The Demonic Cultivator In Zombie World

Chapter 219: Devour!

The elder of the Reincarnation Divine Sect, unbeknownst to others, had acquired a seed of the Taotie Tree, aiming to use it to break through to a higher realm. Now, he has gone missing. Given this knowledge, the Heaven Shaking Divine Sect could not stand idly by and watch the Reincarnation Divine Sect engage in such cruel and inhumane deeds.

"It's mostly because we cannot bear to see the Reincarnation Divine Sect use the Taotie Tree seeds for such destructive purposes," they argued, "not to prevent their elder from ascending to a higher realm."

"I understand, I understand," Chu Xuan chuckled lightly. After a brief laugh, he stroked his chin, contemplating the uses of the Taotie Tree seed.

At first glance, it seemed to be an immensely terrifying and evil entity, untouchable by all. Yet even the Nascent Soul elder of the Reincarnation Divine Sect had planned to use it to overcome his own cultivation hurdles. Perhaps, Chu Xuan mused, he could also use it to break through some of his difficult bottlenecks.

"Let's first check what's inside Shangguan Hao's storage bag," he decided. "As a Nascent Soul elder of the Majestic Sword Sect and the patriarch of the Shangguan family, he surely had a substantial treasure trove."

After meticulously erasing Shangguan Hao's spiritual imprint on the storage bag, Chu Xuan opened it.

"Over two hundred thousand small spiritual stones!" he exclaimed. "More than ten thousand medium spiritual stones! A jade pendant of essence blood! Two bottles of Core Transforming Elixir! Two jars of Gold Fragment Mud!"

Chu Xuan marveled at the wealth. It seemed Shangguan Hao had amassed quite a fortune after swallowing up the Lei family's assets. Chu Xuan had spent a considerable amount of his spiritual stones on acquiring the "Abyssal Return Method" and several toxicology scripts. Shangguan Hao's timely delivery had significantly replenished his resources.

The CoreTransforming Elixir and Gold Fragment Mud were likely intended for the younger generations of the Shangguan family. It was unfortunate, however, that there was no Deity Nurturing Elixir.

But then again, it made sense. Even Yun Zhongyu, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, didn't possess such Deity Transformation level items in his storage. Being only at the early stage of Nascent Soul, Shangguan Hao wouldn't have much use for such high-level spiritual objects. He likely would have offered them to stronger Nascent Soul cultivators in exchange for items he needed more immediately.

Moreover, even if Chu Xuan had received a bottle of Deity Nurturing Elixir now, it would essentially be useless to him. Holding such a potent item was akin to holding a hot potato—difficult to wield and even harder to trade. When the time came for its use, who knew how many years might have passed?

"These Nascent Soul spiritual items are more than enough for my breakthrough into the Nascent Soul stage," Chu Xuan noted with certainty. "The success rate is absolutely one hundred percent!"

He nodded in satisfaction, counting the treasures before him: three Soul Breaking Spikes, two bottles of Core Transforming Elixir, and two jars of Gold Fragment Mud. Probably only the two holy sons of the Reincarnation Divine Sect could expect such generous provisions.

But, considering they were qualified to be holy sons of a sixth-tier cultivation sect, their talents must be extraordinary. Likely, they possessed what were called Heavenly Spiritual Roots and probably didn't even need that many Nascent Soul objects.

Chu Xuan estimated that the Nascent Soul spiritual objects he had could be enough for four late-stage Golden Core cultivators to attempt their breakthrough into the Nascent Soul stage. Of course, if one was truly fearless, even a single Nascent Soul spiritual item might suffice for the advancement!

Carefully stowing away the Nascent Soul objects, Chu Xuan had no plans to rush his progression to Nascent Soul. While he had ample resources, his own mental state also played a significant role in the process. If one were anxious or panicky at the time of advancement, the likelihood of success would definitely be compromised. A tranquil and steady mind was essential for a true breakthrough into the Nascent Soul realm.

