Chapter 372

Three years passed in a flash.

After the second Yuan Ying began to merge with his own Yuan Ying, Yunhe spent three years cultivating the divine sense secret art.

Without saying he fully mastered the Abyss clan's secret art, but thanks to his already solid divine sense foundation, his cultivation of divine sense techniques progressed by leaps and bounds; now his understanding and use of divine sense have become much deeper and more profound.

And on this day, after cultivating the Abyss clan's secret art to a certain level, he still chose to leave seclusion.

Originally, judging by what he needed to cultivate, even spending another thirty or forty years in seclusion would not be enough to master formations and talismans, but what he needed to do was not merely studying these myriad cultivation arts.

Ultimately, a cultivator's foundation is his own cultivation base.

Condensing the Five Elements Spirit Body and obtaining elixirs to advance his cultivation base are his main goals.

Therefore he chose to leave seclusion, going to Baihua Tower to exchange contributions for elixirs and recipes.

After waiting nearly four years, the war between the Abyss clan and human cultivators should have become clearer, and he also needed to inquire a bit about the Martial Kingdom and the Ice Immortal Pavilion.

"As for this 'Ice Bone,' refining it is bound to be a slow process; it's fine to refine it while going about one's affairs."

Before leaving the cultivation chamber, Yunhe swallowed the Ice Bone he had obtained from Xiongwu Ji, wrapping it with spiritual power to continue refining it.

For Xiongwu Ji, this was a treasure that once helped it increase cultivation speed, but in fact its use of this treasure deviates somewhat.

In fact, many demonic beasts deviate in using certain treasures, for example the Land Mountain Turtle and the "Wu Earth Apricot Yellow Pearl."

Using the Ice Wind Wings to refine it, it can slowly turn into pure spiritual power to advance his cultivation base, and also strengthen Yunhe's control and use of the Ice Wind Wings; after all, he is not an ice spiritual root cultivator, so using the Ice Wind Wings inevitably involves some sluggishness.

After doing these, he then left the cave dwelling and summoned the Han Yin Jiao.

Splish-splash—

Seeing Yunhe, the Han Yin Jiao consciously lowered its head before him.

Yunhe fed it a Nurturing Pill, slowly walked up to its head, and asked:

"Do you feel any signs of a breakthrough in your cultivation base?"

The Han Yin Jiao flicked its tail and flew out beyond the Layered Peaks; hearing Yunhe's question, it inexplicably trembled inside and answered honestly:

"Mas-master, never."

Upon hearing that, Yunhe seemed to unintentionally smack his lips, "A bit slow."

The Han Yin Jiao immediately showed a bitter face, stammering, "No, but with master's elixirs, my cultivation base does improve."

The longer he spent with Yunhe, the more the Han Yin Jiao's reverence for him increased.

Although it spends most of its time in the spirit beast pouch, it also clearly knows what Yunhe has experienced recently.

Even early Fourth Level Abyss clansmen and early Yuan Ying cultivators are souls fallen to its master's sword; as a third-stage late Han Jiao, it seems somewhat useless.

This instantly gave it a sense of crisis.

Having experienced the protection of its master and the enjoyment of Nurturing Pills, it does not want to return to a wild demonic beast life.

Although wild represents freedom and autonomy, and perhaps one could have a large entourage and be imposing, the Han Yin Jiao is not just loafing among the demonic beasts of the Layered Peaks; it clearly knows how harsh their lives are.

Not only must it compete with other demonic beasts for extremely scarce resources, but it must also constantly guard against human cultivators' hunting.

Given its identity as a Han Jiao, if it were truly targeted by a Yuan Ying cultivator urgently needing a jiao dragon beast soul as an artifact spirit, the result would surely be death with no chance of survival.

Moreover, the Han Yin Jiao does not want to remain forever at the late Jie Dan stage demonic beast cultivation base; it also has a certain ambition and very much wants to see what demonic beast transformation looks like.

