Chapter 227: Flip‑Flop

"You're lucky, you can take it down with Purple‑Gold Thunder Bamboo," the Nascent Soul ghost cultivator said, grabbing the demon soul and casually tossing it into his soul ring.

He looked at Thus: Xuantang Xingjun with a half‑smile, half‑non‑smile, and said, "The bell‑shaped spiritual treasure is back."

Thus: Xuantang Xingjun stepped back and vanished, but the Nascent Soul ghost cultivator shadowed him, instantly swelling to two zhang tall, and warned, "Don't force me to act."

As he spoke, the Peng Bird demon soul silently appeared behind Thus: Xuantang Xingjun, and in mid‑air tore a rift with its two claws, a flash of white light splitting open a spatial fissure.

Jiang Tu leapt back onto Jiang Yu's shoulder to watch the spectacle and asked, "You think, now that they're both at the Nascent Soul realm, who can defeat whom?"

"Hard to say, but the ghost cultivator has home‑field advantage, so it's two‑against‑one," Jiang Yu thought, suspecting that the Nascent Soul ghost cultivator's true level might actually be the Transformation Realm, merely suppressed to the Nascent Soul stage by the cavern.

"The ghost cultivator will surely win," the dragon soul shivered inside the dragon pearl.

Thus: Xuantang Xingjun sensed the danger and tried to dodge, only to realize he had been within the ghost cultivator's shadow all along; he sighed deeply and tossed the large black bell, "Jiang Yu, you worthless scoundrel.

The spiritual stone wasn't harvested, the spiritual treasure isn't yours either; our deal is void."

Boom—

The big bell landed at Jiang Yu's feet, covering the Ice Phoenix as dust swirled, and Jiang Tu spat a few times, "Old Xuan, the payment's been made; you couldn't protect it yourself.

Hmph, I knew it, you're always flip‑flopping."

Then the voice of the Little Snake's Ninth‑tier Ancestor rang out: "Emerald Scale Demon King, please throw that kid out of Xuan Du Mountain, don't let him profit from the Purple‑Gold Thunder Bamboo."

"What does that mean?" Though the Ninth‑tier Great Demon was puzzled, it didn't hinder it from tossing Thus: Xuantang Xingjun away.

"Hey hey hey, what…" Thus: Xuantang Xingjun's voice faded beyond the mountain‑protecting formation.

Jiang Yu gave Jiang Tu a thumbs‑up, "Well done."

Jiang Tu lifted his neck, about to act haughty, but saw the Peng Bird demon soul had vanished behind the ghost cultivator and quickly retreated.

Jiang Yu asked, "Shall we go dig the bamboo now?"

The Nascent Soul ghost cultivator bowed its head, retrieved the large black bell, and said, "Right, but opening the Thunder Pool requires two proper keys, namely the Fish Tokens that Jiang Xiaoyou originally recognized as his master."

"What about the person holding the other key? Use your Fish Token to sense his location."

The Ninth‑tier Demon King spoke first: "I know where it is, but you must tell me which bamboo to dig."

"Purple‑Gold Thunder Bamboo." The Ice Phoenix leapt far from Jiang Yu, heading to Xuan Du Mountain, deciding never to walk the same path as this cultivator again; since traveling together, it has only suffered unearned calamities.

But before that, it spat an ice arrow straight at Jiang Yu's backside, seeking revenge for a single blow.

Bang—

Jiang Yu's violet jade automatically defended the attack, but Jiang Tu's spiritual fire was faster; when it met the ice arrow, the arrow's tip instantly melted and shattered.

The Ice Phoenix tried to act again, but the Nascent Soul ghost cultivator glanced over, and it flapped its wings, ducking behind the massive body of the Ninth‑tier Demon King.

Jiang Yu, unfazed by these distractions, thought briefly and then said, "Senior, the one holding the other jade token is currently striking the mid‑stage Core Formation; please wait for him to finish the trial."

"There's no time to wait; the cavern is changing, and this time it will be open for at most forty‑nine days."

"Emerald Scale Demon King, please indicate that person's location; I will go fetch him," the Nascent Soul ghost cultivator pressed on.

The Ninth‑tier Demon King hesitated and asked, "The number of Thunder Bamboo is limited; how many do you intend to harvest? What will you use them for?"

"And the Demon Race—won't they pose a danger to the cavern?"

