Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 484 Battle Merit Exchange, Demonic Cultivator's Backup Plan [8,000-word long chapter, please subscribe]

Seven Core Formation Spiritual Items!

Zhou Chun's breathing became heavy when he thought of this.

It doesn't count the Five Elements Spirit Fruit, nor the Golden Dragon Fruit, nor even the Holy Spirit Blood Pill.

The Zhou family still possesses three Core Formation spiritual artifacts.

They are the [Yin Yang Fu Ling Dan], [Extreme Yang Fire Spirit Liquid], and [Extreme Cold Ice Marrow Liquid].

If Zhou Chunruo can exchange for seven more Core Formation spiritual items, then the Zhou family will have ten Core Formation spiritual items!

This would allow almost all of the Zhou family's current Purple Mansion stage cultivators to attempt to break through to the Golden Core stage!

However, Zhou Chun only thought about that beautiful scene for a moment before actively extinguishing it.

He can't do that!

The saying goes, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

If he really dared to exchange for so many Core Formation spiritual items, even if the Heavenly Spirit Alliance gave them to him, he would have a hard time keeping them, and the Zhou family would even be in great trouble because of it.

After all, the Zhou family currently only has Lin Hongyu, a Golden Core cultivator, which is not enough to make those who are attracted by the seven Core Formation spiritual objects wary.

Let alone seven Core Formation spiritual items, even more than three Core Formation spiritual items would pose a great threat to the Zhou family.

So Zhou Chun quickly calmed down and put an end to that thought.

"I can exchange for two Core Formation spiritual items myself, and then have the Supreme Elder exchange for one more Core Formation spiritual item. Although this will still be somewhat conspicuous, as long as we announce that my Zhou family is now under the protection of the Moon Wheel Sect, it should be enough to cover up the situation."

With that in mind, Zhou Chun continued to look down and examined the other treasures in the second item.

Besides the Core Formation spiritual items, there were also magic treasures, magic treasure materials, and fourth-order magic talismans, each with different prices.

It's a pity that strategic treasures like fourth-tier puppets weren't included!

As for Zhou Chun, while magic weapons could certainly play a significant role after he formed his core, their exorbitant exchange price was simply unaffordable for him, so they could be completely ruled out.

As for magical artifacts and spiritual materials, he found several that he could use to refine the [Myriad Transformations Golden Cauldron].

However, these materials are not as rare and hard to find as [Earth Mother Profound Gold]. He can slowly exchange and collect them with other magical treasures and spiritual materials after successfully forming his core. There is no need to waste precious battle merits and [Demon-Slaying Tokens] to exchange for them.

The same principle applies to fourth-order spells.

Zhou Chun quickly turned his attention to spiritual objects that could help open up the Purple Mansion.

Any spiritual object that assists in breaking through to a higher realm is a strategic resource.

There are quite a few types of spiritual items that can be exchanged for with the battle merits you have this time, but you can't just exchange for them all if you have enough battle merits.

Otherwise, people like Zhou Chun, who have made outstanding military achievements, and others who are qualified to exchange for these spiritual items, would all crowd out these items, and even if all countries and factions worked at full capacity to refine them, it would be difficult to supply them.

Therefore, it is specifically stipulated that cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage or above may not exchange for more than three such spiritual items, and the priority of Purple Mansion stage cultivators in exchanging for such spiritual items is not as high as that of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators!

Upon seeing the familiar name of the [Mysterious Heart Purple Rejuvenation Pill], Zhou Chun decided without hesitation to spend 300,000 battle merits and 300,000 spirit coins to exchange for three of these pills.

Back when the various factions of Jingguo were rewarding the heroes who had fought against the Hualong Sect, the [Mysterious Heart Purple Rejuvenation Pill] could be exchanged for just 100,000 battle merits, and it didn't even require spirit coins.

However, this time the Heavenly Spirit Alliance not only has to consume battle merits, but also pay spirit coins to exchange for them.

Although we received spirit coins as a reward for each enemy we killed, the way we were greedy was still disgusting!

The same applies to Core Formation spiritual items, whose prices are significantly higher than the market price!

