Chapter 282: Refining the Spiritual Root

Under the gaze of True Person Qingfeng.

Shen Yi quietly finished the remaining beef meant for Chen Zhong as well.

The medicinal power contained in the delicacies was absorbed by the Dao Infant, while the truly essential flesh and blood of the Demon Emperor transformed into twelve drops of demonic blood and were taken into the Qi Sea.

He put down his chopsticks.

His expression had long since returned to normal.

It must be said that the information conveyed by Mount Wutong had indeed disrupted Shen Yi's plans.

It even gave him an impulse to return to Great Qian immediately.

For Shen Yi, Great Qian's importance now was self-evident, equivalent to a foundational base.

Once the Nine Provinces fell, lacking sufficient incense and wish-power to support it.

The Golden Body would make no further progress, and once damaged, it would be a permanent injury, impossible to restore through any other means.

It was equivalent to tens of thousands of years of demon lifespan, condensed into a "one-time" consumable.

This was something he absolutely could not accept.

But after calming down slightly, a chill arose in Shen Yi's heart.

If he truly returned to act as a defender.

That would be to plunge himself and Great Qian into a slow death together.

When the Thousand Demon Cave would retaliate was unknown.

Where they would launch their attack from was also unknown.

Just as True Person Qingfeng said, for demons, a retaliation lasting hundreds of years was not considered a very long time.

If he waited so many years in Great Qian, with the resources there, his cultivation would be very difficult to increase further.

Moreover, even with full effort to rush, traveling from Lizhou to Outside Qingzhou was not a matter of a single day or night, and for a Demon Emperor to slaughter a city, it would not take much time at all.

Like a watchdog being played with, running frantically throughout Great Qian.

Once trapped in such a quagmire, Shen Yi would face the most serious problem.

That was whether, under the condition that his realm could not maintain leapfrog improvements, he could hold the line.

Bai Yu Yao Huang, ranked forty-second in the Thousand Demon Cave, even in a severely injured state, could make the Prison-Suppressing Dharma Image feel quite troubled; at least a three-zhang Golden Body would be needed to have a chance of defeating it in a direct confrontation.

And with the twenty-plus thousand years of demon lifespan in hand, breaking the Golden Body through to three zhang was already a very optimistic estimate.

If the Thousand Demon Cave sent even one Demon Emperor ranking within the top forty caves, it would leave Shen Yi helpless.

Given that a Demon Emperor from the nineteenth cave, Hua Xue, had already perished, unless the Thousand Demon Cave were Bai Chi, they would not do such a foolish thing as "send the young ones first, then the old ones."

Actually, without much thought, one could easily arrive at a realistic answer.

It cannot be held...

There, there was not only incense and wish-power, but also several friends Shen Yi knew, and disciples of the Martial Temple who treated him well.

Shen Yi had taken the vast incense and wish-power, yet could not fulfill the promise he had made initially.

"Huff."

He slowly closed his eyes, once again experiencing what Jiang Qiulan had experienced.

Though time had clearly never stopped, he still felt it was simply not enough.

The Nine Provinces were too vast; relying on defense was the worst possible strategy.

What was truly needed to protect Great Qian was a reputation.

A fearsome name that made the Thousand Demon Cave tremble at the mere mention, and the strength to annihilate their entire clan if they dared to infringe even a fraction.

Just like Nie Jun and Mount Wutong; even after slaughtering the Ox Demon, the Thousand Demon Cave only dared to strike at their allies.

"I have finished eating; does True Person have anything else?"

Shen Yi stood up and slightly adjusted his robes.

"I just wanted to see you; now I have seen you."

True Person Qingfeng nodded and raised a hand to see him off.

An existence so young that could earn the respect of many Hunyuan Sect Masters was worth a visit.

The flesh and blood of the Demon Emperor was also Elder Brother's treasure; he had borrowed a little to form a bond of goodwill.

But that was all there was to it.