Is there anything better than following Yunhe's side and enjoying the cultivation base boost from Nurturing Pills?

It seemed he heard the Han Yin Jiao's worry, and Yunhe gave a low chuckle.

"Not bad."

Hearing Yunhe's praise, the Han Yin Jiao secretly relaxed, glanced around, and quickly added:

"Right, master, during your seclusion, occasional Jie Dan cultivators have appeared near your cave dwelling, but they were fairly honest; upon seeing the formation they kowtowed a few times, and seeing no reaction they withdrew."

"Oh?" Yunhe narrowed his eyes, "Do you still remember their attire?"

"I remember!"

Saying that, the Han Yin Jiao used its Demon Sense to project those people's appearances into Yunhe's mind.

"Baihua Valley, Wood Spirit Sect, and... Tingxiang Pavilion?"

From their attire, it's not hard to see they are cultivators of the three sects.

"Could it be that the Lotus Ancestor, Mu Ya Zi, and Feng Qing Dan three persons failed to escape back then?"

It's not impossible; after all, given the danger at that time, even a mid-Yuan Ying cultivator would not dare say they would certainly survive.

"Let's go to Qiling City."

Yunhe said, waving his hand to summon a carriage, and got in.

Anything, once we reach Baihua Tower, we'll know.

"Alright!"

The Han Yin Jiao responded cheerfully, actively biting the reins hanging on its body, flicked its tail, let out a long cry, and flew toward Qiling City.

Qiling City.

The city hasn't changed much; aside from some cultivators coming and going hurriedly with slightly tense expressions, the city remains prosperous.

"It seems the appearance of the Abyss clan has also caused considerable impact on Qiling City."

One would think so, Qiling City lies east of Mu Kingdom; beyond Mu Kingdom are the Gobi plains and Tianling Mountains; further west a distance brings one into the area affected by the Abyss clan.

Although this city is not exactly a frontline, being affected is inevitable.

Having put away the carriage and the Han Yin Jiao, Yunhe, without concealing his cultivation base, flew straight out of the city.

Originally, seeing a Yuan Ying cultivator would surely cause a stir in the city, but now Yunhe's appearance at most draws a few sidelong glances and reverence; it seems the cultivators in this city have grown somewhat accustomed to the formerly rare Yuan Ying ancestors.

Arriving at Baihua Tower with practiced ease.

Seeing that a Yuan Ying senior had come calling, Baihua Tower's reception dared not be negligent; they immediately reported to the manager and escorted Yunhe to the fourth floor.

And the one who came out to receive him turned out to be Ji Liuyun, which surprised Yunhe somewhat.

Ji Liuyun's condition looks poor; his complexion remains extremely pale, his breath is feeble and erratic, appearing as if he lacks decades of recuperation, making a full recovery basically impossible.

Yunhe merely hadn't expected that, even though Ji Liúyún was then a heavily wounded body, he could actually survive amidst such an encirclement by the Abyss tribe.

Even less expected that Ji Liúyún in such a state would still come out to receive him.

"Daoist Yun, you really managed to escape!"

Upon seeing Yunhe, Ji Liúyún's face was filled with joy.

"Daoist Ji, you this is"

Ji Liúyún let out a sigh, his face showing bitterness, and shook his head, saying: "Having activated the 'Bai Xiao Lou' forbidden technique, my Cultivation Base will likely never advance again in this lifetime."

Never to advance again?

Yunhe was not surprised that the 'Bai Xiao Lou' possessed an extremely strong life-preserving secret technique, after all, Ji Liúyún standing here is the best proof.

Yet he never imagined that the price of this secret technique would make it impossible for a Yuan Ying Cultivator's Cultivation Base to advance at all in this lifetime—a cost that is certainly not small for any cultivator.

However, it's better to live poorly than to die well; when truly faced with a life-and-death crisis, this is also something one has no choice about.

