Chapter 294: Chapter 11: The Demon Race’s Remaining Veins, Five Elements Elixir
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Ling Yunpo drilled out of the stone chamber, stealthily following the little demons through a series of turns, only to see the terrain increasingly sloping downward.
Soon, he arrived at the second chamber.
Upon opening the stone door, a high concentration of salty water rushed out.
“Salt! Salt! Salt!” the little demons cheered three times, then hurriedly closed the stone door.
Before the stone door closed, Ling Yunpo fixed his gaze and saw on the chamber floor a Water Gathering Formation engraved.
The so-called Water Gathering Formation was designed to extract water from a source and transport it elsewhere—for instance, many sects relied on Water Gathering Formations located elsewhere to supply fresh water for their ponds, preventing the water from going stale and foul.
It is worth mentioning that the Water Gathering Formation would only extract pure water, leaving behind algae, suspended particles, toxins, and even fish, unaffected by the formation.
With this in mind, Ling Yunpo had completely understood the mechanism:
The Water Gathering Formation drew vast amounts of water elsewhere, while the salt content was naturally left behind, causing the salt concentration in the remaining water to rise rapidly.
However, what exactly were they doing with this salt?
If it was for survival, relying on the small amount of salt produced by “sweating” cultivators, it surely wouldn’t be enough.
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Suppressing his curiosity, Ling Yunpo continued to follow the little demons downward, and after several more twists and turns, he quickly reached the third chamber.
As the stone door to the third chamber opened, Ling Yunpo hurriedly looked inside, only to see countless “willow catkins” floating about, so dense they could make anyone with trypophobia vomit.
“Eggs! Salt! New life!” the little demons once again cried out three times as if conducting some kind of religious ritual.
“So that’s how it is,” Kunlun Mirror exclaimed in admiration. “After all, they are of the sea demon race. Although they can resist freshwater environments, their eggs and young cannot.”
“Therefore, they rely on this tiny bit of salt to simulate the saline environment of the ocean in a small, enclosed space, allowing the newborns, who do not yet possess demonic power, to hatch and grow successfully.”
“I see; it’s for that purpose.” Ling Yunpo suddenly realized.
Although the amount of salt was minimal, as long as the space was sufficiently small, it could maintain a relatively stable concentration.
It was even similar to some shops’ “old brine soup.” The saltwater in this hatchery might go unchanged for hundreds or thousands of years, with nothing but salt being continually added…
At this thought, Ling Yunpo shivered in disgust.
He could not continue to ponder on it, feeling somewhat nauseous…
He followed the little demons, who were as ecstatic as if they had become parents, and quickly arrived at the fourth chamber.
Unsurprisingly, the fourth chamber was much larger than the third, housing not egg sacs but the young of many aquatic creatures.
Tails flicking nimbly belonged to small fish, ceaselessly curving up and down were tiny shrimp, lazily swimming about were little turtles, and moving freely side to side were small crabs—an ecology of a very live aquarium.
Ling Yunpo had a friend in his past life who kept many fish, so he could recognize them at a glance.
“New life! Continuity! Hope!” the little demons ritually cried out three times again, completing the ceremony before hastily leaving.
Is it coming? Ling Yunpo’s spirits rose.
Having followed these demons for so long, he simply wanted to locate the position of the Sea Bodhi.
He did not intend to miss out on the Secret Medicine of the Refining Mansion Cultivation of thirty years.
Following the little demons to the deepest part of the cave, he saw an aquatic priest sitting on a stone platform, with the Jade Stone Scepter placed on his knees, his eyes open in meditation.
As fish have no eyelids, it wasn’t clear if the creature was awake or sleeping, even with its eyes open.
But soon, Ling Yunpo knew it was awake.
Because the little demons chattered seven ways to Sunday, reporting what they had observed earlier, which caused the aquatic priest to nod subtly.
Ling Yunpo held his breath and concentrated, silently observing, until the little demons left in unison. Then he secretly activated his Daoist Formula, wondering whether to strike with Polar Thunder, or swipe with the Five Elements Divine Light, or to wield the Green Duckweed Sword.
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“Esteemed Human Guest, now that you have come, why not step inside for a conversation?” the fish-man priest suddenly said, using a rather awkward human language mixed with many ancient words.
