Chapter 247: Extracting the Spirit Vein

Chapter 247 -240: Extracting the Spirit Vein

Awakening the final two strands of Primordial Flesh and Blood was exceptionally difficult, taking Jiang Zuo nearly ten years.

With all nine strands of Primordial Flesh and Blood awakened, Jiang Zuo could finally begin its cultivation.

‘The cultivation of Primordial Flesh and Blood mainly involves refining and absorbing Spiritual Power, Spiritual Objects, and Demon Beast Flesh and Blood.’

‘For each cultivation session, these three are basically used in a one-to-one-to-one ratio.’

‘There are no restrictions on the type of Spiritual Object, but it’s best to use Spiritual Medicine with restorative effects.’

‘Spiritual Objects and Demon Beast Flesh and Blood must be refined starting from the lowest tiers.’

‘Especially with Demon Beast Flesh and Blood, it’s best to refine it from as many different types of Demon Beasts as possible.’

The cultivation of Primordial Flesh and Blood was far more complex and troublesome than Spiritual Power Body Tempering.

But it wasn’t that it was difficult; it was just time-consuming to find the Spiritual Objects and Demon Beast Flesh and Blood for refining.

However, none of this was a problem inside the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm.

The Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm still had plenty of low-tier Demon Beasts, which Great Black and the others disdained for their low Cultivation. They provided very little Spiritual Power Cultivation, so his pets couldn’t even be bothered to kill them.

They were perfect for Jiang Zuo to use for cultivating his Primordial Flesh and Blood.

‘The amount of Spiritual Power it absorbs is enormous.’

‘If it weren’t for my astonishing Qi Sea and profound reserves, a single session of cultivating this Primordial Flesh and Blood would consume seventy to eighty percent of my Spiritual Power.’

‘Could an ordinary Cultivator really cultivate this Primordial Flesh and Blood?’

Once he truly began cultivating, Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but be alarmed.

The Primordial Flesh and Blood was like a bottomless pit, frantically absorbing the Spiritual Power in his body.

He was only able to cultivate normally because of the astonishing amount of Spiritual Power in his body.

For any other Cultivator, it would have been utterly impossible.

However, after some careful thought, Jiang Zuo realized his situation was unique.

For an ordinary Cultivator, let alone awakening nine strands of Primordial Flesh and Blood, even awakening a single strand was exceptionally difficult.

Cultivating just one or two strands of Primordial Flesh and Blood wouldn’t be a problem for most Cultivators.

And it wasn’t just the Spiritual Power.

When Jiang Zuo subsequently refined and devoured Spiritual Objects and Demon Beast Flesh and Blood, his Primordial Flesh and Blood was like a bottomless black hole.

Jiang Zuo felt that he could now give that foodie, Gungun, a run for its money.

And this was only the amount absorbed by nine strands of Primordial Flesh and Blood.

In the future, as more of his body converted into Primordial Flesh and Blood, he feared the amount required for refining and absorption would become even more terrifying.

‘I feel like it would be better to just refine Spirit Stones directly in the future. Every time my internal Spiritual Power gets drained, I have to cultivate to replenish it, which is a waste of time.’

Jiang Zuo thought to himself.

Most Cultivators in the Cultivation Realm used Spirit Stones during their cultivation.

Using Spirit Stones to aid cultivation could make one’s progress much faster.

It was only because Jiang Zuo’s own absorption speed for Spiritual Qi was so fast that he had never used Spirit Stones to cultivate.

But now, facing the bottomless pit that was his Primordial Flesh and Blood, Jiang Zuo was also beginning to feel the strain.

Besides, the cultivation method for the Primordial Flesh and Blood included a special Refining Technique.

The instruction to “refine Spiritual Power” was, in fact, referring to the refining of Spirit Stones.

The cultivation of Primordial Flesh and Blood was vastly different from that of a typical Cultivation Technique.

After a round of cultivation, the Primordial Flesh and Blood would enter a “satiated” state.

He could only cultivate it again after the Primordial Flesh and Blood sent out a “hunger” signal.

The interval between these states was not short.

Therefore, all Jiang Zuo had to do was prepare the Cultivation Materials in his storage pouch.

He just needed to cultivate it once every so often.

Once he grew accustomed to it, it no longer felt like a hassle.

「Another ten years passed.」

‘I can finally set up a basic fourth-tier Array.’