Upon discovering Shen Yi's talent, almost any faction would have been unable to resist extending an olive branch, except for Mount Wutong.

These twelve fellow disciples of theirs were each the most dazzling existence within the entire Xian Sect over tens of thousands of years.

In the presence of the brilliance of the Full Moon, even the brightest stars could only fade into insignificance.

"I take my leave."

Shen Yi slightly nodded his chin, turned around, and walked downstairs.

The owner of the Eight Directions Pavilion waited outside the door and quietly gave a signal with his eyes.

Mei Xiyao nodded, followed the young man in black robes ahead, and only when they reached about the third floor did she speak softly: "Senior Shen, I was previously negligent; I hope you do not take it to heart."

Speaking, she smiled helplessly: "Even the Great Qian Masters are in such a panic, let alone our small food pavilion."

If Nie Jun's actions this time were met with retaliation from demons, Great Qian was at least an ally and not entirely unrelated.

Their Eight Directions Food Pavilion was the one that truly suffered collateral damage.

Just a group of cooks who suddenly offended a giant like the Thousand Demon Cave.

Who could one reason with?

Mei Xiyao sighed: "On this land, the weak rely on the strong; while enjoying protection, one must also bear the risk of being caught in the crossfire; this is truly nothing more than a normal occurrence; you need not worry too much for that Master."

"..."

Shen Yi did not reply, merely nodding slightly.

Indeed so.

Just as when he slew Lady Qinghua earlier, it was only because Nie Jun helped pin down the Blood-Transformation Demon Emperor that he himself remained unharmed until now.

It is not as though one is a good person while pinning someone down, yet becomes a villain once the demon is slain.

That was a True Person of Mount Wutong, not a bodyguard raised by Great Qian.

It is only that the time left for him is running short.

Shen Yi walked downstairs and saw a huge crowd surrounding A Qing so tightly that not even water could seep through.

Facing numerous cultivators whose cultivation far surpassed hers, she still managed to remain calm, asking each one in turn what they wished to exchange, maintaining an orderly demeanor.

Without disturbing A Qing, Shen Yi strode straight out of the Eight Directions Food Pavilion.

He simply found a quiet spot anywhere within this valley.

He sat cross-legged, took out the jade box he had obtained in exchange from Ma Guangshan, lifted the lid, and looked at the small purple stone inside.

As the saying goes, even if one has not eaten pork, one has seen a pig run.

Although it was only the initial realm of Slain Hunyuan, Shen Yi had personally slain several Grandmasters and carefully observed many Dao Infants, so he possessed a certain understanding of this realm.

A Dao Infant condensed from the qi of heaven and earth, accumulating enough foundation before shattering the Golden Core to emerge, constitutes the initial realm of Slain Hunyuan.

Between the initial and middle realms, the difference lies in merely a single spiritual root.

No wonder Jiang Qiulan said the path of the Shen Zongshi leaves no trace to be found.

The differences in spiritual roots, the differences in Dao Infants, and the changes produced by their combination naturally form a path that cannot be replicated.

Shen Yi took out the True Yang Qilin Stone, closed his eyes, and rubbed it for a moment.

Very soon, he sensed a thin layer of confinement upon it.

He summoned his qi and struck it!

In the next instant, the purple stone suddenly emitted a beast-like cry; wisps of golden flame rose up, with a strange purple radiance hidden within the flame's core—that was the mark of corruption by evil qi.

The purple-gold flame scorched Shen Yi's palm, making it sizzle.

With his current tempered body, plus the protection of the Cold Jade Mysterious Silk Gloves, he actually felt pain under the influence of a lifeless object.

This was the might of a high-grade spiritual root.

For a Shen Zongshi, the Dao Infant is the true body.

What Shen Yi must do now is attempt to forcibly fuse such a perilous object into his Dao Infant.

Should any damage occur,

it would not be something Kong Que's red radiance could repair.

(End of this chapter)