A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 460 Silver Bird and Ice Flame

Luo Ming regulated his breathing for a moment until it was completely calm before he waved his sleeve.

With a muffled thud, a massive turtle skeleton, pale gold in color with faintly flowing dark red patterns, appeared in the open space in the center of the secret chamber.

Although the skeleton had lost its flesh and blood, it still exuded a chillingly heavy pressure and a faint savage aura; it was the remains of the Blood Turtle at the Nascent Soul stage.

At that moment, a flash of silver light appeared on Luo Ming's shoulder, and a small silver wolf the size of a palm emerged.

She flicked her fluffy tail, tilted her head, and looked at Luo Ming with her silver eyes, which had regained some of their liveliness but seemed to have gained something else. With a hint of playfulness in her eyes, she asked in a light tone, "Brother Luo, why don't you spend a little more time with Sister Yuan Yao? Are you in such a hurry to deal with this giant tortoise's bones?"

Luo Ming remained calm and glanced at Silver Moon on his shoulder.

Since returning from the secret realm half a year ago, Silver Moon has integrated some of the memories from Blood Turtle and awakened some of her past experiences. Her temperament seems to be more composed than before, but she still occasionally reveals this mischievous and lively side.

He spoke calmly, his voice devoid of any inflection: "Yao'er has been refining the Azure Flame Wine for many years, and her foundation is already solid. In the past six months, I have also used the dual cultivation method to help her condense her true essence and harmonize her dragon and tiger. Now, her magic power, divine soul, and physical body have all reached the perfection of the Core Formation stage, making it the best time for her to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. At this time, going into seclusion is a natural progression and cannot be delayed."

"Ah? Sister Yuan Yao has reached the Nascent Soul realm so quickly, and can try to form a Nascent Soul?" Upon hearing this, Yin Yue's small ears twitched, and her eyes revealed genuine surprise.

When Luo Ming returned half a year ago, she clearly sensed that Yuan Yao was still some distance from achieving the perfect Core Formation stage; she never expected that only half a year later—she couldn't help but look Luo Ming up and down with curious eyes, muttering to herself:

The effects of their dual cultivation are truly astonishing! Could it be that Brother Luo's breakthrough in body refinement has resulted in such a powerful nourishing effect in that area?

She was naturally unaware that after Luo Ming broke through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, his blood and qi were far more vigorous and his true essence was far purer than before. During their dual cultivation, he intentionally guided her, giving back most of the benefits to Yuan Yao, helping her quickly make up for the last bit of the gap.

In addition, Yuan Yao herself was already exceptionally talented, and she had also consumed spiritual items such as the Azure Flame Wine, which enabled her to reach the Perfection Realm in just half a year.

Luo Ming thought about how Yuan Yao's initiative and infatuation in bed had been far more intense than ever before in the past six months, and he vaguely guessed the reason.

Perhaps it was because she had seen Ling Yuling and Miaoyu, two exceptionally beautiful women who had already reached the Nascent Soul stage, that Yuan Yao, as her Daoist partner, couldn't help but feel a sense of comparison. This made her even more diligent in her cultivation, and even more so in certain aspects.

The corners of his mouth curved almost imperceptibly, then he composed himself and his gaze returned to the pale golden skeleton, a burning intensity flashing in his eyes.

This Undying Golden Marrow is a rare substance formed deep within the bone marrow of this Blood Turtle skeleton after being sealed for ten thousand years, absorbing the essence of the blood of all living beings, and combining its own Xuanwu bloodline with a trace of its awakened "Undying Body".

If he can successfully refine and absorb it, it will bring immeasurable benefits to his cultivation. It may even allow him to glimpse the true mystery of the "immortal body". At that time, his physical defense and recovery will be enhanced to a terrifying level, greatly increasing his ability to save his life.

As for the remaining skeleton—Luo Ming extended his index finger, a faint golden sword aura flickering from its tip, gently tracing the surface of the skeleton, leaving only a shallow white mark. He then summoned his flying sword, attempting to infuse it with magical power to strike, but the result was still only a slightly deeper white mark.

