Chapter 46: Malignant Spirit, Poisonous Bee, Bone Lion (Please keep reading, please vote)

This conversation lasted nearly three months, which was much closer to the time Wang Yu had estimated with Wang Yu. The speed of the bone ship was actually faster than that of a Qi Refinement cultivator, but after leaving the sect, Gu Zhengshun had stopped using spirit stones for recharging.

Instead, he had his many disciples take turns operating it. Wang Yu also got a taste of controlling the bone ship; it wasn't much different from riding a boat in his previous life, except it was simply in the sky.

Once outside the sect, there was no need to maintain appearances, and he was also protective of his spirit stone expenditures; there was no reason to waste them on travel.

Thus, at the end of the third year of his outer sect career, in late March, the group finally arrived at [Mystic Bone Mountain]. Its topography was completely different from what Wang Yu had imagined.

It consisted of three giant,天井-style (atrium-style) mountains that had undergone extensive artificial carving. The centers were hollow, at least several thousand meters high, with a hollowed-out design between each level, supported by only a few dozen pillars.

From a distance, they looked like stone towers.

White bone-wood grew between the layers; the tallest specimens were only six meters, while the height between levels was about ten meters. Each atrium mountain had approximately three hundred levels.

This was a specialized planting pattern that had been intentionally modified.

Crude stone and wooden houses were evenly distributed on every level. On the bottom and top levels, there were several stone halls flying the Blood Demon banners of the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect, symbolizing their sovereignty.

Between the three Mystic Bone Mountains lay a large camp capable of accommodating a thousand people. The terrain had almost no vegetation or greenery; the land was barren, surrounded by several low hills with exposed rock.

A faint scent of corpse stench permeated the air.

"We've finally arrived!" Gu Zhengshun spoke with some excitement.

Even though their group, belonging to [Heavenly Corpse Peak], had not stopped at the main cities of Yeqiong Province or Feng Province along the way, they were still the last to arrive.

The other two mountain masters had already chosen their peaks and were directing their subordinates to take over the old formations and set up new ones.

Of the three Mystic Bone Mountains, they were at the remaining one on the far right.

This atrium-style cylindrical mountain had the least amount of planted Mystic Bone-wood, which grew sparsely and looked underdeveloped. Gu Zhengshun didn't mind and immediately maneuvered the bone ship to land at the bottom, giving orders.

"Go and count exactly how many Mystic Bone-wood trees there are. You, and you, go inspect the [Yin Gathering Formation], the [Soul Sucking Formation], and the [Bone-wood Spirit Nourishing Formation]."

"You go set up the formation flags I brought and bury the corpses."

As the commands were issued, everyone quickly got to work. Although demonic cultivators were skilled at killing and arson, that was merely one characteristic.

The so-called "unproductive" nature of demonic cultivators did not mean they completely failed to manage resource production. When not at war with the righteous path, they still produced resources; they were simply not as adept at management as the righteous path.

Most of these Mystic Bone-woods were first-order Yin-wood, but a few had reached the second order, which was highly beneficial to Armored Corpses, Baleful Corpses, and Yin Spirits.

Therefore, it was normal for Heavenly Corpse Peak and Five Yin Peak to come here.

As for Gu Poison Peak, they were here for something else.

Wang Yu did nothing else but wander aimlessly through the layers of Mystic Bone forests, primarily checking if there were protruding white bone nodules at the tops of the trees.

Some bone-wood trees, once they reached a certain age, would grow Mystic Essence Flowers.

These had the effect of purifying spiritual power and could help Qi Refinement cultivators overcome bottlenecks, rapidly completing their second and third rounds of spirit refining.

A second-order Mystic Essence Flower could provide some assistance in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. If one could seize a few, crossing the True Yuan Gate—one of the three trials of Foundation Establishment—would be effortless.

This was the true reason Gu Zhengshun had come here.

To break through to the late stage of Qi Refinement, or even to condense spiritual power into a semi-liquid state that could be converted into True Yuan at any time—he had come for five years solely for this!