Zhou Chun estimated that this was because the alliance's top brass knew that the inflationary pressure would be great in the future, so they took advantage of the opportunity to reward meritorious service to squeeze out the remaining money from those who had made a fortune from the war.

Even though he saw through this, he had no choice but to comply.

After all, even in the Great Zhou Kingdom, you can't just buy a spiritual item like the [Mysterious Heart Purple Return Pill], which has an excellent effect in helping to open up the Purple Mansion.

However, this means that Zhou Chun's hard-earned money will soon be significantly depleted.

Zhou Chun continued reading, and when he saw the Foundation Establishment Pill, he couldn't help but frown.

I wonder if they sensed that the demand for Foundation Establishment Pills might be too high this time, or if they wanted to use this item to win over the hearts of those low-level rogue cultivators and small families.

Foundation Establishment Pills are generally not available for exchange to Foundation Establishment cultivators and Purple Mansion cultivators; if they wish to exchange for them, they can only exchange for one pill as a minimum.

In addition, cultivation families that have lost Foundation Establishment stage cultivators can obtain an extra exchange slot in the name of the family.

The exchange price for a Foundation Establishment Pill is 12,000 battle merits plus 10,000 spirit coins, which is not as outrageous as the prices for opening the Purple Mansion or forming the Core.

"Luckily, Fellow Daoist Luo took Elder Lin to the Great Zhou Kingdom to reserve and purchase Foundation Establishment Pills, otherwise we would probably be in a real bind right now!"

Zhou Chun couldn't help but shake his head, secretly glad that he had been prescient.

Otherwise, given the Zhou family's current situation, they could only exchange for seven or eight Foundation Establishment Pills at most.

If all the Core Formation items are exchanged using the [Demon Slayer Token], Zhou Chun will still have 300,000 battle merits at his disposal!

So he turned his attention to the pills that could help break through the barriers of minor realms.

Among these pills, there are many good ones, and there are even spiritual pills that can help early-stage Golden Core cultivators break through the barrier of the middle stage of Golden Core, which are several times more valuable than the spiritual items for forming the Golden Core!

The [Jade Liquid Golden Pill] that Zhou Chun had previously taken also appeared on the list, with an exchange price of 120,000 battle merits and 150,000 spirit coins, which was also significantly higher than the normal price.

Other elixirs of the same level as the Jade Liquid Golden Elixir are priced similarly.

There's no limit to the number of pills that can be exchanged, presumably because they know no one would spend a lot of money to exchange for multiple pills.

After looking at it once, Zhou Chun did not rush to make a move.

They then turned their attention to the third item that could be exchanged.

The third redeemable item is the blessed land of Lingshan, market shops, and cave dwellings, covering a very wide range of countries, but the main contributor is Feng Kingdom.

Apart from a few places that could serve as the foundation of a major sect, most of the spiritual mountains and blessed lands in Feng Kingdom were included in this list of merits, including the Zhou family's ancestral home, the Three Immortals Mountain.

Zhou Chun found the exchange price at the Three Immortals Mountain and discovered that if he were to exchange it with battle merits, the requirement would be as high as two million battle merits, plus five million spirit coins!

Such high requirements for military achievements are something that even Golden Core cultivators, let alone Zhou Chun, would find difficult to meet.

Even Wei Yong, a Golden Core stage commander who had made numerous contributions in the war, only had slightly more than twice the military achievements of Zhou Chun.

Therefore, if it were truly a single person wanting to exchange for this blessed land of spiritual energy, Zhou Chun estimated that there wouldn't be even a handful of them in the entire Heavenly Spirit Legion.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Spirit Alliance was aware of this, so it was specially noted that if one really wanted to exchange for spiritual mountains and blessed lands like the Three Immortal Mountains, the exchanger would be specially permitted to trade battle merits with others.

In other words, if Zhou Chun wanted to exchange for the blessed land of the Three Immortals Mountain, he could use various methods to persuade other cultivators with battle merits to trade their merits to him, thus accumulating two million battle merits!

Even if he were to accumulate enough merit, the cost of five million spirit coins would still be an astronomical figure that the Zhou family couldn't raise even if they sold everything they owned.

