Chapter 152: Golden Nectar and Fire Dates, Ancient Demon Sisters

At a distance of ten miles, for Cao Chengyu, the Shadow Sword condensed and in just three breaths arrived.

The Cold Lizard Horned Python was not dead yet but lay on the ground, howling in agony, its head half blown to pieces—anyone would be in pain with such an injury.

Cao Chengyu continued casting spells. With a thought, three gigantic shadow claws rose from beneath the earth, firmly pinning down the struggling Cold Lizard Horned Python. These were the Cursed Binding Shadow Claws.

Then, five-colored thunderbolts flickered one after another, unleashing the Five Thunder Heavenly Prison calamity.

Like a bolt from the blue on a clear day, a violent thunderclap resounded.

Boom—

The scent of sizzling flesh filled the air. When the storm of thunder cleared, the Cold Lizard Horned Python was dead beyond any doubt. Cao Chengyu gathered the three corpses into his storage pouch, swept up the Golden Dew Vermilion Fruits, and vanished from the scene.

The dark clouds formed by the converged thunder quickly dissipated. The entire process took no more than five breaths, yielding three severed fierce demon corpses and eight Golden Dew Vermilion Fruits.

This clearly indicated a significant increase in his strength.

Compared to the massacre he unleashed at the Flying Hong Immortal Workshop earlier, he was at least two tiers stronger.

This was due not only to his newly acquired secret techniques but also the substantial growth in his own magical power.

Fierce demon corpses could accelerate the cultivation speed of body-refining practitioners, and for Cao Chengyu, the effect was quite beneficial.

With the lightning-fast operation completed, Cao Chengyu moved away from the crime scene. Using the fifth version of the Wall-Passing Technique, he sank into the ground, set a formation disk to guard himself, then swallowed three Golden Dew Vermilion Fruits and began to refine them.

Generally, spiritual medicines and fruits that directly increase cultivation have resistance; after consuming three, further ingestion is unnecessary.

The Golden Dew Vermilion Fruit specifically enhances magical power.

After only a short while, torrential rain seemed to pour into his dantian, and the reserves of his magical power swelled like rivers rapidly converging into seas.

An hour later, rivers had become seas.

His magical power had barely reached the peak of the Purple Mansion level. Once his soul caught up and his consciousness palace was established, his spirit manifested—then he would truly reach the pinnacle of the Purple Mansion.

Of course, there was still room for growth, and he was far from breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

But three Golden Dew Vermilion Fruits saved him at least a year's worth of effort in accumulating magical power.

Such was the value of rare resources.

Although Cao Chengyu had obtained numerous third-grade spiritual medicines, even some fourth-grade ones, most were materials for refining pills. Those that directly increased cultivation were exceedingly rare.

This was indeed the Heavenly Ruins Mountain Range—rich and abundant in resources.

The remaining five fruits could be saved for Lin Yunjiao. Once she broke through to the Purple Mansion, consuming them would likely allow her to reach mid-Purple Mansion in just a few weeks.

“Such treasures are only more valuable the more we have. If you find any, remind me, understand?” Cao Chengyu instructed the Celestial Scent Spirit Cat, whose little head nodded eagerly, eyes fixated greedily on the Golden Dew Vermilion Fruits.

Cao Chengyu chuckled. He realized he might have been a bit stingy with the cat, so he took out two fruits and fed them to it.

“Meow!!”

The Celestial Scent Spirit Cat displayed a satisfied expression, licking its paws as its aura instantly swelled to the peak of the second tier, nearly breaking into the third.

“These three are for your mother Yunjiao. Don’t eat them yourself anymore. If you want more, find them yourself. I’ll be your muscle.”

“Meow! (?ì_í?)”

After their exchange, Cao Chengyu pressed onward.

Soon after, a Talisman Crane landed where he had paused.

Lin Qiu and Lin Wen were tattered, their exposed skin dark and mottled.

