Chapter 272: Chapter 269: Core Formation Seed, Clearing the Cold Pool

Little Plum Mountain.

Li Ping and Yan Hengchuan’s arrival immediately alerted Ji Shuchen.

He made sure the children from the three families were behaving, then hurried over and called out with a smile, "Uncle Li, Hengchuan."

Ji Shuchen, Ji Shu Xuan, and Yan Hengchuan were all around the same age. They had received their initial education on the Immortal Dao from Daoist Ji at Little Plum Mountain together, making them childhood friends.

Although Ji Shuchen later stayed behind in the Jiang Kingdom while Ji Shu Xuan and Yan Hengchuan were sent to Fenglan Immortal City to be taught by Li Ping, separating them, their friendship never changed.

Thus, after Yan Hengchuan reached Foundation Establishment and returned to the Jiang Kingdom, he and Ji Shuchen remained close. They visited each other frequently and still called each other brothers, refusing to let the gap in their cultivation levels create any distance between them.

Li Ping looked at Ji Shuchen. "Keep an eye on those children and don’t let them run wild. I’m going to take Hengchuan into the Underground Spirit Vein shortly to clear out all the Demon Beasts in the Cold Pool."

Ji Shuchen was stunned for a moment, but his face quickly lit up with joy. "Of course, Uncle Li!"

Uncle Li’s words confirmed his suspicions. ’Uncle Li really is a Core Formation Master now!’

"Oh, and you and Hengchuan should prepare yourselves." Li Ping nodded and added a serious warning, "When the time comes, have the Artifact Refiners from your three families forge the Demon Beast materials into Dharma Artifacts for your own use. Don’t sell them."

He gave this order for two main reasons.

First, the Demon Beasts in the underground Cold Pool were quite unique. If a large quantity of uncommon materials were to flood the market, it would likely attract unwanted attention.

If those people investigated carefully and discovered the secret of the Underground Spirit Vein, it could lead to trouble.

Second, these Demon Beast materials, especially the Tier Two ones, were considered relatively high-end Spiritual Materials that could be used to refine exquisite Dharma Artifacts.

It would be a terrible waste to simply sell the materials.

If they were kept within the families and forged into Dharma Artifacts for their own use, it would not only greatly enhance their overall strength but also improve the skills of their Artifact Refiners.

With a bit of luck, they might even be able to cultivate a Tier Two Artifact Refiner.

Of course, that would likely be far in the future.

However, the three families currently only had two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, so there was no immediate need to forge a large number of Tier Two Dharma Artifacts. They could take their time cultivating a Tier Two Artifact Refiner; there was no rush.

Hearing Li Ping’s instructions, Yan Hengchuan and Ji Shuchen quickly nodded in agreement.

In truth, even if Li Ping hadn’t said anything, they would not have sold the Spiritual Materials.

Having managed their families for a century, they might not be as powerful as Li Ping, but they understood the principle of ’keeping it within the family’ even better than he did.

After giving his instructions, Li Ping led Yan Hengchuan toward the stone wall on the back mountain. He successfully activated the Array and they were transported into a narrow passage. He then took out a pre-prepared illuminating Dharma Artifact, dispelling the darkness within.

Gazing at the cold rock walls on either side of the passage, Li Ping felt a wave of nostalgia.

Nearly a hundred years had passed since he last entered this Underground Spirit Vein.

He still remembered the troubled look on Daoist Ji’s face after he had led him into the Spirit Vein back then.

Originally, Daoist Ji had been worried that the secret of the Underground Spirit Vein would leak, bringing disaster upon the Ji family. He had planned to destroy the entrance and move his entire clan away from the Little Plum Mountain Spirit Vein.

However, before coming to Little Plum Mountain, Li Ping had already taken it upon himself to buy the Little Plum Mountain Spirit Vein from the Yu family of Bifeng Lake, intending to gift it to the Ji family.