"We'll dig nine stalks to reinforce the cavern's formation. As for the Demon Race, as long as the cultivators leave, they have no bodies to rely on in the cavern; they're merely lingering souls.

After another thousand years they'll be unable to transition to the ghost path, becoming nourishment for the cavern—that's their fate." The Nascent Soul ghost cultivator, facing the cavern's guardian spirit beast, did not conceal anything, because some matters required its cooperation.

Jiang Yu asked, "What if they possess humans and cause trouble after escaping the cavern?"

The Nascent Soul ghost cultivator dismissed it, "That's a matter for the human race of this realm; even if they occupy a human body, they must obey this realm's rules and cultivate step by step.

Occasionally a great demon appears, it can also train human‑realm cultivators, right?"

No.

A chill rose in Jiang Yu's heart; indeed, after cultivating for ages, the higher echelons see everyone as ants.

But the Ninth‑tier Great Demon strongly agreed, "As long as it doesn't affect the cavern, I'll now bring forth the other key‑holder."

"Hold on," Jiang Yu swiftly flung a Thunder Bamboo fan, blocking the great demon; without the block, the opponent would surely smash the formation and forcibly interrupt Jiang Bai's advancement.

Lightning crackled again, and the two demons and the ghost cultivator involuntarily stepped back.

"Senior, why not let me awaken Senior Brother.

When a cultivator's advancement is forcibly broken, it easily harms the foundation; I hope you'll allow me to use a gentler method.

It won't delay bamboo harvesting; after all, our cultivation is limited, we can only harvest one stalk per day," Jiang Yu didn't tell them that she had actually taken five stalks in a single day.

The Nascent Soul ghost cultivator gave her a deep look and said, "Fine."

Jiang Yu barely managed a thank you before leaping onto the Thunder Bamboo fan and soaring toward Tai Ji Dian.

After a short while, she and Jiang Tu arrived beneath the great hall and saw Jiang Bai still cultivating within the defensive formation.

Jiang Tu asked, "How to awaken?"

"Brother Jiang? Brother Jiang?" Jiang Yu's method was simple: lift the formation tablet into the array and call out repeatedly, each call slowly rising in pitch.

After a full tea‑time, Jiang Bai heard it, concluded a weekly cycle, and slowly opened his eyes: "Jiang Yu? What happened?"

Jiang Yu nodded, quickly and in detail relayed the Nascent Soul ghost cultivator's request, "How much cultivation do you still lack?"

"Only a few more days remain before you can break through the barrier, but for now you can only exit the cavern and close your cultivation," Jiang Bai said with some regret; however, the cavern cannot be opened for half a year, leaving no alternative.

He then folded the formation flag and said, "Strangely, that patch of Thunder Bamboo was shining there, yet no one noticed; it turns out we have a special Fish Token as the key."

"But I'm not sure I can still harvest Thunder Bamboo," Jiang Yu said; after she had harvested five stalks, she was thrown out by the Thunder Pool.

"If we can't harvest them, what if the ghost cultivator causes trouble? How about we hide inside the dragon pearl now, so he can't find anyone?" Jiang Tu also worried; the ghost cultivator's oppressive aura was so strong it had manifested a domain‑spanning divine skill, appearing beside him, making escape impossible.

"We can't hide forever; if your dragon pearl moves even a little, any trace of spiritual energy fluctuation will be captured by the ghost cultivator," Jiang Bai immediately rejected the plan.

Jiang Yu said, "We'll take it one step at a time."

When the three of them emerged from underground, they saw the Nascent Soul ghost cultivator and two demon kings standing at the great hall's entrance.

"Ice Phoenix," the Nascent Soul ghost cultivator called out, and the Ninth‑tier Ice Phoenix reluctantly grew to a height of one zhang, spread its wings and said, "Move faster."

Jiang Tu was the first to leap onto its back and, via telepathy, said, "Ice Phoenix Demon King, you also obey the ghost cultivator! How strange."

The ice phoenix felt stifled; it couldn't even run out of a hundred zhang of ghost cultivators.

And the group again came to the rear mountain cliff, but the ice phoenix surprisingly couldn't see the Thunder Pool.

However, Jiang Yu and Jiang Bai could easily point out the direction; shortly after, following them, they saw clusters of lightning flashing up and down on the bamboo.