Chapter 488: Descendants of Old Acquaintances

Within the Small Nether Realm.

Neatly arranged on the grass were the corpses of four great demons.

Except for the essence blood of the Genchi Demon Serpent, which Qin Ming had handed over to the Demon Infant, the essence blood of all other corpses remained intact.

A fourth-tier dragon serpent is a treasure trove; every part of its body consists of high-grade spiritual materials that are rare encounters even in the Immortal Realm.

Whether for refining pills, forging treasures, crafting arrays, or making talismans, all of it would be of great use.

"Hehehe! Truly a family of four, all neat and tidy, lying together here." The Shi Tian Shu revealed an excited expression, rubbing its plump little hands.

Qin Ming glanced at it; how could he not know what scheme this fellow was hatching again? However, since the Shi Tian Shu could currently produce Nether Profound Stones, it was an asset of great use to him.

The Nether Profound Stones were now completely exhausted; he needed to prepare some to keep on hand.

Qin Ming immediately tossed the Bi Xi Wang's demon core, along with the demon core of another early fourth-tier dragon serpent, to the Shi Tian Shu.

"Since devouring Nascent Souls allows you to produce Nether Profound Stones, devouring fourth-tier demon cores should work as well; perform well for me."

"Thank you for the master's reward!" The Shi Tian Shu accepted the demon cores, its little face nearly splitting from a grin.

It immediately went off to find a place to refine and assimilate those two demon cores.

For some reason, ever since the Shi Tian Shu advanced to become a fourth-tier shapeshifted great demon,

it had become increasingly wasteful; consecutively devouring several Nascent Souls had only slightly increased its cultivation, with seemingly no significant changes elsewhere.

For an ordinary shapeshifted great demon, consuming Nascent Souls in such a manner would surely result in a major leap in cultivation.

After all, the Nascent Souls of humans and demonic cultivators are similar to demon cores; they are the essence of a cultivator's entire being and likewise serve as a great tonic for demon races.

'Could it be that whatever it eats, it excretes, completing a cycle?'

Qin Ming couldn't help but harbor such a strange thought.

Immediately after.

Qin Ming collected all the essence blood from the other three dragon serpent corpses.

He kept the bottle of essence blood belonging to Crown Prince Xuan Ce; after all, hailing from the East Sea Dragon Palace, he was truly of the Wang Zu among the sea races, bearing the bloodline of an ancient true spirit, and might prove of great use in the future.

Or he could continue giving it to the Demon Infant for body refinement.

Qin Ming then took a portion from the other two bottles of essence blood and approached the spiritual field where he planted the Blood Serpent Green Rice.

Forming a hand seal and pointing a finger, he poured it onto the Azure Sky Spiritual Soil.

As the fourth-tier dragon serpent essence blood was poured in, the dozen or so stalks of Blood Serpent Green Rice seemed to receive immense benefit, emitting a wave of extreme joy.

They then began to grow wildly; strands of visible, blood-colored dragon serpent essence continuously rose from the roots of the spiritual plants upward, filling the entire stalks, while between the green stems, the blood-colored veins became even more pronounced.

The plump green rice ears of the spiritual grain even bent the entire spiritual plant under their weight.

This was the benefit brought by irrigating with fourth-tier dragon blood; although cultivating Blood Serpent Green Rice only required essence blood from third-tier snakes or serpents,

Qin Ming had applied heavy doses, deciding to cultivate this batch of mid-grade fourth-tier spiritual rice to its utmost limit.

In his line of sight, two attribute strips changed accordingly: 【Name】: Blood Serpent Green Rice 【Attribute】: Nascent Soul Magic Power x5 (Maturity 85%) 【Name】: Blood Serpent Green Rice 【Attribute】: Time Flies Like an Arrow x5 (Maturity 82%) "Soon, it will be ripe."

"Once this dragon blood irrigation is finished, we should be able to harvest."

Qin Ming stared at these Blood Serpent Green Rice plants, his eyes revealing anticipation.

Subsequently.

He stored the dragon serpent corpses on the ground and exited the Small Nether Realm in a rather good mood.

After accomplishing all this, Qin Ming prepared to leave Canghai Xiancheng and return to Wangyue Island.

However, as he passed through the core district, he inadvertently caught sight of a somewhat familiar face.

Thus, Qin Ming slowed his pace.

Inside the Lu family courtyard.

A beautiful woman, displaying late-stage Qi Condensation cultivation, was leading a son and daughter along with several clansmen in worshipping their ancestors within the ancestral hall.

"We are grateful for the blessings of our ancestors, allowing us to still receive the grace and protection of the Xiancheng."

