Chapter 48: Clouds of Suspicion (Please keep reading, please vote)

After his departure, he secretly notified Huang Kai and Luo Pinghu. He did not disclose anything to the ambitious Zhou Tao, merely transferring the sovereignty of the Alchemist Guild to him.

Naturally, the latter was overjoyed. Having long harbored such intentions, he immediately struck up a connection with Zhao Shang.

The man surnamed Zhao was also the type who valued money over his own life. Having served in the Ice Snow Pavilion for many years, the amount of spirit stones he had embezzled far exceeded thirty thousand. However, his daily cultivation and the maintenance of his social connections required far more spirit stones than a solitary practitioner like Wang Yu.

Even after gathering the capital to purchase thirty thousand high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, it was still not enough.

These two greedy individuals would, sooner or later, invite a catastrophic disaster upon themselves.

Withdrawing in time and distancing himself from the sect gates was also Wang Yu's way of avoiding calamity.

Returning to the main topic.

After setting up this illusionary array, Wang Yu moved into the dilapidated stone house left by his predecessors. The corpse of the Bone-Spiked Lion held certain value; the longest bone spike on its back was a high-grade material for refining magical tools.

It was worth at least two hundred spirit stones. The corpse itself was ordinary, but as a peak First-Order creature, even as fodder for raising evil entities, it was worth over a hundred.

Killing two of them could be exchanged for one high-grade Cold Blood Pill.

Within the sect, this was a considerably difficult source of income; if one truly wanted to earn cultivation resources, one had to leave the sect.

Of course, this was also related to the fact that Mount Xuangu was a relatively "fat" resource point.

All three of the Xuangu Mountains possessed Second-Order Yin Veins.

A Yin Vein is a type of spiritual vein, though the spiritual energy it emits leans more toward the Yin attribute; they are often nurtured only in places where excessive death has occurred.

Logically speaking, it was reasonable for Foundation Establishment cultivators to be stationed in such a place, and theoretically, the cultivators guarding Mount Xuangu during the previous round should have cleared the mountain once.

It had taken them three months to arrive, yet the area had quickly been reclaimed by the Bone-Spiked Lions and the Corrupt Poison Bee swarms. This was a point of suspicion.

Therefore, even though Wang Yu could easily slay a Bone-Spiked Lion, he did not act with any carelessness. He prepared to advance slowly, guarding against any minute unforeseen changes.

After all, there were still more than four months until the flowering season!

Due to differences in collection times and growing environments, the flowering intervals of the Bone Trees varied; every year, a portion of the Bone Trees would bloom.

Four months was enough time for him to conquer two layers for his own use.

Thus.

One month later.

"Ice Coffin Curse: Cold Wind Arrive!"

Having mastered the technique to perfection, beyond its raw power, Wang Yu could also make subtle modifications to its original form.

Just like now.

The Ice Coffin Curse, which was supposed to shape six sides of ice crystals to form a binding coffin, underwent a subtle deformation by Wang Yu. The six ice walls surrounded a swarm of Corrupt Poison Bees.

The ice crystals vibrated incessantly, and countless ice shards shot out from the walls. Accompanied by bursts of icy wind, the previously troublesome bee swarm was almost entirely turned into ice lumps that shattered upon hitting the ground.

Their corrupt poison had no effect whatsoever on the spiritual energy of the technique!

A major trouble was resolved with ease.

Wang Yu had not been able to achieve this change when fighting Xu Jiaojiao; this was a modification made through adaptation to the environment after experiencing multiple battles. This was what one called combat experience.

Rewriting a troublesome struggle into a sweeping victory.

The skill of combat was also a crucial factor affecting a cultivator's strength. Wang Yu was becoming increasingly adapted, while others were suffering miserably.

Particularly the disciples of Heavenly Corpse Peak under Gu Zhengshun's command.

The Bronze-Armored Corpses they commanded condensed corpse qi into mountain-ridge bronze armor that covered the surface of the corpses. While it appeared to be a natural talent of the armored corpses, in reality, the disciples with some family background would purchase black iron for the corpses to refine, merging it with their innate corpse armor to take their defense to the next level.

