Chapter 281

Yao Shou Shijie.

Wuu—!

Bai Ning looked at the few 'silly ones' before her with a face full of headache, looking extremely troubled.

For the group of Giant Rock Stone Monsters that Yunhe brought back, Bai Ning expended a great deal of energy and finally imparted the Mysterious Beast Technique to this group of big fellows.

However.

One could say that the addition of the Giant Rock Stone Monster clan greatly strengthened the strength of Huanhu Dao.

Except for the Fire Python not returning due to the mine, Huanhu Dao instantly gained five third-stage beasts: one at late third stage, two at mid third stage, and two at early third stage.

Adding Yunhe, the little fox Bai Ning, and the Kun Earth Silkworm, speaking solely of the number of third-stage beasts, it is quite considerable.

Moreover.

The Giant Rock Stone Monsters are truly 'useful', especially in tilling the spirit fields, being diligent and conscientious.

Because they are essentially mountain-rock essences, even merely standing near the spirit fields, by their own nature they can invisibly increase the fertility of the spirit fields.

After returning, Yunhe also did not go out for the time being.

According to his understanding, in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains of Lu Shan Gui there remained only one late third-stage beast; if even that one were slaughtered, Lu Shan Gui would likely truly go mad.

Moreover, among Lu Shan Gui's subordinates, three late third-stage beasts have already died, so the opposing side must be extremely cautious, and it is no longer easy to slay them.

Now going again to the vicinity of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains to wander about would hardly yield much gain, and the chance of directly bumping into Lu Shan Gui is not small either; he plans to hold back for a while.

In the deep underground of the cave dwelling on Huanhu Dao, in the small underground space that Yunhe had opened up, he curled up in a turtle shell, gazing at the metal sheet that appeared to lie still with his eyes, his pupils flickering.

The sharp intent entwined with this metal sheet is quite special; he had examined this object for nearly a month, besides constantly enduring the sharp intent sweeping over his body time and again, he faintly felt as if he had grasped a clue within it.

This is. a fragment of a magic treasure?

Moreover, it should still be an extremely sharp magic treasure, either a blade or a sword.

It is only the size of two fingers, yet because of the sharp intent it carries, it appears extremely special.

No, my demon sense would be damaged upon approaching it, and there is no possibility of using it.

Just this tiny fragment, even without consciousness or control, can have such influence; if it could be driven, Yunhe wouldn't know what rank of magic treasure to classify it as.

Perhaps, it might not even be a fragment of a magic treasure.

After examining it for a month without gaining any substantive benefit, Yunhe prepared to give up.

Perhaps only after it breaks through to the fourth level could he try again.

He cast a spell, activated the formation here, blocked the influence of the metal sheet's sharp intent on the surrounding environment, and then floated up to the island.

Just as he was feeling the bright sunshine shining on his body, a familiar voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

Yunhe, come help me quickly!

It was Qing Yao!

At the same time.

Hum—

After a slight tremor in the spiritual energy over the entire Huanhu Dao, a scorching breath rose within the suddenly appearing azure light.

A clear, resonant cry rang out across the surroundings.

Immediately thereafter, a handsome azure bird cloaked in blue feathers appeared as a phantom above Huanhu Dao, its commotion as great as the celestial phenomena when Yunhe broke through to the third stage, nothing lacking.

And upon seeing this commotion, Yunhe understood that Qing Yao was breaking through to the third stage!

Because Qing Yao possesses a Rebirth Body, its original cultivation level is unknown, but it is certainly not a second-stage beast, otherwise it would not have such high spiritual intelligence; thus its cultivation speed can be said to be the fastest in Huanhu Dao aside from Yunhe.

Furthermore, with that phoenix tree mutually benefiting it, and the Breeding Pellet provided by Yunhe, it had already reached the peak of late second-stage beasts.

Who would have thought that today actually was its breakthrough opportunity.

Yunhe had no hesitation; after a series of flashes, he arrived outside the spirit fields of Huanhu Dao.

Yunhe did not hesitate at all, and after his form flickered repeatedly, he arrived outside the spirit fields of Huanhu Dao.

Nourished by the five-colored soil, the phoenix tree had grown to a height of one and a half zhang, shrouded in a deep orange-yellow spiritual energy that continually rose, as if the entire tree were ablaze.

And those misty spiritual energies were now entirely poured onto the azure little bird perched atop its treetop.

This bird, its blue feathers suffused with five-colored rosy light, was indescribably beautiful.

