Chapter 372: The Secrets of Shendao Mountain

Wen Yuliang's face twisted in terror as he hastily drew out a dark-green circular shield-type magical treasure to block.

He then took out a Substitute Tribulation Puppet, the same one he had used with Yunyangzi, to save his life.

Swish! The golden divine flames ignored his defensive measures, transforming into golden beams of light that fell straight upon his body.

In an instant.

Wen Yuliang's eyes widened in shock; his face withered and aged at a speed visible to the naked eye, while his originally jet-black hair turned white and fell out in moments.

The vibrant life span within his body vanished completely in the blink of an eye.

Subsequently, his corpse, along with the magical treasure in his hand, dropped listlessly from the sky.

Qin Ming flicked his sleeve, rolling up the man's magical treasure and storage bag into his possession, then immediately cast a Thorn Technique to drain Wen Yuliang's corpse dry, refining it into a blood pearl of the perfect Jin Dan realm.

His corpse was not wasted either; Qin Ming directly tossed it into the Small Xiao Lingjing to serve as fertilizer for the Fengyou Ghost Jujube Tree.

After accomplishing all this, Qin Ming unhurriedly turned his gaze toward Yunyangzi, who stood not far away.

Naturally, Yunyangzi had witnessed everything that had just occurred.

At this very moment, he was already frightened out of his wits.

"This..."

"What... what kind of technique is this?"

Just when he thought Junior Brother Wen was using a Burst-Yuan Talisman to forcibly raise his cultivation to the False Infant realm in order to kill and capture Hua Tianxiong with a thunderous strike.

Disaster struck from within!

He had clearly seen 'Hua Tianxiong' take out an ancient mirror, shine it upon Wen Yuliang, and cause Junior Brother Wen to die instantly, devoid of all life—yet that was someone at the False Infant realm!

He couldn't even struggle once... Could it be that the Hua Tianxiong before him is some Nascent Soul old monster in disguise, playing the pig to eat the tiger?

Such horrifying methods, even for Yunyangzi as the Third Elder of the Punishment Hall of Shendao Mountain, were something he had never seen nor heard of.

Capable of instantly killing a False Infant—could this still be considered a Jin Dan technique? Thinking thus, Yunyangzi no longer cared for his dignity and prepared to self-detonate his Jin Dan to break through and flee.

Even if he died, he had to get this news back to the sect immediately.

Relying on Shendao Mountain's methods, as long as his primordial spirit escaped, finding a new physical body for possession would be a trivial matter.

Qin Ming's gaze was sharp as he locked onto Yunyangzi.

He had just used the life-shortening divine ability of the Gouyu Jin Guang Mirror magical treasure, consuming thirty-five years of his own life span to instantly kill Wen Yuliang.

Fortunately, some time ago, Qin Ming had broken through to the late Jin Dan realm, making his magic power comparable to that of a perfect Jin Dan cultivator.

When he used the Jin Guang Divine Flames on opponents of the same cultivation realm, the ratio of life span consumed to the opponent's damage was one to ten.

Otherwise, if he were still stuck at the mid Jin Dan stage, the consumption of life span would have been somewhat unbearable.

At this moment, Yunyangzi was being beaten by the Black Water Crocodile until he fled in panic, covered in wounds, and was already at the end of his rope.

This was only because Qin Ming had specifically ordered the Black Water Crocodile to leave him alive.

Qin Ming naturally perceived Yunyangzi's intentions.

"After I went to such great trouble, how could I let you escape so easily?"

He made a grasping motion with his five fingers, and two cyan Wood Emperor Nails quietly slipped into the void.

Just as Yunyangzi prepared to gamble his life.

Whoosh! Whoosh! "Ahhh!!!"

Two Wood Emperor Nails flashing with crimson-gold light instantly pierced through his body-protecting spiritual shield, subsequently shattering Yunyangzi's qi sea and dantian.

The Jin Dan he had just prepared to self-detonate deflated like a punctured ball.

Immediately afterward, amidst his terrified expression, a large hand grabbed hold of his skull.

"Want to self-detonate your Jin Dan? It's not that easy."

With a fierce gaze, Qin Ming began to employ the Soul Search Technique on Yunyangzi.

Yunyangzi's piercing screams rang out incessantly; after half an incense stick's time, Qin Ming's expression shifted unpredictably, for he had extracted several pieces of information from Yunyangzi's mind that exceeded his expectations.

"So, beneath the fourth-tier spiritual vein of the Five Elements Mountain, Shendao Mountain has excavated the entrance to an ancient relic secret realm belonging to some Guda Sect."

