Chapter 593: Harvest

Just as Qin Ming slew Jiang Yuan.

The blood-refining demonic sect's true disciples hidden within the Da Li and Da Zhou cultivation worlds were all stunned.

They pulled out their demonic-marked blood tablets and, in horror, discovered the soul imprint representing the sect's Holy Son had vanished.

What this meant was obvious.

"The Holy Son has met with misfortune—he is dead!"

"How is this possible?!"

"With Brother Jiang's cultivation, could it be that a powerful Nascent Soul True Person struck him down?"

"We're finished. If the Holy Son is dead, the Ancestors will surely punish us."

"What about Sister Lan Bing? Wasn't she with Brother Jiang?"

"Yes, yes! I also received word—the two of them had infiltrated Da Jin to hunt down Han Ya the Ascended One."

"Could it be that Han Ya the Ascended One launched a final, desperate counterattack?"

"Alas! This is terrible—I never expected such a major event!"

…

Inside the Yin Mo Sect of the Da Li Dynasty.

Lan Bing, the Holy Daughter, clad in a black gauze long dress, held the demonic-marked blood tablet in her slender hand, her narrow eyes flickering.

Below her stood several disciples of the Blood Refining Sect, bowing respectfully.

"Sister Lan, Brother Chou and Brother Meng are dead, and now Brother Jiang has fallen too—what should we do?"

"If too many of us die, our trial results will be ruined."

These true disciples of the Blood Refining Sect had never imagined that, in Da Li and Da Zhou, they had sailed smoothly—plundering the lower realms, sacrificing cultivators' souls and flesh, and advancing their demonic arts with great speed.

But upon entering the Da Jin cultivation world, three fellow disciples had died in succession—even one, the Holy Son, whom the sect's Ancestors had placed great hopes upon.

This had never happened in any of the past descents over the last several millennia.

No wonder these demonic cultivators were shocked and terrified.

Lan Bing sat upon the throne above, indifferent to the murmurs of her fellow disciples below.

As if she had foreseen Jiang Yuan's death all along.

"When I was with Brother Jiang, I once used the divination technique to foretell his fate."

"The result was a dire omen—I felt an inexplicable dread, so I abandoned chasing Han Ya the Ascended One and left early."

"Brother Jiang was obsessed with Han Ya's wealth—he never expected this fate."

Lan Bing spoke lightly, utterly indifferent to the death of the Holy Son.

"What? So that's how it was?"

The disciples of Lan Bing's faction stared at each other, speechless.

Sister Lan is truly heartless—she knew there was danger, yet didn't even warn Brother Jiang to flee.

But then again, they realized, competition among the sect's Holy Sons was fierce.

Sister Lan probably wished Brother Jiang would die sooner.

Then,

Lan Bing continued in a calm tone: "Three disciples lost in succession—this suggests something is truly amiss in the lower realm."

"With Brother Jiang's strength, only a Nascent Soul cultivator could have utterly destroyed him."

"After all, he carried a fourth-rank demonic treasure for protection."

"I wonder which Nascent Soul cultivator struck him down."

At this moment, a yellow-haired demonic cultivator stepped forward and asked: "Sister Lan, could it be that the other sects of the Xuehuan Realm are behind this?"

"If they used methods to smuggle Nascent Soul cultivators into the lower realm to hunt our disciples—"

"To weaken our core strength, it's entirely plausible."

"Especially the death of the Holy Son—it's a severe blow to our sect, exactly what the other sects want."

Lan Bing paused, frowning slightly: "Impossible. If the other sects had secretly interfered, the realm's force would have stirred—and our Demon Descending Platform would have reacted."

"Not even a Soul Transformation elder caught in the void chaos could survive—it would mean certain death."

The yellow-haired cultivator nodded, then asked: "So Sister Lan believes this was done by someone from the lower realm?"

"Should we investigate?"

"After all, both Brother Meng's grandson and our Holy Son are dead—the higher-ups will surely probe this thoroughly."

Lan Bing thought for a moment, then said:

"Let the Yin Mo Sect handle the investigation with the demonic-marked blood tablets—do not move out yourselves, lest more die."

