Cultivation of Immortality: Start by Improving Spiritual Root Qualifications

Chapter 946 The Supreme Treasure of the Demonic Path: The Nine-Tailed Demonic Body!
These two are both Nascent Soul cultivators from the Lu clan.

Lu Qingya, in particular, is at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm and possesses extraordinary strength.

Zhou Xun waved his hand,
A jet-black, supple whip, over nine feet long, appeared before him. This was none other than Lu Qingfeng's natal spiritual treasure.

Because of his sudden attack, Lu Qingfeng was caught off guard.

He was killed in one blow, and all his treasures were intact, even his long whip was undamaged.

Although he doesn't need it now.

However, it would be a good choice to exchange it for other treasures in the future.

Then, he took out Lu Qingya's ink knife.

This is clearly a demonic blade.

Zhou Xun gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands, a faint bloodthirsty impulse emanating from him. No wonder he hadn't unleashed his Thunder Grass Sword Intent before facing Lu Qingya.
He was still being overwhelmed, which shows how extraordinary this sword was.
However, he still had no intention of refining the sword, as he currently possessed the Purple Jade Thunder Spear and the Mysterious Thunder Sword.
At least during the Nascent Soul stage, it is more than enough.

The previous battle between Yelu and Chihong proves this point.

After a brief examination, he carefully put the two magical treasures away.

If he remembered correctly, in about ten years, it would be the exchange meeting for Nascent Soul cultivators in Tian Shu City.
At that time, these two magical treasures might be able to be exchanged for many good things.
Just because he can't use it doesn't mean others can't.

Next, Zhou Xun took out the storage rings of the Lu Qingya brothers.

First and foremost is Lu Qingya's son, the illegitimate son of Lu Xinghai, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator and a Void Refinement cultivator.

It's certainly something to look forward to.

Looking at the ring in his hand, Zhou Xun reached to his waist, and a flash of black light transformed it into a small, foot-long banner that landed in his palm.

Then, he made a hand seal and pointed it towards the banner.
"Xiao Qing, there's something good here!"

As soon as the words were spoken, an excited shout came from inside the banner.

Then a beam of azure light flew out, landed on the ground, and transformed into a monkey over ten feet in size.

It was the soul-devouring beast, the Azure Ape!
The ape's fur was extremely glossy, emitting a faint golden light.
As soon as the blue ape appeared, it showed an extremely excited expression.

"Master, have you eaten another remnant soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator?"

Previously, it had consumed a considerable amount of remnant souls of Nascent Soul cultivators, which would be a great tonic for it now.

"Of course!" he said, pointing to the two storage rings in his hand and the two spiritual treasures from earlier.

"Four items, thank you, Master!"

Xiaoqing was extremely happy.

Like a cat seeing a fish, it excitedly punched its nose a few times.
Then a faint light flashed on the tip of the nose.
A bluish-green light shot out from within, enveloping the storage ring.

Bathed in this light, the illusory figure was drawn out.

They kept pulling and tugging, and then
"Whoosh-"

Lu Qingya's remnant soul, transformed into a phantom, was enveloped in azure light and instantly pulled into the belly of the azure ape without any resistance.

The ape patted its belly with satisfaction, then nuzzled Zhou Xun's arm affectionately with its head, indicating its great contentment!
After all, it is a divided soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator, so it is naturally extraordinary.

Next, he disposed of the other storage ring and the two magical treasures.

The only strange thing was that Xiaoqing did not absorb any remnant souls from the ink blade. Although Zhou Xun found it strange, he did not pay too much attention to it.

After doing this,

Zhou Xun picked up Lu Qingya's storage ring and probed it with his divine sense.
This was quite something.

ho-

The treasures inside are terrifyingly numerous!
The most numerous item is still spirit crystals.
A rough count revealed over four hundred of them, and keep in mind, these were only of the lower grade.

In addition, there were sixteen crystals with even richer spiritual energy, which were mid-grade spirit crystals.

Including these, the total profit is nearly two thousand spirit crystals.
It should be noted that he had previously killed three Nascent Soul cultivators, including Crimson Cloud Heavenly Lord, on Spirit Stone Island, and the treasures he obtained were only worth this much.

As expected of the illegitimate son of a Void Refinement cultivator.
His wealth is probably no less than that of cultivators at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

Continue reading...

A palm-sized, jet-black tortoise shell appeared in Zhou Xun's hand.

"This is a low-grade defensive spiritual treasure!"

Zhou Xun recognized him at a glance.

It should be noted that over the years, the number of Nascent Soul cultivators who have died at his hands is nearly two hands' worth.
This is the first time we've seized a defensive magical artifact.
Most of them are of the attack type.
After all, spiritual treasures are extremely precious; even a Nascent Soul cultivator might only possess one.
These are mostly their natal spiritual treasures.
Since it is a natal treasure, few people would refine it into a defensive type, so this tortoise shell is the first one he has.

"My wish has finally come true!"

Zhou Xun was extremely happy.