‘However, the gap between different fourth-tier Arrays is enormous.’

‘Arrays for extracting a Spirit Vein are among the most complex.’

‘I have about twenty years left. Time is going to be tight.’

Jiang Zuo stood within a complex, large-scale Array.

It was a fourth-tier, primarily defensive Array.

Deploying this Array required inscribing a vast number of Inscriptions and refining a large quantity of Array Flags.

All of this required a great deal of time.

Furthermore, different Arrays were generally not interchangeable.

Each Array had to be learned and mastered from scratch, and an Array Master had to rely on their foundational knowledge of arrays just to deploy it.

A complex, large-scale Array, in particular, required an extremely long time to set up.

Even though he had twenty years, it really wasn’t much time for what Jiang Zuo needed to accomplish.

To that end, aside from continuing the cultivation of his Primordial Flesh and Blood, Jiang Zuo ceased all other activities to focus his time entirely on the art of arrays.

In cultivation, years passed by unnoticed.

「Another fifteen years passed.」

‘In the last twenty-five years, about 10% of my flesh and blood has been converted into Primordial Flesh and Blood.’

‘To cultivate my Primordial Flesh and Blood, I’ve basically wiped out all the first-tier Demon Beasts in the Secret Realm.’

‘My consumption of Spirit Stones has been even more terrifying. I’ve used up nearly all of the one million Lower Tier Spirit Stones I had.’

‘Spiritual Objects, on the other hand, are fine. After several thousand years, an uncountable number have grown in this Secret Realm; it’s impossible to harvest them all.’

Ever since entering the Black Tortoise Dao Sect, Jiang Zuo had never felt like he was lacking cultivation resources.

But cultivating his Primordial Flesh and Blood was now giving Jiang Zuo the feeling that his resources were insufficient.

And this was just the initial stage of its cultivation.

He could foresee that the resources required would become even more terrifying as he continued.

With such a terrifying cost, the returns were naturally substantial.

For one, as long as his Primordial Flesh and Blood wasn’t completely destroyed, Jiang Zuo could use it to regenerate his physical body. In addition, his physical strength had undoubtedly grown much stronger.

Especially in times of need, Jiang Zuo could unleash the power contained within his Primordial Flesh and Blood, causing his combat strength to skyrocket.

However, after a battle, he would need to consume a large number of Spirit Stones to resupply.

Furthermore, Jiang Zuo had a vague feeling that he now possessed a “Flesh Liberation” mode.

Once his flesh was completely liberated, he would be able to obtain unprecedented power.

But the price would be even greater: he might turn into a monster of flesh and blood.

So, despite this strong feeling, Jiang Zuo didn’t dare to test it.

‘The Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm is nearing the end of its life. I must set up the Spirit Vein extraction Array as quickly as possible in the time I have left.’

Jiang Zuo thought.

After sending the other Cultivators away, he had spent a total of seventy-five years alone in the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm.

Now, the lifespan of the Daoist Talisman Holy Land was about to run out.

Spatial rifts had faintly begun to appear in the sky of the Daoist Talisman Holy Land.

In many places, the land within the Holy Land had cracked open, forming deep chasms.

The remaining Demon Beasts, likely sensing the Secret Realm’s impending destruction, had become unusually agitated.

The mid-grade Spirit Vein that Jiang Zuo wanted to extract spanned half the Secret Realm.

This just went to show how enormous the Spirit Vein extraction Array had to be.

For any other Array Master, setting up such a massive Array within four or five years would have been absolutely impossible.

Even Jiang Zuo, who had spent over a decade studying the Spirit Vein extraction Array, needed to create a Blood Qi Avatar to assist him just to feel somewhat confident of success.

Before this, Jiang Zuo had even dismantled the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect’s Sect Protection Array just to gather enough high-grade array materials.

Over the next four years, Jiang Zuo’s journey took him across more than half of the Secret Realm.

An astonishingly huge Array gradually took shape as he and his Blood Qi Avatar worked together.

On this day, Jiang Zuo flew slowly into the air above the Secret Realm. Gazing down at the landscape, now dotted with Array Flags, he nodded slightly.

The great Spirit Vein extraction Array was complete. However, even with his skill in arrays, deploying an Array of this scale was still a bit of a stretch for him.

Moreover, the necessary array materials were in short supply within the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm.

