Howling Moon Mountain’s peak.
A figure stood in the breeze with his hands behind his back. His robes fluttered, his scarlet hair danced and his eyes were clear with a gaze as deep as the ocean.
He had refined features and looked like a scholar in his twenties; time seemed to have left no mark on his face at all.
The only hint of age was through the wistful look in his eyes from time to time.
Su Zimo gazed into the distance with a pensive expression.
There was an old saying that the road of cultivation was endless and caused one to lose sights of the world. It was at this moment that he resonated with the idea deeply.
A hundred years was probably an entire lifetime for mortals in the secular realm.
However, for Nascent Souls with lifespans of a thousand years, it did not mean much at all.
Things were still peaceful in Howling Moon Mountain after a hundred years.
However, nobody knew if anything major happened within the cultivation world or if any paragons or monster incarnates were born.
Su Zimo did not know if his old acquaintances were doing well.
He had not rested for the past hundred years.
Right now, his cultivation realm was at the peak of mid-stage Nascent Soul realm!
This cultivation speed was not considered slow for Nascent Souls.
More importantly, Su Zimo’s Essence Spirits had been nurturing the Creation Green Lotus for the past hundred years.
Right now, the Creation Green Lotus was at grade four!
A Grade Four Creation Green Lotus was not inferior to a connate Perfected Lord Dharmic weapon in terms of strength.
Not only that, Su Zimo spent most of his effort for the past hundred years researching the ancient book left behind by the Mighty Figure of Tomb Sect.
The ancient book recorded many attempts and methods from predecessors on how mortals without spirit roots should attempt to cultivate.
Su Hong’s death and the plight of the citizens of Yan Country had a huge impact on Su Zimo.
That was the reason why he laid down a vow that he wanted to establish a Dao and alter the fates of the living beings of the world!
His Dao would allow everyone without spirit roots to cultivate so that they can be in control of their own fates!
Hie had benefited immensely for the past hundred years!
In truth, be it for the immortal, Buddhist, fiend or demon Daos, the formation of a core was the most important barrier.
Su Zimo discovered that as long as one broke through from the core formation realm and cultivated an Essence Spirit, the function of the spirit root was almost negligible.
In other words, the spirit root was merely a stepping stone onto the path of cultivation!
The more important thing was for people to form Golden Cores without the existence of a spirit root.
Naturally, that was something that could be achieved through demonic cultivation.
However, Su Zimo could not let the rest of the world follow in his footsteps where they would be ostracized by the most other human cultivators at the end of their cultivations.
Su Zimo researched the ancient book and made many hypotheses along those lines of thought, gaining deep insights in the process.
Of course, he had not given up on the Dharmic arts of the Yin Spirit, Purple Thunder Manual and Great Day Rulai Sutra; he cultivated and comprehended them constantly as well.
Right then, a blood-colored light column surged in the distant horizon. It pierced into the clouds and vanished soon after.
The blood light column was extremely far from Howling Moon Mountain and its exact location was unknown.
Su Zimo furrowed his brows slightly as he gazed at the dissipated blood light. A familiar sensation surfaced in his mind for a brief moment.
“Solitary Cloud,”
Su Zimo called softly.
In the darkness not far behind him, a figure darted out. It was the original Territorial Lord of Ghastly River and Su Zimo’s current mount… Solitary Cloud!
Solitary Cloud was still a mid-level fiend demon a hundred years later.
However, his aura was purer and his gaze seemed much sharper – it was clear that he had advanced greatly in his cultivation!
Whenever Su Zimo cultivated throughout the years, Solitary Cloud watched by the sides.
Each time Su Zimo cultivated the Yin Spirit section of the Mystic Classic of the Twelve Demon Kings of the Great Wilderness, he would exude some aura of the Dragon race that provided immense benefits for Solitary Cloud!
Su Zimo asked, “Do you know what that heavenly-piercing blood column earlier was?”
