Chapter 243

He Clan of South Lodging Island.

Silently returning to the He Clan's station, Yunhe could clearly feel the changes that had occurred in the He Clan's lands during his absence.

It is obvious that the successive falls of the Wang Clan's two elders, Wang Fengsong and Wang Fengbo, caused the original Wang Clan to collapse and disappear at great speed, while the He Clan, having early received Yunhe's message, moved first and seized many benefits.

For a time, it was inevitably sigh-inducing.

Back then, it was the Wang Clan together with the Liu Clan that eyed the He Clan, trying to swallow the soon-to-decline He Clan; now the Wang Clan is the first to drop out, becoming nourishment for the other clans' continued development, while the He Clan shows no sign of weakening but instead grows ever stronger.

Yunhe did not pay much attention to how the He Clan's industries changed, because these industries mainly help the He Clan develop better; to him they might simply mean more tribute offerings and additional channels for obtaining and gathering materials.

After returning to the He Clan, he summoned the clan head He Yuanlin and ordered him to help gather materials.

He Yuanlin was already well accustomed to this.

"Ancestor, these are what our He Clan has taken from the Wang Clan: ten shops in the South Lodging Island market, the spirit mines beside South Lake, a spirit mine on Source Spirit Mountain governing two markets with two auction houses."

He Yuanlin handed over a jade slip while reporting in detail the gains from this clearance of the Wang Clan; from the satisfied smile on his face, it's easy to see how great the benefits the He Clan obtained this time are.

Whether it's the South Lodging Island market or those cloud-island markets under South Lodging Island's jurisdiction, ownership lies with the Yunshang Palace, while operational rights are in the hands of the Wang Clan's major families that possess late Golden Core cultivators; whether it's the present He Clan or the former Wang Clan, they only have the right to manage part of the industries.

But even just industries, the yearly profits from opening shops are considerable, even more stable than the output profits of some spirit mines.

And auction houses need not be mentioned; being able to obtain two auction houses, even if they are the lowest tier, yields profits higher than those from shops.

"Not bad."

Yunhe glanced at the jade slip and nodded satisfactorily.

With auction houses, buying or selling things will be much more convenient in the future.

Receiving Yunhe's affirmation, He Yuanlin couldn't help but secretly relax and smile.

"By the way, ancestor, the previous island master of South Lodging Island has been transferred; I hear a new island master will take office soon." He Yuanlin said again.

"Oh?" Yunhe raised his eyebrows, "I recall this island master's hundred-year term still has at least twenty years left, right?"

"Yes." Nodding, He Yuanlin also showed some doubt, "I don't know what the reason is; they suddenly announced the transfer."

Yunhe sat up a bit straighter and asked, "When did this happen?"

"It was half a month after you, ancestor, sent the message ordering us to collect from the Wang Clan."

Hearing that, Yunhe showed a thoughtful expression, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest.

After a while he stopped the motion, slightly nodded and said, "I understand."

Seeing Yunhe not say more, He Yuanlin began to talk about some other relatively important matters during this period.

After he finished speaking and left, Yunhe sat alone in the chair for a while and let out a light sigh.

"What a tumultuous autumn."

He rose and walked toward the training chamber.

But no matter what, his most important task now is to raise his cultivation base.

After this trip to the Luo Tian Secret Realm and experiencing various collisions big and small, he has basically solidified the foundation of his mid-Golden Core cultivation base, so he can continue taking Spirit Grain Elixir.

There are still plenty of third-level demon cores, and the juice of golden ear grass is also abundant, so refining Spirit Grain Elixir requires no worry about materials.

Yao Shou Shijie

"It seems there really is no problem."

Yunhe opened his eyes, looking at the motionless corpse lying before him, and at the corpse-transformed infant sealed in the jade box with closed eyes, he silently nodded.

After more than a month, the corpse showed no abnormalities, and he found no clues on either the corpse or the infant; it could basically be confirmed.

Actually, even if Profound Dark Ancestor really left some means on this corpse, after staying in the Thus line: Yao Shou Shijie for over a month, whatever needed to be severed has largely been severed.

He quietly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

To be honest.

When the Demon Beast Body first saw the defenseless infant, Yunhe couldn't help but feel a strong urge to swallow it.

To speak plainly, the infant's allure for him absolutely surpasses that of a fourth-level demon core.

But fortunately he managed to suppress that urge.

