Chapter 259: The White Bone King's Hall

Hearing the artifact spirit's words, Qin Ming fell into deep thought.

For a moment.

The atmosphere in the air also froze solid.

"How can you prove that you possess the 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy'?"

After pondering for a long time, Qin Ming suddenly raised his head and asked the Toad Ancestor.

Hearing this, the Toad Ancestor was also stunned, and immediately said:

"A hundred years ago, a Green Flood Dragon beast came to this place; at that time, it was only at the early stage of the third rank, and I bestowed upon it a portion of the 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy'."

"Calculating by that logic, that Green Flood Dragon should have reached the late stage of the third rank by now, correct?"

Upon these words being spoken, not only Qin Ming, but even the Shi Tian Shu beside him was stunned.

In that case, the Toad Ancestor's words were not entirely groundless boasting.

"Master, I didn't expect the Green-Faced Poisonous Flood Dragon's strength to advance by leaps and bounds for such a reason."

"No wonder it could break through to the late stage of the third rank."

The Shi Tian Shu could not help but transmit its voice secretly.

"Mm, however... what that artifact spirit said is also correct; we cannot release it."

"With the Toad Ancestor's cultivation and strength, even if it has fallen to the early stage of the third rank, you and I are most likely not its match."

Qin Ming transmitted his voice secretly.

Just at this moment.

In an instant.

A voice abruptly rang out in Qin Ming's mind.

"The 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy' is not on the Toad; with its bloodline, it does not even have the qualification to cultivate it."

"That Poisonous Flood Dragon's technique was not given by the Toad, but by me."

"If you want the 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy', after we get out, you can exchange something with me for it."

The artifact spirit of the Hooked Jade Jin Guang Mirror said lightly to Qin Ming.

Hearing this, Qin Ming's gaze flickered constantly; for a moment, he did not know whom to believe.

However, he soon formed an idea.

"Since you say so, how can you prove that the 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy' is on you?" Qin Ming asked the artifact spirit.

"That beast-skin scroll is indeed not on me, but I can show you a small portion of the technique's content."

After speaking, the artifact spirit manifested a passage of text within Qin Ming's mind.

Qin Ming turned his divine sense inward to inspect it.

Within his mind were exactly the same seal scripts as on his own beast-skin scripture, and the opening passage of the text was precisely the 'Qi and Blood Embracing the Pill' from the Jin Dan chapter of the 'Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy', along with the introductory explanation on condensing the True Pill.

After reading it, Qin Ming was extremely excited in his heart, though on the surface he pretended to be completely calm.

"Then let it be as you say; we will discuss this after we leave this place." In his heart, Qin Ming already believed more than half of the artifact spirit's words.

From this, one could see.

On the contrary, the Toad Ancestor opposite had not spoken a single truthful word; most likely, it wanted to use him to escape its predicament.

Once it escaped, the outcome did not need any further guessing.

The Toad Ancestor within the black hole also seemed to realize something was amiss; it had clearly seen that the human boy was about to agree to its demands, yet in just a brief moment, he seemed to have changed his mind.

With its shrewd scheming and deep reserve, it only needed to think slightly to instantly understand what was happening.

The Toad Ancestor, already in its twilight years, instantly expanded in size, reverting to its original terrifying beast form.

It let out a roar, its massive claw slamming against the black iron pillar, and it screamed furiously: "Jin Lingzi! You dare ruin my good deed!"

"Damn it! This King will tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

"Aaaah!"

The Toad Ancestor was so angry it jumped up and down, but it was blocked by the black iron pillar and could do nothing to Qin Ming.

Seeing such a huge emotional fluctuation from the Toad Ancestor, Qin Ming became even more certain that what the artifact spirit had said was most likely true.

He then said to the artifact spirit: "Do you have any way to get out of here?"

"No, the restrictions here are quite special; you will have to find a way yourself," the artifact spirit said bluntly.

Qin Ming: "..."

After thinking for a moment, he asked the Shi Tian Shu: "Can you handle this? If we can escape this time, I will record a great merit for you once we are out!"

Hearing this, the Shi Tian Shu immediately perked up, and speaking as if injected with chicken blood, it said: "Master, rest assured; not to mention other things, when it comes to the skill of digging holes, I am quite confident."

After speaking, the Shi Tian Shu turned and walked to that invisible barrier, deploying its innate divine ability, the Severing Profound Light, to break the restriction.

Black profound light continuously spewed from the Shi Tian Shu's mouth, landing upon the barrier.

One hour later.

Exhausted and drenched in sweat, the Shi Tian Shu spoke weakly: "Damn it, Master, the grade of this barrier is a bit high; it has probably reached the peak of the third rank."

"Although my divine ability has some effect, it will require a certain amount of time to break it open."

Hearing this, Qin Ming nodded. "Under the current circumstances, there is no other way; you will have to work hard."

