Chapter 241

Because Yunhe didn't produce any protective magic treasure, so in fact no one would notice him.

After all, 'Sunlight Heavy Water' is something even a Yuan Ying Cultivator cannot casually touch.

If it were only a few drops, a Yuan Ying Cultivator might not be greatly affected, but the closer to the gourd vine, the more droplets splashed out, and even a Yuan Ying Cultivator cannot withstand them head-on.

Of course, for Yunhe now, he also didn't pay much attention to whether 'Sunlight Heavy Water' truly had some connection with 'Three Yang Heavy Water', because his focus right now was entirely on the two divine souls within his Blood-forging Body.

"You decided?"

Feeling the tearing from the 'Corpse Soul Gu', Lingyin Old Ancestor's voice, strained with anger, rang in Yunhe's ears.

After the consumption with the Blood Overlord Old Ancestor, the divine souls of these two Yuan Ying old monsters have long lost their former dominance; thus, although he had already guessed in his heart what Yunhe wanted to do, he still restrained himself, because the 'Soul-devouring Worm' he planted in Yunhe's body was meant to prepare for such a situation.

Yunhe's eyes turned slightly cold.

Feeling the restless 'Soul-devouring Worm' within his body, he immediately hesitated no longer, directly 'transmitting' it together with part of his own flesh and blood and a small portion of the 'Corpse Soul Gu' to the Yao Shou Shijie.

Once this worm entered the Yao Shou Shijie, it was firmly imprisoned by the prepared Demon Beast Body transformed into a Thunder Beast.

The reason he did not use the heavenly thunder's power to destroy it was that Yunhe felt keeping this Soul-devouring Worm, refined from a strand of the Lingyin Old Ancestor's divine soul, might unexpectedly prove useful.

Anyway, even with the power of a Yuan Ying Cultivator, it would be impossible to trace another world.

And the fact was just as Yunhe had anticipated: when the Lingyin Old Ancestor could no longer sense the presence of the Soul-devouring Worm, his heart sank completely to the bottom of the valley.

No matter how he schemed or how highly he regarded Yunhe, he never imagined that a mere Mid Jie Dan Cultivator could actually possess the power to connect the two worlds!

There is one point: the Lingyin Old Ancestor did not lie.

That is, the Soul-devouring Worm is exactly as he said—a strand of his divine soul refined via a secret art; any loss or injury to it does affect him to a certain extent.

This put him, who had originally been gaining the upper hand in the divine-soul contest with the Blood Kui Old Ancestor, once again at a disadvantage.

Adding to that, the Corpse Soul Gu was the straw that broke the camel's back.

His disadvantage was now greater than it had been at the start.

And the Blood Kui Old Ancestor, without hesitation, seized this opportunity and launched a fierce counterattack!

Body seizure is an extremely dangerous undertaking; once begun it cannot be stopped. The one who employs the body-seizure technique, if he loses, ends up with nothing, but if he wins,

The body-seizer will also bring him considerable benefits.

Moreover, the Blood Kui Old Ancestor, who had been waiting for the last moment to seek an opportunity, finally unleashed his trump card now.

One after another, the human puppets began to collapse, and his divine soul grew stronger accordingly.

Almost in an instant, a situation arose that threatened to completely overwhelm the Lingyin Old Ancestor.

However, Yunhe also had to admit these old monsters' endurance; seeing the situation reversed, the Lingyin Old Ancestor immediately stopped caring about him and began fighting desperately with the Blood Kui Old Ancestor.

Although the Lingyin Old Ancestor relied on Yunhe's Corpse Soul Gu, he clearly did not depend on it entirely, still keeping a trump card for himself.

Tsk.

Seeing this, Yunhe secretly clicked his tongue.

"The longer one lives, the harder it really is to die."

At the same time.

As the human puppets fell, Xingzi and Mu Haitang were no longer restrained.

Seeing the right moment, Xingzi immediately lunged for the last gourd on the gourd vine.