He turned his gaze to Xiaoqing beside him.

Xiao Qing, naturally understanding perfectly, flashed a faint light from her nose, and a gray light shone forth, enveloping the Xuan Turtle Shield.

He pulled out the remnant soul inside and devoured it.

Zhou Xun played with the palm-sized, jet-black tortoise shell in his hand, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes.

"A defensive magical artifact is quite rare."

He sat cross-legged, placed the Xuan Turtle Shield in front of him, made hand seals, and a wisp of divine consciousness slowly emerged from between his brows, wrapping around the surface of the tortoise shell like a silk thread.

The tortoise shell trembled slightly, as if it were resisting with some kind of spirit, but Zhou Xun's divine sense remained as steady as a rock, penetrating it little by little.

"brand!"

He let out a low shout, and his divine sense suddenly condensed, carving a golden rune at the core of the tortoise shell.

In an instant, the tortoise shell shone with a dark luster, and fine tortoise patterns appeared on its surface, with a faint, deep tortoise call echoing through the air.

Zhou Xun remained calm and continued to urge his divine sense, washing over the inside of the tortoise shell like a tidal wave, refining each of the restrictions within it one by one.

Two hours later, the dark light on the tortoise shell gradually subsided, eventually transforming into a warm, black glow that quietly floated in his palm.

"It's done!"

With a thought, Zhou Xun's Xuan Turtle Shield flew up with a "whoosh," quickly unfolding in mid-air and transforming into a complete tortoise shell that enveloped his entire body.

From the outside, he looked like a turtle hiding its head, with only its face showing.

He tried to move his hands and feet. Although the tortoise shell was thick and heavy, it did not hinder his movement at all, and the scales at the joints were incredibly flexible.

"Let's test the defense."

He pointed his fingers and unleashed a sharp sword light that struck the tortoise shell with a "clang".

The sword light dissipated, but the tortoise shell remained completely unmoved, without even a trace.

Zhou Xun nodded in satisfaction, and then unleashed several more sword lights, but the result was still the same.

"Indeed, its defensive capabilities are astonishing."

He put away the tortoise shell, thinking to himself, "Lu Qingya didn't use this treasure back then, probably because he activated the golden light barrier. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so easy to take him down."

After the experiment was completed, Zhou Xun was in a great mood.
As he continued to inventory the treasures in his storage ring, his breath caught in his throat when his divine sense swept over a jade bottle heavily sealed in the corner.

"This is."

Zhou Xun reached out and beckoned, and the jade bottle, entirely emerald green, flew out of his storage ring.

Three blood-red talismans were affixed to the surface of the jade bottle, and the bottle trembled slightly, as if some living thing was about to break free from its seal.

“Woo—”

Suddenly, Xiaoqing's golden fur bristled, her three eyes widened, her nostrils twitched wildly, and drool dripped onto the ground.

It lunged forward, but was repelled by a spiritual energy barrier from Zhou Xun.

"Thump!" Xiaoqing fell on her bottom and lay there looking pitiful.
"You glutton." Zhou Xun shook his head helplessly, a ray of spiritual light gathering at his fingertips as he carefully peeled off the first talisman. As soon as the talisman was removed, the bottle trembled violently, and a surge of violent demonic energy erupted from the crack. "Roar—" The demonic energy condensed in the air into a three-zhang-tall azure wolf phantom, howling towards the sky.

"A fifth-tier demon soul!"

Zhou Xun was overjoyed and quickly put it away. In this way, as long as he found one more, he could make the demon spirit transformation of the Nine Palaces Profound Origin Array complete!

After resealing and storing the demon's soul, Zhou Xun discovered a pitch-black jade bottle.

Upon opening it, he found it filled with pure demonic energy, presumably used by Lu Qingya for cultivation. Besides that, there were several demonic materials, but unfortunately, they were useless to Zhou Xun.

What caught his attention most was a black jade slip with nine skulls engraved on it.

Upon probing with divine sense, a secret technique called "Nine Demonic Body" was clearly recorded.

It turns out that the ink-black knife was not an ordinary magical weapon, but a treasure passed down through generations for performing this technique.

Lu Xinghai obtained it by chance and gave it to Lu Qingya, helping him to switch to the demonic path and break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

“Interesting,” Zhou Xun said thoughtfully.

No wonder no remnant soul appeared in that ink-black blade before; it seems Lu Qingya didn't refine it at all!
However, this secret technique is incredibly powerful, but its only drawback is that it can easily lead to loss of mind.

However, since he has the protection of Yin Lightning, he can try cultivating it.

After taking inventory of Lu Qingya's storage ring, Zhou Xun took out Lu Qingfeng's ring.

Compared to his elder brother, this man was much poorer.

The items included about four hundred spirit crystals, two bottles of low-grade fifth-tier spirit pills, and a large jar of fifth-tier spirit wine.

When the wine jar was opened, the rich aroma of the wine condensed into the phantom image of a crane, which circled three times in the quiet room before dissipating.

