Chapter 310 - 308: The Sixth Dao Pattern

Chapter 310: Chapter 308: The Sixth Dao Pattern

"Better to kill an innocent than let the guilty escape," the beautiful woman in purple said coldly.

"That’s right. Even if the Spirit Marrow is no longer effective by the time we get back, the two Black Sand Profound Snake corpses and any treasures that might be in their lair are worth a thorough investigation," the Nascent Soul Early Stage Female Cultivator added, nodding in agreement.

"No matter who it was, if they touched something belonging to our Hundred Flowers Palace, they must pay the price. We absolutely cannot let this matter drop," the Golden Armor Nascent Soul Cultivator continued.

"The Immortal Cultivation Realm is vast and boundless, filled with countless Exotic Treasures and all sorts of Divine Secret Techniques. Therefore, even I can’t see through every Low Tier Cultivator. It’s possible those three have some kind of Exotic Treasure on them."

"If they truly have a secret, it might just be enough to make up for our losses!" the beautiful woman in purple added.

"What is this, Saintess? Are you pitying them?" the Nascent Soul Early Stage Female Cultivator asked with a frown.

"If they really did steal your opportunity, then they deserve to die a thousand deaths and are completely unworthy of sympathy. If they didn’t, we can compensate them afterward. For them, that would just be a stroke of good fortune, so there’s still no need for pity," the Nascent Soul Early Stage Female Cultivator continued,

"Saintess, your temperament is too immature. You must change, or you will surely suffer a great loss in the future."

The other two also shook their heads slightly, and the beautiful woman in purple even seemed a little disappointed in the Hundred Flowers Saintess.

"Martial Aunt is absolutely right. I was being naive. No matter who they are, if they stole my opportunity, they must die!" the Hundred Flowers Saintess quickly admitted her mistake, her gaze turning icy.

"Let’s just hope they aren’t dead," the Golden Armor Nascent Soul Cultivator said.

"Correct. As long as they’re alive, we can find them! If all else fails, we can ask the people from the Celestial Secret Pavilion to perform another divination!" the Nascent Soul Early Stage Female Cultivator said with a nod.

"It’s too early to talk about that. Even if our target is at the Nascent Soul Early Stage and managed to kill the Black Sand Profound Snake, they are very likely injured. They might not have gotten far. Let’s continue the search for now!" said the beautiful woman in purple.

SWOOSH!

After that, they steered their Flying Boat away and continued to use their Secret Techniques to search a large area nearby.

* * *

’This place should be safe enough. Even if the Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators are chasing the Black Sand Profound Snake, they won’t be able to catch up anytime soon.’

’Besides, time is almost up. If I delay any longer, the Profound Snake Spirit Marrow will expire!’

On the other side, Zhang Chi flew nonstop for over an hour before finally stopping. He found a spot, set up an Array, and took out the Profound Snake’s corpse to process it.

Soon, he removed the half-broken horn and, before that, successfully extracted another portion of Spirit Marrow.

’Good, it’s still here as I expected.’

Zhang Chi was overjoyed. He immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and, full of anticipation, swallowed the Spirit Marrow in one gulp.

At the same time, he used another drop of Tier Four Earth Milk Spirit Liquid to ensure a sufficient supply of Spiritual Qi.

But while he was expectant, he was also a little nervous, afraid that this second portion of Spirit Marrow would have no effect.

BOOM!

Fortunately, just like last time, his Golden Core quickly absorbed the energy from the Spirit Marrow and erupted with a dazzling light and powerful pressure.

The Golden Core then began to spin violently, frantically devouring the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. Even that drop of Tier Four Earth Milk Spirit Liquid was quickly sucked dry by the Golden Core.

However, Zhang Chi still had plenty of Tier Four Earth Milk Spirit Liquid. He immediately used more, swallowing three drops in one go.

He didn’t feel the slightest bit pained by the expense; in fact, he was incredibly overjoyed and excited.

