Chapter 273: Chapter 270: Bestowing a Treasure and Entering the Mansion

WHOOSH!

After clearing out all the Demon Beasts, Li Ping’s figure descended rapidly, landing back at the edge of the Cold Pool.

"Is this the power of a Core Formation Master?" Yan Hengchuan was already dumbfounded by what he had seen.

Even though the Demon Beasts floating in the Cold Pool were dead, the auras emanating from some of their corpses still sent a chill down his spine.

He could clearly identify that many of the corpses were Tier Two Demon Beasts. The auras of three of them were even near the peak of Tier Two, probably not far from reaching Tier Three.

Against the other Demon Beasts, he might have had a chance to defeat them one-on-one by relying on his wits and Dharma Artifacts.

But against these three, he wouldn’t stand a chance even if he used every trick up his sleeve.

Yet, in front of his Grand Master, such powerful Demon Beasts were dealt with so effortlessly. It didn’t even seem like his Grand Master had exerted much energy.

’Is this a Core Formation Master?’

At that moment, Yan Hengchuan truly felt the deep chasm between a Foundation Establishment Cultivator and a Core Formation Master.

However, when he snapped out of his shock and his gaze fell upon the hundreds of Demon Beast corpses floating in the Cold Pool, his eyes began to gleam.

The Blood Spirit Hundred Transformations Scripture he cultivated was a Blood Dao Skill that had no Spiritual Root attribute requirements. It contained a Secret Technique called the ’Blood Sea Domain,’ and the more Demon Beast Essence Blood he refined, the more powerful the Magic would become.

With so many Demon Beast corpses before him now, if he could refine all of their blood... relying on his Blood Sea Domain and the Blood Spirit, Yan Hengchuan believed he might be able to fight above his level, against a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator!

With his five-element Spiritual Root aptitude, it was practically impossible for him to break through any further after reaching Foundation Establishment.

But if it were possible, who wouldn’t want to become stronger?

Thinking of this, he quickly asked, "Grand Master, I’d like to refine the blood of these Demon Beasts. May I?"

"Refine their blood?" Li Ping looked at Yan Hengchuan’s eager face and remembered that he cultivated the Blood Dao.

These Low-Tier Demon Beasts were of no use to him, so there was no harm in letting Yan Hengchuan have them. He smiled and nodded. "Go ahead and refine it."

"Thank you, Grand Master!" Upon hearing this, Yan Hengchuan’s face lit up with delight.

But Li Ping’s next words left him dumbfounded again, and his face fell.

Li Ping chuckled and shook his head. "It’s fine for you to refine the Demon Beast Essence Blood, but you must be careful to distinguish them. I’ve observed that many of these Demon Beasts are highly venomous. You mustn’t accidentally refine the essence blood of those poisonous beasts into your body, or you’ll end up poisoned."

He remembered when he had dealt with Yan Liming. He had taken advantage of a moment of carelessness to poison the Blood Sea Domain that Yan Liming had released.

When Yan Liming retracted the Blood Sea Domain back into his body, he was poisoned as expected, allowing Li Ping to defeat him easily.

When Li Ping finished speaking and saw Yan Hengchuan’s crestfallen expression, he couldn’t help but laugh inwardly. After a moment’s thought, he reached into his Storage Bag and took out a small, blood-colored banner—the Blood Banner that had been with him for nearly a hundred years.

The Blood Banner could be used to execute an Escape Technique to flee for one’s life, or it could be used to secretly release the Blood Corrosion Poison to ambush enemies. It was a high-quality, versatile, Tier Two Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact.

It was precisely with this Blood Banner that Li Ping had managed to slay many powerful enemies.

One could say this Dharma Artifact had served him with great distinction.

However, now that Li Ping had broken through to the Core Formation Stage, the Blood Corrosion Poison was useless against Core Formation Cultivators. Furthermore, the Flying Escape speed he could achieve with a Magical Treasure far surpassed any Dharma Artifact, so this Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact was no longer very useful to him.