Her voice was cold: "If Jiang Yuan couldn't withstand them, you'd meet the same fate the moment you encountered them."

"Jiang Yuan couldn't even send out a message before he died—that alone proves the danger."

"Also, notify the other disciples hidden in Da Jin—they must return to Da Li as soon as possible."

"Focus your main efforts on the Qing Yuan Sect's secret realm."

"As for Han Ya the Ascended One… he was simply lucky."

Upon hearing this, the disciples below quickly responded.

"Yes, Sister Lan!"

…

On the other side.

Qin Ming had taken a long detour and returned to the Five Elements Mountain marketplace.

Though this journey had been fraught with unexpected troubles, it had yielded great gains.

He had first exchanged with Han Ya the Ascended One for the crucial "Five Element Spirit Ginseng" needed to refine the Nascent Soul Pill, and acquired fourth-rank spiritual material like Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold.

Most importantly, he had obtained Hu Xu Zi's storage bag and the entire wealth of the Blood Refining Sect's Holy Son.

Within the Small Spirit Realm:

"Bountiful harvest! A tremendous harvest!"

The Shi Tian Rat, Xuan Shui Crocodile, Yin Yi Frost Bee, and Hua Tian Bear gathered around the corpse of the demonic sect's Holy Son, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

"This… this Holy Son of the demonic sect really died at Master's hands?" Hua Tian Bear's face twisted into a bitter smile.

He would surely bear the blame when he returned.

After giving Hua Tian Bear some rewards, Qin Ming sent him away.

Before leaving, he instructed him to continue gathering the remaining spiritual materials and to monitor cultivation world intelligence at all times.

Hua Tian Bear bowed repeatedly in gratitude before departing—he had been deeply shaken and needed to return immediately to handle matters within the Shangmeng Society.

Next,

Qin Ming examined his gains.

First, he inspected Hu Xu Zi's storage bag; his spiritual sense swept through it and was immediately drawn to a segment of deep blue spiritual wood.

He took it out and examined it closely.

"Is this the Star Sea Divine Vine—one of the Five Divine Woods of the cultivation world?"

Even the Shi Tian Rat gazed at it with longing—evidently, this object was extraordinary.

As Qin Ming pulled out the Star Sea Divine Vine, his life-spirit plant, Yin Yang Xuan Teng, suddenly emitted a joyful, resonant vibration.

"Could this divine wood have an effect on my life-spirit plant?"

"It still has roots—perhaps I can revive it using the 【Regenerate Spirit Seed】 term?"

Qin Ming pondered briefly, then acted.

He walked to the base of his life-spirit plant, Yin Yang Xuan Teng, and planted the segment of Star Sea Divine Vine nearby.

Then,

Qin Ming used one 【Regenerate Spirit Seed】 term. An arcane force descended; purple spores materialized in midair, enveloping the Star Sea Divine Vine.

Moments later, the segment gradually regained vitality.

However,

Perhaps because this divine wood was too high in rank, a single term's energy was insufficient to fully revive it.

So Qin Ming immediately used two more 【Regenerate Spirit Seed】 terms, applying them to the Star Sea Divine Vine.

Finally, the Star Sea Divine Vine began emitting faint blue starlight sprouts, fully revived and alive.

Qin Ming then consumed five more 【Temporal-Spatial Leaf】 terms, accelerating its growth to five hundred years.

Star-like vines surged wildly upward, eventually forming a small tree three feet tall.

The divine vine shimmered with radiant light, mesmerizing to behold.

Suddenly,

Tiny specks of luminous radiance emanated from the Star Sea Divine Vine and drifted toward the life-spirit plant, Yin Yang Xuan Teng.

Yin Yang Xuan Teng absorbed this starlight; the entire plant subtly changed, as if receiving some hidden benefit.

Having completed this, Qin Ming turned again to Hu Xu Zi's storage bag. As Da Zhou's foremost lone cultivator, his wealth was considerable.

Over the past century, he had roamed far and wide, seizing rare treasures in his quest for Nascent Soul breakthroughs.

He had even raided auctions of the Wan Dao Shangmeng Society.

