Vampire Cultivation Notes

Chapter 172 Nurturing Evil

"At least it's under control now. It's just an inanimate object, so that's all it is."

The array plate in his hand stopped trembling. Li Jieqing stared into the light screen and pondered for a moment.

He had lived peacefully in Black Mountain for over ten years, but he had Huang Chong dig all the way here to investigate the source of the ominous aura in the mountains.

If the intention was merely to investigate, then controlling the Black Mud Pool here would be enough to put things at ease.

As long as the formation remains intact, there's no need to worry about staying up there; everything will proceed as usual.

However...

Since we're already here, it would be a shame to just leave this black mud pit here.

Leaving aside the spiritual spring beneath the black mud pool, although it was polluted, if the black mud pool were cleared, it would still be at least a second-tier spiritual vein.

And then there's the Black Mud Pool itself. This kind of filthy magic is quite effective. Li Jieqing almost subconsciously thought of digging up a few bottles and putting them in his face to smear on enemies when they encountered them, and seeing the effect.

Unfortunately, the carefully crafted paper figures couldn't withstand more than a few breaths before their bodies were destroyed by the filth and completely corroded. It was unclear which bottle could be used to hold this black mud.

Li Jieqing pondered for a while, but had no idea what to do, so he decided to give up for the time being.

He tossed it with his hand, and the array plate, carrying the magic sword, disappeared back into the void, returning to its central position in the array.

In any case, the source of the strangeness in Black Mountain has been found, and we can now live here with peace of mind.

Moreover, this humanoid skeleton was an unexpected delight.

Li Jieqing ordered the surviving paper figures to carry it away, intending to take it back for refining and research.

By scanning the underground cave with his divine sense, he could tell that the collapse had occurred within the last one or two hundred years. Any longer and the earth's energy would rise and swell, turning soil into stone, making it much harder to dig open.

One or two hundred years ago, a person perished here along with Xu Fuyi. This time point was far after the destruction of the Blood Heart Sect, so it could not have been a Blood Heart Sect disciple who came to the Blood Heart Cave Heaven Secret Realm for training.

This shows that humans have indeed lived in this Blood Heart Cave for a long time.

If they can find it, they can purchase a new alchemy furnace, repair magical artifacts and spiritual weapons, and even replenish their supplies with fresh cultivators' blood.

And who knows, we might even get a glimpse into the current situation of Qi Zhen and Fairy She Cai.

"It's probably further east... there are fewer monsters there."

"If you meet anyone, inquire about the demon beast that lived in this black mud pool. If you meet someone with a destiny, try out my Black Mountain Blood Absorption and Qi Transformation Divine Power."

After a moment's thought, Li Jieqing walked out into the dug passage.

The yellow worm had already retreated far into the passage, its body, which was about twenty feet long, curled up into a ball, its head buried, and it was still trembling all over.

The hierarchy among the monsters was strict. It was terrified by the howl of the monstrous creature, and the thought of digging for such things for the past ten years made it almost sweat beneath its scales.

If Li Jieqing hadn't been waiting for it, it would have already run back in a flash.

"Get up, get up, you useless thing! What more can I ask of you, sir?"

Li Jieqing stepped forward and kicked the yellow worm twice, making it retreat a bit, but it almost disappeared completely. When he saw the master being chased by the phantom of the Xu Fuyi, he didn't offer any help or even a word of support, which was really unpleasant.

The yellow worm was kicked twice, then it realized what was happening and poked its head out again.

Sensing that the howling at the end of the passage was gradually fading away, it stared wide-eyed at Li Jieqing, then lowered its head and forced a fawning smile onto its face.

"Stop laughing, it's creepy."

Li Jieqing couldn't be bothered to describe the sight of the enormous, horned eel with its large body laughing.

Li Jieqing scanned the area with his divine sense and saw that the yellow worms were not covered in any filth, so he prepared to walk out with his hands behind his back.

However, it was precisely when this divine sense swept over the tip of the yellow worm's tail that it was able to detect the problem.

Li Jieqing paused, then turned his head back.

"Huang Chong'er, take that bat out of your hand."

The yellow worm, who was about to follow, was taken aback for a moment, then realized what was happening.

The bat above, stripped of its life force, was lifted from the spiritual field by its tail, then coiled inside its tail and carried down. The bat, which was over twenty feet long, was not conspicuous as it carried a bat that was half a person's height.

Originally intended as a snack when hungry, the yellow worm stopped feeling hungry after eating a single grain of spirit rice that had been given to it, and has kept it ever since.

Seeing Li Jieqing demanding it, it loosened its tail, which had been curled to one side, revealing the bat.

The bat was already dead.

The blood and qi were drawn away by the Blood-Draining Qi Transformation Divine Power and then swept away for quite some time. Now, only a faint demonic aura is dissipating in the corpse.

"Step back a little more."

Li Jieqing used his magic to summon the bat demon beast, then beckoned Huang Chong to leave again, and immediately went back into the deep cave at the end of the passage.

He suddenly thought of a way to use the black mud pit.

This underground black mud pool originally came from a powerful demon. After its death, its body fell into the spiritual spring and remained intact, becoming this stinking, filthy black mud, which also possessed a sliver of consciousness.

It can be said that this black mud pool is a placenta, a fetus nurtured by the earth's energy.

If we let it stay here for a few more years, something will eventually be born.

Blood demons, corpse beasts, evil spirits...

Or, better yet, a spirit plant with special attributes might grow.

Or perhaps.

It transformed into a malevolent aura!

It was the snake-like miasma and evil spirits that he had thought of earlier that gave Li Jieqing a warning.

