The area around Profound Bone Mountain was located in the northern part of [Maple Province], close to the Endless Ice Plains. The rock and soil were dark and mysterious, mostly barren lands where not a blade of grass grew.
These caves were likely unique landforms carved out by the north wind howling year-round, open at both ends. How could demonic beasts and exotic insects emerge from them?
After noticing this inconsistency, Wang Yu traced the source and ultimately discovered these creatures all came from underground, from beneath Profound Bone Mountain itself!
This discovery immediately made him think of Gu Zhengshun's abnormal behavior.
He wasn't in a hurry to report it. If he could discover it, Liu Jinxian's larger group would surely know as well. They might have already sent people to investigate the bottom of those caves.
His most important task now was to experience the effect of the Profound Essence Flowers, to see if they were as good as Gu Zhengshun claimed.
After harvesting, Wang Yu had nine second-grade Profound Essence Flowers and nearly three hundred first-grade ones. He stored them properly in jade boxes and pill bottles. This quantity was more than enough for his personal use.
The Profound Essence Flowers were snow-white in color, resembling blooming peach blossoms, petal by petal, with exquisite bone patterns growing on them, very similar to the patterns on the Rot-Poison Wasps.
He took out one first-grade Profound Essence Flower, swallowed it, and began circulating his technique.
This external, gentle force seeped into the mass of spiritual power in Wang Yu's dantian. As his technique circulated, it followed the spiritual power through cycle after cycle. After completing a full Great Zhou Tian circuit through the meridians and returning,
the hundreds of strands of spiritual power he was manipulating had decreased slightly in quantity, but their quality had noticeably improved.
At this rate, three hundred first-grade Profound Essence Flowers could help him complete the second spiritual refinement, breaking through the bottleneck from the middle to the late stage of Qi Refining, condensing his spiritual power from "strands" into "bundles"!
One bundle of spiritual power was equivalent to a hundred strands of the previous unit, a difference in measure.
But he was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining now. While premature spiritual refinement was possible, there was no rush.
Only—
"Three hundred first-grade Profound Essence Flowers just to help someone break through the late Qi Refining bottleneck? Isn't that consumption too high?"
According to Gu Zhengshun, ten flowers were enough to help a Qi Refining cultivator complete the transformation from "strands" to "bundles." Yet he felt he needed three hundred.
If the other wasn't lying, the only difference between them was...
"Spiritual Root!"
Thinking of this, Wang Yu's expression turned somewhat gloomy. He swallowed another Profound Essence Flower. This time, while circulating his technique, he also released a large amount of spiritual sense to perceive the subtle changes within his body.
A short while later.
He ended his cultivation session in low spirits, sighing inwardly.
"果然 (Sure enough), it's because of the spiritual root."
When the efficacy of the Profound Essence Flower took effect, more than half of it leaked out, dispersing into some of the finer branch meridians in his body before being expelled.
His Five Element Waste Spiritual Root was too short; the amount of medicinal efficacy it could convert was limited. This issue wasn't just limited to the absorption of Profound Essence Flowers.
Pills were actually the same. However, because he had been consuming only top-grade spirit pills, he had never noticed the spiritual root problem before.
He should have realized the issue back when he purchased his first high-grade Coldblooded Pill. But at that time, he was preoccupied with various matters and had little time to digest the pill's effects. The poor improvement in cultivation made him think it was due to his own lack of diligence.
"The price of top-grade spirit pills far exceeds other grades for a reason. Their medicinal properties can be fully absorbed even by someone with my aptitude. They are truly different!"
So Gu Zhengshun only needed ten flowers to break through to the late Qi Refining stage, and only ten second-grade flowers to semi-liquefy his spiritual power into true essence.
While he, Wang Yu, needed three hundred!
This meant that even the highly sought-after high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills would be basically useless to him. Only a top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill could increase his chances of successfully establishing a foundation.
No wonder there were no historical records of someone with a Waste Spiritual Root achieving Foundation Establishment.
