Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 655 - 639: Demon King’s Internal Conflict, Rescue the Demon Amid Chaos! [Request for Subscription]

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"Phew, that was really close! If it weren't for this Black Gold Armor made from the skin of the Gold-Eating Rat, I'd probably have underestimated the enemy and gotten caught off guard today!"

On the barren mountain, Zhouyang stood up from the ground with a face full of relief, looking at the sand bandit corpse that had just taken its last breath, exclaiming about his luck.

This incident had taught him a vivid lesson—not to assume everything is fine just because the enemy has fallen.

Cultivators have strong life force, and the Cultivation Realm is full of amazing techniques and secret arts. One cannot assume victory until the enemy's head is severed or their soul is extinguished.

Just like moments ago, if this Black Gold Armor, made from Gold-Eating Rat skin, hadn't been worn ever since he obtained it, that Blood Arrow would have surely pierced him right through.

Even with this Tier Two Top Grade defensive inner armor protecting him, being struck from such close range with a Blood Arrow, his chest throbbed with pain, likely indicating a serious internal injury.

To avoid more trouble later, Zhouyang dared not linger here. He immediately consumed a healing Spirit Pill and dragged his injured body away from the barren mountain with his spoils.

Because of the fear of Foundation Establishment sand bandits patrolling the sky, Zhouyang dared not use any magic to enhance himself after leaving the mountain, relying solely on his physical strength to trek arduously through the wilderness.

Although this made his pace as slow as a crawler, it indeed provided great concealment, allowing him to evade detection several times when a Sword Light flew overhead, barely missing him.

After traveling in this manner for several days, Zhouyang's internal injuries were gradually healing due to the Spirit Pill, and he reached the famous Baisha River beside the Baisha River Oasis.

Using the river water of Baisha River to conceal his aura and escape was the advice his foster mother, Xuan Yu, gave him at the marketplace.

Cultivators in the Boundless Desert Sea, due to their spirit root attributes and cultivation techniques, generally dislike cultivating or residing in areas rich in Water Spirit Qi, nor are they skilled in Water Escape Technique.

This holds true for both Foundation Establishment Cultivators and Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivators.

When Xuan Yu advised Zhouyang to escape using Baisha River's water, she specifically gave him several Water Escape Technique spirit talismans.

Like the Earth Escape Technique, the Water Escape Technique is also a Tier Two Lower Grade technique, but in the Boundless Desert Sea, scarcely any cultivators practice it as it is practically useless in the desert.

Only a Talisman Maker like Xuan Yu would learn spells not aligned with her cultivation techniques to diversify her talismans. As a frequently used spell by cultivators, it's not surprising she would prioritize learning the Five Elements Escape Techniques and keep a few Water Escape Technique talismans at hand.

Today, the Water Escape Technique talismans, usually collecting dust in her storage bag, proved to be hugely advantageous.

Upon reaching the Baisha River, Zhouyang took out a glistening blue Water Escape Technique talisman and slapped it onto himself. His body quickly merged with the river, using its flow to escape downstream.

While escaping with the help of the river, Zhouyang several times sensed the powerful aura of Foundation Establishment Cultivators flying over the river, knowing these were the remaining sand bandits around Baisha River Oasis.

It's clear since the Baisha River Oasis houses not only the Chen Family's White Camel Ridge ancestral land and Golden Dawn Mountain Marketplace but also several other Foundation Establishment Families.

With the Foundation Establishment Cultivators from Chen Family under surveillance from Purple Mansion Cultivators, a team of ten-plus Foundation Establishment sand bandits was virtually unstoppable by any single family.

And with Ancestor Chen Yaohui and others hunting down Tier Four demon beasts, they clearly wouldn't return within half a month since these beasts reside deep within the desert, far from the oasis; else cultivators would've long exterminated them.

This meant that for at least half a month, these sand bandits could act unhindered on Baisha River Oasis.

