Starting at the Nascent Soul stage, a rogue cultivator is incredibly poor.

Qingyouzi casually chose a sheltered cliff on a remote island and sat down cross-legged.

He took out the jade bottle that sealed the broken essence of the Jade Horned Demon from his storage bag and removed the stopper.

A faint but terrifying and resentful ball of jade-colored light immediately tried to burst out, but was caught by Qingyouzi, who was prepared, and held in his palm.

"Spare...spare my life..."

Intermittent pleading thoughts emanated from his spirit.

Qingyouzi remained indifferent as his palm surged with magical power, mixed with a trace of malevolent energy and extremely cold fire, instantly enveloping and refining the essence.

He closed his eyes, his brows furrowed slightly, and quickly sorted through and processed those fragmented but crucial memories.

About an incense stick later, he slowly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them, and a cold smile curving his lips.

"Heh, just as I expected..."

The gamble paid off. The monster's memories did indeed contain what it needed.

About 30,000 miles away in the depths of the South China Sea, there is a giant island that the demon race calls "Mist-Hidden Island".

The island possesses a unique spiritual energy, producing a rare treasure called the "Hundred Spirit Fruit." While this fruit doesn't offer the immediate, leap-like improvement to a Nascent Soul cultivator's spiritual consciousness like the "Spiritual Consciousness Fruit," its superior medicinal properties are gentle and long-lasting. It subtly and steadily nourishes and strengthens the foundation of spiritual consciousness, and with long-term use, the effects are equally astonishing.

More importantly, this fruit also seems to benefit the spiritual consciousness of the demon race, so it is regarded as an important resource by the demon forces in the nearby sea area and is closely guarded.

"If I can obtain this fruit and continue to consume it, the strength of my spiritual sense may steadily increase, truly surpassing the vast majority of late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators..."

Qingyouzi pondered in his heart, a fleeting glint of greed in his eyes.

What stirred his heart even more was that, within the blurry fragments of the demonic beast's memory, a somewhat familiar, burly figure seemed to flash before his eyes...

"interesting."

Qingyouzi whispered something and didn't linger any longer.

With a blur, he transformed into a condensed azure streak of light, soaring into the sky. After determining his direction, he shot headlong into the depths of the South China Sea without hesitation. The streak of light was extremely fast, tearing through the clouds and leaving a fleeting faint trail between the sea and the sky.

Several hours later, after flying at full speed, Qingyouzi had approached the target sea area.

On the sea ahead, the outline of a giant island, far larger than any ordinary island and perpetually shrouded in a faint white spiritual mist, gradually became clear.

The island is covered with lush trees and rolling hills, and one can faintly sense the presence of numerous demonic beasts of varying strengths scattered throughout, making it a heavily guarded place.

Qingyouzi pressed down the escape light and hovered at the edge of the clouds high in the sky.

He did not rush in rashly, but carefully recalled the memory fragments he had refined, compared them with the terrain of the island below, and searched for the vague path in the monster's memory leading to the place where the "Hundred Spirit Fruit" grew.

Fortunately, although my memory is fragmented, my impression of the perimeter of the island and several hidden routes is still relatively clear.

Qingyouzi concealed all his aura, his figure transforming into a faint shadow that almost blended into the clouds, and silently stealthily moved towards the central area of ​​the island.

He flew very high, avoiding the flying demonic beasts patrolling at low altitudes, and carefully scanned the area below with his divine sense, avoiding several nodes where he sensed particularly concentrated demonic energy and suspected that powerful demons were stationed there.

He made his way through the island without any major incidents, guided by his memories, and gradually approached a valley area in the center of the island that was shrouded in even denser spiritual mist. According to his memory, the "Hundred Spirit Fruit" tree grew deep within this valley.

The goal is in sight.

Qingyouzi was about to swoop down from the sky and dive directly into the valley.

His body suddenly stopped!

An extremely subtle yet exceptionally resilient spiritual energy fluctuation, like an invisible spider web, enveloped the entrance to the valley ahead and an area in the sky above!

"A formation?"

Qingyouzi's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stopped his momentum, hovering high in the sky. He focused his divine sense into a beam and carefully probed that area.

really!

A massive array of light, almost transparent and perfectly blending with the surrounding spiritual mist, appeared and disappeared intermittently. On the light shield, the trajectories of the flowing runes were mysterious and complex, not crude and brute force, but rather exuded a kind of exquisite precision.

"How could such a sophisticated and well-concealed human formation exist in the land of the demon race?"