At the bottom of the jar were seven wine berries, each the size of a longan, each priceless.

As for the others, they were all common treasures, with a total value of less than one-fifth of Lu Qingya's.

"A good harvest." Zhou Xun nodded in satisfaction.

The value of spirit crystals alone doubled, not to mention the secret technique "Nine Demonic Body".

"This ink-black knife is quite interesting."

Zhou Xun stroked the ancient patterns on the blade, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.

He pondered for a moment, then suddenly gripped the hilt of the knife and tried to probe it with his divine sense.

"boom--"

The moment his divine sense touched the blade, a monstrous killing intent, like a sea of ​​blood, suddenly surged into his consciousness.

Zhou Xun's vision went black, as if he were surrounded by mountains of corpses and seas of blood, with countless mournful wails echoing in his ears.

His consciousness began to blur, and a bloodthirsty impulse surged from the bottom of his heart.

"not good!"

Zhou Xun felt a chill and immediately activated the Yin Lightning power within his body.

White arcs of electricity danced across his body, crackling and popping.

The power of Yin Thunder surged into the sea of ​​consciousness through the meridians, transforming into a net of lightning that firmly suppressed the killing intent.

"This ink-black knife is truly strange!"

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Zhou Xun's forehead, and he was secretly alarmed.

If he hadn't cultivated the power of Yin Thunder, he probably would have had his mind corrupted by demonic energy just now.

He dared not be careless, and continued to activate the power of Yin Lightning to protect his mind, while carefully controlling his divine sense to search for the core restriction inside the ink blade.

The inside of the blade seemed to be a chaotic mess, with countless blood-red threads intertwined into a net, radiating a chilling aura.

"found it!"

Zhou Xun's divine sense locked onto a crimson vortex, which was the core of the Ink Blade. He took a deep breath, condensed all his divine sense into a thin needle, and pierced towards the vortex.

"Buzz—" The blade vibrated violently, emitting a piercing buzzing sound.

The crimson vortex spun wildly, attempting to shred Zhou Xun's consciousness.

Zhou Xun gritted his teeth, continuously channeling the power of Yin Thunder into his divine sense, locked in a stalemate with the blood-red vortex.

This stalemate lasted for three days and three nights.

The patterns on the surface of the ink knife gradually glowed with a dark red light, as if blood was flowing within them.

"Break it for me!"

Zhou Xun suddenly opened his eyes and let out a low shout.

The power of Yin Thunder within his consciousness suddenly erupted, transforming into a white bolt of lightning that struck the blood-red vortex fiercely.

"Crack—" A sound like something breaking rang out.

The crimson vortex was cleaved open by lightning, and Zhou Xun's divine sense took the opportunity to penetrate deep into it, leaving a trace of divine sense imprint at its core.

"It's done!"

Zhou Xun breathed a sigh of relief, and finally felt a connection with the ink-black knife in his hand.

He gently swung the ink-black blade, the blade slicing through the air and leaving a faint trail of blood.

"What a fine knife!" Zhou Xun exclaimed.

He could sense that the power of this ink-black blade far exceeded that of ordinary spiritual treasures; no wonder Lu Qingya was able to contend with him with it.

It should be noted that at that time, he had not yet refined this treasure, yet he had successfully inscribed a trace of his mark.

Putting away the ink knife, Zhou Xun took out the black jade slip containing the "Nine Demonic Body" manual.

The incantation for this secret technique wasn't complicated; the key lay in the ink-black blade. Zhou Xun circulated his magical power according to the incantation, simultaneously activating the demonic energy within the ink-black blade.

"laugh--",

Strands of black demonic energy seeped from the blade, coiling around Zhou Xun as if they were alive.

The Yin Lightning power emanating from his body automatically protected him, keeping his mind clear.
Zhou Xun allowed the demonic energy to circulate outside his body.

As the incantation was chanted continuously, demonic energy gradually seeped into his skin, forming strange black lines on his body.

"Nine-Demonic Body, manifest!"

Zhou Xun let out a low shout, and the black patterns on his body suddenly lit up.

His body began to twist and swell, his skin turned as black as ink, and two more heads and four arms grew from his back.

In the blink of an eye, Zhou Xun transformed into a ferocious demon with three heads and six arms, exuding terrifying demonic power.

He felt the surging power within him and couldn't help but roar to the sky.

"Roar—" The sound wave shook the protective barrier in the quiet room, causing it to vibrate.

Zhou Xun gripped the ink blade with all six arms, the patterns on the blade mirroring the demonic runes on his body, radiating a suffocating sense of oppression.

"So this is the true power of the Ink Blade!"

Zhou Xun was deeply shocked.

The demonic form Lu Qingya displayed that day was worlds apart from his current state. He estimated that his strength had increased by at least 30%!

"receive!"

With a thought, Zhou Xun's demonic markings faded from his body, and he returned to normal. He stroked the ink-black blade, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.

"With this Nine-Demonic Body, perhaps I'll be able to suppress Lu Chihong when I face him again!"

(End of this chapter)