The hardness of these bones far exceeded expectations. After all, they were once the bones of a Nascent Soul demon cultivator, and had been nourished by the blood pool for ten thousand years. Even with the essence contained within, the material itself was comparable to top-grade weapon-refining materials.

"It seems I can only rely on the Soul-Devouring Silver Flame." With a thought, Luo Ming's shoulder flashed with silver light, and a silver firebird flew out. Under Luo Ming's control, the silver flame condensed into a thin but extremely refined line of fire, like a red-hot needle, slowly burning towards a relatively weak gap at the joint of the skeleton.

"Sizzle—" Under the scorching silver flames, the pale golden surface of the bones finally began to turn slightly red and soften.

Time slipped by unnoticed. Several months had passed since Luo Ming, Ling Yuling, and Miaoyu returned to Silver Shark Island.

The situation on Silver Shark Island underwent a subtle yet rapid change after the return of the three. The chaotic situation that had arisen due to the disappearance of Nascent Soul cultivators such as the Ninth Elder of the Star Palace and Blood Fiend of the Reverse Star Alliance began to present a new balance dominated by the "Bright Moon Pavilion".

This is not only because on the day Luo Ming returned, he unreservedly unleashed the powerful spiritual energy belonging to a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.

The pressure was so immense that it far surpassed that of an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, clearly announcing the powerful return of a Nascent Soul cultivator and deterring all those with ill intentions.

Just as Luo Ming and Yuan Yao went into seclusion one after another, and Silver Shark Island appeared calm—

In the distant Inner Star Sea, there lies Tianxing City.

In the majestic hall at the highest point, overlooking the entire city and shrouded in layers of restrictions, Jin Kui, the Grand Elder and the de facto ruler of the Star Palace, stood alone by the window, looking down at the scattered palaces and bustling city below, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he were pondering something.

Suddenly, a blinding golden streak of light shot in from outside the hall at an astonishing speed, ignoring the surrounding security barriers, and headed straight for Jin Kui!

Jin Kui frowned, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "Golden Token? This kind of highest-level emergency communication talisman is rarely used unless it concerns the survival of the Star Palace or the dual imperial edicts. Could it be—"

With a flick of his sleeve, the golden light landed steadily in his hand, transforming into a palm-sized golden jade talisman engraved with star-like runes and constantly trembling. Jin Kui dared not delay and immediately separated a wisp of powerful divine consciousness, sinking it into the jade talisman.

A moment later—

"What?!" Jin Kui, the Grand Elder of the Star Palace, who was usually known for his composure and inscrutable demeanor, suddenly raised his head, his face revealing an undisguised look of extreme shock for the first time. He exclaimed in a low voice, his voice filled with disbelief: "The demon race—actually intends to launch a holy war!"

Jin Kui stood in the empty hall, clutching the slightly warm golden jade talisman tightly in his hand, his face still showing shock.

The information transmitted through the jade talisman was top-secret intelligence sent back from Silver Shark Island, which had been "severed ties" with Tianxing City for nearly twenty years.

"Holy War—" Jin Kui took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. Although the Star Palace was now suffering repeated defeats in the Inner Star Sea, and its sphere of influence had shrunk to almost nothing but a corner of Tianxing City, it seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

In reality, thanks to the city's protective array that Tianxing City has been operating for thousands of years, and the teleportation array that the Star Palace firmly controls, which connects several key resource points and strongholds between the inner and outer star seas, the Star Palace's influence and control over the vast outer star sea is stronger than that of the Reverse Star Alliance!

The monster resources and rare minerals of the Outer Sea are the vital pillars for the Star Palace's current operation, disciple training, magical artifact crafting, and elixir refining, and are also the hope for a future turnaround. If the Outer Sea is lost and completely occupied or blockaded by the demon race, it will be a fatal blow to the Star Palace.

