Chapter 187: with translation of chapter title

The City of Ten Thousand Immortals, Yun Palace City.

Yunhe walked out of the Transmission Hall, and under the wary sideways glances of many people he left directly, turning into a stream of light that finally returned to the front of his cave dwelling.

Looking at the various message talismans hanging outside the restriction, he did not examine them one by one, but simply swept his sleeve and gathered them all up.

Taking out the token to dispel the restriction, and seeing that his cave dwelling had been covered with a layer of dust, Yunhe lightly formed a hand seal.

Hum—

The vines coiled around the cave dwelling, which had seemed motionless, suddenly sprang to life, growing fresh, vivid, crisp new shoots, swaying their leaves, and quickly swept the dust inside the cave dwelling clean.

Afterward, Yunhe gradually returned the Scarlet Shadow Golden-Winged Bees, Corpse Soul Gu, Corpse Gu, Heaven Capital Gu corpses, and other spiritual objects to their respective chambers.

Having done these, he returned to the bedroom, flopped onto the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Although he had been away for less than ten years, he found that many things seemed as if they had just happened yesterday.

He had slept for two days and a night before he finally got up, full of vigor.

He took out those message talismans and gave them a simple look.

Some were from nearby Core Formation cultivators who were already familiar with him, while others were still the same old invitations from various big and small forces; for these Yunhe was too lazy to give any reply, simply tossing them aside, whereas he gave a simple reply to each greeting from his fellow Core Formation cultivators.

In the following days, Yunhe became active again on Heaven Pillar Mountain, occasionally visiting a few Core Formation 'friends' or participating in some small exchange meetings.

Initially, as a newly formed Core Formation cultivator, he mostly just listened at these exchange meetings, but now he could also voice his own opinions or suggestions.

At the same time, taking advantage of these opportunities, he began to search for the ingredients of the Spirit Ear Pill.

The most troublesome main ingredient, the inner core of a third-tier demon beast, he already had; what he mainly sought was 'Gold Ear Grass,' but unfortunately this spiritual herb is not very common.

Afterward, he wandered for a few days in the market of Yun Palace City.

He did not find Gold Ear Grass, but he purchased many rare ancient books covering various aspects, which to some extent enriched his knowledge reserves.

Demon Beast World.

Huanhu Dao.

Plop—

On the vast, boundless lake surface, a huge loach as long as two zhang swam freely in the lake.

Looking east and west, it gave the feeling of an old landlord inspecting his own territory.

Although it clearly had only the late First Stage cultivation base, some second-tier demon beasts in the lake, upon seeing it, dared not move at all, instead showing fearful expressions, obediently staying to the side and watching it swim past.

As for this, the loach had long grown accustomed; although it was only late First Stage, the degree of its spiritual intelligence was higher than that of some early or mid Second Stage demon beasts.

This is a special loach, and it enjoys considerable fame throughout Huanhu Dao.

The reason is simple.

It was the earliest demon beast to follow the lord of Huanhu Dao, to follow the 'King,' which gave it a very special status within Huanhu Dao's territory.

Even when facing second-tier demon beasts, it mostly meets them with a friendly attitude.

Now, within the territory of Huanhu Dao, if one were to say who holds the highest status besides the lord of Huanhu Dao, it would necessarily be the Three-Tailed Spirit Fox serving as the 'Grand Steward.'

Next come the Little Green Bird, the White Ape King, the Green Shadow Swallow, and so on.

But if we talk about whose status is the most special, there is no doubt it is this loach, born ordinary, of ordinary species, and ordinary appearance.

"Loach."

Suddenly.

A familiar voice came from the shore of Huanhu Dao.

Upon hearing that familiar voice, the loach shuddered, flicked its tail twice, and dashed toward Huanhu Dao at top speed.

"Plop!!"

The loach poked its head out, looking at the familiar towering figure standing on the sunbathing platform by the shore, and kept slapping the lake surface.

"All right, all right."

Seeing its excited appearance, Yunhe couldn't help but be speechless, and waved his paw.

Then he lightly patted his storage bag, took out a pure white small jade bottle, tightly gripped it with his claw and gently squeezed to break the jade bottle, scooping up a mass of dark red liquid in which a huge snake wrapped in black scales could be seen flowing, exuding a foul, putrid stench.

