Chapter 470: Rapid Cultivation Growth Over Twenty Years, Nascent Soul Fifth Layer

In an instant, Wang Yu could perceive everything this person had ever experienced in their short life, from the moment they were born and first heard sounds, whether they remembered it or not.

The farce on the street had both simple and complex origins. It was simple because this individual was carrying out orders from high-ranking officials of the Azure Cloud Sect to abduct more common people from the populace, control them with evil magic, and then frame demonic cultivators, thereby strengthening their chain of evidence. It was complex because this Qi Condensation ant was actually a spy for the Joyful Demonic Sect, secretly selecting promising mortal girls from Taihu. All of them were sent to the Joyful Demonic Sect to satisfy their immense need for "cauldrons" (human cultivation vessels). It’s important to know that the Joyful Demonic Sect not only required cauldrons for cultivation but also operated a vast prostitution business that spanned nearly every city in Chiyuan. The consumption in this area was also enormous; a young girl who was a cultivator could be useful for a while, but a mortal would not last more than three years. Chiyuan, with its population of only a little over a billion, was closely monitored by the various demonic sects. If a large number of high-quality "seedlings" were truly needed, Taihu was indeed an excellent location. Over several decades, using the reputation of the Azure Cloud Sect, this low-level Qi Condensation cultivator had become quite adept at human trafficking.

Now, with his soul probed by the Soul-Slicing Demonic Boat, Wang Yu's spiritual sense had already taken control of this cultivator. By his nature, he didn't really want to get involved in such matters. However, the little girl was like a stray cat he had fed; he had saved her once before, and harming her right in front of him felt like a blatant disregard for his presence.

The subsequent handling of the situation was relatively straightforward. Wang Yu directly controlled the cultivator with his spiritual sense, making him explain that they had mistaken the wrong person and then disperse the onlookers. By the time the cultivator reached the father and daughter, he naturally stopped breathing. He died peacefully. Wang Yu didn't mind the corpse; he simply threw it into the Thunder Fiend Coffin. Its skin might be useful, so he temporarily preserved the body.

And one thing was certain: there was a secret stronghold of the Joyful Demonic Sect in Shuiyun Immortal City. Although this low-level cultivator didn't know its exact location, he had a Foundation Establishment realm contact who was responsible for transferring the suitable individuals he captured and also for giving him rewards. Wang Yu felt that this information might be useful in the future.

Approaching them closely, the father and daughter lay huddled motionless. Wang Yu's brows furrowed sharply. Due to the unusual circumstances earlier, the little girl had been held tightly in her father's arms. Those people had tried to snatch the child away. After all, having been labeled a human trafficker, everyone assumed the little girl was a kidnapped victim. Now, the father's arms were twisted, and his body was covered in bruises. His eyes were wide open, as if filled with endless resentment. He was dead, but his body was still warm. The little girl was tightly embraced by those large hands; her neck, arms, and feet showed signs of soft tissue contusions. She, too, had lost her life breath. She had been literally pulled to death by those people.

Wang Yu's face was expressionless, his eyes narrowed, but his heart was far from calm. He remembered the half-year he had spent as a spirit slave. That arm had been as fragile as a mortal's life. The deaths of the father and daughter completely eradicated the amicable, common-folk aura Wang Yu had cultivated during his return to the mortal world, replacing it with a malicious and murderous intent. He had acted swiftly.

"It's fate... Such is the cheapness of an ant's life!"

These consecutive incidents drastically worsened Wang Yu's impression of the Azure Cloud Sect and skewed his perception of Taihu negatively. Now, he wondered if being sold to Chiyuan back then might have been a good thing. Given his nature, even if he had properly joined an orthodox sect, he likely would have ended up estranged or defecting. Sighing deeply, Wang Yu found a scenic spot outside the city and buried the remains of the father and daughter.

From that day on, one of the liquor shops in the outer city closed down. There was no longer the benevolent "Ninth Brother." Wang Yu no longer sought to pass time experiencing the mortal world. Instead, he dedicated all his time to cultivation. His main body refined the Longevity Blood Infant Pill, while his placeholder explored different divine abilities and secret arts. For the Spell of Returning to the Void and Concealing Heaven, Wang Yu only placed it to gain initial understanding, then decided to use the Heavenly Enlightenment Platform for further personal comprehension. The Heaven's Lock secret art was similar; it was difficult to begin and stumped most cultivators, but once the basics were grasped and proficiency gained, continuing its practice was not difficult. He paused its cultivation after extending its spatial chains to ten thousand meters. While increasing his demonic essence, he began to relentlessly focus on the Undying Spirit Body and the Ice Prison Demonic Seal!

Thus began... twenty full years of secluded, arduous cultivation.

July of Patriarch Wang Yu's 43rd year. Time flowed, years sped by.