"Huh, you can actually exchange [Demon Slayer Tokens] for this?"

Suddenly, as if he had discovered some important clue, Zhou Chun looked at the note at the end.

"This blessed land can be exchanged using [Demon-Slaying Tokens], with a minimum of forty-two tokens required!"

The Demon-Slaying Token is an anonymous item, meaning it can be traded freely.

Forty-two [Demon-Slaying Tokens] is indeed a considerable number, but compared to the previous requirements of both battle merits and spirit coins, it is actually more feasible.

After all, Zhou Chun alone possessed thirteen [Demon-Slaying Tokens]!

"It's a pity that my Zhou family's foundation is now firmly established, and we've already switched allegiance to the Moon Wheel Sect. There are also many potential powerful enemies lurking in the shadows. Otherwise, I really could consider returning to our old stomping grounds!"

Zhou Chun shook his head, sighed, and then looked at the other spiritual mountains, blessed lands, shops, and caves.

The Zhou family actually has a considerable need for sacred mountains and blessed lands, since the family currently only has two such places on the surface: Jiufeng Ridge and Tuyun Ridge.

Therefore, in order to keep the wilderness from being exposed and to cope with the continued growth of the clan's population in the future, it is necessary to open one or two more separate residences for the clan.

However, now that the Zhou family has switched allegiance to the Moon Wheel Sect, and their family residence is located within the territory of the Green Lotus Temple, the Green Lotus Temple will definitely obstruct their attempt to open a separate courtyard.

If you don't want to clash with Qinglian Temple right now, exchanging battle merits is the best way.

With this in mind, Zhou Chunxian ruled out Jingguo and Fengguo.

These two countries are too close to the wilderness and too close to Zhou's potential enemies, which does not align with his plans.

After all, it was a rare opportunity to freely choose a blessed land among the various kingdoms of Tianling, and Zhou Chun couldn't miss it.

His gaze swept over the blessed lands available for exchange in other Tianling countries such as Shen, Cheng, and Le, and finally he selected three suitable places.

The required battle merits for exchanging them at these three locations are between 150,000 and 200,000, which is within his budget.

Unfortunately, the redemption list only provides general information about the three sacred mountains and blessed lands themselves. There is no detailed information about their actual conditions or the surrounding forces. We would have to send someone to conduct on-site investigations to find out.

At this point, Zhou Chun could only circle three locations and then arrange for three Foundation Establishment cultivators from his family to immediately set off to these locations to gather relevant information so that he could make a decision as soon as possible.

After doing all that, he calculated that he had about four [Demon Slayer Tokens] left to use.

But he hadn't decided what to exchange these things for for the time being, so he decided to keep them and see how things went.

From the fact that it takes forty-two [Demon-Slaying Tokens] to exchange for the Three Immortal Mountains, Zhou Chun already knew that the [Demon-Slaying Tokens] would likely become a hot commodity, and perhaps the four [Demon-Slaying Tokens] he had on hand could play an unexpected role in other aspects.

Zhou Chun then sent the exchange list to Zhou Zhengyong, Zhou Daoquan, and other Zhou family cultivators who still had battle merits, to see what they wanted to exchange for.

Compared to his more than 600,000 battle merits, Zhou Zhengyong had far fewer.

Even if he inherited Zhou Jiahe's military achievements, his total number of military achievements would only be a little over 56,000.

Zhou Daoquan's total number of battle merits was only a little over 82,000.

According to the list, Zhou Zhengyong's battle merits are not enough to even exchange for the worst auxiliary spirit item for opening the Purple Mansion!

This situation immediately weighed heavily on Zhou Zhengyong's mind, and his face turned quite grim.

Seeing this, Zhou Chun didn't want to disappoint his closest cousin, so he comforted him, saying, "Brother Yong, use your battle merits to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill and some pills to improve the cultivation of Foundation Establishment cultivators' mana. I will give my nephew Xinlan a [Mysterious Heart Purple Rejuvenation Pill] from the spiritual items you exchange!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhengyong was initially delighted, but then looked at him with a complicated expression and sighed, "Alas! Then I'll have to trouble you, Thirteenth Brother!"

