Chapter Ninety: The Lava Minotaur

The residence stood in a secluded part of the Heavenly Court, with few immortal households nearby beyond the servants, making it an excellent place for secluded cultivation.

As Yuan Wuji’s strength increased, refining essence blood and devouring bloodlines had become second nature to him. It no longer demanded the long hours it once did. Moreover, unlike the mortal world, Heaven was not only a place where one day above equaled a year below; the speed of cultivation itself was likewise different.

“My great general, you may come out now,” said the little immortal girl, touching the bun in her hair.

“Very well.”

Yuan Wuji immediately returned to his true form. Though being transformed into a hair ornament and stroked all the while by the little immortal girl had felt rather odd.

“My great general, let me show you some treasures Father Emperor has given me over the years,” she said happily at the sight of him.

Carefully, she handed him a beautifully crafted little box. It was obvious that this box was exceedingly precious to her; even her gaze was full of caution.

“This was the first thing Father Emperor ever made for me.”

Yuan Wuji had thought it would be some magic treasure, but it turned out to be nothing more than an ordinary bamboo dragonfly, the sort one could find everywhere in the mortal realm.

“Back then, Father Emperor was not like this. My mother was still there too,” the little immortal girl said, and her eyes reddened at once, misting over faintly.

Mother? Not the Queen Mother? Could it be that the Seven Immortals were the result of the Jade Emperor cheating on her? Impossible. Even if he had, how could there have been seven children? There must be some deeper story here.

“This is a portrait of our whole family from back then.” Besides the bamboo dragonfly, there were many mortal trinkets, among them a painting sealed separately in a jade box, which was especially unusual.

As she looked at the portrait, the little immortal girl’s eyes were filled with cherished remembrance. Yuan Wuji leaned in to take a look as well.

Indeed… it was not the Queen Mother.

The Jade Emperor in the portrait looked more like a scholar, lacking his present imperial majesty. The Seven Immortals seemed like sprites born of the mountains, pure and radiant. The little immortal girl in the painting was still a small child, and her innocent smile revealed just how happy she had been then.

The only person Yuan Wuji did not recognize was the woman beside the Jade Emperor. Yet from the way the Jade Emperor looked at her, her identity was not hard to guess. Still, she was not the Queen Mother of the West, nor did she resemble her in the slightest.

By now, tears had gathered in the little immortal girl’s bright eyes, as if they might fall at any moment. Her sorrow stirred such pity in Yuan Wuji that he could not help wanting to protect her.

As though moved by some unseen impulse, Yuan Wuji suddenly drew the little immortal girl into his arms.

“Don’t,” the little immortal girl said softly after staying in his embrace for a moment, then gently broke free.

Seeing the little immortal girl’s rosy cheeks, Yuan Wuji felt a knot of conflict in his heart. He had only meant to come here for a brief period of secluded cultivation, yet somehow the matter had gone off course.

And yet, looking at her like this, the falsehood he had prepared for her became even harder to say.

“Little immortal girl.”

“Yes?”

“I… while carrying out a mission, I was gravely wounded. I need to recover from my injuries, and I’d like to stay here and rest for a while.” Thinking of Yu and the others, Yuan Wuji still decided to deceive her once more.

“You’re injured, Great General? I have medicinal pills bestowed by Father Emperor. I’ll bring them to you right away!”

At his words, the little immortal girl’s face filled with worry. The redness around her eyes, which had not yet faded, deepened again.

“No need. It’s only a minor injury. A little rest will be enough; there’s no need to waste medicine.”

Yuan Wuji decided this would be the last time he ever lied to her. After this, he would never deceive the little immortal girl again. For him, this was undoubtedly a painful torment.

“No, I have many pills. I’ll get them at once.”

“No need. It really is just a small injury.”

“No.”

“…”

After arguing with her for a long while, the little immortal girl finally gave in and left the room to Yuan Wuji for recovery, departing with clear concern.

At last, with the little immortal girl gone, Yuan Wuji let out a long breath.

Coming back to himself, he turned his attention to refining the essence blood of the bull-headed spirit. Among the beings in that region, it had the deepest resonance with the Devouring Heaven Demon Heart; by comparison, its bloodline power was likely the strongest. Devouring its bloodline would surely yield no small gain.

The essence blood of the bull-headed spirit still remained at Yuan Wuji’s chest. Now, as he guided the Devouring Heaven Demon Heart to refine it, the process proceeded as smoothly as water flowing into a channel, drawing all of the essence blood into the heart.

The Myriad Demons Heart also stirred hungrily toward the bull-headed spirit’s essence blood, but under Yuan Wuji’s suppression it could no longer act as freely as before. Now Yuan Wuji was the true master of his own body.

The Devouring Heaven Demon Heart valued quality; the Myriad Demons Heart valued quantity.

Thus, after the bull-headed spirit’s essence blood was drawn into the Devouring Heaven Demon Heart, what was refined most was not the essence contained within the blood, but the bloodline itself.

The Devouring Heaven Demon Heart continuously extracted the hidden bloodline within the bull-headed spirit’s essence blood. If it had been merely ordinary essence blood from a bull-headed spirit, it would never have stirred the heart in this way. Even in the region where Yuan Wuji had once been, there had been no fewer than five bloodlines stronger than this one. The only explanation was that the bull-headed spirit was a remnant breed descended from a primordial exotic species. Though its bloodline was not especially pure, once extracted by the Devouring Heaven Demon Heart, even the faintest trace could exert a tremendous effect.

Molten Rock Wild Bull.

This was the information Yuan Wuji obtained from the bull-headed spirit’s essence blood. As expected, it was a remnant breed—though likely one left behind by a descendant of a primordial exotic species. The bloodline power within it was far too thinly spread.

After absorbing the greater part of the bull-headed spirit’s essence blood, less than one percent of it remained after extraction—only a few wisps drifting within the Devouring Heaven Demon Heart.

Yet the power contained in them was undeniably immense.

With a single surge, after devouring just a wisp of the Molten Rock Wild Bull’s bloodline power, Yuan Wuji’s affinity with both fire and earth had risen by a full notch. His fire cultivation climbed to the peak of forty percent, and his earth cultivation reached ten percent.

To open up earth-aspect cultivation, one ordinarily had to rely on earth-aspect heavenly treasures. Now, however, just a sliver of the Molten Rock Wild Bull’s bloodline power was enough to accomplish it. As expected, the bloodline of a primordial exotic species was no trivial matter. A single strand was enough to awaken the earth attribute within the body.

After he continued devouring the remaining wisps of bloodline, his fire and earth cultivation both increased considerably, though the effect was no longer as dramatic as the first time.

By now, his fire cultivation stood at fifty percent, and his earth cultivation at thirty percent.

The only regret was that he had not obtained the Molten Rock Wild Bull’s innate divine ability. Aside from the increase in cultivation, all he had gained was greater affinity with the earth and fire attributes.

Affinity allows the wielder to control that attribute’s abilities more effectively and also speeds up cultivation. On the surface it may not seem significant, but in truth it is the measure of talent itself.

For example, if two people use the same divine ability, one may be able to unleash it in two seconds, while the other needs five. That is effectively one person casting the technique twice while the other only manages it once. Who wins and who loses is clear at a glance.

Although he had not obtained what he had hoped for this time, the result was still good. The Arm-Through Ape was one of the Four Great Mischievous Monkeys, and improving its talent also required a considerable expenditure. To have raised it this much was already a worthwhile harvest.