In a hidden cave three thousand zhang underground, Wang Yu, who had sat in meditation for a long time, suddenly opened his eyes. Within him, the surging sound of waves crashing against a shore resonated. Twenty years had passed. Just refining the remaining five Blood Infant Pills caused Wang Yu's demonic essence to surge by 21,000 drops, smoothly breaking through to the fifth layer of Nascent Soul cultivation. The placeholder had contributed a total increase of 3,600 drops. Combined with his original 16,080 drops of demonic essence, his total now reached 40,680 drops. If not for issues with the spiritual vein environment and Wang Yu rarely drawing upon top-grade spirit stones for cultivation, the total increase could have been higher by about a thousand drops. He was also very close to the sixth layer of Nascent Soul. The placeholder alone allowed him to break through to the sixth layer in just over forty years, an efficiency far exceeding that of normal Nascent Soul cultivators.

Accordingly, all the Nascent Soul materials Wang Yu had accumulated since breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm had been exhausted, completely converted into his cultivation. Now, he could normally draw upon top-grade spirit stones for slow cultivation, as his cultivation resources were nearly depleted, unless he refined elixirs again. However, the Rank 4 spiritual materials he possessed were not complete sets; he needed to participate in some Nascent Soul-tier treasure exchange events to trade for the spiritual items he required.

Regarding other divine abilities, the Ice Prison Demonic Seal successfully reached initial mastery, becoming Wang Yu's only Rank 5 divine ability trump card. If he could successfully unleash it, directly confronting a late-stage Nascent Soul grand cultivator would not be an issue. The Undying Spirit Body was one of the exceptional abilities of the fifth-tier Body Refining realm. Cultivating it in advance meant pinpointing the path to breakthrough, and repeatedly acquiring it could enhance the power of this exceptional ability. However, the difficulty of cultivating this physical divine ability was harder than imagined. For twenty whole years, Wang Yu's progress was extremely slow. It felt like cultivating the Prajna Heart Sutra back then, excruciatingly slow.

Of course, this was also related to Wang Yu's deficiency in vital essence. In a way, vital essence is a manifestation of life force, and he had been entangled with the Heaven-Refining Demonic Flame for too long. Although he had gained corresponding tempering benefits, the lost life force had not been replenished, leading to slow progress in his body refining cultivation. Over twenty years, two main methods continuously contributed to its growth: one was the Yin Underworld Demonic Dragon Art in the placeholder, and the second was the ability to continuously enhance his physical body by absorbing Heavenly Yin Divine Water while in his Extreme Yin Dragon Physique state, which temporarily alleviated his need for life force. After twenty years, his body refining cultivation was slightly higher than his primary cultivation, reaching the peak of the mid-stage Rank 4 Body Refining realm. As soon as the 'Undying Spirit Body' reached initial mastery, he could seize the opportunity of the Undying Spirit Bones unifying to naturally break into the late-stage Rank 4 Body Refining realm, making this aspect's progress even more remarkable, and it would bring even greater gains.

"So, the immediate priority is to replenish my life force," Wang Yu muttered. A deficiency in life force wasn't a major issue; as long as it didn't damage his fundamental essence, it wouldn't affect his lifespan, only significantly reduce his body's regenerative capabilities. There were various ways to replenish it, the simplest being elixirs rich in life force, but demonic cultivators had a more direct method: to absorb the life force of others! This was a specialty of the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect, but Wang Yu's 'Demonic Embryo Profound Origin Secret Spell' could also achieve it. After acquiring the Innate Demonic Embryo Physique, this technique had developed numerous applications. The Demonic Seed technique long ago disregarded bloodline requirements. One could plant it in anyone; it was both a demonic secret art to control others' lives and deaths and a devouring secret art to instantly absorb everything from the target. He had discovered early on, when he devoured the Bai family's Grand Elder in Guiling City, that the lifespan consumed during his time as a spirit slave had been replenished during that absorption. This was sufficient to show that the Demonic Seed secret art could also help him replenish his life force deficit; the only limitation was breaking through the target's mental defenses. And with the Asura Dharma Intent at minor completion, combined with the divine ability 'Blood Slaughtering Heart Sword', he could instantly break through cultivators at the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm and below. Conveniently, there were some scoundrels he wanted to eliminate in Shuiyun Immortal City right now.

"I'll use your cheap lives to pave the way for my Undying Spirit Body!"

Thinking this, Wang Yu abruptly burst out of his cave dwelling. For him, the seclusion phase had ended, rendering this hidden cave dwelling useless. He had already collected what needed to be taken, and the little fox was still sleeping and transforming in his spirit beast bag.

***

Shuiyun Immortal City, City Lord's Mansion.

After the cold current disaster twenty years ago, this place had been managed as a private reserve for the Red Cloud lineage of the Azure Cloud Sect. The flawed scapegoat strategy had not actually fooled the sect. However, the higher-ups tacitly approved this outcome, choosing to suppress the Ice River Valley's war commander, who had intended to make an issue of it, out of respect for the Red Cloud lineage. The Azure Cloud Sect had seven colored cloud lineages, ordered red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, and purple. The first four lineages each had a Patriarch at the Grand Completion of Nascent Soul realm. The Red Cloud lineage was once the sect master's lineage in earlier times. Later, it declined, and the position of sect master was changed to 'Administrator-in-Chief,' held by the Azure Cloud lineage. This was a purely arduous task, requiring balancing the interests of various lineages, with much work and easily offending others. From then on, the leaders of the orthodox sects were no longer the strongest in combat but rather those skilled in management and deliberation. However, the Red Cloud lineage later prospered again, producing six Nascent Soul cultivators within a millennium, one of whom also reached the Grand Completion of Nascent Soul. They attempted to restore the sect's ancient system, abolishing the Administrator-in-Chief position, which led to conflicts.

