Chapter 357 - 355: Shocking Turn of Events in the Ruins

Chapter 357: Chapter 355: Shocking Turn of Events in the Ruins

As he ceased circulating the seventh level of the Fire Dragon Returning Essence Scripture, wisps of red mist scrambled to burrow into Bai Zichen’s body, leaving a look of pure satisfaction on his face.

’This feeling... it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I never imagined that just by circulating the Cultivation Technique, without even trying to refine nature’s spiritual energy, it would pour into my Acupoints until I was completely full.’

The effects of cultivating in a Tier Four Mid-Grade Spirit Land were far better than he had anticipated.

It was likely because he specialized in a Fire Element Technique and his Fire Spiritual Root was currently his most prominent one. Flame Mountain was filled with Fire Element Spiritual Energy, which saved him the trouble of converting it.

Another reason was that he could absorb and refine the Tier Four Spiritual Energy without worrying about damaging his meridians.

The Five Crystal Glaze Body allowed Bai Zichen to handle this environment with ease. Even if his meridians sustained damage, they would recover within a day.

He could just focus on his Cultivation without any lingering concerns.

Now that he was used to the efficiency of cultivating on Flame Mountain, he would probably abandon Celestial Thunder Cliff like a pair of old shoes.

In addition to circulating his True Essence and refining Spiritual Qi, Bai Zichen also began practicing the Copper Plate Divine Calculation he had recently obtained.

He had always been extremely curious about Divine Calculation Skills.

As someone with many secrets, he didn’t expect to use the Copper Plate Divine Calculation to deduce information about others. He only hoped to gain some understanding of such skills and Divine Techniques.

In the future, if he had the chance, he would cultivate a Secret Technique to obscure the celestial secrets and prevent others from divining his fate.

This would prevent any High-Tier Cultivators who had comprehended the Destiny Path from using Divine Calculation Skills to trace him.

’"Each thing has a body, and each body a universe..." The first level of the Copper Plate Divine Calculation can only divine objects. I wonder what will happen when I’ve mastered it and use it to search for a cluster of Innate Nine Yang True Flame and a Tier Four Flying Sword.’

Bai Zichen toyed with the Cyan Green Copper Coin, feeling that the Copper Plate Divine Calculation wasn’t too difficult to learn.

’No, that’s not right. A Tier Four Flying Sword is equivalent to a Top-Grade Spiritual Treasure and has long since gained a spirit, so it’s no longer in the category of "divining objects." I’ll need to master the third level and use the Divination Spirit technique for it to be effective.’

The text, only a few hundred words long, was simple and direct, with no hidden Profound Mechanisms or clever wordplay.

After reading through it twice, he had already pretty much learned it.

As for the Hand Techniques and the knack for circulating True Essence, they were incredibly simple for a Late-Stage Core Formation Cultivator like him.

After all, it was the first level, intended for Foundation Establishment Cultivators. For him to be learning it now was complete overkill.

It took him only three days to master the first level of the Copper Plate Divine Calculation.

Now that he had mastered it, it was the perfect time to test the practical applications of this Divine Technique.

He pinched his fingers to form a Magic Formula, chanted the True Words, and input the information about the Thunder Sound Bamboo piece by piece before tossing the Cyan Green Copper Coin high into the air.

It spun twice in the air and then fell, vibrating rapidly before finally coming to a steady rest in his palm, presenting the divination result.

’"Thousands of miles to the southeast, there may be a sound of thunder..." I filled in all the information—the characteristics of the Thunder Sound Bamboo, its habits, its uses in Artifact Refining, and more. And with the supposed boost from the Spiritual Object that is the Copper Coin, *this* is the answer it gives me?’

Bai Zichen’s mouth twitched. No wonder inference-type Divine Techniques were so unpopular and often scornfully dismissed as charlatanry.

He had described the Thunder Sound Bamboo in as much detail as possible, even including the type of environment the Spirit Plant preferred as a parameter for the divination.

If that wasn’t enough, he might as well just tell the Copper Coin that the Thunder Sound Bamboo grew on Celestial Thunder Cliff.

All that information, and it still produced such a vague result.

If he really tried to find the Thunder Sound Bamboo based on a result like this, it wouldn’t be surprising if he came up empty-handed after three to five years.

If he were to try it with an item he had less information about, he feared the result would be even more vague and illusory.

But since he had started, he decided he would continue to practice it.

The second level of the Copper Plate Divine Calculation could be used to divine people, and its difficulty was on a completely different level.

