Chapter 632: Two Spirit Veins in Hand

Chapter 632: Chapter 112: Two Spirit Veins in Hand

Yue Ziyu agreed to his martial nephew’s proposal without much thought. It wasn’t about the battle itself—as far as he was concerned, the destruction of another fleet was of no consequence.

His plan to attack Shang’an Prefecture was merely an opportunistic move, a chance to scheme a little. If it succeeded, all the better. If not, it didn’t matter; he, personally, stood to lose nothing at all.

After receiving Yue Ziyu’s approval and the Military Command Token he was given, the young Water Cultivator immediately left Anmu Island to rally reinforcements from the various fleet garrisons.

Shortly after the young Water Cultivator left, Yue Ziyu took out an Eight Diagram Formation and began to divine the future. Half an Hour later, he frowned slightly. After pondering for a few seconds where he stood, he rose, walked to the main door, and gently pushed it open. The bright sunlight that fell upon him filled him with a sense of nostalgia.

Feeling the warmth of the sun, Yue Ziyu stepped out of the dim room. The roar of the sea wind immediately filled his ears, followed by the cries of seabirds and the shouts of merchant caravans coming and going at the docks.

‘What a vibrant, mortal world!’

As he marveled at the scene, a pang of regret arose within him, but he quickly suppressed it. Just then, a Second Realm Water Cultivator shot over from the docks as a streak of light, landing before Yue Ziyu.

“Master!”

He bowed in salute.

Yue Ziyu nodded lightly before instructing, “I have some business to attend to on the Eastern Continent, so I must leave for a while. I’m leaving things here to you.”

“Yes, Master! I understand!”

Yue Ziyu’s form instantly dissolved into a pool of clear water and vanished.

What he didn’t know was that in the military barracks at the docks, a Brigade Commander who had spotted him from a watchtower suddenly grew very serious.

This was one of Wang Ping’s puppets. Its memory already contained the mission to track Yue Ziyu’s whereabouts. The instant it spotted him, it immediately returned to its commander’s tent and transmitted the intelligence using a built-in Transfer Talisman.

「Qianmu Temple.」

At the Mountain Peak Dao Field, Wang Ping had just finished his idle chat with numerous Third Realm Cultivators. He was now sitting alone in a pavilion at the edge of a garden, admiring the beautiful scenery of the Qianmu Temple mountains.

Upon receiving the message from his puppet, he shot up from his seat as if to do something urgent. But in the next moment, he froze in place, realizing that all he could do now was wait and see how things unfolded.

“What’s wrong?”

Yu Lian, who was playing with the Calico Cat on a branch of a nearby Spirit Wood Tree, turned her head to look at Wang Ping.

Wang Ping, naturally, told her everything.

After listening, Yu Lian continued to tease the Calico Cat with a twig. “I’d almost forgotten all about him, yet you’re still holding on,” she said. “We changed how we meet long ago. The information he has should be irrelevant by now, shouldn’t it?”

That was indeed the case, but Wang Ping still couldn’t let it go. If Yue Ziyu had just explained things to him directly back then, he wouldn’t find it so hard to move on. It was like when Xia Yao broke ties with him—he had merely sighed and let it be.

“You’re so petty!”

Yu Lian subconsciously teased him after sensing his emotions. Then she added, “Judging by the current situation, the Seventh Prince of Lishui Prefecture won’t be able to hold out for much longer. Yue Ziyu won’t be able to escape.”

Hearing this, Wang Ping sat back down on the stone stool.

Yu Lian, meanwhile, turned back to the Calico Cat. She tossed aside the twig her own tail had been curled around and flicked her tail at the cat. The Calico Cat dodged with ease before pouncing at her again.

This Calico Cat had been Zuo Xuan’s Spirit Pet. After Zuo Xuan’s fall, she had remained in his Dao Field. It was only when Yu Lian discovered her while wandering the mountains of Qianmu Temple that she finally emerged. Recently, she had taken to visiting the Mountain Peak Dao Field often to play with Yu Lian.

