A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality: Wang Yu’s Rebirth as the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor - Chapter 76

Chapter 76 Feeding the Ink Dragon Foundation Building Pill

“This is enough to restrict it?”

That makes sense.

An ordinary mid-level Golden Thread Talisman is already comparable to a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator using a mid-level Golden Thread Technique at full power.

The one he obtained was even made by a Core Formation stage talisman-making master.

Any product with even a little conscience couldn’t be too bad.

After all, it costs five hundred spirit stones.

And it was appraised by Wanbaolou.

Such a method is enough to restrict a level 3 demon beast for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. The Ink Dragon in front of him hasn’t truly advanced yet. Even if it’s already comparable to a level 2 demon beast, how can it break free from the Golden Thread Talisman’s restriction?

“Quick! Contract!”

Immediately force it to complete the master-servant contract!

He must do this within the time limit of the Golden Thread Talisman’s full operation.

As long as the master-servant contract is completed, he will have a spirit pet comparable to a level 2, and one that can break through to level 2 and become comparable to a level 3 spirit beast at any time. Then, in the central area of this forbidden land, he will have the confidence to walk sideways.

Realizing this, he leaped into the air and arrived before the black dragon.

Seeing the giant mudfish firmly bound by the golden thread talisman, he didn’t hesitate and immediately initiated the master-servant recognition ceremony.

First, he forced a drop of essence blood from between his brows and inscribed the relevant restrictions of the master-servant contract within it. He was the master, and the black dragon the servant. As long as this drop of essence blood was placed between the black dragon’s brows, the initial contract would be completed.

After the contract was completed, their minds could be simply connected, and the black dragon could obey his remote commands.

However,

at this moment,

the black dragon did not accept Han Li’s drop of essence blood.

No matter what, the drop of essence blood simply couldn’t penetrate the black dragon’s brow.

“So resistant?”

Han Li narrowed his eyes, then waved his hand. His left hand held the Heavenly Thunder Spear, its power ready to erupt at any moment. His right hand held a three-zhang-long gray greatsword, one of his most powerful weapons: the Gray Sword Talisman Treasure.

“If you don’t submit to me today, you can only die,”

Han Li said coldly,

his eyes gleaming.

Sensing the terrifying power of heavenly lightning contained within the Thunderclap Stone and the powerful sword energy emanating from the giant sword, fear surged in the eyes of the Ink Dragon.

It was certain that both items could kill it,

especially the Thunderclap Stone.

The power of the heavenly lightning made its bloodline restless and uneasy.

Demonic beasts feared lightning tribulations most of all.

Their bloodlines flowed with the fear of the tribulation of transformation. Even though the Ink Dragon had never witnessed the power of a lightning tribulation, as a spirit beast of heaven and earth, it naturally felt that instinct when facing the power of heavenly lightning.

However, despite its fear, the Ink Dragon still resisted Han Li.

Its eyes seemed to say: “Spirit beasts of heaven and earth will never be slaves.”

Han Li raised an eyebrow, making a hand seal, attempting to extract a drop of essence blood from the Ink Dragon’s brow and then forcibly form a contract in another way.

However, his cultivation was inferior to the Ink Dragon’s; no matter how fluidly his fingers moved, like butterflies flitting among flowers, he couldn’t get a response from the Ink Dragon and thus failed to obtain the essence blood from its brow.

This left Han Li extremely embarrassed.

He had indeed restrained the Ink Dragon with the power of the talisman, but he couldn’t force it to acknowledge him as its master. Perhaps the Ink Dragon was too young and immature to understand his words; or perhaps it was the inherent pride of a spirit beast, unwilling to follow the weak.

“If I had the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment stage, how could this beast refuse?”

A minute had passed since then.

One-fifth of the Golden Thread Talisman’s time limit had also elapsed.

Han Li felt somewhat anxious.

What to do?

Should he continue trying?

Just then, the Ink Dragon’s aura suddenly increased significantly.

That’s right.

Although this giant mudfish was still restrained, the energy fluctuations within it had increased dramatically, more than doubling. The protective dark clouds around it had thickened considerably. If it weren’t still firmly restrained by the Golden Thread Talisman, it would probably have already begun molting, transforming into a level 2 demon beast.

