Chapter 73

Just like last time, an exceptionally powerful suction force emanated from the Spirit Dragon Pearl, sweeping through the recently deceased Silver-threaded Demon Carving King like a gale sweeping away fallen leaves, crazily extracting everything from it.

Flesh, bone marrow, a vast amount of blood energy, the massive residual spiritual power within its body, and even some unknown force that Ye Zhen was unaware of, instantly converged into a torrent, surging into Ye Zhen's body.

However, Ye Zhen's body was merely a conduit; the endpoint of this torrent of power was the first layer of space within the Spirit Dragon Pearl. Even so, just being a conduit was almost more than Ye Zhen could bear.

The moment the torrent of power surged into Ye Zhen's body, the meridians around his body immediately bulged like veins, and his entire body swelled as if he were a bloated toad. The extreme expansion of power within his body caused countless blood spots to burst on his skin, almost turning him into a blood-soaked figure.

In a state of utter shock, Ye Zhen, this time, had experience. The moment the torrent of power entered his body, he immediately sat down and began to frantically circulate the One Qi Primordial Art.

The One Qi Primordial Art operated at an unprecedented speed. The power flowing through his meridians rubbed them raw and hot, rapidly refining the torrent of power that filled his entire body. It was as if he were fighting for his life and also vying for power.

At the same time, the first layer of space within the Spirit Dragon Pearl also acted like a bottomless black hole, crazily devouring the torrent of power extracted from the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King.

Ye Zhen's cultivation rapidly increased.

Previously, even when Ye Zhen swallowed the Essence Condensation Pill, the increase in true essence in his dantian was like a drop of water from a cliff, taking dozens of breaths to condense a single drop of true essence.

But now, the true essence refined by the One Qi Primordial Art flowed into Ye Zhen's dantian like a small stream, and his cultivation soared.

Perhaps the demon beast rank of the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King was too high, its cultivation far surpassing that of the Phantom Snake King the Spirit Dragon Pearl had devoured last time. Or perhaps Ye Zhen's 'conduit' was too small, unable to handle too much of the torrent of power at once.

This time, the Spirit Dragon Pearl's absorption of the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King's power did not end as quickly as it had with the Phantom Snake King. The violent state of the power torrent seemed to continue indefinitely.

Ye Zhen's cultivation and the realm of the One Qi Primordial Art both soared.

True Essence Second Rank Mid-stage.

True Essence Second Rank Late-stage.

True Essence Third Rank, breakthrough!

At the same time, Ye Zhen's One Qi Primordial Art also broke through to the Fourth Rank.

However, the torrent of power did not dissipate, and Ye Zhen's cultivation continued to soar.

True Essence Third Rank Early-stage.

True Essence Third Rank Mid-stage.

As his cultivation continued to grow, Ye Zhen's One Qi Primordial Art, propelled by the massive amount of power, successfully broke through to the Fifth Rank.

Boom!

Like a bottle being emptied, a light sound followed, and the torrent of true essence extracted from the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King came to an end. The light from the Spirit Dragon Pearl in Ye Zhen's body gradually dimmed and slowly quieted down, as if nothing had ever happened.

The only difference was that the first layer of space within the Spirit Dragon Pearl seemed even more radiant. A majestic and awe-inspiring shadow of the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King stood within the first layer of space, raising its head and letting out a long, fierce cry as the light waves flowed, as if it were alive.

Ye Zhen did not immediately get up but remained seated, refining the residual torrent of power in his meridians. Although this residual power was small, its quality was extremely high, containing a large amount of spiritual energy.

Spiritual energy was a higher form of power than true essence. If converted into true essence, it would greatly benefit Ye Zhen.

After half an hour, Ye Zhen suddenly stood up, a flash of light in his eyes.

"True Essence Third Rank Late-stage. A pity, just a little more, and my cultivation could have broken through to True Essence Fourth Rank. However, with the purity of my true essence, the power of True Essence Third Rank Late-stage is enough to rival that of True Essence Fifth Rank."

As he spoke, Ye Zhen flicked his finger, and a gust of energy shot out from his fingertip, cutting a tree three zhang away in half.

The ability to release energy from the body was a unique characteristic of True Essence Fifth Rank cultivators. However, Ye Zhen, with his True Essence Third Rank Late-stage power, had achieved this.

To be precise, when Ye Zhen's One Qi Primordial Art broke through to the Fifth Rank, he could release energy from his body. The strength of the One Qi Primordial Art, a high-grade human-level cultivation technique, lay in this.

Moreover, with the ability to release energy from his body, the power of Ye Zhen's True Essence Sword Finger would become even stronger. The true essence that surged from the sword finger would directly transform into energy, making it even more lethal under the impetus of the true essence secret technique.

Ye Zhen estimated that with his current cultivation, if he encountered Jin Tai again, he still wouldn't be able to kill him under normal circumstances. However, if he hit Jin Tai, he could inflict some damage.

"Why did the Spirit Dragon Pearl remain inactive after killing so many demon beasts, but now, after killing a half-dead Silver-threaded Demon Carving King, it finally showed some activity?"

After getting up, Ye Zhen looked at the remains of the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King, a puzzled expression on his face.

Could it be that only a demon beast that was half-dead and then killed by me could activate the Spirit Dragon Pearl?