After saying that, his expression turned serious, and he said solemnly, "I accept your kindness on behalf of Lan'er, but my son and I cannot accept such a benefit for nothing. We will use our family's merits and spirit coins to offset the 100,000 spirit coins for you, 13th Brother!"

Actually, Zhou Zhengyong arrived at the battlefield too late. Otherwise, if he had gone with Zhou Daoquan's group, he might have been able to accumulate more than 80,000 battle merits, which would have made exchanging for a [Silver Star Soul Jade], an auxiliary spiritual item for opening the Purple Mansion, quite feasible.

Upon hearing his words, Zhou Chun shook his head and said, "There's no need for that. Brother Yong, you can just donate the items you exchanged to the family to offset the cost."

Zhou Daoquan, on the other hand, decided to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill and some pills to improve his own magical power.

Zhou Jiapeng, who also had over 20,000 battle merits, decided to exchange them for a Foundation Establishment Pill and other medicinal pills.

Unlike Zhou Chun, Zhou Jiapeng has many descendants. The Foundation Establishment Pills he exchanged can be used directly by his descendants, which can be considered a benefit to future generations.

As for the other Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Zhou family who were still serving in the legion, such as Xu Fu, Zhou Xinyan, and Zhou Xintie, Zhou Chun didn't interfere with how they handled their war merits; he let them decide for themselves.

This includes Lin Hongyu, the Zhou family's supreme elder.

After basically deciding on the treasures to exchange, Zhou Chun asked Lin Hongyu to personally make a trip to the nearby market and hand over the list of items that he and the Zhou family had decided to exchange to the relevant personnel of the Heavenly Spirit Alliance.

But things didn't go as smoothly as Zhou Chun had hoped.

Although they could exchange for whatever they wanted, the Heavenly Spirit Alliance replied that they had to wait in line!

The waiting time for Core Formation spiritual items could be as long as a hundred years, because major forces do not have that many of these items in stock, and Nascent Soul stage cultivators need to spend the next hundred years painstakingly refining them.

Similarly, spiritual items like the [Mysterious Heart Purple Return Pill], which assist in opening the Purple Mansion, cannot be exchanged so quickly; the waiting time can be as long as ten or twenty years.

Only the Foundation Establishment Pill is available for exchange at any time, probably because the major powers themselves have a large stockpile of this elixir.

"So that's why the Heavenly Spirit Alliance was so generous this time, offering such a wide exchange for Core Formation Spiritual Items! So that's what they were planning!"

Zhou Chun looked at the notification letter from the Alliance in his hand and shook his head repeatedly, somewhat speechless.

But since things had come to this point, he had nothing more to say and could only wait.

For some time afterward, news of demonic cultivators slaughtering mortals to practice their skills and attacking immortal cultivators spread from various places.

However, those demonic cultivators who had narrowly escaped death and remained in hiding finally couldn't resist causing trouble.

Unfortunately, they managed to survive by infiltrating various countries.

However, being unable to enter a cultivator's stronghold to cultivate means their cultivation stagnates, which is something they find hard to tolerate.

Therefore, if they want to make further progress in their cultivation, they either try to infiltrate the markets and strongholds of cultivators, risking being discovered and caught at any time to secretly cultivate.

The only options left are to attack other cultivators and slaughter mortals to practice their skills.

However, the Heavenly Spirit Legion and various cultivation families are already on high alert, and any demonic cultivators who dare to show their faces will be quickly eliminated.

Those demonic cultivators who managed to escape were all powerful Foundation Establishment and Purple Mansion stage demonic cultivators.

As long as these demonic cultivators are not eliminated, all countries will continue to suffer from their attacks.

At the same time, all countries must be vigilant against these demonic cultivators spreading their demonic cultivation techniques and guiding rash and greedy independent cultivators and family cultivators to switch to demonic cultivation.

It should be noted that many techniques within demonic arts can rapidly improve one's cultivation level, and some secret arts are extremely powerful, unpredictable, and difficult to defend against.