It was also possible that, because the second level was intended for Core Formation True Men to cultivate, he no longer had the advantage of his higher Realm.

Three months passed. The smoldering fires on the two Spirit Lands at the peak of Flame Mountain were brought under control, and Sect Disciples began transporting Spiritual Materials for construction to the summit.

He had just grasped the basics of the second level of the Copper Plate Divine Calculation, getting a feel for the knack of divining a person’s whereabouts.

...

「Five hundred li west of Burial Immortal Valley.」

Inside a dark and damp underground tomb, a corridor descended endlessly, and the wails and howls of ghosts echoed from an unknown source.

Countless torches were lit, Blinding Bright Beads were activated, and various Lighting Magics were cast, but none could dispel the darkness of the tomb. Beyond a hundred feet, everything was pitch-black.

Even the Divine Sense of a Core Formation True Man was severely restricted, unable to extend more than a thousand feet.

Over a thousand Cultivators stood guard around the tomb’s periphery, each with a Spirit Beast—some terrestrial, some avian. Yet, not a single beast roared or screeched; the scene was perfectly orderly.

Nearly half the Cultivators were injured, and over a hundred Spirit Beasts had died in battle. Their masters wept silently, preparing the fallen beasts for burial, paying their respects, and returning them to their Spirit Beast Bags.

At the very front stood several Core Formation True Men.

Of the two leaders, one had a white beard and hair, a lion-like face, and a broad nose. Just by standing there, he exuded an aura of immense power, as if he could uproot mountains and lift great cauldrons, looking like a majestic peak himself.

The other wore an uncanny purple robe and had handsome features, radiating an indescribable charm.

"Master Fang, is there really a Divinity Transformation Treasure here?"

Zhong Ge’s slender eyebrows rose. He had never shown any courtesy to the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, a former rival.

If not for the orders from Blood God True Monarch, and the fact that the Blood Demon Sect alone could not contend with so many other Sects and needed the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect’s power in many areas, they would not have held their noses and cooperated for so many years.

These Ancient Ruins had been discovered and reported by a Blood Demon Sect disciple, but the Forbidden formations were so intricate and complex that almost every step forward cost the lives of dozens of Cultivators.

That was why the Blood Demon Sect had thrown the task of exploring the Secret Realm to the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect, never expecting them to actually find something incredible.

The underground tomb had been left behind by an Ancient Great Power who cultivated a Demon Path Technique. Several bone ornaments they found were imbued with pure Demonic Qi and even carried traces of the Power of Void.

Recently, they had finally broken through most of the Forbidden formations and reached the deepest part of the tomb, where a massive coffin lay.

Outside the coffin, Nether Qi coalesced into serpents that coiled in the air. A Core Formation True Man from the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect had merely approached within a hundred feet of it before his mind was seized, and he almost threw himself into the coffin.

After this was reported to Blood God True Monarch, he became greatly interested.

Coincidentally, his Blood River had reached a certain stage of transformation and required the Essence Blood of more High-Tier Cultivators to proceed, so he had simply come here himself.

Upon entering the tomb and seeing the massive coffin, Blood God True Monarch whispered the words "Underworld Nether Coffin," then ordered everyone to withdraw while he alone cast a spell to refine the Nether Qi.

"Little Friend Zhong, are you still questioning it even now?"

Fang Tiancheng’s gaze was profound, as if it could penetrate the long corridor to see the coffin in the deepest chamber. He turned to Zhong Ge and said meaningfully, "If it weren’t a Divinity Transformation Treasure, why would the True Monarch lose his composure like that, so eager to refine the Nether Qi? I fear it is a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure left by that Demon Path Divinity Transformation Cultivator, one that could grant the True Monarch a meteoric rise in power."

"A Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure... I hope everything goes smoothly for Master, so he may dominate the Northern Domain!"

A fanatical, blood-red light flashed in Zhong Ge’s eyes. He had been born in the Southern Domain but had followed Blood God True Monarch to Liang Country in his youth.

He had little interest in returning to the Blood Sea Sect.

He would rather Blood God True Monarch conquer the Cultivation Realm of Liang Country and become a local emperor in the Northern Domain.

The Hundred Demons Blood Sea Technique could be strengthened by sacrificing special bloodlines.

This caused Blood Sea Sect Cultivators who practiced the same Cultivation Technique to end up with different characteristics and power in their final refined version.

Zhong Ge himself did not possess a special bloodline. Only after reaching Core Formation did he find the Essence Blood of two types of Tier Three Demon Beasts, which added two derivative Magics to his Cultivation Technique.