This was because it indicated his Golden Core was undergoing another transformation, meaning the second portion of Spirit Marrow was indeed still effective.

With every additional Dao Pattern on a Golden Core, a Cultivator’s foundation would be enhanced severalfold, which was why this time required even more Spiritual Qi than the last.

After quite some time, the Golden Core finally quieted down. It had become even more solid and powerful, radiating a stunningly profound aura. The number of Dao Patterns on it had shockingly increased to six.

This had already far surpassed what Great Abyss Cultivators called a Celestial Grade Golden Core. Even in the Endless Desert Sea, he could be considered a prodigy.

’Excellent!’

Zhang Chi was invigorated. He could clearly feel that every aspect of himself had once again been greatly enhanced, and even his Combat Power had grown stronger.

There were three reasons he had successfully killed the Profound Snake before.

First, its injuries were too severe.

Second, he had the help of methods like the Gold Fiend Gale Array and the Star Sword Array.

And third, it was precisely because the quality of his Golden Core had been enhanced previously, which in turn had greatly increased his Combat Power.

Now that he had a Six Patterns Golden Core, if he encountered that situation again, it would be much easier. The beast wouldn’t even have a chance to bring out its Demon Pill at the end.

Next, without bothering to continue processing the Profound Snake’s corpse, Zhang Chi quickly packed up and took flight again.

This time, he brought out his Golden Light Shuttle, and sure enough, his speed was faster and the flight more effortless.

At the same time, he took out the newly acquired Demon Pill and performed a Soul Search on the Demon Soul within.

Once the Soul Search was complete, he extracted the Demon Soul and threw it into his Beast Soul Banner.

This Demon Soul had already been injured. After being struck by his Upper Grade Treasure Saber, it had taken Thunderbolt damage and become even weaker.

But even after all that, it still managed to survive the Soul Search without dissipating.

He believed that inside the Beast Soul Banner, it wouldn’t take long for the Demon Soul’s body to recover.

Furthermore, before the Soul Search, this Demon Soul, just like the female snake’s Demon Soul before it, had assumed Zhang Chi was courting death. But in the end, it too was stunned by the immense Power of Zhang Chi’s Divine Soul.

As for Zhang Chi, he successfully obtained some information from the Soul Search.

Most of it was similar to the memories of the female snake, but there was some new information regarding the Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators.

Zhang Chi’s guess had been correct. When the Profound Snake was chasing the Hundred Flowers Palace Cultivators, they hadn’t used a Teleportation Talisman or similar means. Instead, they had split into two groups. The group that wasn’t being chased took a detour to retrieve the other Profound Snake’s corpse.

The other group lured it near an ambush.

And that ambush was an Array set up in advance by a purple-robed Nascent Soul Middle Stage Female Cultivator from the Hundred Flowers Palace.

At the time, the Profound Snake’s horn was still intact, so its perception was extremely sharp. It sensed the problem in time, turned, and fled, not charging directly into the Grand Array.

However, the purple-robed Female Cultivator directly intercepted it and, along with two other Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivators, surrounded and attacked it.

Because the purple-robed Female Cultivator was too strong and her Realm too high, the Profound Snake’s single horn and Demon Pill were useless. It was even severely injured and had its horn broken.

Fortunately, the Profound Snake had some decent escape techniques and managed to survive the ordeal.

In the end, however, it never expected that not only would it fail to find its mate’s corpse, but it would also run into Zhang Chi right at its doorstep. And then, it was trapped in an Array and killed by a mere Golden Core Peak Cultivator.

’Hundred Flowers Palace truly lives up to its name as a major power; those Cultivators are too strong. Not just the purple-robed Female Cultivator, but the other three as well. It seems they weren’t even going all out when they hunted the first Profound Snake!’

Zhang Chi put away the Demon Pill and the Beast Soul Banner. After digesting this information, he couldn’t help but feel rather apprehensive.