If demonic cultivators intend to spread these demonic arts and secret techniques, there will definitely be some cultivators whose cultivation has been slow to improve, who will not be able to resist the temptation and will secretly practice these demonic arts.

Even knowing this, the Heavenly Spirit Alliance has no other good options but to strictly check and screen cultivators entering and leaving the market and various family mountain gates, and crack down on cultivators who practice demonic arts.

Zhou Chun observed the changing situation and arranged the order of resuming production accordingly.

……

Wilderness.

At the site of the now-abandoned Blood Dragon branch altar, many cultivators are now busy at work.

One could see cultivators, their bodies radiating demonic energy, running about in various parts of the mountains, constantly taking out large numbers of human and scaled frog alien corpses from their storage bags and burying them in certain deep pits.

On a mountaintop somewhere, several Golden Core stage demonic cultivators and two elders of the Dragon Transformation Sect gathered, looking down at everything from their vantage point.

At this moment, looking at the busy junior demon cultivators below the mountain, a Golden Core stage demon cultivator immediately smiled and said to the two elders of the Dragon Transformation Sect, "This time, we really owe a lot to your sect's help. Not only did you help arrange such a blessed spiritual mountain, but you also helped find so many scaled frog aliens."

"With these alien corpses as materials, and combined with my demonic secret technique, the [Nine Nether Demonic Array], it will be enough to transform this place's spiritual veins into demonic yin veins within ten years!"

Upon hearing his words, the two elders of the Dragon Transformation Sect exchanged a glance.

Then one of the old men dressed in black robes slowly spoke up and said, "It is the leader's order to help your five Yuanmo sects establish a mountain gate here, and we naturally dare not neglect it in the slightest."

"However, I also hope that after you have established your sect here, you will remember your promise to the leader and live up to his expectations!"

Upon hearing this, the demonic cultivator who had spoken immediately laughed and said, "Hahaha, that's for sure. Jing Kingdom is also one of the kingdoms of Tianling. Moreover, our expedition to the Tianling realm failed entirely because of that Qingxiao Zhenren of the Qinglian Temple in Jing Kingdom. Before you elders left, you instructed that no matter what, you must not let that Qinglian Temple get away with it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another middle-aged man in a blood-red robe spoke up in a deep voice, "Brother Deng is absolutely right. The Moon Wheel Sect and the Green Lotus Temple of Jing Kingdom, as well as Zhou Zhengchun, who made a big scene and killed my son, are all our first targets for revenge. Once we are settled, we will definitely make these guys suffer!"

Hearing their words, the black-robed elder from the Dragon Transformation Sect nodded in satisfaction and said, "That's good. With Fellow Daoist Deng and Fellow Daoist Yan's words, we can now go and report back to the Sect Leader with peace of mind."

After explaining some things to several Golden Core stage demonic cultivators, the two Golden Core elders of the Dragon Transformation Sect left the old site of the Blood Dragon branch altar and returned to the Dragon Transformation Sect headquarters.

After seeing off the two elders of the Dragon Transformation Sect, the several Golden Core stage demonic cultivators also gathered together to discuss in detail the establishment and development of the sect's base.

Meanwhile, in the wilderness, the Scaled Frog alien high priest Ukuru, filled with fear, found the Zhou family's liaison cultivator and strongly requested to meet with Zhou Chun.

Because Luo Qingni had taken Lin Wan'er to the Great Zhou Kingdom and had not yet returned, and Zhou Daoyi was still serving in the Tianling Legion, Zhou Daoquan had no choice but to continue to be stationed at Jiufeng Ridge.

As a result, the Zhou family did not assign any Purple Mansion stage cultivators to the wilderness area, but instead entrusted the management of the two strongholds to a few Foundation Establishment juniors.

Upon receiving the urgent message from the High Priest of Ukuru, Zhou Xinyi, the Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed at the Zhou family's residence, also felt the gravity of the matter. Therefore, he personally returned to the family through the underground river passage to report the matter to Zhou Chun.

"The Scaled Frog race suffered a massacre by cultivators, and the corpses of the dead were taken away. Is this the work of demonic cultivators?"