“Qiu, does the potash ash really mask aura? I don’t feel like it’s working. Ah, damn it, those monkeys are chasing us again.”

“Run! How would I know if it works?”

“Master said, if you smear it all over your body, it should be effective.”

“But Master also said it only works against ghosts, idiot.”

Lin Qiu cursed angrily—he had been badly tricked by this kid.

The two continued running until they could go no further.

Lin Qiu then pulled a flying corpse from the corpse bag. The two hung onto the flying corpse’s outstretched arms and took flight to escape.

“Qiu, where did you get this zombie?”

“Ask, ask, why ask? It’s your Fourth Uncle, the Four-Eyed Taoist’s cultivated corpse.”

“Taoist?! Is Uncle a Purple Mansion cultivator?”

“Of course. That day he saw my outstanding looks and the purple aura above my head, concluding I was destined to wear the yellow robe, feast on fine meat daily, so he gifted me a cultivated corpse.”

“Bullshit…”

Lin Wen hung his head, muttered softly, then added,

“Probably stolen…”

“What! You’re full of crap, Wen! I’m going to kill you!”

Lin Qiu flipped out, lunging to bite Lin Wen’s neck, and despite being chased by several Moro apes, they still managed to bicker.

Truly disciples of the Lin Taoist.

...

Since obtaining the Golden Dew Vermilion Fruits, Cao Chengyu’s luck seemed to vanish.

The spiritual items manifested along the way by the Celestial Scent Spirit Cat were either too low in grade or surrounded by too many monsters—not worth the risk.

Now, he had entered the territory of the Crystal Scorpion clan.

This was the 21st layer of the Heavenly Ruins Mountain Range.

The Crystal Scorpions were an ancient demon clan, their bloodline originating from the famous Heavenly Crystal Demon Sovereign. Their true form was a crystal venomous azure scorpion, possessing the divine ability “Awakening Strike.”

Ranked among the Great Divine Abilities, it was extremely rare.

Descendants of the Heavenly Crystal Demon Sovereign, with impure bloodlines, had their divine abilities degrade to “Crystal Awakening,” a top-tier minor divine technique.

Their innate crystal venom could transform victims into beautiful crystals, preserving eternal beauty.

Ordinary antidote pills couldn’t even counter this poison.

This group was not only wealthy in ancestry but formidable in strength, a powerful enemy in exploring the Heavenly Ruins Mountain Range.

Countless cultivators had met their end here.

Hence, from layers 21 to 25, many crystal statues remained, some broken, some intact, constantly warning those who came after.

They were also a banner of deterrence for the Crystal Scorpion clan.

Last time Cao Chengyu used “Lifeless Poison Eye” and injured his eyes; after much recovery, he was uncertain if it was enough to handle the crystal poison.

He crossed the horizontal mountain range of the 21st layer safely.

At the 22nd layer, the Celestial Scent Spirit Cat let out a meow.

An image of a fruit resembling crystal appeared before his eyes.

This was the Crystal Fruit, also known as the Crystal Fire Jujube, shaped like a red date.

According to "One Hundred Insights into Cultivation"—

“Jade nectar gold syrup, pear fire jujube, this is the medicine of soaring flight, unlike the Golden Core.”

This item was even more precious than the Golden Dew Vermilion Fruit and lacked grade divisions. It was the holy medicine for body-refining cultivators; regardless of cultivation level, consumption granted immunity to all poisons.

Moreover, with the power of the fire jujube, body-refining cultivation advanced greatly, nearly rivaling extreme natural flames like Yin-Ji Yang Fire.

This was a treasure indeed.

Cao Chengyu’s body-refining cultivation had reached the Four Extremes realm (89%). Eating this fire jujube might allow him to reach the Stage of Divine Manifestation (Body Refinement Golden Core) even before his magical power or soul could advance.

Then, his mastery of spiritual martial arts would unleash its fullest potential, unlike now, when he rarely even used it.

Because cultivators usually fought at a distance unless facing special attributes, combat was mostly ranged exchanges.

