Cultivation Begins From The Desert
Chapter 79: Bloodthirsty Demon Saber

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Bloodthirsty Demon Saber

"Ten Thousand Miles Soul-Chasing Technique" wasn’t as easy to wield as Zhouyang had imagined. The Chen Family Ancestor, after receiving the sand bandits’ fresh blood provided by Zhouyang, still needed to prepare a special altar to cast the spell.

This was also the first time Zhouyang heard that casting a spell required altar materials.

Following the principle of asking questions when in doubt, upon returning to the residence arranged by the Chen Family for the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Zhou Family, Zhouyang curiously asked the old clan leader, Zhou Minghan, about this matter.

Not only was he curious about this issue, but Zhou Xuanhao was as well. Their foundation establishment was still too recent, and their knowledge and experience certainly couldn’t compare to Zhou Minghan, who had been a seasoned Foundation Establishment Cultivator for over a hundred years.

Moreover, the success of the Chen Family Ancestor bore significance for whether the Zhou Family could secure a Foundation Establishment Pill decades later, giving them an added reason to concern themselves with this matter.

"Xiao Jiu, your obliviousness to this matter is understandable. In fact, many cultivators aren’t aware: ’Ten Thousand Miles Soul-Chasing Technique’ isn’t a Tier Four Top Grade spell, but a true Tier Five spell!"

"However, many years ago, a predecessor cultivator researching the blood sacrifice secret technique of the Demon Dao discovered that certain aspects of this spell could be substituted with the blood sacrifice technique, allowing Late-Stage Purple Mansion Cultivators the possibility of casting the spell through an altar."

"But the blood sacrifice technique is an evil technique strictly prohibited by the Immortal Dao. So that predecessor cultivator improved upon the Demon Dao’s blood sacrifice technique, crafting a replacement method using an array altar instead of the blood sacrifice technique."

"Utilizing an array altar to cast spells is inherently an auxiliary method employed by high-tier cultivators when casting high-tier spells. It’s said that spells of Tier Five or above often require a duration measured in half or full quarters of an hour. Without the aid of an array altar, spells of this caliber cannot be used in real combat!"

As Zhou Minghan gazed at the curious Zhouyang father and son, he slowly revealed this information.

This information is rarely accessible to Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and many independent Foundation Establishment Cultivators may never encounter this knowledge in their lifetime.

The circle of cultivators with Purple Mansion cultivation level and above is actually quite exclusive, especially in places like the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm where travel is inconvenient, high-tier cultivators might go decades without meeting each other, let alone engaging in magical combat.

This results in many low-tier cultivators, who have never witnessed magical combat among high-tier cultivators, lacking a direct understanding of such conflicts.

Most people believe that the battles between high-tier cultivators are akin to those of Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment cultivators, relying mainly on magical artifacts and spells, only that the high-tier cultivators’ artifacts and spells are more advanced!

This perception is gravely mistaken. High-tier cultivators engage in magical combat with far more varied methods than low-tier cultivators, making it vastly more intricate and thrilling.

After giving Zhouyang father and son a thorough ’lecture’ on high-tier cultivators, Zhou Minghan concluded with a sigh and told them:

"The Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm is quite closed off, and high-tier cultivator battles are even rarer in the Baisha River Oasis Cultivation Realm. Your limited exposure is understandable, but as your cultivation improves, you should travel more to large oases and interact more with Foundation Establishment cultivators from major sects like the Yellow Sand Sect. Then you’ll comprehend that battles between high-tier cultivators incorporate far more than just simple artifact and spell exchanges!"

Upon hearing his thoughtful words, Zhouyang and Zhou Xuanhao exchanged glances, discerning a trace of longing in each other’s eyes.

Though it was merely listening to Zhou Minghan recount scenes of high-tier cultivators’ magical combat, their minds had already envisioned numerous scenarios. If Zhou Minghan’s words were true, then magical combat between high-tier cultivators indeed seems awe-inspiring!

Observing the father and son with wandering eyes, Zhou Minghan knew exactly what they were thinking. He immediately interrupted their daydreaming, waving his hand and saying: "Stop fantasizing and gain some experience. You’ll have plenty of opportunities later, but Xiao Jiu, you should immediately retreat to refine the spirit pill Elder Chen gave you. The loss of essence blood isn’t a trivial matter, don’t take it lightly."

Despite his youth, Zhouyang understood the value of essence blood. Since Zhou Minghan spoke, he soon went into seclusion within a quiet chamber.

The ’Jade Essence Pill’ bestowed by the Chen Family Ancestor was classified as a Tier Three Lower Grade pill, possessing miraculous effects in replenishing the essence blood drained from a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Zhouyang spent seven days and nights refining the complete medicinal power of this spirit pill, finally compensating for the essence blood depleted by the ’Blood Escape Technique.’

With the essence blood restored, Zhouyang’s ghostly pale complexion returned to normal.

However, after recovery, he didn’t immediately end his seclusion but began organizing the gains from this outing.

The harvest comprised two main parts: one part was the findings from exploring the ’Thousand Machines Grotto Heaven,’ and the other was from the Foundation Establishment Stage sand bandit he killed using the ’Qianyang Celestial Sword.’

In the ’Thousand Machines Grotto Heaven,’ Zhouyang obtained a Tier Three Lower Grade Artifact Refining Cauldron, ’Phoenix Pattern Purple Gold Cauldron,’ and several cultivation technique secret inheritances. Due to Chen Pingzhi’s urgency to return, neither he nor Zhouyang had managed to fully refine the magical artifacts they had just acquired, let alone delve into those secret techniques.