Just as Yunhe was pondering whether to intervene, lest someone cut off his own retreat, a sharp sword light suddenly slashed toward Xingzi!

It was Mu Haitang!

One could see her wearing a cold expression as she lunged toward Xingzi.

Yet the result of their collision left everyone present, including Yunhe, astonished.

Because Mu Haitang was actually pressing down on Xingzi and beating him!

Moreover.

Her aura also surged from the original Mid Jie Dan Stage to the Late Jie Dan Stage!

Even Xingzi, a peerless talent, was being beaten back again and again by Mu Haitang; moreover, since her magic treasure had already been figured out during its earlier use, each swing of her heavy sword by Mu Haitang carried the air of "Let the winds blow from any direction, I will cut them all with a single sword."

One sword breaks myriad techniques!

By this point, if Yunhe still couldn't discern anything from Mu Haitang's bearing, it would be somewhat disappointing given his years of cultivation and experience.

"This is absolutely not the sword technique a Jie Dan Cultivator should possess!"

"Stop!"

Likewise paying attention to this side, seeing Xingzi being pressed into a desperate situation by Mu Haitang, Feng Peng could not help but shout angrily.

"What are you looking at?"

But the Xuanming Old Ancestor stood directly in his way.

"That sword technique"—the old hag saw Mu Haitang's sword technique, her expression flickered briefly, as if she had discerned something.

And what truly shocked Yunhe to the core, causing him to stop his attempt to preserve the last gourd, was the Lingyin Old Ancestor's low murmur, full of disbelief, as he struggled:

"Master."

"Master?!"

"Is Mu Haitang the Lingyin Old Ancestor's master?"

"That's impossible."

"Just considering their ages, such a seniority could not exist unless—"

In Yunhe's mind, a term suddenly surfaced.

"Weapon Release Rebirth?!"

When a cultivator's cultivation base reaches the Yuan Ying Stage, they can, through a secret art of weapon release, enter the cycle of rebirth, thereby having a certain chance of reincarnation.

But this probability is minuscule, less than one in ten thousand; even with some special weapon-release or corpse-release secret arts, it can only increase the success rate slightly, so in many cases weapon release amounts to death.

But after Yunhe thought it over, it seemed that only this explanation could make sense.

Why is Mu Haitang's swordsmanship so strong?

How could they know the secret passage inside Luotian Hall? How could she know such detailed information about the gourds produced by the Luotian gourd vine?

How could she bring the cultivation method and leave with Elder Lingyin from the Corpse Slaughter Hall?

Why do other descendants of the "Xuanjing Lake Woodcutter" not know where the Silver Jiao's bones are, yet she does?

That is to say

"Xuanjing Lake Woodcutter!"

The old hag seemed to finally think of something, her gloomy eyes widening, full of shock.

Her words also let Yunhe confirm what he had thought.

No wonder.

"No wonder that back then Elder Lingyin sought my cooperation; she could leave information."

Yunhe, who was almost seventy to eighty percent certain, felt his heart churning.

Mu Haitang is not a descendant of the "Xuanjing Lake Woodcutter" at all.

She is simply the reincarnation of the "Xuanjing Lake Woodcutter"!

Thinking further, the way Elder Lingyin addressed her, her original title should have been "Yinming", and the name of Elder Xuanming—everything matches; Elder Xuanming is also a disciple of the "Xuanjing Lake Woodcutter"!

As for why a sword cultivator would have a disciple specializing in corpse refinement, why he would bring out Elder Lingyin's—or rather Elder Yinming's—soul and so on, these questions are beyond Yunhe's current understanding; perhaps there is some deeper purpose.

Snort!

After splitting "Xingzi" with a single sword, Mu Haitang unhesitatingly plucked the last gourd.

The yellow gourd that increases Cultivation Base seems to help her more than it helps "Xingzi".

In the wrapping of sparkling green light, Mu Haitang looked toward Yunhe.

Their gazes met in midair.

Suddenly.

