Chapter 59

The essence blood immediately turned into a cloud of blood mist and drilled into the wooden boat.

A wailing sound echoed.

The Green Spirit Flying Boat instantly increased its speed by nearly half, transforming into a green streak and shooting through the air.

Xiaofeng, still unsettled, immediately rolled over, his back colliding harshly with the side of the boat, causing him to let out a low cry of pain.

Liu Ming, with a strong push of his arms, remained steadily seated without moving.

Zhu Chi, after casting his spell, plopped down on the deck, his face extremely pale.

Daoist Zhong, after retracting her hands, still looked worried and kept glancing back.

In a short while, the Green Spirit Flying Boat had flown over ten miles away. The sea of fire behind them gradually disappeared, and nothing seemed to be chasing them.

Seeing this, Zhu Chi and Daoist Zhong finally relaxed.

"It seems that the demon just awakened and is unwilling to weaken itself by chasing us. We four have luckily escaped a disaster!" Daoist Zhong exhaled lightly and said.

"Upon returning, we must immediately inform our Master Brother and send people to eliminate it. From the look of this demon, it has clearly just advanced to the Crystal Formation stage. If another hundred years pass and it consolidates its realm, the several sects will truly have a big problem." Zhu Chi said with a grim expression.

"Everyone knew that Realizer Fojiao had a Spirit Condensation stage intelligent red dragon by his side, but a few years before his passing, this dragon suddenly disappeared. At the time, everyone thought that Realizer Fojiao had reluctantly taken action to eliminate it to prevent it from causing harm in the world without restraint. Who would have thought that this dragon would hide in the underground fire beneath this island, quietly cultivating and advancing to the Crystal Formation stage, and secretly refining several spirit artifacts left by Realizer Fojiao." Daoist Zhong said with lingering fear.

"Fortunately, when we entered, the dragon was half asleep and half awake, and coincidentally in the process of refining the Fojiao Sword. This forced it to self-destruct the treasure. Otherwise, if it had obtained the spirit sword, it would have been even more impossible to subdue it." Zhu Chi said with a bitter laugh.

"But Cheng'er didn't escape this disaster. I don't know how to explain this to my Master Brother when we return." Daoist Zhong's expression darkened.

"Cheng'er's matter is indeed very regrettable. But there's nothing we can do about it. Who knew that when the dragon forcibly absorbed the cultivation method, it still had the strength to make the Fojiao Sword fly out from underground, causing it to self-destruct. Not only did it affect us, but it seems that the Nine Apertures Mountain suffered even greater losses. Dazhi's disciple, who was preparing to become a physical cultivator, also didn't escape this disaster." Zhu Chi coughed lightly and replied, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

Liu Ming and Xiaofeng finally vaguely understood what had happened.

It seemed that after Zhu Chi, Daoist Zhong, and the others entered the small teleportation array, they not only failed to find any treasures but also encountered a terrifying dragon, forcing the four spirit masters to flee in disarray.

When Liu Ming heard the terms "Spirit Condensation stage" and "Crystal Formation stage" mentioned in their conversation, his heart stirred.

Could it be that cultivators are not just divided into spirit apprentices but also have higher levels?

This was something he had never heard before and had not seen in any related texts.

At this moment, Zhu Chi and Daoist Zhong seemed to have lost interest in continuing their conversation. One of them just focused on accelerating the spirit boat, while the other sat on the ground to meditate and rest.

After about ten days, the group finally returned to the Man鬼 Sect.

As soon as they returned to Nine-Headed Baby Mountain, Zhu Chi had Liu Ming and the others return to their residences first, then went to the mountain top to find Gui Ruru.

A short while later, the scholar led the two of them and hurriedly left Nine-Headed Baby Mountain.

An hour later, on the main peak of the mountain range where the Man鬼 Sect's ancestral hall was located, the sound of bells suddenly rang out.

Subsequently, the spirit masters on various peaks, whether they were in closed-door cultivation or teaching disciples, were all startled and stopped what they were doing, flying towards the main peak.

The other spirit apprentices and outer sect disciples of the Man鬼 Sect were even more surprised, and for a time, there was much discussion.

At the same time, Liu Ming, who had returned to his residence, was deeply buried in his bedding, snoring loudly on the bed, completely oblivious to the faint bell sounds coming from outside the window.

The next morning, when Liu Ming woke up again, an outer sect disciple was already waiting outside, informing him that the scholar and others were looking for him.

Liu Ming thanked the outer sect disciple and immediately flew towards the mountain top.

When he entered the hall, the scholar, Zhu Chi, and the daoist were already waiting there, and it seemed they had just finished discussing something, all looking preoccupied.

"Salute Master Gui, Uncle Master Zhu, and Aunt Master Zhong!" Liu Ming stepped forward and bowed.

"Stand up. Congtian, I've heard from your Uncle and Aunt about your performance on Fojiao Island. You have done a great service to our mountain." The scholar smiled at Liu Ming and waved for him to stand.

