Chapter 504 - 19: The 5th Crown Prince of the Jade Poison Kingdom (2)

’Right now, I’d probably have trouble lasting even fifty moves against him.’

At this thought, the man’s heart instantly filled with both jealousy and hatred.

The Demon-slaying Sword was a secret treasure passed down in the Jade Poison Kingdom, rumored to have been brought down from the Upper Realm by an ancestor. Its Refining Technique had long been lost.

This sword had always been wielded by the Sovereign of the Jade Poison Kingdom. It was only passed on to the next Sovereign when the previous one was nearing the end of their life.

It was only because his royal father’s favor and high regard for Si Taizhen were boundless that he had bestowed this incredibly significant Treasure Sword upon him while still in the prime of his life.

"Fifth Brother, why are you stopping me? This man disrupted the execution grounds and harbors sinister intentions. He deserves to die!"

Si Taizhen’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the man who had suddenly intervened to stop him. The killing intent on his face didn’t recede in the slightest; instead, it intensified.

Seeing his murderous expression, Fifth Prince Si Taiwei felt his own heart pound with fear. He knew that under their father’s doting, Si Taizhen had a clear sense of love and hate and was also quite lawless. If provoked, Si Taizhen might, on a whim, charge over and slash him with his sword. However, the Demon Cultivator’s identity was rather extraordinary, so he couldn’t just be killed so casually. Steeling himself, Si Taiwei could only say:

"Taizhen, stop this nonsense! This man’s identity is no small matter. He’s the legitimate son of a Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Southern Demon Sect. You can’t just kill him as you please. Besides, the Demon-slaying Sword is a paramount treasure of our Jade Poison Kingdom. How could you casually let a Little Demon act as its Spirit Binder!"

Si Taizhen snorted coldly, slid the Demon-slaying Sword back into its sheath, then turned and left, returning to the execution platform.

"My apologies, Brother Xie. Taizhen has been spoiled by our father and is rather lawless. Please don’t take it to heart."

The Demon Cultivator finally recovered from the clash of Demonic Qi caused by the Nine Nether Demon Thunder. The mere thought of that lightning-wreathed Treasure Sword sent a chill down his spine, and his face was so pale it was drained of all color.

As the legitimate son of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he certainly wasn’t lacking in protective Spirit Treasures. But seeing the terrifying power of that Treasure Sword, he feared his own would be chopped to scrap after blocking just four or five strikes.

Although Xie Zhiwei practiced the Black Heaven Technique, unlike a true Black Heaven True Demon, he didn’t also possess a set of fierce close-quarters combat skills.

"It’s nothing. I was being too rash myself. I saw an opportunity for a good fight and got carried away, forgetting my father’s instructions. Finding that Xuyu Coral is the proper course of action."

He suppressed the killing intent in his heart. ’The Jade Poison Kingdom’s ability to stand firm between three Demon Realms isn’t entirely due to the balance of power between those realms.’

The Jade Poison Kingdom’s own heritage was also incredibly formidable.

Its Sovereigns, generation after generation, were all powerhouses among their peers. The current Jade Poison Great Saint had been at Nascent Soul Perfection for many years, and his Power was considered top-tier among Nascent Soul cultivators.

He just hadn’t been able to take that final step to advance into the Divinity Transformation Realm.

His father had some renown in the Southern Demon Sect, but in terms of true Power, he was far inferior to the Jade Poison Great Saint.

Si Taizhen returned to the formation and was very displeased to see his subordinates looking as if the Nine Nether Demon Thunder had scared them witless.

’This Thunder Technique is powerful, but to lose their nerve so easily... If this were a battlefield, would a mere clap of thunder be enough to make them break formation?’

He impetuously tossed the Demon-slaying Sword to Yang Jing, telling him to put it back in the sheath himself.

He was actually quite satisfied with Yang Jing. Although his current Power was still a bit weak, he hadn’t been scared into a quivering puddle like the other Demon Generals by that Demon Thunder.

What Si Taizhen didn’t know was that Yang Jing had only refrained from cowering in terror like the other Great Demons because he was afraid of being used as a shield against the Demon Thunder and was ready to escape at a moment’s notice.

Holding the sword with both hands, he struggled a bit to slide the Treasure Sword back into its sheath, then held it reverently.

Although extremely curious about the Treasure Sword, Yang Jing wasn’t suicidal enough to start studying it in public.

He considered his own attainments in the art of Artifact Refining to be profound, yet he had completely misjudged this Treasure Sword. It felt perfectly natural, showing no signs of how the might of the Nine Nether Demon Thunder had been borrowed and attached to the blade.