And since his Cultivation Base could no longer advance, Ji Liúyún coming out to receive him did not surprise Yunhe either.

Anyway, no matter what, his Cultivation Base cannot be increased; even if he quickly recovers from his injuries, what does it matter?

"What about the other Daoists?" Yunhe couldn't help but narrow his eyes as he asked.

"Daoist Lianhua has perished, Daoist Wei's life or death is unknown, but from the reaction in Fengdu City, it's likely that Daoist Wei's soul lamp has also gone out; Daoist Muyazi suffered heavy injuries and fled back, and at most in another three or four years he may possibly pass away in meditation."

"Daoist Feng Qingdan also escaped, though he's likely badly injured; the only ones who truly escaped unharmed are probably just the Purple Robe True Lord and Daoist Yun."

Saying this, his face showed admiration.

The Purple Robe True Lord is a mid-stage Yuan Ying Cultivator, and his swordsmanship is extraordinarily profound; it is said that he is one of the few from the Wu Xiang Sword Sect most likely to break through to the late Yuan Ying stage, and his fame is already so great that he cannot be treated as an ordinary mid-stage Yuan Ying Cultivator.

So her escaping is not surprising.

On the contrary, it is Yunhe being able to stand here unharmed that is truly worthy of his admiration.

Upon hearing this, Yunhe gave a helpless smile, waved his hand, and said: "I, Yun, was merely fortunate; struggling to live after facing death, I found a place to recover from my injuries, and only just emerged from seclusion, so I know little about what happened afterward."

He also couldn't help but secretly marvel in his heart.

If we count Han Bai and Muyazi as well, this battle actually caused the human side to lose four early-stage Yuan Ying Cultivators; although Wei Haiyuan was among them and was killed by him, it still counts toward the Abyss tribe's tally.

The casualties among Golden Core cultivators and those below are countless, and finally less than one in ten survived.

From this, one can see just how dangerous the inter-racial war is.

And this is merely the beginning of this war.

"Daoist Yun, you're being too modest." Ji Liúyún offered a compliment, took out a Jade Slip, and handed it to Yunhe.

"I, Ji, also guessed that one of your purposes in coming here was for this matter, so I had already prepared it. These are all the major and minor events that occurred after the 'Battle of Listening Incense Tower'; you can view them yourself, Daoist friend."

Yunhe was not polite either; he picked up the Jade Slip and began to browse it.

Soon enough.

He then came to understand what had happened afterward, as well as the current relationship between the human race and the Abyss tribe, and even the affairs of the eastern Sea tribe, which also shows how thoughtful it was.

It turns out that the Abyss tribe's fierce assault on the 'Listening Incense Tower' was indeed for a certain object; what exactly it is remains unknown for now, but that object is certainly extremely important to the Abyss tribe, to the point that they would not hesitate to pay a huge price for it.

And Yunhe thought of the half of an Abyss tribe skull he had obtained from Ji Liúyún's storage bag.

What the Abyss tribe is after is likely this object, though we don't yet know exactly what it does.

The rest of what happened that day is indeed as Ji Liúyún said; only he and the Purple Robe True Lord managed to survive intact.

However, the Purple Robe True Lord differs from him; he fled in panic, whereas the Purple Robe True Lord not only withdrew unscathed from his clash with that Abyss tribe priest elder, but also struck that elder with heavy injuries!

At the same time, although the human cultivators suffered heavy losses, the Abyss tribe was not doing well either.

Both mid-stage Fourth Level Abyss tribe members were severely wounded, and altogether they lost four early-stage Fourth Level Abyss tribe cultivators, two of whom were killed by Yunhe.

To put it bluntly, after that battle, aside from the Purple Robe True Lord, Yunhe had already become a red name on the Abyss tribe's 'must-kill list'.

After the 'Battle of Listening Incense Tower' ended, the Abyss tribe did not occupy the tower's grounds, but instead returned to the Black Abyss Mist.