Zhouyang was now confident that the Foundation Establishment families at Baisha River Oasis might have suffered the same fate as Golden Dawn Mountain, or else sand bandit Foundation Establishment Cultivators wouldn't be so dispersedly hunting down escaping cultivators across the entire oasis.

"Who knows how my foster mother and the others are doing; I hope everyone safely survives this ordeal!"

In some woods along the banks of Baisha River, Zhouyang hid within an underground cavern dozens of meters deep, worrying about his fellow Zhou Family cultivators.

At this point, he was essentially safe. If he remained hidden here for half a month and didn't come out, unless a Foundation Establishment Cultivator entered the woods and fully expanded their Divine Sense underground, no one could discover him lurking in the depths.

Considering this forest wasn't a spirit vein convergence, the chance was negligible enough to ignore.

With his safety secured, what concerned Zhouyang most was certainly his foster mother Xuan Yu and the brothers and sisters from the clan.

With his wealth of methods, he'd nearly died to the sand bandits while fleeing; how could his clan brothers and sisters, barely reaching mid-stage Qi Cultivation, fare any better?

Unfortunately, all he can do now is pray; there's nothing else he can do.

Nothing else he can do—it's quite literal.

Fearing the exposure of his presence due to the spiritual Qi fluctuations from practicing spells, Zhouyang even halted his daily spell cultivation. It was at this time that he finally had a moment to inspect the spoils he obtained after killing the three sand bandits.

After killing the three sand bandits, Zhouyang managed to find seven storage bags on them; two additional storage bags were damaged in the battle and their contents were irretrievable, so he didn't bother picking them up.

Among the seven storage bags he found, four had a volume of one zhang, and the remaining three also had a storage space of five chi each.

Inside these storage bags, Zhouyang discovered a large number of spirit stones, over sixteen hundred in total. It was evident that these spirit stones were plundered by the three sand bandits.

In addition to the spirit stones and magical artifacts, Zhouyang was surprised to find that the most abundant items were not elixirs, spirit talismans, or spiritual materials, but over a hundred books and more than a dozen precious jade scrolls.

These books and jade scrolls containing precious knowledge had a mark he was very familiar with—the outward emblem of the Yellow Sand Sect, a yellow gourd insignia.

Ordinary people might not know why the Yellow Sand Sect uses a yellow gourd as their emblem, but Zhouyang knew from the records left by Zhou Family Ancestor Zhou Yuquan that the Yellow Sand Sect possessed an extremely powerful inheritance spiritual artifact called the "Divine Sand Gourd." The divine sand released by this artifact is so formidable that it can even annihilate Golden Core Stage cultivators.

Recently, Zhouyang had gone to a shop operated by the Yellow Sand Sect in Jinsha Marketplace to buy some books in order to research a piece of black ore. Now, upon seeing these texts in the sand bandits' storage bags, he knew they were surely from the Yellow Sand Sect's shop.

He never expected the sand bandits to be so bold as to even dare to rob the Yellow Sand Sect's belongings!

Although it's just a shop managed by a few Qi Cultivation Stage disciples in Jinsha Marketplace, it's still the Yellow Sand Sect's property. Generally, even Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators dare not act presumptuously in that shop.

"Normally, although the sand bandits commit every crime, they still have a healthy fear of the Yellow Sand Sect, the major sect in the Boundless Desert Sea, and won't easily touch their things."

"Yet this time, these sand bandits broke this rule. It seems someone emboldened them to fear no retaliation from the Yellow Sand Sect!"

Zhouyang's heart sank as he suddenly realized that this sand bandit assault might not be just a simple act of robbery.

Indeed, while sand bandits usually work in small groups, seldom more than ten or so, with little connection between different gangs, this time it was different.

Not only were there more than ten rare Foundation Establishment sand bandits but also over a hundred ordinary Qi Cultivation Stage sand bandits.

Organizing so many sand bandits into one group isn't a simple task, nor something that can be accomplished merely by having high cultivation; it requires ample manpower and well-connected intelligence channels.

"Moreover, there's still the question of whether those Foundation Establishment cultivators truly were sand bandits!"