Shaking his head, Ye Zhen dismissed this somewhat absurd theory and began to ponder the possible common characteristics between the Phantom Snake King and the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King.

Suddenly, Ye Zhen's eyes lit up.

King!

Ruler!

This was the only common characteristic between the two.

Whether it was the Phantom Snake King or the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King, both were rulers among their kind. Could it be that only by killing a ruler among demon beasts could the Spirit Dragon Pearl be activated?

"It's very likely that this is the reason. However, to confirm it, I'll have to wait for another opportunity."

With this major doubt resolved, Ye Zhen reached out to the remaining corpse of the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King, hoping to find something. The moment his fingers touched it, his expression first froze, then turned to joy.

The reason for the freeze was that the remaining feathers of the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King immediately turned to ashes, even its claws and beak.

The reason for the joy was that among the ashes of the feathers, a pearl the size of an egg lay quietly.

A demon core!

The moment he reached out to pick it up, Ye Zhen's smile froze again.

The demon core in the ashes also turned to ashes the moment his fingers touched it. Ye Zhen then smiled bitterly, realizing he had been too naive.

The terrifying suction force of the Spirit Dragon Pearl had drained all the energy from the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King's feathers and claws, let alone a demon core, which was the essence of its power.

However, Ye Zhen was not at a loss.

Even a demon core of the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King, or even ten of them, could not match the rapid advancement of Ye Zhen's cultivation.

The leap from True Essence Second Rank to True Essence Third Rank Peak, almost two minor realms, would shock anyone. Under normal circumstances, even with a constant supply of pills, it would take Ye Zhen one to two years, or even longer, to achieve this.

...

Ye Zhen did not linger on the mountain for long. Although the name of the Silver-threaded Demon Carving King would suppress the area, over time, it would attract a large number of demon beasts.

Moreover, this was the golden time for Ye Zhen and Meng Xiaoyue to escape.

Now, as long as they took advantage of this gap to escape the Yin Mountains and blend into the city, even if more experts from the Lishui Sect came, it would be futile.

Besides, the Blackwater Kingdom was not solely ruled by the Lishui Sect.

Ye Zhen immediately took Meng Xiaoyue and, without rest, rushed out of the Yin Mountains, heading straight for the nearest city.

However, what shocked Ye Zhen was that he saw a wanted notice hanging on the city gate from a distance.

"Ye Zhen, a disciple of Qiyun Sect, not only abducted Meng Xiaoyue, the orphan of the great hero Meng Chuan, whose fate is unknown, but also brutally harmed Meng Chuan's mother, Lady Meng. Therefore, he is wanted, ..."

"The bastards of the Lishui Sect, framing me!" The wanted notice made Ye Zhen clench his teeth in anger. The only thing that made him feel relieved was that the seal on the notice was from the Yinshan County Magistrate's Office, not the Blackwater Kingdom's royal court, otherwise, it would have been a real problem.

Meng Xiaoyue, standing beside him, had already fallen into Ye Zhen's arms, her shoulders trembling.

However, at this moment, Meng Xiaoyue was much stronger than she had been a few days ago.

After wiping away her tears, she said something that made Ye Zhen's heart tremble.

"Through countless lifetimes, even if I become a vengeful ghost, I will destroy the Lishui Sect!"

Fortunately, the guards at the city gate were not very observant. Ye Zhen, after a simple disguise and with a half-month's worth of stubble, easily blended into the city.

After a brief rest in the city, Ye Zhen spent a high price to buy a silver-horned horse and galloped straight to Qiyun Sect.

Ye Zhen was in a hurry.

Partly because he was afraid of more pursuers from the Lishui Sect, and partly because the annual sect competition of Qiyun Sect was about to begin.

By participating in the sect competition, Ye Zhen could officially become an inner disciple and enjoy more cultivation resources.

However, just as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. After entering a city within the territory of Qiyun Sect, Meng Xiaoyue, who had been living in the wild for over ten days and had been traveling non-stop for nearly ten days, finally collapsed, running a high fever and shivering uncontrollably.

With only three to four days left to reach Qiyun Sect, Ye Zhen had no choice but to stop and seek medical help for Meng Xiaoyue.

What puzzled Ye Zhen slightly was that there was no wanted notice for him in this city within the territory of Qiyun Sect. Ye Zhen speculated that Qiyun Sect might have done something about it.

"The sect competition this year should be over by now. It seems I won't be able to participate..."

"If I can't become an inner disciple through the sect competition, I'll have to find other ways to become one..." Ye Zhen muttered, looking at Meng Xiaoyue, who was sleeping soundly after taking her medicine.

...

While Ye Zhen was treating Meng Xiaoyue, a group of people from the Lishui Sect entered Qiyun Sect with great fanfare. The first person behind the leading elder of the Lishui Sect was none other than Chu Jun, who had lost an eye!

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PS: I'm very sorry, I got stuck, and the update was delayed.

The plot is clear, but I couldn't integrate it perfectly. I spent a whole day thinking and finally wrote this chapter, but I still need to think more.

There might only be one update today, but if I figure it out, I might update in the middle of the night. However, brothers, don't wait.

I will strive for excellence in this book. Even if the updates are a bit slow, I will ensure the quality. Please understand!