“It’s most likely from the Thousand Year Blood Sea,”
Solitary Cloud replied.
“Thousand Year Blood Sea?” Su Zimo murmured softly.
Solitary Cloud explained, “The Thousand Year Blood Sea is a lake in the center of the Thousand Demon Valley. The reason why it’s called a sea is because it has a large surface area and its edges can’t be seen with a single gaze.”
“Furthermore, this sea is extremely strange. The color of the sea turns darker as time passes by. At a thousand years, it will reach its peak and the sea will be as bright-red as blood!”
Su Zimo asked again, “What do people know about the Thousand Year Blood Sea?”
Solitary Cloud continued, “It’s said that the Blood Sea gathers the essence blood and souls of demon beasts that have fallen for the past thousand years. If any fiend demon can cultivate within, they would grow at an astonishing speed!”
“Huh?”
Su Zimo raised his brow and asked, “If that’s the case, wouldn’t the Blood Sea be a precious place where fights and massacres happen at every moment since everyone is vying for it?”
“That was indeed the case initially,”
Solitary Cloud nodded. “However, later on, the battles got too miserable and escalated. In fact, even high-leveled Territorial Lords fell one after another. Because of that, the Seven Great Overlords of Thousand Demon Valley decided to put an end to the war and had everyone share the Thousand Year Blood Sea.”
“The Blood Sea opens up once every thousand years and there’s a total of ten spots. The Seven Overlords will each send Territorial Lords under their rule to fight for the ten positions.”
Su Zimo could not help but ask at that point, “Since the Thousand Year Blood Sea is so amazing, why don’t high-level fiend demons head there to cultivate?”
“There’s a limit to the power within the Blood Sea. The boost for high-level fiend demons cultivating there is not significant. For low-level fiend demons, their Essence Spirits and physical bodies are unable to withstand the power of the Blood Sea. Therefore, mid-level fiend demons are naturally the most suitable to cultivate there,”
Solitary Cloud mulled for a moment. “Of course, given your strength, there should be no issue if you enter the Blood Sea and cultivate within.”
Su Zimo nodded.
The Soul Nourishing Blood Ginseng and other spirit refinement consumables he had obtained in the ancient battlefield had long been used up in the past hundred years.
Even the grade of the Creation Green Lotus was now at a bottleneck due to Su Zimo’s cultivation realm.
Even if he entered seclusion and cultivated for hundreds or a thousand years, there might not be any progress for his bottleneck.
At times like this, a cultivator had to venture out into the world.
The breakthrough can come in the form of an opportunity or a great battle.
Perhaps, one might even be inspired at a foreign place and achieve a sudden breakthrough as well!
Through Solitary Cloud’s words, the opportunity to cultivate at the Thousand Year Blood Sea was a rare one that must not be missed!
However, there were extremely few positions available and there would definitely be a vicious battle involved if Su Zimo wanted to obtain one!
He asked again, “How should I obtain a position to cultivate in the Blood Sea?”
“The Thousand Demon Meet!”
Solitary Cloud replied, “A month later, a Thousand Demon Meet will be hosted in the vicinity of the Thousand Year Blood Sea. At that time, the Overlords of Thousand Demon Valley and many Territorial Lords will arrive. It’s a grand occasion for the demon race.”
He pondered for a moment and explained, “Lord Mo, if you wish to take part in it, we’ve got to pay a visit to the Overlord in charge of Howling Moon Mountain first!”
Overlords were above Territorial Lords.
There were seven Overlords in Thousand Demon Valley!
Beneath each Overlord was countless Territorial Lords.
Even Solitary Cloud had not met the Overlord in charge of Howling Moon Mountain. It was said that the Overlord was a demon ape and resided in Ape Chatter Ridge!
“Alright, we’ll head to Ape Chatter Ridge three days later!”
Su Zimo did not hesitate since he had already decided and laid down the orders immediately.