“Trying to advance at this time?”

Han Li narrowed his eyes.

He took a deep breath.

Originally, with his relatively weak cultivation, it would have been difficult to gain the approval of the Mo Jiao, whose magical power was far superior. Now, the Mo Jiao could advance at any moment, and once it did, it would be even less likely to look down on him.

“Well, at least Ancestor Hong Fu gave me this.”

He patted his storage bag and took out a restriction sphere and a restriction control token.

He then went to the Mo Jiao, which was imprisoned in mid-air.

He pressed the restriction sphere against the Mo Jiao’s brow and silently recited the incantation.

Accompanying the incantation were black lines emerging from within the restriction sphere. Under Han Li’s guidance, these black lines entered the Mo Jiao’s body without hindrance, instantly turning the originally fierce and violent eyes of the giant mudskipper into clear and panicked ones.

The Mo Jiao didn’t know what the two-legged sheep in front of it was up to, but it knew very well that something had broken through its protective black clouds, breached its scales, and entered its body. This was definitely not a good thing.

This had never happened before.

It began to twist its body desperately, trying to get away from the bead the two-legged sheep had cast the spell on. But it was firmly bound in place by the golden threads, and could only watch helplessly as everything unfolded.

It panicked.

An unprecedented fear and panic gripped it.

It desperately resisted the two-legged sheep, the bead, and the strange patterns emerging from within it.

But it could do nothing.

The protective black cloud attacked, forcing Han Li to retreat several steps.

Just now, a mere graze had rusted a corner of his yellow silk robe.

If he were to be inside the black dragon’s protective black cloud, he might be instantly corroded into a skeleton:

“So fierce!”

But unfortunately, this level of protective black cloud could not withstand the restrictions contained within the restriction sphere created by Fairy Hong Fu.

As more and more restriction patterns drilled into the black dragon’s body, into its muscles and bones, into its meridians and blood vessels, and engraved into its brain and demonic soul, the black dragon’s resistance grew weaker and weaker.

The look in its eyes as it gazed at Han Li became increasingly strange.

It was filled with hatred and fear, yet also with dependence and trust.

It carried a violent killing intent, yet was also brimming with gentle expectation.

It was very strange.

A hundred breaths later, all the restrictions that had resided on the restriction sphere had entered the black dragon’s body. This special magical artifact lost its effect and fell from mid-air, landing in the hands of Han Li, who stood below.

With this protection, Han Li immediately stepped back and began to form hand seals to retrieve the Golden Thread Talisman.

It was, after all, a precious mid-grade talisman.

Although it had consumed most of its energy, it could be used again to minimize the damage.

“Retrieve.”

As soon as the hand seals were completed, golden light emanated from the talisman, followed by a subtle suction force. The golden threads in mid-air began to converge into the Golden Thread Talisman.

Before long, most of the golden threads had disappeared into the talisman.

At this moment, the black dragon twitched its body, realizing it could move again.

Then…

Without hesitation, it extended its claws towards the golden thread talisman, tearing it apart.

Han Li was prepared, and upon seeing this, he coldly snorted:

“You beast.”

As his voice fell, the control-prohibiting token in his hand emitted a faint light. Immediately afterward, the black dragon roared angrily, followed by a scream.

Unable to maintain its floating posture, the black dragon plummeted from several meters high.

It then rolled on the ground, screaming in agony.

Black lines appeared on its body, especially on its triangular head, where the black lines were most dense, with lines even floating in its eyeballs. This was the powerful restriction inscribed by Fairy Hong Fu. Once the restriction took root in the black dragon’s body, it would be like a malignant tumor, even restricting and binding its demonic soul. How could a near-level 2 demonic beast like the black dragon possibly resist it?

Only when the black dragon entered the third stage of demonic beasts, that is, level 5, could these restrictions be gradually removed.

“Hmph, asking for trouble.”

Han Li shook his head. He

abandoned the black dragon, leaving it to suffer the torment of the restrictions.

He then rode his flying sword across the swamp ahead, arriving at the pavilion in the center of the swamp.

There, a golden treasure chest floated silently.

The golden chest was twelve feet long, half a foot wide, and four feet high. The lid was tightly closed, and golden light flowed over the chest, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary item.

