Nan Yan plummeted into a thick mist of elemental essence. Fortunately, her Buddhist faith was unwavering, allowing her to regain her senses despite the Ghost Marquis’s howl. She stabilized herself mid-air, grabbed a small ghost from a nearby hole, destroyed it, and took its place.
Just as she formed a Buddhist barrier at the opening, a furious roar erupted from below.
“Sacrifice!”
Frowning, Nan Yan covered her ears and protected her mind with Buddhist power. As her barrier flickered, threatening to collapse, a dark, branch-like entity struck it forcefully, shattering it instantly.
It was too strong to withstand!
Disheveled, Nan Yan hid in a crevice, hearing something crawl up the essence well’s walls in search of her. As a massive, ghostfire-burning eye appeared at the opening, she steeled herself and drew out the scabbard Meng Xiaolou had given her. With a gesture, an extremely cold sword qi flew from the scabbard.
The sword qi was like millennia-old frost descending. Everything fell silent. The surrounding ghosts froze and shattered. The Wood Ghost Marquis, after glancing at her, split into wooden blocks and fell.
“That’s… impressive,” Nan Yan muttered, momentarily stunned. Seizing the opportunity while the ghosts were subdued, she flew towards the exit. Just as she was about to reach it, a tendril from below wrapped around her ankle.
The Wood Ghost Marquis’s cold voice resonated again: “I am bound by the Prison Lord’s command to guard this essence well. As long as the Fengmo Heaven exists, I cannot perish! Mere human, you will eventually join our ghost realm. If you willingly offer your flesh and blood, I’ll grant you the position of ghost official in recognition of your sacrifice!”
Fengmo Heaven?
Before Nan Yan could ponder this, she felt a sudden heat on her back. The ghostly tendril around her ankle recoiled as if encountering a natural enemy. The Wood Ghost Marquis below cried out in terror.
“Forgive me, Prison Master! I didn’t know… Yes, yes, this is essence concentrate. I’ll return immediately!”
At that moment, a white light swooped down, wrapping around Nan Yan and pulling her out. She found herself rescued by the white snake she had encountered earlier at the canyon’s entrance.
“You saved me?”
The snake, exuding a gentle aura like the nine-colored deer, nodded slightly and touched her ring with its tongue.
Nan Yan understood, retrieving the earth spirit bead given by the deer. “Is it this?”
The snake nodded gracefully, seeming to express submission.
Nan Yan grasped the bead, igniting her elixir fire. In moments, she refined it, and a faint red glow appeared around her dark irises.
She could now sense every blade of grass and tree in Chiqiu Mountain. She even clearly perceived the demonic cultivators being scattered by the blood bees.
“So the deer elder was telling the truth. But this essence well is crucial for the beast race. Why give it to me so easily?” Nan Yan pondered, recalling the Wood Ghost Marquis’s mention of a “Prison Master.” This aroused her suspicion.
She scanned the area thoroughly with her enhanced senses, finding no one else in or around the canyon. Disappointed, she murmured, “Shaocang, if you’re here, please show yourself.”
…Are you here, or were you discovered by the Daosheng Heaven masters back then?
Lost in thought, Nan Yan only noticed the cool snake scales against her hand when the white snake brought her several jade-like objects.
“What are these?” she asked, not recognizing them at first. But as soon as she touched them, she exclaimed, “Essence concentrate!”
She remembered: Their main objective in this journey was the essence wells. Some wells nurtured for ten thousand years, formed concentrates equivalent to the finest spirit stones in the cultivation world. Crucially, while ordinary spirit stones and jade couldn’t carry the elemental essence from the Mountains and Seas realm, these concentrates could be taken out.
Not only did cultivators at the peak of Nascent Soul covet these, but even those who had formed their Nascent Soul craved them desperately. Used correctly, essence concentrate could increase one’s chances of forming a Nascent Soul by 70%. Nan Yan believed it valuable enough to tempt even a Nascent Soul cultivator to betray their sect.
This particular concentrate was of the wood element. After absorbing it for less than ten breaths, Nan Yan felt her wood spirit root nearly overflowing. She quickly sealed it and stored it in her storage ring.
After several hours of meditation, Nan Yan stretched and exhaled a breath of turbid qi. With a soft “crack” from within her body, she expelled the last of her ordinary spiritual energy, finally reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment.
The feeling was exhilarating as if she was on the verge of joining the ranks of true powerhouses in this realm.
But Nan Yan knew this was just the beginning of her real journey to the arena. The path ahead would pit her against even more formidable opponents.
Her eyes gleamed with fighting spirit. As she was about to seek out Yuan Ang and Lu Sheng for another battle, she noticed the blue scales on the white snake flickering, forming ancient human characters.
“Do you need me to inform the Chiqiu Mountain tribes to offer strong male beasts to the Mountain Lord?”
Offer what?
Recalling the nine-colored deer’s mention of “procreation,” Nan Yan hastily backed away, saying, “I’ll handle my own… lifelong affairs. Do you know if there are any fire element essence wells nearby in the eastern region?”
The snake nodded, its scales flashing blue again: The Eastern Robbery Sea only has water and wood essence wells. The fire essence well is in the Southern Robbery Sea, in the nest of the Silver Winged Insect Mother. It’s extremely dangerous.
Nan Yan had heard from the nine-colored deer about the Silver Winged Insect Mother’s formidable nature, but she was more worried about Mu Zhanting. As a child, she had constantly told him about the “chosen one who survives cliff jumps,” inadvertently brainwashing him. Now, he would push himself to the brink of death, believing he couldn’t die. She wondered how he had survived this long.
