Chapter 281: Internal Sect Elder's Duty, The Complete Ancient Demon Script

Calculating the time.

Forty years wasn't enough for an advancement, but the improvements from the placement slots were constant. The more demonic thoughts and evil intentions he refined, the more perfect the Profound Origin Demonic Embryo would become, and it would be key to dealing with Fu Xiao.

“Junior Brother Wang Yu, have you finished reading?”

Just then, Zhuo Yuanshen spoke up to remind him, and only then did Wang Yu lower the spiritual jade slip from his forehead and place it into his Sea Heart Ring.

“I appreciate it, Senior Brother Yuanshen.”

“No problem. Shouqing's matters are my matters. Now that the message has been delivered, let me tell you about the benefits and obligations of an inner elder.”

“Understood.”

Holding a high position naturally came with not only benefits but also corresponding obligations. However, despite Wang Yu's increasingly deep entanglement with the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect, he still felt no sense of belonging. This was determined by the bizarre way he had arrived. It was like a childhood trauma; just thinking about it made him feel a huge rift. Climbing higher was simply because this place suited him better.

“Elder Yushu should have already told you about some basic benefits. Let's start with the items you'll receive.”

Zhuo Yuanshen took out a ring from a tray. Its color was jet black, engraved with blood-winged patterns, and in the center was a square blood jade with the character 'Han' (cold) inscribed in it.

“This is the ring that symbolizes your status as an inner elder of Cold Blood Peak. It can open many formations and restrictions within the mountain gate. For example, it grants access to the third floors of the Scripture Pavilion and the Communication Hall, and provides the catalog and internal prices of the third-tier treasure vault. Furthermore, this Cold Blood Ring is a top-tier third-tier storage ring. It contains a storage space of twenty miles, and once you imprint it with your spiritual sense, it will be yours. In emergencies, it can call for aid from the nearest Holy Sect outpost. Of course, if you are subjected to a spiritual sense attack, this function cannot be triggered automatically.”

The Cold Blood Ring was similar to the Sea Heart Ring, though more complex in its functions. It was also a valuable item worth over a million spirit stones. The Holy Sect was indeed generous to its true insiders.

Next, Zhuo Yuanshen took out a token.

“This is the Cold Blood Cave Dwelling Token, which allows you to choose an unoccupied third-tier cave dwelling on Cold Blood Peak to refine. With this token, you can control the cave dwelling's formations or remain unaffected by Cold Blood Peak's formations. These are twelve sub-tokens, primarily for your servants, maids, and spirit beasts to wear close to them. They facilitate movement within Cold Blood Peak and prevent misunderstandings. When inviting guests, one token can bring three people. Junior Brother Wang Yu has just formed his Core, so if you're interested, you could host a banquet.”

“No interest. I don't know many people, and more of them are dead.”

The Cold Blood Ring, the Cave Dwelling Token, and the twelve sub-tokens were presented. For the last item, Zhuo Yuanshen's expression turned slightly solemn as he took it out. It was a magnificent ice crown!

Completely formed from ice blue, with two willow-fluff-like ribbons of shattered ice extending downwards, the crown itself was somewhat long and hollow-carved with a green lion pattern, its eyes adorned with blood jade. It was beautiful yet majestic.

Zhuo Yuanshen explained. “This is the crown worn by the twelve Elder candidates of Cold Blood Peak. It is, in itself, a unique high-grade third-tier magic treasure.”

“Unique function?”

“Yes, it can control the high-grade fourth-tier grand formation on Cold Blood Peak.”

Wang Yu's expression tightened, but he heard Zhuo Yuanshen continue. “Of course, it can only control one or two tenths of it. Do not activate it lightly unless the sect faces a crisis of survival. If you accidentally trigger it… Junior Brother Wang Yu should consider how to explain it to the Cold Blood Mountain Master, as activating a formation of this level consumes the supreme-grade spirit stones stored by Cold Blood Peak.”

“I understand.”

After storing the candidate's ice crown in his Sea Heart Ring, all the material benefits had been received. Next, they would discuss his obligations.

Zhuo Yuanshen then took out four more jade slips and a bone fragment. “These are the complete decipherments of the Ancient Demonic Script: Blood Talisman Characters, Bone Talisman Characters, Demonic Talisman Characters, and Nether Talisman Characters. Hold this bone fragment, and you will not be affected by the inherent power of these characters, allowing you to master them all.”

Wang Yu's eyes narrowed as he vaguely guessed what the inner elder's obligations were. After he followed the instructions, knowledge of the four demonic scripts appeared in his mind.

“Junior Brother Wang Yu, according to the regulations of the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect, every hundred years, you must explore an ancient, primordial, or unknown type of ruin. If you encounter a stone monument inscribed with demonic characters, bring it back if conditions permit. If not, record its contents, then copy that memory and submit it to the sect.”

“Why is that?”

If he remembered correctly, he had found a black stone monument inscribed with Blood Talisman Characters in the underground palace of Profound Bone Mountain years ago. His Lunar Nether Eyes were also obtained at that time. He had always intended to return to that underground palace after forming his Core and take a look, but this matter was not a high priority and ranked far behind what he needed to do now!

Seeing his confusion, Zhuo Yuanshen spoke with a tone that suggested it was nothing new. “Every elder who learns of this task has the same question as you. In any case, you'll understand when you truly encounter a demonic script monument. This is confidential information. I, Zhuo, have signed a contract, so I cannot tell you. You can only discover it yourself.”

“I understand. What if the ruins explored within a hundred years do not contain a demonic script monument?”