Coincidentally, Yan Hengchuan also cultivated the Blood Dao, making this Dharma Artifact quite suitable for him to wield.

His eyes swept over every inch of the Blood Banner, a hint of nostalgia in his gaze.

But in the end, he shook his head and called Yan Hengchuan over. "Hengchuan, I am bestowing this Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Blood Banner, upon you."

As Yan Hengchuan accepted the Blood Banner with a look of pleasant surprise, Li Ping smiled and explained its functions and how to wield it.

Finally, he pointed to the Demon Beast corpses floating in the Cold Pool. "Refine the blood of the non-venomous Demon Beasts yourself. You can also distribute the Demon Beast Flesh to your clan members to eat. As for the venomous ones, you can feed them to the Blood Banner to be refined, strengthening the power of its Blood Corrosion Poison."

"Thank you for the Treasure, Grand Master! Hengchuan understands!" Yan Hengchuan nodded repeatedly, his face wreathed in smiles.

...

After telling Yan Hengchuan about the Blood Banner and how to use it, Li Ping left him to deal with the Demon Beast corpses in the Cold Pool.

Li Ping himself then flew unhurriedly toward the island at the center of the Cold Pool. At the same time, his immense Divine Sense had already enveloped the entire island.

The central island in the Cold Pool was oval-shaped and not particularly large; Li Ping estimated it to be only a few thousand mu. However, this didn’t mean the Tier Three Spirit Vein was that small.

In fact, even in the tunnels more than twenty li away, the concentration of the Spiritual Qi that leaked out could reach Tier Two. The area covered by this Tier Three Spirit Vein and its many branch veins was likely a hundred li in radius.

This range was already comparable to the Underground Spirit Vein of Fenglan Immortal City.

At the very least, Li Ping was certain that the Spiritual Qi concentration near the Cold Pool could reach Tier Three.

It was just that the master of the Pool-heart Grotto-heaven had deliberately set up a Spirit Gathering Array to gather all the Spiritual Qi onto the island, which was why the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the outside area wasn’t as high.

This approach served two purposes. First, it could gather Spiritual Qi, increasing its concentration on the island and making it more beneficial for a Cultivator’s training. Second, it could conceal the Underground Spirit Vein, preventing it from being discovered by outsiders. Li Ping didn’t know the grotto-heaven master’s original intention—perhaps it was for one reason, or both.

Sweeping his Divine Sense across the island, he didn’t find any Token or similar item nearby that would grant entry.

For an ordinary Cultivator, encountering such a situation would mean either finding a High-tier Array Master to decipher the Array or using brute force to destroy the Grand Array from the outside.

With Li Ping’s strength at the Core Formation Realm, it wouldn’t be difficult to destroy the Array with a forceful attack.

However, many Grand Arrays had a self-destruct function. Once the Array was broken by brute force from the outside, it would activate its self-destruct sequence, destroying everything within its confines.

Li Ping certainly didn’t want to see that happen, so he ruled out breaking the Array by force.

On the other hand, it was even more impossible for him to find a High-tier Array Master and let them leak the secrets of this place.

Fortunately, he had a better way to break the Array.

He slapped the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist, and the Desolate Fire Sparrow shot out like a streak of fire. It circled Li Ping joyfully, chirping constantly.

Evidently, being cooped up in the Spirit Beast Pouch all this time had been terribly stifling for it.

Li Ping smiled and stroked the Desolate Fire Sparrow’s head. He then took out a bottle of Tier Two Beast Feeding Pills from his Storage Bag and fed them to it before pointing at the glowing Shield in front of them, which was emitting a heavy Spiritual Pressure, and gestured for the bird to break the Array.

Sixty years ago, in that secret grotto-heaven in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, Li Ping had been helpless against a miniature Tier Three Array.

But the Desolate Fire Sparrow had simply spat out its Spiritual Fire and forcibly burned a hole through the Array Shield, slipping inside.

