Chapter 242: Destination

Half a quarter-hour later.

Qin Ming, transformed into a burly, bearded giant, revealed a trace of contemplation on his face, his eyes flickering incessantly.

The demonic cultivator Yuan Feng, whom he held in his hand, had ceased all movement; his hollow gaze stared rigidly upward, and his withered face still retained a twisted expression of agony, dead beyond any doubt.

By employing the Soul-Searching Technique on him, Qin Ming had clarified the entire sequence of events explaining why this group of demonic cultivators had risked coming to the spiritual energy Islands.

'So it is not only the people of the Ten Thousand Souls Valley; recently, cultivators of the entire demonic path have been searching for the inheritance of the Qishang Mojun.'

'No wonder I encountered Lin Zixiao.'

'As for Mo Lingwei, she happened to be spotted by Yuan Feng and the others while fleeing the State of Wei with her clansmen.'

'They coerced her into joining the Ten Thousand Souls Valley through threats.'

'Afterward, Mo Lingwei used the inheritance of the Qishang Mojun as bait, leading to today's events.'

'Could this inheritance of the Qishang Mojun be none other than that black iron shard in my hand, which records the "Primordial Yasha Seed-Demon True Sutra"?'

A long while passed.

Qin Ming casually tossed aside the corpse in his hand, then shifted his gaze to Mo Lingwei.

Seeing 'Daoist Long' annihilate the Nether Abyss Demon and Yuan Feng's group with thunderous force, Mo Lingwei was filled with immense shock.

She hurriedly stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, "This junior greets Senior Long!"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know me?"

"Give me one reason not to kill you."

Qin Ming asked deliberately in a muffled, nasal tone.

Of course, he was only saying this on purpose; his inheritance as a third-tier spiritual planter had been obtained through an exchange with Mo Lingwei.

During the upheaval on Thousand Leaves Island, she had also sent him a warning; saving her life today could be considered settling a karmic debt.

Hearing this, Mo Lingwei hesitated for a moment, then immediately gritted her silver teeth, performed a technique to reveal her original breathtaking beauty, and hurriedly stated:

"This junior was originally Mo Lingwei, the island master of Green Mist Island; joining the Ten Thousand Souls Valley back then was a last resort, and I believe Senior Long must have learned the situation from Yuan Feng."

"I beg Senior Long not to take offense!"

Upon hearing this, 'Daoist Long' frowned. "I have no interest whatsoever in matters between the righteous and the demonic."

"Hehehe! However, you little wench are truly, truly quite good-looking!"

Daoist Long let out a wild laugh and reached out his large hands to grab Mo Lingwei.

Mo Lingwei had never expected the other party to adopt such an attitude; instantly, her flower-like countenance turned pale with terror.

But just as she was about to summon her strength to resist,

a sensation of dizziness surged through her mind, her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness.

Following the same method, Qin Ming also knocked out Old Mo nearby and administered a healing pill to him.

Old Mo had taken a blow from the Nether Abyss Demon that damaged his foundation; he had nearly lost most of his life, and even if he recovered, his path of cultivation would end right there.

For Qin Ming, both Mo Lingwei and the other counted as old acquaintances from Xumi Shanhe, so there was no need to take their lives.

Having done all this, Qin Ming grabbed the Profound Iron Black Zombie that had been embedded in the stone wall.

The moment this fiend regained the ability to move, it bared its fangs and brandished its claws to attack Qin Ming, who slapped its head, smashing it to pieces and killing it outright.

Immediately afterward, Qin Ming stored the corpse of the demonic zombie away.

"This demonic zombie is also excellent material for planting trees!"

Next,

Qin Ming thoroughly searched the demonic cave, collecting quite a few ghostly remains, sufficient for planting the Abundant Nether Ghost Jujube.

He turned everywhere, but found nothing else.

"Presumably, the most valuable item in this demonic cave is that black iron shard."

"Now that the materials are in hand, it is time to withdraw."

Qin Ming returned along the original path; before leaving, he did not forget to glance at Mo Lingwei on the ground. "Fellow Daoist Mo, take care of yourself; if fate allows, we shall meet again."

But just as he was about to depart,

the corner of his eye caught sight of the Heavenly Corpse Bead on Mo Lingwei's hand reacting, emitting a shimmering gray radiance.