Rather than a chest, it looked more like a golden coffin.

He wondered what treasures the ancient cultivators had left inside.

Han Li formed hand seals and attempted to collect it according to the method recorded in the sect’s scriptures. As expected, the chest did not resist his collection. With a flash of golden light, it disappeared into his storage bag in the blink of an eye.

He got it?

From then on, Han Li felt somewhat unreal.

It went so smoothly that it seemed unreal.

But this was the result he should have after planning carefully, deducing a thousand times, and racking his brains again and again to perfect his plan.

“With the golden treasure chest, the large-capacity storage bag, the fragment of the silk handkerchief magic weapon, and the help of the Ink Dragon…”

He couldn’t imagine how many forbidden spiritual herbs he could smuggle in this time!

“With the Ink Dragon as my henchman, I can venture into many underground stone palaces and monster lairs.”

In the central area of the forbidden zone, within fifty miles, there were naturally other level 2 monsters acting as guardians of many precious spiritual herbs. But how could those level 2 monsters

be a match for the level 2 Ink Dragon that had later completed its advancement? Those top-tier level 1 monsters were even less of a match for the Ink Dragon.

In other words, as long as he held onto the leash controlling the Ink Dragon, this vicious dog could bring him immeasurable and continuous rich benefits.

Meanwhile, the Ink Dragon was still howling near the exit passage, being disciplined by the restrictions.

If it wasn’t properly disciplined, the big mudskipper probably wouldn’t know why flowers bloom differently!

Turning around, Han Li looked deeper into this swamp area.

A mile away, near the stone wall at the edge of the swamp, dozens of spiritual herbs grew in clusters. Having thoroughly studied the forbidden area’s herb encyclopedia, he recognized only two of them; the rest were all familiar. Most were immature, but thirteen were mature.

“A four-hundred-year-old Long-Thread Mushroom…”

“A six-hundred-year-old Yellow Bamboo Chrysanthemum…”

“A Thousand-Star Vine, at least three hundred years old…

“

A total of thirteen mature spiritual herbs.

Each one was extremely valuable to him at the Qi Refining stage. Especially the two Blue Essence Fruits, six or seven hundred years old, which were said to be able to resolve the aftereffects of cultivation deviation. With these herbs in hand, he could almost completely eliminate the dangers of early cultivation deviations.

As for the two he didn’t recognize? He couldn’t determine whether they were mature or not.

However, that didn’t stop him from picking them and taking them with him.

After collecting the spiritual herbs, Han Li looked down into the swamp.

He knew very well that there were still opportunities deep within the swamp’s waters.

The Crimson Forbidden Land is a treasure trove left by ancient cultivators for future generations. Back then, the master of the Forbidden Land, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, used a wind-attribute array to enclose this place, primarily to preserve a piece of land with an ancient appearance for Tiannan. Thanks to its ancient environment, many ancient spiritual herbs and medicines could be preserved, ensuring that these herbs wouldn’t become completely extinct in later generations.

For this reason, the Crimson Forbidden Land has been sealed off from the outside world for tens of thousands of years.

Even though it was discovered by later generations thousands of years ago, the wind-attribute array outside has been weakened every five years. But one thing is certain: the self-circulating spiritual veins here have been maintained for sixty to seventy thousand years.

Over such a long period, some of these spiritual veins have solidified, forming associated ore veins.

While the spiritual energy environment of the Crimson Forbidden Land might not produce top-grade spirit stones, it’s highly possible that high-grade spirit stones, or superior-grade spirit stones, will be produced.

“If I could obtain a few high-grade spirit stones, my chances of reaching the third stage of the Nascent Soul realm or breaking through to the Core Formation stage would greatly increase.”

The pure spiritual energy within high-grade spirit stones could even help cultivators at the peak of the early Core Formation stage break through bottlenecks.

For him, this would be a great stroke of luck, more effective

than most spiritual herbs.

Wasn’t his painstaking search for spiritual herbs precisely to use the higher-quality spiritual energy within them to purify and enhance his own mana? Directly absorbing high-grade spirit stones would have the same effect, or even be one or two levels better.

