Wasted Spiritual Root to Embark on Demonic Cultivation

Chapter 407

If Jin Miaoshan could arrive in time and lend him a hand, it would be a brilliant move.As the mental-power secret art came to an end, Wang Yu slowly opened his eyes inside his cave abode. His aura surged for an instant, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from the cave.

At the foot of Little Spirit Mountain.

Wang Yu frowned as he looked at the Two-Tailed Shadow Cat. With a sweep of his divine sense, he discovered that the entire demon-cat territory was empty. A trace of anger rose in his heart, then quickly subsided.

He sighed.

“Brother Black, you have disappointed Wang’s trust.”

At a time like this, he could no longer bring himself to call him “little brother.”

“Alchemist Wang, there are reasons behind this. It was never my intention. But Hei Liu is, after all, my daughter. I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation.”

“Then why did you move your entire clan away?”

The Two-Tailed Shadow Cat did not want to become enemies with Wang Yu, but he also did not fully trust his identity as a Crimson Kite demonic cultivator. He dared not gamble with his clansmen’s lives.

In a deep voice, he said, “I can compensate you. Name any condition you want. As long as I can afford it, I will provide it!”

“Meaningless.”

In other words, do you really think I care about those scraps of yours?

Originally, Wang Yu had planned to capture Hei Liu and use a soul-searching technique to confirm whether Jin Lin was truly the one behind everything. Now that she was gone, it was obvious she had been sheltered.

All his original goodwill toward him had been wasted.

That had been a Nascent Soul Condensation Pill. Even if it was only mid-grade, it was still a rare opportunity in the world. Countless people wanted to buy one but could not.

Just as the two sides were at sword’s edge, a thunderclap suddenly exploded in the air.

Wang Yu abruptly turned his head.

The aura of the Thunder Corpse was rapidly expanding. It had consecutively devoured two Nascent Soul bodies and had also been infused with the power of that fourth-rank Thunder Fruit.

Already possessing extraordinary aptitude, and after years of cultivation, the Thunder Corpse had finally touched the threshold of fourth-rank and was about to usher in another crucial breakthrough.

This was the advantage of corpse refinement and puppet cultivation.

As long as resources were sufficient and the base material had enough potential, their growth could far exceed methods like raising spirit pets.

If the Thunder Corpse could advance to fourth-rank, combined with the Yellow Springs Earth Resentment Puppet, the Iceflame Imperial Butterfly, and his other methods, even against a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he would be confident of victory.

This was how foundations were accumulated, bit by bit.

The only problem was that his corpse-refinement techniques were starting to lag behind.

He needed higher-grade corpse-refining secret arts. Otherwise, he would have no choice but to deduce and upgrade the Yin Fiend Corpse Refinement Art himself.

With this sudden turn of events, Wang Yu cast a cold glance at the Two-Tailed Shadow Cat and said concisely, “Notify the Heavenly Roc Clan. We will settle Hei Liu’s matter later.”

For some reason, the Two-Tailed Shadow Cat secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He had long known that Wang Yu was powerful. The Nascent Soul treasures he had displayed at the treasure exchange meeting were the strongest proof.

But when facing him directly, he realized that despite possessing fourth-layer Nascent Soul cultivation, he was still breaking out in a cold sweat.

It was truly baffling.

“Is it because I witnessed him comprehend the embryonic form of Dao Intent last time…”

Not long after, Wang Yu arrived at the foot of Little Spirit Mountain and lightly stomped his foot.

The earth instantly split apart into a massive fissure.

Wrapped in lightning, the Thunder Corpse leaped out, hovering in midair and roaring toward the heavens.

Its two sharp corpse fangs crackled with lightning.

Dense baleful qi and thunder energy intertwined, as if it were wearing a suit of lightning armor. Its aura continued to rise, and the thunder talisman patterns on its body were evolving toward a higher level.

“Fourth-rank armored corpses become Untransformed Bones. Fourth-rank baleful corpses become Flying Night Yakshas.”

These two facts were common knowledge among corpse cultivators.

But what came after that was a secret of the corpse path.

Wang Yu came from the Blood Reversal Sect. During his time as an elder on Cold Blood Peak, he had gradually read through the millions of volumes in the Scripture Pavilion.

He happened to know this secret.

Ordinary zombies could at most reach the level of third-rank Golden Armored Corpses or Flying Corpses.

Advancing further usually required special mutant variants.