In the scenes from the Profound Snake’s memory, these Cultivators were all very strong—far more formidable than what he had witnessed with his own eyes.

Even the Hundred Flowers Palace Saintess actually had the ability to intervene in a battle between Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivators.

Moreover, during the battle, the Hundred Flowers Palace Saintess had revealed her Golden Core. It was a shocking Seven Patterns Golden Core, only one pattern short of the top Golden Core prodigies from the Desert Divine Palace.

As for the purple-robed Female Cultivator, she was even more terrifying.

He had only been able to kill this Black Sand Profound Snake in large part because he was cleaning up their leftovers.

He even suspected that the Profound Snake had managed to escape not because of its own skill, but because they had wanted to follow the trail to its lair.

In truth, they could have also gotten clues by killing the Profound Snake and performing a Soul Search.

But the Soul Search process itself carried great risks.

After all, although the purple-robed Female Cultivator’s Cultivation was higher than the Profound Snake’s Realm, her Divine Soul was only one level stronger.

However, the purple-robed Female Cultivator probably never would have dreamed that her plan would fail so completely.

Not only did the Profound Snake flee faster than she had anticipated, but it was also killed by Zhang Chi first.

’Trying to create an Eight Patterns Golden Core... is the Hundred Flowers Palace trying to surpass the Desert Divine Palace? Their ambition is truly immense.’

’But since they have such plans, they must take this matter very seriously. I’ll have to be extra careful from now on. I can’t show my face publicly in Huixing City ever again.’

’I can’t even go back to Golden Wind Oasis. It’s just a pity about Qin Mountain Oasis, which I worked so hard to get. I’ve only been cultivating there for less than forty years!’

After some thought, Zhang Chi quickly made a decision: he would hide his identity and lie low for a while.

After all, even if he went back as normal and got lucky enough to pass scrutiny, it would only be a possibility.

If he failed, the consequences would be something he absolutely could not bear.

Besides, even if they couldn’t find anything wrong, they might still vent their anger on him and kill him.

What’s more, this was the Endless Desert Sea, not the Great Abyss. He had plenty of places to go and no need to risk his life for the mere Qin Mountain Oasis.

Besides, he carried all of his belongings with him, and he had no friends or family here.

As for the Shang Family, he only felt a debt of gratitude; he owed them nothing.

After that, Zhang Chi continued to fly, returning to Beichen Oasis half a month later.

The reason he was so fast was that the Dao Patterns on his Golden Core had increased, allowing him to fly much faster while controlling his Upper Grade Magical Treasure.

He had considered going directly to other Oases, but this was the only large Oasis nearby; the others were extremely far away.

Fortunately, Beichen Oasis was huge, providing him with more than enough space to hide.

No matter how skilled those people from the Hundred Flowers Palace were, it would be impossible for them to find him in a short amount of time.

However, before entering Huixing City, he used the powerful control over his body granted by his advanced Body Refining Cultivation to change his height, build, and appearance.

Soon, he had transformed into a burly, dark-faced man.

At the same time, he used the Divine Concealment Technique to alter the aura of his Magical Power, only revealing a Cultivation at the Golden Core Late Stage.

This way, even if Lang Shiyuan or Shen Jianping were standing right in front of him, they wouldn’t be able to recognize him.

The reason he chose to return to Huixing City was to secretly observe the situation and see if there was a chance to obtain the Nascent Soul Spiritual Object they had promised.

It was also because Huixing City was the closest to where he had first arrived, making it a convenient transit point if he decided to go elsewhere.

In order to wait for news without delaying his Cultivation, he took out a six-month short-term lease on a Tier Three Peak Cave Mansion.

This Cave Mansion was located in a valley on the west side of the city and shared a Spiritual Vein with several other Cave Mansions.

But after cultivating inside for a while, Zhang Chi still found that his cultivation speed was noticeably faster than before.