But upon seeing this mass of liquid, the loach's green-bean-like eyes could not look away, and it even unconsciously swallowed saliva.

"This is for you."

Yunhe shook his claw, throwing the condensed ball of liquid outward.

"Plop!"

The loach spat out two bubbles, almost instinctively leaping from the water and catching the mass of liquid with its mouth.

But it quickly reacted, not swallowing it in one gulp, but instead looking at Yunhe in puzzlement.

"This good stuff, is it really for me?"

Regarding this, Yunhe didn't say much more, merely speaking calmly:

"Go, find a quiet place to digest it properly; if all goes well, there will be more later. Don't let me down."

Upon hearing this, the loach immediately showed a human-like grateful expression, nodded its head heavily, flicked its tail, and then dove sharply toward the bottom of the water.

The liquid Yunhe had just taken out was precisely the blood of the mid-third-tier demon beast, the Corrupt Toxic Scale Snake, mixed with a thread of essence blood.

For the loach, which is still only late First Stage, it is not the case that the more essence blood it consumes, the better.

Too much would exceed its tolerance; lightly, it would lose its nature and gradually turn into a new Corrupt Toxic Scale Snake; heavily, it would explode and die outright.

That thread of essence blood was just right.

If successful, the loach's ordinary, mundane bloodline is very likely to undergo a change.

And the traits of the Corrupt Toxic Scale Snake also match some of the loach's own traits quite well.

Yunhe admits he is a selfish person, but he is not completely devoid of old feelings; for this loach that once diligently guarded the entrance of his cave dwelling, he still takes quite good care of it.

Otherwise, given the loach's own potential, it would be impossible for it to advance its cultivation base to late First Stage in such a short time.

However, Yunhe also understands that his own cultivation base will only grow stronger; if some of his subordinates do not make changes, they will gradually fall behind him and eventually become dispensable.

This strand of third-stage mid corrupt poison scale snake's essence blood is an opportunity Yunhe gives to Ni Qiu.

If it seizes it, then perhaps it still barely has value for continued cultivation.

If it doesn't seize what Yunhe can give it, then perhaps it's just a carefree life for the latter half of its life.

Watching the lake surface regain calm once more, Yunhe nodded silently.

On shore, the demon beasts' strength is no longer weak, but in the water it's still a bit lacking.

Just thinking back to that third-stage mid demon beast that escaped from under his eyelids back then, Yunhe felt a sense of wariness.

Having arranged for Ni Qiu.

Yunhe lifted his foot and walked toward Huanhu Dao Square.

Nowadays, as long as it's a demon beast that originally faced those three third-stage demon beasts and didn't flee, almost all of them have, under the guidance of the little fox and the White Ape King, begun to cultivate the Profound Demon Technique.

Regardless of whether a demon beast's strength is strong or weak, to truly unleash its abilities, cultivation technique is an indispensable part.

Sometimes, a Second Stage early demon beast that has cultivated a technique can even defeat a Second Stage mid demon beast; it's not impossible.

After all, studying a cultivation technique is also a kind of development of spiritual intellect.

The slow expansion of Huanhu Dao is also continuing.

He didn't stay long here; after just a quick glance, Yunhe came to the medicine field.

At this time, the medicine field's soil fertility is stronger than before by more than just one level; the spiritual plants inside grow extremely luxuriantly, and even their growth speed has increased considerably.

And what stands out most in the entire medicine field is undoubtedly that paulownia tree that is as tall as two people.

Its fiery red leaves and branches continuously emit light and heat like a small sun.

Because it belongs to the fire-wood category, plus the special nature of the paulownia tree, aside from some spiritual plants that need a yin-cold environment to grow, most of the spiritual plants in the medicine field can benefit from the light and heat emitted by the paulownia tree.

Faintly, it has become like a small sun, continually promoting the growth of the spiritual plants.

Yunhe walked around the medicine field a few rounds and picked some spiritual herbs that happen to be usable when refining the Spirit Grain Elixir.

Afterward, he lightly tapped the ground with his foot.

"Come out."