Qingyouzi frowned, greatly surprised. Although the demon race has no shortage of highly intelligent individuals, they generally rely more on talent and physical strength. Very few of them have dabbled in the human race's array formations, which require meticulous calculation and long-term study. Those who can reach the level before them are even rarer.

He dared not be careless and focused intently, trying to use his understanding of formations to find the weak points or operating rules of the shield.

Just as he was intently investigating.

From the other side of the valley in the distance, the faint sounds of air being cut and conversations could be heard!

Qingyouzi reacted extremely quickly. With a thought, he completely concealed his aura and slid into the shadows of a nearby rock crevice like a fish, blending into the color and texture of the rock. Even at close range, he was difficult to detect.

At the same time, a subtle yet condensed wisp of divine consciousness quietly extended out, gazing into the distance toward the source of the sound.

Two figures, exuding demonic aura, flew in from afar and landed in front of the array light barrier at the entrance of the valley.

The leader was a tall, burly old man with two horns on his forehead. His aura was powerful and fierce, clearly a powerful demon in the late stage of the Transformation Realm! Half a step behind him was a strong man with a blue face and a blue scale, whose aura was slightly weaker but still reached the mid-stage of the Transformation Realm.

As Qingyouzi's divine sense swept over the old demon, his heart skipped a beat. A mixture of hatred and fear almost burst out of his body. It was the same dragon that had almost killed him with a casual strike in the teleportation array back then!

He forcibly suppressed his turbulent emotions and the sudden surge of killing intent, and turned his gaze to another demon.

The burly man with the blue face... but his figure and the faint, familiar demonic aura he exuded...

"Cangming... it really is him." Qingyouzi's eyes were filled with complex emotions.

When he first arrived in the desperate situation in the South China Sea, if it weren't for Cangming's timely appearance and persuasion, he would probably have perished long ago. Even if the other party had ulterior motives, the debt of saving his life was genuine.

Kindness and hatred intertwine in this place in such a way.

Qingyouzi took a deep breath, her face returning to its usual calm.

Having cultivated for hundreds of years, he had long understood that while grudges and affections certainly existed on the path to immortality, in the face of the struggle for the Great Dao and the opportunities for resources, there were often no absolute rights and wrongs.

He didn't consider himself an ungrateful person, and if possible, he didn't want to have a direct conflict with Cangming.

But... if this "Hundred Spirit Fruit" is related to his advancement in his cultivation path, and to his leap in strength to cope with greater crises in the future... then some bottom lines may have to be re-evaluated.

"Whether it's stealing or robbing... it's all the price of growing stronger."

He muttered to himself indifferently, his gaze sharpening and turning cold once more, fixing firmly on the two demons at the entrance of the valley.

The old demon smiled at Cangming beside him:

"Brother Cangming, if we can successfully obtain that nearly ripe Hundred Spirit Fruit this time, with your talent for divine sense combined with the fruit's miraculous effects, your divine sense strength will likely soon rival that of the late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators among humans! At that time, our clan's influence in the surrounding seas will undoubtedly increase significantly!"

Cangming responded in a muffled voice, his tone filled with anticipation:

"It's all thanks to the clan chief's guidance. This formation is profound, and we still need the clan chief's help."

The two demons were clearly unaware of Qingyouzi's secret observation.

The old demon stepped forward a few steps, facing the invisible array of light, raised his hands, and drew complex and specific trajectories in the air while chanting incantations, as if coordinating with some unique demonic secret technique.

Every movement he made, every subtle change in his magical power fluctuations, was seen without a trace by Qing Youzi, who was focused on his divine sense from the shadows in the distance, and was firmly imprinted in his mind.

The two demons were completely unaware that their entire method of activating the protective formation had been revealed to others.

After a few breaths.

"Buzz—!"

The array's protective barrier trembled slightly, like a heavy curtain being drawn back, silently splitting open in the middle with a gap just wide enough for a few people to pass through. A dense spiritual mist and a refreshing, exotic fruit fragrance wafted out from within.

The old dragon demon and Cangming exchanged a smile and stepped inside.

The light shield then slowly closed, returning to its original state.

In the shadows of a distant rock crevice, Qingyouzi slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, his eyes flashing with a cold light.

The opportunity has arrived.

[This book's popularity has been declining for a while, but the author tried to revive it with another book, which only made things worse. Now, the author is already brainstorming ideas for a new book, so stay tuned.]

[The author's new book is available on the homepage. It will not be removed for the time being.]