CHAPTER 131: CHAPTER 129: HIDDEN GREAT HARVEST

The fact that Blood Nether possessed Zhouyang and perished is true.

However, the truth is far from being so simple.

What Zhouyang did not tell Cyan Yang Daoist and Blood Nether was that while the "Qianyang True Flame" was refining Blood Nether’s divine soul, it also allowed him to fuse and receive some of Blood Nether’s memory fragments, and even after Blood Nether’s divine soul was refined, a very small portion of unclaimed divine soul power was absorbed and fused by him.

Although the memory fragments and unclaimed divine soul power he fused accounted for less than one percent of the total, their quality was extremely high, originating from Blood Nether, a Ninth-Layer Golden Core Demon Cultivator.

By integrating Blood Nether’s memory fragments, Zhouyang did not learn the whereabouts of the Blood Mo Luo that he had always wanted to know, but he did learn the location of Blood Nether’s hidden treasures.

It turns out that earlier, during the great battle with Cyan Yang Daoist at the ruins of the Yin Puppet Sect, Blood Nether had a premonition that today might not end well for him.

Therefore, before making his escape, he hid the storage rings containing his life savings, as well as the storage ring he seized from the "Golden Light Ascendant," in a certain spot at the oasis ruins, planning to come back for them after successfully possessing a body.

Because the effects of the "Demon Descent Technique" on him had not yet dissipated at the time, and by leveraging the super-strong invisibility and concealing breath abilities brought by transforming into the Blood Ape Monster, his small actions went unnoticed by Cyan Yang Daoist and Cao Wenjin.

Later, when he self-destructed his Golden Core and his body was blasted to air, Cyan Yang Daoist and Cao Wenjin only assumed all storage spiritual artifacts on him were destroyed, never imagining he had already hidden them away.

Although Zhouyang learned of the treasure location through the fusion of Blood Nether’s memory fragments, he currently has no plans to retrieve it.

This is not because he possesses foresight, knowing Cao Wenjin would send someone to monitor him, but because both storage spiritual artifacts have Divine Sense Marks left by Golden Core Stage Cultivators. With his current cultivation, even if he held those storage spiritual artifacts in his hands, he could not erase the Golden Core Stage Cultivator’s divine sense marks and retrieve the treasures inside.

In this case, he naturally is not in a hurry to retrieve those storage spiritual artifacts.

Since he is the only one who knows the treasure location of those two storage spiritual artifacts, leaving them there is much safer than retrieving them now or placing them in the Zhou Family’s treasure vault.

In the future, when he opens the Purple Mansion and ascends to become a Purple Mansion Cultivator, acquiring the power to erase the divine sense marks left by Golden Core Stage Cultivators, he can then retrieve those storage spiritual artifacts without haste.

Regarding why he suddenly has the confidence to succeed in opening the Purple Mansion and having the strength to erase the divine sense marks from Golden Core Stage Cultivators during the Purple Mansion Stage, he must thank the unclaimed divine soul power he absorbed and fused.

When Blood Nether possessed Zhouyang, although it nearly obliterated and devoured his divine soul consciousness, it also turned misfortune into fortune, thereby expanding his Upper Dantian Sea of Consciousness by more than tenfold.

After all, Blood Nether was a Ninth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator, and even though his Golden Core self-destructed leaving only the divine soul, the essence of the divine soul is much stronger than that of any Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator.

Thus, when he possessed Zhouyang, he already used his strong divine soul power to expand Zhouyang’s Sea of Consciousness, preparing to open the Purple Mansion for the divine soul to reside all at once. Once he succeeded in possession, he would quickly advance the magical cultivation of Zhouyang’s body to the Purple Mansion Stage.

However, just as he was halfway through this work, the counterattack of the "Qianyang Treasure Body" was triggered, and he was burned to soul annihilation by the "Qianyang True Flame."

Even though Blood Nether was burned to soul annihilation, the results of his expansion of Zhouyang’s Sea of Consciousness still remained. Zhouyang, due to his actions, had almost completed half of the work of opening the Purple Mansion.

Moreover, the process and techniques Blood Nether used to expand his Sea of Consciousness were clearly "seen" by him, amounting to a step-by-step demonstration of the Purple Mansion opening process, using himself as the template for the demonstration.

Additionally, by fusing and absorbing the unclaimed divine soul power dispersed after Blood Nether’s divine soul was refined, his divine sense, originally far superior to that of ordinary cultivators of the same tier, got greatly enhanced once again, almost comparable to Chen Ping’an, a veteran Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment Cultivator who failed to open the Purple Mansion once.

In this situation, when his cultivation rises to the Ninth Layer of the Foundation Establishment, even without the aid of a treasure like the "Purple Heart Jade Marrow" to assist the opening of the Purple Mansion, his success rate for opening the Purple Mansion is at least over seventy percent!

As such, it’s no wonder he has the confidence to retrieve the two storage spiritual artifacts hidden by Blood Nether after opening the Purple Mansion and erasing the divine sense marks of Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

With such great benefits, it’s no wonder Zhouyang dares not tell the truth. If he tells the truth, how could those two storage spiritual artifacts still have anything to do with him?

However, Zhouyang is unsure if it’s just an illusion, but he always feels that Cyan Yang Daoist should have discovered some of the things he tried to hide. Even if he didn’t realize he had fused some of Blood Nether’s memories, he should have noticed the anomaly in his Sea of Consciousness. Otherwise, why suggest he has a chance to form a Golden Core and visit the Profound Sun Immortal Sect?

If he couldn’t succeed in opening the Purple Mansion at all, how could he even talk about forming a Golden Core?