It was then that Li Ping learned that, besides vanquishing evil, the Spiritual Fire of the Desolate Fire Sparrow was also remarkably effective at breaking all sorts of Arrays and Restrictions.

Furthermore, over a decade ago, before Li Ping entered seclusion for his Core Formation, the Desolate Fire Sparrow had successfully broken through to the Tier Two Late Stage in Flying Snow City. Now, the power of its Lifebound Spirit Fire had grown even stronger.

"Go on, it’s up to you!"

"SCREECH!"

The Desolate Fire Sparrow let out a soft cry, as if responding to Li Ping’s expectation.

It then flew directly above the glowing shield enveloping the island and abruptly spat a crimson, high-temperature Flame at the Array Shield. A thin line of fire connected the Desolate Fire Sparrow to the Tier Three Array Shield.

Immediately, visible to the naked eye, the Array’s light shield began to melt under the heat of the Desolate Fire Sparrow’s Lifebound Spirit Fire, like ice under a scorching sun. In the blink of an eye, a hole over a chi in diameter had melted open.

Through the opening, one could faintly make out the scenery on the island.

But the Desolate Fire Sparrow didn’t stop there. It continued to spew its Spiritual Fire, burning the edges of the opening to enlarge it.

Only when it had finally formed a circular hole about two chi in diameter did it stop and fly into the Array as a streak of fire.

At the same moment, Li Ping executed his Blood Wing Escape Skill. A streak of blood flashed through the air as he followed closely behind the Desolate Fire Sparrow into the Array.

In reality, the reason the Desolate Fire Sparrow had opened such a large hole was to make it easier for Li Ping to enter.

For the Tier Three Array in the secret grotto-heaven, the Array would instantly collapse once the Spiritual Eye jade, the source of its Spiritual Qi, was removed.

But this Array in the underground Cold Pool was laid out relying on the Underground Spirit Vein. Even if the Desolate Fire Sparrow got inside, it wouldn’t be able to destroy it. Only Li Ping could do it himself by entering.

Of course, the main reason Li Ping dared to enter personally was that the moment the Desolate Fire Sparrow breached the Array Shield, he had already sent his Divine Sense through the opening to carefully inspect the interior and confirmed that there were no dangers within the Array.

Otherwise, he would have tossed a puppet in first to investigate the situation, rather than entering with his real body.

...

Standing at the edge of the Shield, Li Ping watched as the hole beside him slowly closed.

He silently sensed the rich Spiritual Qi in his surroundings.

Just as he had predicted, the grotto-heaven’s master had deliberately set up a Spirit Gathering Array on the island, concentrating all the Spiritual Qi from the Tier Three Spirit Vein here.

The Spiritual Qi concentration on the island was simply astonishing. Li Ping estimated it had reached Tier Three Upper Grade, comparable to the concentration at the peak of Donghua Mountain.

An environment with this level of Spiritual Qi could even satisfy the cultivation needs of a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator.

After briefly sensing the Spiritual Qi inside, Li Ping’s gaze fell below, surveying the grotto-heaven, which was only a few thousand mu in size.

In the center of the island stood a bronze palace covering nearly a hundred mu, and near the palace were some ordinary houses that seemed to be residences for disciples and servants.

Besides these buildings, the remaining area was planted with a large number of ornamental flowers, plants, and trees.

Only a plot of land, less than a hundred mu in size, had been cultivated into a Spirit Medicine Garden. Unfortunately, it seemed that too many years had passed, and most of the Low-Tier Spirit Medicine inside had already withered and died.

Only a few dozen Tier Three Spirit Medicines were still tenaciously alive.

Among these dozens of Tier Three Spirit Medicines, most were precious Spirit Grasses needed to refine Cultivation Elixirs for Core Formation Cultivators.

In addition, there were three stalks of Golden Marrow Jade Ginseng that had reached their growth limit, their age reaching a thousand years.

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