Chapter 260

Jiang Yu shook off distracting thoughts, silently recited the Calming Heart Mantra and began drawing talismans; no matter what, she had to let her thoughts settle completely before she could probe the lightning arc restriction inside her dantian.

On another sea island, True Lord Xun Zong received Jiang Yu's precise message and hurriedly contacted his two teammates whose whereabouts were unknown.

He muttered to himself, wondering why his intuition had told him not to go after Chase Yuan Island; it turned out there really was something there that he should avoid.

A Transformation Spirit cultivator!

He had carefully checked before; the East Continent currently has only four living Transformation Spirit cultivators, including Old Ancestor Xuan Tang, not the dozen or so claimed by outsiders.

Twenty years ago, he found that traitor disciple of Old Ancestor Xuan Tang, and under the pretense of seeking advice from a senior, they exchanged blows; the opponent was only an early-stage Transformation Spirit cultivator, yet he managed to severely injure him in fewer than three moves.

"Tenfold Great Perfection! It seems that hundreds of years ago, Dragon Emperor Island was able to repel the East Continent's attack because there was some inside story."

"Hehe, then does the Heaven Origin Continent also have a Transformation Spirit cultivator hiding behind the scenes?"

"Alas, the reason why the various sects of the East Continent have not been aggressive toward the Heaven Origin Continent all these years has also surfaced."

He did not know that his doubt was also shared by Jiang Tu, but seeing Jiang Yu successfully form her core and yet her first talisman drawing kept breaking, he did not pursue the question further.

"But on the deserted island, Xu Wu looking for Qin Zhuo, they secretly discussed: 'Daoist Qin, the four great Dao sects are often similar, yet Profound Heaven Sect has been able to dominate the Dao sects for tens of thousands of years.'"

"Is it because Profound Heaven Sect still has a Transformation Spirit cultivator?"

"How could Daoist Xu have such an idea? Could it be that the Ten Thousand Swords Sect has one?" Qin Zhuo wouldn't know, and even if he did, he wouldn't say.

Xu Wu hesitated; she didn't know, but previously the Flood Dragon Tribulation kidnappers had sent back a Golden Core cultivator, whereas now that they know a Transformation Spirit cultivator exists, they have sent back a Nascent Soul cultivator.

She really wanted to discuss this matter with Jiang Yu, but the other party had not replied for a long time, and she didn't know whether they had encountered danger or were still cultivating.

Jiang Yu was indeed drawing talismans, and she kept at it until the next day; after she had completely calmed down and wanted to practice a bit, the courtyard gate's restriction was triggered.

She felt a surge of joy—was it her uncle-master? Her divine sense detected Great Master Juewu, but that didn't stop her from happily rushing out, with Fruit Sense opening the gate first.

As a result, when the door opened, standing outside was a Transformation Spirit cultivator old shopkeeper, "Little girl, let's have a chat."

Jiang Yu and Fruit Sense stood there stunned, but the next moment the old shopkeeper sniffed and said, "Your dragon aura is stronger; there must be a dragon clan nearby."

Before the words even finished, he headed toward Jiang Yu's room, startling the just-awakened Jiang Tu, who wanted to hide inside the dragon pearl.

The dragon soul immediately stopped him, "Don't, he'll notice."

"The dragon pearl is safest in your sea of consciousness or dantian; once you enter, your aura will be immediately detected by him."

"Senior, please come to the parlor for tea; my little companion is about to cultivate, let me wake them up." Carelessly, yesterday Jiang Tu had accompanied her in drawing talismans, and after Jiang Yu became absorbed in her drawing, she forgot to let it enter the dragon pearl.

Seeing her rush to the doorway to block the old monster, Jiang Tu watched as the old shopkeeper narrowed his eyes; in that instant the gate slammed shut with a bang, the entire guest courtyard suddenly darkened, as if in the silence before a thunderbolt falls.

The little snake emerald gauze trembled in the spirit beast bag, while the immobilized Fruit Sense and Jiang Yu made not a sound.

At that moment, Jiang Tu gritted his teeth and flew out of the room, "Dragon Thunder King, I am Ao You, coming from the Spirit Realm."

"Oh, when did you arrive?" the old shopkeeper smiled, light restored, and the tension in the hearts of those present eased a little.

"Several hundred years ago,..." Jiang Tu jumped onto Jiang Yu's shoulder and began to speak slowly.