In contrast, if the Reverse Star Alliance wants to make its way into the outer sea, apart from a few secretly established teleportation arrays, it mainly has to rely on cultivators to ride magical artifacts and flying boats to cross the vast and dangerous outer sea.

In terms of efficiency, security, and cost, it is far inferior to the Star Palace, which controls a stable transmission channel.

"This matter—must be reported to the two saints immediately!" A resolute glint flashed in Jin Kui's eyes.

Without further hesitation, he transformed into a blinding golden light and rushed straight out of the main hall, heading towards the highest point of Tianxing City, the palace shrouded in dense starlight and closed year-round.

That place is where the two Celestial Saints, Ling Xiaofeng and Wen Qing, are in seclusion for cultivation, and it is also the true core of the Star Palace.

Almost at the same time, outside Tianxing City, at a highly secretive headquarters of the Reverse Star Alliance.

In a seemingly ordinary but actually heavily guarded secret chamber, several core high-ranking members of the Reverse Star Alliance, all possessing profound auras and mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, gathered together.

Before them floated a jade slip that emitted a faint sandalwood fragrance and was engraved with the mark "Feng Le".

The contents of the jade slip were very similar to the intelligence Jin Kui had received, both pointing to a possible "holy war" launched by the demon race. The source of the information was Fairy Miaoyu, who urgently transmitted it back through the special channels of Fengle Trading Company.

The atmosphere inside the secret chamber was heavy. These cultivators, who usually held immense power and authority over various factions of the Reverse Star Alliance, now had expressions of surprise and solemnity on their faces.

"The Holy War of the Demon Race—if this news is true, it is no child's play! The last recorded Holy War of the Demon Race was thousands of years ago, and it almost wiped out the human race's strongholds in the outer seas!" A withered old man dressed in a black robe spoke in a deep voice, his voice dry.

"Could this be a smokescreen released by the Star Palace to disrupt our alliance and buy us a chance to regroup?" another person with a fair complexion...

The middle-aged cultivator, who looked like a scholar, raised a question, his eyes gleaming.

"The most urgent task is to verify the information and accelerate the offensive against the Star Palace! We must completely eliminate the Star Palace and integrate all the forces of the Inner Star Sea before the demon race makes any real moves, so that we can unite against the outside world!" A black-robed cultivator sitting at the head of the table spoke slowly. As soon as he spoke, everyone else fell silent, clearly indicating that he was the highest-ranking person.

Silver Shark Island, a secret chamber deep within the Bright Moon Pavilion.

Luo Ming was completely unaware of the commotion he had caused, or rather, even if he were aware, he had no time to care. He was focused intently on his palm.

In the palm of my hand lies a round bead, about the size of an egg, deep blue in color, and seemingly inconspicuous.

The bead has a smooth surface and does not exude any heat or coldness, appearing to be just an ordinary blue stone.

But Luo Ming knew that inside this seemingly ordinary bead lay an incredibly terrifying power—the Azure Ice Flame! A kind of extremely cold flame that was famous even in the mortal realm, with unpredictable power. If a Nascent Soul cultivator was not careful, even a trace of it could cause him to perish.

"If I hadn't obtained the Soul-Devouring Silver Flame, I'm afraid I would have had to follow Han Li's example and try to cultivate the Six-Winged Frost Centipede, using its innate cold energy to slowly refine this flame—a long process." Luo Ming muttered to himself, a hint of relief flashing in his eyes.

"But now—with Silver Flame here, its ability to devour all living beings will make refining this Azure Ice Flame much more efficient and less risky."

Seemingly sensing the extraordinary nature of the object in its master's hand, a flash of silver light appeared on Luo Ming's shoulder—a palm-sized, spirited, and agile silver...

A colorful firebird appeared.

It tilted its little head, its bright silver eyes fixed on the blue bead in Luo Ming's palm, its small beak opening and closing slightly, conveying an extremely clear and intense desire to eat it!

It sensed the "deliciousness" of the same kind of spiritual flames of heaven and earth!