Chapter 342

Lotus Daoist friend, I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you lately.

Outside Hundred Flowers Valley, Yunhe smiled and bowed to the Lotus Elder, saying:

The Lotus Elder opposite him, however, wore a look of regret.

Why talk about troubling? Fellow Daoist Yun, why not stay a little longer? Is it that my Hundred Flowers Valley's hospitality is lacking?

Her expression and words were quite earnest; her attitude didn't seem fake, as if she truly wanted Yunhe to stay a bit longer.

But Yunhe didn't want to reveal his many secrets in someone else's territory, even if the possibility was slight.

He had, to some extent, grasped the Lotus Elder's meaning.

The Lotus Elder has little lifespan left—no more than about fifty years—and yet Hundred Flowers Valley still lacks anyone who has attained perfected Golden Core.

That's why the Sun family of Hundred Flowers Valley is so invested in the "Champion's Contest": they know whoever can raise their cultivation to perfected Golden Core in this time will receive the Lotus Elder's utmost support, sparing no cost or consequence to aid them in forming a Nascent Soul.

The Lotus Elder also wished to leave a contingency for Hundred Flowers Valley.

That backup is Yunhe.

Given Hundred Flowers Valley's ties with Huaxin, and Huaxin's ties with Yunhe, it's not out of the question.

However.

Yunhe really isn't that concerned about these matters.

Rather than spend this time safeguarding Hundred Flowers Valley, he'd prefer to devote more time to improving himself and studying the various disciplines that demand considerable experience.

Besides.

Can't the Lotus Elder still live another forty or fifty years?

Who can say what will happen forty or fifty years from now?

Lotus Daoist friend, you're joking; I've been quite comfortable staying in your valley these days, but I do have pressing matters to attend to, so I must take my leave.

The Lotus Elder sighed, could only look at Huaxin beside Yunhe, and said gently: "Huaxin, whenever you have time, come back and sit awhile."

Oh. Huaxin bit into a candied hawthorn, giving a casual, offhand reply.

After bowing again, Yunhe swept his sleeves, pulling Huaxin, Shen Xingrui, and Shen Mu into his evasion technique, turning into a streak of light that swiftly vanished.

Their target this time is a continuous stretch of mountains near the border of Mu State, not far from the Gobi Desert.

Yunhe didn't want to stay in Hundred Flowers Valley, and he was too lazy to return to the Azure Green Sect; after speaking with Shen Xingrui, he learned that in the mountains called Diezhang Shan, although there are many signs of demon beast activity, there are also some decent spirit veins.

However, because the demon beasts are difficult to handle, and although those spirit veins are not low in rank, their range is small and unsuitable as a sect's foundation, so no one has taken them over.

Thus it became Yunhe's ideal temporary refuge.

He arrived near the Ten Domains and Mu State.

One purpose was to check the status of the Ultra-long-distance Transmission Array; the other was to continue his two cultivation techniques.

Now the transmission array is working fine; the follow-up to the Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture has been obtained, and the next goal is the follow-up to the Thousand Insects Myriad Worms Scripture.

But before that, he must first digest and internalize the gains from his previous trip to the Floating Cloud Elder's cave dwelling, turning them into his own strength.

Earlier, he had been slightly delayed because he wanted to see Huaxin.

Furthermore.

After visiting the Floating Cloud Elder's cave dwelling, he now has even more new doubts—or rather, hopes to explore a couple of directions.

First, the ancient great sect, the Great Five Elements Sect.

Second, the Southern Ming Vermilion Bird Order pursued by Xu Wuhen and other Nascent Soul cultivators, which concerns information about the legendary Vermilion Bird God Sovereign, a Divine Transformation cultivator.

"Yunhe, you are after all a mighty Nascent Soul expert; you can't always rely on evasion technique while traveling, can you?"

Huaxin, being swept along by Yunhe, couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this, Yunhe smiled slightly, then waved his hand.

