Chapter 606 - 86: Returning to the Monastery

Once they settled on the general course of action, all that remained were the details. Wang Ping, Yuan Zheng Taoist, and Ruan Chunzi discussed them until nightfall. Hu Qianqian returned about two hours later.

The remaining affairs in Mozhou Road were handled by Wu Quan and Gan Qi, while Zi Luan, like Wang Ping, remained above the fray.

Ten days passed just like that.

As late autumn approached, a dreary, continuous rain fell over Mozhou Road for several days.

On one gloomy afternoon, the sky to the south of Mozhou Road suddenly turned pitch-black. A powerful demonic aura surged between heaven and earth, completely devouring an even greater spiritual essence.

Without needing to be told, Hu Qianqian went out to investigate the situation.

Wang Ping sensed a familiar bloodline aura suffusing the demonic energy and already had a suspicion. Sure enough, the news Hu Qianqian brought back was that Gan Qi was refining a Magical Artifact array in the south. To this end, they had constructed a massive altar and offered up the spiritual essences gathered during the recent purge.

"They used a Demon Race sacrificial ritual!"

Hu Qianqian added after reporting the news.

Wang Ping wasn’t overly surprised. He simply said, "Get ready. We need to return to Qianmu Temple."

「Three days later.」

With the exception of Wu Quan and Wu Bing, who remained in Mozhou Road, Wang Ping, Zi Luan, and the others all led their respective disciples back to Nanlin Road.

Everything was normal at Qianmu Temple.

Three days after Wang Ping’s return, Shen Xiaozhu entrusted her disciple to him and entered seclusion, seeking an opportunity to advance to the Second Realm. She was already over two hundred years old, and her time was running out. She had to use this period of peace to find her chance for a breakthrough.

Wang Ping personally designed an aura-isolating array for her. After Shen Xiaozhu entered seclusion, he handed her disciple, Mu Yun, over to Xia Wenyi for instruction. It wasn’t that Wang Ping was being lazy, but rather that his current philosophy was ill-suited for Mu Yun. Besides, Mu Yun and Xia Wenyi had a good relationship.

In the blink of an eye, half a year rushed by.

Wang Ping’s Primordial Spirit cultivation had reached a progress of (43/100). His advancement could only be described as divine. At this rate, it would probably take him less than thirty years to perfect his Primordial Spirit, all thanks to the boost from the Divine Technique Formation.

On this day, Wang Ping was, as usual, using the puppets scattered throughout the Southern Cultivation Realm to gather real-time intelligence. The only recent event worthy of note was that Zhi Gong Daoist’s junior brother, Liu Shibin, had been transferred to the Hai Zhou Road Daoist Palace to serve as its chief presiding officer. Meanwhile, Wu Quan had been elected chief presiding officer of the Mozhou Road Daoist Palace.

The Earth Cave Sect had now seized control of the Daoist Palaces in two regions. This caused quite a stir throughout the Southern Cultivation Realm, and many people secretly cursed Wan Zhi Daoist.

Over the past half-year, Wang Ping had used his puppets to set up a Qi Fortune Array on a nameless islet south of Mozhou Road to attempt a divination. After a month of running calculations, there was still no sign of progress, and not a single one had yielded a result!

Just as Wang Ping was about to start a new day of divinations, Yuan Zheng’s figure flashed across the sky in a streak of light, landing just outside the small courtyard.

"Good news?"

Wang Ping asked in a low voice, seeing the smile on Yuan Zheng’s face.

Yuan Zheng chuckled as he walked into the courtyard. "I managed to buy two Third Realm Primordial Spirits for you," he said. "They’re Earth Dragon Primordial Spirits. I asked a merchant caravan from the Western Continent to bring them over a while back. I thought it would take several years, but when they heard the items were for you, they expedited the shipment."

As he spoke, he took out two pale green crystals.

Wang Ping’s gaze was immediately drawn to the two crystals. Just then, Yu Lian’s cry of delight echoed from the sky. "Woohoo~" She landed on the eaves of the courtyard house, making a swallowing motion. It looked like she had just come back from catching fish and shrimp in a nearby river.

"What are you guys talking about?"

Yu Lian asked cheerfully. As she spoke, she turned her golden eyes toward the two crystals and said in amazement, "I can feel two interesting little fellows inside!"