For a truly fundamental change, he had to rely on Blood God True Monarch to take action and refine a powerful bloodline to help him break through.

As a man already over three hundred years old but still only at the Mid-Stage Core Formation Cultivation, Zhong Ge genuinely and sincerely wished for his master to obtain the Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure.

BOOM!

Just as Zhong Ge was about to speak again, a tremendous explosion erupted from the tomb, sounding as if the sky were falling and the earth were cracking open.

A bloody light shot toward the heavens, bursting from the mouth of the vast corridor and reaching the surface, accompanied by the roar of rushing water.

The dark corridor was instantly flooded as the Blood River surged back, turning into a vast, scarlet ocean.

"You again! For targeting me twice, I will surely kill you!"

Blood God True Monarch’s voice was low and hoarse, but it was filled with suppressed, infinite rage.

As long as the Blood River is not destroyed, the body cannot die.

Even a Forbidden Technique capable of sealing the void and preventing a Nascent Soul from escaping could not sever his connection to the Blood River.

As long as he had left a few drops of Essence Blood in a safe place beforehand, he could achieve Blood Rebirth, though his strength would be weakened to an extreme degree.

This was the source of Blood God True Monarch’s fearlessness, his confidence that he could survive even an attack from a Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure.

A demonic shadow, so immense it defied description, appeared above the tomb. Its eyes were pitch-black, devoid of any emotion, like two bottomless black holes.

The demonic shadow was too tall, filling everyone’s vision, seeming to touch the sky with its head and stand upon the earth with its feet.

Its entire body burned with indigo Demon Flames, covered in ferocious Demon Patterns. It radiated a monstrous demonic intent and bore a slight resemblance to the form of the Ancient Demon in Burial Immortal Valley.

It clapped its palms together, completely enveloping the soaring bloody light. Not a single wisp of it could escape, plunging the tomb back into darkness.

The Blood River thrashed wildly, causing the entire tomb to begin shaking.

In a pool of water hundreds of miles away, unseen by the crowd; in the Blood Pool at the Blood Demon Sect’s Mountain Gate; at the foot of a snowy mountain in Beiyuan...

In each of these places, a drop of blood resembling a Dragon Blood Bead began to swell, only to rapidly wither, lose its Spirit Light and vitality, and become an ordinary puddle of blood.

"What’s happening? Quick, help Master—"

Zhong Ge’s expression changed drastically, but his words were cut short as a thick, Dragon Scale-covered arm pierced through his chest.

The draconic hand was still clutching a furiously beating heart. It squeezed, and the heart was crushed into a bloody pulp.

"Leave no Blood Demon Sect Cultivator alive!"

Fang Tiancheng flung Zhong Ge to the ground like a ragged doll, his body shattering on impact.

With his Perfect Core Formation Realm, amplified by the power of his Lifebound Spiritual Beast and imbued with his Great Dao True Intent, it was an attack launched with full intent against an unsuspecting victim. Zhong Ge’s Divine Soul was instantly annihilated, and his insides were turned to mush.

The surrounding Ten Thousand Beasts Sect Cultivators all brandished their Magical Treasures: Red Gold Fire Crows, giant serpents the size of small hills, Eight-Legged Cloud Camels...

One by one, Tier Three Demon Beasts revealed their true forms. A thousand Cultivators acting in concert instantly overwhelmed the few dozen members of the Blood Demon Sect.

Even with two Core Formation True Men leading a group otherwise composed entirely of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, they couldn’t last long against such a massive numerical disadvantage.

What’s more, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect Cultivators were prepared and had heavily wounded the two Blood Demon Sect Core Formation True Men with their first strike.

Half an hour later, the last Core Formation True Man self-detonated his Golden Core. Several Ten Thousand Beasts Sect Cultivators activated their Magical Treasures to block the blast, and the Gold-Devouring Earth Dragon Beast absorbed the final shockwave.

Calm returned to the area outside the tomb, the only change being the hundred-odd new corpses on the ground.

"Senior Brother, we have collected the bodies of all our sect’s fallen disciples..."

Master Huoya walked over, looking disheveled. He had been at the forefront when blocking the Golden Core’s self-detonation and had suffered some minor injuries.

"Junior Brother Hei Feng, let these heads be the first offering to you... We return to the Blood Demon Sect’s mountain headquarters! Leave no one alive, kill them all on sight!"

Fang Tiancheng turned around, two streams of tears running down his aged face, making him look like a common old man.