Chapter 262: Return to the State of Wei

Qin Ming stored all the spiritual materials for refining the Jin Dan pill into his possession.

"Senior Long, excluding the deposit you previously paid, another twelve thousand eight hundred mid-grade spiritual stones are required," Aunt Long said with a beaming smile.

Qin Ming nodded, his expression showing little change.

The spiritual stones he had obtained from the storage bags of Linghu Yang and Elder Yan were sufficient to cover this cost.

For his current financial standing, it was neither painful nor itching.

Murder and arson bring golden belts. Afterwards, he handed the remaining spiritual stones to Aunt Long.

It was worth it to purchase these third-grade spiritual materials.

The transaction between both parties was successfully completed.

Qin Ming's objective had been achieved, and he had no interest in participating in the secret realm exploration.

Thus, he also planned to return to the State of Wei.

On the other side.

Master Huangfu arrived at another private room, where three or four cultivators were conversing.

As he entered the room, the gazes of everyone inside fell upon Master Huangfu.

"Fellow Daoists, I have decided to temporarily cancel this plan."

His words caused considerable surprise among those present.

"Brother Huangfu, has some situation arisen?"

"Indeed, based on my understanding, the Taihu Ruins are likely not that simple."

"Could it be that Daoist Long told you something?"

"Causing you to beat a retreat?"

The several cultivators in the room were also greatly surprised as they questioned Master Huangfu.

"Mm, according to Daoist Long, not only are there no opportunities within the Taihu Ruins, but it may very well be an extremely dangerous place."

"I choose to believe him once."

"Alas, Fellow Daoist Huangfu, unless you go and see with your own eyes, you cannot know what the situation there truly is."

"You should not completely trust the one-sided words of Daoist Long."

"Perhaps he has some other motive?"

Master Huangfu pondered for a long time.

He finally decided, saying: "Fellow Daoists, I have still decided to withdraw from this expedition; I am truly sorry."

"If you still decide to proceed to the Taihu Ruins, you may make your own decisions."

"I have said all I can say."

Upon hearing this, the crowd could do nothing but feel helpless.

"This..."

Ten days later.

Qin Ming embarked on the journey back to the State of Wei.

He arranged with Aunt Long to board a Mirror Jing Xue Ge merchant ship traveling from Moyuan Xiancheng to the State of Wei.

As for the alias identity of Yu Changqing from Profound Stream Valley, he had fabricated a story that he had gone missing without cause while executing a patrol mission.

One month later.

After a tiring journey by boat and carriage, Qin Ming finally returned to the Immortal Realm of the State of Wei.

As the dharma boat slowly sailed into Canghai Xiancheng, Qin Ming stood at the bow, feeling as though ages had passed.

Just as he returned to the State of Wei, news arrived.

Several major Jin Dan-level powers from the four states joined forces to develop the Taihu secret realm; after employing several third-grade barrier-breaking talismans and with the deciphering efforts of third-grade array masters,

they finally broke through most of the restrictions surrounding the outer trenches at the lake bottom.

After all, even though the array restrictions of the Wang Dian were ranked as high-grade third tier even in ancient times, after tens of thousands of years of erosion, loopholes were bound to appear.

Furthermore, when Qin Ming had previously escaped, he had already blasted a hole in the restrictions near the Wang Dian.

Cultivators from various factions had now approached the location where Qin Ming had originally arrived.

However, just as everyone joyfully believed they could enter the ruins to hunt for treasures and harvest resources, what awaited them was the emergence of a massive number of ghost entities.

This completely exceeded the understanding of all the cultivators.

Deep within the Taihu Ruins, a Jin Dan-level ghost entity even appeared, causing heavy casualties among the first batch of entering cultivators.

Only a small fraction of cultivators managed to escape with their lives.

Even so, this instead further ignited the enthusiasm of cultivators from various factions to explore the ruins.

Because the appearance of the Jin Dan ghost seemed to prove that there might indeed be Jin Dan opportunities within the Taihu Ruins! Yet, as batch after batch of cultivators went to explore the ruins and died, while the ghost entities inside showed not the slightest sign of decreasing, the major powers of the various countries suddenly realized that this ruin was likely not as simple as imagined.

