Record of a Demon's Cultivation

Chapter 276: Advancing to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage



Translator: Cinder Translations

Xue Mei realized that it was difficult to escape the stone hall on her own, so she decided to seek external help.

Using her soul power, she discovered some leftover jade slips at the bottom of the lake.

She erased the content on the jade slips and attached maps of the Blood Cloud Cave and the small island in the underground lake.

With her soul power, Xue Mei cast the jade slips into the underground dark river, where they were carried downstream by the current.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

She hoped that the jade slips would be washed out to the outside world, discovered by cultivators, and bring them to search for treasure-ultimately rescuing her.

It was uncertain how much time had passed while she waited.

The spiritual essence of the Soul-Nurturing Wood, used to create the "Soul Shackle," was nearly exhausted.

Once its essence was depleted, the runes on the Soul Shackle would directly act on Xue Mei's soul, causing it to scatter and perish.

This was the contingency plan left by the Divine Blood Sect.

In the end, Xue Mei's scheme succeeded.

Zhong Liang obtained one of the jade slips and, along with Tang Fu and others, found the stone hall in the underground lake, overturning the bronze corpse coffin and releasing the Soul Shackle.

Later, by a stroke of luck, Song Wen used the Great Cave Thunder, one of the nine great secret techniques of heavenly thunder, to break the seal on the Soul Shackle, helping Xue Mei to escape.

The two blood-colored jade slips in Song Wen's possession were also left by Xue Mei.

She had done this to lure treasure hunters to help her unlock the seal on the Soul Shackle.

After all, Xue Mei was a Nascent Soul-stage expert from tens of thousands of years ago and was bound to know and have cultivated many ancient secret techniques.

After learning Xue Mei's identity, some powerful cultivators could not help but become greedy, hoping to free Xue Mei from the Soul Shackle in exchange for her ancient cultivation techniques.

Song Wen destroyed Xue Mei's self-recorded jade slip and stored away the jade slip containing the "Corpse King Rebirth Art." He then took out the bronze corpse coffin.

This bronze coffin was over a zhang in length, covered in ancient carvings.

However, it showed no signs of spiritual power, appearing to be an ordinary coffin.

Song Wen infused spiritual energy into it, trying to refine it.

But the bronze corpse coffin showed no reaction.

After several failed attempts, Song Wen casually stored the coffin in his storage ring.

Song Wen left his temporary cave residence and flew with his sword to the cliff where Zuo Shuiyun was in seclusion.

Zuo Shuiyun had not emerged yet, and Song Wen, not wanting to disturb her, began meditating and regulating his breathing in a nearby cave.

A few days later.

At the fourth hour of the mao period (around sunrise).

As the first rays of sunlight appeared on the horizon.

Song Wen was standing in mid-air, watching the first light of dawn.

Suddenly, he noticed Zuo Shuiyun's cave opening.

Zuo Shuiyun emerged from her temporary cave residence, her expression tired and her steps unsteady.

When she noticed Song Wen hovering in mid-air, a trace of panic flashed across her eyes, though she quickly concealed it.

"Junior Brother Wu, have you taken care of your matters? When did you return?"

"Senior Sister Zuo, I returned a few days ago," Song Wen responded, turning to face her.

Song Wen found it odd. He hadn't deliberately hidden his aura when he returned, yet Zuo Shuiyun hadn't noticed?

In this unfamiliar place, had her focus during her seclusion been too intense?

Song Wen's gaze quickly noticed something new at Zuo Shuiyun's waist-a spirit beast pouch.

When Zuo Shuiyun saw that Song Wen's eyes had landed on the pouch, she became visibly flustered.

She adjusted her sleeve to cover the spirit beast pouch, clearly trying to hide it.

In an attempt to divert attention, Zuo Shuiyun hurriedly changed the subject.

"Junior Brother Wu, how do you plan to report the matter of the Cheng family to the sect?"

Song Wen had naturally noticed Zuo Shuiyun's subtle actions.

He was well aware that Zuo Shuiyun didn't want too many people to know that she had subdued the blood fiend from the Cheng family.

"Of course, I'll report the truth," Song Wen replied, pretending to look confused.

Zuo Shuiyun was momentarily taken aback, then nodded.

"Yes, it should be reported truthfully. Cheng Ruida was utterly despicable, using his own family to feed the fiend. In the end, the blood fiend turned on him, and they both perished together. That's how it all happened, right, Junior Brother?"

Song Wen looked puzzled. "Senior Sister, what are you trying to say...?"

"Junior Brother Wu, you don't need to pretend. You're a smart person; you should understand

what I mean."

Song Wen smiled faintly.

"You're right, Senior Sister. The blood fiend did indeed perish along with Cheng Ruida.

However, during the battle with the blood fiend, I was seriously injured. I'm afraid I'll need a

large amount of elixirs and spiritual herbs to recover."