If it were replaced with a top-grade spirit stone, it could save a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator over ten years of arduous cultivation. That’s more than ten years of hard work for a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

The specific effects are self-evident.

There is undoubtedly a spiritual vein or associated mineral vein directly beneath this underground stone palace.

Otherwise, the restrictions on the surface of the stone palace would have long since failed.

The fact that the restrictions are still functioning stably is lateral proof.

“No rush, now is not the time to mine. Time is too tight.”

The spiritual veins and mineral veins of the Crimson Forbidden Land are buried deep underground; how could they give lesser cultivators an easy chance to dig them up? The ancient cultivators aren’t stupid.

With his current methods, it’s difficult for him to reach them.

Even if he uses the Gray Sword Talisman to break ground, he can only dig a few dozen feet at most before the power of the Gray Sword Talisman is exhausted. At that time, if he finds a spiritual vein or mineral vein, he can break even. If he doesn’t find one, it will be a huge loss for him.

“Even with the addition of the Ink Dragon, the remaining three days probably won’t be enough…”

He estimated the ore vein was at least three hundred feet below the surface, possibly even a thousand feet.

“I’ll prepare more talismans and mining spirit beasts later!”

Regaining his composure, Han Li glanced at the Ink Dragon, who was already exhausted and barely able to move.

At this moment, the Ink Dragon’s eyes were bloodshot, its spirit was weak, its body was cracked, and it was covered in blood.

In a word: a pitiful sight.

But it must be said that when it saw Han Li again, its eyes immediately became clearer than ever before.

Clearly, it had learned its lesson.

“Hand over a drop of essence blood…”

Reaching ten feet away, Han Li made his demand again.

This time, the Ink Dragon did not resist the order and obediently forced out a drop of dark green essence blood from between its brows.

Having obtained the Ink Dragon’s essence blood, Han Li immediately placed a restriction on it.

He poured all his knowledge and skills into it.

Afterwards, he returned the drop of blood essence to the black dragon, which then sank back into its brow.

As the blood essence dissolved upon its return, several other control restrictions planted by Han Li were placed within the black dragon’s body.

“Absorb this drop of my blood essence as well,”

Han Li said, offering the first drop of bright red blood.

It also contained various master-servant contracts.

As this drop of blood essence entered the black dragon’s forehead and body, a subtle connection was established between them. Han Li seemed to be able to read some of the black dragon’s thoughts and feelings, and could vaguely sense its joys and sorrows.

In the days to come, the tacit understanding and affection between master and servant would continue to deepen with the strengthening of the master-servant contract and the passage of time. Ultimately, it would make the spirit beast obedient to its master and even willing to sacrifice itself for him.

“Not bad, not bad,”

Han Li was very satisfied.

If the previous restrictions and torture were the “coercion” in “a combination of kindness and severity,”

then this drop of blood essence was the “kindness” in the latter.

Kindness without authority is unacceptable; even the black dragon bird wouldn’t respect him.

Authority without kindness poses a threat.

A balance of kindness and authority is the proper master-servant contract.

He leaped onto the black dragon’s back and stood there. He could sense that the giant mudskipper was still somewhat uneasy, but not as resistant as before.

“This isn’t enough; we need to increase the intimacy between master and servant…”

Noticing the black dragon’s discomfort, Han Li patted his storage bag and took out several bottles of pills.

“Try this first.”

The first pill was a healing pill.

He had three high-quality pills, all investments from Fairy Hong Fu. He

took one out and tossed it to the black dragon. Soon, granulation tissue began to move from the dragon’s torn wound, and the injury healed rapidly.

“While you have this healing pill, why don’t you complete your final molting transformation?”

Han Li suggested.

He immediately took out several bottles of pills for strengthening the foundation and enhancing magical power.

These were all low-grade pills he didn’t need right now.

Having tasted such a delicious pill brimming with spiritual energy for the first time, the black dragon’s eyes, as large as copper bells, widened in astonishment. Unconsciously, its affection for its master, Han Li, intensified.

“Was it useful?”

Han Li raised an eyebrow.

The black dragon licked its lips, clearly still wanting more.

“These low-grade pills are useless to me, yet they’re still effective on the higher-level black dragon. Why?”

Han Li pondered.