Chu Xuan then took out the jade pendant containing the essence blood. He pondered over it; the black-robed men from the Heaven Shaking Divine Sect had given this item to Shangguan Hao, claiming it had the power to counteract True Master Tiancang's divinatory abilities.

Currently lacking the materials needed to craft Acquired Miraculous Jade, there was no immediate need to destroy this treasure to extract the essence blood. He decided to wait until he had a suitable cauldron that could extract an acquired spiritual body before proceeding.

For now, the jade pendant would serve to shield against divination.

Chu Xuan pulled a wooden box from his storage bag and and flew toward the distant horizon. Soon, he arrived above the East Sea, to the east of the Han country, where he found a small island. He descended there and began to set up an array of formations.

Mist, defense, attack... Chu Xuan employed intricate methods like layered and nested formations. He laid down eight different formations in total before he finally allowed himself a sigh of relief. Given the terrifying nature of the Taotie Tree seed, he had to prepare thoroughly before attempting to harness its power.

Only after all these preparations did Chu Xuan solemnly take out the Taotie Tree seed. He didn't handle it directly with his hands but instead used his spiritual sense to carry it, ensuring every precaution was maintained against such a dangerous entity.

Chu Xuan was concerned that exposing the Taotie Tree seed to Spiritual Qi might trigger horrifying effects. According to the description from the black-robed men of the Heaven Shaking Divine Sect, the Taotie Tree seed thrived on cultivation stars rich in Spiritual Qi, showing disdain for those devoid of it. Perhaps, to the Taotie Tree, stars lacking in Spiritual Qi were like distasteful food.

At that moment, the dull-gray Taotie Tree seed hovered in mid-air, seemingly harmless. Chu Xuan took out a blood pearl and flicked it towards the seed. Upon contact, the seed dropped towards the ground. Instantly, two slender tendrils extended from the seed, wrapping around the blood pearl and absorbing it in the blink of an eye.

After devouring the blood pearl, the tendrils quickly multiplied from two to three, and they writhed as if seeking more. Pondering this, Chu Xuan continued to toss more blood pearls. Before long, the area around the Taotie Tree seed sprouted a dense mass of slender tendrils, which was quite unsettling to behold.

As Chu Xuan flicked another blood pearl, the seed seemed less interested, even actively repelling the pearl.

"It's getting picky now," he noted. He then threw a larger blood pearl. True to his prediction, numerous tendrils surged forward and devoured it instantly. In just a moment, one of the tendrils thickened significantly, growing almost three times its original size.

Chu Xuan extended his spiritual sense to make contact, hoping to perhaps communicate or understand it better. However, within the Taotie Tree seed, there was only a pure, insatiable desire to consume. No matter how Chu Xuan tried to connect, the only response he received was a singular, overwhelming impulse: Eat!

"I'll just keep eating!" The seed seemed to proclaim with its actions, relentless in its hunger.

Chu Xuan's mouth twitched involuntarily. He had initially thought that the Taotie Tree seed might be akin to a demonic beast, one with which he could possibly forge a soul contract. However, this creature was entirely resistant to such notions. It knew only hunger, making it impossible to establish any soul pact.

At this moment, having not consumed anything for a few seconds, the seed's tendrils began to thrash about more frantically, as if intending to destroy everything in their vicinity.

Chu Xuan snorted coldly. His spiritual sense condensed into a needle-like spike, which he thrust sharply at the seed. The Taotie Tree seed emitted a piercing scream of fear, retracting all its tendrils back into its shell, remaining motionless like a turtle.

"This thing is truly sinister," Chu Xuan muttered. "Currently, there seems to be no way to control it... Perhaps only those higher-ranked cultivators know how to truly master it."

Shaking his head, Chu Xuan acknowledged the failure of his attempt. Nevertheless, it didn't particularly bother him. He decided to just keep the seed as it was. As long as he didn't feed it too much, it wouldn't grow. He had already set up multiple layers of formations around the area. With a few corpse puppets and ghosts left as guards, he could ensure absolute security.