If it were him, even knowing about the Silver Winged Insect Mother… he’d likely charge headfirst into danger.
No, her brother couldn’t die there.
Determined, Nan Yan said, “I have a… relative who isn’t very bright. He might have wandered into the Silver Winged Insect Mother’s territory. Is there a way to rescue him without causing conflict?”
The white snake replied: The Insect Mother is fierce and not easily persuaded. However, the Mountain Lord could lead the blood bee tribe from the mountain to fight fire with fire.
Nan Yan: “…Do all beast tribes resolve issues with violence?”
The white snake elegantly responded: Yes, indeed.
Nan Yan: “Where did you learn to say ‘indeed’ like that?”
The snake: “Reporting to the Mountain Lord, this humble servant recently devoured a human’s wandering soul and learned it while reading its memories.”
Nan Yan finally understood why these ethereal beasts were so intelligent… They were just picky about eating flesh, but they still consumed souls.
Seizing this rare opportunity, Nan Yan cultivated the essence well for three full days until she couldn’t absorb any more wood essence. As she prepared to leave for the fire essence well, the white snake led her to meet the blood bee queen of Chiqiu Mountain.
At the volcano’s mouth, Nan Yan saw an indescribably enormous blood bee emerging from the glass-like, semi-transparent mountain peak. Too intimidated to approach, she let the white snake convey her intention to visit the Silver Winged Insect Mother’s territory.
After hearing the explanation, the blood bee queen said, “Though the Silver Winged Insect Mother and I are both insect tribes, they’ve replaced essence with blood as food and have become cruel and mindless. The Deer Sage has long wanted to ally with the Golden-winged Xuancang Beast to eliminate the Silver Winged tribe. There’s bad blood between them. If the Mountain Lord insists on going, the Insect Mother might not respect the Deer Sage’s influence.”
The white snake hissed, “Chiqiu Mountain was originally the territory of the beast royal bloodline. Now that we finally have a descendant of the royal line, we should prioritize procreation. She mentioned there are some humans stranded nearby, including people she’s looking for… I think, to revitalize the beast race, we should encourage the Mountain Lord to seek a mate.”
The blood bee queen was instantly convinced. She immediately ordered 10,000 of her most elite blood bees to accompany the Mountain Lord, earnestly instructing, “Besides protecting the Mountain Lord, if you encounter any suitable male beasts—even humans—that catch her eye, sting them unconscious and bring them back for the Mountain Lord’s pleasure, regardless of the cost!”
Nan Yan hesitated at the foot of the mountain, feeling it wasn’t right to trouble the powerful blood bees without reason. To her surprise, the white snake soon descended with a swarm of fierce blood bees.
“Are these all guards gifted by the bee queen?”
Each blood bee was as large as a palm and equipped with three types of venom sacs: paralytic, corrosive, and incurable poison. They became more excited the more blood they consumed. With 10,000 of these by her side, Nan Yan felt she could dominate the Nine Robbery Seas. Moved yet slightly uneasy, she asked, “Is this appropriate?”
The white snake assured her confidently, “Don’t worry, with them, we’ll certainly fulfill the Mountain Lord’s wishes.”
Nan Yan was on the verge of tears, “I don’t know how to thank you all.”
The white snake replied, “The Mountain Lord’s wishes are our wishes.”
Ah the beast companions are so friendly, Nan Yan thought. Her master was right; great love exists in the hearts of all beings.
Reaffirming her belief in the Buddhist path of salvation, Nan Yan stored the blood bees in a special space in her storage ring designed for spirit insects and set off for the southern part of the Nine Robbery Seas.
With the blood bees’ guidance, Nan Yan reached the southern Robbery Sea on the fourth day.
Unlike the forested valleys of the eastern Robbery Sea, the Nan was a vast wetland. Scaled beasts lurked in the muddy waters, occasionally lunging out to attack her. Only after Nan Yan released a bit of the blood bees’ demonic aura did the lower-level beasts gradually calm down.
“…Such strong gold and fire essence,” Nan Yan remarked, casually killing a black lizard that had boldly tried to bite off her arm. The absorbed essence was fire-attributed, bringing a warm balance to her dantian, which had been uncomfortably full of wood essence.
Moments later, Nan Yan’s ears twitched, catching the sound of an explosion from a distant dead tree swamp. She immediately flew towards it, soon hearing the solemn chanting of Confucian cultivators.
“Blazing light dispels the gloomy day, no grass grows among all things!”
Three Confucian cultivators formed a tri-light formation, chanting this verse in unison. Instantly, the righteous qi of heaven and earth transformed into flames, engulfing the silvery mist on one side. As the mist and flames combined, metallic clashing sounds erupted, and most of the silver mist condensed into small silver balls falling to the ground.
When the flames died out, the slightly charred outer layer of the silver balls peeled off, and they reverted to silver mist, lunging at the three Confucian cultivators.
With her keen eyes, Nan Yan observed that the silver mist comprised countless mosquito-sized silver beetles. Some had already attached to a cultivator’s finger and were gradually spreading to his entire hand.
…So these are the Silver Winged Insects?
Nan Yan’s expression turned grave. She formed a hand seal, pointing at the silver insects while softly chanting a Sanskrit mantra.
“Om, Arya Dharma, Hrih Ku… Svaha!”