Inside his storage bag alone were over three hundred superior-grade spirit stones, countless middle- and low-grade ones, and several rare spiritual materials aiding Nascent Soul formation.

Illusionary Void Elixir, Spirit Ming Qi.

Illusion-Extinction Mysterious Liquid, Spirit Ming Qi.

And his most powerful magic treasure: the Yangyan Hammer, a high-grade third-rank item.

The rest were elixirs, talismans, and similar items—quite a comprehensive collection, but of little use to Qin Ming.

Moreover, his other magic treasures were mostly fire-affinity.

Then.

Qin Ming put away the storage bag and turned his gaze to Jiang Yuan's corpse.

He released his spiritual sense and searched the body for a moment, but found no storage bag or similar item.

Only the pitch-black primordial demon pearl remained.

He extracted Jiang Yuan's perfect-grade Golden Core—the essence of a Golden Core cultivator's entire being, and thus the most valuable item.

Even as Qin Ming examined the Golden Core, deep within its dark core, a sacred embryo began to coalesce, leaving only one final step before becoming a Demon Nascent Soul.

One could only imagine how terrifying Jiang Yuan's cultivation talent was! The three beasts—Shi Tian Rat and others—stared at the Golden Core in Qin Ming's hand, drooling profusely.

He picked up the demon pearl and the Golden Core, then cast a Thorns Spell upon the corpse, obtaining a blood pearl of perfect Golden Core grade, which he immediately tossed to his life-plant, Yin-Yang Mystic Vine.

The Mystic Vine, now nourished, began to grow slowly once more.

The remaining corpse was buried again beneath the Fengyou Ghost Jujube Tree as fertilizer.

Jiang Yuan's corpse, cultivated through the Yinming Tian Shi Jue, was an unprecedentedly potent nourishment for this spiritual plant.

Then.

Qin Ming directed his spiritual sense toward the primordial demon pearl and forcibly erased the lingering imprint.

"As expected!"

The moment the imprint vanished, Qin Ming saw that the demon pearl contained a space of over ten zhang in size, meticulously divided into orderly sections.

Far larger than an ordinary storage bag—dozens of times bigger.

Qin Ming immediately plunged his spiritual sense into it and began browsing.

"Whoa~"

"Just high-grade spirit stones alone—over two thousand pieces. Far exceeding the wealth of an ordinary perfect Golden Core cultivator."

"Also vast quantities of rare herbs, talismans, elixirs, and cultivation manuals."

"These were merely minor items."

"The real treasures must be his several life-linked demon treasures."

"And this primordial demon pearl itself—a genuine fourth-rank demon treasure."

Immediately, Qin Ming summoned a blood-colored inkstone-like demon treasure from the ground into his hand.

"This is the Blood Pagoda the demon sect's holy heir originally used—it has reached pseudo-demon treasure status, just one final step away from ascending to fourth rank."

"A fourth-rank demon treasure is equivalent to a Spirit Treasure used by a Nascent Soul True Person."

Qin Ming had witnessed its deadly efficacy—it could drag a cultivator into the Blood Pagoda at will, suppress and weaken their cultivation base, and dominate the battle within its blood-refining realm, tipping the balance of momentum entirely in his favor.

Had it not been for the desperate Fire Xu Zi, who exploded his Golden Core without warning and blasted a crack into the Blood Pagoda, the Jin Han Elder of the Wan Dao Trading Society would never have escaped.

He would have been completely refined by Jiang Yuan's Blood Pagoda.

"Still, even if damaged, the Blood Pagoda should be repairable."

Next, Qin Ming discovered the three Golden Core late-stage demon heads in a corner of the space.

Unfortunately, with Jiang Yuan's death, the three demon heads lost all vitality—their qi vanished entirely, perishing alongside their master.

"And this demon net, the Maluo Tian Zhang—a top-grade third-rank sealing demon treasure."

After a moment, Qin Ming also found hundreds of dark crystal-like stones, surging with an unusual energy.

He flipped through a demonic text on the shelf and learned these were called demon crystals—extremely precious in demonic cultivation, even rarer than high-grade spirit stones to demon cultivators.