Hanging directly above the ancestral hall were two portraits; they were old acquaintances Qin Ming had met years ago, Lu Liang and Lu Wanjun. After the clansmen had all departed, the young woman remained behind to tidy the incense offerings alone.

Gazing at the portraits on the wall, the woman seemed to be recalling something, her expression filled with sorrow.

Little did she know that a figure had silently appeared within the ancestral hall.

The woman gazed at the portraits, secretly wiping away a tear, then prepared to exit the ancestral hall.

But the moment she turned around, she saw an ordinary-looking young man quietly gazing at the portraits on the wall.

She could not sense even a trace of magic power aura from this person; he seemed just like a mortal.

Yet, once she clearly saw Qin Ming's face, she recognized him instantly.

Isn't this the Wangyue Zhenjun who shook the Southern Wilderness? Greatly startled, she immediately moved to perform a full prostration: "Junior Lu Cui'er pays respects to Senior Wangyue Zhenjun!"

Qin Ming waved his hand casually, lifting her up: "No need for formalities."

"I didn't expect Lu Wanjun to have also passed away; when did she leave? And who are you to her?"

In the one-and-only correct version!

"Replying to Senior, I am junior Lu Cui'er; the person in the portrait is my mother. Several decades ago, when the demonic calamity erupted, she went to rescue my father but unfortunately encountered a large group of demonic cultivators, and both perished." Speaking to this point, touched by the scene and saddened by the memory, the woman secretly shed tears again.

"Alas! I didn't expect that this woman also failed to escape disaster." Qin Ming sighed with emotion.

Whenever he entered seclusion, it was for months at the shortest, or years at the longest.

Consequently, he hadn't paid much attention to certain matters outside.

"Lu Liang and Lu Wanjun were both old friends of this seat; as their only descendant, I ought to show you some care. Do you have any wish?" Qin Ming nodded, gazing at the portraits, and asked calmly.

Hearing this, Lu Cui'er's body trembled, excitement appearing in her expression; who could remain calm when faced with an opportunity granted by a Nascent Soul Zhenjun?

After hesitating for a long time, she cautiously requested: "Senior Zhenjun... I have a son and a daughter; could you please examine them for me..."

"There is no need; when I entered just now, I already checked; their cultivation talent is quite ordinary and not suitable for entering under my tutelage."

"However, if you are willing, you may send them to Wangyue Island to serve as spiritual farmers; even if they cannot seek immortality, they can at least ensure a safe life."

"Many thanks for the benevolence of Senior Zhenjun; this junior dares not hope for too much," Lü Cuier hurriedly said, bowing gracefully.

But by the time she rose again, Qin Ming's figure was already gone from before her eyes.

Only when her gaze fell upon the table beside her did she notice an exquisite jade bottle that had appeared there.

She hurried forward to open it; along with a strange fragrance of pills wafting out, she saw lying inside nothing other than a deep blue spiritual pill, radiating a thick pill halo.

"A Foundation Establishment Pill!!" Lü Cuier covered her small mouth, standing stunned on the spot, momentarily speechless and choked with emotion.

After leaving the Lü residence, Qin Ming also stopped by the Feng family's talisman shop in the outer city district to take a look.

He learned that Feng Sihai had passed away decades ago, his lifespan exhausted; now, everything had changed while the people remained the same—or rather, the people were gone too.

"Seas turn into mulberry fields, time slips away easily, and many old acquaintances have departed."

After indulging in these sentiments for a moment, Qin Ming immediately mounted his Lingxiao Precious Chariot and returned to Wangyue Island.

At the same time.

During this period, Qin Ming received another piece of fairly good news reported back by Mo Lingwei.

It was that Fang Han, the direct disciple of the late third-tier Dandao Sect Grandmaster Gongsun Yang from Xuanyi Valley in the State of Liang, had successfully advanced to the realm of a third-tier Dandao Sect Grandmaster just a few days prior.

He had become the youngest Dandao Sect Grandmaster in the history of the Southern Wilderness since Qin Ming.

Furthermore, his cultivation had also broken through to the Jin Dan stage; Xuanyi Valley could now be said to have successors.

Qin Ming had once met that young fellow several times; he never expected that after so much time had passed, the lad would actually be capable of shouldering the heavy burden of an entire sect.

Xuan Yu Laozu's lifespan was likely nearing its end as well.

He immediately attached a third-tier Dandao Sect notebook and instructed Mo Lingwei to attend the Jin Dan ceremony on his behalf.

After all, back in his early years, in order to break through to the Jin Dan stage, Qin Ming had once traveled to Xuanyi Valley to 'borrow' a pill formula for forming a Jin Dan; now, this could be considered settling that karmic debt.

(End of Chapter)