Chapter 307

Wang Yu walked swiftly along a corridor to the edge of the small lake, feeling the warm breath rising from the water's surface; he immediately crouched down, plunged one hand into the water, and closed his eyes to sense it.

After more than a dozen breaths, Wang Yu opened his eyes again, pulled his hand from the water, and held it up to examine it closely.

His palm was now entirely crimson and scorching hot; the pores on his skin were visibly open, with thin wisps of white vapor seeping out, carrying a strong medicinal fragrance.

Wang Yu wore a satisfied expression, then fell into thought.

This small lake was not large, yet it was one of the most valuable features of this True Transmission cave dwelling—it was in fact a special mineral spring capable of purifying the marrow; prolonged soaking by cultivators could nourish the body, improve constitution, and even slightly expel internal Dan poison.

Upon learning of the spring's effects, he was overjoyed and immediately went to the General Affairs Hall, using his True Transmission status to overdraw a large sum of contribution points to obtain this special medicinal bath formula.

This spring had existed on Tianzhu Mountain for so long that during the centuries the Qianzhu Sect held it, they had fully developed methods to exploit it; when they surrendered Tianzhu Mountain, they simply left all such special formulas behind for the Four Symbols Sect.

According to the formula, to achieve maximum expulsion of internal Dan poison, one must continuously add over a hundred different spiritual herbs into the water, then let them steep for over two years until their potency fully infused the spring; only then could a specialized secret technique be used during soaking to purify the marrow and transform the meridians, slowly expelling the Dan poison.

Not only had the contribution points spent to acquire the formula only just been repaid, but each batch of over a hundred spiritual herbs added to the spring cost thirty to forty thousand spirit stones—and several of the rare herbs weren't even available at the Four Symbols Sect's General Affairs Hall, forcing him to search the external markets.

Adding the herbs to the spring required one year; maturing the water required two more years—meaning one could only purify the marrow once every three years.

This was his fourth medicinal bath.

Just thinking of the astronomical spirit stones he'd spent made his heart ache.

But he couldn't skip this bath—given the sheer volume of pills he'd consumed over the years, the Dan poison in his body had accumulated to an alarming level, especially in the last few years, when he'd taken at least thirty different cultivation pills in his attempt to reach the Twelfth Layer's Great Perfection.

These weren't ordinary pills; they were cultivation pills with extremely rare main ingredients and scarce circulation.

The weaker ones might grant only a month's worth of cultivation per pill, but the stronger ones could equal years of hard practice in a single dose.

The most astonishing pill he'd taken, a top-grade one called "Ling Huang Dan," had granted him eight years of cultivation in a single pill, allowing him to break through a minor realm in just a few days.

But because its potency was too brutal, he immediately suffered a magical backlash—his meridians twisted out of order, and he nearly lay bedridden for half a year before recovering, barely saving his life.

Only then did he begin to understand that many of these so-called "rare pills" had been discarded long ago by cultivation sects due to their excessive side effects.

Recalling the incident now, he still felt a chill of fear—it was only because his body was exceptionally strong that he survived; a regular disciple would have exploded on the spot.

Wang Yu sighed, stood up, and formed a hand seal with one hand.

"Puff."

His body suddenly blazed with red light; streams of crimson radiant energy erupted from within him, spiraling upward and coalescing into a red sphere nearly a zhang in diameter, its surface blurred, like a blazing red sun hovering just before his eyes.

The air temperature around him surged rapidly, exceeding a hundred degrees; the lake's surface began to ripple, releasing denser mist.

"The Fire Spirit Art at Twelfth Layer Great Perfection truly is formidable—if I'd reached this level in the Jialan Secret Realm, killing those demonic True Transmissions wouldn't have been so difficult," Wang Yu muttered, his eyes half-lidded as he gazed at the massive sphere above, his hand still forming the seal.

He then changed his hand seal, gestured upward, and the red sphere dissolved into streams of crimson light that flowed back into his body.

The temperature in the surrounding air began to drop again.

Wang Yu savored the sensation of his cultivation energy flooding his body once more; after a long while, he turned and headed toward a solitary stone chamber in a corner of the cave.

As soon as he neared the chamber, a chill opposite to the lake's warmth struck his face.

Wang Yu frowned but stepped closer, pulling open the thick stone door.

The moment the door opened, a wave of freezing cold rolled out from within.

Even Wang Yu shivered involuntarily; he quickly reactivated his Fire Spirit Art, letting a faint red glow spread over his skin, before stepping inside calmly.

The entire chamber—floor and walls alike—was coated in thick frost; at its center, on a green stone platform, rested a pale blue ice sphere two zhang in diameter.

Within the translucent ice, a white spiritual beast, roughly a zhang long, curled into a ball, motionless.

"Xiao Bai."

Wang Yu walked over and softly called out.

The next instant, the white beast inside the ice stirred slightly; the blue ice sphere cracked with sharp snaps, shattering into countless pale blue shards that fell onto the stone platform below.

The white beast lazily stretched its body, lifting its head to look at Wang Yu.

Xiao Bai's body had shrunk considerably compared to over a decade ago—it was now back to seven or eight chi in length, but more slender; a short pale-white horn had grown on its head, and its pale blue scales had turned snowy white.

Xiao Bai let out a low whimper and opened its enormous mouth wide.

Wang Yu chuckled, patted his storage bag, and pulled out a fleshy lump the size of a fist.

The flesh was pink, with faint white luminous veins flickering within, and it wriggled slowly in his palm like a living thing—strangely eerie.

At the sight of the flesh, Xiao Bai's lazy demeanor vanished instantly; its eyes gleamed as it opened its mouth even wider.

Wang Yu flicked his wrist and tossed the lump directly into the beast's gaping maw.

Xiao Bai swallowed the entire mass in two bites, then kept its mouth open, snorting impatiently for more.

Wang Yu didn't hesitate—he pulled out several more identical flesh lumps from his storage bag and fed them all into Xiao Bai's mouth, saying helplessly:

"Xiao Bai, don't rush, slow down—this is second-rank Tai Sui beast flesh; one bite costs you over ten spirit stones. Ever since you swallowed that bit of dragon blood, your body hasn't grown, but your appetite's gotten pickier—now feeding you costs as much as three or four Da Lü."