Chapter 364 - 348: Taking Stock of the Gains, News of the Demon Abyss

Chapter 364: Chapter 348: Taking Stock of the Gains, News of the Demon Abyss

By the time a Cultivator reacted, it would be far too late.

Qin Yuyan had undoubtedly been afflicted by this poison before.

She recovered after taking a Nine Revolutions Soul Reviving Pill, which meant the poison wasn’t actually that difficult to cure.

But in a real battle, where life and death are decided in an instant, being poisoned would be absolutely fatal once the effects set in.

Zhang Chi had his Jade Pendant for protection and wasn’t afraid of such poisons, but he could use it against his enemies when necessary.

At the same time, the poison was extremely rare and held great research value for him.

After tallying these gains, Zhang Chi took out the Demon Beast Materials he had previously obtained and sorted through them. He found that he had acquired quite a few Tier Four Demon Pills alone, all of which he could now openly use.

Finally, there were the Nascent Souls. Ten of them in total, each a priceless treasure.

Meanwhile, Zhang Chi performed a Soul Search on the souls he had previously extracted before feeding them to the Demon Souls in his Beast Soul Banner.

The Demon Souls from within the Demon Pills were also extracted, subjected to a Soul Search, and then thrown into the Beast Soul Banner—though not as food.

After the Soul Searches, Zhang Chi learned more details about the Beast Tide, as well as more secrets concerning the Heaven-defying Alliance.

He then immediately made an Imprint of the Heaven-defying Alliance’s secrets onto a Jade Scroll and privately handed it to Qin Yushan the next day.

He planned to use Qin Yushan to report this inside information.

As for the source of the information, he claimed to have obtained it by chance while performing a Soul Search on a Demon Beast.

Since the Demon Beasts were in league with the Heaven-defying Alliance, this explanation was just barely plausible.

He also asked Qin Yushan to submit it on his behalf without mentioning his name, to prevent the Heaven-defying Alliance from targeting him.

"Excellent, Third Brother. Don’t worry, I’ll report this information right away. This will be very useful to our Desert Divine Palace, and it’s also a way for my little sister and me to get some revenge on the Heaven-defying Alliance."

"Besides, the Divine Palace will definitely reward me handsomely for this. When the time comes, I’ll just take the credit; you can have the rest of the rewards! That’s already a net gain for me, so you absolutely mustn’t refuse."

Qin Yushan was pleasantly surprised and immediately agreed to Zhang Chi’s request.

"Alright."

Zhang Chi certainly wouldn’t turn down more resources, so he nodded at once.

"Oh, right. In the future, if you need to exchange for resources, Third Brother, just come directly to me. I’ll help you submit and exchange for them. You’ll save a huge amount of Merit Points that way. It’s much better than exchanging them yourself..."

Qin Yushan continued.

After listening to Qin Yushan’s explanation, Zhang Chi finally understood that the exchange and submission rates he had seen before were the external prices.

For members of the Desert Divine Palace, the prices were much more favorable. And even within the Desert Divine Palace, there were different tiers.

As one of the Palace Master’s Disciples, Qin Yushan undoubtedly had access to the best discounts.

Moreover, the variety of items Qin Yushan could exchange for was also greater.

Many of these items weren’t even available to outsiders.

With Qin Yushan’s help, he now had a direct line to the highest-level channels within the Divine Palace.

This would undoubtedly save him a vast amount of Merit Points and allow him to obtain more precious resources—a truly pleasant surprise.

Normally, however, Qin Yushan wouldn’t purchase items on behalf of others. This was explicitly forbidden within the Desert Divine Palace, and if discovered, even someone of Qin Yushan’s standing would be severely punished.

Fortunately, as long as they weren’t too obvious, they wouldn’t be found out.

"Alright, then I must thank you, Eldest Brother."

Zhang Chi readily accepted.

However, he was also aware of the risk Qin Yushan was taking. While grateful, he didn’t plan to use this opportunity carelessly.

"By the way, Third Brother, I’ve already recommended you to the Divine Palace, and they’ve given a response."

After that, Qin Yushan first transmitted the intelligence report before resuming his conversation with Zhang Chi, quickly moving on to an important matter.

"What did the Divine Palace say?"

Zhang Chi had no objections to joining the Desert Divine Palace, as it would help him obtain more Cultivation resources.

When he reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage, he would need to find a High Tier Spiritual Vein, which would certainly require him to join a major power.

’Since that’s the case, I might as well go all the way and join the Desert Divine Palace.’

’Of course, it will all depend on the situation.’

’If it doesn’t suit me, I can always choose to withdraw.’

At the same time, he didn’t want to come into contact with the three Palace Masters of the Desert Divine Palace too early, as they were far too powerful.

Fortunately, for someone like him who was joining midway, there was little chance of meeting them even if he wanted to.

