Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 107 - 105: Great Harvest (Seeking First Subscription!)
Chapter 107: Chapter 105: Great Harvest (Seeking First Subscription!)
As the saying goes, if you want a horse to run, you have to let it graze.
Zhouyang drove three "Golden Rock Sheep" to the border between the Desert Sea and the oasis. No matter how he urged them, these three Demon Sheep refused to step into the Desert Sea.
It wasn’t until a flash of inspiration hit him that he took out a handful of Tier One Spirit Grass, "Moon Dew Grass," which these Demon Sheep loved most, and tossed it into the Desert Sea. Only then did the three Demon Sheep start bleating and rushed into the sand to snatch the grass.
From then on, during his journey, he relied on using various low-tier spirit grasses and spirit medicines he harvested from the Spirit Medicine Garden to tempt the three "Golden Rock Sheep" deeper into the Desert Sea.
When he had driven the three Demon Sheep over a hundred miles into the Desert Sea, surrounded by endless yellow sand, these three Demon Sheep reluctantly followed his lead towards the Baisha River Oasis.
Herding sheep wasn’t particularly mentally taxing, so Zhouyang checked the storage bags of the demonic cultivators he had slain while managing the flock.
Carefully calculating, he realized he had directly killed three demonic cultivators, and the storage bag of the fifth-layer Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator he first attacked with the "Godslaying Needle" secret technique had fallen into the hands of the fourth-layer Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator whom he subsequently killed. Thus, he actually obtained four spoils.
This was the first time Zhouyang acquired the storage bags of real demonic cultivators. When he removed the spiritual marks they left and explored them with his divine sense, his face turned grim.
Most of the storage bags were filled with spirit stones, totaling over ten thousand, which was more than he originally had.
But besides spirit stones, there were mostly corpses.
There were male and female corpses, old and young, all sealed in ice coffins.
Through the ice coffins, Zhouyang could clearly see the remains of anger, fear, confusion, and bewilderment on the faces of the corpses, each expression almost revealing what the person experienced before dying.
Evidently, the owners of these corpses all had spiritual roots, and in life, they were either relatives of the four Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators or loose cultivators deceived and harmed by them.
These demonic cultivators carried the bodies of their victims not for remembrance but as "spare food."
The Blood Slaughter Demon Sect naturally had a secret technique to preserve the corpses’ vitality, using them for healing, refining demon pills, demon artifacts, or even cultivation.
The four Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators had accumulated twenty to thirty corpses in their storage bags. Zhouyang took out all these corpses, along with some refined demon pills and demon artifacts, and burned them all to ashes, including the storage bags.
The only things he kept, apart from the spirit stones, were some magical artifacts, spirit pills, materials of cultivators, and jade scrolls documenting knowledge.
These magical artifact materials, treasured by the four Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators, were not numerous, only about a dozen, yet each was a Tier Three treasure.
They included one Tier Three Middle-grade Spiritual Artifact, three Tier Three Lower-grade Spiritual Artifacts, a bottle of unknown Tier Three Spirit Pills, a set of Tier Two High-grade Array "Small Five Elements Maze Array," and about five or six Tier Three Spiritual Objects for artifact refining and alchemy.
Apart from these magical artifact spirits, Zhouyang also retained a Tier Three Middle-grade Demon Sword and a Tier Three Lower-grade Demon Artifact Shield, both made from metal minerals rather than human bones.
He kept the demon artifacts for his foster mother, Xuan Yu. Although Xuan Yu cultivated demon techniques, Zhouyang did not want her to genuinely emulate the demonic cultivators by killing for cultivation or artifact refining.
Therefore, he didn’t hesitate at all when destroying those demon pills refined with human blood.
No matter what Xuan Yu had done during her years of disappearance, the Zhou family’s three Foundation Establishment Cultivators decided to take her in with the resolve that she would never again engage in any demonic act, even if her cultivation could no longer increase.
On this point, Xuan Yu herself had already assured the three of them.
Zhouyang believed that for the sake of her two daughters, his foster mother would not commit such foolish actions again.
Since he didn’t lack magical artifacts to use currently, and there was nothing extraordinary about the ones obtained, Zhouyang chose not to spend time refining them. Instead, he planned to sell them later or donate them to the clan’s treasure vault to enrich the clan’s foundation.
Then, he turned his attention to the acquired jade scrolls.
The jade scrolls found in the storage bags of the four demonic cultivators numbered in the dozens, but only a few pertained to demonic cultivation techniques and secret techniques, likely because their cultivation methods were all passed down from Blood Demon Cliff.
Since their cultivation techniques and secret arts were passed from Blood Demon Cliff and they hadn’t encountered other demonic cultivators before, it’s natural that they possessed few demonic cultivation techniques and secrets.
Zhouyang selected the demonic techniques and secrets for review and found one secret technique that regular cultivators could also use.
This demonic secret technique, called "Soul Extraction Technique," was originally a vicious evil art used by demonic cultivators to extract human souls for refining demon spirits or ghosts.
However, Zhouyang knew that many high-level cultivators also practiced this "Soul Extraction Technique."
It’s not that high-level cultivators enjoyed soul extraction to create demons or ghosts, but that when hunting Tier Four Demon Beasts, those who practiced the "Soul Extraction Technique" could extract and preserve the beasts’ souls after their death.
A Purple Mansion Stage cultivator opens up the Purple Mansion, and the Divine Soul manifests and resides within, possessing various divine features.
When a demon beast reaches Tier Four, it directly condenses a Demon Pill, awakens its Lifebound Divine Techniques, and greatly increases its spiritual wisdom, forming a Beast Soul.