Now, Zhouyang took out the ’Phoenix Pattern Purple Gold Cauldron’ from his Storage Bag. Beholding this Tier Three Spiritual Artifact radiating spiritual light, he couldn’t help but shake his head.

This adventure in the ’Thousand Machines Grotto Heaven’ taught him a lesson: in the future, upon acquiring treasures that directly augment combat capabilities, it would be wise to refine them promptly.

If Chen Pingzhi hadn’t hurried to return, instead choosing to refine the acquired magical artifacts and puppet beast in the grotto first, the final outcome would have been entirely different.

’Phoenix Pattern Purple Gold Cauldron,’ being a Tier Three Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, not only serves for artifact refining but also possesses the function of capturing the enemy’s true flame.

Some Foundation Establishment Cultivators adept in powerful fire element techniques often possess True Fire Divine Techniques such as "Samadhi True Flame" and "Profound Yang True Flame".

After Zhouyang refined the "Phoenix Pattern Purple Gold Cauldron," when encountering such cultivators displaying their True Fire Divine Techniques, he could use the magical artifact to seize the opponent’s True Flame, temporarily disabling their Divine Techniques.

Of course, if the enemy’s True Fire Divine Techniques are too strong, for instance like his own "Qianyang True Flame," the grade of the "Phoenix Pattern Purple Gold Cauldron" might not be sufficient to suppress it.

It took Zhouyang approximately three days to refine the "Phoenix Pattern Purple Gold Cauldron." After finishing the refinement of this magical artifact, he finally found time to go through the storage bag he picked up from the sand bandits.

This was his first time acquiring a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s storage bag, and just the size of this storage bag alone was about three zhang. Before Zhouyang’s Foundation Establishment, the storage bag he mainly used was of this capacity.

Obviously, after his Foundation Establishment, he exchanged for a storage bag with a five-zhang capacity from the clan’s treasure vault, so with this new storage bag, he now possessed three storage bags each with a capacity over one zhang.

The contents of the sand bandit’s storage bag were quite plentiful; there were over two thousand spirit stones in it alone, as well as numerous Tier Two Spirit Pills and magical artifacts, magic talismans, and spirit grasses, spirit elixirs, jade scrolls—all of these items were mostly looted during their last raid on the Baisha River Oasis.

However, it was clear this sand bandit did not hold a high position among the sand bandits. During their last plunder of the Baisha River Oasis, they must have stolen at least ten to eight Tier Three Spiritual Artifacts, yet when he fought Zhouyang, he only had a single Tier Three Lower Grade Flying Sword to use.

The Tier Three Lower Grade Flying Sword was a fire attribute flying sword, which Zhouyang could use as well, but since he already possessed the "Red Profound Golden Light Sword" and the "Poisonous Fire Flying Fork," he didn’t plan to refine another artifact with overlapping functions.

It’s perfect timing as the Zhou Family’s new "Jade Spring Tower" still lacked a treasure to draw in customers. Zhouyang planned to hang this Tier Three Lower Grade Flying Sword in the tower as a store treasure to attract attention.

He quickly categorized the contents of the sand bandit’s storage bag, taking out all raw materials for artifact refining, alchemy, and talisman making into one storage bag, while placing completed treasures like magical artifacts, spirit talismans, and spirit pills into another storage bag. Then he separately categorized the jade scrolls and books into a third category.

As the Clan Leader of a Cultivation Clan, Zhouyang deeply understood what the most important thing for a clan is—not a particular powerful magical artifact, nor any particular spirit pill or spirit talisman, but the inheritance of knowledge.

No matter how powerful a magical artifact is, it requires sufficient strength to wield; no matter how useful spirit pills and talismans are, they are consumables, only available to a few, and are gone once used up.

However, knowledge can be passed down for generations, benefiting all members of the clan.

Therefore, Zhouyang always treated jade scrolls containing knowledge with more care than those with magical artifacts and elixirs.

He released his Divine Sense, inspecting each jade scroll in preparation to further screen them, categorizing cultivation technique secret techniques and curious tales separately for collection.

Unexpectedly, during this inspection, he discovered something that drastically changed his expression.

Holding a white jade scroll, his expression changed drastically, with his eyes flashing with deep shock.

The jade scroll contained a demonic secret technique known as the "Bloodthirsty Demon Saber," which practitioners could use to refine a "Bloodthirsty Demon Saber" similar to the "Qianyang Celestial Sword" and nurture it within themselves.

However, to refine a "Bloodthirsty Demon Saber," the cultivator first needed to possess sufficiently dense "Blood Evil Qi".

So what is "Blood Evil Qi"?

The so-called "Blood Evil Qi" is actually the resentful qi acquired by cultivators after slaughtering humans or demon beasts.

Generally, a cultivator’s presence of "Blood Evil Qi" is very faint, and as long as they don’t kill for some time, this "Blood Evil Qi" will dissipate.

Only those cultivators who have been killing and hunting demons for years would possess a more concentrated "Blood Evil Qi" around them; such individuals often have a very distinct aura and are easily recognizable.

According to what was recorded in the secret technique on the jade scroll Zhouyang held, for a cultivator to gather a "Bloodthirsty Demon Saber" into form, they would need to kill one hundred thousand mortals or upwards of a hundred Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators within a single year!

Killing to cultivate—this is a classic hallmark of Demon Dao Techniques!

The sand bandit who died by Zhouyang’s hand definitely did not complete the "Bloodthirsty Demon Saber," otherwise, he wouldn’t have died so easily.

But why would this secret technique of the "Bloodthirsty Demon Saber" appear on his body?

As Zhouyang thought of this, he began to feel deeply fearful.

He couldn’t help recalling the Blood Demon secret technique he had once obtained from a Qi Cultivation Stage sand bandit. Was this truly just a coincidence?