Chapter 106: After the Slaying!

"The spiritual aura is very rich."

"Although this place is in ruins, the spiritual aura is extremely rich, and Yunhe even feels that it might have reached the level of a third-stage spiritual vein."

"How do we get out?"

"Yunhe quickly discovered that none of the passages around him seemed to lead out of this place."

"Having been swept here by the explosion of the Trapped Beast Pillar, how should we leave?"

"He lightly inhaled, feeling a faint pain coming from his chest."

"He immediately walked to a corner, sat cross-legged, and took a few elixirs from his storage ring, stuffing them into his mouth."

"No matter what, it's never wrong to first recover from injuries."

"He lightly tapped the spirit insect bag, releasing a few spirit bees to guard the surroundings, then began circulating his cultivation method to refine the elixir's power and restore his condition."

"Demon Beast World, Huanhu Dao."

"Yunhe, lying on the sunbathing platform and pondering the stone tablet, had his eyes flicker with a faint gleam."

"Spiritual Eyes!"

"Although his spiritual eyes were still far inferior to those of the little fox, with the little fox's assistance from the side, he could at least be considered to have gotten started."

"Relying on his current spiritual eyes, he could at least somewhat understand some of the content on the stone tablet."

"The demons' script is more complicated than humans', all kinds of varieties."

"Each race could possibly possess one or even several scripts; added together, there are just too many."

"However, he currently doesn't have much energy to study this stone tablet; although his cultivator body is temporarily safe, he might also be trapped in a secret realm, and he doesn't know if danger will arise later, so he needs to focus more energy on his cultivator body."

"Moreover."

"Yunhe took a deep breath."

"He felt the spiritual power coming from the void drive the circulation of demon power within his body."

"It became noticeably more active."

"In not too long, he should also be about ready to attempt a breakthrough to mid-second stage."

"Demon sense spread out."

"A stronger demon sense granted him a larger coverage range."

"He conveyed his intention to the little fox, white ape, Ni Qiu, and the other little followers."

"Simply put, he needs to sleep, and have everyone pay attention to the situation around Huanhu Dao."

"If it were before, Yunhe might not yet be able to entrust Huanhu Dao with peace of mind."

"But now, with the little fox present, he can feel much more at ease."

"At least it is a mid-second-stage demon beast."

"Cultivation World, remains of the Heaven Insect Sect."

"Yunhe opened his eyes."

"The divine sense hasn't been greatly affected; magic power has recovered to about eighty or ninety percent, and although his bodily injuries aren't fully healed, they won't hinder movement."

"After checking himself over, he stood up."

"Although the Black Tortoise Ring had been scorched once by Xiao Qiyuan's Gold Fire Centipede, fortunately the impact was not great; it is the Wind Fire Boat."

"The Wind Fire Boat encountered some problems due to the impact of the Trapped Beast Pillar's explosion."

"However, this place seems to have a special flight prohibition formation; one likely needs to hold a Heaven Insect Sect identity token to fly, which actually makes the damage to the flying vessel less significant."

"He put the several flight talismans in his hand and two middle-grade spirit stones into his storage ring."

"He made a reasonable inference based on the test results."

"Moreover, although the spiritual aura here is very rich, it seems mixed with a corrupting aura; absorbing too much of it is not beneficial but instead affects the purity of magic power."

"This is also what he discovered while cultivating to recover himself earlier, so he had to absorb the spiritual power from the middle-grade spirit stones to restore his magic power rather than drawing from the aura of this place."

"In other words, the longer he stays here, the more likely it is that his magic power will become insufficiently replenished."

"But the demon beasts seem not to be greatly affected by this."

"Talking to himself, he looked at the spirit bees guarding the surroundings."

"I don't know if Senior Brother Hua and his companions are still alive, nor do I know whether Wei Ming and Xiao Qiyuan, the two people who were closer to the Trapped Beast Pillar, have also been swept into this place."

"This place is undoubtedly the Heaven Insect Sect from ten thousand years ago; although the danger cannot yet be determined, if one wants to leave, perhaps a way must be found from that great hall."

"He raised his head to gaze at the distant, blurry outline of the lofty building."

"Having simply completed his self-analysis and analysis of his environment and situation,"

"Yunhe lifted his foot and walked toward the direction of the great hall."

