Chapter 502: Ten Years of Training, Nascent Soul at Eighth Layer

After obtaining these resources, it wasn't long before almost all the Nascent Soul cultivators at the mountain gate gathered. Looking at the ice-sealed Gu Poison Peak, their gazes involuntarily fell upon Wang Yu.

They knew a great deal about this renowned young strongman but were unsure what exactly had happened here.

Until someone noticed a blind spot.

"This is Gu Poison Peak... where is Daoist Wan Gu? Why isn't he here?"

The remark startled everyone.

Could it be that the other person fighting Wang Yu was Wan Gu?

What was the specific reason?

As the Grand Commander and Wang Yu exchanged glances, Wang Yu, understanding his cue, displayed the Blood Demon Token to his Nascent Soul colleagues at the peak and began to explain.

"I came to Gu Poison Peak under the Sect Master's orders to dispatch Wan Gu to the Thunderfire Temple battlefield to support the front lines. However, this villain refused to comply. While offending me is secondary, defying the Sect Master's command... that is simply seeking death. What do you all think?"

With the Grand Commander as a witness, a bitter feeling immediately rose in their hearts. Intelligent people knew things weren't that simple, but what could they do? The reason had been given, and it was plausible on the surface.

To press further would likely make them the next Wan Gu.

Of course, this was interpreting the situation maliciously. If one thought positively, minding one's own business was enough to continue thriving in the vast Rebellious Spirit Blood Sect.

The matter concluded, and the cultivators gradually dispersed.

The Grand Commander approached Wang Yu, openly exclaiming, "You always amaze people. How many years has it been, and you can already single-handedly take down an old demon like Wan Gu?"

"Just luck," Wang Yu replied modestly.

After a brief exchange of humility, the two chatted for a while about the current war situation, and Wang Yu learned many of the latest updates from the front lines from him.

The situation didn't seem optimistic.

If the first hundred years of the war had seen the demonic path unchallenged, sweeping through all opposition, then after annihilating the Jade Cloud Sect and Moon-Gazing Palace, the third target, Thunderfire Temple, was putting up unprecedentedly strong resistance.

As the saying goes, in a war of attrition, the Scarlet Kite had no advantage and was even at a great disadvantage.

It remained to be seen whether the "Old Codger Assault Team" could play its intended role; otherwise, the demonic faction would likely abandon the tough nut of Thunderfire Temple and continue pushing deeper.

At the same time, the northern battlefront, since the fall of the Jade Cloud Sect, had shrunk from large-scale warfare to elite squad raids, focusing on deep penetration behind enemy lines for sabotage and also investigating traces of the Ice Clan.

In this regard, the Northern Demon Clan served as the main force, with cultivators from Cold Blood Peak and some powerful individuals from the Underworld Mountain Sect playing only a supporting role. Significant changes in the battle situation were unlikely in the short term.

After sorting out his thoughts, Wang Yu settled into seclusion in his cave abode with a clear conscience.

He had obtained all three types of Gu insects from Wan Gu.

The Heavenly Poison Scorpion King and the Red Rust Worm King were both hidden within his body's acupoints, captured along with the flesh and blood essence when the Thunder Fiend Coffin collected it.

As for the Crying Blood Evil Gu Art, Wang Yu's method of checking it was simple: he directly placed it in the "placement slot" to see if there was any feedback on cultivation experience and insights.

As long as it provided normal feedback, there was no problem.

Cultivating secret arts took time, as did nurturing Gu insects. Leveraging his status as a Nascent Soul Patriarch, Wang Yu issued a task for collecting materials at the General Affairs Hall of the various palaces.

These materials were primarily to accelerate the reproduction rate of the three great Gu Kings, allowing their swarms to grow strong again. Once the Ice Flame Butterfly swarm was added, the secret art's maximum effect could be unleashed.

This would take a considerable amount of time. Wang Yu used the method of dividing his divine sense to simultaneously pursue multiple plans, pushing himself to the limit, while also not neglecting his main body's cultivation.

All aspects were steadily progressing.

It could be said that no one's cultivation progress was more stable than his.

Under these circumstances, Wan Gu's Nascent Soul was refined into a new Longevity Blood Infant Pill. After refining it, Wang Yu's Qi Sea quickly condensed one and a half Demonic Essence Crystals.

This was equivalent to fifteen thousand drops of demonic essence, showing that Wan Gu's cultivation was indeed impressive. Without the Blood Infant Pill, Wang Yu used Star Demonic Stone as the primary material.

Combined with some other yin-cold spiritual materials, he refined several spiritual pills for cultivation. With his alchemy skill, devising new pill formulas was not difficult.

The difficulty lay in making them universally applicable, so that every cultivator would achieve the same effect from taking them. If they only applied to his specific situation, tailoring some spiritual pills was not difficult.

Maintaining a rapid pace of cultivation progress, the "placement slot" quietly incorporated the "Twelve Phases of Broad Cold," his innate divine ability. He still needed to comprehend the fourth type of Law Intent.

Law Intent extended from a perfected divine ability.

He hadn't started on this before because his innate divine ability cultivated slowly, and there weren't enough empty "placement slots." Now was the perfect time to place it.