He then thought of the difference between demonic beasts and humans.

The biggest difference between human cultivators and demonic beasts is that humans lack demonic energy, making their spiritual power purer among those of the same level. Demonic beasts, however, contain mixed demonic energy. Because of this, even the flesh and blood of a level seven demonic beast are inedible for human cultivators.

Only when a demonic beast reaches level eight and undergoes the baptism of heavenly lightning, its spiritual power no longer contains harmful demonic energy, can human cultivators fully utilize its flesh and blood, such as for alchemy.

Furthermore, compared to demonic beasts of the same level: larger demonic beasts certainly have far more spiritual power than smaller humans. Even in terms of demonic cores, a human’s Golden Core at the Core Formation stage contains purer spiritual power than a demonic beast’s demonic core.

Strangely, both were on the same level.

This was because the purity of a human cultivator’s magical power surpassed that of a demonic beast of the same rank.

Quantity can compensate for quality.

High quality doesn’t matter if quantity is low.

Thus, low-grade pills useless to Han Li had a slightly beneficial effect on the black dragon.

In short, the more the merrier.

Realizing this, Han Li simply took out all the pills he didn’t need and stuffed them into the black dragon’s mouth.

Interestingly, when he uncorked a bottle and found the precious Foundation Establishment Pill inside, then put it back, the black dragon suddenly became extremely excited, radiating a thirst for it.

“Hmm? What’s going on?”

Han Li looked at the bottle in his hand, thoughtfully:

“Demonic beasts usually only care about spiritual herbs useful to them. The black dragon’s interest in the Foundation Establishment Pill… could it be that the Foundation Establishment Pill helps it?”

It was quite possible.

Because the function of the Foundation Establishment Pill is to cleanse the marrow and remove impurities from the body, while also strengthening the foundation and enhancing magical power.

Since the Foundation Establishment Pill is effective for human cultivators, it should theoretically be equally effective for a celestial beast like the Ink Flood Dragon.

“Could this be how Li Huayuan created that Silver-Armored Horned Python?”

One or two pills weren’t enough; throwing in a handful might actually purify its bloodline and produce a beneficial mutation!

Otherwise, who did Li Huayuan give the Foundation Establishment Pills that the sect distributes to Core Formation elders every five years to? Old Li has been a Core Formation cultivator for forty or fifty years, and he’s accumulated quite a few Foundation Establishment Pills over time.

So, should he feed the Ink Flood Dragon a Foundation Establishment Pill?

He happens to have one.

The spiritual power contained in a single Foundation Establishment Pill, after helping a Qi Refining 12th level cultivator improve their physical body, can also help that cultivator more than double their magical power, easily advancing to the Qi Refining 13th level. Such medicinal power is undoubtedly a great tonic for the Ink Flood Dragon at its current cultivation level.

“To give it, or not to give it?”

Han Li was torn.

“Giving it…”

Undoubtedly, feeding the Ink Dragon a pill now would aid its transformation, and even greatly increase its chances of gaining more benefits during the process. For example, a more successful transformation, purer bloodline spiritual power, greater potential, and greater strength compared to its original timeline counterpart.

But the problem was, he himself needed Foundation Establishment Pills to build his foundation, and he needed at least seven or eight.

Giving the Ink Dragon a pill was extravagant, and it would greatly increase the difficulty of obtaining another Foundation Establishment Pill later.

It would add a lot of trouble.

“But not giving it…”

If he missed this opportunity, once the Ink Dragon had completely completed its Level 2 transformation, feeding it Foundation Establishment Pills might not be effective. Even if the Foundation Establishment Pills still had the effect of cleansing the marrow and changing the meridians, its effect would likely be greatly reduced. The cultivation cost would be much higher then.

After much deliberation and weighing the options for three seconds,

“Give it my ass! I don’t even have enough for myself.”

Han Li carefully put away the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Feeding the Ink Dragon a Foundation Establishment Pill?

Unless he’s lost his mind.

“Little Six, you can’t just eat any pill. This one’s poisonous; you can’t eat it. It’ll only harm your advancement. The one before wasn’t poisonous, but it’s enough for you to have a taste. Be good, digest those pills first.” To appease the Ink Dragon, Han Li spoke nonsense with a straight face.

