Chapter 89: 修行进展

The second time, he forcefully killed three spirit slaves and crudely framed several stewards in the stone house area, which ultimately benefited Su Zhen. This earned him great praise and the reward of promoting an outer sect disciple.

The third time, his plan was not adopted. There was no follow-up notification or reward, and Duan Pangzi, who had been thoroughly intimidated, stopped contacting him. All of this was enough to prove Su Zhenchuan was a radical individual; who knew what he would do next? And the passage of seven months also indicated that he had been abandoned.

Given the circumstances, he had to save himself before Wei Zhong emerged from seclusion. Moreover, now that he possessed a suitable secret method for improving aptitude, it was as if Wang Yu had obtained a direct key to Foundation Establishment, far superior to the worthless Foundation Seizing Grand Method. Even without a supreme Foundation Establishment Pill, once he improved his own aptitude, breaking through with a high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill would be a natural progression. There would be no need to slowly grind and experiment using the placement slot. Furthermore, the Demonic Embryo Profound Origin Secret Incantation provided a permanent enhancement and could be reused. Even without a bloodline connection, it could still seize a small fraction of aptitude at a time, making it effective for multiple uses. The Golden Core Grand Dao also opened its doors to him. Combined with the effects of the placement slot, he dared not imagine how rapidly his cultivation would advance in the future.

Therefore, on this trip out of the sect, Wang Yu could seriously consider whether to abandon it. The Reverse Spirit Blood Sect’s value to him had significantly diminished, and he was now deeply entangled in the true disciples' struggle. It might be better to resolve everything once and for all by simply escaping the Scarlet Kite Demonic Domain. Besides, the Cold Blood Art was almost ready for advancement in the placement slot. He wouldn't need to acquire a second-tier cultivation method from the sect, as it would smoothly transition into his Foundation Establishment cultivation. All conditions were now met.

"It's been almost ten years since I left home; it's time to go back and visit." Wang Yu temporarily kept the idea of betraying the sect to himself. He remembered how he had been abducted and could investigate the situation later. He could also accept the task of capturing spirit slaves, which would provide a legitimate reason to enter the Taihu Spirit Domain. He would then decide whether to stay or leave.

In the eighth month of Wang Yu's ninth year as an outer sect disciple, after seven months of initial seclusion, he spent an additional three months secluded. During this time, besides his daily cultivation and spell practice, he was focused on one task: mapping.

The cultivation world highly valued maps, considering their worth to be no less than that of cultivation techniques and secret arts. They were also contraband, strictly forbidden for trade among disciples. Disciples who spent most of their time within the sect only possessed basic maps and were generally familiar with the Blood Abyss State where the sect was located. Only cultivators at or above the Foundation Establishment stage possessed comprehensive knowledge of the four states directly administered by the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, including the numerous city garrisons, resource development sites, and other strategic locations.

The border between the Scarlet Kite Demonic Domain and the Taihu Spirit Domain was filled with numerous perilous passes and ancient battlefields, heavily guarded by cultivators, making ordinary passage exceedingly difficult. Beyond these dangerous passes and ancient battlefields lay two sprawling mountain ranges infested with demonic beasts. The Reverse Spirit Blood Sect itself was situated in the upper-left corner of the Scarlet Kite Demonic Domain, close to the Severed Boundary Mountains. The Blood Abyss, Maple, and Night Jade States, which were under its governance, all bordered this region. The nearest dangerous pass was Black Mountain Pass. To its right, beneath the mountain range, lay the highly perilous and poisonous Withered Leaf Swamp. To the left of the pass lay the Black Mountain Demonic Land, which was closely connected to the Qilong Mountains to the south. These two vast, layered, and overlapping regions diagonally divided the two territories. The righteous and demonic factions each controlled half.