Recalling the performance of those Foundation Establishment sand bandits during the great battle at Golden Dawn Mountain, Zhouyang felt an even greater sense of foreboding.

He had a feeling that this oasis attack incident wouldn't simply end here, and that the cultivation realm around the Baisha River Oasis would not remain as peaceful as before.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of information, even though he suspected something, he couldn't draw conclusions without concrete intelligence and could only suppress these thoughts for now, waiting to confirm them in the future.

However, with the hundreds of books obtained from the sand bandits' storage bags, Zhouyang wouldn't feel bored in the coming half-month.

The texts released by the Yellow Sand Sect for sale naturally weren't anything too precious; they were some low-tier cultivation techniques, spells, and fundamental knowledge on artifact refining, alchemy, talisman making, spirit plant cultivation, and beast taming from the Hundred Skills of Cultivation.

This basic introductory knowledge and low-tier techniques were all available in the Zhou Family's Scripture Cave, so Zhouyang found no need to read them.

However, the dozen or so jade scrolls greatly attracted him. They were travelogues and autobiographies written by Foundation Establishment cultivators and even Purple Mansion cultivators, detailing local customs, strange demon beasts, treasures, and forbidden lands across the cultivation world, things he was most fond of reading in his spare time.

Moreover, in a black jade scroll, Zhouyang found the "Blood Arrow Technique," the secret technique the sand bandit used to ambush him.

This secret technique was unexpectedly related to the legendary demonic cultivators and was a secret technique of the Blood Demon Dao lineage!

On legendary demonic cultivators, Zhouyang knew very little, only that the techniques they cultivated were vastly different from those of orthodox cultivators and that their cultivation process supposedly involved great pain, with a high risk of going berserk.

The cultivation realm seemed extremely wary of demonic cultivators, with information about them tightly sealed. Zhouyang only knew that whenever any trace of demonic cultivators is found, high-tier cultivators would immediately mobilize to exterminate demons and protect the Dao.

He once vaguely learned from the autobiography of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had participated in a demon extermination battle that Demonic Cultivators are divided into several lineages according to the types of cultivation techniques. Among them, those who specialize in corpse refinement and control are called Corpse Demons, while those who specialize in soul refinement and ghost exorcism are called Ghost Demons. Additionally, he learned this time from the black jade scroll about the Blood Demon lineage.

The black jade scroll did not contain any records of the Blood Demon lineage's cultivation techniques, only three secret techniques associated with the Blood Demon lineage: "Blood Arrow Technique," "Blood Boiling Technique," and "Blood Escape Technique."

"Blood Arrow Technique" has the lowest cultivation requirement, and even a Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivator can practice and use it. However, without the support of the Blood Demon lineage's cultivation techniques, the power exerted by this secret technique in the hands of a cultivator is much less than when in the hands of a demonic cultivator of the Blood Demon lineage.

"Blood Boiling Technique" and "Blood Escape Technique" have higher cultivation requirements. A cultivator must have the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation to use these secret techniques.

Among them, "Blood Boiling Technique" is a desperate secret technique that temporarily boosts magical power by burning the cultivator's own essence blood, potentially increasing it several times.

On the other hand, "Blood Escape Technique" is an escape secret technique that also uses the burning of essence blood. Once used, it allows for a minimum escape of a hundred miles, making it not too difficult for a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator to escape from a Purple Mansion Cultivator.

After studying these three demonic secret techniques, Zhouyang could only lament that demonic cultivators live up to their dark reputation—not only are they cruel to others, but also to themselves.

A cultivator's essence blood is not just ordinary blood; it is the essence containing the three primordial energies: essence, qi, and spirit.

A Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation Cultivator doesn't even have enough essence blood in their entire body to fill a small drinking cup, and losing a drop would cause weakness for several days.

If the essence blood is excessively depleted, the cultivator's cultivation would regress, their lifespan would decrease, and if not replenished promptly, their path in Dao would essentially be finished.

