Chapter Twenty-Five: The Cave of Five Camphor Trees

“Big Brother, how are you? Are you alright?” As King Yu Rong took the opportunity to regulate his own condition, he saw Yuan Wuji risk his life to slay Shui Yu. Without hesitation, he flew to Yuan Wuji’s side to support him.

“King Yu Rong, didn’t you say your territory is nearby? Take me there at once,” Yuan Wuji demanded, as he needed to find a place to refine the essence blood he had just devoured from Shui Yu.

“Alright, Big Brother, I’ll take you right away. Be careful.” King Yu Rong slowly guided Yuan Wuji forward, flying through the air.

This path was the only way to reach King Yu Rong’s domain. That was precisely why Shui Yu had lain in wait here to intercept him. Fortunately, the territory was not far off—no more than several dozen miles—and a short ride on the clouds would bring them there.

“Big Brother, hold on a bit longer. We’re almost there.” Yuan Wuji’s eyelids grew increasingly heavy; he had to refine Shui Yu’s essence blood immediately, or it could congeal into stagnant blood within him, causing tremendous harm to his body.

His wounds, which had improved slightly after absorbing Shui Yu’s essence blood, now began to emit a faint putrid odor—even though only a short while had passed.

“My followers, I’ve returned! Quickly, help me to my cave!” King Yu Rong shouted to the little demons standing guard at the cave entrance.

“This is my Big Brother. Take us inside at once!” A group of young, barely sentient demons rushed over to support the nearly collapsing King Yu Rong and Yuan Wuji.

“Wuzhang Cave”—this was the name Yuan Wuji saw as the little demons carried him inside.

“Great King, are you alright?” A wolf demon clad in armor quickly approached, concern in his eyes as he saw King Yu Rong and Yuan Wuji being escorted in.

“Black Moon, quickly take my Big Brother to my secluded chamber. Go now!” King Yu Rong saw the wolf demon, Black Moon, still hesitating, but afraid that time was running out for Yuan Wuji, he gave no opportunity for questions and shouted his command.

“Yes!” Sensing the urgency, Black Moon didn’t delay. He took Yuan Wuji from the shoulders of the younger demons and led him deep into the cave.

As Black Moon led Yuan Wuji ever deeper, the aura of life grew thicker and thicker, and Yuan Wuji could feel his wounds begin to show faint signs of improvement.

“This is the place. Rest and recover here.” Black Moon brought Yuan Wuji to the chamber where the life energy was most concentrated within Wuzhang Cave. Yuan Wuji immediately sat cross-legged, circulating his Geng Metal Golden Core to sense the ambient life force, hoping to use it to tend to his wounds.

“Geng Metal energy? It seems your origins aren’t ordinary. But if you harbor any ill intent toward my king, I won’t let you off.” With those words, Black Moon vanished from the chamber.

“How can he sense my Geng Metal energy?” Yuan Wuji’s pupils contracted sharply. Even while circulating his Golden Core, ordinary demons would never be able to detect it. Clearly, Black Moon was far from simple. To disappear from his sight so suddenly, his cultivation must surpass Shui Yu’s—at least one of the Five Elements had reached perfection.

Normally, he appeared beside King Yu Rong as a low-level demon. Was he sent by someone to secretly protect King Yu Rong? And he dared to threaten me? Not afraid I’ll report him to King Yu Rong? It seemed King Yu Rong was not as simple as the Bull Demon King had described, and the dense life force in Wuzhang Cave was not something just anyone could claim.

“Better focus on healing first!” Only with true strength could he protect himself.

Yuan Wuji once more activated his Geng Metal Golden Core, guiding the sharp metal energy to carefully scour his gravely wounded body. Though the scouring was not as agonizing as when the energy was first implanted, Yuan Wuji still broke out in a cold sweat. He had to keep guiding the Geng Metal energy to dissolve the stagnant blood inside, or he would never truly heal—there could be no carelessness at all.

After hundreds of rounds of cleansing, Yuan Wuji finally dared to absorb the surrounding life force. Because of the repeated scouring by the Geng Metal energy, his body was now covered in fresh blood, all from the wounds reopening. Even if he didn’t actively absorb the life force, it would constantly heal his injuries, while the metal energy continued to tear his wounds anew. This cycle of tearing and healing repeated endlessly, but the gains were immense.

At this moment, Yuan Wuji exuded an aura of invincibility and relentless aggression—the mark left behind by the Geng Metal energy scouring his flesh and blood. Yet the life force’s healing gave him a sense of harmony, lending an air of mystery to his bearing.

A subtle fluctuation emanated from the Heaven-Devouring Demon Heart, perceptible only to its master, Yuan Wuji.

Shui Yu’s primordial spirit had long since been transformed into pure soul power by the Heaven-Devouring Demon Heart when Yuan Wuji absorbed it, constantly nourishing his own soul. Now, the fluctuation came from Shui Yu’s essence blood. As his body and soul were strengthened, the Demon Heart seemed to be sending him a reminder.

Yuan Wuji rarely used the Heaven-Devouring Demon Heart. None of the opponents he’d encountered so far had impressed him, not even the monstrous dragon in the celestial prison, whose death was an accident. Shui Yu, as a direct descendant of the Ancient Water Ape, possessed pure bloodline power; absorbing him would surely bring great benefits.

Although Shui Yu was indeed a direct descendant, he had not reached the heights of the true Ancient Water Ape—the innate Water Spirit Body.

Still, Shui Yu’s pure bloodline granted him a remarkable affinity for the essence of water. Yuan Wuji activated the Heaven-Devouring Demon Heart to refine Shui Yu’s essence blood, extracting the highest quality water power from the world’s spiritual energy.

Even so, under the relentless compression of the Demon Heart, only the purest essence was imparted to Yuan Wuji.

“It seems Shui Yu’s claim to the Ancient Water Ape bloodline was somewhat exaggerated.” His flesh now displayed only the faintest trace of the innate Water Spirit Body—so little as to be almost negligible, no more than a decorative embellishment.

However, combined with the demonic dragon he had already absorbed, Yuan Wuji’s combat ability in water was now equal to his prowess on land.

As a Heavenly Immortal, absorbing the essence blood of Shui Yu, who had achieved the Taiyi realm, would normally result in a significant increase in cultivation for any demon. But the Heaven-Devouring Demon Heart was far too proud; it looked down upon the essence blood of one who had reached the Taiyi realm by relying on rare treasures. Moreover, the Golden Spirit Mother had explicitly forbidden ascending to the Taiyi realm in the lower world—otherwise, with Yuan Wuji’s talent, he would have long since advanced.

Still, Yuan Wuji did not wish to waste Shui Yu’s Taiyi cultivation. Rather than let it dissipate into the world, he channeled his power to divide the condensed essence and infuse it into three ordinary healing pills.

Where once they were unremarkable, the three pills now brimmed with spiritual energy. An ordinary person who took one could instantly attain the Celestial Flower realm. If a peak Heavenly Immortal devoured all three, there was a very real chance of advancing to the scattered immortal stage of the water element within the Five Elements. Shui Yu had only managed to reach Taiyi by relying on rare treasures and had not yet consolidated his realm before seeking trouble with King Yu Rong. Thus, the spiritual energy refined from him was not particularly pure. Shui Yu had been at two-tenths of the Taiyi realm in water cultivation; after refining, it would be impressive to reach even one-tenth.