Chapter 473: Ming Shui Monk

Upon hearing this, Zhao Wuji and his companion no longer declined and divided the demonic beast carcass and spirit herbs.

"Senior Brother Zhao, Senior Brother Li, let's rest for a while, then head to the next location! In a few more days, the secret realm will close, so we need to seize the time and gather more spirit herbs."

Wang Mingren's proposal received the approval of Zhao Wuji and his companion.

The Taiyi Secret Realm is a small world created by a powerful cultivator from the Taiyi Immortal Sect. It was set up with numerous restrictions. Whenever a demonic beast advances to the third rank, it triggers these restrictions and is transported to a special location, without exception.

After roughly fifteen minutes, their magical power had almost fully recovered, and they stepped out together.

Not long after, Wang Mingren and his two companions disappeared into the dense forest.

Myriad Serpent Valley, a certain green bamboo forest.

Wang Qiuming and nine other Qi Condensation cultivators were besieging a green praying mantis about ten feet tall. The green mantis was a high-grade first-tier demonic insect and was no match for Wang Qiuming and his group. It was covered in wounds, its left wing was broken, and its front limbs had been severed by sharp weapons.

Wang Changsheng, Wang Qingshan, and Wang Qingjun stood in the distance, not uttering a word.

A huge booming sound rang out as a massive fireball struck the green mantis. Rolling flames engulfed the green mantis.

Wang Qiuming drew a line in the air with one hand. Specks of green light materialized out of nowhere, transforming into a giant wind blade as long as a door plank. It then turned into a streak of green light and plunged into the sea of fire.

A mournful shriek rang out. Not long after, the sea of fire dissipated.

The green mantis was split in two. It fell into a pool of blood, its carcass charred black.

Wang Changsheng conjured his Soul-Collecting Bottle and collected the demonic beast's spirit.

"Alright, we've been out for quite a while now. Let's head back!"

Wang Changsheng and his party stayed in Myriad Serpent Valley for over a month. They didn't encounter a single second-tier demonic beast; all they found were first-tier demonic beasts.

After about half a month, Wang Changsheng and his party returned to Green Lotus Villa.

Upon returning to his residence, Wang Changsheng eagerly released his Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada.

He conjured a Soul-Collecting Bottle and cast a spell upon it.

The Soul-Collecting Bottle spun around, instantly expanding more than tenfold. Its stopper flew open, and hundreds of green light clusters of varying sizes flew out. They drifted around the secret room like fireflies.

The Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada was drawn to the green light clusters. As if it had found something delicious, its four wings fluttered continuously. It opened its mouth and spewed out a large expanse of black ethereal light, enveloping several green light clusters. These light clusters were swept into its mouth by the black ethereal light and vanished.

After tasting the delicious demonic beast spirits, the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada found it hard to stop. Its four wings flapped constantly, chasing the green light clusters. It devoured them one by one, emitting joyful chirps from its mouth.

After devouring all the green light clusters, the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada flew back to Wang Changsheng.

Its wingspan was about ten feet wide, and it continuously emitted joyful chirps from its mouth.

Wang Changsheng's face showed disappointment. Even though the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada had consumed hundreds of first-tier demonic beast spirits, the increase in Wang Changsheng's divine sense was negligible.

He speculated that either the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada's rank was too low, or the amount of demonic beast spirits it had consumed was too small; it needed to devour a large number of them.

The trip to the South Sea would have to be sooner.

He put the Soul-Devouring Golden Cicada back into its spirit beast bead and left the secret room.

Upon arriving in the main hall, Wang Changsheng saw Wang Ruyan.

Wang Ruyan had been in seclusion for four years and was still at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment. It seemed her bottleneck was not easy to resolve.

"My dear, you've come out of seclusion."

Wang Ruyan smiled sweetly and said, "Husband, have you cultivated the spirit art?"

Wang Changsheng nodded with a smile and told Wang Ruyan everything in detail.