Inside Tu Yunling, after learning from Zhou Xinyi, who had returned, about the information he had obtained from the High Priest of Ukuru, Zhou Chun's expression immediately turned serious.

Although the Scaled Frog aliens cannot be considered servants of the Zhou family, they are still the Zhou family's benevolent benefactors, continuously providing the Zhou family with various spiritual resources.

The deaths of a large number of scaled frog aliens will also harm the interests of the Zhou family.

Not to mention that this matter may very well involve demonic cultivators!

"It seems I have no choice but to go to the wilderness myself!"

A glint flashed in Zhou Chun's eyes, and he quickly made a decision.

Next, Zhou Chun patiently persuaded Zhou Mingde and also explained things to Lin Hongyu.

Then he used the Golden Armor Mountain-Carrying Turtle Stone to carry him away from Tuyun Ridge using earth magic, traveling over a thousand miles before reappearing on the ground.

Zhou Chun then used the [Hundred Illusion Pearl] to change his appearance and aura to travel, quietly passing through the underground waterway to the wilderness.

In less than a day, Zhou Chun arrived at the location of Lu Ran's former water mansion and established contact with a scaled frog alien sorcerer who was stationed there.

He then waited only half a day before meeting the High Priest of Ukuru, whom he hadn't seen for some time.

At this moment, the High Priest Ukuru looked much more haggard than Zhou Chun had ever seen him before.

Even when the Nebula Clam caused trouble before, it never made him act like this.

Upon seeing Zhou Chun, High Priest Ukuru's eyes lit up, and his face beamed with joy as he stepped forward to tightly grasp Zhou Chun's hands, exclaiming, "Excellent! Excellent! Fellow Daoist Zhou, you've finally arrived!!"

Seeing this, Zhou Chun knew that the number of people lost by the Scaled Frog alien race this time must have been very large, otherwise it would not have made them do this.

So he gently patted the other's hand and said, "Fellow Daoist Ukuru, don't panic. Tell me the details first, and I will do my best to help you!"

Hearing his words, Ukuru felt inexplicably at ease.

He didn't know how powerful the Zhou family was, but he knew that if Zhou Chun wanted to kill him, he would have absolutely no power to resist.

Therefore, when he encounters difficulties, his first thought is to seek help from Zhou Chun.

Upon hearing Zhou Chun's words, he recounted with fear and resentment the mass extermination of the Scaled Frog tribe.

"...Fortunately, after witnessing the destruction of the Thunder Tribe, I knew that my Black Spear Tribe and I were no match for those humans. So I returned and hurriedly relocated the tribe, scattering our people. Otherwise, the Black Spear Tribe might have been wiped out as well!"

In the end, High Priest Ukuru also looked relieved.

Through his account, and by hearing the methods the cultivators used to slaughter the Scaled Frog alien tribe, Zhou Chun was certain that those people were the demonic cultivators of the Five Sects of the Yuan Demon.

After all, the methods of the Beast Demon Palace, Yin Ghost Gate, Blood Bone Gate, and Corpse Demon Cult are too easy to identify.

However, the information revealed by the High Priest of Ukuru was terrifying to Zhou Chun!

It should be noted that the Scaled Frog tribe is located on the banks of Dragon Abyss.

Zhou Chun didn't believe that those demonic cultivators could have found this place without the permission and help of the Flood Dragon Clan or the Dragon Transformation Sect.

Therefore, it is not difficult to deduce why these demonic cultivators appeared in the wilderness.

"Is this the contingency plan left behind by the Demon Legion after their retreat?"

"The Dragon Transformation Sect and the Five Yuan Demon Sects have joined forces; this is probably what the Heavenly Spirit Alliance fears most!"

Zhou Chun muttered to himself, his expression turning grim.

The Zhou family is located in Jingguo, and they have a deep-seated hatred for the five factions of the Yuanmo.

Each of the five sects of the Yuan Demon has had a talented disciple die at his hands.

Now that they have established a stronghold in the wilderness, once they have recovered, the Jingguo Kingdom, which is the closest to them and has a long-standing feud with the Hualong Sect, will definitely be their first target for revenge.