This basic information was widely circulated and not difficult to obtain. With a little deduction, one could easily sketch out a basic map. The real challenge, however, lay in mapping the distribution of spirit veins, the guardian cities positioned above them, and all the associated resource points. Additionally, detailed maps of the two mountain ranges were crucial, including the activity zones of demonic beasts, the territories governed by different races, and all the formations and restrictions laid out in the mountains during past wars between the righteous and demonic factions.

This aspect should not be underestimated. The great wars between the righteous and demonic paths were an age-old tradition, mostly initiated by the demonic side, who would invade deep into the Taihu Spirit Domain to plunder extensively, often when resources ran scarce. After countless wars, tens of thousands of unremoved or defunct traps and restrictions remained hidden within the mountains. These were deadly dangers, alongside temporarily excavated grottoes and deliberately laid inheritance traps—far too many to count.

It was virtually impossible for Qi Refining cultivators to traverse both domains by crossing the mountain ranges. At least Foundation Establishment cultivation was necessary, and Golden Core was even safer, though even then, the risk of calamity persisted. There was no easy solution; the accumulated traps from generations past and the persistent threat of demonic beasts in the mountains all posed significant problems. Furthermore, the information was incomplete and severely lacking. Some sects had already been annihilated, their unique methods lost, making it challenging to dismantle these ancient setups. Problems steadily accumulated, gradually leading to the current complex state of affairs. High-level maps were strategic resources, almost never made available to lower-tier cultivators. Wang Yu was also struggling with this particular challenge. The slave-capturing mission seemed to be his only viable path back to the Taihu Spirit Domain. Progress on the map was slow, and he couldn't afford to rush it.

He could only find comfort in his daily progress. Since the supreme Cold Blood Pill was improved, Wang Yu gained 150 strands of spiritual power with each one he refined, an increase of 50% in medicinal efficacy! He had currently consumed the second improved version, and its refinement was more than halfway complete. This was effectively his seventh supreme Cold Blood Pill, recalling that he had previously consumed one high-grade pill. His consumption limit was 11 pills, beyond which he would develop a pill barrier, causing the medicinal effect to drop significantly. He still had room for four more pills.

This improvement stemmed from the Cold Dragon Alchemy replacing the Cold Flame characteristic, specifically for ice-attributed spirit pills. Wang Yu later attempted to improve a first-tier pill formula, but he failed. The more fundamental a pill formula, the more difficult it was to improve. He had been focused solely on the ice-attributed spirit recovery pill, forgetting that such a widely circulated medicine had already been refined and validated by countless practitioners. It had been optimized to an almost perfect state, leaving no room for further improvement unless the alchemy system in the cultivation world underwent a revolutionary transformation. Completely overhauling the pill formula would be an entirely different endeavor, requiring immense effort and skill that he currently lacked. Consequently, after several failed attempts, he set it aside.

In terms of spiritual power cultivation, he had 149 strands over a year ago. During this period, the placement slot contributed 2,400 wisps (24 strands), and his self-cultivation yielded an additional 200 wisps (2 strands). Refining one and a half improved supreme Cold Blood Pills added 225 strands, equivalent to 22.5 strands of spiritual power. In a little over a year, almost two years, he accumulated an additional 48.5 strands of spiritual power. Combined with his previous cultivation, Wang Yu had now gathered 197 strands of spiritual power at the seventh layer of Qi Refining. He was still short by about a hundred strands, or roughly ten thousand wisps of spiritual power, to achieve a breakthrough. Maintaining the current placement slot configuration, it would take another six to seven years. While this would be considered rapid progress for a three-spirit root cultivator, it felt slow to Wang Yu.

However, he had no immediate alternative. He had four placement slots: two for cultivation methods, one for the Demonic Embryo Secret Incantation, and one for Dragon Might. Even the Corpse Demon Secret Method, which he had coveted, had to be removed from the slots. Oh, the sacrifices he had to make! These slots were indispensable. Modifying his aptitude was a long-term endeavor, and reaching Foundation Establishment was not far off. Considering future needs, particularly replenishing his vital energy, it was best to elevate the Dragon Might to at least the seventh meridian. Placing it in a slot now was perfectly timed.