Untransformed Bones possessed invincible physical defense and strength capable of uprooting mountains.

Flying Night Yakshas had divine-grade corpse arts, devouring souls and devouring spirits, making them extremely effective against soul-path cultivators.

The two represented extremes.

One walked the path of the physical body.

The other walked the path of techniques and spells.

They were typical examples of polarized development.

If an Untransformed Bone corpse could advance to fifth-rank, it would be called a [Ba].[1]

The most typical example was the Drought Ba. If a Thunder Corpse obtained this opportunity, it would become a Thunder Ba. At that point, it would already be equivalent to a Spirit Transformation venerable. Within the corpse-path inheritance of the Ice Prison Realm, the Ba represented one of the ultimate peaks.

If a Flying Yaksha advanced further, it would split into Silver-Winged and Gold-Winged variants.

Silver-Winged Yakshas specialized in controlling baleful qi and possessed unparalleled curse techniques. Gold-Winged Yakshas, on that foundation, gained a Baleful-Body Physique, becoming nearly immortal and indestructible.

They also possessed the ability to command and control zombies. If a corpse king were born among wild zombies, it would most likely be a Gold-Winged Yaksha. In terms of raw combat power, it was slightly inferior to a Ba.

However, its methods were extremely diverse and no weaker than those of cultivators.

Extremely rare.

As for nurturing the Thunder Corpse into a Thunder Ba, Wang Yu still had some confidence. After all, the raw material of this corpse was an ancient corpse demon. In life, it had certainly been no ordinary being. It was only inferior to the Thunder Spirit Corpse he had discovered in the Thunderfall Abyss.

That thing was suspected to be a Spirit Transformation corpse that had gained intelligence. He had already given it to Lord Lei Hou. Its potential was actually even greater than the Thunder Corpse’s. Unfortunately, he had been too weak back then.

He had no choice but to hand over that opportunity.

In his little notebook, he still had Elder Xuanyan’s name written down. Sooner or later, he would go find him and demand an explanation.

That man was only at early-stage Nascent Soul. He should currently be stationed in Cloud Ridge Prefecture City. In such a dangerous place, Wang Yu did not even know whether he was still alive.

The Lunar Yin Fiend Corpse in his possession also had the potential to advance to fourth-rank, but it was ultimately too low-end. Its raw material had merely been Jin Miaoshan’s Dao Protector back in the day.

Only late-stage Core Formation cultivation, with an aged and frail body.

If not for the Lunar Yin Moon Fiend Qi, it would never have possessed such potential. And that was precisely the problem. The Lunar Yin Fiend Corpse had potential, but it was far inferior to the Thunder Corpse.

With the same advancement materials, the Thunder Corpse could improve, while it could not. This was the gap in aptitude.

At present, the Thunder Corpse was about to trigger the Ninefold Lightning Tribulation.

After approaching, Wang Yu waved his hand and tossed out several blank formation flags. Ever since he had fully comprehended the Earth Mother Scripture, his attainments in fengshui and mystical formations had risen to a new height.

Under the guidance of the feng shui compass, profound patterns rapidly spread across the blank flags. This was a geomantic formation designed to assist in refining lightning.

This path resembled formation arrays, but relied instead on mysterious spatial configurations.

It was still very different from true formation.

“Boom!”

Thunder exploded.

Tribulation clouds carrying overwhelming heavenly might rapidly gathered. As the Thunder Corpse’s master, Wang Yu was linked to it through karmic qi, but he still could not openly help it bear the tribulation.

No matter how tempted he was by the opportunities within the lightning tribulation, he could not seize them directly.

He could only continuously form corpse-control seals to strengthen their master-servant bond. At the same time, his powerful divine sense extended outward, using high-level techniques of the Heavenly Soul Sect to deeply implant itself into the Thunder Corpse’s mind.

He had once considered using the Thunder-Devouring and Lightning-Spitting secret art to directly swallow the tribulation and transform it into lightning seeds, thereby obtaining Thunder Spiritual Root aptitude.

Unfortunately, it could only remain a thought.

Following the guidance of the Thunderfire Remnant Map and seeking the treasure left behind by the first-generation Thunderfire Temple Master was the correct path.

As the tribulation descended, Wang Yu controlled the Thunder Corpse to charge forward and meet it head-on. As a naturally extraordinary Thunder Corpse, devouring lightning and controlling thunder were its innate instincts.