Zuo Shuiyun coldly stared at Song Wen.

She knew very well that during the battle with the Cheng family, Song Wen hadn't been

injured at all.

What he was doing now was merely trying to take advantage of the situation and demand

more benefits.

"Junior Brother Wu, you've already taken Cheng Ruida's and Cheng Han's storage rings, isn't that enough?" Zuo Shuiyun asked.

Song Wen replied, "Their storage rings didn't contain enough healing elixirs."

Zuo Shuiyun was silent for a moment before raising her hand and tossing a storage bag to

Song Wen.

"There are ten thousand spirit stones here. That should be enough for you to fully recover,"

she said.

Song Wen took the storage bag without hesitation and pocketed it.

"Thank you, Senior Sister, for your generosity."

Two days later, Song Wen and Zuo Shuiyun returned to the Beastmaster Sect's Alchemy Peak.

The two went straight to the mission hall, where they met Lu Weicai.

After hearing Zuo Shuiyun's report, Lu Weicai's expression was one of astonishment.

His gaze carried a hint of doubt as he scrutinized both Song Wen and Zuo Shuiyun.

It wasn't that he doubted the truth of Cheng Ruida using his clan members to feed a blood

fiend.

Compared to a second-tier spirit beast, the lives of a few mortal or Qi Refining stage cultivators were insignificant.

What he found hard to believe was that Cheng Ruida would perish alongside the blood fiend.

However, he didn't voice his skepticism directly, merely saying in a neutral tone, "I will

report the matter as you've stated. The sect will send people to verify it, and arrangements will be made for other cultivator families to take over the Cheng family's assets."

"Since the blood fiend is dead, your mission is considered complete. Each of you will receive three thousand spirit stones and one hundred contribution points as a reward."

During the three years that Song Wen and the others had been in the Beastmaster Sect, they

had learned how to refine twenty common second-tier elixirs.

Once the three-year training period ended, if they wished to learn new elixir recipes, they

would need to exchange contribution points for them.

The rarity of each recipe determined how many contribution points were required.

For instance, the Golden Core Elixir, which all Foundation Establishment cultivators dreamed

of obtaining, required a staggering one hundred thousand contribution points to exchange for both the recipe and the refining method.

The Cheng family mission had only earned them two hundred contribution points in total.

After leaving the mission hall, Song Wen made a brief visit to the Xuan Alchemy Chamber to request a leave of absence from Cai Jinglue.

Song Wen had reached the bottleneck of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage with his "Longevity Technique" and needed to enter seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to the late Foundation Establishment stage.

As soon as he returned to his cave residence, Song Wen received a message.

The message was from Elder Wang Ming, the steward of the Eastern Hua Workshop's law

enforcement team-the one who had recommended Song Wen to join the Beastmaster Sect in the first place.

About a year earlier, Wang Ming had approached Song Wen, requesting him to refine a batch

of elixirs.

After some consideration, Song Wen had agreed.

Firstly, it was an opportunity to practice and improve his alchemy skills.

Secondly, it allowed him to earn some spirit stones.

In daily life, Song Wen always pretended to be short of money, so refusing spirit stones that

came his way wouldn't make sense.

Although refining large quantities of elixirs for others outside the sect was explicitly prohibited by the sect's rules, nearly every alchemist in the Xuan Alchemy Chamber, except

for Zhou Siyi, had likely taken on private work at some point.

Wang Ming's message was asking Song Wen to refine a batch of Essence Nurturing Elixirs for

him.

This was the third time Wang Ming had asked Song Wen for elixirs.

At the moment, however, Song Wen had no time to refine elixirs for him, so he immediately

refused.

For the next several months, Song Wen devoted himself to cultivation in his cave residence.

Apart from occasionally going to the Spirit Medicine Peak to buy Huangjing Zhi (Yellow Essence Ganoderma), he never left his cave.

He spent his time refining elixirs, taking medicinal herbs, and absorbing spiritual power.

Eight months passed quietly in this intense cultivation.

During this time, Song Wen took a brief break from the sect, leaving for about half a month.

He found a secluded place where he completed the refinement of a pseudo-third-tier silver corpse.

On this particular day, Song Wen emerged from his cave, radiating energy-his "Longevity Technique" had successfully advanced to the late Foundation Establishment stage.

He went to the Xuan Alchemy Chamber, first reporting to Cai Jinglue, and then entered an

alchemy room to practice refining pills.

As his cultivation level increased, Song Wen became more and more aware of the importance

of alchemy.

This realization made him even more diligent in practicing his alchemy skills.

For the time being, Song Wen split his time between the alchemy chamber and his cave residence.

With many alchemists gathered on Alchemy Peak, whenever Song Wen encountered difficulties in refining pills, it was easy to find someone to consult. His alchemy skills improved rapidly as a result.

(End of the Chapter)

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