Chapter 253: Various Parties (Request Subscription)

Moments later.

"I have not disgraced your trust!"

Song Song Ningjing activated the Mirror Light Scripture, carving a passage through the Crystal Light Barrier.

She opened her eyes to see Fang Xing playing with a palm-sized Treasure-Seeking Rat in his hand.

Beast bodies are naturally stronger than cultivators; after being fed a few third-grade pills, the rat's wounds had fully healed, though its yellow fur still needed time to regrow, leaving a patch bald.

Suddenly, the little rat's eyes bulged wide, turning into a streak of yellow light as it lunged onto a massive sky-blue stalactite and refused to let go with its paws.

"Ten-thousand-year Stone Milk!"

Madame Rui gazed at the sky-blue stalactite, seeing a swirling liquid at its core, and murmured softly.

"Ten-thousand-year Stone Milk can only be collected using vessels made of ice-jade… I brought several extra sets on purpose."

Song Song Ningjing patted her storage pouch, and immediately a set of jade vases, jade plates, and jade spoons floated out.

These jade artifacts differed from ordinary jade bottles—not only were they crystal-clear, but they also radiated a faint chill.

Clearly, she had prepared thoroughly for this journey.

Fang Xing nodded and let Song Song Ningjing proceed.

She took out a spirit artifact made of ice-jade, formed a hand seal, and chanted a few incantations.

The "Qingyu Ruler" sank into the stalactite, continuously drawing out the ten-thousand-year Stone Milk and sealing it into ice-jade vials.

In the end, she filled nine and a half vials—and more.

After completing this, Song Song Ningjing specifically cast a spell, causing the Crystal Light Barrier beside the stalactite to slowly restore itself.

Cultivators of both orthodox and demonic sects, after harvesting spirit items, generally try to preserve the surrounding environment for future use.

Of course, if a fierce battle breaks out, all bets are off—if you're about to die, even the Nine-Yuan Transformation Vine gets blown to bits!

But rumor has it that the precious vine is layered with countless seals; only when the Divine Infant Fruit naturally ripens and falls can it be harvested. To damage the vine even slightly would require a Great True Lord's intervention, and even then, success might be only a one or two percent chance.

"I only need one vial of 'Ten-thousand-year Stone Milk.' Since the three of you don't want the rest, please, Master Feng, take them…"

Song Song Ningjing looked at Fang Xing, her expression tinged with unease.

Fang Xing thought for a moment and understood.

Now that they had obtained the fourth-grade spirit item, she feared he might turn on them and swallow even her share.

To be blunt… with his current late Foundation Establishment realm, four female Foundation Establishment cultivators were as good as helpless in his hands.

Moreover, now that the ten-thousand-year Stone Milk had been found, this Song surname sword cultivator had little further value.

"Hah! Then this elder won't be polite."

Fang Xing swept his sleeve and collected eight and a half vials of "Ten-thousand-year Stone Milk," his heart swelling with joy.

With these, his cultivation after forming his Golden Core could surge forward dramatically.

Come to think of it, since forming his Golden Core, he hadn't properly trained at all.

The last time he did, he relied on Madame Rui's dual-cultivation power—it was truly effective, equivalent to consuming ten or eight third-grade pills.

But he still had some distance to go before reaching the peak of early Golden Core.

Seeing him accept the spirit items without hesitation, the four women all breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Alright, our business here is done. Let's head to the Central Region as soon as possible."

Fang Xing patted the Treasure-Seeking Rat in his hand: "If any spirit items trigger this rat's excitement along the way, we can take a slight detour…"

…

Somewhere in the Linlang Paradise.

Countless poison insects filled the sky like clouds, crashing down in a thunderous wave.

Several spirit artifact glows among the sea of black clouds resembled sails in a storm, instantly swallowed.

A child dressed in the spirit robe of the Ten-Thousand Cultures Village, his face marked with strange tattoos, watched this scene with a cold smile: "Among the orthodox sects, all are useless… Once my 'Ten-Thousand Calamity Cultures' are perfected, I must find a chance to kill one of the Five Orthodox Sons, or I won't live up to the name of the Six Demonic Heroes. That fool Huo Huo Moqing just vanished for no reason—what a disgrace to our Six Heroes…"

This man was Gu Gu Shenzi; the Ten-Thousand Calamity Cultivation was his life-spirit insect, extremely lethal.

It had already been cultivated to the peak of third-grade, just one step away from advancing to pseudo-fourth-grade.

Once his life-spirit insect reached pseudo-fourth-grade, his chance of breaking through to Nascent Soul would increase by ten to twenty percent!

This was the most orthodox Nascent Soul path of the Ten-Thousand Cultures Village.

Now, all he needed was to enter a certain deadly zone within the Linlang Paradise to retrieve the hidden reserves his sect had placed there long ago, to upgrade his life-spirit insect.

"Then, seize a Divine Infant Fruit, refine it into a Divine Infant Pill, and combine it with my pseudo-fourth-grade life-spirit insect—my probability of forming a Nascent Soul will exceed fifty percent… I, the Master, will surely become the next Nascent Soul True Lord."

As Gu Gu Shenzi was lost in his fantasy, a series of piercing shrieks suddenly erupted within his body.

His expression darkened instantly; he opened his mouth and vomited out three white, silkworm-like insects.

But now, all three were dead.

"Dead? Those three from the Hua family are useless!"