Therefore, unless faced with a life-or-death situation, a cultivator would never expend their essence blood to perform certain life-risking secret techniques classified as forbidden techniques.

But from the jade scroll Zhouyang obtained, he learned that most of the spells of the Blood Demon lineage's cultivators involve essence blood, and the more essence blood consumed during the spellcasting, the greater the power.

Take "Blood Arrow Technique," for example. Based on the information Zhouyang saw from the jade scroll, if a Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation demonic cultivator of the Blood Demon lineage were willing to sacrifice all their essence blood to perform this secret technique, the power of the Blood Arrow would surpass that of an ordinary Tier Three Lower Grade Technique, catching even an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator off guard and potentially meeting their end.

For a Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivator to perform a secret technique to kill a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, even at the cost of their life, is astonishing enough.

From the time Zhouyang began his cultivation until now, he was aware that unless someone possessed treasures bestowed by a high-tier cultivator or the enemy had already suffered severe injuries and a drastic drop in cultivation, it is simply impossible for a Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivator to kill a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, or for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to kill a Purple Mansion Cultivator by crossing ranks. Even those legendary cultivators who possess Spirit Bodies can't achieve this.

The difference between the Qi Cultivation Stage and the Foundation Establishment Stage is vast, as Zhouyang, a Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation Cultivator, clearly understands.

In terms of something as simple as magical power alone, even without considering the quality difference, a newly established First-Layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator has at least five times the magical power quantity of a Ninth-Layer Qi Cultivation Cultivator!

With such a huge gap, how can a Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivator possibly cross ranks to counterattack?

"No wonder the high-levels of the Cultivation Realm have blocked information about demonic cultivators. If those loose cultivators, especially the sand bandits, knew about demonic secret techniques allowing them to defeat higher cultivation levels, it wouldn't be surprising if they rushed to practice them!"

"And once they practice demonic cultivation techniques and secret techniques, how could they not want to refine demonic spiritual artifacts and elixirs?"

"But is it so easy to refine demonic spiritual artifacts and elixirs? Casual use of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of mortal blood sacrifices for artifact refining and alchemy, frequent use of cultivators' essence blood and divine souls for alchemy—if such demonic cultivators were to multiply in the Cultivation Realm, what would the current cultivation world be like?"

Zhouyang thought through the key points, and a chill ran down his spine, almost prompting him to destroy the jade scroll in hand, erasing this harmful thing from the world entirely.

However, he ultimately refrained.

The reason he held back was simple: just like when he previously set traps to ensnare others, the means, whether sinister or righteous, can be used as long as they don't violate his inner moral baseline.

As long as he uses only the three secret techniques recorded in the jade scroll and doesn't practice demonic cultivation techniques, he doesn't have to worry about being influenced and harming others.

Anyway, there are elixirs to restore essence blood and primordial qi, not just those crafted by demonic cultivators. Among the elixirs refined by cultivators, there are those specifically for restoring essence blood and primordial qi.

Of course, Zhouyang had to admit he was particularly enticed by the effects of "Blood Escape Technique."

Although this secret technique comes with considerable side effects, the effects themselves are undeniably impressive. If he learns this secret technique after establishing his foundation, he can explore and wander the vast world.

In the following two weeks, Zhouyang stayed quietly in the basement, reading books. He carried plenty of Grain Avoidance Pills, so he wasn't worried about hunger even if he stayed there for half a year.

After more than half a month, Zhouyang estimated that the sand bandits should have quietly withdrawn, so he quietly went to the surface to investigate the situation.

Of course, for safety reasons, he still used the "Water Escape Technique" spirit talisman to travel via the water route this time.

Baisha River runs through the entire Baisha River Oasis from south to north. As long as the sand bandits have not left the oasis, Zhouyang can, by following the river, always detect the presence of the sand bandits.

Yet, until he followed the river to the northernmost side of the oasis at Golden Water Lake, he hadn't found any trace of the sand bandits, nor even a single cultivator, along the way. This finally assured him that those sand bandits had truly departed.