"Merely at the entrance of the secret realm exists a fourth-tier top-grade spiritual plant called the 'Seven Wonders Treasure Tree,' capable of bearing seven different types of wonderful fruits, each corresponding to improvements in divine abilities, cultivation techniques, cultivation level, life span, magical treasures, spiritual roots, and comprehension."

"Each type of wonderful fruit possesses various unimaginable effects and uses, enough to make even Nascent Soul True Lords drool with desire."

"Furthermore... it seems this spiritual plant controls the opening of the entire secret realm; to enter, one must cause it to bloom with Seven Wonders Treasure Flowers..."

Qin Ming's eyes flickered continuously as he silently digested the acquired information.

"What's even more coincidental is that the location where this secret realm was discovered is not too far from my own spiritual field."

"Shendao Mountain feared the matter would be exposed, which is why they wanted to purchase the spiritual field; no wonder they acted so..."

"Also, that Zou Pinghai was planting Rot Spirit Grass to formulate something called 'Liquid of the Spiritual Eye,' which can be used to accelerate the blooming of the Seven Wonders Treasure Tree."

"Since this Seven Wonders Treasure Tree blooms once every three thousand years and bears fruit another three thousand years later, the amount of Liquid of the Spiritual Eye required is obviously enormous."

"It's not even as good as my three 【Space-Time Leaf】 traits..."

"In the short term, Shendao Mountain is clearly impossible to open this secret realm."

What surprised Qin Ming even more, however, was another matter.

That was, it seemed the Li Li Huogong was secretly plotting and setting traps to provoke conflict between Shendao Mountain and the Wan Dao Shang Alliance.

However, Shendao Mountain currently possessed no substantive evidence, merely speculation.

Those Flame Marrow ores seemed to have been tampered with by the Li Li Huogong within the caravan's cargo in secret.

But since Shendao Mountain had already made its move against the Wan Dao Shang Alliance, saying anything now was too late.

This was merely a coincidence; it so happened that Shendao Mountain had discovered this secret realm, so to prevent the news from leaking, they naturally had to resort to any means necessary.

Even if the matter of the Flame Marrow ores had nothing to do with this.

Furthermore, during this period, the high-level elites of Shendao Mountain had focused all their energy on the ancient secret realm.

On the surface, to deceive the public, they also fought back and forth with the Wan Dao Shang Alliance to avoid arousing the suspicion of the Li Li Huogong.

The Li Huo Palace controls the other half of the Five Elements Mountain's fourth-rank spiritual vein; if they also discover this secret realm…

Clearly, another war is about to begin.

And this time, it will be a struggle among the three Great Jin Nascent Soul-level factions.

But for now, it seems only Shen Dao Mountain has discovered the entrance to the secret realm; the other two sides appear still unaware.

After absorbing this information, Qin Ming's expression grew grave.

Truly top-grade spirit mines are not so easily born, yet right beneath one's own doorstep lies an ancient secret realm, along with the legendary Seven Wonders Treasure Tree.

In midair, Qin Ming held the corpse of Yun Yangzi, stripped of soul and spirit, and cast a Thorns Spell; countless black vines wrapped around it, draining it into a desiccated husk.

He collected Yun Yangzi's Jin Dan late-stage blood pearl and his storage bag.

Qin Ming casually tossed the shriveled corpse into the Little Xiao Lingjing to serve as fertilizer for Feng You Gui Zao.

For decades, this second-rank top-grade spirit plant, the Ghostly Jujube Tree, nourished by countless high-grade ghostly corpses and Jin Dan cultivator remains, has shown faint signs of ascending to a third-rank demonic plant. The ghostly, eerie jujube tree stands out starkly from the other spirit plants in the Little Xiao Lingjing, yet remains firmly under Qin Ming's control.

Inside the Little Xiao Lingjing.

Hua Tianxiong saw his master swiftly and effortlessly crush the two high-ranking Shen Dao Mountain cultivators.

And worse—he had just killed Wen Yuliang, Shen Dao Mountain's Nascent Soul seed, without hesitation. Such ruthless, powerful, and decisive brutality was truly rare in his lifetime.

It truly opened his eyes. He felt that following this master promised a brilliant future—at least far superior to the exploitative Dry Elder of the Li Huo Palace.

Thinking this, Hua Tianxiong's massive tiger-like body trembled, and he prostrated himself at Qin Ming's feet, bowing in awe: "Master, your magic power is boundless, your lifespan equal to heaven and earth, your immortal path eternal, mighty and majestic!"

…

(End of Chapter)