Chapter 172: Soul-Seizing Valley
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What? That kid has a spirit beast that is similar to the Silver-Moon Demon Wolf? And he escaped?”
After Zhao Lao came back to report, that young master was so angry that he was jumping around and nearly got spotted by the Fire Phoenix. His eyes flickered for a few rounds, and he was so enraged that his tooth was itching when he saw Hong Lao—who entered the vent of the volcano—didn’t come out after a long time. It was Jiang Yi who made it out instead.
There was only one way in and out of the volcano’s vent. Hong Lao didn’t emerge, but Jiang Yi did. This meant that Hong Lao was probably dead, and the Fire Lingzhi might have been s.n.a.t.c.hed by Jiang Yi.
“Chirp-Chirp!”
The resonant chirping sound of the Fire Phoenix could be heard from far away. The young master with the luxurious robes lifted his head and took a glance. He powerlessly roared out softly, “Everyone, retreat!”
Two Fire Phoenixes coupled with the conjecture that Hong Lao might already be dead—it would be hard to deal with this situation with only the remaining Soul Travel Realm experts. If they didn’t retreat now, they might not be able to leave later on. They had worked so hard until now, but it finally benefited someone else. The fury in this young master’s heart was so intense that it could melt this volcano.
A Soul Travel Realm expert carried the young master and retreated together with him. The young master’s eyes glanced in the direction where Jiang Yi escaped to with bitter resentment and murmured, “Little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, this Young Master is about to join the Kingdom War. Once it is over, you better don’t let me find out about your ident.i.ty. Otherwise, I will make sure your entire clan is exterminated. Humph! Anyone who provokes our Su Clan of the Great Xia Kingdom will face the consequence of death!”
…
Jiang Yi started by traveling towards the northwest direction. He took a single day to bypa.s.s Ten-Thousand Dragons Valley and entered into the Saint Spirit Kingdom’s territory.
After being delayed for a day in the Mt. Fire Cloud, Jiang Yi didn’t dare to take any rest. He had been traveling unrelentingly, camping out in the wilderness, and not even entering any of the cities. He had occasional stopovers for a rinse when he pa.s.sed by a river though.
Due to him being constantly on the move, sleeping outdoors, and excessively draining his energy, he had slimmed down drastically. He had this scraggly beard that looked just like a wanderer.
“He! Wind Shadow Sword!”
As Jiang Yi hurried along, he would practice the three different earth-tier superior-grade martial skills that he learned in the college.
Among the three martial skills, there was a movement skill which he didn’t have any time to cultivate. There was a palm skill which had far inferior firepower when compared to the Exploding Essence Palm; thus, he wasn’t that eager to cultivate it. Of course, the reason why the Exploding Essence Palm was so powerful was that it had the insane enhancement from the black essence force. Else, it would at best be an earth-tier medial-grade martial skill.
This was why—whenever he had time, he would concentrate on the cultivation of the ‘Wind Shadow Sword.’ Zhuge Qingyun had bestowed a spirit-tier artifact to him, and Su Ruoxue once mentioned to him that a spirit artifact was equivalent to a heaven-tier artifact when placed in his hands. Jiang Yi wasn’t going to affirm it, but since he had a spirit-tier artifact, he naturally wanted to master this ‘Wind Shadow Sword’ martial skill and was going to complement it with his Black Scale Sword.
Back at the college, he had mechanically memorized the manual of Wind Shadow Sword without a single incorrect word. After practicing it for a period of time, he had just managed to get into Entry Stage. Earth-tier superior-grade martial skills were complex and complicated; it wasn’t something that could attain the Phenomenal Stage in just one or two days. Without sufficient instincts, it might even take an entire life just to attain the Entry Stage.
“Tsk-Tsk!”
The Silver-Moon Demon Wolf was traversing at rapid speed while Jiang Yi incessantly swung the Black Scale Sword and cleaving at the side. Every time he cleaved, the surrounding air would be affected and give rise to violent winds. All these violent wind would converge at the tip of the sword. It was so mystical, just like a few dragons contesting for a dragon pearl.
“Not right! This still isn’t right!”
The surroundings were filled with mountains and wilderness. Along the way, Jiang Yi didn’t spot any humans or demonic beasts. Right now, he was still in the Saint Spirit Kingdom’s territory; and it was fine even if someone saw him. Jiang Yi didn’t bother about it either and wholeheartedly immersed himself in the Wind Shadow Sword. The Wind Shadow Sword was already at the Entry Stage, but regretfully, Jiang Yi wasn’t able to grasp the quintessence of it and enter the Phenomenal Stage.
“According to the manual—once it is at the Phenomenal Stage, it can drive the surrounding winds and form a force field which can constrict the enemy. Once the enemy is unable to escape, the pract.i.tioner can then forcefully kill the enemy! But why am I only able to draw the wind but not form the force field?
“Force field? What is a force field? Why does forming a force field mean constricting the enemy?
“How is this force field formed? Is it formed by guiding the wind with the sword?”
Jiang Yi had hundreds of areas that he couldn’t understand, and he had been immersing himself on this problem for the past few days. Even after cleaving for tens of thousands of times, he still wasn’t able to form the force field. Every sword was only able to draw the wind forces and create a violent wind.
“Stop!”