This corpse-transformed infant, even Blood Fiend Ancestor, an old monster of infant level, would not dare to swallow it using body possession, let alone him, a mere mid-third-level demon beast.

If he swallowed it, he would be affected by the corpse transformation, becoming neither demon nor corpse, which would truly be troublesome.

And during this waiting period, he wasn't idle.

Then Yunhe's huge turtle mouth opened slightly, and a strange stream of water slowly flowed out from his mouth.

This mass of water is very strange.

It is not pure transparent; rather, half is transparent, half silvery-white, mixed together, yet it looks as if there is a membrane in the middle preventing complete fusion.

Moreover, although it is a mass of water, it emits extremely hot heat; merely appearing in the cave dwelling causes the temperature inside to rise rapidly.

However, upon close inspection, one can see that a small portion of these two different waters has actually fully merged, presenting a turbid state.

This is the result of Yunhe having refined the Seven Revolutions Three Yang Heavy Water and the Sunlight Heavy Water he recently obtained in the Luo Tian Secret Realm.

After over a month of trial, he finally confirmed that the two waters, which highly match in both properties and characteristics, can indeed fuse!

However, this fusion process is quite slow.

Since Yunhe cannot control the Sunlight Heavy Water, he can only gradually try to 'digest' it using the Three Yang Heavy Water.

He wrapped the Sunlight Heavy Water with the Three Yang Heavy Water and swallowed it into his belly, using his own demonic power and the affinity of the two waters to accelerate their fusion as much as possible.

And the changes that the Sunlight Heavy Water brings to the Three Yang Heavy Water are also evident.

Not only does it make the Three Yang Heavy Water heavier, hotter, and more corrosive, it also gives Yunhe a stronger body-refining effect.

You know, Yunhe's demon beast body already has an outrageously strong physique; most late third-level demon beasts' physiques can't compare, so the body-refining effect of the Three Yang Heavy Water is already negligible, its only advantage possibly being that it can continuously strengthen him day and night without cease.

But after gradually incorporating the Sunlight Heavy Water, the feeling of forging his flesh with the Three Yang Heavy Water, noticing subtle daily changes in his physique, has returned.

Yunhe estimates that once the Sunlight Heavy Water fully integrates into the Three Yang Heavy Water, it should bring considerable benefits to his body, and these benefits will be sustained and long-lasting, far surpassing the boost from swallowing a few elixirs.

After examining the changes in the water flow, Yunhe swallowed it again into his belly.

He slowly crawled out of the cave dwelling and arrived at the spirit field of Huanhu Dao.

Just a few short months, which for long-lived demon beasts is hardly more than a blink, so the changes on Huanhu Dao can almost be said to be none.

The only difference might be that, thanks to the diligent labor of the earth silkworms in the kun soil, Huanhu Dao's spirit fields gained a few more mu within its land.

"Within the entire spirit field, the only one qualified to enjoy the five-colored soil is probably this parasol tree."

Yunhe's gaze swept across the spirit field and finally landed on that parasol tree blazing fiery red.

Qing Yao stood on a branch, preening her feathers.

Seeing Yunhe arrive, its eyes lit up, it flapped its wings and flew toward him, fluttering around his head while chirping about all sorts of matters.

Yunhe listened while smiling and occasionally nodding; after circling the parasol tree twice, he found a suitable spot, took out the five-colored soil, and prepared to place it inside.

"Five-Colored Spirit Soil?!"

But upon seeing this soil, Qing Yao couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

"Huh?" Yunhe also blinked slightly, showing a hint of surprise, and asked, "Qing Yao, do you know it?"

Flutter—

The little one nodded, landed on Yunhe's claw, leaned close to sniff the five-colored soil, and its eyes gradually brightened.

"It really is Five-Colored Spirit Soil! Yunhe, you didn't know—this 'Five-Colored Spirit Soil' is a precious spirit soil from the Upper Realm, greatly beneficial for cultivating spirit plants."

It is said this soil possesses the power to shift and balance; even a dying spirit plant tossed upon it can survive on its own, and spirit plants grown in it gain tremendous benefits, even the plants themselves may undergo evolution or transformation.

"Upper Realm?"

Yunhe had originally wondered whether Qing Yao's identity might be a descendant of some great power from the Azure Phoenix Clan of the Yao Shou Shijie, but now it seemed Qing Yao might actually come from the Upper Realm!

