67: Earth Dragon Crystal, escape plan!

An earth dragon crystal!

It was the size of an apple, entirely composed of clear, yellow crystal, and contained a rich earth-elemental Spiritual Qi.

It was considered a top-tier, first-grade earth-elemental crystal.

This must be one of the Foundation Establishment Spiritual Items the Human-faced Snake Demon had prepared for itself.

Besides earth-elemental Spiritual Qi, this item could also provide a certain degree of protection to the flesh, blood, tendons, and meridians within a Yao Cultivator's body.

If one failed during the Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, consuming the earth dragon crystal could still preserve a sliver of life.

This item, when nourishing the Earth Vein Teleportation Talisman, would surely increase the Talisman's power significantly.

Furthermore, within the Human-faced Snake Demon's Storage Pouch, there were also three Medium Grade first-tier Magical Artifacts and over a dozen purple scale fruits.

These purple scale fruits were Medium Grade first-tier Spiritual Fruits that could be used for Alchemy or eaten raw.

Shi Chuan carefully examined the dozen or so purple scale fruits with his Divine Thought. After confirming there were no issues, he took one out and bit into it, the juice overflowing.

A faint, cool sensation rose from the pulp and merged into Shi Chuan's Sea of Consciousness.

This Spiritual Fruit had a nourishing effect on the Divine Soul and was a relatively rare fruit.

The Human-faced Snake Demon truly lived up to its reputation as a Qi Refining Perfection Yao Cultivator; the Spiritual Items in its Storage Pouch were basically all prepared for the Foundation Establishment hurdle.

It likely took a lot of effort to acquire these purple scale fruits.

Any Spiritual Fruit or Magical Artifact that could enhance the Divine Soul was extremely rare and scarce.

Soon, Shi Chuan finished cleaning up the battlefield. The Human-faced Snake Demon's snake bones could be kept and refined into a controlled Yao Puppet.

With the hunt concluded, Shi Chuan headed back home.

The losses from this battle were not significant; only the Corpse Crow, a high-grade Yao Puppet, had many of its bones crushed by the Human-faced Snake Demon.

Such injuries were not a problem for a Yao Puppet; Shi Chuan only needed to cast a spell to warm and nourish it for a bit, and it would recover.

...

At this moment.

Outside the Yellow Springs Demon Sect's Sect Protection Array, amidst the continuous mountain ranges, lay an inconspicuous mountain peak's core.

Liu Changfeng's body, as bulky as a mountain, sat cross-legged in a stone cave within the mountain, surrounded by numerous Yao Beast skeletons on the ground.

"Hmm?"

Liu Changfeng suddenly sensed something and took out a communication jade slip from his Storage Pouch.

"The Peak Masters of the Soul Refining and Corpse Refining Peaks are dead, several Foundation Establishment Cultivators are missing, suspected to be the work of high-ranking Yellow Springs Demon Sect members. Qin Zhizhi is possibly exposed."

"If any Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Yellow Springs Demon Sect seek help or defect, there's a high probability it's a trap. Inform the Golden Core Cultivators of the Jiao Demon Second Sect immediately."

"The Yellow Springs Demon Sect is in chaos; the time to attack the mountain may come soon."

After examining the information in the jade slip.

This time, Junior Niece Yu Jiao was truly reliable for once; this message came too timely.

He hadn't expected the situation within the Yellow Springs Demon Sect to deteriorate so quickly. The current Sect Master of the Yellow Springs Demon Sect, that old fox, was completely sitting back and watching the tigers fight!

He seemed to not care about the Yellow Springs Demon Sect at all. This current Sect Master had joined the Yellow Springs Demon Sect as a Guest Elder before.

Later, this Guest Elder barely managed to form a True Core. With True Core quality, he had the potential for subsequent promotions.

The Yellow Springs Demon Sect lineage gradually declined; the Golden Core of the Gu Family lineage was missing, suspected to have perished long ago.

Now, the Yellow Springs Demon Sect was usurped by an outsider Guest Elder.

This current Sect Master's Guest Elder status meant he was a lone wolf, with no Family to restrain him. The Jiao Demon and Purple Cloud Second Sects had long been secretly communicating.

After all, the Yellow Springs Demon Sect introducing such a Guest Elder was tantamount to playing with fire.

Indeed, they were now seeing the consequences of their own actions.

The most famous title of the current Yellow Springs Demon Sect Sect Master had always been Candle Demon Old Man.

This person possessed special Divine Abilities and extraordinary life-saving capabilities.

His talent in Puppet Refining was even more astonishing; he possessed a Medium Grade third-tier Fierce Puppet, which made the Golden Core Cultivators of the Jiao Demon and Purple Cloud Second Sects extremely wary.