It was just that by the time they realized it, it was already too late.

The sealing restrictions of the Wang Dian were completely broken open; countless yin souls and ghost entities surged out from the lake bottom like an overwhelming tide, descending upon the Taihu region and spreading outward in all directions.

When the several major Jin Dan powers of the four states wanted to plug the hole again, they discovered it could no longer be sealed.

Within the borders of the State of Liang, the gates of the netherworld opened wide from this point on, triggering an unprecedented "Nether Ghost Catastrophe."

Its terror was such that even a powerful entity like Profound Stream Valley, which possessed four Jin Dan Laozu, could not suppress the ghost catastrophe; the severity of the situation momentarily completely escaped the control of the various major sects.

"Alas, what a sin!"

Qin Ming shook his head; he knew the initial ghost catastrophe was merely an appetizer, and greater threats still lay ahead.

For instance, if ancient ghost entities like the Golden Toad Laozu and the White Bone True Person within the Wang Dian were to revive, that would be the most unfavorable news for the entire Southern Wild Immortal Realm.

This stirred a sense of urgency in Qin Ming's heart.

"Only by strengthening my power is there a chance of surviving the coming upheavals."

"I must break through to the Jin Dan stage as soon as possible."

After a long journey, the merchant ship of the Mirror Jing Xue Ge finally arrived at Canghai Xiancheng.

When Qin Ming reached the Mirror Jing Xue Ge in the inner city, he learned from Gu Qingzhao that later, Master Huangfu had not followed other cultivators to risk exploring the Taihu ruins; even so, she had been extremely worried for him.

According to news brought back by the Mirror Jing Xue Ge, Xiang Zehao and others, who had originally planned to accompany Master Huangfu into the Taihu ruins, all perished within the ruins without exception, despite possessing perfect Foundation Establishment cultivation. Because of this, Master Huangfu owed 'Daoist Long' an enormous favor, and whenever he recalled the matter, he was filled with lingering fear.

Had Daoist Long not warned him back then, he would likely have suffered the same fate as Xiang Zehao and the others from the Shennong Sect.

After returning to the Xiancheng, Qin Ming also visited Lu Wanjun, the descendant of an old friend; seeing that she faced no great difficulties in the Xiancheng, he did not disturb her further.

Furthermore, Feng Sihai of the Feng family had apparently consumed the Foundation Establishment Pill given by Qin Ming and successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage; the Feng family had thus risen completely within Canghai Xiancheng, becoming a Foundation Establishment family renowned for the art of talisman making.

Qin Ming felt he had finally settled a karmic debt.

Afterwards, Qin Ming did not linger long in Canghai Xiancheng and returned directly to Wangyue Island.

"Having not returned for two years, everything on the island remains largely unchanged."

Restoring his original appearance, Qin Ming stood in the air with a faint smile on his face, looking down upon the entire Wangyue Island.

However, he discovered that under the effect of the Innate Spirit Soil, the island's total area had expanded by one-third compared to before.

The Spirit Peach Blossoms had bloomed again, and countless spirit bees were gathering nectar.

The Wu family's spirit farmers were also working diligently on the island; upon seeing their island lord, Qin Ming, return, they immediately stopped their tasks and bowed to him in greeting.

Wu Jiang also brought Mu Ruyin forward to greet Qin Ming.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, it has been over two years since we last met; has everything been well?" Qin Ming asked with a faint smile.

Wu Jiang had grown older, his face bearing additional traces of time's vicissitudes, and he hurriedly replied:

"Island Lord Qin, everything on the island has been peaceful these past two years; please rest assured."

"Mm, that is good." Qin Ming nodded with satisfaction.

It was evident that Wu Jiang had been very diligent; the spirit fields on the outer perimeter of the spirit island had increased significantly, other spirit plants had been cultivated, and everything was managed in perfect order.

After chatting with Wu Jiang for a while, Qin Ming returned to the main peak.

The first thing he did upon returning was to replant his life-bound spirit plant, the Yin-Yang Profound Vine.