Unlike Yunhe, who instantly sucked dry the spiritual energy within a ten-li radius when he broke through, it did not stir the surrounding spiritual energy in the slightest, seeming to be devoted only to the spiritual energy erupting from that phoenix tree.

As the absorbed spiritual energy increased, the azure light on its body grew brighter, and the surrounding temperature continually rose.

Yunhe immediately took out several pieces of high-grade fire-attribute spirit stones, crushed them, and instantly erupted extremely vigorous fire-attribute spiritual energy, raising the already not-low temperature of this place even further, and the fervent heat rising from the phoenix tree and from Qing Yao's body became even more vigorous.

With the support of these high-grade spirit stones' rich fire-attribute spiritual energy, Qing Yao's originally somewhat sluggish advancement process immediately became smooth.

With the support of these top‑grade Spirit Stones' dense fire‑attribute spiritual energy, Qing Yao's previously somewhat sluggish advancement process immediately became smooth.

Another long cry rang out.

Bang!!

One saw the azure bird's celestial phenomenon in the sky explode like fireworks, scattering outward, turning into strands of azure flame that slowly fell, then transforming into fine azure feathers, finally dissipating into nothing.

And the 'fire light' on the phoenix tree completely dissipated, as if it had transferred to Qing Yao's body.

Its body then rose a clump of bluish-green flame.

Azure Phoenix True Fire!

Yunhe beside him had his eyes light up.

This is the renowned true spirit fire of the cultivation world; only legendary true spirits can truly wield it, and this clump of azure flame of Qing Yao already possesses the embryonic form of the Azure Phoenix True Fire.

Although the spirit beast Han Yin Jiao in the Cultivator Body also possesses some true dragon bloodline, capable of emitting the Profound Darkness Chill, but if truly compared, the Profound Darkness Chill of Han Yin Jiao is far inferior to Qing Yao's Azure Phoenix True Fire at this moment.

Although the spirit beast Han Yin Jiao of the Cultivator Body also possesses a certain True Dragon Bloodline and can unleash the Mysterious Cold Breath, when truly compared, Han Yin Jiao's Mysterious Cold Breath is far weaker than Qing Yao's Qingluan True Fire at this moment.

Can only speak of 'quality'.

Can only say 'quality'.

Because Qingyao's true spirit bloodline concentration is much higher than that of the Cold Chant Flood Dragon.

Under the stimulation of this Azure Phoenix True Fire, the paulownia tree also grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, increasing from a height of one and a half zhang to two zhang in just a few breaths.

This paulownia tree grows together with Qingyao; when Qingyao reaches a certain stage of growth, this tree might also grow to an extraordinarily exaggerated extent.

After a while.

Qingyao spat out a green-colored inner core, drawing all of the Azure Phoenix True Fire into it.

"Yunhe!"

Having completed its advancement, Qingyao appeared quite excited, flapped its wings twice and flew toward Yunhe.

At this moment its appearance also underwent a noticeable change; not only did its overall size increase, but its feathers all over looked more lustrous, reflecting sunlight and emitting a gorgeous mysterious light.

More importantly, the crest feathers on its head became more distinct, and three slender plume feathers grew at the tip of its tail, swaying with a faint accompaniment of azure fire.

"This is."

Gazing at Qingyao's tail feathers, Yunhe became lost in thought.

On Qingyao's tail feathers, he felt a faint sensation of the Dragon Scale Pattern.

However, it was not as clear as the Dragon Scale Pattern.

Moreover, the power contained in those markings seemed somewhat different from the "Void Power" contained in the Dragon Scale Pattern.

"What, what's wrong?"

Qingyao, feeling a bit uneasy under Yunhe's stare at its tail, asked haltingly.

Hearing that, Yunhe came to his senses, took another deep look at the tip of Qingyao's tail feathers, then shook his head.

His eyes flickered.

"That is... the Power of Time?"

Clouds follow the dragon; true dragons possess spatial abilities, while true phoenixes have the ability of Nirvana rebirth, and this ability seems to have a certain relation to the Power of Time.

Moreover, the Azure Phoenix, Spirit Phoenix, Mandarin Duck, Osprey, and Swan Goose belong to the innate five phoenixes, so saying that the Azure Phoenix is a kind of true spirit phoenix is not unreasonable.

It is quite evident that the concentration of Azure Phoenix bloodline possessed by Qingyao is absolutely not low, yet it still falls short compared to the owner of the dragon scale that Yunhe obtained.

However.

If one carefully examines Qingyao's tail feathers, they might possibly gain some insight into the abilities of the Power of Time.

