Chapter 200: Harvest

"Boom boom boom"

At the center of the valley, half of a massive skeleton slowly floated upward; though only its skull remained, lacking both feet and one arm, its broken form still radiated a suffocating terror.

"This third-rank White Bone Demon avatar has finally arrived. Though I sacrificed most of my body and power, at least it wasn't all in vain." The incomplete White Bone Demon's sole remaining skull swept over the many Kuihun Sect disciples kneeling on the ground, then emitted a hollow, aged hum.

"It is our incompetence as disciples that failed to fully unleash the great array's power, causing the Ancestor's avatar to be damaged. We beg the Ancestor's forgiveness." The middle-aged man who had previously collapsed on the ground now struggled to rise, bowing repeatedly before the broken White Bone Demon.

"Hmph. As a true disciple of our sect, you can't even handle a simple task—deserve punishment indeed. I'll take some of your essence blood to restore this White Bone avatar's lower limbs." Upon hearing this, the massive White Bone Demon let out a cold snort, then raised its lone white bone arm and pointed a finger at the middle-aged man.

"Puff"

A greenish light column shot from the White Bone Demon's finger, vanished in an instant, and pierced through the man's shoulder, leaving behind a bloody, fleshless hole.

"Thank you, Ancestor, for your mercy."

Though his body trembled violently, the middle-aged man endured the agony without resistance, kneeling motionless on the ground.

The White Bone Demon merely reached out with one hand through the air; instantly, a stream of blood erupted from the man's wound, coalescing into a fist-sized blood orb that landed in the White Bone Demon's palm.

"Go"

The White Bone Demon tossed the blood orb forward and began muttering incantations.

"Boom"

The blood orb exploded into a cloud of crimson mist, forming a dense, intricate blood-patterned array that flashed once and sank into Bai Sensen's body.

The next instant, the ground nearby trembled slightly as countless white bones flew upward toward the White Bone Demon—even the massive bone altar and surrounding bone pillars shattered and crumbled, transforming into countless fragments that shot skyward, completely enveloping the broken White Bone Demon.

In an instant, a massive bone sphere condensed in midair, its surface faintly covered with dense crimson spiritual runes, beginning to writhe continuously.

After a cup of tea's time, "Boom!" the giant bone sphere exploded, shards flying in all directions, and violent air currents rolled outward in every direction.

A brand-new White Bone Demon appeared in midair.

This newly formed White Bone Demon now possessed complete legs and feet, and even grew a second pair of white bone arms behind its back; each of the four arms gripped a massive white bone weapon: a banner, a blade, a hammer, and a shield.

"Congratulations, Ancestor, on restoring your true form."

Seeing this, the many Kuihun Sect disciples bowed again in unison.

"Hehe, rise, all of you. Though this is only a temporary assembly, it can still unleash the power of Foundation Establishment mid-stage—enough to sweep through the entire Jialan Secret Realm. Now move out. Kill every single Great Ming Four Sect disciple you see. Seize every resource within the realm."

The four-armed White Bone Demon shifted its body, swung its four bone weapons, and let out a wild laugh that made the entire valley hum with resonance.

"We obey the Ancestor's holy decree."

Nearly a hundred Kuihun Sect disciples shouted in unison, their faces alight with excitement.

The black-robed middle-aged man also exhaled deeply and immediately began taking pills and slapping healing talismans onto his wounds.

Not long after, a dense swarm of bone boats, clustered around the massive White Bone Demon, rose into the sky like locusts and flew toward the mountain range.

…

Wang Yu's bright short blade flashed once, leaving a small wound on his finger. He muttered incantations, then dripped a single drop of essence blood into each of the dozen miniature vials on the ground, sealed them immediately, and pasted yellow talismans over each lid.

Then he flickered away from the tree hollow.

Fifteen minutes later, Wang Yu returned to the tree hollow, carrying a crude, massive silk net, smiling.

Inside the net were a dozen blue birds, each about a foot long, all unconscious.

He pulled out some silk ribbons from his robe and tightly tied each of the small vials to the birds' bodies. Then he withdrew a vial of medicine, poured its contents over them—immediately, a pungent, spicy odor filled the air.

The previously unconscious birds stirred awake and flew out of the tree hollow in a frenzy, vanishing into the sky within moments.

Wang Yu then flipped his hand, revealing a tracking crystal ball. After infusing it with a trace of spiritual energy, it displayed over a dozen red dots—most were flying rapidly in all directions, but one larger blood-red dot remained motionless at the center.

Seeing this, Wang Yu exhaled deeply and finally relaxed.

He had studied for a long time. Though he could not remove the blood aura mark on his body—or even determine what it truly was—he had accidentally discovered that the blood aura mark could split and weaken: a single drop of essence blood could spawn a new mark, while weakening the original.

He was overjoyed.

He no longer needed to completely remove the blood aura mark—only to make his own mark less conspicuous.

Thus, he created over a dozen essence blood decoys, attaching them to these swift blue birds. Not only would this weaken his own blood aura mark, but it would also confuse the true disciples of the demonic sects.

Wang Yu gazed at the blood-red dot on the crystal ball representing his location, deeply satisfied. He then pulled a storage bag from his robe and upended it—four containers of varying sizes appeared on the ground: two wooden boxes, one iron box, and one jade casket.

These were his harvest from the spirit herb garden.

Wang Yu carefully opened the two wooden boxes. Inside lay a two-foot-long crimson ginseng and a twisted, snake-like section of bamboo.

The former was "Fire Spirit Ginseng," offering nearly a ten-percent auxiliary effect for Foundation Establishment to cultivators practicing fire-based arts.

The latter was the famed "Nine-Turn Bamboo"—the sap near its root could provide a five-percent auxiliary effect for Foundation Establishment.

Of course, both were millennium-grade spirit herbs; their auxiliary effects might be even stronger, but by how much was uncertain—likely varying by individual.

With these two Foundation Establishment spirit herbs, plus the Mingming Spirit Fluid he already possessed, he now had all three essential auxiliary items—he needed only one Foundation Establishment Pill.

As Wang Yu contemplated this, he opened the iron box and jade casket.

Inside the iron box lay a black, sword-shaped leaf; inside the jade casket rested a glowing, crystalline fruit radiating red light.

(Dear fellow cultivators, Wang Yu wishes you a joyful Lunar New Year, prosperity in all things, and health for your entire family ^^)