After he left, he secretly informed Huang Kai and Luo Pinghu. He didn't explicitly tell the more ambitious Zhou Tao, merely transferring leadership of the Alchemist Association to him.
Zhou Tao was naturally overjoyed. Having had such ideas already, he immediately connected with Zhao Shang.
That Zhao fellow was also someone who valued money over his life. Having worked at the Ice Snow Pavilion for years, the amount he had embezzled long exceeded thirty thousand spirit stones. But his daily cultivation and maintaining relationships cost far more spirit stones than someone like Wang Yu, who operated alone.
Accumulating enough capital to buy a high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill—thirty thousand spirit stones—was still beyond his reach.
These two greedy individuals would inevitably bring about their own doom sooner or later.
Extracting himself in time and putting distance between himself and the main sect was also part of Wang Yu's strategy to avoid disaster.
Back to the main topic.
After setting up the maze formation, Wang Yu moved into the dilapidated stone house left by previous occupants. The Direbone Lion corpse had some value; the longest bone spike on its back was a top-grade material for refining magical instruments.
It was worth at least two hundred spirit stones. The corpse itself was ordinary, but as a peak first-grade creature, even just as blood food for raising sinister creatures, it was worth over a hundred.
Killing two could earn him one high-grade Coldblooded Pill.
This was income quite difficult to obtain within the sect. If one truly wanted to earn cultivation resources, leaving the sect was necessary.
Of course, this was also related to Profound Bone Mountain being a relatively "fertile" resource site.
All three Profound Bone Mountains possessed second-grade Yin Veins.
Yin Veins were a type of spiritual vein, but the spiritual energy they emitted leaned more towards the Yin attribute. They often only formed in places with excessive death.
Logically, stationing Foundation Establishment cultivators here would be more reasonable. Furthermore, the previous rotation of guards at Profound Bone Mountain should have, in theory, cleared out the mountain.
They spent three months on the journey here, yet the mountain was quickly reoccupied by Direbone Lions and Rot-Poison Wasp swarms. This was a point of suspicion.
Therefore, even though Wang Yu could easily kill the Direbone Lions, he didn't let his guard down in the slightest, planning to advance slowly and guard against any subtle changes.
After all, there were still over four months until the flowering season!
Due to differences in collection time and growth environment, the flowering intervals between Bonewood trees varied. Every year, a portion of the Bonewood trees would bloom.
Four months was enough for him to secure two levels for his own use.
And so.
One month later.
"Ice Coffin Curse - Icy Wind Assault!"
Having cultivated the spell to Perfection, beyond its raw power, Wang Yu could also make slight modifications to its basic form.
Just like now.
The Ice Coffin Curse, which should have created six ice crystal walls to form a restraining coffin, was subtly reshaped by Wang Yu. The six ice walls surrounded a swarm of Rot-Poison Wasps.
The ice crystals vibrated incessantly, countless ice spikes shooting out from the walls accompanied by gusts of freezing wind. The originally troublesome swarm was, after this ordeal, almost entirely turned into frozen lumps, shattering upon hitting the ground.
Their rot-poison had no effect on spell-based spiritual power!
He effortlessly resolved a major nuisance.
This modification was something he couldn't achieve during his fight with Xu Jiaojiao. It was a change born from multiple battles and adapting to the environment. This was what was called combat experience.
Transforming a troublesome fight into a sweeping victory.
Combat skill was a crucial factor affecting a cultivator's strength. Wang Yu was adapting more and more, while others were suffering immensely.
Especially the disciples under Gu Zhengshun.
The Copper Armored Corpses they controlled had Corpse Qi condensed into mountain-ridge-like bronze armor covering their surfaces. While it seemed like a natural talent of the Armored Corpses, disciples with family resources
would purchase some Mysterious Iron for their corpses to refine and fuse with their innate Corpse Armor, raising their defense to a higher level.
This method, originally meant to enhance the Armored Corpses, backfired when they encountered the Rot-Poison Wasps. Not only did their defense plummet, but the Corpse Qi constituting the armor was also damaged along with it.
