Chapter 402

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Protagonist:

Yu Zhangsheng

"Empty your mind, do not resist, place a wisp of your true spirit upon it, do not harbor any other thoughts, otherwise under the backlash of the contract power, I cannot protect you either."

As two streaks of strange blood-gold runes flickered and merged into the foreheads of one man and one beast, Li Minghan gave a worried admonition, then completely immersed his mind, sensing the contract.

"Wuu wuu wuu!"

The Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon cried out, raised its head to glance at Yu Zhangsheng, then slowly closed its eyes; the blood-gold rune on its forehead shone in reflection, an intangible connection linking Li Minghan and it.

The Contract Scroll suddenly ignited, turning into specks of golden light that completely enveloped the man and beast; as the golden light fused, the qi connection between them grew even tighter, a sense of intimacy arising spontaneously.

"Hu..."

Seeing this, Yu Zhangsheng slowly exhaled a breath of turbid qi, his heart settling; at this point, the contract was considered half complete.

Not long after, the moment the contract was established, Li Minghan's aura suddenly turned vast as well, his own cultivation momentum soaring at an inconceivable speed.

Like a volcanic eruption, uncontrollable from the start, the heaven and earth spiritual qi in the air frantically surged into Li Minghan's body, faint golden light enveloping him once more.

"This is... breaking through to Golden Core?" Yu Zhangsheng looked at Li Minghan in surprise, his eyes flickering slightly, sensing the increasingly profound aura on him; with a wave of his sleeve he personally stood guard at his side, acting as Protector.

Although Yu Zhangsheng was somewhat surprised by Li Minghan's sudden breakthrough, on second thought he also felt it was only natural; Li Minghan's cultivation had already reached Foundation Establishment Peak, and now he had contracted a Third Rank Late Stage Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon — comparable to Golden Core Late Stage — so under the cultivation feedback, breaking through to Golden Core in one go was perfectly fitting.

"Hu hu hu..."

Spiritual qi churned, condensing into wind and clouds; fortunately, in this abyss, what was least lacking was spiritual qi, so the whole process did not last long, everything went smoothly without other mishaps, this breakthrough came as a matter of course.

Before long, Li Minghan opened his eyes again, a flash of sharp light crossing his gaze; he subconsciously clenched his fist, and with a wave of his hand threw a punch — the air surged, violent fist winds rippling out with sonic booms.

The powerful aura unique to Golden Core rose unrestrained upon Li Minghan.

"Finally I've reached Golden Core too..."

Li Minghan let out a long breath, overwhelmed with emotion.

Golden Core — in Wuzhou one already counts as a top expert; aside from the Three Gates and Six Sects, in other places one even possesses the qualifications to found a sect.

"Congratulations."

Watching Li Minghan break through, Yu Zhangsheng cupped his fists and smiled; the other disciples likewise looked at Li Minghan with complex or envious gazes, offering sincere congratulations.

Regarding Li Minghan contracting the Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon, they had no objections; originally there were few Beast Tamers among this group, plus they had hardly contributed any effort, and seeing Yu Zhangsheng's face, naturally they would not say anything.

"Many thanks for all Senior Brothers' support."

Li Minghan came back to his senses, bowed respectfully to everyone, chuckling.

Regardless, they had after all delayed the Nine Poison Dragons for a time; both emotionally and logically, Li Minghan would naturally express gratitude and thanks to them.

"Alright, it's good you broke through; this way in the abyss journey you'll have a bit more power to protect yourself."

Yu Zhangsheng spoke with a smile, patting Li Minghan's shoulder.

Without doubt, with Li Minghan's cultivation breakthrough plus the contract of a powerful Third Rank Late Stage beast like the Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon, his combat power would naturally undergo an earth-shaking change; in this abyss journey, compared to the crowd of heaven's chosen, he could be considered to have the strength to contend.

"Many thanks, Changsheng. I won't say more words of gratitude; this kindness, I'll engrave on my heart."

Li Minghan cupped his fists, bowed at the waist to Yu Zhangsheng, his tone revealing sincerity, his expression rarely serious.

This time, if not for Yu Zhangsheng's help suppressing the Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon, wanting to successfully contract it would have been practically a fool's dream.

Yu Zhangsheng was startled, froze for a moment, looked at Li Minghan and finally smiled, blinking at him: "We're brothers, why so polite?"

"Besides, I didn't come away empty-handed either?"

The Poison Dragons were Yu Zhangsheng's group's harvest this trip; to him they had another use.

"Is that so?"