Ink Dragon: …

Do you think I don’t know if it’s poisonous or not? So

stingy.

…

After putting the Ink Dragon “Little Six” into his spirit beast pouch, and leaving an empty iron box in the pavilion on the central island of the swamp, Han Li left the underground swamp area through the passage.

This place wasn’t safe to linger.

However, although he had moved quickly enough, he quickly retreated when he reached the entrance of the stone hall.

Then he turned and ran back into the underground swamp area.

“Damn it, I wasted too much time scheming against that Ma family brat from Tianque Fortress. Otherwise, I should have arrived here an hour earlier.”

Arriving an hour earlier would naturally make a big difference.

For example, they wouldn’t be trapped in this stone hall by a group of people coming towards them from the hillside of the basin right now.

…

A few breaths after Han Li disappeared, a group of sixteen people suddenly appeared on the hillside on one side of the basin. This group consisted of handsome men and beautiful women, and without exception, they were all disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect. The leader was a youthful, elfin-like girl.

The girl glanced at the stone hall in the basin with a puzzled look.

“What’s wrong, Grandmaster Gan?”

A disciple saw his elder frowning and immediately asked respectfully.

Gan Rushuang thought for a moment and then shook her head:

“Nothing.”

In fact, just now, she had sensed a faint aura of a cultivator near the stone hall in the center of the basin.

The other party must have used stealth and concealment techniques, and the stone hall was also very strange, as it could actually block the detection of external divine sense. Otherwise, she should have sensed the other party’s presence from a great distance.

And at this moment, the other party must have entered the interior of the stone hall, otherwise, the aura would not have vanished in an instant.

But it was precisely for this reason that she had to mourn for the other person.

Trapped inside the stone hall by the main force of the Hidden Moon Sect, unless the stone hall offered another way out, the other party was doomed. Although she didn’t want to bully the weak, the disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect might not be so tolerant. Moreover, their Hidden Moon Sect couldn’t allow the fact that she, a Core Formation stage cultivator, had suppressed her cultivation to enter the forbidden area to explore for treasure to be exposed, otherwise the problem would be much bigger—

definitely more troublesome than the Moon Sun Pearl incident of years past.

Therefore,

the person inside the hall could not be allowed to live.

Immediately, she released her divine sense, easily covering a radius of several miles. After confirming that there were no followers, she nodded.

After discovering the strangeness of the stone hall, she was both surprised and delighted.

“Hopefully it’s this stone hall.”

The seven or eight demon beast lairs she had previously swept away were also protected by restrictions left by ancient cultivators. But those restrictions couldn’t prevent her Core Formation stage divine sense from probing.

This place was different.

The restrictions on the stone hall in the basin were very strong, so strong that her Core Formation stage divine sense couldn’t penetrate even an inch. The moment her divine sense touched the wall, it was repelled, strangely enough.

This indicated that the restrictions on this stone hall were far more sophisticated than the previous ones.

“Let’s go, follow me into the stone hall.”

She immediately took the lead.

Just then, a disciple jogged up to report, also warning:

“Grandmaster, there’s a hot and humid swamp beneath this stone hall, inhabited by a Black-Scaled Python whose strength far surpasses that of ordinary top-tier demonic beasts. That Black-Scaled Python has devoured over a dozen disciples from various sects who came to dig for medicinal herbs and treasures, earning it a fearsome reputation. This has made this place one of the most dangerous areas that disciples from various sects dare not approach. I hope Grandmaster will be careful…”

This female disciple was a seasoned veteran who had entered the Crimson Forbidden Land twice. Her

understanding of the Crimson Forbidden Land was unmatched by others.

Unfortunately, her good intentions sounded extremely grating to Gan Rushuang’s ears: Me, a dignified Core Formation stage Grandmaster, facing a mere level 1 demonic beast, do I need a junior like you to give me pointers? Tell me to be careful?

“Hmph, alright, do you think I can’t even handle a level one demon beast? How strong can it be? Along the way, with my Vermilion Bird Ring, how many so-called top-tier demon beasts have become your training punching bags?” Upon hearing this, most of the disciples of the Hidden Moon Sect who had previously benefited smiled.