Qin Ming knitted his brows, raised his hand, and drew the Heavenly Corpse Bead into his palm.

Suddenly, the Heavenly Corpse Bead in his hand seemed, in some mysterious way, to be guided by something.

"This is..."

Following this guidance, he arrived before a rock wall deep within the demonic cave.

Qin Ming immediately released his divine sense to investigate, only to discover an inconspicuous groove on the rock wall, perfectly sized to hold that Heavenly Corpse Bead.

He hesitated and pondered for a moment, then asked the Shi Tian Shu beside him, "Do you smell any dangerous aura?"

"Uh, probably not?" The Shi Tian Shu sniffed hard with its nose and answered uncertainly.

Qin Ming's facial skin twitched. "What do you mean 'probably not'? Are you capable or not?"

"Eh-heh-he! The isolating formation up there is too powerful; I cannot tell either," the Shi Tian Shu replied honestly.

Hearing this, Qin Ming could not help but fall into deep thought.

Even the abilities of a third-tier Demon King, the Shi Tian Shu, could not perceive the situation inside, which made him somewhat hesitant.

However, his current strength was incomparable to the past; even if he encountered danger, he would be able to protect himself.

"Hidden so well, one wonders what exactly is concealed inside."

Thus, Qin Ming embedded the Heavenly Corpse Bead in his hand into the rock wall.

Boom-rumble! On the black rock wall before his eyes, rows of profound runes began to shine.

The entrance to a stone chamber appeared before Qin Ming.

Qin Ming took out the Green Phoenix Sword and released his divine sense to probe inside.

After seeing the situation clearly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately, he beckoned the Shi Tian Shu, and together they stepped inside.

Behind the stone door lay a circular stone chamber spanning several hundred square units, its stone walls inscribed with numerous profound and obscure runes.

Furthermore, dozens of black chains, each as thick as an arm, connected to a stone platform in the center.

"It seems this is the place where the third-tier Blood Curse Demon Vine was originally sealed."

Qin Ming recognized some of the characters on the walls; he had often collected books on spiritual plants and studied many rare scripts.

He swept the area with his divine sense, and upon confirming there was no danger, he finally set his mind at ease.

After the Blood Curse Demon Vine was annihilated, this place had evidently become an empty space.

Suddenly, a corner of the stone chamber caught Qin Ming's attention.

He immediately walked over to look, only to discover with surprise that six demon seeds of the Blood Curse Demon Vine were quietly rooted within the rock wall.

However, these few demon seeds had already all withered and died.

On the ground near the demon seeds, a corpse sat in a meditative posture, now dried and dead.

Observing the attire on this corpse, Qin Ming found it quite familiar; suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind! "Isn't this the False Golden Core Yunxi Laozu of the Zhao family, 'Zhao Wuyang'?"

"I didn't expect this person to go around in a circle and actually return to Thousand Leaf Island; one could say his soul has returned to his hometown."

Seeing that the skull of Zhao Wuyang's corpse had a large hole broken into it, he guessed the general reason.

"It must be that when the Blood Curse Demon Vine found the third-tier Howling Moon Demon King to parasitize, it abandoned Zhao Wuyang's body."

"His end was miserable, becoming fertilizer for these few demon seeds."

"Fortunately, the three True Persons acted in time; I didn't expect the Blood Curse Demon Vine had already given birth to demon seeds; if these few demon seeds had been given enough blood food to grow up..."

"... I fear the Wei Kingdom Immortal Realm would have ceased to exist."

Qin Ming immediately swept with his divine sense, and a storage bag floated out from Zhao Wuyang's corpse.

His face instantly broke into joy, and he exclaimed excitedly, "We've struck it rich, a False Golden Core Yunxi Laozu's storage bag!"

"We've struck it rich! Congratulations, Master!" the Shi Tian Shu chimed in with timely flattery.

Qin Ming immediately opened the storage bag to look, but his face suddenly froze.

Because inside Zhao Wuyang's storage bag, it was not as wealthy as he had imagined; there were only a meager few items.

Apart from the few high-grade spiritual treasures he frequently used, only some miscellaneous scraps remained.

It must be that the Zhao family Yunxi Laozu, knowing he could not survive back then, secretly transferred all his resources away.

After rummaging around for a while, Qin Ming's attention was drawn to several bottles and jars.

(End of Chapter)