This treasure, he must have.

Immediately, guided by the Celestial Scent Spirit Cat, Cao Chengyu swiftly flew toward the target.

Unlike ordinary spiritual medicines, the Crystal Fire Jujube was mature upon birth. The older it was, the stronger its contained power.

This particular jujube was recently born, and now several monsters were fiercely contesting it, fighting with no clear victor.

He needed to hurry.

About a quarter of an hour later, having crossed several hundred miles, Cao Chengyu barely sensed the destination—again, about ten miles away.

He activated the Lifeless Poison Eye, instantly enhancing his vision.

At the horizon’s end, a blood-red crystal jujube grew atop a cliff, surrounded by fiery red mist.

Among the mist lay some crystal scorpion corpses, their transparent crystal-like shells shattered, wisps of red mist drifting from their bodies, expanding the mist’s range.

Such ungraded spiritual items generally possessed self-protection powers. The Crystal Fire Jujube’s ability was immunity to all poisons; this red mist was a deadly toxin, resistant to magical infiltration.

Seeing this, Cao Chengyu felt somewhat relieved.

He began to survey the nearby battlefield.

The dominant force was the Crystal Scorpion clan. Each ancient demon had the lower half of a beautiful crystal scorpion, but the upper half had transformed into human form, dressed in even more fantastic garb.

Because of the transparency of the crystal material, the stronger the scorpion demon, the clearer their crystal armor, even to the point of invisibility at its extreme.

The ancient demons turning human habitually used their natural exoskeletons as their humanoid armor.

This caused many scorpion women to have transparent crystal armor on their upper bodies.

But their human halves were opaque—thus...

Cao Chengyu vaguely thought of a little cherry on a white rabbit, regretting the lower half was a ferocious scorpion body.

There’s a saying: “The hungry do not understand the fullness of the sated.”

Caption: “The hungry are falsely empty; the sated truly so.”

Of course, he was the sated one—so full it was almost unbearable. After a fleeting moment, he snapped back.

Immediately, he became serious.

Bold fiends, how dare you disturb my Dao heart.

Cao Chengyu silently cursed within.

His gaze shifted to the other side, confronting the crystal fiends. There were five opponents: two ancient demons and three fierce demons.

One was a two-tailed cat spirit, with cat ears and two tails atop its head. The rest were humanoid, their long snow-white legs exposed, clad in black translucent gauze robes—vaguely more alluring than the blatant crystal demons.

Another ancient demon was a three-tailed fox spirit, dressed similarly to the cat spirit but in white attire, with a charming, seductive face, each glance and smile laden with temptation.

The two sisters leaned against each other. Both were early Golden Core ancient demons. The remaining fierce demons were less remarkable: a red tiger, a blue ox, and a purple squirrel.

Except for the purple squirrel, all were large in size. Their cultivation was at the Divine Manifestation level (Purple Mansion).

The Crystal Scorpions had only one Golden Core, the rest were Purple Mansion level, numbering seven. The strengths were roughly even, so they stood opposed without initiating combat.

But this was the 22nd layer of the Heavenly Ruins Mountain Range—the Crystal Scorpions’ territory. The longer it dragged on, the more advantageous for them, as reinforcements would arrive soon.

The cat spirit and fox spirit sisters clearly understood this, their inactivity merely superficial.

Behind the scenes, they had long been employing various means.

Now, the situation was on the verge of explosion.

“Sister, attack!”

“Together!”

“Netherworld Ghost Force, Illusory Form!”

“Qingqiu Charm Technique, Bewildering Heart!”

The two demons cooperated, and all seven crystal scorpions were ensnared, their minds trapped in illusions.

The sisters exchanged a smile—another success.

“Red Tiger, Blue Ox, Little Purple, you guard these crystal scorpions. We’ll go harvest the Crystal Fire Jujube first.”

“Understood, Big Sister Head.” ×3.

At that moment, Cao Chengyu made his move silently and swiftly...