337: Misty Valley, Serpent Demon

The army marched in a grand procession, with a Third-rank Low-grade sword shadow flowing light flying boat stationed in the center; that was Shen Yunshu's personal vessel.

This large Third-rank Low-grade Flying Boat had a total value exceeding three million Spirit Stones, and when combined with the Spirit Stones and various installations stored inside, it approached five million Spirit Stones.

Given Shen Yunshu's status and standing, a Third-rank Low-grade Flying Boat was somewhat unworthy of her, especially since even Liu Xuan had managed to get one.

As a Late Golden Core Great True Person and one of the four great Sword-Wielders of the Heavenly Sword Sect's Sword Pavilion, her financial resources were absolutely on a completely different level than Liu Xuan's.

The reason she was so frugal was mainly that she had used most of her Spirit Stones to develop her industries. The Heavenly Sword Sect, fearing she might abscond with the funds, placed her industries under supervision, resulting in her having little liquid capital.

For the sake of battlefield safety, she had already reserved a Third-rank High-grade thunder beast flying ship worth fifty million from the Beast Taming Sect. However, large Flying Boats were currently in high demand, and even if they were in stock, there was no telling when it would be her turn.

That third-rank flying boat of Liu Xuan's was actually, in name, Shen Yunshu's, because it was the personal vessel she had configured for Yue Li, which had simply been requisitioned by Liu Xuan...

Shen Yunshu was truly generous to Yue Li; she had paid the five million Spirit Stone tribute for her, plus the Third-rank Low-grade sword shadow flowing light flying boat—that was ten million Spirit Stones spent on her alone!!

Shen Yunshu was preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul True Lord Realm, which required consuming vast amounts of Spirit Stones for her own cultivation, as well as accumulating massive resources for Nascent Soul Formation treasures. Spirit Stones were incredibly precious to her; being able to do this much showed it was no ordinary affection!

The original body, Wang Qiao, stood at the front of the Flying Boat, with Xiao Changfeng and Shen Yunshu beside him; the three of them gazed out at the mountains and rivers constantly receding below.

Countless adventuring Cultivators from the Beast Taming Sect and Yao Beasts from the Demon Court were intermingled in the frontline area, and one could see small-scale battles from time to time.

Some Cultivators did not like moving with the main army, preferring to linger on the front lines to adventure alone or in small teams.

The benefit was that all gains were their own, and with good luck, they could obtain great Opportunities. The downside was higher danger; once they encountered a high-Rank Yao Beast, there was absolutely no retreat.

The number of these lone wolves was not small, accounting for at least thirty percent of the total number of Beast Taming Sect Cultivators, and all of them were individuals with outstanding combat abilities.

As long as one was confident enough in their own combat strength, adventuring alone on the front lines was actually safer than following the main army. The entire front line was incredibly vast, so the probability of encountering a high-Rank Yao Beast was not that high. If one knew advanced camouflage or concealment Spells, it was even safer!

It was different when following the main army; winning battles was pleasant, as one could pick up merit points for free, but it was miserable during losing battles. Ordinary Cultivators were just cannon fodder, perhaps not even having room to struggle.

The army arrived, carrying rolling Evil Qi, and Cultivators and Yao Beasts along the way retreated one after another.

Shen Yunshu ignored these minor characters and flew straight ahead, soon arriving at a cold and damp valley.

Ghost Mist Valley!

The area around the valley was filled with towering trees and extremely lush vines that blocked out the sunlight.

The valley was shrouded in thick, gray-black mist, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.

Liu Xuan's vision pierced through the gray mist, seeing that the valley floor was barren, extremely smooth, and filled with holes everywhere, along with countless... black snakes!

Occupying this place was a nest of snake Yao; they were not Yao Race reinforcements from the Demon Court, but a local Yao Race that had lived here for hundreds of years.

"Hum~"

Shen Yunshu flew to the front of the army formation, and without any wasted words, a heaven-reaching Sword Qi slashed down toward the valley.

"Sss-sss-sss~"

Upon encountering the Sword Qi, the gray-black mist seemed to meet a red-hot branding iron, becoming vaporized, evaporated, and dissipated.