After stretching out, the Yin-Yang Profound Vine once again transformed into a towering giant tree on the spirit island and concealed itself.

Qin Ming took the Jin Dan-level blood pearl and the False Dan-level blood pearl from his storage bag and fed them to his life-bound spirit plant.

Whoosh! Countless black vines danced wildly; after absorbing these two heavyweight blood pearls, the Yin-Yang Profound Vine grew taller by another section.

Countless silver runes circled around the spirit plant, and a vast power of time descended.

At the same time.

Qin Ming could clearly perceive that the life-bound magical treasure, the Wood Emperor Nail, planted using 【Spirit Plant Treasure Sowing】, had instantly been elevated to the level of a third-grade middle-quality magical treasure!

On the cyan Wood Emperor Nail, a wisp of silver arc lightning now lingered, emanating astonishing power.

These two powerful blood pearls were equivalent to providing the life-bound spirit plant with several thousand years' worth of time qi.

Not only had it caused significant growth, but it had also advanced the Wood Emperor Nail magical treasure.

With a mere thought, Qin Ming summoned a Wood Emperor Nail into his hand.

Holding this treasure, he examined it closely and sensed it, feeling extremely delighted.

Just then.

"Eh?!"

"Isn't this the Wood Emperor Nail?"

"No... how can this be?"

"Its grade has actually been elevated!"

"And this mysterious black vine seems to be of a high grade as well."

The artifact spirit 'Jin Lingzi' inside Qin Ming's storage bag emitted a voice filled with disbelief.

"Oh? You know about the Wood Emperor Nail?" Qin Ming asked.

This was the first time he had seen the artifact spirit speak voluntarily; usually, it was exceedingly aloof.

Jin Lingzi's tone returned to calm as it answered: "The method for refining the Wood Emperor Nail was obtained by True Person Baigu from elsewhere."

"It originates from an ancient great sect, the Qingyuan Sect."

"When I was alive, I also refined a set, though not as many as yours; I had only sixteen pieces."

"If you can somehow obtain Solar Essence Gold in the future, you can add it to the magical treasure and refine it again."

"This could greatly enhance the Wood Emperor Nail's power to ward off evil."

"Perhaps it could even elevate the magical treasure's grade once more."

Qin Ming knew a little about Solar Essence Gold; it was a third-grade top-grade spirit material, an extremely rare existence even in the ancient Immortal Realm.

Let alone in the current Immortal Realm, where resources were scarce.

However, after hearing Jin Lingzi's words, Qin Ming silently noted the matter.

If an opportunity arose in the future, he could keep an eye out for it.

He had not expected that this closed-door disciple of True Person Baigu also understood the Dao of artifact refining.

Next.

Qin Ming found a yin-cold location on the island and planted the Profound Nether Ghost Jujube.

He also consumed one 【Space-Time Leaf】 trait to accelerate its maturation.

Three days later.

A three-zhang tall jujube tree, brimming with sinister yin energy, rose from the ground.

Qin Ming immediately buried the ghostly corpses of the Nether Abyss Demon and the Black Iron Corpse beneath the Profound Nether Jujube tree as fertilizer, then activated the Planting Fiend Technique.

Wisp after wisp of yin-sha qi flowed continuously from the earth into the trunk and branches of the date tree.

Next, it was simply a matter of waiting for the ghost date tree to absorb the yin-sha qi from the ghostly entities on its own.

Every few days, he cast the Seed-Sha Art upon the date tree to accelerate the ghost date tree's progress in condensing the "Mystic-Sha Spirit Fluid."

Qin Ming's next plan was to seek out two locations of extreme yin and extreme yang to cultivate and hasten the maturation of the Bathing-Fire Golden Lotus and the Return-to-Darkness True Yin Flower, the two primary materials required to refine a Jin Dan.

As for a molten-fire land meeting the conditions of extreme yang, the main peak of Yunze Xiancheng possessed a third-tier upper-grade fire vein that could be rented.

As for the land of extreme yin, Qin Ming had already selected a site, deciding to travel to the region of extreme cold north of the spiritual energy Archipelago to carry out the planting.

(End of Chapter)