"Earth Dragon Primordial Spirits from the Western Continent. Have you heard of them?" Yuan Zheng asked, chuckling as he looked at Yu Lian.

"Oh, I know about them. I heard the Earth Cave Sect made their signature magical artifact from its spine, right?" Yu Lian replied, her tone tinged with a desire to show off.

"That’s right, it’s them!"

Yuan Zheng Taoist nodded. "The Earth Dragon is a treasure from head to tail. Its blood is often a primary material in sacrificial rituals, and its hide is tougher than armor forged from Earth Vein Iron Ore. They were once nearly driven to extinction for this reason. It was only after some branch factions of the Heaven’s Gate sect migrated to the Western Continent and began to raise them in captivity that the species was saved from disappearing completely."

"I think they’d be better off going extinct naturally than being raised in captivity!" Yu Lian commented quietly, landing on Wang Ping’s shoulder.

Yuan Zheng shook his head, not wishing to continue the topic.

As Wang Ping brought the two crystals before his eyes to examine them, he asked, "Is there any specific news about Chengxi and his people?"

"During a gathering a couple of days ago, young friend Liu Chang mentioned it briefly. Chengxi’s movements remain very secretive. Their faith-gathering is confined to two small, fixed islands, and it’s uncertain who they are in contact with in Lishui Prefecture."

Yuan Zheng answered Wang Ping’s question before offering his own insight. "I believe young friend Liu Chang’s parents are using him to declare their stance!"

"Mm."

Wang Ping nodded, not pursuing the matter further. He had primarily entrusted the affair concerning Chengxi to Ruan Chunzi for assistance.

Just then, Wang Ping suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart, causing him to frown. He subconsciously shifted into his ’Wood Spirit Form’ and gazed up at the sky.

The once-orderly Five Elements Energy of the world had become exceptionally chaotic. This disturbance tugged at the ’Heaven-Reaching Talisman’ within Wang Ping’s Primordial Spirit, putting him in a foul mood.

However, when he used the ’Spiritual Vision Technique’ to observe, everything in the world had returned to normal.

"What’s wrong?"

Yuan Zheng asked.

Wang Ping shook his head and asked in return, "Has anything unusual happened recently?"

"Not at all."

"Oh..."

Seeing Wang Ping lost in thought, Yuan Zheng decided not to disturb him further and took his leave.

After Yuan Zheng left, Wang Ping took out a pair of divination blocks, connected to his ’Luck-Borrowing Talisman’, communed with the Heaven and Earth Fortune, and cast a reading.

A Holy Trigram!

He stared at the trigram, thinking for a moment, then stood up, walked outside the courtyard, and cast another reading.

Another Holy Trigram!

"What’s wrong?"

Yu Lian rose up on a cloud and asked, "Aren’t you going to take a look at the Earth Dragon Primordial Spirits?"

Wang Ping gazed at the vast, cloudless sky and nodded. He then called to Yu Lian and used a ’Transfer Talisman’ to enter an underground cavern. The moment he appeared, the cavern’s Lighting Array and Isolation Array activated automatically.

After seating himself on a cloud bed, Wang Ping stared at the crystal in his hand, deep in thought for a moment. He then shifted into his ’Wood Spirit Form’ and, after communing with the Wood Spirit, crushed one of the crystals. Yu Lian had already reverted to her true form, coiling around the cloud bed with her enormous, slitted pupils fixed curiously on the crystal.

The moment the Earth Dragon Primordial Spirit emerged, the first thing Wang Ping felt was a heavy aura of resentment. He then saw the spirit try to cast an Earth Vein Technique to burrow into the ground. But with a single sweep of Yu Lian’s tail, its resentful aura was shattered, and the technique it was casting fizzled out.

Wang Ping chuckled. "Go easy on it," he said. "This thing is expensive—it could probably buy a tenth of Zhonghui City!"

Yu Lian, who had been about to strike a second time with her tail, immediately pulled it back. "Don’t worry," she said. "It’s not that fragile!"

Wang Ping turned his attention to the Earth Dragon Primordial Spirit. He summoned a pre-prepared Refining Array, activated it, and locked the spirit in the array’s core. Then, he communed with the Wood Spirit and began to refine it.