Li Minghan touched his nose, hehe'd, turned his head to look at the Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon, patted its head, and said with deep emotion: "From now on we're partners fighting side by side; no matter what enmity there was before, it's all in the past, no sneaky little schemes allowed."

"Hmph." The Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon turned its head away, disdainfully snorting through its nostrils, droning: "Rest assured, since it's come to this, This Seat won't do anything foolish; just hope you keep your promise."

"That's for sure, you can rest easy." Li Minghan gave a wry smile.

"Good then."

The Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon nodded; under Yu Zhangsheng's seemingly meaningful gaze, it turned somewhat unnaturally, transformed into a streak of light, and actively returned to the Inner Landscape.

"This guy, he's actually quite afraid of me."

Yu Zhangsheng laughed involuntarily.

"That's for sure, probably going to hold a grudge against you for a good long while."

Li Minghan laughed heartily, not minding.

"Whatever." Yu Zhangsheng waved his hand, shrugged, thought a moment and asked: "Right, what did you promise him to make him agree to be your beast?"

Yu Zhangsheng looked at Li Minghan with curiosity in his eyes.

Li Minghan blanked, his face showing a few threads of conflicted expression, patted his palm and stretched his fingers, saying: "It's nothing really, just promised him I'd take him to see the world outside the abyss later, and if there's a chance introduce him to a few female dragons..."

Li Minghan spoke, hehe-ing.

"..." Yu Zhangsheng fell silent at those words, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"Good fellow, you've played the 'dragon nature is lustful' bit to the extreme." Yu Zhangsheng smiled, his mind pondering. "Just holding a try-it-out attitude." Li Minghan laughed loudly, one hand stroking the back of his head, one hand rubbing his brow, expression strange, tone pausing slightly before continuing: "I just thought, this abyss may be large, but ultimately it's only a tiny world; and with the Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon's status, if he spends most of his life trapped in this little pond, that would be too much of a pity; surely he also wants to see a bigger world, not curl up in a corner of the abyss."

"Besides, short of contracting with me, he has no other way to leave the abyss for now, so I just went with the flow, plus gave him an offer he couldn't refuse..."

Li Minghan raised an eyebrow, tone calm, but the implication made Yu Zhangsheng look at Li Minghan with new respect.

"The abyss for the living beings within it indeed counts as a giant cage; dragons are born arrogant, destined to soar the sky, not pond creatures; how could he be willing to be trapped here..."

"Perhaps, that is the real reason he finally compromised to become your beast."

Yu Zhangsheng pondered, in an instant thinking much more, shook his head and said lightly:

"But for us, is the world not also a giant cage? Forget it; still, that you could think of this is indeed rare."

"Just a humble opinion. It won't hold up on the big stage; one still has to look at one's own strength, after all."

Li Minghan spoke, and as the two exchanged words, they led the group of disciples outward; the place where the Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon emerged was almost at the center of this vast Deep Marsh.

Besides the Myriad Poison Sub-Dragon and its vassals, there were naturally still some spirit beasts present, and Yu Changsheng did not let these spirit beasts off either; his divine sense scanned frantically, walking and stopping, with some gains.

"The spiritual qi in this abyss really is ridiculously high; such a battle, and it actually didn't consume much."

Yu Changsheng clicked his tongue inwardly, sensing the mana in his body, and his brows relaxed.

In the past, if he summoned all his spirit beasts, it would be a very large consumption for him; now, with the abundant spiritual qi inside the Deep Abyss and the characteristics of the Spiritual Communion Dao Body as support, he didn't need to worry too much about consumption.

What moved Yu Changsheng even more was that, under the effect of the Heavenly Dao Qi and the activation of the blood fiend qi inside the Deep Abyss, his own cultivation base had unknowingly been boosted to Golden Core Late Stage.

This was also one of the main reasons why Yu Changsheng fought so easily and leisurely in that battle just now.

"That works too; it just adds a bit more assurance for my subsequent actions." Yu Changsheng thought silently, and finally the corner of his mouth curved into a faint smile.

As Yu Changsheng thought this, his heart suddenly stirred, and Xuan Gui's soft "eh" rang out in his mind.

"Wait, go look over there on the left; seems like there might be something good?"

Yu Changsheng froze, and as his divine sense scanned once more, his footsteps turned, and he walked toward the left.

"Hm? Found something else?" Li Minghan looked at Yu Changsheng with curiosity, following close behind.

"A little something good." Yu Changsheng explained casually, his gaze bright, excitement flickering in the depths of his eyes; after pushing aside clump after clump of grass, he only then carefully halted his steps.

"Sure enough, it's that..."

Yu Changsheng swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and after confirming, he murmured.