Mu Haitang smiled faintly, took out a palm-sized piece of deep brown, tight black wood from her person, and tossed it toward Yunhe.

Hmm?

When Yunhe instinctively received it, Mu Haitang had already left the secret realm under the protection of the "Luotian Command".

Although I don't know what the wooden piece Mu Haitang threw is, Yunhe can feel that this object seems to have a considerable connection with Elder Yinming.

"Is this the reason Elder Yinming's soul has been able to persist to this day?"

But soon, his heart sank.

Without the last yellow gourd, how can he leave the secret realm?

The soul contest between Elder Yinming and Elder Xuekui has already reached its final stage.

He originally still had some strength to contend with Elder Xuekui, but because he finally recognized Mu Haitang's identity, his soul was violently shaken, completely eliminating any chance of a turnaround.

He never would have imagined.

He originally brought only two seemingly easy-to-control Mid Jie Dan cultivators as helpers, but those two Jie Dan cultivators successively "backstabbed" him, causing his original plans to come to naught!

Once Elder Xuekui regains his mobility, he might very well be the first to suffer a heavy blow.

At the same time.

""Xingzi", go!"

Likewise, Feng Peng, who also had no retreat, seeing this, forcefully broke free briefly from the entanglement of Elder Xuanming and the old hag, turned into a white light, picked up the heavily wounded "Xingzi", and fled outward from the platform.

Seeing this, Elder Xuanming and the old hag exchanged a glance and immediately gave chase.

Their purpose in entering the Luotian secret realm this time was to slay "Xingzi" and Feng Peng; they absolutely could not let them escape like this, at the very least they had to leave "Xingzi" completely within the secret realm.

Thus.

In just a few breaths, only Yunhe, Elder Xuekui, and Elder Yinming remained on this platform.

"Escape?"

Yunhe's expression was a bit dark.

Originally, even if "Xingzi" competed with him for the gourds, he wouldn't be afraid; even if it was hard to win, there was still a chance, as he at least had the advantage of being closer to the gourd vine.

But with Mu Haitang's intervention, her Late Jie Dan Stage Cultivation Base plus the revelation of her identity made Yunhe realize he was no match for her, at least when her cultivation base had the advantage, he was not her opponent.

Thus the problem arose.

How to escape?

From the current situation, Elder Yinming is making a final struggle; he can follow the secret passage out of the Luotian Hall, find a place to wait for the secret realm to end.

Or perhaps

Yunhe turned his head to look at the bald gourd vine behind him.

No.

Nor can it be considered completely bald, for it still has a gourd, an illusory black gourd.

When his gaze fell upon that gourd, Yunhe's eyes began to flicker.

"Give it a try!"

He no longer hesitated, turned and rushed toward the gourd vine; the summoned "Qinyao Armor" helped him block the erosion of the scattered "Sunlight Heavy Water".

It landed at the break in the gourd vine.

He drew a slight breath.

He slapped his storage bag.

He took out that withered segment of vine.

The length happened to fit perfectly, indicating that Yunhe's earlier speculation was correct.

However.

After the vines were placed, the gourd vine showed no change.

This made Yunhe frown involuntarily.

"Is the broken time too long?"

That makes sense.

After such a long time has passed, even if this segment truly is the vine of the Luotian gourd vine, how could it recover just like that?

But just as he was about to give up.

Drip!

Suddenly a drop of "Sunlight Heavy Water" fell onto the withered gourd vine, and that originally shriveled segment actually emitted specks of green light!

Moreover, countless tiny filaments like hairs sprouted from the gourd vine, latching onto the withered vine; the entire Luotian gourd vine gave a soft "hum" and trembled, as if it had "come alive"!

Moreover, that illusory half-section of vine and the final black gourd also gradually shifted from illusion to substance.

Seeing this, Yunhe's face lit up with great joy.

With this final gourd, he could smoothly leave the Luotian Secret Realm!

On the other side.

Yunhe basically could no longer sense much of the Yinming divine soul's aura.