During the years he was in seclusion, small skirmishes between human cultivators and the Abyss tribe continued, but no major clash occurred again; however, after several years of adjustment, the human cultivators have clearly recovered from the initial 'suddenness'.

The human cultivator alliance initially took shape.

Next, the Abyss tribe will likely face a frantic counterattack from the human cultivators.

The reason it is only just taking shape is also because the human cultivators' forces are numerous and chaotic; truly achieving full integration is indeed very difficult.

For example, two years ago, the Yellow Springs Old Ancestor emerged from seclusion in Fengdu City; the appearance of this late-stage Yuan Ying great cultivator caused the originally gradually stabilizing alliance structure to undergo another change.

It is said that after the Yellow Springs Old Ancestor emerged from seclusion and learned that his son Xiao Wuxian and Wei Haiyuan had died at the hands of the Abyss tribe, he flew into a rage, charged alone into the Black Abyss Mist, and clashed fiercely with the Abyss tribe's great priest; the final outcome is unknown.

This incident was the biggest thing that happened during his period of seclusion.

Yunhe estimated.

Wanting to fully integrate all human cultivators is fundamentally impossible.

However, if multiple late-stage Yuan Ying cultivators and major sects take the lead, forming several somewhat smaller camps, that is still comparatively practical.

Of course, the title 'Human Cultivator Alliance' will certainly exist, but it is destined to have many internal factions and camps.

Because only with the name 'Human Cultivator Alliance' will the contribution system be retained, and the various cultivators will then strive wholeheartedly for those many treasures.

Yunhe is one of them.

As for the Sea tribe side,

The Sea tribe, on the other hand, is steady and solid, not having taken rash actions like the Abyss tribe, but relying on the 'Boundless Sea' and the countless sea monsters within it, they have already devoured many islands, and even extended their reach into the borders of Yuan State.

Likewise, the cultivator sects on the eastern side, just like here, have not yet been able to fully integrate, but they have also not yet reached the time for a counterattack.

After finishing reading the contents of the Jade Slip, Yunhe rubbed the Jade Slip and couldn't help but exclaim:

"What a tumultuous autumn!"

"Yes." Upon hearing Yunhe's words, Ji Liúyún also nodded in agreement, feeling quite in accord.

Yunhe returned the Jade Slip to Ji Liúyún, after a brief pause he said: "Daoist Ji, I wonder if I may here exchange contributions for treasures?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Liúyún was also not surprised, and smiled, saying:

This is natural.

Speaking, he again took out a Jade Slip.

Within this Jade Slip, recorded are the treasures taken out by each sect.

Yunhe picked up the Jade Slip and quickly found what he needed.

"Feather Jade Silkworm Silk, two bottles of Twilight Elixir, and a recipe for Yin-Yang Mystic Qi Elixir."

Jiliuyun looked at the items Yunhe had selected and recited them one by one.

"I just don't know if Yun's contribution is enough to exchange for." Yunhe smiled slightly and asked.

"Fellow cultivator Yun joked; with your contribution there is naturally more than enough, but I never imagined you are skilled in the Elixir Dao?"

"I know a little, I know a little."

Hearing that his contribution was sufficient, Yunhe humbly said, then added: "If Yun still has surplus contribution, Fellow Cultivator Ji, could you help Yun exchange all of it for 'Twilight Elixir'?"

"Sure." Jiliuyun nodded, after careful thought said: "Your contribution can probably still exchange for two bottles of 'Twilight Elixir'."

"That much?" Yunhe showed surprise.

This 'Twilight Elixir' is an elixir that advances the cultivation base of Yuan Ying cultivators; although it is only useful for early-stage Yuan Ying cultivators, its value is extremely high.

His contribution is that much?

Jiliuyun's pale face showed a sincere smile, and he softly said: "Fellow cultivator Yun, I, Ji, have a matter I wish to inquire of you."

(End of chapter)