Shush—

A somewhat ugly-looking but well-behaved demon insect, the Kun Land Silkworm, slowly burrowed out.

Its dozens of compound eyes looked at him warily.

Yunhe flicked out a crystal-clear nurturing elixir.

Seeing this, the Kun Land Silkworm's eyes lit up; it caught the elixir in one mouthful, then, after confirming with Yunhe that it could eat it, began to chew happily.

Although it is only a Second Stage nurturing elixir, for the Kun Land Silkworm, which has never eaten such food before, it is countless times tastier than any demon beast meat.

Carrot and stick, a simple method, but very practical.

"Guard this place well."

After saying that, Yunhe's body trembled slightly and then faded away like a mirage.

The Kun Land Silkworm, however, nodded heavily at Yunhe's dissipating shadow, then wriggled its body and slowly retreated back into the soil.

Beneath the seemingly calm medicine field, the soil was wriggling at high speed.

With each wriggle, the already fertile soil seemed to become even richer in nutrients.

Abyssal Ravine.

"It's almost as familiar as one's own home."

Yunhe, standing on the sheer cliff, muttered a complaint to himself, then leapt forward and flew toward the river surface of the ravine.

At the moment he touched the river water, his body trembled slightly, yet he made not a splash and sank into the water.

Combining the Water Escape Technique and the Earth Escape Technique, he quickly arrived at the cave where he had previously come with the little fox, a cave piled with a large number of demon beast bones.

And among the dense piles of bones, there was a bone floating in midair that emitted a peculiar luster and halo, bright and clear like jade.

From this bone extended numerous fine, hair-like patterns, like tree roots, which penetrated the many bones here, and there were also streams of invisible strange energy flowing along these roots into the bone.

Most importantly.

Around this bone, a large number of beast souls were entwined.

It seemed as if all the beast souls in this cave were attracted to this bone, and among them were not a few that had reached the Third Stage!

Yunhe rubbed his chin with a slight headache.

The most troublesome part is dealing with these beast souls.

However, looking at the bone's appearance, it seems not only has it returned to the form a Silver Flood Dragon Beast Bone should have, but it also shows considerable progress and growth.

This is still somewhat satisfying to him.

The effect of refining this bone into the Intercept Immortal Strategy should not be bad.

Suddenly.

Just as Yunhe appeared here, some of the beast souls circling the outer edge of the beast bone noticed his appearance.

Roar——!!

A roar that seemed to come from the depths of the netherworld, several beast souls that had reached the Second Stage lunged at him.

Yunhe put away his helplessness, and his expression turned stern.

Since he dared to come, he naturally had made preparations.

Then one saw his mouth slightly open, and several curled-up grayish-white worms crawled out at great speed.

And more and more grayish-white worms gathered, condensing into a creature resembling a centipede and also like a strange insect.

Those few Second Stage beast souls that had charged at him, upon seeing this worm, seemed to have encountered a natural enemy; their movements suddenly stalled, and they even showed an instinctive fear.

Corpse Soul Gu!

Since Yunhe's Cultivator Body broke through to the Jie Dan Stage in Cultivation Base, and his Demon Beast Body also broke through to the Third Stage, the two bodies could no longer transfer things between them as freely as before.

Because natal magic treasures like the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword are bound to the Cultivator Body, even if transmitted to the Demon Beast Body they cannot be used.

However, the Corpse Soul Gu, which connects with Yunhe's Divine Sense and Demon Sense, is not affected by this.

Zi—

A faint sound came.

Those few Second Stage beast souls that had halted their forms flew uncontrollably toward the Corpse Soul Gu.

In the struggling that sounded like mournful cries, it was gulped down by the Corpse Soul Gu.

At the same time.

After swallowing the beast souls, the Corpse Soul Gu transmitted to Yunhe a strong excitement, even to the point of frenzy.

Moreover, a faint glow appeared on its body, as if it had gained a considerable benefit.

"So many beast souls, the Corpse Soul Gu might thus gain a benefit and undergo metamorphosis."

"However, if they all rush up at once, the Corpse Soul Gu cannot swallow them all."

Especially those Third Stage beast souls.

(End of Chapter)