The female disciples, upon hearing this, changed their expressions drastically: “This disciple dares not.”

“You may leave.”

It’s just a mere Black Scale Python; a few come and it’ll die.

“Everyone, proceed according to the plan. Remember, no matter how powerful that Black Scale Python is, you must firmly believe in the secret technique passed down to you by the sect. It’s the Yin-Yang Pulling Technique, a male-female pair comparable to a Foundation Establishment stage attack. With this technique in hand, level one demon beasts are easy to capture. Besides, I have my Vermilion Bird Ring to help you restrain them.” After boosting morale, Gan Rushuang entered the stone hall first: “Follow me into the reaping.”

“Yes, Grandmaster.”

…

Underground swamp area.

Han Li was sweating profusely.

He was blocked.

Blocked here.

“How can I escape?”

In his view, if it were somewhere else, if he hadn’t coveted the golden treasure chest, then “Nangong Wan” might have let him off the hook. But the golden treasure chest was something he was determined to obtain, concerning his future path to immortality; he couldn’t possibly give it up easily. Not even if the other party was the female protagonist in his book.

Because of the golden treasure chest and the other party’s Core Formation stage status, there was no room for negotiation between them.

He only had one way to escape:

leave everyone from the Hidden Moon Sect here.

“Let’s do it.”

He summoned the still somewhat dazed Ink Dragon, flicked out the Foundation Establishment Pill, and fed it to the creature:

“You got a good deal.”

That’s right, he discarded the Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand and fed

it to the Ink Dragon.

The reason was simple:

to accelerate the Ink Dragon’s advancement process! The

Ink Dragon was stuck at this stage and hadn’t advanced because the spiritual power accumulated in its body was just a little lacking. In the original trajectory, it would have needed to wait until the day after tomorrow to advance. But now, how could it wait until the day after tomorrow?

And the stronger the Ink Dragon becomes, the more he will gain in the forbidden area. If

the Ink Dragon becomes better, he won’t need it anymore, allowing him to sell it for a good price, right?

Ultimately, it’s a question of whether it’s worth it.

As for how he’ll gather more Foundation Establishment Pills to build his foundation?

He’s almost dead, what’s the future?

For him now, survival is paramount; he needs to get out of the forbidden area alive. A few Foundation Establishment Pills will be a small matter then. Compared to life itself, everything else is minor.

The Ink Dragon, having swallowed the Foundation Establishment Pill, widened its lantern-sized eyes even further: “…”

What’s going on?

Why is its stingy master suddenly so generous?

“Ahem, Master, I’m just optimistic about you, believing you can become even better…” It’s definitely not because of the group of thugs outside.

Hearing this, the Ink Dragon was deeply moved and immediately started nuzzling him.

“Alright, alright.”

Han Li still needed to hurry.

“Little Six, you need to advance quickly too!” Otherwise, both of us, master and servant, will be finished.

He really meant it when he said he’d give a Foundation Establishment Pill.

An investment of three or four thousand spirit stones…

my heart aches!

Then he quickly sent the boy back into the swamp, while he himself hid behind a small mound. Simultaneously, he unleashed his full power of stealth and concealment techniques, even using a high-level concealment talisman left by the Tianque Fortress disciple who had initially followed him.

He waited for the arrival of the Hidden Moon Sect members. A short while later, a young girl,

still

looking quite childish, led a group of Hidden Moon Sect disciples through a stone staircase of several hundred steps into the underground swamp area.

“Huh? Where’s that golden box?”

the female disciple who had visited the Crimson Forbidden Land five years prior asked in surprise.

Where was the golden treasure chest, emitting a faint golden light, floating in the pavilion?

“It’s not a golden box, it’s an iron box. It’s no different from the iron and wooden boxes we harvested earlier,”

the young girl in the lead shook her head.

Her divine sense had already extended several miles, immediately spotting an abandoned, ancient-looking iron box in the corner of the pavilion on the island. The iron box was open, and its contents were gone, clearly stolen by someone else.

Moreover, deep within this swamp, there is a vast expanse of medicinal herbs, the mature ones of which have already been harvested.

“There are signs of a battle here; someone has already gotten there first. Let’s go, to the next place.”