Li Minghan looked along Yu Changsheng's gaze, yet saw a small puddle ahead; in the mud, a rather strange grass grew quietly, and Yu Changsheng's gaze was also fixed dead on it.

This grass stood about half a person tall, with only three forked branches, drooping delicately; on each branch grew three leaves, shaped like maple leaves but presenting a dark red color, veins distinct as if blood truly flowed within; the stem was pitch-black, enveloped by faint black mist.

Besides that, no other abnormality could be seen; Li Minghan felt doubt, yet realized that what could make Yu Changsheng this excited must be a rare Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, so he did not slight it either, looking at Yu Changsheng and asking: "What is this?"

"Fifth Rank Spirit Medicine, Blood Poison Tempering Grass!"

Yu Changsheng exhaled a long breath of turbid qi, a smile appearing on his face, and explained softly.

"Fifth Rank Spirit Medicine?"

Li Minghan was startled; a spirit herb of this tier was more precious than most Fourth-Rank Pills, and especially judging by Yu Changsheng's demeanor, this spirit medicine seemed even more not simple.

"Mm." Yu Changsheng nodded, his gaze brilliant. "Although it is a spirit medicine, this medicinal material's properties are special and cannot harmonize with other spirit medicines, so it cannot be used to refine pills."

"But the thing itself is a special pill; it needs no additional refining, and its value is comparable to a Fifth-Grade Pill!"

Yu Changsheng affirmed, ignoring Li Minghan's shocked eyes, recalled briefly, and continued:

"Blood Poison Tempering Grass, a plant spirit object; its medicinal nature is yin-cold and overbearing, difficult to combine with other medicines; it likes to grow in the poisonous qi of marshes, in places abundant with spiritual qi and Dao rhyme; eaten, it tastes bitter, its medicinal potency violent but cannot be directly absorbed, instead accumulating in the body, only slowly fusing into the qi and blood flesh body under the stimulation of poison."

"Letting the flesh body continuously strengthen, it can also forge a Hundred Poisons Invulnerable Body; its value is inestimable — we've struck treasure, didn't expect there'd actually be this kind of good thing here."

As Yu Changsheng explained, his hand likewise carefully tossed aside the mud, digging out this stalk of Blood Poison Tempering Grass from within; his gaze carried a trace of obsession as it fell on himself, then he thought of something, turned his head to look at the group of disciples behind him, his complexion turning slightly difficult.

Under Yu Changsheng's explanation, the group also learned the value of the Blood Poison Tempering Grass; each one shocked, their gazes unavoidably also carried a trace of reluctance fixed on the Blood Poison Tempering Grass, until they met Yu Changsheng's gaze, whereupon their bodies trembled, and they spoke in unison waving their hands: "The spirit herb is good, but it was also discovered by the Young Sect Master; if not for the Young Sect Master, we wouldn't even know what this thing is, we'd just sit on a treasure mountain unknowingly; don't mind us, this kind of treasure is properly suited for Senior Brother you."

Shen Xingchen and Li Minghan also stepped forward at this moment, smiling faintly at Yu Changsheng: "Alright, we know you're kind-hearted, but this kind of treasure cannot be divided; dividing it would waste the medicinal potency, you'd better keep it yourself. Along this journey, however many treasures you've divided to us, it's not like we're short of these."

"Yeah, Changsheng, don't be polite; the one who exerted the most effort along this journey is you. Keep it yourself."

Zhang Tianwen hehe'd with a laugh, a trace of complex color flashing in his eyes, but his gaze was still sincere as he spoke thus.

The remaining disciples naturally had no objections either; along this journey, although there were no Fifth Rank spirit medicines, Yu Changsheng had not let them pick few Third Rank spirit fruits and spirit grasses, their gains were not small, so facing this kind of treasure, they naturally wouldn't be greedy and ask for it.

Plainly put, if Yu Changsheng didn't say it, they wouldn't know this thing's value either; after all this thing is too rare, and Yu Changsheng only noticed it because of Xuan Gui's reminder.

Seeing everyone speak like this, Yu Changsheng fell silent for a while, didn't stand on ceremony, nodded and said softly: "Fine then, many thanks everyone, I won't be polite either."

Speaking, Yu Changsheng lightly patted his Storage Bag, and some spirit medicines collected along the way all flew out, falling toward the group of disciples, explaining as he spoke:

"I have this one, that's enough; these things I probably won't have use for anymore either, you take them and they can be worth some value."

This action left everyone slightly stunned; amid complexion changes, in the gazes they directed at Yu Changsheng, silently shifting, there was an added trace of gentleness and admiration. (Chapter End)