With the sand bandits gone, it was certainly good news. After confirming the truth of the matter, Zhouyang immediately rushed towards Golden Dawn Mountain.

Before escaping the marketplace, he had discussed with his foster mother Zhou Xuan Yu and others that if by luck they could escape with their lives and confirm the sand bandits had left the oasis, they could return to Golden Dawn Mountain to regroup.

At that time, everyone largely agreed on one thing: since the sand bandits waited for Chen Family Ancestor to leave the oasis before daring to attack, they certainly wouldn't dare occupy the spirit vein of the oasis permanently.

Therefore, once it was confirmed that the sand bandits had left the oasis, Golden Dawn Mountain, being the primary target of the sand bandits' first attack, was instead the most suitable location for their reunion.

However, when he hurriedly arrived outside Golden Dawn Mountain, the sight that met his eyes made him furious.

The mountain, which was once several hundred meters high and full of spiritual qi, had now turned into a barren land devoid of spiritual energy.

Not only had the spirit vein on the mountain completely disappeared, but the entire mountain had also collapsed and reduced by dozens of meters in height. The original buildings, flowers, and trees on the mountain were all gone, leaving only charred remains on the ground.

"Utterly insane, utterly insane!"

Zhouyang watched this scene with a steely expression, totally infuriated by the situation at Golden Dawn Mountain.

The importance of spirit veins to cultivators is beyond doubt. Generally speaking, in battles between cultivators, even in sect wars, they do not destroy the enemy's spirit veins—at most they occupy them.

After all, having an additional spirit vein allows one's own side to support many more cultivators; no sect or clan would consider having too many spirit veins undesirable.

Even with sand bandits, when they breached those small oases, they didn't destroy the spirit veins within them.

For the sand bandits know, without spirit veins to support other cultivators, they'd have no one to rob. Keeping the spirit veins intact also helps attract other cultivators to come, providing targets for their looting.

But now, those invading sand bandits at Baisha River Oasis have broken this taboo!

Zhouyang can already imagine what expression Chen Family Ancestor will wear upon seeing Golden Dawn Mountain turned to white ashes by earth fire!

The significance of Golden Dawn Mountain to the Chen Family needs no further elaboration. The largest source of revenue for the Chen Family was the marketplace here at Golden Dawn Mountain—a market infused with so much of the Chen Family's heart and blood, honed over several generations spanning hundreds of years, to achieve the prosperity and renown of "Jinsha Marketplace."

Now, it's all gone!

"The sky over Baisha River Oasis is about to change!"

Zhouyang looked up at the azure sky, seeming to see a storm brewing.

With Golden Dawn Mountain burned to ashes, Zhouyang and his companions certainly couldn't retrieve the storage bags they had buried, which pained him greatly.

It must be understood, those storage bags contained spiritual resources worth thousands of spirit stones.

Though painful indeed, with matters having reached this point, he was left with no recourse but to remember this debt in his heart for a later opportunity to reclaim it from the sand bandits.

In the days following, Zhouyang wandered around nearby Golden Dawn Mountain, hoping to find Zhou Clan members coming to reunite.

Factually, not only he was trying to find his clan members nearby, but other clans' survivors who also managed to break out of the marketplace similarly considered Golden Dawn Mountain as a post-battle meeting point, and were similarly wandering nearby in search of their clansmen.

He met with some people, exchanged information about the sand bandits with each other, and found that many seemed to perceive something from the sand bandits' series of unusual behaviors, with everyone somewhat secretive and reluctant to discuss the topic deeply.

Through four to five days of searching, Zhouyang successively found Zhou Yuanchun, Zhou Yuanzhen, and Zhou Xiong—three members of the Zhou Clan.

During conversations with the three, he learned that after everyone fled in different directions on the day, these three, due to their lower cultivation, weren't pursued by sand bandits specifically. After escaping Golden Dawn Mountain, they also found secluded spots to hide just as he did, only daring to roam recently.

Half past three thereafter substituting.

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