"He also released some spirit bees from the spirit insect bag, ordering them to carefully guard the surroundings."

"In the situation where one cannot replenish magic power by absorbing heavenly and earthly spiritual aura, the magic power within one's body becomes especially important; unless absolutely necessary, one should still avoid wasting it casually."

"After walking a distance, the surrounding ruined and decaying houses gradually increased in number."

"Was this the dwelling area of the Heaven Insect Sect's disciples back then?"

"He also, with a bit of curiosity, examined the house that appeared least corroded and damaged; naturally, he found nothing."

"Over ten thousand years, too long a time, unless it is some special treasure or spiritual object, other things, even magical artifacts or spiritual artifacts, cannot be preserved for such a length."

"If it is merely a dwelling area, the danger should be relatively low."

"Yunhe also did not relax his vigilance because of this."

"After walking for several hours, he finally left this dwelling area."

"Just the size of this plot of land occupied by the disciples' houses shows how vast and prosperous the Heaven Insect Sect originally was."

"Such a sect actually being destroyed overnight truly makes it hard to imagine what exactly happened back then."

"After passing through a densely vegetated but extremely secluded area, what appeared before Yunhe's eyes was a misty, hazy place."

「This is a herb field?! 」

Yunhe's eyes lit up.

Although the spiritual qi here is unusual, there might still be some spiritual herbs able to survive under special conditions.

And after ten thousand years of growth, the spiritual herbs left behind are probably not.

「Formation? 」

But soon, Yunhe discovered that outside the herb field, a formation was covering it.

Buzz—

Several red-ringed gold-spotted bees hovered outside the formation, their two pairs of wings constantly vibrating, as if something inside the formation had caught their attention.

「But after such a long time, even if the formation still exists, its power is probably only a tenth left, right? 」

Yunhe lightly rubbed his storage ring, his eyes glinting.

「Huh? 」

But just as he was about to act, his movement stalled; he waved his hand to recall the red-ringed gold-spotted bees, the ground wriggled beneath him, and with his breath restrained, his whole body vanished from the spot.

Soon after.

After he disappeared, a figure somewhat embarrassed but looking somewhat excited ran toward this side.

It was actually Wei Ming!

His complexion was flushed, though it was unclear whether due to his injuries not yet fully healed or due to excitement.

He stopped in front of the herb-field formation where Yunhe had just stood.

「I didn't expect the Insect Sect to still exist; it's a pity the token was destroyed. But after so many years, the power of these formations is only. Who?! 」

While he was muttering excitedly, he suddenly sensed something and shouted sternly.

But no one answered him.

But Wei Ming was quite certain, even patting his storage bag to take out a black rod-like Spiritual Artifact, then he shouted low again:

「Xiao Qiyuan? Or the three fellow Daoists of the Qingzong Sect? 」

This made Yunhe, hiding below, very surprised.

Logically, with his current mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation base, after employing the Turtle Breath Body Forging Technique, even a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator should not be able to detect him.

But Wei Ming's appearance didn't seem like he was trying to trick him out; rather, he was genuinely certain someone was nearby.

Only on Wei Ming's third stern shout did Yunhe slowly float up from underground.

「Is it you? 」

Seeing Yunhe, Wei Ming showed a look of surprise.

His biggest guess was actually Xiao Qiyuan, but he never expected it to be Yunhe.

「May I ask, Fellow Daoist Wei, how did you detect me below? 」 Yunhe asked with a smile and a bow, very sincerely.

Wei Ming narrowed his eyes, a hint of mockery appearing on his face: 「What gives you the confidence that I'll tell you? 」

Hearing that, Yunhe helplessly shrugged, saying indifferently:

「Then there's nothing to be done; I can only seek the answer myself. 」

The mockery on Wei Ming's face grew richer: 「Just you? Relying on a high-grade Spiritual Artifact. 」

Before he could finish speaking, Wei Ming's expression suddenly changed.

Screech—

Dense long cries came from beneath his feet.

Immediately after, a fire-bathing Li bird burst out of the ground.

「Mid-Foundation Establishment?! Fire Separation Pearl?! 」

Wei Ming let out a long whistle, waving his black rod, and with a "bang bang" scattered several Li birds that lunged at him.