The current black mud pool is not easy to use, but transforming it into a baleful aura is a professional method that can run into Foundation Establishment cultivators.

In fact, several malevolent energies had already begun to emerge from the middle of this black mud pool, but they were too chaotic to be noticeable and might not ultimately succeed.

After all, this black mud pool contains all sorts of things: demonic energy, corpse energy, blood energy, death energy, and so on. With so many attributes, it is difficult for them to merge and is not suitable for transforming into malevolent energy to be born.

"I have always been happy to help others, so I will try to lend a hand and speed up your birth."

Li Jieqing retrieved the bat-like monster's corpse and, without any preparation, threw it directly into the light screen.

With another wave of his hand, he summoned the sword array plate again to check the condition of the light curtain and black mud pool.

Inside the magic array, as soon as the bat-like monster landed, its skin, flesh, and bones gradually dissolved and decayed in the black mist, eventually falling to the ground.

Having been bats in their previous lives, this black swamp shows no mercy to newcomers.

After the bat monster was dissolved into mud, bubbles rose from the black mud pool itself, and a pool of black mud was directly spat out, enveloping the bat mud, flowing back all the way and merging into one.

Just like the paper figure that swallowed Li Jieqing, this black swamp is actively devouring foreign things to replenish itself.

"It's good to have intelligence; you're the one who should have intelligence!"

Li Jieqing watched all of this from the sidelines and cheered from outside the formation.

How did the snake miasma and evil spirits come about? It was because a group of toad-skinned snakes gathered in a vast swamp spanning hundreds of miles, spraying poisonous gas day and night, and accumulating demonic energy over the years, eventually becoming a transformed poisonous and demonic evil spirit.

The same is true of the black mud pits that are currently forming; they are in the process of growing.

In other words, if the bat-like monsters can be continuously fed into the Black Mud Pool, the final outcome can be influenced.

At this moment, its internal energy is chaotic, and it is impossible to distinguish a main one.

However, as long as the replenishment is always bat demon beasts, after absorbing so many things, the internal energy will tilt towards the result of getting closer to the bat demon beasts.

The final product is either a new bat-like monster or a malevolent aura that can take form upon birth.

Corpse demons and other evil spirits are all possible, but once the blood energy is drained, the blood demon is unlikely to be formed.

"Alright, alright, I'll feed you every day from now on, but if anything you breed isn't what I want, I'll kill it!"

Li Jieqing glanced at the bubbling, black mud pool that looked like it had just eaten a good meal, nodded in satisfaction, and put the sword formation plate back down.

Blood Heart Cave is indeed full of treasures and offers great opportunities.

Without even leaving home, a new source of malevolent energy has already been found.

Judging from the appearance of the black mud pool, once it transforms into malevolent energy and emerges into the world, it will definitely have a great impact, more than enough to cultivate a new supernatural power.

Master Baocheng possesses a wealth of knowledge on cultivating malevolent energy. The upper sect has many methods; he will go back and review them to ensure that he can eventually cultivate malevolent energy.

If there is a tendency for a creature to be conceived in the black mud pit, interrupt it directly and let it regenerate.

……

"So hard!"

Inside the cave, Li Jieqing wielded the Green Water Sword to slash at the humanoid skeleton, but after a flurry of chopping, the skeleton remained unharmed.

Li Jieqing sheathed his buzzing Qingshui sword and stared in disbelief at the immovable skeleton.

The skeleton was extremely thick. Judging from the face, hands, and feet, it should be a man's skeleton. The original human bone color had long since disappeared. After emerging from the black mud, it was now as black as ink.

While in the black mud, this skeleton was in a meditative posture, sitting cross-legged with its palms facing upwards. Even after being attacked, it still maintains this posture without moving.

"My Azure Water Sword has been nurtured for sixty years; it should be comparable to any proper spiritual weapon. What kind of bone do you have?"

Li Jieqing retrieved his flying sword, raised his hand to form a hand seal, summoned two paper figures, and carried the skeleton to the weapon-refining hall.

He refused to believe he couldn't deal with this inanimate object.

Inside the weapon-refining hall.

The black iron chain that occupied the top position was moved aside, and the pitch-black skeleton was stuffed into the furnace. Li Jieqing opened his mouth and spat out a stream of fire into the furnace.

After he established his foundation, he was no longer the same as before. He could use these Qi Refining Realm techniques to last for a day or two without any problems.

The fiery spirit within the furnace raged fiercely, scorching the surface of the skeleton and penetrating its skull.

Li Jieqing lit the spirit fire for a day, then instructed Huang Chong to bring blood bamboo charcoal. He didn't want ordinary charcoal, only century-old blood bamboo charcoal.

Since settling in Black Mountain, he planted some blood bamboo outside in order to refine elixirs, and asked Huang Chong to produce charcoal based on the harvest year.

A batch of blood bamboo charcoal has already been stored in the warehouse.

"What a formidable cultivator in body tempering! Let's see how long you can last!"

Li Jieqing summoned century-old spirit charcoal and burned it in the furnace piece by piece, as if in a continuous line.

The bones and flesh of the great demon Xu Fuyi in the black mud pool had all rotted inside. The skeleton still retained a human shape and was completely black, just like the black mud pool.

Since Li Jieqing had brought it out, besides searching for the bone age and determining the cultivator's age, he naturally wanted to study the connection between the skeleton and the Black Mud Pool, lest any accidents occur and ruin the cultivation of evil spirits.

He still possesses some magical power, and the reason he is burning spirit charcoal now is to guard against this skeleton, lest a remnant soul emerge from it and attempt to possess his body.

If there really is a remnant soul, it should have emerged by this burning method.