After thinking for a moment, she decided not to make things difficult for the little guy from another sect hiding here.

He probably didn’t know her identity yet.

It would be dishonorable to bully the weak.

“What about that infamous Black Scale Python?” a disciple asked doubtfully.

“I’ll go see if there are any spiritual herbs left to pick…” another disciple was unwilling to give up and wanted to check the places where spiritual herbs were piled up to see if any had escaped.

“Grandmaster, this place has been looted in advance, but the other party may not have left. Why don’t we search around and investigate?” the willful woman suggested.

She had a strong feeling that there were outsiders hiding here. And she loved playing cat and mouse.

In the shadows.

Han Li’s heart tightened.

He made a deep note in his notebook about the female cultivator who had spoken.

Upon hearing this and seeing the situation, the leading girl in the Hidden Moon Sect group frowned slightly but did not stop the disciples from going about their own business.

She too harbored doubts.

Was the treasure chest here really just that broken iron box? Would an ancient cultivator go to such great lengths only to leave behind a broken iron box? Did that make sense?

She wanted to check the storage bags of other disciples hidden in the shadows.

However,

after her disciples had flown a hundred feet or so, a sudden disturbance occurred in the swamp.

“Hmm? Is that black-scaled python still there?”

“Junior Sister Zhang, Senior Sister Xiao, Junior Brother Li… be careful.”

Unfortunately, the warning came too late.

The black python suddenly launched a sneak attack, one strike taking down a fragile target.

With a bite, the defensive shield that the Hidden Moon Sect female disciple had barely managed to erect shattered, followed by a brief, shrill scream.

“Senior Sister Xiao…!”

The disciples’ expressions changed drastically, both shocked and furious.

“Kill this beast!”

The disciples all attacked.

The four groups of men and women behind them even unleashed the secret technique of the Hidden Moon Sect: the Yin-Yang Guiding Technique.

This technique can combine the magical power of a male and female disciple, unleashing an attack comparable to a casual strike from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. One or two strikes might not pose a threat to a top-tier level 1 demonic beast, but several attacks combined can even kill a level 2 demonic beast.

They had already verified and tested it before.

The effect was excellent.

It’s no exaggeration to say that this move was one of the major reasons why the Hidden Moon Sect’s Old Monster Qiong dared to gamble with Hong Fu, Li Huayuan, and Fu Yunzi.

What do Huangfeng Valley and Qingxu Sect have?

They don’t have any Spirit Fusion Talismans, and their disciples are basically all alone when they are teleported in. How can they compare to the pairs of disciples in the Hidden Moon Sect?

In terms of strength, apart from a few elite disciples who are barely presentable, what else do Huangfeng Valley and Qingxu Sect have that can threaten top-tier or even level 2 demonic beasts? On the other hand, the Hidden Moon Sect’s combined attack secret technique, the Yin-Yang Guiding Technique, can threaten and even kill level 2 demonic beasts.

Moreover, Gan Rushuang was a Core Formation cultivator who had used a special method to suppress her cultivation and infiltrate the Crimson Forbidden Land. With this junior sister present, it was a huge guarantee. How could the Hidden Moon Sect possibly lose?!

However, Gan Rushuang’s face was anything but relaxed.

“This isn’t a Black Scale Python, it’s a Black Dragon.”

The girl’s expression was solemn, yet her tone carried a strange excitement:

“It hasn’t advanced yet. Cooperate with me to capture it.”

With that, she flew deeper into the swamp, towards the Black Dragon that was chasing two other Hidden Moon Sect disciples. Because those two disciples had gone too far, their path was blocked by the Black Dragon, and their only escape route was deeper into the swamp.

This scene was undoubtedly someone’s scheme.

Seeing that another disciple was a little too slow and about to be killed:

“Beast, you’re courting death!”

The youthful Gan Rushuang roared in fury.

Trying to kill Hidden Moon Sect members right in front of her, what did they take her, a Core Formation cultivator, for?

(Posting this early, will be released at 00:1 later.) There are more people reading at night.

By the way, guys, please give me your monthly tickets and recommendation votes! I’m relying on the recommendation vote rankings to increase my exposure right now. It’s too difficult without recommendations.

(End of Chapter)