Unexpectedly, Yunhe not only concealed his cultivation base, but also hid another high-grade Spiritual Artifact underground!

This rod in his hand also seems to be a rather extraordinary demonic cultivator's Spiritual Artifact; each strike unleashes a streak of vicious killing fire, unafraid of the fire separation, and can even clash with the Li birds of the Fire Separation Pearl.

Moreover, he patted his storage bag and summoned a round black shield, engraved with three skulls; after he input the spell seal, two clusters of ghostly green netherfire appeared in the skulls' eye sockets.

Three skulls topped with ghostly green netherfire circled around him, protecting him.

Up to this point, Wei Ming secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately prepared to strike his spirit beast bag.

However, the next moment.

He raised his head in shock, seeing something that made his eyes almost burst.

「Supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact! Beast Soul Banner?! 」

A black banner towered in the air, countless beast souls surging from its swaying fabric; even just the lead three-headed monstrous bird made Wei Ming's hair stand on end, shocking him greatly.

Boom!!!

Rolling beast souls swept down unreasonably, in Wei Ming's incredulous gaze easily shattering the summoned skulls and destroying the black shield.

That black rod likewise could not obstruct the beast souls' rampage, snapping in the black light sphere spat out by the three-headed monstrous bird!

Shortly thereafter, Wei Ming was also submerged by the beast soul wave.

Thud—

The corpses of both realms fell, but Yunhe did not stop there; instead, he furrowed his brows and extended his divine sense outward.

【Found you.】

The ground writhed beneath his feet.

In a corner of the vast herb field, the disheveled, deathly pale Wei Ming clutched his broken left arm.

He coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, looking at the swiftly approaching Yunhe with utter despair.

「. I didn't expect you to hide so deeply. Cough cough, supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact Beast Soul Banner. Could you also be a demonic cultivator hiding within the Qingzong Sect? 」

The one who had performed the Severed Arm Substitution Secret Technique ultimately could not escape due to his severe injuries.

"Besides two high-grade Spiritual Artifacts, he actually hides a top-grade Beast Soul Banner—this person, could he be a descendant of a Supreme Elder of some Demonic Sect?"

Wei Ming's heart was filled with bitterness.

He first fell victim to a sneak attack by Xiao Qiyuan, who was hiding a third-rank demonic beast, and then encountered Yunhe, a cultivator who seemed unassuming but actually possessed many Spiritual Artifacts.

Seeing Yunhe approaching ever closer, Wei Ming coughed up another mouthful of blood and forced out an ugly smile.

"Yun, Yun Dao-fellow, as fellow cultivators of the Demonic Sect, I, I am willing to tell you anything you want to know, including how I previously discovered the reason you were hiding here."

"No need."

Yunhe spoke calmly while holding the Beast Soul Banner.

"No! You need it! I know the map of this place, and I know where to obtain the greatest benefit, even including Spirit Materials for Core Formation! I know where there are Spirit Materials that aid in Core Formation!"

Upon hearing this, Yunhe's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Seeing this, Wei Ming revealed a look of joy, his hand quietly moving toward his waist as he continued:

"Not only Spirit Materials for Core Formation, do you know, Dao-fellow, that the Heavenly Insect Sect possesses a technique called the 'Thousand Insects Myriad Insects Art', which also has the effect of increasing the chances of Core Formation? What Xiao Qiyuan is seeking is precisely this; if we two join forces, even he—"

But his words had not yet finished, and his hand had not yet touched the Spirit Beast Pouch.

Suddenly, a double-headed black tiger leapt out from behind him.

Wei Ming clutched his neck, and a large amount of scalding blood spurted out.

Yet his consciousness rapidly faded away unnoticed, his gaze becoming scattered and dim.

Finally, all that could be seen was Yunhe walking up close, holding a chipped jade tablet in his hand, speaking lightly with a hint of teasing:

"What you want, I can take it myself; no need to trouble you, Dao-friend Wei."

————

PS: To celebrate a friend's wedding, the poor Daoist went to help liven things up; the update is slightly late, I hope fellow Daoists will forgive! Hiccup—end of the month, please support with monthly votes!

(End of Chapter)