The old shopkeeper listened cooperatively, even bringing out a set of tables, chairs, and teaware, and cheerfully had the two juniors sit down.

Yet Jiang Yu and Fruit Sense dared not drink the tea he poured; they sat upright, fully on guard, and although they could not withstand a Transformation Spirit cultivator, it didn't stop them from performing futile defenses.

The old shopkeeper acted as if he hadn't seen them, occasionally asking Jiang Tu a few questions; after listening to his explanation, he sighed, "You little rascal, I don't know whether you're ill-fated or fortunate."

"Frankly speaking, do you want to go back to the Spirit Realm?"

Jiang Tu cleverly went along with his words, saying, "Of course I want to, but I don't dare to borrow a cave-heaven to travel, and I also don't know whether the Grand Luo Cave-Heaven can return to the Spirit Realm."

"But in this mortal realm, let alone ascension, even reaching the Transformation Spirit stage is difficult."

"I actually have a method, but it requires the aid of purple-gold thunder bamboo." The old shopkeeper stopped beating around the bush and turned his gaze toward Jiang Yu.

He slowly said, "Today the Heaven Origin Continent and Chase Yuan have reached an agreement, sharing a teleportation array."

"When our side requested thunder bamboo, a cultivator from your Heaven Origin Continent said that Jiang Yu possesses purple-gold thunder bamboo and has already sent a batch to Dragon Emperor."

"Jiang Yu, that's you, right?"

"Yes, please wait, I'll fetch it." Jiang Yu touched her storage ring, but the other party raised a hand and pressed it down.

She wanted to curse in her heart, but she had to force a smile, not knowing whether some Nascent Soul cultivator had deliberately said that, or if this old man had overheard it.

Her guess was correct; it was indeed a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Heaven Demon Sect who deliberately let that slip, because many cultivators think she has more than one stalk, while demonic cultivators want to destroy the purple-gold thunder bamboo that restrains them.

Helplessly, after waiting many years, Jiang Yu remained in seclusion, not leaving her door.

This feeling was roughly the same as Jiang Yu waiting for Nan Su to emerge from seclusion.

And the old shopkeeper didn't want the leftover bits and pieces: "I want a whole, complete stalk, and I believe you have one."

"Don't talk about handing it over to the sect or such; anyone who can enter the thunder pool certainly digs up more than just one or two stalks."

"Oh, right, I myself once refined my body in that thunder pool back in the day."

Jiang Tu blurted out, "Then why don't you dig it yourself?"

The old shopkeeper grew unhappy, "You definitely went along as well; can you actually dig it out?"

"Uh..." Jiang Tu could not.

"Hum, the rules set by humanity allow only cultivators to take it away." The old shopkeeper back then had captured some cultivators to help him dig, but alas, those people had barely started digging when the formation kicked them out a hundred and eighty thousand li away.

By the time he finally found a cultivator with thunder spirit roots, the cave-heaven had closed, nearly killing him with rage.

"I see." Jiang Yu let out a low sigh, "Senior, back then we didn't just dig up one stalk, but we used it to repair the formation of the Grand Luo Cave-Heaven."

She couldn't now enter the dragon pearl to dig out a stalk, so she needed to stall for time: "Since this is one of the clauses of the bilateral agreement, please allow us juniors to meet our elders first before handing it over to you."

"Otherwise, when the city lord asks again, we won't have a second stalk to produce."

As soon as she finished speaking, the old shopkeeper locked onto her storage ring, "Heh! I can just take it directly."

Jiang Tu leapt onto the table to shield Jiang Yu's hand; the storage ring contained no purple-gold thunder bamboo, "Are you trying to seize it by trickery? That would be quite embarrassing for our dragon clan."

"You've got guts." The old shopkeeper flicked a finger toward Jiang Tu.

"Watch out!" Fruit Sense produced a black-gold bowl.

Jiang Yu was quick-eyed and quick-handed, grabbing Jiang Tu and flashing to the corner of the wall, narrowly avoiding that bolt of lightning.

Moreover, he said, "Senior, we're not refusing to give it; we just want the master and the city lord to be present."

You can do it now if you want, unless I die.

As she spoke, her spiritual power surged throughout her body, and her natal thunder‑fire sword whooshed out of her dantian, clearly intending to self‑destruct.

In fact, she had just activated a transmission talisman, but unfortunately this courtyard had been subjected to some method by someone, rendering the transmission ineffective.

The old shopkeeper slowly walked toward them…