After saying this, he took out a Spirit-Transforming Demon Fruit to restore the Shi Tian Shu's condition.

The moment the Shi Tian Shu received the demon fruit, it went directly from being on its last breath to being full of life and energy; after consuming the Spirit-Transforming Demon Fruit, it immediately resumed work without stopping, digging at that barrier ceaselessly.

It would only sit down to recover for a while once its demon power was exhausted.

Repeating this cycle, the invisible barrier within that canyon, under the Shi Tian Shu's persistent wearing down, gradually developed a tiny hole.

It grew from the size of a needle's eye at the beginning to the size of a fist.

The Toad Ancestor within the black hole, seeing that Qin Ming actually had a way to escape from this damned place.

Instantly, he became even more frantic with rage, jumping up and down in fury.

He kept bombarding the iron pillar, "Damn ants!"

Half a month later.

The Shi Tian Shu finally broke open a large hole in the valley's barrier, big enough for a person to pass through.

"Oh my god, I nearly worked this great lord to death!" The Shi Tian Shu collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

"Well done!"

In his excitement, Qin Ming patted the Shi Tian Shu on the head.

"No time to lose, let's go quickly."

After speaking, Qin Ming fed the Shi Tian Shu a recovery pill and stored all three spirit pets inside his spirit beast bag.

He glanced back at the Toad Ancestor within the black hole, whose eyes were filled with resentful malice, then crawled out through the hole the Shi Tian Shu had made.

Without looking back, he left this place of trouble.

Once Qin Ming exited the canyon, he deployed a magic power shield and swam directly out from the bottom of Taihu.

Half an hour later.

Fresh air rushed into Qin Ming's nostrils once again.

"Hoo~"

"Finally out!"

Qin Ming took a deep breath of the outside air, feeling a sense of relief and exhilaration.

Although this journey had encountered some twists and turns, it had gone smoothly overall; most importantly, he had obtained the artifact spirit of the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror.

Furthermore, he had gained an unexpected reward: the subsequent cultivation method of the "Heavenly Demon Body Refining Strategy" was actually in the artifact spirit's possession!

This demon clan sacred classic that Qin Ming had longed for day and night now finally had a home.

The moment Qin Ming emerged from the lake bottom to the surface, many fishermen were fishing in the surrounding waters.

Seeing someone suddenly emerge from the lake bottom, everyone was startled, thinking some lake demon or such creature had appeared.

"This is bad, we must leave this place immediately."

Just as Qin Ming was sighing with emotion, the artifact spirit Jin Guangzi inside his storage bag suddenly spoke.

During those half a month in the canyon gullies, Qin Ming had also learned the artifact spirit's name: it was called 'Jin Guangzi'.

"Oh? Why is that?"

Hearing the serious tone in the artifact spirit's voice, Qin Ming asked in confusion.

"You broke the restrictions of the Wang Dian; before long, the highest existence inside will likely revive again..."

The artifact spirit continued in a sorrowful tone:

"To be more precise, it should be said that it is my master, my lord, the previous owner of the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror—True Person Bai Gu."

The moment the artifact spirit finished speaking.

Woo woo woo~ Boom! At that very instant, the lake surface beneath Qin Ming suddenly churned violently; sounds like wailing evil ghosts erupted from the bottom of Taihu, and waves dozens of zhang high surged toward the sky!

Qin Ming quickly flew away from the lake surface, staring in shock at everything before his eyes.

As the lake surface exploded, dense yin-sha qi gushed out like a tide, and a beam of white light filled with deathly energy shot straight from the canyon gullies at the lake bottom to the heavens.

Above the sky of Taihu, a spiral of dark clouds condensed, surrounded by annihilating sha lightning, emitting a soul-chilling aura of power.

The Bai Guang surging from the lake bottom connected with the dark clouds in the sky, churning the abyss deep within the lake bed.

Countless cries of ghosts and howls of wolves rang out incessantly, while the cultivators who had come here to hunt demons and fish, upon witnessing such an apocalyptic scene...

... before they could even flee for their lives, were struck by the sha qi gale formed by the condensing dark clouds, instantly swept up and torn into fragments.

Cultivation families surrounding Taihu and scattered cultivators who had come to this region to hunt demons and seek treasures saw this earth-shaking event from far away.

They all leaped into the sky.

One by one, they stood dumbfounded, staring at the astonishing changes above Taihu.

"Heavens! With such heavenly and earthly disturbances, what exactly is happening?"

"Look! It seems something is about to emerge from beneath Taihu!"

"That's not right! With such dense yin-sha qi, the situation is probably not good."

"I have lived by Taihu for over a hundred years, and this is the first time I have seen such abnormal celestial phenomena."

"Quickly send a report to the sect; an earth-shaking anomaly has appeared within the Taihu region of Jingzhou!"

Qin Ming gazed at the 'masterpiece' he had single-handedly caused, observed it only briefly, and then left without looking back.

(End of Chapter)