Chapter 277: Cave Treasury Harvest

Even with Shen Yi's composure, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

This time, he was truly rich.

Three upper-stage demon kings, one extreme-stage demon king, plus a demon emperor.

Plus more than half of the Nine Swords Extermination Array, a thorned bracelet artifact, and several storage treasures yet to be inventoried.

The cultivation technique also included the Li Huo Fen Xin Palm.

The spiritual root he had most anticipated—the Long Yanyu Zhi—now seemed pale in comparison to these treasures.

This doesn't include the storage treasure taken away by the Golden Dragon, which belonged to Zhang Mingyang.

Mainly because if the Golden Dragon had simply handed out the storage treasure too openly, it would have been far too obvious.

Before Shen Yi truly entered the Transformation of Spirit Realm, he had no intention of revealing his connection to the Golden Body.

The reason was simple.

The Golden Body does all the dirty work, inevitably angering many powerful beings; unable to reach the Golden Body, they would inevitably turn their attention to him… If a demon emperor specifically targeted him, that would be no good news.

Just as Bai Yu Yao Huang had barely held off the Golden Body and nearly slain Zhang Mingyang.

Shen Yi didn't think he was stronger than that True Person Zhang.

Thinking of this, he gathered his spirit and quietly opened his panel.

【Slain Hunyuan Realm Golden-Maned Demon Pig, total lifespan 18,900 years, remaining lifespan 8,800 years, absorption complete】

【Slain Soul Transformation Realm Bai Yu Crane, total lifespan 67,000 years, remaining lifespan 29,000 years, absorption complete】

【Remaining demon lifespan: 52,300 years】

Just five demons provided more than half the total lifespan of all demons in Songzhou.

How many such beings remained in the Thousand Demon Caverns?

Shen Yi's eyes grew hotter, but soon calmed again.

The gains were abundant, but the cost was not small…

Lady Qinghua's performance was flawless; the gap between the Golden Body and the demon emperor's power was simply too great, causing her injury.

It required vast amounts of incense and devotional energy to repair.

This was equivalent to betting the very foundation of the Great Qian.

Would the incense and devotional energy be exhausted first, or would he enter the Transformation of Spirit Realm first?

Thus, Shen Yi had to become even more cautious.

Every strike must guarantee sufficient gains.

Having thought this through, he glanced to the side.

To ensure his safety, Chen Zhong had summoned his Nascent Soul and patrolled the surroundings with full power, ensuring he could detect any anomaly at once.

A Qing wandered cautiously beside the bamboo grove, flipping through his thick book while carefully sketching with his brush on a small notebook.

Seeing only himself left, Shen Yi withdrew his gaze and took out the demon corpses one by one.

He opened his mouth slightly and activated the Blood Transformation Technique.

The three upper-stage demon kings yielded a total of 307 demon blood droplets; the extreme-stage wild boar yielded 153 droplets, slightly less than the previous extreme-stage White Dragon.

But the wild boar was roughly 8,000 years younger than the White Dragon, achieving comparable cultivation in only half the time.

This alone revealed the extraordinary nature of the Thousand Demon Caverns.

Shen Yi looked expectantly at the final crane, then slowly furrowed his brow.

The once-unstoppable Blood Transformation Technique had lost its effect on this Bai Yu Yao Huang… The innate talent from the Embracing Elixir Realm demon king was gradually falling behind.

After continuing for a while longer, a single droplet of demon blood was finally extracted from it.

"Forget it, practice for now."

Shen Yi shook his head and returned it to the storage treasure.

Too many eyes around; his cultivation traits were far too obvious—he had no need to reveal them here.

The demon blood had already fed the Kong Que to its fourth molt, nearing the eighth molt of a minor demon king.

He closed his eyes and assumed a posture of meditative rest and healing.

He casually took the quietly returning Jin Zhu, placed it into his qi sea, and simultaneously took in the exquisite storage treasure.

He had Lady Qinghua stand by his side, then channeled the demon lifespans into the Body Tempering Art.

【Year One, the Kong Que, having tasted demon blood, once again sensed the familiar scent and greedily approached】

Last time, the Kong Que had devoured 155 droplets of demon blood; he had assumed it would soon be satisfied.

Unexpectedly, it surpassed the 200-mark in an instant.

【Year 2,720, the Kong Que had consumed a total of 202 droplets of demon blood and finally completed its molt; its crimson wings slowly unfurled, stirring thick, tangible malice—your innate talent has grown】

The more it ate, the stronger it became.

Shen Yi did not feel much regret; instead, Zhang Mingyang's effortless breach of his flesh had intensified his urgency regarding the Body Tempering Art's realm.

He didn't need to defeat a true Soul Transformation Realm cultivator—just withstand their spell techniques.

Otherwise, he'd be risking his life every time.

The newly acquired demon lifespans vanished rapidly; the demon blood was also being consumed at a visible rate.

Shen Yi felt his body growing tougher, and his heart grew slightly more at ease.

The barely noticeable Golden Eagle had devoured a full 280 droplets of demon blood; next came the Bai Lu.

As with the ninth molt of the Immortal Demon, the sixth molt marked the dividing line between minor and major mastery of the art—its consumption would surely be extraordinary.

But when he saw the panel's prompt, Shen Yi was still startled.

【Year 24,300, the Bai Lu devoured the remaining hundred-plus droplets of demon blood—yet it had merely opened its appetite, still waiting hungrily for your next offering】

【Remaining demon lifespan: 28,000 years】

More than four hundred drops of demonic blood were swept clean, fortunately, the corpse of the Yao Huang still lay there.

Otherwise, Shen Yi truly couldn't afford to raise this group of immortal demons.

When the burning sensation on his body gradually faded.

There was no other technique available to cultivate for now.

He took out the thorned bracelet, familiarized himself with it slightly, then slipped it onto his wrist.

The once fearsome bracelet, as if alive, immediately retracted its spikes upon touching Shen Yi's skin, intertwining into a single strand that looked like an ordinary black vine.

This thing could even trap a Golden Dragon.

Before learning the Soul Transformation technique, it would perfectly compensate for his lack of control methods.

Shen Yi gently twisted his wrist.

Then he took out the nine small swords he had been longing for, three of which were already broken.

This thing nearly killed Bai Yu Yao Huang right inside the thorned cage—its power need not be explained.

Unfortunately, the ignorant Yao Huang had damaged several of them.

Shen Yi fiddled with them for a moment, watching as the flesh over his chest slowly healed, no longer bleeding.

He rose and walked toward A Qing.

If he remembered correctly, he had heard earlier that this item was learned from the Xu family.

"These nine small swords are also a formation—can you understand it?" Shen Yi stood beside him.

"Uh." A Qing quickly put away his paper and pen, turned to look at the object in Shen Zongshi's hand, then fell silent for a moment.

"I…"

He looked up and saw that Shen Yi's clear eyes held no ulterior motive, only curiosity.

The other trusted him so completely that he hadn't even asked about his identity, yet had protected him all along.

Under that gaze, A Qing slightly lowered his eyes and pressed his lips together.

Perhaps Shen Zongshi didn't know that this Nine Swords Extinguishing Calamity Formation was once the thing his family had been most proud of.

He looked up and smiled: "I… I can understand some of it."

(End of Chapter)