A month had passed, and they had only secured three sites with second-grade Profound Essence Flower growth. Their efficiency was abysmally slow, also related to their low cultivation levels.
Twenty people, the lowest at the third level of Qi Refining, the highest only at the sixth level, the same as Gu Zhengshun. It was difficult to generate efficiency.
Wang Yu, on the other hand, had already secured two levels, with nine second-grade Bonewood trees bearing flower buds. He was currently preparing to take a third level. With his abilities, patrolling three levels daily was sufficient.
In the following years, different Bonewood trees would grow flower buds each year. He just needed to guard them to reap the harvest!
On this day, during his routine cultivation,
Gu Zhengshun came riding on his coffin lid, flying straight to Wang Yu's level. Seeing the two levels devoid of any wasp swarms or Direbone Lions, a hint of envy flashed in his eyes. He called out from a distance:
"Junior Brother Wang, I have a matter to discuss."
As a path opened in the Blood Mist formation, Gu Zhengshun walked in without hesitation. Seeing Wang Yu standing before the stone house, he got straight to the point.
"We have trouble."
Wang Yu was also somewhat surprised upon hearing this.
"What do you mean?"
"It's Liu Jinxian."
Among the three Mountain Masters of Profound Bone Mountain, Liu Jinxian was the strongest.
She also had the most subordinates. In one month, she had already cleared out her entire Profound Bone Mountain. Her nearly three hundred subordinates had nothing to do and had set their sights on Gu Zhengshun's territory.
"Initially, she just sent a message, hoping we would capture the Rot-Poison Wasp swarms from our mountain alive and hand them over to her. I refused, citing insufficient manpower.
"Now she wants to send her subordinates to help me 'clean up' this Profound Bone Mountain. If she gains a foothold here, the territories her people secure will belong to them..."
Wang Yu frowned deeply. This situation was almost predictable and not strange. The problem lay with Gu Zhengshun himself.
"And then? Didn't you prepare any countermeasures, any way to balance against the other two Mountain Masters? Did you come here just to be someone else's prey in a different location?"
Gu Zhengshun immediately looked embarrassed and explained:
"The Gu family was once a Foundation Establishment family, but after our ancestor fell, we've declined to a Qi Refining family. The reason I could become a disciple of an inner sect Foundation Establishment steward from the Heavenly Corpse Peak was because my master owed my ancestor a favor.
"The Gu family's resources are far inferior to the Liu family's. If she forces the issue, I can only rely on you."
"Rely on me?"
Wang Yu couldn't help but let out a scornful laugh, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Gu Zhengshun. "I, Wang, am just an ordinary fifth-level Qi Refining cultivator. If you, Brother Gu, are counting on me as your hidden trump card, you've miscalculated."
"If Liu Jinxian is truly that aggressive, why wouldn't I just raise the white flag? Surrender. It's not a big deal."
Gu Zhengshun said bitterly,
"If Junior Brother Wang is determined to do so, I have nothing more to say. Ah... so be it."
Watching the other man's departing figure, Wang Yu's expression shifted uncertainly.
His cooperation with this man was primarily a matter of circumstance, coupled with Gu Zhengshun's not overly high strength, which gave Wang Yu confidence he could control him. Hence, he exchanged the Mountain Master Token and could also hide himself in the process.
He had thought that with a Core Formation master's master behind him, Gu Zhengshun would have some capability. Who knew he was a paper tiger?
But the situation didn't quite seem to fit. Giving up so easily wasn't the style of a demonic cultivator.
"Unless... Gu Zhengshun didn't come to Profound Bone Mountain for the Profound Essence Flowers."
Wang Yu muttered to himself, beginning to ponder every step Gu Zhengshun had taken since arriving at Profound Bone Mountain.
Inspection, setting up formations, burying corpses, slowly securing territory.
None of it seemed problematic. Steady and methodical!
**(End of Chapter)**