This was originally a method to enhance the armored corpses, but upon encountering the Corrupt Poison Bee swarm, they suffered instead. Not only did their defense plummet, but the armor originally composed of corpse qi was also destroyed in the process.

It had been a month, yet they had only conquered three locations where Second-Order Profound Essence Flowers grew on Bone Trees. Their efficiency was incredibly slow, which was also related to their low cultivation levels.

Among the twenty people, the lowest was at the third level of Qi Refinement, and the highest was only at the sixth level, equal to Gu Zhengshun. It was difficult to generate efficiency.

On Wang Yu's side, however, he had already conquered two layers, with nine Second-Order Bone Trees bearing flower pods. He was currently preparing for the third layer. With his ability, patrolling three layers of territory daily was sufficient.

In the following years, different Bone Trees would basically grow flower pods every year; he only needed to guard them to reap the harvest!

On this day, during his daily cultivation.

Gu Zhengshun, sitting atop a coffin lid, flew directly to the level where Wang Yu was located. Seeing the two layers of environment devoid of any bee swarms or bone lions, he felt somewhat envious and shouted from a distance.

"Junior Brother Wang, I, Gu, have business to discuss."

As the Blood Mist Illusionary Array revealed a path, Gu Zhengshun walked in without hesitation. Seeing Wang Yu's standing figure in front of the stone house, he got straight to the point.

"We have trouble."

Wang Yu was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

"Why do you say that?"

"It is Liu Jinxian."

Among the three masters of Mount Xuangu, Liu Jinxian possessed the strongest strength.

She also had the largest number of subordinates. In one month, she had already cleared her mountain, and her nearly three hundred subordinates, having nothing to do, had set their sights on Gu Zhengshun's territory.

"At first, she only sent a letter, hoping we would capture the Corrupt Poison Bee swarms on this mountain alive and hand them over to her. I declined, citing a lack of manpower.

"Now, she wants her subordinates to help me clear this mountain. If she takes control, the territories we have occupied will belong to them..."

Wang Yu's brow furrowed. This situation was almost predictable and not strange; the problem lay with Gu Zhengshun.

"And then? Did you not prepare any contingency plans to balance against the other two mountain masters? Did you come here just to change locations to be preyed upon?"

Gu Zhengshun explained with an embarrassed expression

"The Gu family was once a Foundation Establishment family, but ever since the ancestor fell, we have regressed to a Qi Refinement family. The fact that I could become a disciple of an inner sect Foundation Establishment Deacon of Heavenly Corpse Peak is only because my master owes a debt to my ancestor.

"The Gu family's foundation is far inferior to the Liu clan. If she forces the issue, I can only rely on you."

"Rely on me?"

Wang Yu couldn't help but sneer. He narrowed his eyes and sized up Gu Zhengshun, saying, "I am merely an ordinary fifth-level Qi Refinement cultivator. Brother Gu, you are mistaken to count on me as your trump card.

"If Liu Jinxian is truly that aggressive, what harm is there in me raising a white flag and surrendering? It's no big deal."

Gu Zhengshun said bitterly.

"If Junior Brother Wang insists on this, I have nothing more to say. Sigh... so be it."

Watching the other man's departing figure, Wang Yu's expression fluctuated.

His cooperation with this man was mainly a matter of timing, and since Gu Zhengshun's strength was not high, Wang Yu was confident he could suppress him. Thus, by switching the Mountain Master Token, he could also hide his own identity in the process.

He had thought that since the man had a Golden Core Grandmaster, he would have some level of ability, but who knew he was merely a paper tiger.

Yet, the situation didn't seem quite like that; giving up so easily was not the style of a demonic cultivator.

"Unless... Gu Zhengshun did not come to Mount Xuangu for the Profound Essence Flowers."

Wang Yu muttered to himself, beginning to contemplate every move the man had made since arriving at Mount Xuangu.

Scouting, setting arrays, burying corpses, and advancing slowly.

None of these were problematic; it was a steady and solid approach!