"I even had them raise third-grade Treasure-Seeking Rats for me…"

Gu Gu Shenzi's face turned grim.

A third-grade Treasure-Seeking Rat was like adding wings to a tiger in the Linlang Paradise.

That's precisely why he had tasked the second elder of the Hua family with carefully raising one to bring in for him.

For easier control after switching masters, he even had them craft a spirit beast life-token.

Who knew it had all ended in disaster…

Though demonic elders often force their subordinates to bankrupt themselves raising spirit beasts—even if they're lost, the subordinates bear the cost.

But he just felt inexplicably irritated.

"Who dares kill my people and steal my spirit beast?"

Gu Gu Shenzi sneered several times: "Only a late Foundation Establishment cultivator could kill those three useless fools—and not just any late Foundation Establishment… He must be heading for the Divine Infant Cliff. I placed 'Ten-Thousand-Mile Scent-Diffusing Cultures' on those three fools; as long as he's within a hundred li, my 'Scent-Tracking Cultures' will trace his every trace!"

…

In the desert.

After delivering the Ten-Thousand Methods Ghost Infant, Fang Xing's true body did not hurry onward.

After all, the Western Desert held many opportunities.

The task of seizing the Divine Infant Fruit was entrusted to his cultivation avatar; he could first plunder the spirit items here.

"Though I now have ten-thousand-year Stone Milk, its quantity will only carry me to mid-Golden Core…"

"To mass-produce third-grade pills, the main raw materials still must come from the Linlang Paradise…"

The Linlang Paradise opens once every five hundred years—meaning even if seeds were casually scattered last time, the spirit herbs today are five hundred years old!

Not to mention the dense spiritual energy within the paradise; spirit herbs grown on special spiritual veins might develop twenty years' potency in just ten years of cultivation.

Moreover, there are many undiscovered spirit herb gardens, some containing even thousand-year or ten-thousand-year herbs!

"Hmm? Spiritual combat fluctuations?"

He touched his brow, turned his steps, and arrived at a sand dune.

Upon the dune stood a domed palace, half-buried in sand and gravel.

The palace walls still shimmered with runes and seals, indicating its inner protections had not been breached.

At the palace entrance stood two Xuanhuang Lion golems, originally meant as guardians.

Now their eyes glowed like giant rubies, alive and locked in fierce combat with two Golden Core cultivators.

"No wonder it's the Linlang Paradise—take two steps and you stumble upon an ancient ruin."

"Thank you, Nature's bounty!"

Fang Xing halted his steps and dropped down with a thunderous crash: "Two of you… this treasure is destined for me!"

"Damn it, you're more demonic than the demonic sects—destined for you?"

One Golden Core cultivator sneered and pointed a finger.

A top-grade spirit artifact sword flashed, its blade a ten-zhang-long emerald streak slashing toward Fang Xing's chest.

Sssss!

The blade struck his skin—and was instantly repelled by a layer of golden light.

Fang Xing opened his palm, and the Five Fingers Mountain appeared, snatching the top-grade spirit artifact sword mid-air.

No matter how sharp the sword, in his grip it was like a venomous snake seized by its seventh vertebra—completely immobilized.

Crack!

He gripped the hilt and blade, and applied slight pressure.

With a sharp snap, the top-grade spirit artifact sword shattered into two pieces.

At that moment, a talisman appeared behind him, transforming into countless green needles that struck his back with a sound like rain on banana leaves.

It was the other Golden Core cultivator's opportunistic strike—a needle-type talisman artifact.

Yet now, it could not scratch Fang Xing at all.

"Such a formidable body cultivator—Master truly is destined for this treasure!"

The two Golden Core cultivators exchanged glances and fled in opposite directions—one split into countless shadows, the other sprouted jet-black wings that channeled green wind currents, their escape speeds astonishing.

"Too weak! Too weak!"

Fang Xing casually swung his palm, and the Sky-Blocking Hand appeared, vast as the heavens.

Plop!

Like swatting flies, the two Golden Core cultivators exploded on the spot, dissolving into blood and shattered fragments.

"Boring!"

Fang Xing shook his head and turned toward the two golem lions.

"Roar! Roar!"

As lifeless puppets, the two Xuan Huang Lions felt no fear and charged straight at him.

One of them opened its bloodied maw and swallowed Fang Xing's head whole.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Several shards of metal teeth flew out as Fang Xing gripped the upper and lower jaws of the lion's maw and wrenched them apart.

He tore the puppet giant lion's head apart with his bare hands, splitting it in two.

Fang Xing clenched his five fingers into a fist and slammed it onto the crown of the other lion's head.

Crack!

The puppet lion shuddered violently, then froze mid-charge, its large ruby eyes dimming completely.

Its internal core components had been utterly shattered by Fang Xing's punch—completely disabled…

Fang Xing turned toward the palace guarded by the two puppet lions, rubbed his hands together, and stepped inside.

Not long after, a series of thunderous rumblings echoed forth.

Moments later.

A streak of black light shot toward them, revealing a man clad in the robe of the Wan Xiang Sect.

His face was gaunt, his eyebrows long and narrow: "Are the Sword and Blade Servants both dead?"

At that moment, he also saw the palace.

Though the palace's sealing array blocked spiritual sense detection, he was certain—the killer who slew the Wan Xiang Demon Sect's two Golden Core cultivators was inside!