As Qin Ming delved deeper, his spiritual sense reached the center of the demon pearl.

What he saw there left him utterly stunned.

"Could this be the 'primordial demon qi'?"

At the center stood a demonic rune altar, upon which floated a strand of pitch-black demon qi, as if ready to devour one's soul.

This strand of primordial demon qi was the very core of the fourth-rank demon pearl.

"Even the long-browed face was unusually interested in this—likely because of this strand of primordial demon qi."

Finally, Qin Ming's gaze fell upon a row of shelves in the corner.

Neatly arranged upon them were jade slips and various books.

"The demon sect's holy heir's demonic cultivation technique was indeed sealed by some restriction—impossible to break easily."

Qin Ming pulled out several pitch-black jade slips and tossed them to Shi Tian Rat, ordering it to break the seals.

Shi Tian Rat swiftly spat out Forbidden Mystic Light, dissolving the seals in an instant.

Qin Ming probed them with his spiritual sense—his expression remained unchanged.

"Indeed, it's the Yinming Tian Shi Jue."

"I never expected the demonic disciples of the Xuehuan World cultivate this pig-farming technique."

"Presumably, when Jiang Yuan reaches the stage of forming a Demon Nascent Soul, his cultivation will be harvested by someone else."

"And the demon cultivator surnamed Qiu, who cultivates the Heavenly Demon Body Infusion, is the same."

"Clearly, they all cultivate the same demonic technique, then devour each other—only the last survivor becomes the strongest."

"Someone powerful must be secretly orchestrating this in the Xuehuan World."

……

Qin Ming put away the jade slips and continued browsing the shelves.

"Besides Jiang Yuan's own demonic techniques and secret arts, there were also other manuals he had collected—geographical records of the Xuehuan World, compendiums of spiritual items, and even transmissions of a hundred cultivation arts and personal notes."

"This—"

"The fourth-rank alchemy transmission: The Blood Refining Elixir Classic!"

Qin Ming's eyes instantly brightened—he became intensely interested.

After skimming through it, he realized this alchemy classic was indeed the alchemy lineage of the Blood Refining Demon Sect.

It even contained fourth-rank high-grade elixir formulas required by late Nascent Soul demon lords.

For example, the Boundless Blood Sea Elixir, Five Viscera Elixir, Blood Spirit Elixir—all required the flesh and living soul of cultivators as ingredients, and employed cruel, evil methods.

These elixirs could drastically boost demonic cultivation in a short time.

They were utterly unlike the alchemy traditions of the human realm—extremely brutal and ruthless.

Qin Ming flipped through it briefly, then put it away—he had no intention of brewing such demonic elixirs now.

"Hmm, but if I ever get the chance to capture a few more demon cultivators, I might try brewing these human elixirs."

"Who knows? Might come in handy someday."

After a brief pause, he put away the Elixir Classic.

After much searching, Qin Ming found a text on fourth-rank demon treasure forging on the shelf.

"The ritual and nurturing methods for the Blood Pagoda—and even its repair technique—are right here."

"To repair the demon treasure requires ten Golden Core-level living souls, some flesh and blood, two hundred high-grade demon crystals, and one Cold Yin Essence Soul."

"So gathering the materials to repair this treasure won't be easy."

Coincidentally, Qin Ming discovered all the required materials in another corner of the primordial demon pearl.

"How many crimes did Jiang Yuan commit in the Da Zhou Realm? So many living souls and cultivator flesh…"

"I suppose I've done the people a service."

"With the death of this demon sect holy heir, no other demon sects will dare lay a hand on Da Jin."

"I've brought peace to the Da Jin cultivation realm again…"

Qin Ming picked up another book detailing the geography of the Xuehuan World and began reading.

"So the Xuehuan World is a small realm situated between the human realm and the spiritual realm."

"Controlled by several large sects—with at least one Soul Transformation sect among them."

"The Blood Refining Demon Sect is one of them."

"This so-called Heavenly Demon Cataclysm is merely the demon sect's way of testing disciples while harvesting resources from the lower realms."

……

(End of Chapter)