After all, his fundamental path of cultivation was the way of extreme cold.

Even with his Innate Demonic Embryo Physique, he couldn't abandon it midway. Therefore, a Law Intent with yin-cold attributes was actually more suitable for unleashing the full potential of his various trump cards.

Thus... ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Wang Yu, who had been sitting cross-legged on a soft meditation cushion, suddenly manifested an upward-swirling vortex around him. His robes fluttered, and his silver hair danced wildly.

At this moment, the accumulated Demonic Essence Crystals within his body broke through the limit of twenty, adorning various parts of his Qi Sea like constellations, continuously shimmering with cold light around his Nascent Soul.

His cultivation successfully broke through to the eighth layer of the Nascent Soul realm!

The ninth layer of the Nascent Soul realm, however, would require a full fifty Demonic Essence Crystals, meaning he would need to cultivate a total of three hundred thousand drops of demonic essence to complete the breakthrough.

This bottleneck was enough to stump countless gifted individuals.

Even Wang Yu, relying solely on arduous cultivation, would need centuries. Not to mention others.

It could be said that without significant fortuitous encounters, the chances of a normal cultivation breakthrough were extremely low. This had a lot to do with the spiritual energy environment of the Ice Prison Realm.

After all, Nascent Soul cultivators needed to absorb refined spiritual energy from top-grade spirit stones to continue increasing their cultivation, and Soul Transformation cultivators needed to stay in fifth-tier spirit veins year-round to ensure they weren't affected by the "harsh" environment.

Each time they used their full power, it would take years to recover to peak condition.

And the known number of fifth-tier spirit veins in the Ice Prison Realm was extremely small.

Grand Lake Sword Sect, Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect, Overseas Abyss, Heavenly Demon Bone Forest, Barren Ancient Wilderness, Northern and Southern Sundered Mountain Range... All in all, there were only these seven locations. However, fifth-tier spirit veins certainly existed within the Endless Ice Plain.

The Rebellious Spirit Blood Sect and Yellow Spring Temple's cooperation with the Northern Demon Clan was partly aimed at accessing the fifth-tier spirit veins owned by the Northern Demon Clan, while also dispatching elite squads deep into the ice plain to search for traces of the Ice Clan.

This was actually also a search for the whereabouts of fifth-tier spirit veins.

Relying on others' resources was far less comfortable and stable than possessing one's own.

The Sect Master of the Rebellious Spirit Blood Sect couldn't help but sigh with regret whenever he remembered how the spiritual vein of the Ancient Heavenly Soul Sect ruins had been extracted by Venerable Poison Jiao back then.

This demonstrated the significance of fifth-tier spirit veins to Soul Transformation cultivators.

During Wang Yu's ten years of seclusion, his cultivation advancing further was just a small, expected gain. The true objective was the substantial increase in the populations of the Red Rust Worms, Ghost Ants, and Heavenly Poison Scorpions.

After expending a large amount of resources, he had finally gathered the materials to perform the Crying Blood Evil Gu Art. Now, the problem he needed to solve was ensuring the Ice Flame Butterfly's victory rate!

If the Ice Flame Butterfly wasn't the ultimate victor, he would be in a bind.

And during the execution of the secret art, who would win depended entirely on the outcome of natural selection; the cultivator itself couldn't interfere. Given the Ice Flame Butterfly's overall strength at the early Fourth Tier, it was no match for the three great insect swarms at all. Thus, the Nine Revolutions Gu God Tear remained important. With his current breakthrough in cultivation, Wang Yu had greater confidence in negotiating with Venerable Poison Jiao.

Now, it was time to venture out, obtain what Venerable Poison Jiao desired, and then make a trip to the Heavenly Demon Bone Forest to complete the final step of the Ice Flame's advancement plan.

Meanwhile, the "Old Codger Assault Team," led by Xie Xie'an, included several powerful late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, such as Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon, Old Demon Wujin, and Demonic Lord Qianyuan.

The former needed no introduction; the latter two were from the Zuoqiu and Yu clans, respectively, both old demons from the previous era whose cultivation had plateaued at the eighth layer of the Nascent Soul realm due to limited potential.

The group had been traversing the Barren Ancient Wilderness for several decades. This slow pace wasn't due to their lack of skill in evasion techniques, but because Xie Xie'an was leading them on foot.

Circumventing to the far rear of Thunderfire Temple naturally made their progress slow.

But having come this far, they were almost there.

Any further delay, and some of the old codgers might perish on the way.

Due to the prolonged travel, the few individuals had already begun to feel doubt and distrust towards Xie Xie'an, even though they hadn't encountered any dangers along the way.

They still experienced feelings of irritation and frustration.

More importantly, they had been forcibly conscripted, so their initial willingness was not strong. If this continued, other thoughts would inevitably arise.

As the leader, Xie Xie'an naturally sensed this.

At that time, he had already advanced from a Core Formation youth to the fourth layer of the Nascent Soul realm, enveloped in a strong malevolent aura, which could be described as sharp and formidable.

His handsome face bore eerie Rakshasa patterns.