Its resistance to lightning was even higher than Wang Yu’s own body.

A mere Ninefold Lightning Tribulation was nothing worth mentioning.

Under the roaring thunder, the Two-Tailed Shadow Cat retreated even farther away, fearing being locked onto and affected. As it watched the Thunder Corpse bathed in tribulation lightning, its pupils widened.

“I never expected Master Wang’s Thunder Corpse to be this powerful. It’s already at the edge of advancement. He’s from the Crimson Kite Demonic Domain… how can he not have demonic-path methods backing him?”

He muttered inwardly.

He had previously noticed that Wang Yu was nurturing corpses, but he had not expected the advancement to come so quickly. He immediately notified the Heavenly Roc Clan’s envoy through a transmission jade talisman.

He did not know how things would develop afterward. To resolve Hei Liu’s offense, he had already prepared to bleed heavily.

If the Heavenly Roc Clan acted as arbiters, considering they were all demon races and Wang Yu was also a key subordinate, they would not openly side with him. However, compensation would definitely be required.

The spirit pills that the Five-Colored Holy Lord wanted had not even been refined yet.

But if he revealed that Wang Yu would soon be leaving, the Heavenly Roc Clan might lean toward his side and even choose to imprison Wang Yu.

The problem was, if he offended an alchemist, would the pills he refined still be safe to consume?

“Troublesome…”

Returning to the main matter, the Thunder Corpse’s tribulation proceeded just as predicted, without any accidents. In less than half a day, the tribulation clouds dispersed.

At the foot of Little Spirit Mountain, Wang Yu examined the Thunder Corpse’s condition.

Its innate abilities such as summoning thunder, commanding lightning, Heavenly Thunder Dharma Armor, and Thunder Escape Technique had all improved dramatically.

Although the Thunder Corpse was a variant species, it still belonged to the categories of Armored Corpses and Baleful Corpses.

Its physical body leaned more toward Armored Corpse traits. After reaching fourth-rank, it gained a set of thunder bones and possessed the characteristics of an Untransformed Bone zombie. Even if its flesh were shattered into powder, it could rapidly recover by absorbing blood.

Zombies do not have the concept of forming a Nascent Soul—they are innately without a soul or spirit.

In addition to common special traits such as immense strength, steel-like flesh and bones, and blood-drinking regeneration, it had also developed realm-exclusive divine traits unique to the Untransformed Bone and the Thunder Corpse.

Just like how a Nascent Soul cultivator gained abilities such as Teleportation Method and Demonic Essence, it now possessed two brand-new powers: Untransformed Bone and Lightning Incarnation. These were also divine traits brought about by realm advancement.

The former was relatively straightforward, as every Untransformed Bone possessed it.

Its effect was similar to the Indestructible Bone obtained through Body Refinement. It granted the bones an indestructible, adamantine quality, making them extremely difficult to destroy completely. This alone was enough to cause the Thunder Corpse’s physical strength to skyrocket.

Lightning Incarnation, on the other hand, was the Thunder Corpse’s exclusive trait.

As the name implied, it allowed the body to transform into pure lightning form. In this state, lightning-path divine abilities were greatly enhanced, most physical attacks were nullified, and resistance to divine sense secret arts was drastically improved.

The effects were extremely comprehensive. Combined with its various innate divine abilities after reaching fourth-rank, even a freshly advanced Thunder Corpse was enough to crush ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators.

With the addition of the Yellow Springs Earth Resentment Puppet and Wang Yu’s own combat strength, he had now firmly established himself in the early Nascent Soul realm.

Wang Yu controlled the Thunder Corpse and made a series of precise movements, discovering that there was no delay whatsoever. His divine sense could also suppress its ferocity.

Only then did he gradually relax.

“Before the Yin Fiend Corpse Refining Art advances, there’s no need to further strengthen the Thunder Corpse. Otherwise, the corpse-controlling seal won’t be strong enough. If it breaks free, that will be troublesome.”

After making this decision, he summoned the Yin Nurturing Coffin and tossed it inside, then rehung it on the jade hairpin that bound his hair.

“The Nurturing Fiend Coffin is only third-rank mid-grade. It seems that it’s not just pill cauldrons. Coffins and insect jar also need upgrading. Fortunately, the corpse of the Dragon Blood Demon Tree is large enough. Over the next few days, I can try exploring the artifact chapter of the Demon Refining Art.”

To do that, he would need a large number of demonic corpses to cooperate.