As Luo Yan had once studied ancient scripts at Yuqing View, Ling Yunpo was barely able to understand and was taken aback.
Has it detected me? Could it be pretending to be more powerful than it is?
Ling Yunpo involuntarily took half a step back, only to hear the fish-man priest speak again:
“Why retreat? Esteemed Guest may use Divine Sense to investigate. This old one’s Cultivation Realm, as humans call it, is but the lowly Marrow Cleansing Rank, certainly no match for you.”
This fellow isn’t trying to deceive me; it really has discovered me… Ling Yunpo thought to himself, then asked the Kunlun Mirror:
“Ah Jing, is there a Formation trap?”
“None.” The Kunlun Mirror answered promptly.
Ling Yunpo then prepared a Daoist Formula quietly, and said aloud:
“How did you discover me?”
“The flow of water,” the fish-man priest replied. “You are upstream, and the salt content in the water informed me of your presence.”
Ling Yunpo then entered the stone chamber, not bothering to look around, but stared directly at the fish-man priest and said:
“You demons… are rather peculiar.”
“We are merely struggling to survive,” the fish-man priest said slowly. “When the Demon Race retreated back to the Eastern Emperor Realm, our four ancestors were left behind by our kin due to injuries, and thus we have been healing in the depths of this lake.”
“This freshwater environment is not suited for our four clans to reproduce and thrive. In the past, there were rock salt mines by the lake, but even they are gone now.”
Ling Yunpo pondered for a moment, then said:
“I won’t beat around the bush… where is the sea Bodhi?”
“I will present it with both hands,” the fish-man priest said slowly. “But may the Esteemed Guest please wait and listen to my proposal?”
“Does the Esteemed Guest have a Sect? Only my clan can cultivate the sea Bodhi. Even if you exterminate my kin here, it would not benefit you.
“However, if you are willing to spare the lives of my clan, we are prepared to continue providing sea Bodhi for you in the future. This item means little to our Aquatic Clan, but for Human Cultivators, it has great use.”
“You surely have done your calculations,” Ling Yunpo said meaningfully, probing further, “What exactly is the use of the sea Bodhi? Explain it to me in detail.”
“Certainly,” the fish-man priest, seeing his softened expression, spoke warmly, “Humans undergo Core Formation, while the Demon Race undergoes Demon Core Formation. To achieve perfection, one must gather spirits of the Five Elements, none to be omitted.”
“The Metal Spirit comes from Ores and Secret Medicines; Wood Spirit from Herbal Plants; Water Spirit from True Liquid Elixirs; Fire Spirit from Fiery Flame Elixirs; and Earth Spirit from Earth Stone Elixirs.”
“This sea Bodhi, though it grows at the bottom of the deep sea, is actually the result of abyssal plants absorbing deep geothermal heat and is considered a top-grade Fire Spirit Secret Medicine.”
“Whether the Esteemed Guest chooses to consume and Refine it himself, pass it to friends or juniors, or even trade it with others, it would certainly be advantageous. Should you encounter Cultivators lacking the Fire Attribute, you could even make a substantial profit.”
Ling Yunpo listened intently as it detailed the benefits, his thoughts racing as he weighed his options.
Could what the fish-man priest refer to as “perfect Core Formation” be the First Grade Golden Core? Gathering Purple Mansion Secret Medicines rich in the Spiritual Energy of the Five Elements is the key threshold to forming a First Grade Golden Core?
Upon closer consideration, he indeed had consumed several Five Elements Elixirs.
The Mercurial Elixir Liquid, whose main ingredient comes from some rare ores, contains an abundance of Metal System Spiritual Power.
Golden Nectar and Jade Liquid, derived from the scarlet Vermilion Grass, is rich in the continuous and abundant Wood System Spiritual Energy.
The Millennia Stone Milk, formed from stalactites and stalagmites, possesses vast amounts of pure Earth System Spiritual Energy, although it is fraught with toxins.
Recalling these, he noted the distinct presence of Five Elements Attributes within their Spiritual Energy.
Indeed, now that the sea Bodhi’s Fire System Spiritual Energy was in play, four out of the Five Elements were accounted for, with only the True Water missing.