Aooo——!!

A loud, resonant dragon's long chant shook the forests, sending birds into a panicked flight and making beasts crouch on the ground, trembling.

These days spent in the spirit beast bag have left the Cold Chant Flood Dragon utterly stifled.

Appearing alongside it was also a carriage that looked rather plain.

"Settle down." Yunhe lightly flicked the Cold Chant Flood Dragon's head and chided it with a smile.

"Master!"

The Cold Chant Flood Dragon, after being flicked, wasn't afraid at all; instead, it clung even closer.

But before it could approach Yunhe, its scales suddenly twitched, and it sharply turned its gaze to one side.

He saw a man of extremely sturdy build, but looking somewhat simple, staring at it eagerly, looking like he was drooling.

Obviously, it was Shen Mu.

Aoo!!

The Cold Chant Flood Dragon felt a hint of danger and couldn't help but roar at Shen Mu.

Shen Mu, likewise feeling threatened, tensed his whole body; his cheeks twitched as he looked toward Yunhe for help, saying, "Can't beat it."

"Master, what does he want? Is he going to eat me?" the Cold Chant Flood Dragon also conveyed via its demonic awareness.

Seeing this, Yunhe couldn't help but be speechless.

I don't know why, but he feels that the coming days might be rather interesting.

"Let's go."

He didn't say much more; Shen Mu and Shen Xingrui drove the carriage, the Cold Chant Flood Dragon pulled it, and they headed straight for the Diezhang Mountains.

With the Cold Chant Flood Dragon, a third-stage late-phase flood dragon, pulling the carriage, the journey was smooth and unobstructed; ordinary demon beasts or cultivators, upon sensing its aura, would try to stay as far away as possible.

Originally, Yunhe wanted to separate his identity from that of the "Bee Daoist."

But back then he was only a late-stage Golden Core cultivator; now his cultivation has broken through to Nascent Soul, and his views and understanding on some matters have also changed somewhat.

First.

Actually, such identity divisions mean nothing to the discerning, for his magic treasures, cultivation methods, and secret arts are highly distinctive; anyone who truly wants to investigate him can always find traces.

Secondly.

Nowadays, his Cultivation Base is such that he no longer needs to worry or fear anything.

Now, only cultivators at mid Nascent Soul or higher Cultivation Base can make him feel threatened.

Facing a mid Nascent Soul cultivator, he is confident he can escape; if it is a late Nascent Soul.

In such a vast Eastern Border cultivation world, how many late Nascent Soul cultivators are there?

They can be counted on one's fingers.

Moreover, with his single-minded desire to flee, even a late Nascent Soul cultivator might not be able to keep him.

So, there is no point in hiding anymore.

In a vast, continuous mountain forest blanketed by lush vegetation, wispy clouds swirl about.

Moreover, in the mountain valley surrounded by this forest, there is a dense bamboo grove, a modest waterfall, a not-so-quiet small lake, and a small spirit vein with not weak spiritual energy.

This is the temporary settlement Yunhe has chosen.

The matters of Huaxin, Shen Xingrui, and Shen Mu are handled by themselves; Yunhe directly commands the Crimson Shadow Gold-winged Bees to excavate a dwelling within the mountain.

He estimates he may need to stay here at least twenty or thirty years, so he has made the excavation fairly serious; the allocation of chambers is almost no different from his dwelling in the Ice Immortal Pavilion.

He entrusted the defensive formations of the entire mountain valley to Shen Xingrui, while the formations inside his own dwelling are still personally set up by him.

Although his relationship with the three is not bad.

But regarding his own secrets, Yunhe cannot disclose them to anyone, just as he does not with his concubine Dong Ning Xuan; even if he were to someday take a Dao partner, he could not reveal his secrets to that partner.

Yunhe is willing to admit this: he somewhat suffers from persecution mania.

In the cultivation world, examples of Dao partners betraying each other for their own benefit are not few.

It took several days.