Situ Hong likely had similar plans.

There were actually many treasures that could assist in passing the "True Yuan Gate," such as high-grade Foundation Establishment Pills.

Consequently, the resources of Mystic Bone Mountain were of little interest to true disciples, and even some inner disciples with deep backgrounds looked down on them.

However, for middle-tier inner disciples like Situ Hong and Gu Zhengshun, they were quite attractive.

Mystic Essence Flowers bloom once every three years. It was currently late December, well past the flowering season; one would have to wait until the end of next spring or the beginning of summer for the next round.

Bone-wood trees that have bloomed require three years of accumulation to build up the foundation for the next bloom. Wang Yu's purpose in recording plants with bone nodules was not aimless; he was laying the groundwork for future harvests.

The higher one went up these Mystic Bone Towers, the colder and more Yin the environment became. The wind seemed to turn black, and occasional dark shadows flickered through the sparse bone-wood forests.

Those were actually the local "farmers."

According to intelligence, these creatures were "Earthbound Spirits" that shared a symbiotic relationship with the bone-wood, protecting the trees within a certain range from various harms.

It was said that they were originally the main clan of Mystic Bone Mountain, who were slaughtered by the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect and then refined into "Yin Spirit Farmers." This was the production method of the demonic path.

Bloody, cruel, and utterly inhumane!

Situ Hong of Five Yin Peak came here not only for the Mystic Essence Flowers but also for the environment suitable for Yin Spirit cultivation. He intended to let his cultivated ghost slaves live in symbiosis with the bone-wood for five years; the growth rate would be similar to their own cultivation, but without the need to spend spirit stones.

If they could achieve symbiosis with second-order bone-wood, the effect would far exceed ordinary cultivation investment, achieving twice the result with half the effort, and potentially even allowing them to master a special technique.

As for Liu Jinxian of Gu Poison Peak, she most likely came here for a type of natural disaster found on Mystic Bone Mountain!

When Wang Yu reached the two-hundredth level, a dense buzzing sound suddenly rang in his ears.

Looking closely, he saw a large, flat, lichen-like honeycomb hanging from a tall, second-order bone-wood tree amidst the forest.

Giant bees with gray bodies, bone patterns, and bird-like skulls were swarming. This creature was one of the disasters of Mystic Bone Mountain—the [Corrosive Poison Bee Swarm]!

In its natural state, this was a peak first-order exotic insect. Once they formed a swarm, even Foundation Establishment cultivators would not dare to provoke them. They were also natural materials for Gu insects.

The corrosive poison they secreted had a suppressive corrosive effect on various spiritual metals, making it a powerful tool for dealing with a cultivator's dharma treasures. It was a sufficient trump card for a Qi Refinement cultivator and would not become obsolete even into the Foundation Establishment stage.

Its utility was very high; making a trip for the Corrosive Poison Bees and the Mystic Essence Flowers was definitely worth it.

While investigating, Wang Yu simply marked them, steered his flying tool, the Black Silk, around them, and continued upward.

The Corrosive Poison Bees fed on bone-wood sap and loved the nectar of the Mystic Essence Flowers, but they were only one of the troubles on Mystic Bone Mountain.

The second type of disaster was a demon beast.

Named—the [Man-Bone Lion]!

This type of demon beast was generally solitary and would use second-order bone-wood as territory, digging out a hole to build a nest. They fed on the bone-wood, as this Yin-wood could enhance their physical strength and the length of the bone spikes on their backs.

It was said to be beneficial for reproduction, attracting the favor of female Man-Bone Lions.

They were almost non-existent on the lower levels, but from the two-hundredth level upward, there were two or three on every level, almost all possessing peak first-order strength, making them very difficult to deal with.

After completing the trip.

This Mystic Bone Mountain not only had the fewest bone-wood trees but also the highest number of Man-Bone Lions. It was a tough nut to crack, which explained why it had been dumped on Gu Zhengshun.