"Yunhe? Yunhe? Quickly put down the Five-Colored Spirit Soil—it might just let this parasol tree subtly transform into a spirit parasol tree!"

"Good, good, good." Watching the excited little creature, Yunhe gave a helpless smile.

No matter what, applying this Five-Colored Spirit Soil will not only benefit this parasol tree but also gradually alter the soil of the entire spirit field, certainly raising its fertility by more than one grade.

Soon, Yunhe buried it beneath the parasol tree.

That didn't involve much technical skill.

After finishing these, Yunhe brought Qing Yao, summoned the little fox, and together they inspected how much the spirit field had been cultivated.

Time flew by unnoticed.

One year later.

The world of cultivation, South Lodging Island, the He family.

Inside the cultivation chamber of the He family patriarch's manor.

If someone entered this cultivation chamber now, they would be astonished to find that its spirit qi concentration had already reached the level of a top-quality third-grade spirit vein's peak, and more importantly, the concentration here was still rising bit by bit.

Going higher still, it would be comparable to a fourth-grade spirit vein.

All of this stems from the lotus-like cultivation platform beneath the handsome youth in splendid robes.

The rich spirit qi, with each inhale and exhale of that youth, slipped through all his pores and entered his body.

At that moment, a tremendous surge of spirit qi welled up on his body.

After a long while.

That youth slowly opened his eyes; a five-colored light flashed in his pupils and vanished.

This person was naturally Yunhe, who had returned after a year of secluded cultivation.

With the Spirit Grain Pill and the Congealed Fat Ice-Clear Lotus working together, his cultivation base increased at a speed that could not be called slow.

Originally, according to his plan, this seclusion should have lasted at least five years, but today he had to change the plan.

Yunhe stepped down from the lotus platform, swept his sleeves to retrieve it, then quickly walked toward the insect chamber.

Having devoured the last wisp of Old Ancestor Yinming's divine soul, the Corpse Soul Insect began another transformation; just now, Yunhe felt that the Corpse Soul Insect's transformation had ended.

Arrived at the insect chamber.

Looking inside the small chamber, only a few insects remained—those that had completed transformation and survived; their abilities had made great progress compared to before.

Before attempting any trials, Yunhe couldn't gauge how great the progress was, but the benefits brought by a Yuan Ying Cultivator's divine soul were certain.

The most important point is.

Given the Corpse Soul Insect's traits, after devouring Old Ancestor Yinming's divine soul, they should have a chance to simulate his divine soul aura!

And if they possess Old Ancestor Yinming's divine soul aura, it means Yunhe has the foundation to control that Nascent Soul Corpse!

Or more precisely, he has gained the foundation to control that corpse-transformed Nascent Soul!

Seeing him raise his hand, he drew a few Corpse Soul Insects into his palm.

They sensed Yunhe's aura and immediately felt affection, quickly merging into his palm.

Afterward, Yunhe quickly walked toward the corpse chamber.

As soon as he opened the corpse chamber door, a strong yin qi rushed at him.

Inside lay four refined corpses: the first was the Golden Core Corpse Yunhe first obtained, now nearly 'retired'; the other two were Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengsong, which had become the best 'nursing beds' for raising corpse insects.

Lastly, the one with the richest yin qi was the Nascent Soul Corpse!

However, this corpse currently contains no corpse-transformed Nascent Soul, but it is filled with a large number of corpse insects.

These corpse insects were cultivated via Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengsong's two 'nursing beds,' having undergone one advancement.

Relying solely on these corpse insects, controlling this corpse lacking a Nascent Soul is barely possible, but without a corpse-transformed Nascent Soul, its strength may not be much greater than that of the Golden Core Corpse.

The key, moreover, lies in mastering the corpse-transformed Nascent Soul.

Yunhe entered the corpse chamber, closed the door, and walked to the corner where the Beast Soul Banner was planted.

The banner gathered a vast amount of beast souls, continuously supplying the chamber with abundant yin qi.

And beneath the Beast Soul Banner lay the corpse-transformed Nascent Soul placed inside a jade box.

Gazing at the tranquil Nascent Soul, Yunhe's eyes flickered as he drew a faint breath.

Whether one can control Nascent Soul corpse refining just depends on whether the transformed 'Corpse Soul Poison Insect' can stir this Nascent Soul with the aura of the Yin Abyss.

(End of chapter)