This made it difficult for Daoist Ji to proceed with his plan to ’destroy the entrance and move away from Little Plum Mountain’.

In the end, at Li Ping’s persuasion and for the long-term future of his family, Daoist Ji accepted the gift.

And Li Ping, for his part, had decided to wait until after he reached Core Formation to open the cavern estate.

Now, times had changed. Daoist Ji had passed on, and even his grandson was growing old.

Only now did he finally have enough power to open the cavern estate.

...

"Grandmaster, the Spiritual Qi here is so dense!" Yan Hengchuan exclaimed in shock as he sensed the pure Spiritual Qi filling the passage.

According to his Grandmaster, this was merely the outer region of the Spirit Vein, yet he found that the concentration of Spiritual Qi here was already on par with that of the Spirit Island at Bifeng Lake.

Li Ping smiled and nodded. "Let’s keep moving forward."

"Yes, Grandmaster!" Yan Hengchuan readily agreed.

The two of them immediately headed deeper into the passage.

Because Li Ping had already explored the underground passage once with Daoist Ji, and with his strength having greatly increased, the Tier Two Demon Beasts were no longer much of a threat to him.

As a result, they moved quickly this time, and before long, they were following the frost-covered passage to the edge of the underground Cold Pool.

RUMBLE~

The tremendous roar of an underground river crashing down from above into the Cold Pool filled his ears. Yan Hengchuan curiously surveyed the towering cavern before him.

Of course, what drew most of his attention was the frigid Cold Pool in the center of the cavern, and the island at its heart, which was enveloped in the glowing light of an Array.

Feeling the faint pressure emanating from the island’s Array, Yan Hengchuan was astonished and no longer had any doubt about what Li Ping had told him.

This Array was indeed Tier Three, and the Spirit Vein on the island beneath it had also reached Tier Three.

A Tier Three Spirit Vein could support the cultivation of a Core Formation Cultivator and allow a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator to attempt to break through to Core Formation!

If their alliance of the Yan, Ji, and Yu families could possess such a Tier Three Spirit Vein and cultivate another Core Formation Cultivator...

Perhaps they could stand as equals to the Jiang family!

Who would rule the Jiang Kingdom in the future would be anyone’s guess.

At this thought, Yan Hengchuan’s breathing grew heavy. He could almost see a future where the three families ruled the Jiang Kingdom together.

Just as he was lost in his fantasy, Li Ping’s calm voice reached his ears. "Hengchuan, stay right here. I’m going to clear out the Demon Beasts in the Cold Pool."

"Yes, Grandmaster!" Yan Hengchuan snapped back to his senses.

Watching his Grandmaster transform into a streak of rainbow light and fly toward the Cold Pool, he silently warned himself: ’With the current strength of our three families, now is not the time to oppose the Jiang family. We must continue to develop in secret.

Only when Shuwen or Jing becomes a Core Formation Cultivator can our three families develop this Tier Three Spirit Vein. Until then, we cannot even touch this Underground Spirit Vein!’

Yan Jing was Yan Hengchuan’s second son, the one who possessed a Thunder Spiritual Root, had successfully joined the Crimson Flame Sect, and had been accepted as a disciple by a Core Formation Cultivator.

Resources in the Western Wilderness Cultivation Realm were scarce. Even for Sect Cultivators, one needed at least a Dual Spirit Root to have any hope of reaching Core Formation.

In Yan Hengchuan’s view, if anyone in the three-family alliance had a chance of reaching Core Formation, it was only Yan Jing and Ji Shuwen.

...

The moment Li Ping entered the underground cavern, his immense Divine Sense enveloped the entire Cold Pool, which was several li across.

Under the probe of his Divine Sense, nothing in the Cold Pool could hide from him.

When he got a clear view of the scene within the Cold Pool, Li Ping couldn’t help but be astonished.

