Chapter 349: Chapter 334: Redistribution
Jiang Fengxian did not disappoint Zhouyang; she did not betray the trust Zhouyang had in her.
With the precious time Zhouyang had fought for her, she also used her ultimate trump card.
It was a green wooden token, which had been refined by a Golden Core Stage Cultivator into a vessel to contain a certain divine technique he cultivated.
At this moment, as Jiang Fengxian activated this treasure, the green token instantly emitted a brilliant green light, transforming sharply into a foot-long green wooden needle that shot towards Lin Ruihua.
"Golden Core Divine Techniques!"
Lin Ruihua was also knowledgeable; upon seeing the green wooden needle, his expression changed drastically, his eyes finally revealing a look of panic.
Although he was a "Fake Golden Core" cultivator possessing Golden Core Power, he could not truly master Golden Core Divine Techniques.
Golden Core Divine Techniques were the most formidable power of Golden Core Stage cultivators!
At this moment, he no longer gave thought to killing Zhouyang; he hastily waved his hand to take out several Defense Spirit Talismans to protect himself, and feeling insecure, he put all his effort into activating his Defensive Spiritual Artifact and the divine techniques attached to his cultivation technique to create layer upon layer of defense.
In an instant, multicolored spiritual light wrapped Lin Ruihua layer upon layer, resembling a large colorful dumpling!
This scene was remarkably similar to the one a quarter hour ago with Xiao Feng!
Unfortunately, the person was already gone; otherwise, seeing this scene would have surely been gratifying.
And that green long needle, amidst the layers of protection Lin Ruihua set up, flashed and landed on his body.
In an instant, a crisp "pop-pop-pop" sound echoed repeatedly, as the defenses Lin Ruihua had created with spiritual light were pierced like paper.
But each time it pierced through a layer, the color of the green needle faded incrementally; by the time it pierced the last layer of defense, the needle had turned to a pale green.
Yet that was sufficient, for as the last layer of defense was penetrated, the pale green needle struck Lin Ruihua’s chest, once again piercing through the Defensive Inner Armor he wore closely, entering his body.
As the needle entered his body, a powerful surge of Wood Essence Qi erupted within Lin Ruihua, and his heart, bones, flesh, and hair instantly began to transform into wood under the corrosion of the Wood Essence Qi.
Once complete body wood transformation occurred, Lin Ruihua’s flesh would be finished.
Although he was a "Fake Golden Core" cultivator, he lacked the ability of Golden Core Stage Cultivators to possess others after death, and with his body dead, his Divine Soul would soon dissipate.
"Ahhh, suppress it for me!"
Lin Ruihua naturally wouldn’t wait to die; he urgently roared and exerted the "Outer Dao Golden Core" power in his body to suppress the surge of Wood Essence Qi, attempting vainly to reverse the wood transformation and restore his normal body.
But Jiang Fengxian wouldn’t let him have his way.
With a mere glance, the "Seven-Colored Cloud-Swallowing Python" suddenly opened its mouth wide and inhaled, a tremendously powerful swallowing force quickly engulfed the immobilized, wooden-transformed Lin Ruihua into its belly.
Sssss~
Swallowing a "Fake Golden Core" cultivator in one gulp, the "Seven-Colored Cloud-Swallowing Python" was delighted beyond measure, couldn’t help but utter a long hiss expressing its excitement.
Then it quickly settled onto the ground, coiling into a serpent formation, fully exerting its effort to digest Lin Ruihua in its stomach.
If it could digest a "Fake Golden Core" cultivator, this Tier Four High-Grade "Seven-Colored Cloud-Swallowing Python" might not ascend to Tier Five immediately, but at least the possibility of advancing to Tier Five in the future would greatly increase.
Demon Beasts advancing to Tier Five is completely different from cultivators forming Golden Cores.
Demon Beasts already condense a Demon Pill by Tier Four; when they advance to Tier Five, the transformation isn’t in their power but their bloodline.
So, demon beasts with stronger bloodlines have an easier time advancing to Tier Five, while those with weaker bloodlines can only purify their bloodlines by continually absorbing Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Objects, transforming their low-tier bloodlines into high-tier bloodlines.
