“First, defend the mountain gate to the death and use a secret transmission technique to request help from the Sword Sect. Only a Spirit Transformation Venerable personally arriving would have the power to repel the Northern Demon Race’s invasion.

“Releasing the sect’s foundational reserves should be enough to hold out until the Venerable arrives.

“Second, abandon our ancestral foundation and have the entire sect retreat temporarily to the Sword Sect’s territory in Taihu. Based on past experience from the righteous-demonic wars, the demonic path will ultimately be driven back by the Sword Sect. We can then reclaim this foundation.”

But there was one thing Yellow Cloud Ancestor did not say out loud, though everyone present understood it clearly: the spiritual veins!

Spiritual veins were the foundation of cultivation. If the demonic cultivators truly occupied the Color Cloud Mountain Range, the spiritual veins of all four prefectures gathered underground would be seized by feng shui earth masters.

Reclaiming them would require massive territorial concessions and compensation.

The other side might not even agree.

Competition in Taihu was already fierce. After this ordeal, without spiritual veins the land would be useless. The Azure Cloud Sect would inevitably decline, and its final fate would be extermination.

It would simply be a gentler method.

There was no essential difference.

“Impossible!”

Author:- This volume has somewhat deviated from the outline toward the end. Originally the Holy Lord Heavenly Palace was supposed to be the finale of this volume, but after thinking it over I decided to expand it and add another thirty chapters. I will place the Heavenly Palace secret realm in the next volume, the Ascension Volume. The righteous-demonic war cannot end in the short term. Later it will involve Ancient Demon disputes, outer realm overseers, and more. I need time to reorganize everything.