This curse was useless to him. It could be discussed later.
More than half a day later, as night fell, Wang Yu carried Liu Jinxian back to the foot of Blackbone Mountain. Without hesitation, he loudly called out:
"Situ Hong, Gu Zhengshun, come out and receive her!"
The sudden voice startled the two, who had been discussing countermeasures. When they recognized Wang Yu’s voice, they were even more surprised.
"How did he come back..."
"That person came looking for him. Liu Jinxian actually helped him a little."
"Come on, let’s go take a look."
However, when the two came out and saw the scene, they were stunned. They hurried forward to check Liu Jinxian’s condition, their expressions not looking very good.
Things were different now. With the underground palace dispute settled, they were just like Wang Yu the last people who wanted anything to happen to Liu Jinxian, as her background was deep and unmatched.
Situ Hong urgently asked, "What happened? What’s going on?"
Wang Yu replied, "She fought with a Foundation Establishment cultivator and was ambushed. It should be damage to her divine sense and a weakened soul. It’s not a big problem."
"That’s good, that’s good." Situ Hong and Gu Zhengshun both breathed a sigh of relief, then grew curious. "And that Foundation Establishment cultivator... what happened to him?"
"Dead. Died at Senior Sister Liu’s hands."
Hearing this, Gu Zhengshun looked at Wang Yu with interest.
"Do you have the corpse?"
"Yes."
"That person intruded into Blackbone Mountain, first killing the Bone Lion King that had claimed territory here, then kept saying he was looking for you. Do you know him?"
Wang Yu was astonished.
"Impossible. You cannot say such things carelessly."
"Heh heh."
Gu Zhengshun rubbed his hands together, pulled Wang Yu aside, and whispered, "A Foundation Establishment corpse. Name your price and sell it to me."
Wang Yu remained silent.
To disciples of Heavenly Corpse Peak, the corpse of a strong cultivator was a rare and great opportunity. Using corpse refinement methods, after several years it could be turned into battle power.
This was why Gu Zhengshun had gone straight to human grave sites after leaving the underground palace.
Although he had obtained a second-rank divine power corpse arm, it was a defective item a completely battle-damaged remnant limb that could not be repaired.
Compared to a complete Foundation Establishment corpse, it was on a completely different level. But this was useless to Wang Yu, so he said casually:
"I can sell it to you. You name a price first. I am not short of spirit stones at the moment."
This put Gu Zhengshun in a dilemma.
"How about you tell me what you want first?"
"Simple. A demon core from a second-rank cold-attribute python-type demon beast, plus five thousand spirit stones. How about it?"
Gu Zhengshun frowned slightly. "Let me check the goods first."
After seeing the corpse, which was blackened and oozing green pus, he bargained. "The damage is a bit severe. Reduce it by two thousand spirit stones."
"Deal."
It did not matter to Wang Yu who he sold it to. Being able to trade for a useful demon core was good enough. As a Qi Refining stage disciple, he could only access the sect’s first-rank treasury, which naturally had no second-rank demon cores, let alone cold-attribute ones.
"In two years, you and I will return to the sect. Prepare the item by then for the trade."
"Agreed."
After speaking, the two returned to their places, causing Situ Hong to glance over from time to time. Subconsciously, he kept a ten-step distance from them. Too scheming.
The three stayed silent for a long while before Wang Yu broke the silence.
"I’ll leave Senior Sister Liu to you. I’m going into seclusion on Blackbone Mountain."
"Ah, this..."
"I’m going into seclusion too."
Gu Zhengshun followed Wang Yu into the Earth Yin Corpse Puppet Formation and disappeared.
Only Situ Hong remained, smiling bitterly. This person could not simply be left here. She must not die, or he would be unable to answer for it.
...
Peaceful days flowed by like water, slipping through one’s fingers in an instant. Winter passed into spring, summer nights into cool autumns.
Unknowingly, the seasons cycled twice.
The five-year term had come to an end. The first three years had been full of incidents and heavy casualties. The last two years, with only four people left, had been extremely quiet.
Only in May or June each year, when the bonewood blossomed, would they meet to harvest a batch of Xuan Essence Flowers to take back to sell to fellow sect members.
The quantity was much smaller now due to the lack of manpower. They could no longer completely clear the three Blackbone Mountains, but each managed to harvest a batch of bonewood to turn in to the sect.
The bonewood collected was enough for five hundred people. The work was troublesome and done in parts, but no one could skip their share to the sect. Completing the mission was a shared understanding.
After Liu Jinxian woke, she focused quietly on healing. She only met Wang Yu once. Due to him saving her life, her attitude improved, though not overly so. According to her, anyone willing to let her plant a gu worm in them could become her bedchamber male companion and receive abundant cultivation resources.
Wang Yu politely declined this kind of gratitude, using the name of True Disciple Su as an excuse.
As for spoils of war, she did not ask for any, perhaps fearing he might act irrationally.
In the eighth year of Wang Yu’s outer sect career, in early January, he finished a cultivation session and was planning his next steps.
During this period, he had cultivated a total of 4,880 strands of spiritual power and had just finished refining his fifth supreme-grade Cold Blood Pill.
Rounded off, that made 49 strands of spiritual power.
He had accumulated 149 strands. To break through to Qi Refining layer eight, he needed 300 strands, so he was halfway there. His pace was already quite fast.
At present, there was only one method he could immediately employ.
Refining the Cold Chi Pill. Using the special effects of the Cold Chi Pill Alchemy to reconstruct the supreme-grade Cold Blood Pill would enhance its potency, accelerating his cultivation through medicinal means.
Additionally, he could investigate formations, talismans, spiritual foods, and other methods to aid his cultivation.
With the Blackbone Mountain mission ending, he could return to complete the trade with Gu Zhengshun and finish his medicinal goal. Conveniently, an idle slot had just freed up in the Idle Slot Panel.
[Idle Slot 4: Soul-Devouring Demonic Armor Technique (Perfected)]
Soul-Devouring Demonic Armor Technique (100/100): 52 sessions a day, 50 years to master.
Due to devouring the soul bodies of two powerful Foundation Establishment ghosts, a huge amount of time was saved. This strange technique, being different from conventional spells, was easier to perfect.
Once perfected, the Black Fiend Armor Marks covering his skin hid beneath the surface, ready to be activated with a single thought, fast and convenient.
It was especially effective against divine sense attacks. For physical attacks, energy impacts, and five-elemental assaults, it was comparable to a second-rank lower-grade defensive spell.
The consumption was a bit high. Over the past two years, Wang Yu had only experienced one counterattack from a ghost soul aimed at his own soul, but its power was not great.
After all, he had only devoured one soul. The Taiyin Nether Eyes drew upon the power of the Taiyin Moonlight to nourish and cleanse his soul, strengthening his divine sense.
In addition, alchemy also trained and deepened his divine sense foundation, allowing him to easily endure it.
The Idle Slot had given this strange technique fifty years to perfect, more than double that of the Corpse Demon Secret Technique — which was truly absurd.