Ghost Mist Valley only had a Second-Rank High Grade Spiritual Vein, and the Snake King, the highest Realm among this group of snake Yao, was only at the Foundation Establishment Peak, unable to even block a casual sword strike from Shen Yunshu.

Having broken the snake Yao's poison mist array, Shen Yunshu commanded: "Surround the valley, slaughter the snake Yao, leave none alive!"

The army spread out to both sides of the valley, surrounding it completely, as the army fiends' Evil Qi clashed with the remaining gray-black poison mist.

The Beast Taming Sect army was now outside the range of the Earth Vein Grand Array, so the power of the army fiends was somewhat weakened; conversely, Ghost Mist Valley was located within the Peach Blossom Sect's Earth Vein Grand Array, which provided it with support.

Although there was a disparity in strength between the two sides, due to the home-field array, the snake Yao did not collapse at the first touch.

With something like an Earth Vein Grand Array, the defending side in a war always held some advantages. The reason the Peach Blossom Sect had been able to hold out for so long, despite clearly having less strength than the Beast Taming Sect, was precisely because of this.

However, that was as far as it went. The support of the Earth Vein Grand Array could allow the Ghost Mist Valley snake Yao to block ordinary Golden Core True Persons, but it could not block a Late Golden Core Great True Person like Shen Yunshu, not to mention there was an army of tens of thousands of Cultivators.

"Hiss-hiss~"

One snake Yao after another was killed by the Cultivator army, and the poison mist they sprayed was blocked by the army fiends' Evil Qi.

It was a standard winning battle, a one-sided slaughter, and there were almost no casualties among the Cultivator army, except for some hotheaded youths vying for merit points.

Except for that initial sword strike, Shen Yunshu did not make another move. Watching the intense battle below, she said:

"A Second-Rank Spirit Land like this is easy to conquer, but very difficult to hold.

The Cultivators stationed here are weak and will soon have it snatched back by the Yao Race.

The underground Spiritual Vein is of a low Rank, making it impossible to build a defensive array, and dispatching Golden Core True Persons to garrison it would attract focused targeting from the Yao Race; one can only advance bit by bit using the Earth Vein Grand Array."

Liu Xuan listened while keeping his Divine Sense focused on the battle in the valley.

Suddenly! He frowned slightly, sensing an inexplicable suction force coming from underground, which swallowed the snake Yao's blood, parts of their corpses, and even their souls.

Shen Yunshu noticed Liu Xuan's strange reaction and explained: "I heard this is the Myriad Spirits Grand Array, which can devour most of the flesh, blood, and souls of the creatures that die on the battlefield. Each time we fight, we must collect the spoils as soon as possible, or they will be sucked away if we are late.

The Beast Taming Sect's explanation is that the Yao Race does not want us to obtain more benefits from the war, but I don't think it's that simple!"

Half of the spoils of war were the Materials from the Yao Beasts, and this Myriad Spirits Grand Array swallowed at least half of the flesh, blood, and souls of the Yao Beasts and Cultivators. Shen Yunshu guessed that this matter definitely involved high-level schemes, and therefore she did not explain further.

The Peach Blossom Sect snatched away half of the spoils of war, yet the Beast Taming Sect had no major countermeasures. It did not look like they were unable to respond, but rather like they were intentionally cooperating...

As Liu Xuan pondered, the battle below was nearing its end, and the army Cultivators had begun cleaning the battlefield and counting the spoils.

The snake Yao's flesh, blood, and bones, various Spirit Materials in the caves, as well as the Spirit Stones and Spirit Medicine stored by the snake Yao...

Wiping out such a group of Yao Race, aside from the Spirit Land, could yield several million to ten million Spirit Stones.

However, these spoils needed to be handed over to the Beast Taming Sect, and what could be converted into merit points and distributed back was probably only two or three million.

After subtracting the portion distributed for the army's merit points, what would reach Shen Yunshu's hands was only about a million or so, and thirty percent of that would be counted toward the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Fortunately, there was no risk; aside from that one sword strike to break the gray mist, she didn't have to do anything to earn several hundred thousand Spirit Stones, which could be considered super-profiteering.

"Boom~"

Just as Liu Xuan was thinking that this was a good deal, a terrifying Yao cloud suddenly surged over from the south, as if black clouds were pressing down, with an extremely terrifying Aura!