Yanghun Wood is an extremely peculiar spiritual wood, lacking seeds and unable to reproduce on its own, being born from the essence of heaven and earth.
Its generation conditions are incredibly stringent, requiring the burial site of a powerful cultivator.
The "powerful cultivator" here refers to beings far beyond the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stages as perceived by minor cultivators like Xiao Fei.
The remains of a powerful cultivator are merely a prerequisite; numerous other complex conditions must be met for a single Yanghun Wood to grow.
Furthermore, each Yanghun Wood is limited by the cultivator's strength and environmental factors, ceasing to grow after a certain age.
The Yanghun Wood before them is only two feet tall, likely reaching its maximum growth and unable to develop further.
At this moment, Black Wind Old Demon and Huai Yin Old Ghost were already fighting fiercely over this Yanghun Wood.
To avoid disturbing their battle, Xiao Fei quietly retreated behind a large rock.
Black Wind Old Demon practiced demonic cultivation techniques, summoning a string of glittering prayer beads, totaling 108, emitting a bright, vast white light.
Each prayer bead was crafted from the skull of an infant less than 100 days old. Upon being unleashed, 108 infant figures circled in the air, chanting scriptures, and a beam of white light shot towards Huai Yin Old Ghost.
Huai Yin Old Ghost, in turn, conjured a human bone artifact. Ghostly mist billowed forth, countering the white light emanating from the prayer beads.
The ghostly mist and white light clashed for a moment. The mist began to falter and retreat, eventually transforming into a wisp of black smoke and fleeing.
Huai Yin Old Ghost escaped without even uttering a threat, leaving Black Wind Old Demon alone at the scene.
Those who survive in the world of wicked cultivators are astute individuals who know when to retreat. Fleeing when outmatched is a fundamental survival tactic.
They act like subservient grandsons before the strong, only to oppress those weaker than themselves with all their might.
The tough individuals unable to adapt to these rules have long since turned into withered bones, their graves adorned with flourishing trees.
"Trash!"
Black Wind Old Demon wore a triumphant smile, his ugly old face blooming like a chrysanthemum facing the sun.
As he approached his Yanghun Wood, preparing to dig it up, he froze. His hand remained suspended in mid-air, motionless.
He felt enveloped by a great threat. Slowly turning, he saw Xiao Fei emerging from behind a large rock.
Beside Xiao Fei, zombies materialized from nowhere, advancing towards him.
Blood lines snaked across the surrounding ground; he had suffered from these blood lines before, nearly dying the last time.
"Hahaha! So, the Corpse Puppeteer has arrived. Please, have a seat!"
Black Wind Old Demon forced a fawning smile onto his stiff face, retreating a few steps, keeping as far away from the Yanghun Wood as possible. He acted as meek as a quail.
The two had clashed once before, and if not for Black Wind Old Demon's formidable life-saving techniques, he would have died at Xiao Fei's hands long ago.
"You're quite sensible!"
Xiao Fei moved closer. As he passed Black Wind Old Demon, he suddenly struck, severing the latter's body into two halves with a single blade.
Black Wind Old Demon's two halves fell to the ground, resembling severed lotus root sections.
"He escaped again!"
Black Wind Old Demon's life-saving methods were truly remarkable; he had also escaped using this substitute method last time.
Xiao Fei casually picked up the two sections of lotus root, examined them, and tossed them into his storage pouch.
"What a shame!"
The lotus root sections had already been refined and could not be planted.
Xiao Fei quickly dug out the Yanghun Wood and transplanted it into his space, wondering if it could break through its limitations and continue to grow.
"Let's go!"
The two continued their exploration. Xiao Fei's primary objective was to find spiritual items that could restore his vitality, thus he headed towards the areas with the densest life force within the secret realm.
Along the way, they acquired many rare spiritual items.
This direction seemed to lead to the central area of the secret realm. They encountered many other wicked cultivators en route.
Xiao Fei merely needed to release a few zombies to announce his identity, and the other wicked cultivators would immediately steer clear. His notorious reputation saved him a great deal of trouble.
Watching all the wicked cultivators scatter like they were avoiding a plague, a stiff smile appeared on Xiao Fei's zombie's face. This feeling was excellent!
Previously, he was often suppressed by powerful individuals, like a timid bride, having to tread carefully even to breathe.
He never expected to have his day, now able to bully weaker wicked cultivators.
Xiao Fei's journey was unimpeded, and he felt the life force emanating from ahead growing increasingly potent.
Just then, he spotted a bottomless canyon ahead, from which the dense life force was emanating.
Xiao Fei summoned his zombie bird, mounted its back, and flew down into the canyon.
After descending for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a powerful gravitational force suddenly emanated from below.
Xiao Fei's body and his corpse bird were pulled downwards rapidly by this force.
"Boom!"
A loud sound of a massive object hitting the ground echoed. Xiao Fei and the bone bird crashed into the ground, creating a deep pit.
The corpse bird disintegrated on the spot, and Xiao Fei was left stunned and numb all over.
"Yoho! Another unlucky soul!"
A mocking voice sounded from behind him.
Xiao Fei quickly turned to look, only to find it was the Golden Core elder from the Heavenly Demon Sect.
"Greetings, Senior!"
Just as he had felt a surge of power, he unexpectedly ran into a Golden Core expert. He felt like crying but had to force a smile.
"Enough nonsense! Hand over your storage pouch first!"
The Golden Core wicked cultivator, with a grim expression, extended a hand.
Xiao Fei had no choice but to obediently remove his storage pouch and present it with both hands to the Heavenly Demon Sect's wicked cultivator.
"A small token of my appreciation. Please accept it, Senior!"
Xiao Fei muttered inwardly, thinking that this powerful figure was guarding the entrance to the secret realm, collecting entrance fees, and earning spirit stones effortlessly.
In the world of wicked cultivators, even female cultivators found it hard to earn spirit stones while lying down.
Why would he come here to join the commotion?
He didn't know that the wicked cultivator was also feeling frustrated.
He had been guarding the secret realm entrance, intending to wait until everyone exited before plundering these small fry.
Everything within the secret realm would belong to his Heavenly Demon Sect.
A sure bet for easy earnings!
However, his curiosity got the better of him, and he flew in to investigate, only to be sucked into the valley floor by a powerful force, and now he couldn't get back!
This wasn't the worst of it. He discovered that the valley floor seemed to be covered by a powerful spirit-suppressing formation. He could sense spiritual energy but couldn't absorb it into his body.
If this continued for an extended period, without external spiritual energy replenishment, the little remaining magic power within him would be depleted bit by bit, eventually leading to an empty store.
The Golden Core wicked cultivator opened Xiao Fei's storage pouch and glanced inside with his divine sense, his brow furrowing!
"Is this all you have?"
The spirit stones and spiritual herbs in Xiao Fei's storage pouch were pitifully few, not even enough to whet his appetite.
"This junior comes from a poor background. The meager spirit stones I earned were all used for cultivation!"
Before Xiao Fei could finish explaining, the Golden Core wicked cultivator lunged forward, reaching out to strip Xiao Fei's robes.
Pieces of his robes fluttered in the wind, instantly leaving Xiao Fei completely naked.
Xiao Fei's emotions were complex, a sense of tension and unease gripping his heart.
This Golden Core wicked cultivator was so old and so ugly! He couldn't accept this.