Usually, after an execution, Si Taizhen would let his Demon Soldiers and Generals wander the Marketplace for half a day as a reward. This time, however, the Soldiers’ performance had been too poor. That, combined with the fact that the entire Jade Poison Kingdom was now filled with a mix of people due to the Xuyu Coral, made him decide to lead all the Soldiers straight back to his fiefdom.

Once back in the fiefdom, the other Demon Soldiers and Generals received no reward, but Yang Jing was given a jug of Spirit Wine brewed from Spirit Medicine. This type of Spirit Wine could purify Demon Power and boost one’s Cultivation.

With Yang Jing’s resources, he naturally looked down on this jug of Spirit Wine, but he still put on a show of immense gratitude as he accepted it.

Back in his Demon Cave, Yang Jing returned to his old routine: daily meditation, Refining Innate Pure Yang Qi, and practicing his Spear Mantra.

Every five days, he would go to practice Array formations.

Because of Si Taizhen’s favor, he was ostracized by the other Demons.

After a month of observation, Yang Jing discovered that Si Taizhen wasn’t using him to put the other Demons in their place. He genuinely valued him; it was just that his methods of managing subordinates were so crude that it caused disunity among his ranks.

He could only let it be. During that month, however, he borrowed many books from Si Taizhen’s private library, learning a great deal of knowledge he had never encountered before. He even managed to get a thorough understanding of the situation in the three Demon Realms and draw a rough map.

In that month, Yang Jing refined nearly a full wisp of Innate Pure Yang Qi, and the power of his Celestial True Gang increased greatly once again.

In the Golden Core Realm, Body Refining Techniques primarily focused on increasing the size of one’s True Body, accumulating Gang Qi, and imbuing the True Body with various Divine Techniques.

Being deep under the sea, the external Celestial Yang Qi was almost completely cut off. The Celestial Yang Qi produced by the Pure Yang Apricot Tree in his Inner World was enough for Iron Head’s Cultivation, but for him, it was just a drop in the bucket.

Therefore, after Refining the Innate Yang Qi, while the power of Yang Jing’s Celestial True Gang had skyrocketed, his Cultivation hadn’t advanced much. Instead, the sun within his Inner World had its Yang Qi greatly boosted, shining down upon the land and causing the various Spirit Plants in the Inner World to grow much better.

It even reached a point where Yang flourished at the expense of Yin.

After all, this Inner World was a reflection of his own body.

If not for Yang Jing’s Yin Yang Reincarnation Talent, his Yin Yang would have likely fallen out of balance. Even so, the subterranean Yin Qi World was in considerable turmoil.

Yang Jing took this as a warning sign. If he continued Refining it, his body would likely suffer a Yin-Yang imbalance.

Of course, he could also just go all in, walking the path of Pure Yang to its extreme, expelling all the Yin nature from his body and leaving only Pure Yang behind.

However, his Cultivation path had not yet hit a bottleneck, so he naturally wouldn’t resort to such an extreme method to raise his Cultivation.

But since he could no longer refine the Innate Pure Yang Qi for now, and he had a clear grasp of the current situation in the two Demon Realms ahead, Yang Jing had no reason to remain in the Jade Poison Kingdom.

The thought of leaving rose in his mind.

Just as Yang Jing had decided to leave, two Maids came to his Demon Cave with a message.

"Lord Si Bing, the Crown Prince is going to a banquet and requires you to attend him."

The two Maids were much more enthusiastic toward Yang Jing now. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see how much the Crown Prince valued him.

Little Crown Prince Si was obsessed with Martial Arts and had no interest in women, so the best future these Maids could hope for was to marry one of the Demon Generals.

"I understand. Please wait a moment, ladies, while I wash up."

Yang Jing’s eyebrow twitched. He had been planning to ask Eunuch Gui for a leave of absence and then slip away secretly, but he hadn’t expected to suddenly be called to accompany Si Taizhen to a banquet.

Though he was eager to get away, a day or two wouldn’t make a difference. He decided to postpone his departure for a few days and accompany Si Taizhen to the banquet first.

A moment later, Yang Jing changed into his armor and slithered out of the Demon Cave on his snake tail.

When he arrived at Si Taizhen’s Cave Mansion, he found that the prince was already dressed and ready to depart.

For this outing, Si Taizhen had surprisingly brought only one of his Personal Guards—him. The other attendant was Eunuch Gui, whom he had never seen accompany the prince like this before.

Si Taizhen wasn’t wearing his usual Armor, but had changed into a brocade robe that made his handsome face look as fine as jade, giving him a regal and distinguished air.

He saw Yang Jing and raised an eyebrow.

"The aura on you is...?"