Although he had dismantled the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect’s Sect Protection Array, he still had to use Lower Tier substitutes for some of the materials.

As a result, the great Spirit Vein extraction Array had numerous flaws.

He could use the Array to extract the Celestial Talisman Inquiry Sect’s Spirit Vein, but its grade would drop from mid-grade to low-grade in the process.

However, upgrading the Pet Beast Spirit Garden only required a low-grade Spirit Vein anyway.

The most important thing right now was to upgrade the Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

The drop in the Spirit Vein’s grade was unavoidable.

If he returned to the outside world, it wouldn’t be easy for him to find even a low-grade Spirit Vein to extract.

‘All I have to do is activate the Array, and I can extract the Spirit Vein.’

‘Before that, I shouldn’t let the remaining Demon Beasts in the Secret Realm go to waste. Time to kill them.’

‘Especially that fifth-tier Demon Beast.’

Jiang Zuo stroked his chin.

In truth, after nearly eighty years of slaughter at the hands of Great Black, Xiaoqing, and the Fire Phoenix, there were very few Demon Beasts left in the Secret Realm.

The only ones remaining were the fifth-tier Demon Beast in the eastern valley and a few scattered fourth-tier ones.

The fifth-tier Demon Beast was a gigantic white bear with low intelligence.

However, it would still be extremely dangerous for Jiang Zuo and his group of fourth-tier Pet Beasts to try and hunt it down.

But in addition to his raw power, Jiang Zuo was now also a fourth-tier Array Master.

Jiang Zuo spent some time moving the fourth-tier Array he had set up for practice earlier into the valley.

He then lured the fifth-tier white bear into the Array, trapping it within.

Then, Jiang Zuo and his pack of Pet Beasts launched a frenzied assault from outside the Array.

The white bear’s attacks were mostly blocked by the Array.

Even the attacks that got through were significantly weakened by the Array.

Unaware that it could escape the Array, the fifth-tier white bear was slowly worn down and killed by Jiang Zuo and his Pet Beasts.

Jiang Zuo let Great Black, Xiaoqing, and the others absorb the white bear’s Cultivation.

Jiang Zuo himself only took the white bear’s corpse.

As for its Inner Core, there wasn’t one.

After the Secret Realm’s rules had changed, Demon Beasts’ Inner Cores would automatically transform into Cultivation to be absorbed upon their death.

Afterward, Jiang Zuo recalled Great Black, Xiaoqing, and the others to the Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

After nearly eighty years of slaughter, Great Black, Xiaoqing, and the Fire Phoenix had all reached the mid-stage of the fourth tier.

The Pale Moon Ice Wolf, however, had advanced to the late stage of the fourth tier and was not far from reaching Perfection.

Jiang Zuo then went to another Spirit Vein and recalled the foodie, Gungun.

Compared to nearly forty years ago, Gungun’s mud-ball body had grown slightly larger.

After frantically absorbing a mid-grade Spirit Vein for nearly eighty years, Gungun seemed quite content.

It didn’t resist when Jiang Zuo collected it.

Jiang Zuo placed it back into its separate storage pouch and noticed it showed no signs of discomfort.

Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but shake his head.

‘I really have no idea what this creature is. If it were a Spirit Beast, it definitely couldn’t be put into a storage pouch.’

“Let’s begin!”

Jiang Zuo slowly rose into the sky above the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm.

A ravaged landscape full of chasms and wreckage entered his view.

Jiang Zuo gazed down upon the vast, desolate land and tossed an Array Flag from his hand into the void.

BOOM!

In the next instant, the entire Secret Realm trembled.

Beams of light shot skyward from every spot where Jiang Zuo had placed an Array Flag, and the earth began to crack and splinter. 𝙛𝓇ⅇ

Immediately after, a massive ribbon of white light, like a startled dragon, burst forth from beneath the sundered earth and rushed wildly toward Jiang Zuo.

“Absorb!”

The immense torrent of light charged toward Jiang Zuo.

His expression serene, Jiang Zuo let out a soft cry.

The light flashed abruptly and vanished before him, absorbed into the Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

RUMBLE!!!

With its Spirit Vein torn away, the Daoist Talisman Holy Land Secret Realm immediately began to change drastically.

The earth collapsed, and the sky shattered.

Spatial rifts appeared one after another, devouring everything within the Secret Realm.

An apocalyptic aura flooded the lands of the entire Secret Realm.