If a cultivator successfully extracts the Beast Soul of a demon beast, they can refine a special spirit talisman called the "Beast Soul Talisman" or imprison the Beast Soul in an artifact above Tier Four to form an "Artifact Soul."
The "Beast Soul Talisman" can summon a powerful Soul Beast, with the beast’s strength determined by the rank and type of the demon beast’s Beast Soul used in its refinement. Master Talisman Makers can craft "Beast Soul Talismans" that enable the summoned Soul Beast to utilize up to sixty percent of its original strength.
This means a "Beast Soul Talisman" refined from the Beast Soul of a Tier Four High-grade demon beast can summon a Soul Beast even stronger than a Tier Four Middle-grade demon beast.
The most remarkable aspect is that the "Beast Soul Talisman" imposes no requirement on the user’s cultivation level. Even a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator can easily use a "Beast Soul Talisman" refined from a Tier Five Demon Beast’s Beast Soul, making it the best lifeline for high-tier cultivators to provide their juniors.
As for the "Artifact Soul," it is even rarer.
A Tier Four artifact with an Artifact Soul may not match the power of a Tier Five artifact, but it can exhibit divine techniques possessed by the beast in its life and utilize the "Artifact Soul Transformation" technique, temporarily transforming into a demon beast to aid its master in battle.
In the Cultivation Realm, the normal price of a Tier Four High-grade artifact is around eighty to one hundred thousand spirit stones. However, a Tier Four High-grade artifact with an "Artifact Soul" can easily double in price, demonstrating the rarity of the "Artifact Soul."
Yet, integrating a Beast Soul into an artifact to form an "Artifact Soul" not only tests the artifact refiner’s skill but also requires compatibility between the artifact and the Beast Soul.
Generally, success is most likely when using materials from the beast’s original body to refine the artifact, but even then, the success rate does not exceed thirty percent.
In any case, both the "Beast Soul Talisman" and "Artifact Soul" are very useful and precious. Although Zhouyang is not yet qualified to craft these items, it does not stop him from preparing for the future.
Thus, even though the "Soul Extraction Technique" is a demonic secret technique, he chose to copy it separately and preserve it.
As for those true demonic cultivation techniques and secret arts, he burned them all to ashes, destroying them completely.
After destroying the jade scrolls that contained demonic cultivation techniques and secret arts, Zhouyang began inspecting the jade scrolls that recorded cultivator techniques and secret arts. This made him overjoyed, exclaiming that he had "struck it rich."
Indeed, he had struck it rich, and by a large margin!
Among the dozens of jade scrolls, there were seven cultivation techniques suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators. Excluding the four that overlap with the Zhou Family’s collections, Zhouyang acquired three techniques that can be cultivated up to the Purple Mansion Stage.
Additionally, in these jade scrolls, Zhouyang discovered a complete Tier Three Spirit Plant Cultivator inheritance and a complete Tier Three Beast Tamer inheritance.
These two inheritances are quite comprehensive, not only containing the experiences of various Tier Three Spirit Plant Cultivators and Tier Three Beast Tamers but also multiple essential magical techniques and secret arts for both professions. Among them, there was even experience left by a Wang Family Beast Tamer regarding the taming of "Golden Rock Sheep."
However, these two inheritances were not the most exciting and joyful find for Zhouyang. What thrilled him the most was discovering two Tier Three pill formulas, seven or eight Tier Two pill formulas, and many jade scrolls detailing alchemical experiences and techniques.
These pill formulas and alchemical manual, while not a complete Tier Three Alchemist inheritance, could potentially enable Zhouyang’s father, Zhou Xuanhao, to advance to a Tier Three Alchemist. That would mean the Zhou Family truly possesses a Tier Three Alchemist inheritance.
The importance of an Alchemist for a cultivation clan is undeniable. If the Zhou Family has its own Tier Three Alchemist, future Foundation Establishment cultivators in the clan will no longer need to beseech others to purchase spirit pills to aid their cultivation. This is invaluable!
"Indeed, without unexpected wealth, one cannot become rich; without night grass, a horse cannot thrive!"
Zhouyang looked at the jade scroll containing the Tier Three pill formula and couldn’t hide his joyful expression as he exclaimed in amazement.
Previously, the Zhou Family had expended countless efforts in vain to obtain a Tier Three pill formula, and even when offering a sky-high price of five thousand spirit stones, no one was willing to sell.
Those forces with Tier Three pill formulas guarded them like treasures and refused to share or sell them to others.
If not for his daring actions during the chaos—ransacking a cultivation clan with a centuries-old inheritance and slaying most of its upper management after they turned to demonic cultivation—the Zhou Family would have waited countless years and expended substantial effort to obtain a Tier Three pill formula!
The invasion of demon cultivators poses both crises and opportunities.
Had the Wang Family not fallen wholly into the Demon Dao and faced inevitable reckoning by the Yellow Sand Sect, Zhouyang wouldn’t have dared to audaciously plunder their clan’s Spirit Mountain.
Nor would he have swaggered away without fear of retaliation from the Yellow Sand Sect after slaying several Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Wang Family.
He’s not naive enough to believe his actions went completely unnoticed, but he trusts that given the current circumstances, and his crucial role during the crisis, there won’t be enough evidence or political will to hold him accountable. If Xiao Bufan returns and suspects him, it’s likely he will tolerate Zhouyang’s actions rather than chilling the support of other cultivators.
If even the gains from "demon extermination and dao protection" must be surrendered, who would dare risk their lives responding to the Yellow Sand Sect’s call to fight demons?
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