If they couldn't completely eliminate Candle Demon Old Man,

Then forming an enmity afterwards, with such a Golden Core Demonic Cultivator lurking in the dark, was something they, the two Sects, absolutely could not allow to happen.

At this moment.

Liu Changfeng took out several more communication jade slips. Several of them informed Liu Changfeng that two Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators from the Yellow Springs Demon Sect wanted to defect to their Jiao Demon Sect, seeking a way out for their future.

"This..."

Liu Changfeng looked at the message Yu Jiao had just sent him.

Then he thought of the two Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators who wanted to defect, and a thoughtful expression appeared in his eyes.

This matter might be an opportunity for him to earn merit.

Immediately after, Liu Changfeng began to ponder whether he should report this to their Jiao Demon Sect's Golden Core Old Ancestor. If he could truly lure out one of the Yellow Springs Demon Sect's two Vice Sect Leaders and kill him,

The credit would definitely not be small.

Not only could it compensate for his previous failures, but he could also obtain a considerable amount of Sect contribution points.

"Junior Niece Yu Jiao's message might be a guess, but if it's correct, then..."

Liu Changfeng gritted his teeth. Even if it was wrong, there was no harm, and he could at least gain the allegiance of two Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators from the Yellow Springs Demon Sect.

Immediately, he decisively contacted the Sect's Golden Core Old Ancestor.

...

Corpse Refining Cave, Great Pagoda Mountain Immortal Cave.

Shi Chuan sat cross-legged on a Spiritual Plant cushion, with Yu Jiao, who had just finished transmitting the intelligence, standing before him.

"Master, I have delivered all the intelligence information to Elder Changfeng as per your instructions!"

Yu Jiao bowed and said.

"Hmm."

"I will leave during the Three Sect War. At that time, you will take Qu Linglu. Once this great war concludes and everything is stable, I will contact you myself!"

Shi Chuan ordered her.

The Earth Vein Teleportation Talisman could only take him alone. Yu Jiao, as a secret agent of the Jiao Demon Sect, also had a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator as a backer.

With Jiang Yuheng by her side, there would naturally be no worries.

Jiang Yuheng, possessing a Profound Wood Spiritual Body, was crucial for cultivating the Demonic Fiend Vine. It would naturally be good if she could live to supply it monthly in the future.

Whether a Golden Core from the Jiao Demon Sect or the Yellow Springs Demon Sect died, it would only benefit Shi Chuan; the waters would become increasingly murky.

And at this time, using the Earth Vein Teleportation Talisman to escape the Sect Protection Array and get as far away from the Three Sects' territory as possible was also the best opportunity.

After Shi Chuan dismissed Yu Jiao, he began to have the Demonic Fiend Vine absorb the Profound Wood Spiritual Energy from Jiang Yuheng.

It absorbed for a full two hours.

Shi Chuan cast a spell to sense his own Lifespan.

226 years.

The maximum Lifespan for a Qi Refining Cultivator was two hundred years; Shi Chuan had already broken through that.

His remaining Lifespan now exceeded two hundred years.

He still had a Foundation Establishment Pill, and Shi Chuan was confident he could advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage before the age of thirty, which would add several hundred years to his Lifespan.

Jiang Yuheng had already fainted on the ground, her face pale, her Profound Wood Spiritual Energy almost completely absorbed.

Shi Chuan knew very well that if he were to escape and then approach Yu Jiao again, his cultivation would at least need to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Next, he would refine Qin Zhizhi, making her the Artifact Spirit of the blood serpent pearl. Her Blood Spirit Body's Divine Soul was also perfectly compatible with the blood serpent pearl.

If he could keep the blood serpent pearl later, he could have Qin Zhizhi serve as the Artifact Spirit and Cultivate the Artifact Refining method.

Once an Artifact Spirit reached the fourth-tier Magic Treasure rank, it could condense a Spiritual Qi body and possess a long Lifespan.

A fifth-tier Magic Treasure could even reshape its Physical Body on its own, with combat power stronger than Cultivators of the same rank.

With Qin Zhizhi as an Artifact Spirit, she could also help him control the blood serpent pearl more easily and assist him in breaking free from the blood curse spell the Jiao Demon Sect had placed on her, preventing her from being targeted by the Jiao Demon Sect's old demons later.

It was a method with multiple benefits.

However, Shi Chuan's original plan was to refine her after he reached Level 10 Qi Refining.

But now the plan had changed; the Yellow Springs Demon Sect was no longer a place to stay. The Sect Master secretly lurking above, who knows when he would unleash a big move, could very likely affect him!

At this time, he could only take the initiative, striving to escape from the Yellow Springs Demon Sect within three days and successfully break out of the encirclement of the Jiao Demon and Purple Cloud Second Sects.