"With my recommendation, there’s no problem, of course. Moreover, the Divine Palace is planning a major operation soon. They’re going to launch a large-scale expedition to develop the northern regions. This is a perfect opportunity for you to earn merit and prove yourself," Qin Yushan said with a smile.

"They’re actually going to develop the north?"

Zhang Chi couldn’t help but be surprised when he heard this.

He knew this was definitely inside information. Qin Yushan, being one of the Palace Master’s Disciples and treating him as one of his own, had told him directly.

"That’s right. The Spiritual Rain incident is very likely to trigger a major change. Developing the north is one of the Divine Palace’s measures to deal with it," Qin Yushan said with a slight nod.

"’A single punch to avoid a hundred more?’"

Zhang Chi’s feelings were complicated. He never expected that simply cultivating a Heaven-Reaching Tree Species would end up affecting the grand scheme of things.

"That’s an excellent way to put it, Third Brother. That should be precisely what the three Palace Masters intend," Qin Yushan praised.

"Haha, that was actually said by a great predecessor. They’re not my words."

Zhang Chi quickly explained.

"I see."

Qin Yushan nodded, then continued to discuss the details of joining the Divine Palace with Zhang Chi.

Only then did Zhang Chi learn that the Divine Palace’s rules were very strict; not even Qin Yushan could ignore them.

Therefore, Qin Yushan’s recommendation could only grant him a chance to compete fairly with the prodigies from the Central Continent.

Whether he could actually become a Core Member of the Divine Palace would depend on his own strength and fortune.

Qin Yushan felt somewhat apologetic about this.

But Zhang Chi was already quite satisfied.

This opportunity to compete fairly was already incredibly precious, something an ordinary Cultivator might never obtain in their entire life.

If he hadn’t saved Qin Yuyan and become sworn brothers with Qin Yushan, he couldn’t have even dreamed of it.

Besides, he was already very confident in his own abilities.

"That’s good. Then you’ll have to work hard. Try to raise your Cultivation to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage within a hundred years and accumulate enough Merit Points. Then you’ll be able to participate in the Demon Abyss trial."

"As long as you pass, you can become a Core Disciple of the Divine Palace..."

Seeing Zhang Chi’s attitude, Qin Yushan breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling he hadn’t chosen the wrong sworn brother.

He then gave a few more words of advice.

"Wait, the Demon Abyss trial? Does this Demon Abyss refer to the place north of the forbidden Black Desert?"

Hearing this, Zhang Chi’s eyes lit up.

"That’s the one. You know of the Demon Abyss too, Third Brother? It’s the border between the Demon Realm and the Immortal Cultivation Realm. It’s filled with countless amounts of Demonic Qi and Demons, as well as all sorts of Demonized Beasts."

"For us Cultivators, it’s an extremely dangerous place, but also a land of treasures. It’s even said that if the Demon Abyss and its surrounding areas weren’t enclosed by several lethal terrains, even our Endless Desert Sea, and indeed other regions of the Immortal Cultivation Realm, would be affected by the Demon Tides that erupt from it periodically!"

Qin Yushan nodded and began speaking with great enthusiasm.

’As expected of a disciple of the Desert Divine Palace Master, he really knows a lot. And the Desert Divine Palace actually has a way to get to the Demon Abyss! This is great. I won’t have to look for an Ancient Teleportation Array. I can just participate in this trial.’

Hearing this, Zhang Chi became even more certain that the Demon Abyss Qin Yushan mentioned was the one he knew of.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel delighted. It was as if he had searched high and low for something, only to have it fall right into his lap.

For years, he had actually been trying to gather information about the Demon Abyss.

But ordinary Cultivators, even Nascent Soul Powerhouses, knew very little.

Not even the Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Hundred Flowers Palace or the Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator from the Heaven-defying Alliance, whose souls he had searched, were any different.

Only now did he realize he had been looking for information in the wrong places.

’But on second thought, it makes sense.’

The Desert Divine Palace was the ruler of the Endless Desert Sea, and its three Palace Masters were Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarchs. It was impossible for them not to know about the Demon Abyss, and they certainly had the power to use it as a trial ground.

After hearing more from Qin Yushan, Zhang Chi immediately understood that the Desert Divine Palace’s Core Disciple assessment was held once every hundred years.

However, the content of the assessment varied. It was too late for Zhang Chi to participate in this century’s assessment, but the next one in a hundred years would be a trip to the Demon Abyss.

Once he passed this assessment, not only would he become a Core Disciple, but if he performed well, he could even become a disciple of one of the three Palace Masters.

Qin Yushan had achieved his current status precisely because he had performed well in the previous century’s assessment.

However, the trial he had attended back then was not in the Demon Abyss, and his knowledge of it came entirely from the upper echelons of the Desert Divine Palace.

Zhang Chi had originally been taking a wait-and-see approach to joining the Desert Divine Palace, but now, he immediately made up his mind.