After finishing setting up his dwelling, Yunhe unhesitatingly shut himself inside.

Insect chamber.

Yunhe sat cross-legged on the ground.

Thousands, even tens of thousands of corpse-soul insects formed a grayish-white, slender creature with eight legs, about half a person tall.

They appeared rather calm.

But when Yunhe again took out the 'Black Soul Crystal,' the corpse-soul insects instantly became agitated.

'Black Soul Crystal' is an extremely pure product of solidified divine soul and soul; it is said that even if a person's or a life's soul were solidified, it would be far smaller than a speck of dust, so the Black Soul Crystal cannot be condensed by any means, not even demonic methods; it can only be obtained from such aberrant beasts as the 'Abyssal Beast'.

'Black Soul Crystal' is likewise the core of the Abyssal Beast, equivalent to a cultivator's Golden Core or Nascent Soul, a demon beast's Inner Core, and is an excellent material for refining superior 'Soul-type' magic treasures.

These are a small excerpt Yunhe extracted from the vast information while perusing the ancient texts left by the Elder Floating Cloud during his time in Baihua Valley.

Quite obvious.

Originally, Elder Floating Cloud chose to leave his dwelling in 'Luo Feng Valley,' not far from the 'Black Abyss,' so he naturally had some understanding of the 'Abyssal Beast' there.

Although the understanding is not extensive, these conclusions are sufficient for Yunhe.

'Therefore, the Black Soul Crystal will not have significant side effects on the corpse-soul insects.'

'However, to be safe, differentiating a mother insect is necessary insurance.'

Muttering to himself, from his palm a tiny grayish-white creature, barely the size of half a fingernail on a little finger, wriggled out and he collected it into a special spirit bag for holding insects.

After doing these, he then had no more reservations.

Amid waves of longing from the corpse-soul insects, he tossed the 'Black Soul Crystal' over to them.

In an instant.

The corpse-soul insects, which had originally condensed into creature form, almost immediately dispersed, then promptly wrapped the 'Black Soul Crystal' around it.

Accompanied by a dense, minute chewing sound, the 'Black Soul Crystal' shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Conversely.

On the corpse-soul insects' bodies, a peculiar black aura gradually grew denser.

If one senses carefully, one can discover that it is the power of the soul, the essence of the spirit.

At the same time, Yunhe fully released his divine sense, highly concentrated in the insect chamber, observing any minute change in the corpse-soul insects.

As insects mutated from the fusion of part of his divine spirit, as his natal spirit insects, he can constantly and clearly perceive everything of the corpse-soul insects.

The aura inside each insect is surging.

I don't know how long passed, but when the 'Black Soul Crystal' completely disappeared, the corpse-soul insects also ceased moving.

It was as if they had all died.

Until Yunhe said, 'Begin,' those insects that looked extremely calm instantly became extremely agitated and immediately began frenzied mutual devouring.

This is an indispensable part of the corpse-soul insects' advancement.

Thus this also shows that the 'Black Soul Crystal' indeed, as Yunhe expected, can enable the corpse-soul insects to undergo advancement once more.

It also means that.

When the corpse-soul insects complete this advancement and transformation, they will become true fourth-level insects!

At the same time.

At an unknown distance from Yunhe, a middle-aged cultivator in earth-toned robes stood with hands behind his back on a hilltop, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, when his eyes suddenly shot out an uncontrollable gleam.

He muttered, 'A fourth-level insect I have never even seen? Interesting, interesting!'

As he muttered, two figures flew in from behind.

The two did not even dare to raise their heads to look at him; after lowering their heads and performing a most respectful salute, they said, 'Elder Hua, the Grand Elder is looking for you.'

'Huh?'

Upon hearing those words, Elder Hua furrowed his brow.

But thinking of their identities, he pondered briefly, then said in a low voice: "Understood."

Next second.

His figure actually scattered like a clump of condensed dust with a 'Bang!'.

(End of chapter)