Of course, this is not something that can be achieved overnight.

After all, how many years did Yunhe spend to gain even a slight understanding of the Dragon Scale Pattern from that dragon scale?

"Nothing much, congratulations on successfully breaking through to the third stage, Qingyao." Yunhe, having come to his senses, said with a smile.

"Hehe——"

Qingyao, perched on Yunhe's carapace, preened its feathers, its eyes curving into crescent moons.

"Right! After breaking through to the third stage I also recovered a bit of memory; Yunhe, I will now transmit it to you."

After feeling a little proud, Qingyao suddenly thought of this at that moment and immediately said.

"Oh?"

Hearing that, Yunhe was slightly surprised.

But soon he felt the memory transmitted by Qingyao's Demon Sense.

This time the memory it recovered was not about what it had previously experienced, but rather a vast amount of demon tribe text.

Very ancient demon tribe text, including some common knowledge of the demon tribe, their secret lore, and even the refining methods for demon tribe artifacts, demon tribe elixirs, demon tribe talismans, demon tribe formations, and so on.

There are many varieties, with little regularity, chaotic and disordered.

Even organizing such a multitude of memories would require continuous expenditure of time.

However.

Yet Yunhe, from that multitude of ancient demon tribe texts, found something that looked quite familiar.

A thought stirred in his mind.

With a flip of his claw, a piece of bronze appeared in his hand.

This item comes from the Light Bell Fairy of the Upper Cloud Realm; when Yunhe initially saved her life, she gave this to him as one token of gratitude.

What is recorded inside this bronze piece is the refining method for a demon artifact called the "Immortal-Slaying Gourd".

When he first obtained this item, Yunhe spent considerable time barely recognizing those four characters; later he learned that among the demon tribe's seven great treasures there is one named the "Immortal-Slaying Gourd", which is of the same rank as his "Demon-Subjugating Armor".

However, the demon tribe text used in this bronze piece's refining method is excessively ancient, apparently left behind by the demon tribe that once invaded the Upper Cloud Realm; Yunhe merely recognized the name and then gave up on it.

But now.

Among the memories transmitted by Qingyao, there is this kind of ancient demon tribe text.

Moreover, the refining method for the "Immortal-Slaying Gourd" recorded in this bronze piece is also an imitation of the genuine demon tribe treasure, the "Immortal-Slaying Gourd".

However, having the "Demon-Subjugating Armor" as a precedent, Yunhe does not dare to underestimate this object.

But after a quick glance at the bronze piece he understood that the basic requirement for refining the "Immortal-Slaying Gourd" is simply a gourd and a sharp blade.

This reminded Yunhe of the dark-colored gourd he had obtained from the Luo Tian Secret Realm.

Up to now, he still hasn't figured out what that dark-colored gourd is used for or how to use it.

After leaving the Upper Cloud Realm, he basically tossed that dark-colored gourd into a corner of his storage bag, since even while in the Upper Cloud Realm he couldn't determine its purpose, let alone in the Eastern Border cultivation world.

Perhaps after he successfully achieves Nascent Soul and returns to the Upper Cloud Realm, he might have a chance to learn more secrets about the Luo Tian Gourd Vine.

Of course, it might also be possible to obtain the secret of the Luo Tian Gourd Vine in the Yao Shou Shijie, since strictly speaking, the Luo Tian Gourd Vine was brought to the cultivation world by the demon tribe.

"If one uses that dark-colored gourd as a vessel, employing the metal flakes from the Three Lives Three Deaths Bitter Heart Milk as the blade, or alternatively using the broken blade that severed the Luo Tian Gourd Vine as the blade, then the power of this magical treasure would be"

Yunhe admits that he feels somewhat tempted.

After all, the quality of those materials is certainly not inferior; if successfully refined, the power could be quite considerable.

Originally he had intended to use that dark-colored gourd to refine the "Nine-Turns Gourd".

Because his current Nine-turn Gourd can only refine the corpses of third-rank demon beasts, and its refining speed has already become much slower, in the future, if the flesh of his Cultivator Body needs to continue being strengthened, he will certainly need a higher-level Nine-turn Gourd.

But looking at it now, this decision probably needs further discussion.

Qingyao's breakthrough caused quite a commotion; soon the demon beasts of Huanhu Dao all came running over. Previously, because of Yunhe's voice transmission, they had not dared to approach, but now each one came running over to express their congratulations.

The strength of Huanhu Dao is growing ever stronger.

But this will inevitably attract much attention.

(End of chapter)