“That's fine too.” Zhuo Yuanshen spread his hands. “Actually, not many elders take this task seriously. At most, they'll casually look for one while searching for opportunities. A hundred years is enough time to explore many places anyway, so one more won't hurt.”

“I see.” Though called an obligation, it was actually optional. To increase cultivation, simply meditating in seclusion was not effective; various opportunities were needed to accelerate it. Exploring dangerous ruins was already one of the most popular activities in the current cultivation world.

*I went and didn't find it; you can't blame me for that, right?* It was probably with this mindset that the efficiency was generally low. He felt that the Spirit Reversal Blood Sect wasn't that urgent about it either. The demonic script monuments likely concealed secrets of this world, but not to an extremely vital extent.

After all that talk, it was finally over.

After bidding farewell to Zhuo Yuanshen, Wang Yu headed towards the treasure vault. At the elder level, obtaining contribution points wasn't limited to just completing missions. He could offer spirit stones to the sect in exchange for contribution points, a privilege not available to Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators. This primarily served to control the value of contribution points and also provided convenience for Core Formation elders. As high-ranking members, the latter could now enjoy the fruits of their junior disciples' labor.

Regarding third-tier treasure vaults, besides the one in All Halls Square for outer elders, each of the Nine Peaks and the Blood Demon Hall also had one. Cold Blood Peak's treasure vault primarily contained ice-attributed spiritual items, while Sky Corpse Peak's treasure vault primarily contained corpse-dao spiritual items. Inner elders from each peak could visit others freely. If they needed something, they could just go and ask. This was also the significance of the three discounts and priority rights.

As for the source of these treasures... Most came from the various resource points across the Four Provinces, while a small portion was "offered" by sect elders in exchange for contribution points. High-grade rare spiritual items, on the other hand, were exchanged for indispensable resources, such as supreme-grade spirit stones, or access to special cultivation environments, through bartering, and so on. As long as one proposed it to the sect, there was an eighty percent chance a solution would be found. At that point, it would be your turn to contribute and meet the sect's requirements, and you would naturally get what you desired. In this process, the sect could actually be seen as a platform, facilitating mutually beneficial exchanges by allocating resources among cultivators from all sides. At worst, tasks could be issued to find them. It was far better than a struggling rogue cultivator, who had to find everything on their own.

Wang Yu was currently in All Halls Square. Since he was already here, he might as well visit this third-tier treasure vault, which was open to all outer disciples. He still needed some auxiliary materials to refine his Glazed Ice Heart Pagoda. He had Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Jade, Cold Moon Treasure Pearl, Snow Mountain Profound Heavy Iron, and Ice Soul Stone. These four were ice-attributed materials, and he also had two Yin-attributed third-tier materials. These were all his current reserves, valued at several million spirit stones. It had taken Wang Yu decades to collect them, and he had used some along the way.

Refining a Natal Magic Treasure didn't require specific materials; any Yin or ice-attributed material could be used. It was just like how it didn't demand any artifact refining skill from the cultivator. It could be refined simply by understanding the corresponding cultivation method, making it a special magic treasure that would not fail. The more materials incorporated, the more profound the origin of the Glazed Ice Heart Pagoda would become. He wouldn't need to incorporate new spiritual materials for a long time, and its strength would keep pace with his growth. He was currently missing one material with spiritual characteristics. Glazed Lapis Lazuli was the most suitable. If it wasn't here, he would go to the Nine Peaks' treasure vaults to look.

“Please show your identification.”

“Mm.”

He raised his hand, showing the Cold Blood Ring to the two Foundation Establishment guards at the entrance. Both immediately bowed.

“Greetings, Elder of Cold Blood Peak.”

In their hearts, however, they were puzzled. Why would an inner elder come to this outer sect treasure vault? Could it be that some rare opportunity was hidden within? Little did they know, Wang Yu was merely following the principle of 'since I'm already here...' A quick look wouldn't hurt, right?

Inside the treasure vault, numerous formations and restrictions stood guard, but with the Cold Blood Ring, simply by touching the restrictions at the entrance, his spiritual sense could receive the list of treasures. Let me see what's available.

“Reversion Grass, a pair of Poison Fire Silkworm Cocoons, Eastern Pearl Powder, Core Formation fragments... an early-stage third-tier armored corpse? They sell this stuff too!” He muttered to himself.

Wang Yu felt that the outer elders of the Nine Peaks were probably also subjects of exploitation. The inner sect members dealt with rare varieties, even controlling naturally occurring unique corpse puppets like him. This ordinary armored corpse could only be sold to outer Core Formation cultivators. And the price was quite expensive: 1.2 million contribution points, for heaven's sake.

As he continued browsing, Wang Yu's eyes lit up.

“—Ink Copper!”

It was precisely the last spiritual item needed for refining the Feng Shui Compass. Such items were only greatly useful to Geomancers; if an ordinary cultivator obtained it, it would just be a common spiritual item. When he looked at the price column, he felt a sense of relief.

“120,000 contribution points, which, if converted to spirit stones, is equivalent to a low-grade third-tier spiritual item. I'll buy it,” he decided.

However, Wang Yu's pockets were empty. His remaining contribution points were still the meager dozen or so he had left from when he was an outer disciple, almost like a joke. He pressed the Cold Blood Ring against the formation's light curtain, and a dense stream of spirit stones flowed like a long dragon into the treasure vault: precisely 120,000 low-grade spirit stones. With that, when he selected the Ink Copper, it automatically flew out from the treasure vault and into his hand.

Privilege, it was truly damn satisfying!