"The cultivation resources in the South Sea are abundant. Husband, since you cultivate water-attribute cultivation methods, it's relatively easy to acquire water-attribute magic treasures there. When hunting demonic beasts, it's better for our own people to form a team; there's still some risk with outsiders."

"If you hadn't come out of seclusion, I had planned to take Qingshan and the others to the South Sea to hunt demonic beasts. Since you've come out, my dear, we can bring a few more people."

Wang Changsheng told Wang Ruyan about Zhao Zheng and Wang Qingjing.

Learning that Wang Qingjing had found her ideal partner, Wang Ruyan was also very happy.

"From his words, actions, and overall demeanor, he truly seems good. Since they are deeply in love, let's help them fulfill their wishes!"

Wang Changsheng nodded and smiled, saying, "My dear, now that you've come out of seclusion, we can arrange their wedding."

Wang Changsheng took out a Sound Transmission Paper Crane and said, "Qingkai, send someone to Qingyue Market to bring Qingjing and Zhao Zheng back. Just tell them Qingjing's mother has come out of seclusion."

He infused the paper crane with magical power. The paper crane quickly expanded, and numerous dense green runes appeared on its surface. It flapped its wings and flew outwards.

"My dear, when the four of you entered the Golden Sun Sect ruins, did you leave behind a map of the route?"

Wang Ruyan nodded and said, "Of course, we did. Qingjun stayed in a spirit stone mine the whole time, and there were only three maps. The route maps were refined into magical artifacts and are stored in the family's treasury. If the Golden Sun Sect ruins reappear near the State of Wei, with these three route maps, our gains will be even greater."

Other cultivators who entered the ruins would also do this, which is the origin of those fragmented treasure maps.

Wang Ruyan recounted her experiences in the Golden Sun Sect; she also mentioned the stone bed.

Wang Changsheng sighed softly and said, "It's a pity we couldn't bring that stone bed back; otherwise, it should have been helpful for my cultivation. However, Fellow Daoist Guang was quite magnanimous; he didn't inquire about your gains in the Golden Sun Sect ruins. But the gains weren't small either: the artifact refining insights of a Nascent Soul cultivator, plus three sets of materials for refining magic treasures, and a large pile of other materials."

Wang Changsheng had carefully examined those magic treasure materials. A small portion were fourth-tier artifact refining materials, while the majority were third-tier. They were more than enough to refine second-tier magic treasures.

After chatting for a while, Wang Changsheng returned to his secret room. He took out a jade slip and placed it on his forehead.

This 'True Monarch Ming Shui' was not only a Nascent Soul cultivator but also a fourth-tier artifact refiner. His artifact refining skill was very high, and he also had many ingenious ideas, which greatly broadened Wang Changsheng's horizons.

True Monarch Ming Shui cultivated water-attribute cultivation methods. The jade slip recorded the methods for refining multiple water-attribute magic treasures. Among them, a magic treasure called the Mountain River Bead was refined using One-Element Heavy Water as the primary material.

The 'Nine Flood Dragon Cauldron' was a magic treasure-grade artifact refining furnace. True Monarch Ming Shui had specifically refined it for extracting heavy water. Heavy water is a man-made water-attribute spiritual object; high-level cultivators would spend decades, even a century, to condense a river into heavy water.

Heavy water is divided into nine grades. The lowest is One-Element Heavy Water, weighing over ten thousand catties. Nine-Element Heavy Water could easily destroy a continent. The higher the grade of heavy water, the more difficult and time-consuming it is to refine.

The Nine Flood Dragon Cauldron could shorten the time required to condense heavy water. The amount of time saved depended on the refiner's cultivation level and the grade of heavy water. Having three drops of One-Element Heavy Water was sufficient.

Weight-based magic treasures were what could truly unleash Wang Changsheng's strength.

The Mountain River Bead was a set of magic treasures; the more Mountain River Beads there were, the greater their power.