Wang Ping had lost all interest in admiring the scenery. After a moment of thought, he looked up at the azure sky and murmured, “I wonder if the situation is unfolding as they imagined. And I wonder… are they satisfied with it?”

No one could answer his question. Yu Lian merely glanced at Wang Ping before returning to her playful tussle with the Calico Cat.

「Three days later.」

The mission to purge the ‘First Day’ faction on Mozhou Road went smoothly. Only a few scattered Second Realm Cultivators tried to cause trouble. It seemed the masterminds behind the scenes understood what it meant to go against an overwhelming tide, or perhaps they had temporarily forsaken some gains to await the final, decisive battle.

Ruan Chunzi returned to Qianmu Temple as the Mozhou Road incident was drawing to a close. With him was his Daoist partner, Miaoyu.

「Another ten days passed.」

Le Xin arrived with his senior martial sister, Hua Yun, to pay their respects to Wang Ping. Wang Ping made a point of welcoming them with great fanfare at the Mountain Peak Dao Field.

Just after getting Hua Yun and Le Xin settled, Zhu Gang from the Demon Realm delivered the two Spirit Veins he had promised Wang Ping. Although they were called Spirit Veins, they were more akin to a Spiritual Body, except they were in a completely sealed state. The power of the seal was such that Wang Ping could not probe it in the slightest.

According to Zhu Gang’s explanation, this was the result of a clan elder using their bloodline power to forcefully suppress the Spirit Veins. In other words, the sealing power was at the Fourth Realm or even True Monarch Level, wielded by a member of the Demon Race. Unsealing them required a specific Array formula, which was now, naturally, in Wang Ping’s possession.

“It’s simply unimaginable. The Demon Race’s foundations are truly profound!”

Wang Ping had summoned Yuan Zheng and Ruan Chunzi to inspect the state of the Spirit Veins and ensure there were no issues. After his examination, Yuan Zheng praised them with heartfelt admiration.

Ruan Chunzi nodded and said, “It was likely cultivated from the consciousness of a Wood Spirit True Spirit, using some unknown Secret Technique. My guess is that it’s a Demon Race Bloodline Magic. Therefore… it was most likely separated from one of the Demon Race’s own Spirit Veins. That process is no easier than cultivating slowly over a long period. Thankfully, it has no Primordial Spirit Consciousness. Otherwise, this ability of the Demon Race would be simply heaven-defying!”

Yuan Zheng couldn’t help but say, “Fellow Daoist, you can refine a Primordial Spirit with your ‘Outer Body Technique’. If you were to use the Demon Race’s Spirit Veins and cooperate with them, wouldn’t you be able to…”

Before Yuan Zheng could finish, Wang Ping cut him off. “That’s impossible. A Primordial Spirit created with the ‘Outer Body Technique’ would be bound by the Heaven-Reaching Talisman. It might even be less useful than a puppet that hasn’t undergone the Enlightenment Skill.”

Hearing this, Ruan Chunzi couldn’t help but nod. “I was overthinking things. I forgot that the birth of living beings in this world follows a strict set of rules. Many so-called clever Cultivators have tried to circumvent these rules, but to date, not one has succeeded. From what I understand, even if someone did succeed, they would immediately encounter something truly terrifying.”

Hearing this, Wang Ping changed the subject. “So, these two Spirit Veins should be fine, right?”

“They still require careful inspection!”

Ruan Chunzi knew what Wang Ping intended to use the Spirit Veins for, so he didn’t dare to jump to a conclusion so quickly.

For the next two days, the three of them devoted all their energy to inspecting the Spirit Veins, ultimately concluding that there were no problems. It was at this very moment that a military report arrived from the front line: the fleet at the port of Shang’an Prefecture had crushed the main forces under the command of Lishui Prefecture’s Seventh Prince and was now advancing toward Anmu Island.

Wang Ping immediately summoned all the Third Realm Cultivators within the temple!