"I dare not. This is what a disciple should do." Liu Ming naturally humbly replied.

"You don't need to say such things. Although our Nine-Headed Baby Mountain is relatively weak within the sect, we are clear about rewards and punishments. Moreover, I heard that Uncle Zhu said that they had already promised to give you one-tenth of the benefits they gained. In that case, I won't object. Uncle Zhu, please take out the items." The scholar smiled and turned to Zhu Chi.

Zhu Chi nodded, reached into a leather bag at his waist, and took out several items, placing them on the table beside him.

There were a red wooden box containing three emerald green round fruits and three pieces of black metal that shimmered with a cold light.

"These are three Tianqiong Fruits and three pieces of high-quality iron essence, each weighing one pound. Their value is roughly one-tenth of the total harvest. They are now yours. However, before this, I have two suggestions for you, which you can consider." The scholar said slowly.

"Please instruct, Master Gui!" Liu Ming suppressed his joy and respectfully replied.

"One suggestion is that you can sell these three Tianqiong Fruits and three pieces of iron essence to us three. You can probably get six to seven thousand spirit stones. With such a large sum of spirit stones, it will be enough for all your expenses within the sect for the next ten to twenty years, allowing you to focus on cultivation without worrying about spirit stones. The second suggestion is that I can help you send these three Tianqiong Fruits to the best alchemist in the sect and gather the necessary auxiliary materials to refine them into three bottles of Bone Washing Spirit Liquid for you. However, as a trade-off, we will have to reclaim the three pieces of iron essence. What do you think, Congtian?" The scholar asked with a smile.

"I choose the second option!" Liu Ming, upon hearing this, immediately made his decision without hesitation.

"Are you sure you don't want to think about it more?" Gui Ruru, seeing Liu Ming's quick response, was somewhat surprised and asked again.

"No need. I know my own lowly talent. Since the Bone Washing Spirit Liquid can have the effect of washing the bone and changing the meridians, I naturally won't miss this opportunity." Liu Ming replied resolutely.

"Good. Since you've said that, come back in ten days to collect the Bone Washing Spirit Liquid." The scholar nodded and stopped trying to persuade him.

Liu Ming was delighted and thanked him.

The scholar then asked Liu Ming some questions about his cultivation and dismissed him.

"Brother, now that Cheng'er is gone, do you really not plan to take this disciple as a personal disciple?" As soon as Liu Ming's figure disappeared from the door, Daoist Zhong couldn't help but ask.

"Although this disciple performed well on Fojiao Island, he is only a three-meridian spirit apprentice. Moreover, he has already taken a pill to increase his magical power, so he probably won't have much potential left. Even if he uses the Bone Washing Spirit Liquid, he will likely only reach the late-stage spirit apprentice level in his lifetime. It's not worth spending more effort to cultivate him. Moreover, the resources on the mountain are limited, and it's better to concentrate them on the few disciples with the best talent, such as Feng'er, so that our Nine-Headed Baby Mountain lineage has a chance to rise again. After all, only the number of spirit masters can truly determine the strength of a lineage." The scholar shook his head and said.

"But doing so is still a bit of a waste. This disciple's performance in battle is truly astonishing. If he can really reach the late-stage spirit apprentice level, he might have a chance to secure a core disciple position for our sect." Zhu Chi said.

"What use is just one core disciple position? In comparison, if our lineage can produce another spirit master, the influence will naturally be different." Gui Ruru insisted.

Hearing the scholar say this, Zhu Chi and Daoist Zhong exchanged glances and didn't say anything more.

"By the way, how should we handle the matter of the sea clan market? Apart from the three spirit fruits rewarded to Congtian, we still have thirty left, which should be enough to select one item from the sea clan market." Zhu Chi's eyes flashed, and he changed the topic.

"Yes, the opening of the sea clan market is indeed a heaven-sent opportunity that we cannot miss. It might even be possible to exchange for something ten or a hundred times stronger than the Tianqiong Fruits. However, those sea clan members are all extremely cunning, and in recent years, few people have been able to return from the market with great gains. Let me invite a friend with the Spirit Eye talent to go with us, which will increase our chances of success." The scholar thought for a moment and replied.

Zhu Chi and the daoist naturally nodded in agreement.

"Brother, I heard that Uncle Master has already emerged from seclusion and is rushing to Fojiao Island overnight." After chatting for a while, the daoist's expression turned serious as she asked the scholar.

"Indeed. Dragons are rare among demons, and every part of their body is a treasure. Moreover, this is a Crystal Formation stage red dragon. If Uncle Master can obtain some of this dragon's essence blood and find an alchemist to refine it into the legendary pill, he might truly be able to advance his cultivation. However, now that the people from Nine Apertures Mountain know about this dragon, the Spirit Jade High Priest will likely also take action immediately." The scholar replied slowly.

"Since two Crystal Formation seniors are taking action, the evil dragon will likely find it hard to escape death."