So, despite Chiyuan's endless internal strife and countless casualties every day, the situation in Taihu was quite similar. There were no truly unified dominant forces, as they had long passed the arduous phase of 'conquering the world.' The goal of these later generations was to contend for the power to 'enjoy'! Under the cold current disaster, the situation presented by the Azure Cloud Sect was laughable, but there were also reasons ordinary people couldn't comprehend. The conflicts and compromises involved were somewhat false and unrealistic. Only the naked numbers of mortal casualties were truly real.

Meanwhile, within the City Lord's Mansion at that time, City Lord Yuan Tianyu and a cultivator dressed as an old Daoist were drinking together. The former said, "Uncle-Master Honghai, the situation at Black Mountain Pass is not optimistic. Zehhu Province has completely fallen, and Sword Sect's Lingxi Province has been practically razed. To weaken cultivators' stamina, even the spirit veins have been relocated by the demonic path. Only the Heavenly Spirit Province of the Thunder Fire Temple is still holding on, but they are also facing a pincer attack from the Joyful Demonic Path. According to projections, the initial skirmish of this righteous-demonic war will end in a crushing defeat within three years at most!"

Old Daoist Honghai shook his head. "Nephew-disciple, war is different from skirmishes with rogue cultivators. Our outlook doesn't need to be so long-term. Let's first focus on taking care of our immediate territory." Honghai pointed to a map of the Azure Cloud Sect and said, "From north to south, the four provinces under the sect's governance are Ice Plains Province, Shuiyun Province, Feng Province, and Zehhu Province. Among them, Ice Plains Province, due to its proximity to Ice River Pass, has long been occupied by cultivators from the Fiery Sun Sect and many strong practitioners from our own sect. As long as they don't fall, we have no worries above our heads. Now that Zehhu Province has fallen, we need to consider whether the demons of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect will choose to attack Shuiyun Province or Feng Province. The defensive forces at the provincial borders need to be strengthened. These crucial roads require checkpoints, and these require hidden sentries."

Old Daoist Honghai spoke eloquently, explaining the situation and subsequent arrangements clearly, which greatly convinced City Lord Yuan, who praised him, saying, "Uncle-Master is indeed Uncle-Master. With your words, this nephew-disciple now understands." Unexpectedly, Honghai shook his head. "One thing at a time. Do you still remember that mysterious Grand Completion Nascent Soul cultivator who suddenly appeared in Shuiyun Immortal City more than twenty years ago?"

"I remember. Did he have a connection with the Dou family of Xishan?"

"Correct."

"That person once ran a liquor shop in the outer city and often performed good deeds. Perhaps he was a senior from an orthodox sect, but you and I must never be so careless."

City Lord Yuan raised an eyebrow. When it came to carelessness, he indeed had something to say. Back then, they had tacitly avoided discussing testing the nature of that person's magic, precisely because they feared encountering a demonic path titan. Now that the person was gone, he spoke with such grandiosity. However, City Lord Yuan was no fool; Old Daoist Honghai had arranged all of this. If any problems arose, Yuan would only bear secondary responsibility, while the 'meddlesome' Honghai would bear the primary responsibility. They were all shrewd individuals!

"As for the Dou family of Xishan, this is a crucial period, so it's best not to offend them rashly. First, invite someone over for questioning and see if they can contact that Grand Completion cultivator."

"Everything will be done as Uncle-Master says. The ancients often said that an elder in the family is like a treasure, and indeed they did not deceive me! Uncle-Master's wisdom spans across ancient and modern times!"

Old Daoist Honghai nodded reservedly. Seeing his flushed face, he was almost flattered into a fetal state by City Lord Yuan's smooth talk! The older one gets, the more one values face. Old Daoist Honghai's potential was limited; it would be difficult for his cultivation to greatly improve within the next few centuries. Therefore, he enjoyed showing off in front of younger generations, or giving instructions. Part of the reason he became the Inspector of Shuiyun Immortal City was that the cultivators of the Red Cloud lineage in the sect's main residence couldn't stand his incessant talking.

The City Lord's orders were quickly carried out. The one summoned for questioning was none other than Miss Dou Zhao, who had refused to return to Xishan for arduous cultivation. The City Lord's Mansion knew she had had the most contact with Wang Yu. With her specifically requested for questioning, the Dou family had no other choice. They could only have her father, Dou Ying, and several Core Formation uncles wait outside the City Lord's Mansion. They remembered that City Lord Yuan's son had coveted Dou Zhao's beauty before, and they dared not risk another conflict.

What a coincidence. A certain demon, with a face full of eagerness and brimming with violent killing intent, was rushing towards the City Lord's Mansion in Shuiyun Immortal City.