Most of the materials in his possession were yin- and ice-attribute metals, which were sufficient as auxiliary materials.

However, they were unsuitable as main materials for the flesh-refining methods of the artifact chapter. That method was not exactly orthodox.

He had originally thought that after twenty years of closed-door cultivation, his methods were already sufficient.

Now it seemed that the real problem lay with the Idle Slot.

It simply was not enough. Not nearly enough.

The Demon Refining Art concealed enormous secrets. Even though the formation chapter was damaged to the point of having only a single sentence left and could not be deduced or repaired, the alchemy chapter, artifact chapter, and talisman chapter could all be restored.

At present, only the first two had been restored to third-rank.

To complete them to fourth-rank would take at least twenty years. The Blood Pill Art and Human Pill Art would also need to be deduced and upgraded to fourth-rank to supplement his demonic-path alchemy methods.

While probing the materials inside the Seaheart Ring with his divine sense,

Wang Yu returned to the Two-Tailed Shadow Cat.

His expression revealed neither joy nor anger.

“Have you informed the Heavenly Roc Clan?”

“Yes. With their speed, they should arrive within half a month at most.”

“Then we’ll settle accounts when the time comes.”

After speaking, Wang Yu paused slightly.

“In ten days, a friend of mine will come looking for me. Clan Leader, please help receive them.”

“Alright.”

The Two-Tailed Shadow Cat understood that a rift had already formed between him and Wang Yu. The other party no longer trusted him at all.

As for this so-called friend, he had no idea who it might be.

Recalling what his daughter, Hei Liu, had once told him, he prepared to send people to investigate the name “Wang Yu.”

After this brief exchange, Wang Yu returned once more to his cave abode on Little Spirit Mountain.

As far as the Demon Cat Clan was concerned, their relationship ended here.

Considering the issue of the Nine Evil Sword Lord, and the fact that he still needed demonic experts to help eliminate that person, he could not completely fall out with the Two-Tailed Shadow Cat.

The adult world was always filled with benefits and compromise.

Moreover, since he had not suffered serious losses, Wang Yu decided to settle this debt on Jin Lin and Hei Liu. Extorting a sum from the Demon Cat Clan would be enough.

Once Jin Miaoshan arrived to back him up and both sides stood on equal footing, he would let these beasts understand what it meant to have the appetite of a glutton.

After sitting down again, a pill bottle had already appeared in his hand.

Inside were Taiyin Demon Essence Pills.

Fourth-rank cultivation-type spirit pills.

They came from the Heavenly Frost Demon Lord’s commission. He had refined pills for the other party to ease relations and had conveniently skimmed off a portion.

It counted as reasonable “fire loss.”

He had not taken them earlier for two reasons.

First, when he had just broken through, he only had a hundred drops of demonic essence. A high-grade Taiyin Demon Essence Pill could increase nearly three hundred drops at once, which would have been difficult to digest.

Second, while sitting on the Celestial Enlightenment Dao Platform, his main body barely cultivated and still had to refine pills. Everything relied on Idle Slot feedback for growth, so he simply did not have the time to refine spirit pills.

The medicinal power of this pill was extraordinary. Fully refining it would take at least two years.

Recently, aside from completing the Demon Refining Art and alchemy, he had nothing else to do. This was the perfect time to refine it and improve his strength.

Thus, ten days later.

Jin Miaoshan brought along a closely connected senior great cultivator. Through the secret teleportation formation of Golden Abundance Tower, they arrived at the Demon Cat Clan territory in the Northern Severed Boundary Mountains.

Wang Yu sensed it with his divine sense but did not meet them immediately.

Instead, he waited several more days. Only after the Heavenly Roc envoy arrived did he leave seclusion and hold a three-party meeting in the Demon Cat Assembly Hall.

Meeting in the Mind Lake Space and meeting in reality were completely different experiences.

A hundred years had passed since their last parting.

When they met again, Jin Miaoshan had already reached the ninth layer of Core Formation and was not far from peak. Yet when she saw Wang Yu, she was so shocked that her mouth could not close.

“Nascent Soul! You broke through to the Nascent Soul realm?!!”

[1] The Bà (魃) is a mythical undead entity in Chinese folklore with no exact single-word English counterpart, though Drought Demon is often used to translate it. And while “demon” or “fiend” come close, both terms are already heavily used in the novel, so I decided to retain the original Chinese term 魃.