And the Dao Golden Core condensed by human cultivators is the most nourishing Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Objects for demon beasts.
If a Tier Four High-Grade Demon Beast could devour a genuine human Golden Core Stage cultivator, its chance of advancing to Tier Five would reach at least thirty percent.
Even though Lin Ruihua’s "Outer Dao Golden Core" wasn’t a genuine Golden Core, it was refined from a Tier Five Demon Pill, making it a rare spiritual object, which is also an excellent supplement for a Tier Four High-Grade Demon Beast like the "Seven-Colored Cloud-Swallowing Python."
However, non-flood dragon demon beasts with weaker bloodlines must also undergo the Celestial Thunder Tribulation when advancing to Tier Five; they must rely on the power of Celestial Thunder to genuinely complete the transformation from low-tier to high-tier bloodlines.
The "Seven-Colored Cloud-Swallowing Python" is a powerful demon beast with a bloodline not inferior to the "Golden-winged Thunder Eagle," rumored to possess some "Poisonous Flood Dragon" bloodline, and if it successfully initiates the Celestial Thunder Tribulation and survives it to advance to Tier Five, there’s a possibility for its bloodline to revert and transform directly into a Flood Dragon.
Of course, this chance is very slim, even less likely than cultivators forming their Cores without using Supporting Core Formation Spiritual Objects.
Transcending from serpent to flood dragon, this leap would be akin to ascending to the heavens in a single step, how could it be so easy!
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, my humble self needs to guard Cai’Er; the corpses of Fellow Daoist Xiao and Fellow Daoist Li could trouble you to gather!"
Just as Zhouyang watched the "Seven-Colored Cloud-Swallowing Python" coiling into a serpent formation with contemplation, Jiang Fengxian turned her beautiful eyes towards him, and with a crisp voice, expressed her thoughts.
"No problem, leave this to Zhou."
Zhouyang nodded and readily agreed.
Then he moved and hurried to Xiao Feng’s corpse first, stitching up the body that had been split by the Tiger Head Saber and placing it into a Wooden Coffin, preparing to take it back to Prison Fire City to hand over to his disciples.
Throughout his life, Xiao Feng did not become Dao Companions with any Female Cultivator, and naturally, he left behind no descendants, only taking a few disciples in Prison Fire City to teach Artifact Refining Skill.
Zhouyang had met those disciples; to be honest, their aptitude and comprehension were just average, with limited achievements in the future, likely unable to inherit Xiao Feng’s legacy.
But since they held a true teacher-disciple relationship with Xiao Feng, after his demise, his body and belongings should rightfully be left to his disciples to handle.
Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian were his friends, and thus it wasn’t appropriate to intervene in this matter.
Compared to Xiao Feng, Li Zhengwei didn’t receive such treatment.
Through the time spent together, Zhouyang gradually learned about him and realized he was a typical Loose Cultivator, the type that was only responsible for himself and not for any family.
Therefore, Zhouyang directly cremated his body on the spot and scattered the ashes over the valley basin, fulfilling his dream of treasure hunting.
After tidying up the bodies of two teammates, Zhouyang also took the opportunity to cremate and dispose of Duanmu Yong’s corpse.
Fortunately, this place was deep within the Wilderness Jungle, and Profound Cauldron Sect is at least a million miles away. Otherwise, having killed a Profound Cauldron Sect Cultivator with potential for Golden Core, Zhouyang would not have dared linger here.
Since Jiang Fengxian was still safeguarding her Spirit Pet, Zhouyang, after tidying up the battlefield, found it inappropriate to check the spoils himself or to leave her behind to pick the Spirit Elixirs in the valley basin, opting instead to sit far away, cross-legged, and meditate to restore Magical Power and heal his injuries.
Since the Azure Dragon Cauldron was destroyed, he no longer had a suitable Defensive Spiritual Artifact, thus sustaining slight injuries while blocking Lin Ruihua’s Spirit Talisman attacks earlier.
After meditating to recover for nearly an hour, Zhouyang heard Jiang Fengxian’s call.