Of course, whether it was his illusion or Cyan Yang Daoist indeed discovered the change in his Sea of Consciousness, the fact that the other party left without probing into the matter indicated an attitude of not delving further, so he didn’t need to worry about it anymore.

Several days later, Zhouyang peacefully returned to the Baisha River Oasis.

At this time, the news of Blood Nether’s fall had not completely spread, but various cultivation clans received orders from the Yellow Sand Sect, directing cultivators from each clan to form teams for a thorough search. Additionally, the remaining Purple Mansion Stage cultivators of the Yellow Sand Sect were all dispatched to sit at the major oases, ready to provide rapid support whenever news of demon cultivators emerged.

Therefore, upon returning to the Baisha River Oasis, Zhouyang realized that more than half of the Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed in Ping’an Marketplace were gone, and even the Chen Family Ancestor had personally left the oasis to lead a search.

"After Chen Ping’an successfully opened the Purple Mansion using the Purple Heart Jade Marrow obtained from the Yellow Sand Sect, Elder Chen personally led the team to search the surrounding small oases. According to his elderly words, demon cultivators need to gather external information too, so even if they hide, they couldn’t stay hidden in deserted areas forever."

Within the Jade Spring Tower, upon Zhouyang’s return, he first came here to see his parents and learn from his father Zhou Xuanhao about the events occurring in the Baisha River Oasis Cultivation Realm over the past year.

"Oh, the Yellow Sand Sect actually was willing to give the precious ’Purple Heart Jade Marrow’ to Chen Ping’an for use?" Zhouyang’s expression stirred, showing surprise at the news shared by his father Zhou Xuanhao.

Initially, Zhang Yunpeng had clearly informed him that the Yellow Sand Sect would never sell such treasures beneficial for opening the Purple Mansion like the "Purple Heart Jade Marrow" to outsiders. So what was the situation now?

"It’s said that Elder Jiang of the Yellow Sand Sect, who had fallen, specially purchased it from the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, including the Foundation Establishment Pills obtained by the Liu Family, which were all bought together. Now, everyone is talking about how the Yellow Sand Sect’s treasure vault still holds over a hundred Foundation Establishment Pills. Because of this, when the Yellow Sand Sect had people leave the oasis to search for demon cultivator traces, everyone was quite proactive without much resistance."

Zhou Xuanhao, having heard Zhouyang talk about Zhang Yunpeng’s attempts to poach talents before, understood his confusion and immediately shared everything he knew.

He had been stationed in the marketplace for a long time and undoubtedly was more informed than Zhouyang.

Given Zhouyang’s experience traveling with Cyan Yang Daoist, Zhou Xuanhao’s words quickly clarified the situation for him.

"Ah, so that’s how it is! Chen Ping’an is indeed fortunate!"

"Now Elder Chen is surely overjoyed, right? Although the Chen Family lost several Foundation Establishment cultivators due to the demon cultivator invasion, they gained a Purple Mansion cultivator, which from a clan perspective is an absolute gain!"

Zhouyang exclaimed with envy on his face, compelled to admire the Chen Family’s luck.

Previously, when the Chen Family lost several Foundation Establishment cultivators, everyone thought they would decline. Yet, who could have imagined that in just a few short years, the Chen Family gained another Purple Mansion cultivator, becoming the only cultivation clan in the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm with dual Purple Mansion cultivators!

However, while Zhouyang marveled at the Chen Family’s fortune, he also understood that luck requires sufficient strength to seize.

The Chen Family ran into the opportunity of the Yellow Sand Sect acquiring several "Purple Heart Jade Marrows" from the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, which was certainly not shallow fortune. However, if it wasn’t for the Chen Family Ancestor’s profound cultivation reaching the Eighth-Layer of the Purple Mansion and being an exceptionally rare Tier Four High-grade Alchemist, this opportunity wouldn’t have been theirs.

Zhouyang easily figured that for the Chen Family Ancestor to have the Yellow Sand Sect spare a piece of "Purple Heart Jade Marrow" for Chen Ping’an to open the Purple Mansion, he must have paid a huge price. And such a price was definitely not something a small clan like the Zhou Family could afford.

"Nonetheless, Chen Ping’an’s opening of the Purple Mansion is also a good thing for our Zhou Family. He still owes our Zhou Family a favor, doesn’t he? The favor of a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator is far more valuable than that of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator!"

Thinking of the favor Chen Ping’an promised due to the affair with his daughter-in-law Zhou Yuanxia made him feel quite balanced.

The Chen Family may have profited, but the Zhou Family wasn’t losing out either.

While Zhouyang was contemplating these things, Zhou Xuanhao suddenly looked at him and said, "Yang’Er, even though due to special circumstances, the Chen Family hasn’t held the ascension ceremony for Chen Ping’an’s Purple Mansion yet, various clans have already sent people to offer congratulatory gifts. Our Zhou Family, represented by me, has also sent gifts and congratulations, but as the clan leader of the Zhou Family, now that you’re back, it would be best for you to personally visit White Camel Peak."

"Father is right, I will head to White Camel Peak now," Zhouyang nodded in agreement with Zhou Xuanhao’s suggestion without objection.

Maintaining friendly relations with Chen Ping’an has been an ongoing effort for the Zhou Family, and now with Chen Ping’an successfully opening the Purple Mansion, they certainly cannot slack in this regard.

Immediately, Zhouyang selected a piece of an "Earth Dragon Worm’s" body from his storage bag as a gift and directly took it to the Chen Family’s White Camel Peak to visit Chen Ping’an.