The not-so-large Cold Pool was home to hundreds of Tier One Demon Beasts and dozens of Tier Two Demon Beasts. Among them, three had even reached the Tier Two Late Stage, their strength comparable to Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that these Demon Beasts primarily fed on the fish that flowed down from the underground river.

The Spiritual Qi concentration here had reached Tier Two Upper Grade, and a constant supply of food washed down from the underground river. With such a superior environment, it was no wonder the Demon Beasts had no intention of leaving and simply remained obediently in the Cold Pool.

’Three Tier Two Upper Grade Demon Beasts. Two are Demon Snakes, and the other is some kind of lizard-like beast.’ Li Ping looked down at the Cold Pool below, a glint of killing intent in his eyes.

Regardless of where these Demon Beasts came from, since he intended to leave this Tier Three Spirit Vein for his old friends in the Jiang Kingdom, they all had to be cleaned out.

Before reaching Core Formation, if he had wanted to eliminate three Tier Two Upper Grade Demon Beasts, he would have had to summon his puppets, use the Blood Banner to poison them... he would have needed to use every trick up his sleeve.

But after reaching Core Formation, it was no longer so troublesome.

With a light flick of his sleeve, a small black sword swam out from his cuff like a fish. It transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the Cold Pool below, silently slipping into the frigid water.

With his Divine Sense covering and perceiving everything, the Devouring Essence Sword was like a precision-guided missile, weaving through the Cold Pool and reaping the lives of one Demon Beast after another.

Before the Magical Treasure of a Core Formation Cultivator, even a Tier Two Late Stage Demon Beast had no power to resist and could only submit to its fate.

A series of bubbles gurgled up from the Cold Pool. Pools of blood gradually began to float on the frigid surface, followed by the enormous corpses of the Demon Beasts.

However, as he was killing these Demon Beasts, Li Ping couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

The deepest part of the underground Cold Pool was only a hundred zhang, still within the range of his Divine Sense. Yet when the Devouring Essence Sword plunged deep into the water, he could feel a surprising resistance, making it far less smooth to control than usual.

This made him even more certain of the difficulties involved in dealing with the Ice Flood Dragon in the Land of the Far North.

No wonder that as long as it hid beneath the ten-thousand-zhang-deep Ice Sea, even a Great Cultivator personally taking action couldn’t do anything to it.

Even if a human Great Cultivator had water-avoiding techniques and could venture to the bottom of the Ice Sea to find the Ice Flood Dragon, the power of their Magical Treasures and Magic would inevitably be greatly diminished in such a harsh environment.

The Ice Flood Dragon, on the other hand, was uniquely advantaged in the extreme cold of the seafloor, its strength boosted even further.

With one’s power decreased and the other’s increased, the gap in strength between a Great Cultivator and the beast wouldn’t be so great.

As long as it was determined to flee, that small difference in strength wouldn’t be enough to kill it.

’In the future, it probably won’t be so easy for Xiao Yunzhi to kill the Ice Flood Dragon and fulfill her vow.’

...

Though a thousand thoughts raced through Li Ping’s mind, the speed at which he controlled his Magical Treasure did not slow in the slightest.

Under the rampage of the black, swimming dragon, it took less than an hour for the surface of the Cold Pool to be covered in the corpses of Demon Beasts.

HISS~

A Tier Two Late Stage Demon Snake sensed the danger and shot out of the Cold Pool, opening its cavernous mouth to lunge at Li Ping in the sky.

Seeing this, Li Ping shook his head, casually flicking out a golden light. With a mere thought, he sliced the Demon Beast in two.

The golden light hovered motionlessly in the air. It was none other than Li Ping’s Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Purple Gold Fork.

After reaching Core Formation, driven by his immense Magical Power, even a once-unremarkable Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact could unleash terrifying power in his hands.

An hour later.

Li Ping scanned with his Divine Sense and found that he had killed every last Demon Beast in the Cold Pool.

The Devouring Essence Sword flew out of the Cold Pool, swam back into his sleeve, and vanished from sight.

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