Meeting his gaze, one could feel the oppressive force of his wicked aura, a pressure that directly entered the mind... or rather, was spiritual pressure.

After years of cultivating the "Rakshasa True Devil Scripture," a Soul Transformation legacy, and possessing the fifth-tier spiritual treasure Rakshasa Heavenly Demon Bell, Xie Xie'an's strength was definitely comparable to that of an ordinary late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

If not for Wang Yu, he would likely have become the most brilliant young powerhouse of the Scarlet Kite.

"Senior Blood-Eye, I heard that Brother Wang Yu displayed great demonic power at the Jade Cloud Sect. Could you tell me more about it?"

The Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon glanced at him hesitantly.

He then looked around at the desolate ancient plain and, thinking that he was idle anyway and chatting would do no harm, said, "I don't know much about that kid's affairs, mostly just hearsay. You seem eager to meet him? Do you want to compete with him?"

"No," Xie Xie'an replied.

Xie Xie'an shook his head and sighed, his eyes flickering as he recalled past events.

"Years ago, during the Blood Abyss trial, I received help from Brother Wang Yu. Now that he seems to be in quite a bit of trouble, it's only right that I lend a hand."

The Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon was immediately surprised.

"You young man... I didn't realize you had such a sense of loyalty. Then I'll tell you more about Wang Yu's past as I know it."

Learning that Xie Xie'an harbored no ill will, the Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon immediately acted as if he was very close to Wang Yu, putting on the air of an old friend who disregarded age.

Indeed, old people become cunning, and demons are no exception.

As the two chatted animatedly, Old Demon Wujin, a bald man with a wrinkled face and sharp, golden eyes, was suddenly irritated.

The moment he glared fiercely, it felt as if knives were scratching Xie Xie'an's face, and Xie Xie'an's expression also changed abruptly.

"Senior Wujin, what is the meaning of this?"

"Hmph!" The old demon looked around, his demeanor quickly becoming agitated, his emotions fluctuating too wildly, and he spoke with malice.

"You young junior, leading us on this detour, do you think I didn't notice?! Kid, I'll finish you off right now!"

They attacked directly without even exchanging a few words.

This was completely out of character for the normally steady old demon. Wujin's unusual behavior was quickly noticed by everyone, and Xie Xie'an shouted, "He's been corrupted by the Barren Ancient Wilderness! Quickly subdue him!"

The Barren Ancient Wilderness was the most mysterious and dangerous place in the Ice Prison Realm. In this regard, Vermilion Bird Divine Mountain and the Endless Ice Plain were far inferior to the Ancient Wilderness Restricted Zone.

The danger of Vermilion Bird Divine Mountain mainly came from the savage beasts and birds that mindlessly worshipped the True Spirit Vermilion Bird. They possessed indestructible bodies and immense strength, attacking all living beings who entered the divine mountain.

The dangers of the Endless Ice Plain, on the other hand, mainly stemmed from the environment.

Both could be circumvented, and therefore were not considered true forbidden lands for living beings. Only the Barren Ancient Wilderness, since ancient times, had a core area that mysteriously stripped away the lifespan of those who entered.

This caused cultivators to die immediately upon leaving the Barren Ancient Wilderness. After sealing the Ancient Killing Demon, the Barren Ancient Wilderness became even more bizarre.

A strange killing field perpetually enveloped it.

It would slowly infect all living beings who entered, turning them into monsters that knew only slaughter. Combined with the lifespan-stripping characteristic of the core area, these killing weapons would never die as long as they didn't leave the ancient wilderness.

Accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years, these killing weapons were the greatest danger of the ancient wilderness. Xie Xie'an's so-called safe route was a path that circumvented these killing weapons and avoided entering the core area where lifespan was stripped away.

The changes now occurring in Wujin clearly indicated a transformation into a killing weapon. If they left the ancient wilderness in time, his corrupted mind still had a chance to recover.

All the Nascent Soul cultivators acted simultaneously. The somewhat deranged Old Demon Wujin was quickly subdued, but the commotion from their fight also attracted nearby killing weapons.

These humanoid creatures, dressed in various attires from different historical eras, were disheveled and filthy, their crimson eyes unanimously fixed on Xie Xie'an.

They mumbled, "Traitor of the Will of Slaughter... Rakshasa! You deserve to die!"

Even if their speech was unclear, what kind of people were these old codgers?

They were all shocked.

"Young Xie, you..."

Even the Blood-Eyed Demonic Dragon looked at him in surprise.

Xie Xie'an's mouth twitched as he helplessly explained, "I do have some connection with the Ancient Killing Demon, but that link has been severed. You don't have to worry about me being controlled."

This wasn't about control or not; it was more like he was breaking common sense. All the individuals were high-ranking members of the Rebellious Spirit Blood Sect and knew that the Soul Transformation legacies transmitted by the ancient demons had issues.

Theoretically, Xie Xie'an was just an experimental subject.

But the Heaven-Refining Demonic Sect's secret arts weren't taught to the Rebellious Spirit Blood Sect. How did he manage to break free from the original demonic corruption?

If it could be widely popularized...