He glanced at the black gourd that was transitioning from illusion to reality.

"There's still a bit of time."

Then he slapped his spirit insect pouch, and immediately a large swarm of Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees flew out.

Under his command, the Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees split into several batches and began to "clean up" the battlefield.

He dared not move those human puppets of Xuekui Old Ancestor; taking them away might later bring trouble, after all those human puppets were merely temporarily unconscious, and they possessed their own consciousness and will.

But the storage bags on those human puppets were not so fortunate.

After the Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees swept past, many storage bags were directly swept away.

Moreover.

Yunhe also set his sights on the five-colored soil where the Luotian gourd vine grew; he couldn't take the vine itself, but this soil could still be moved somewhat.

Soil capable of nurturing such a spiritual plant as the Luotian gourd vine for such an age must be extraordinary; when sent to the Yao Shou Shijie, the spiritual field soil of Huanhu Dao could at least be upgraded by one grade!

However, Yunhe somewhat underestimated this soil; a large swarm of Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees working together managed to dig up only two fist-sized lumps.

"Having some is better than none."

He gathered these storage bags and the five-colored soil, then looked toward the "Sunlight Heavy Water" falling from the sky.

A thought flashed; he drove the "Heavenly Demon Armor" to flip over, filling a small basin, until he felt adding more would cause irreversible damage to the "Heavenly Demon Armor", whereupon he immediately transmitted these "Sunlight Heavy Water" to the Yao Shou Shijie.

"Right! There's also that!"

Yunhe's gaze fell upon not far away, the body of that Yuan Ying corpse-refinement.

Because Yinming Old Ancestor took away the corpse-transformed Yuan Ying, the corpse-refinement's ability was mostly gone, so Xuannming Old Ancestor did not take it.

No matter what, this is a corpse-refinement forged from the body of a Yuan Ying cultivator!

Buzz—

The Crimson Shadow Golden-Winged Bees swept up that corpse-refinement and flew back.

At the same time.

"Hmph!!"

A muffled grunt issued from Xuekui Old Ancestor's mouth.

His tightly shut eyes suddenly opened, a fierce light flashing, his abdomen swelling, and immediately a corpse-transformed Yuan Ying was spat out.

"Damn it!"

Xuekui Old Ancestor angrily rebuked, and patches of corpse spots appeared on his face.

That Yinming fellow actually had a hidden trick even at the end!

If he forcibly used possession to obtain everything from Yinming Old Ancestor, he would be contaminated by the corpse-transformed Yuan Ying, becoming a half corpse-refinement, which would not help his cultivation at all and might even erode his will, so in the end he had no choice but to spit out that corpse-transformed Yuan Ying.

And that corpse-transformed Yuan Ying, reduced almost to pure instinct, flew toward Yunhe at incredible speed.

If Yunhe had not already sensed not a trace of Yinming's divine soul aura on it, he estimated a bolt of heavenly thunder would have split it apart.

But now.

Yunhe took a deep breath, thoughts flashing in his mind.

Just before the Yuan Ying was about to fly back into the corpse-refinement's body, he raised his hand and released a vast swarm of "corpse soul gu" to wrap that Yuan Ying.

After all, it is a Yuan Ying; even if corpse-transformed, the essence most critical and important to a Yuan Ying cultivator does not change.

"Kid."

Xuekui Old Ancestor stiffly turned his neck.

But all he saw was Yunhe rolling up a lot of good stuff, and without hesitation he took out a bowl made of pure gold, scraping off the final black gourd.

This bowl had originally been found in He Wen's storage bag; otherwise Yunhe would likely not have any pure gold implements on him.

Subsequently.

Then, under Xuekui Old Ancestor's furious gaze, Yunhe was enveloped by the "Luotian Ling" and left the Luotian Secret Realm!

This secret realm excursion

Returning with a full load!

Found a quiet spot in the hospital to type; after finishing the IV tomorrow, I'll start preparing to gradually resume updates.

(End of chapter)