By all rights, he should have struggled to even break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining. Yet he had reached the fifth level of Qi Refining within a few years, entirely relying on the power of the placement slots.
Defying fate and changing one's destiny, how difficult it is!
Just looking at the situation in the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, top-grade Foundation Establishment Pills were practically unheard of. It wasn't a matter of simply refining a low-grade Reverse Blood Pill to top-grade.
Pills like the Foundation Establishment Pill, Core Formation Golden Pill, Nascent Soul Condensation Pill... these pills that assist in breaking through major realms have different formulas depending on the inheritance.
The low-grade one is called Reverse Blood Pill, the mid-grade is called Blood Spirit Pill, the high-grade is called Mortal Shedding Pill. These are all Foundation Establishment Pills, yet their refining methods and formulas have no relation to each other.
The Reverse Spirit Blood Sect simply did not possess the formula for a top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.
Therefore, his options were either to prepare three hundred high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills and consume them like candy, relying on quantity to win, or to obtain a demonic path secret art capable of reversing his aptitude, fundamentally changing everything.
As for top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill formulas, none of the major powers seemed to have them.
"Perhaps the method of seizing spiritual roots is the most reliable option."
As for whether the placement slots could help him overcome this hurdle, he wasn't actually sure, as he hadn't tried it.
Theoretically, they could.
How long it would take was unknown. After all, the placement slots were like another version of him, cultivating something twenty-four hours a day, essentially identical to him in nature.
It was just that due to the placement slots' effect, every attempt yielded some gain. According to this rule, he could brute-force his way through.
A heavy burden pressed on his heart. Wang Yu stood quietly in front of the stone house,梳理 (sorting out) his state of mind while waiting for news from Liu Jinxian's side.
No matter what, he had to cross all the hardships and obstacles. And then... return to Stone Lake City!
And so, most of the day passed.
A disciple from the Gu Poison Peak flew over and knocked on the outer layer of the formation.
"Senior Brother Wang, Senior Sister Liu summons you."
"Coming."
There was no time to lament these difficulties. All he could do was clear a path through thorns and thistles. There was an unknown opportunity beneath Profound Bone Mountain, and he was determined to explore it.
Another incense stick's time later.
About ten *li* from Profound Bone Mountain, in front of an unnamed cave.
Liu Jinxian was waiting with eighteen late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Seeing Wang Yu arrive, she directly signaled.
"Let's go."
They couldn't break Gu Zhengshun's formation, and Si Tu Hong was unwilling to get involved. But when she shifted her attention from the mountain itself to the secrets underground,
she naturally discovered that the wasp swarms and Direbone Lions came from below!
There might be a connection between the two.
In the crowd, Su Qingshan gave Wang Yu a friendly smile. Wang Yu responded with a strange smile of his own. Both were well aware of the situation regarding Xu Jiaojiao.
As for how to deal with it, Wang Yu leaned more towards killing this scoundrel.
If Zhao Shang was a venomous snake, still lying in wait, then this Su Qingshan was the cuckoo that occupied the magpie's nest—both petty and vicious, inevitably scheming against him.
At this moment, Su Qingshan felt a surge of delight upon seeing Wang Yu.
Five months ago, after learning the other had secured two levels of the mountain, he had done the calculations. It was just after the harvest, and the flowers likely hadn't been refined yet.
Hundreds of Profound Essence Flowers, including many second-grade ones, were enough for him to take a risk.
Considering Xu Jiaojiao died at Wang Yu's hands, bringing a few more helpers to ensure success, then splitting the profits, made for a good plan. This trip would surely present many opportunities.
Little did he know, Wang Yu was thinking the same. He eyed the bulging pouches of these Gu Poison Peak disciples. Having consumed the resources of two mountains, they might have gathered even more second-grade Profound Essence Flowers.
Soon.
Deep inside the unnamed cave, a bottomless pit, several *zhang* wide, came into view. A disciple stepped forward and reported.
"Senior Sister Liu, those demonic beasts come from this hole."
**(End of Chapter)**
1 zhang = 3.33 meters