Chapter 350

Wang Yu naturally knew nothing of what had transpired in the secret chamber of "Li Shu," but he had no intention of reneging on the deal.

After returning to his cave dwelling, he immediately released Xiao Bai and Da Lv, tossing both into the cave's spiritual pool, then shattered over a dozen pills to nourish blood and qi, letting them soak in the water.

He then returned to the meditation chamber, sat cross-legged on a mat, pressed the newly acquired Guiyuan Technique jade slip against his forehead, and with a flash of crystalline light in his eyes, activated the overdrive mode, focusing intently to comprehend it.

After an unknown length of time, Wang Yu's crystalline light dimmed; he removed the jade slip from his forehead, his expression one of deep contemplation.

Indeed, the Guiyuan Technique came with heavy restrictions, as he had suspected—it could not be used casually.

First, this secret technique could only be applied to a second-rank spiritual beast that had signed a spiritual pact; first-rank spiritual beasts could not withstand its power, or else they risked having all their internal qi drained, severely damaging their foundation and rendering it useless.

Second, to successfully cast this technique, the spiritual beast and the caster should be at the same cultivation level; if their cultivations differed greatly, the chance of failure increased significantly—and the greater the gap, the higher the likelihood of failure.

Third, since the borrowed qi was foreign energy, to ensure its smooth integration into the body, a second-rank talisman called the "Tongxi Talisman" must be applied simultaneously to both caster and beast before casting, synchronizing their qi signatures, allowing the borrowed qi to merge into the body.

Fourth, to prevent backlash from the borrowed qi, the caster could draw no more than one-third of their own total qi at once; exceeding this limit risked the qi turning against them, causing the body to explode.

Lastly, casting the Guiyuan Technique required the formation of three distinct spiritual patterns within the spiritual consciousness, each composed of over twenty spiritual runes; only after successfully forming all three in sequence could the secret technique be completed.

Although for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, a pattern of twenty-plus runes was not overly difficult to master, forming three consecutively was an extreme test of magical talent—certainly not a simple feat for an average early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Wang Yu was speechless.

With so many restrictions, the utility of this technique was greatly diminished; its only remaining value seemed to lie in activating Xiao Bai's latent ability.

But he could not be certain whether everything "Li Shu" had claimed was entirely truthful.

After all, trading lifespan for a massive boost in cultivation sounded utterly implausible.

And the only evidence presented was a single late-stage Qi Condensation demon serpent, its lifespan nearly at an end!

Everything else had been said solely by "Li Shu" himself.

Yet proving it was not overly difficult.

All he needed was to capture a spiritual snake and conduct a test using Xiao Bai's blood.

But even if everything were true, he had no intention of activating this ability in Xiao Bai.

After all, Xiao Bai's current cultivation progress had already left him stunned.

Over the past dozen years, it had broken through a minor realm nearly every few years—and now, it had reached Qi Condensation peak, ready to begin its ascent to second rank.

Under these circumstances, how could he possibly let Xiao Bai sacrifice its lifespan for a mere increase in cultivation?

As Wang Yu pondered this, his gaze flickered slightly.

Compared to the Guiyuan Technique, he valued far more the spiritual bones and tens of thousands of spiritual stones from this deal.

Thinking of this, Wang Yu flipped his hand—and suddenly, a translucent, pristine white bone blade appeared in his grasp, its surface veiled in faint green light, yet within it, faint flickers of fire glowed continuously.

He gripped the blade in one hand and slashed it through the empty air before him.

Nine crimson runes surfaced along the blade's edge; thick fingers of flame spiraled out, then nine pale green spiritual rune shadows appeared, echoing the earlier crimson runes.

This was, in fact, a lower-grade second-rank artifact!

The blade trembled slightly, and instantly, a violent wind erupted; the flames on its surface surged wildly, swelling into rolling clouds of fire that swept forward.

The spectacle was astonishing!

Wang Yu merely flicked his wrist—and the eighteen green-red rune shadows on the blade rolled over; the fire clouds that had surged outward reversed course, flowing back like ten thousand rivers returning to their source, vanishing into the blade.

In an instant, the meditation chamber returned to its original stillness.

This second-rank wind-fire artifact had been forged by his own hands years ago, after purchasing a second-rank beast's leg bone from an outer-market bazaar for over ten thousand spiritual stones.

Though the wind-fire runes were not ideally suited to the spiritual bone material, and the resulting artifact's power was merely average, he had not crafted it for combat—he had another purpose in mind.

Wang Yu glanced at the second-rank artifact in his hand, flipped it once more—and the blade vanished. He murmured softly: "Enter login interface."

The next instant, a flash of white light swept before his eyes, and he found himself standing in a sea of rolling black mist.

The mist swirled with chilling winds, shadowy specters loomed everywhere, and the wails of ghosts and wolves echoed endlessly.

"Only a few days since last login, and the yin energy has grown even heavier!"

Wang Yu muttered, formed a hand seal—and nearby black mist rapidly dispersed, revealing the surroundings clearly.

Around him lay countless piles of white bones, each five to six zhang tall, stacked one after another, totaling thirty to forty mounds; the ground, as far as the eye could see, was littered with scattered, glistening white bones.

Farther out, thick walls of black mist still encircled the entire bone field, leaving no opening.

From within each pile, tendrils of black qi rose, drifting steadily toward a central white bone altar, roughly one zhang tall.

Upon the altar stood a banner, one zhang high, its shaft of luminous bone, its surface a deep black sheen, faintly bearing some pale, indistinct pattern—too blurred to make out.

The black qi surging from the surrounding bone piles transformed into countless black threads, continuously pouring into the dark banner, unceasingly, for how long no one knew.

Seeing this, Wang Yu was unsurprised; he simply raised his hand and beckoned toward the altar.

*Swoosh.

The one-zhang bone banner shot upward from the altar, spun once, then rapidly shrank into a streak of dark light, landing firmly in his palm.

Wang Yu examined the object in his hand—it was only half a foot long, and where his fingers touched it, it felt icy cold, as if gripping a block of ice.

He gripped the banner's shaft with one hand, and with the other, swept his fingers across its surface.

*Boom—boom—boom.

The dozens of massive bone piles collapsed simultaneously, and from each rose a towering white skeleton, two zhang tall.