The sky had completely darkened, and Jiang Yi finally came back to his senses. After withdrawing the demon wolf back into the spirit beast talisman, he poured in some essence force. Jiang Yi scouted around and randomly picked a small tree to get by with tonight.
“Swis.h.!.+”
Standing below the tree, Jiang Yi casually cleaved at the small tree with the Black Scale Sword. The moment as the sword moved, the air in the vicinity was immediately drawn towards the tip of the sword. Finally, before the Black Scale Sword was able to cleave on the small tree, the violent winds already uprooted the small tree and twisted it into bits and pieces.
“This Wind Shadow Sword’s power is not bad. It is a pity that I cannot achieve Phenomenal Stage!”
Jiang Yi sighed sorrowfully and searched for another small tree to sit on while drinking some clean water and chewing on rations. More than twenty days had pa.s.sed, and Jiang Yi had been spending these days immersing in the cultivation of the Wind Shadow Sword. He didn’t even know where he was and didn’t know if he could make it to the Divine Martial Kingdom’s royal capital within six weeks.
“Fire Lingzhi!”
Sinking his thoughts into the Fire Spirit Pearl, Jiang Yi looked at the Fire Lingzhi which was peacefully lying in there. He was secretly excited when he thought that this item had the ability to rapidly increase the consumer’s cultivation stage. It was a pity he didn’t know how to refine it and didn’t dare to recklessly refine it. Take away the fact that he didn’t want to waste this Fire Lingzhi, there might be overwhelming or frantic energy within that might cause his body to explode and die.
After filling his stomach, Jiang Yi began his daily cultivation routine. He might have cultivation for a few hours with the a.s.sistance from the Earth Dragon Elixir, but without the cultivation room, his cultivation speed had been slowed down. After such a long period of time, he still wasn’t able to cultivate until the peak stage of the Cast Tripod Realm—in order to condense the Purple Mansion.
“Devil Sky Silk!”
Cultivating into the middle of the night, Jiang Yi opened his eyes and stopped the cultivation. He retrieved the Devil Sky Silk from the Fire Spirit Pearl and revolved his essence force continuously to refine the Devil Sky Silk. This artifact was of heaven-tier, but Jiang Yi didn’t have a strong soul spirit; neither did he know how to refine using soul strength. He could only rely on the simplest method, using his essence force to slowly refine it until he could thoroughly utilize the Devil Sky Silk.
It was a silent night!
The next day, Jiang Yi woke up early in the morning and continued his journey while comprehending the Wind Shadow Sword. He would find a place to rest in the night and continue his cultivation and refining the Devil Sky Silk. It was a pity that—after eight or nine days, he still wasn’t able to grasp the quintessence of the Wind Shadow Sword and couldn’t attain Phenomenal Stage. He wasn’t able to wield the Devil Sky Silk either.
“This is Mt. Calabash, right? The Soul-Seizing Valley should be right ahead!”
Right ahead was this giant mountain peak that was shaped like a calabash, which made Jiang Yi excited when he checked the map. This Soul-Seizing Valley was just northeast of the Saint Spirit Kingdom. Since he was already at the nearby vicinity, he should be able to make it to the Divine Martial Kingdom’s royal capital with the last thirteen days.
“Let’s go!”
Since he was here at the Soul-Seizing Valley, Jiang Yi naturally didn’t want to give up such a good opportunity. Since the Fire Spirit Pearl was able to consume the horrific Earth Fire in the volcano, it should be able to consume the Flames of Netherworld in this Soul-Seizing Valley, right?
“Eh, there is someone?”
After sprinting for more than a few thousand feet—with Jiang Yi’s hearing always enhanced, he could easily hear the footsteps of a martial artist ahead. He carefully steered the Silver-Moon Demon Wolf and took a detour. The Forest of Sin was just nearby, and there would be many adventurers in this area. If his whereabouts had been spotted, it wouldn’t be a good thing.
Sure enough, Jiang Yi spotted a few groups of martial artists along the way. With his insane hearing ability and Silver-Moon Demon Wolf, he was always able to avoid them effortlessly.
It was nightfall, and Jiang Yi finally arrived at a nearby deep valley. He rode on the Silver-Moon Demon Wolf and stood on an overhanging cliff. He looked down upon the dark deep valley and hesitated.
The bottom of this valley wasn’t visible, and no one knew what was within it. There wasn’t any visible path downwards. If there was a formidable demonic beast, then he would be screwed.
“I shall spend the night first! I will consider it tomorrow.”
The sky was dusky, and Jiang Yi didn’t have the guts to take the risk. He found a nearby cave to spend the night. He wanted to wait until tomorrow to scout it. If it was truly too dangerous, he would give up. Anyway, he already had sufficient Earth Fire.
“Wu-Wu, Wu-Wu!”
In the middle of the night, Jiang Yi—who was in a lethargic sleep—suddenly heard a monstrous voice. He didn’t know where the voice came from, but it seemed like it suddenly echoed in his mind. This voice had a magical power that enticed Jiang Yi to walk into the deep valley.
Jiang Yi’s eyes were tight shut in a half-conscious state. His feet were moving involuntarily, and soon enough, his body was walking out of the stone cave and headed towards the deep valley. When he was about to fall into the deep valley, the soul spirit in his mind suddenly flourished with golden lights, instantly clearing his mind.