And Zhou Chun and his family will definitely be the primary targets of retaliation!

"We must strike first! We absolutely cannot allow them to truly establish a foothold in the wilderness!"

Zhou Chun gritted his teeth, knowing that the only way to avoid retaliation was to nip the danger in the bud.

In light of this, he immediately ordered High Priest Ukuru to send spies to various Scaled Frog tribes, instructing them to notify him as soon as the demonic cultivator reappeared.

This didn't keep Zhou Chun waiting much longer; he only waited three days before receiving news of the demonic cultivators' appearance.

Upon receiving the news, Zhou Chun immediately rushed to the location where the demonic cultivator had appeared.

When he arrived at the place, an entire tribe of scaled frogs had been slaughtered, and the murderers had vanished without a trace.

However, because the murderer hadn't gone far and left a strong aura, Zhou Chun easily determined the direction they had gone and then sent the Wood Spirit, who was proficient in Wood Release techniques, to chase after them.

Not long after, Zhou Chun caught up with Mu Mei and saw a group of demonic cultivators returning to their camp.

He didn't alert them; he simply had Mu Mei secretly follow the group while he concealed his presence and slowly followed.

After following along, Zhou Chun soon arrived near the old site of the Blood Dragon Branch Altar.

He finally learned where the demonic cultivators were based.

"I wonder how many demonic cultivators are in this group, and if there are any Nascent Soul stage elders among them?"

In the wilderness, Zhou Chun gazed at the former site of the Blood Dragon Branch Altar from afar, but dared not approach it any further.

He didn't know if there were any Nascent Soul stage demons there.

If such a creature were to appear, it would be easily detected once it comes within a hundred li radius.

He can't take that risk!

However, it's not impossible to find out this information.

Since the demonic cultivators would send people out to slaughter the scaled frog aliens and collect their corpses, it was natural that they might encounter casualties, after all, this was a desolate wasteland.

Therefore, after staking out the perimeter for several days, Zhou Chun found an opportunity to have Mu Mei, who had never been exposed to demonic cultivators before, ambush a demonic cultivator team that was out on a mission.

This demonic cultivator team only has three Foundation Establishment cultivators leading the way and seven Qi Refining stage demonic cultivators, which Mu Mei can easily handle with her strength.

Two of the demonic cultivators who were captured alive were quickly brought before Zhou Chun.

"You two know who I am. If you cooperate with me and confess properly today, I might let you die a quick death. Otherwise, don't blame me for taking you to see a Golden Core cultivator so that he can search your souls!"

In a desolate mountain, Zhou Chun revealed his true form and awakened the two captured demonic cultivators. He then coldly questioned them.

Upon seeing this renowned "Dragon-Riding Prince," the two demonic cultivators were terrified, realizing they were doomed to die.

The two wanted to avoid answering Zhou Chun's interrogation, but fearing the torment of soul-searching, they had no choice but to confess.

According to the two, there were five Golden Core stage demon cultivators stationed at the former site of the Blood Dragon branch altar, seemingly one from each of the five Yuan Demon factions.

As for whether there are any more Golden Core stage demonic cultivators who haven't shown themselves yet, or any Nascent Soul stage old demons, that's beyond the knowledge of two Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivators.

Currently, there are fewer than three thousand demonic cultivators at the former site of the Blood Dragon branch altar. Among them, there are thirty or forty demonic cultivators in the Purple Mansion stage, four or five hundred demonic cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage, and the rest are all demonic cultivators in the Qi Refining stage.

The two also confessed to their purpose in slaughtering the scaled frog tribe and collecting their corpses.

"So that's how it is! They actually wanted to use an array to convert the spiritual veins into yin veins. No wonder they were massacring the Scaled Frog alien race!"

Upon learning the truth, Zhou Chun also showed a look of realization.

Instead of keeping his promise, he knocked out the two prisoners and prepared to take them back for Lin Hongyu to search their souls again for confirmation.

Another 8,000-word chapter. I'll add 2,000 more words, and then two more 8,000-word chapters will complete the minimum 180,000-word update requirement for this month!

(End of this chapter)