He opened his eyes and saw that the Seven-Colored Cloud-Swallowing Python was nowhere to be seen, and Jiang Fengxian was holding the Storage Ring from Lin Ruihua’s hand.
Seeing this, Zhouyang couldn’t help but ask, "Fellow Daoist Jiang, I have taken care of Fellow Daoist Xiao’s body and belongings; how do you think we should handle this matter?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Fengxian furrowed her delicate brows, pondered for a while, and finally said, "Fellow Daoist Xiao has some disciples in Prison Fire City; his body and belongings should not be moved. We should wait until we get back and find a chance to hand them over to his disciples to deal with."
"Regarding this cave dwelling and these spoils, since now it’s just you and me left, my suggestion is to divide them equally between us. What do you think, fellow Daoist?"
In today’s battle, whether it was Zhouyang or Jiang Fengxian, both suffered significant losses, consuming many of their trump cards, making it difficult to determine who contributed more.
By dividing the treasures equally among the people, it was essentially the fairest way of distribution.
Thus, upon hearing Jiang Fengxian’s words, Zhouyang quickly agreed, "Then let’s do it this way."
Having reached an agreement, the two immediately separated to start picking the Spirit Elixir and Spirit Fruit in the valley basin.
All the picked Spirit Elixir and Spirit Fruit were preserved in Jade Boxes, and neither of them presumptuously stored them in their Storage Rings, instead piling them together to be placed into a Storage Ring specially designated for storing these spoils until they reached a safe location to distribute.
Fortunately, several cultivators with Storage Rings had been storing a large amount of Empty Jade Boxes in their rings, otherwise with the sheer number of Spirit Elixir and Spirit Fruit in this valley basin, it would have been impossible to fit them all.
Even so, Zhouyang and Jiang Fengxian first picked Tier Four Spirit Elixir and some rare Tier Three Spirit Elixir, only beginning to pick common Tier Three Spirit Elixir once they were certain the Jade Boxes were sufficient.
After more than two hours, they finally finished collecting and storing the mature Spirit Elixir and Spirit Fruit.
Then the two came together to the front gate of the courtyard in the valley basin and carefully observed the courtyard shrouded in thick white mist.
The courtyard covered over a hundred acres, surrounded by walls tens of feet high, and the parts within the walls were obscured by white mist.
Outside the main gate of the courtyard were a dozen or so Thunder Bamboo plants forming a small bamboo grove.
Thunder Bamboo is a rather rare Spirit Wood, which matures in a hundred years to become Tier Three Spirit Wood, an excellent Artifact Refining Material.
Artifacts refined from Thunder Bamboo, whether Flying Swords or other Magical Artifacts, can unleash thunder and lightning to attack enemies.
If Thunder Bamboo can grow for a thousand years without dying, it becomes Tier Four Spirit Wood, and artifacts refined from Thunder Bamboo can possess the ’Wood God Thunder’ Divine Techniques.
Such Thousand-Year Thunder Bamboo refined Magical Artifacts are especially beloved by Wood Element Cultivators.
It is said that if Thousand-Year Thunder Bamboo is lucky enough to absorb Heavenly Thunder Power, it may evolve into Tier Five Spirit Wood ’Celestial Thunder Bamboo.’
This ’Celestial Thunder Bamboo’ is an excellent material for Wood Element Cultivators to refine Lifebound Spiritual Artifacts. Artifacts refined from ’Celestial Thunder Bamboo’ naturally counter Demonic Ghost Cultivators and can unleash immensely powerful Celestial Thunder attacks on enemies, equivalent to mastering a powerful Thunder Element Divine Techniques.
"The Thunder Bamboo here seems to have aged several hundred years already; it would be a shame to cut them down now. Why not leave them here, perhaps in the future a few Thousand-Year Thunder Bamboo might appear!"
Zhouyang lightly expressed his opinion after sweeping his gaze over the Thunder Bamboo grove.
"I have no objection."
Jiang Fengxian nodded slightly without opposing his small suggestion.
Then, the two looked at the plaque above the main gate of the courtyard and both fell silent.