Looking at the skeleton turned to ashes, the brother and sister exchanged silent glances.
Whether it was the remaining chapters of witchcraft or the Demon King riding the yellow beast, both methods could only be described as doing what they could, with no real certainty.
“Brother, don’t worry too much. You’ve done your best,” Ye Ling comforted him. “The prince won’t blame you.”
“It’s not about being blamed; I’m worried about Qing Jun’s situation,” Qin Yi sighed. “The current state of Nan Li is very serious. I don’t even dare to predict what would happen if I return empty-handed.”
Ye Ling said, “Then let’s go into the Demon City together.”
When she said this, there was a hint of excitement in her big eyes. Qin Yi noticed her little thoughts and rubbed her head. “Sharpening the knife doesn’t delay the chopping of wood. The Demon City isn’t a safe place. We can’t trust that hawk’s words too much; we need to be well-prepared before we go.”
Ye Ling asked curiously, “What kind of preparation?”
“Your own strength is always the best preparation,” Qin Yi replied. “We’ve gained a lot this time; we should digest it before moving on.”
Ye Ling took out a medicine bottle. “The blood essence is here.”
“Keep it for yourself. This demon blood essence is for you to break through to the Condensation Dan stage, not for now,” Qin Yi said, looking around the stone house thoughtfully. “If nothing unexpected happens, there should be a place for alchemy here. You focus on digesting the dragon bloodline, and I’ll refine a batch of Blood Lotus Pills.”
Ye Ling looked up at Qin Yi, her expression a bit complicated.
The demon blood essence was actually the true meaning of the demon refining formation. It was condensed from countless demon bloods, and extracting even a drop of essence was meant to help that blood dragon step from the peak of transformation into the Condensation Dan stage. If this thing were taken to the Demon City, many demons would dream of it; its value was immeasurable.
For a skilled alchemist, the uses of this essence were far more than just helping demons break through. But Qin Yi didn’t even glance at it and simply assumed it was for her use.
In fact, until now, all the good things from this trip had been for her benefit. With the demon python blood cleansing her body and the demon blood essence stored, even the Blood Lotus Pills that Qin Yi was about to refine would surely have her share. Qin Yi’s own gains were really too little compared to hers.
Yet Qin Yi looked completely justified.
She didn’t say much, sniffled, and softly said, “Then I’ll go practice.”
Ye Ling knew that her consecutive breakthroughs weren’t stable. Moreover, the process of cleansing with demon blood was passive; she hadn’t had the chance to properly guide her practice and merge the bloodlines. Qin Yi was right; at this moment, the most important thing for her was to practice first.
The stronger she became, the louder her voice would be in the Demon City.
In the world of demons, there weren’t as many morals and rules as in the human world; the law of the jungle was always the most suitable.
The stone house was large, with many rooms. Ye Ling casually chose one to practice in, while Qin Yi planned to look for a medicine storage room or an alchemy room.
At this time, the fire on the ground had gone out, and a jade-colored glimmer was very noticeable among the ashes. Qin Yi picked it up and saw that it was a ring.
He was a bit surprised. Ye Ling’s fire wasn’t ordinary; it could burn a skeleton to ashes in no time, yet this ring was completely unharmed. The material was quite special…
A voice came from Liu Su: “This is a storage ring.”
Qin Yi’s eyes lit up.
He had long found it inconvenient to carry various medicine bottles and talismans, and the peach he had just obtained made his pockets bulge. He had often thought about how everyone in this fantasy world seemed to have a storage ring…
He didn’t expect to find such a good item without effort, especially from a wizard hiding in this desolate mountain!
Liu Su sensed something and smiled. “This ring has no restrictions, so it’s fine. Use the mind transmission method I taught you and try to probe into the ring.”
Qin Yi tried to send his thoughts in.
The situation inside the ring was crystal clear. It had about a cubic meter of space, not very large, and was empty except for one thing lying in the corner, which stood out.
It was a token carved from bone.
Qin Yi’s thoughts moved, and the token appeared in his hand. Upon closer inspection, it was carved with a fierce tiger shape, with sharp fangs exposed.
“What is this?” He turned it over but couldn’t figure out what magical power it had or what it was used for. A storage ring with nothing in it, just this useless item…
“It’s likely that he had various witchcraft tools, and he used them all up in the previous battle,” Liu Su said. “This token might signify his identity…”
Qin Yi paused for a moment, realizing something.
This was a desolate mountain, with a dangerous area marked on the map to the west, details unknown. To the east was the Demon City.
This wizard surely wouldn’t dare enter the Demon City, nor did he have the strength to venture into the dangerous area to the west. Alone on this desolate mountain, lacking resources, where would he get various formation materials, soul-capturing gold, and this storage ring?
Someone must be supporting him from behind.
Either someone from the dangerous area to the west sent him to lead the charge against the Demon City, or a certain demon king in the Demon City was secretly supporting him… In any case, it wouldn’t be the yellow beast; this wizard harbored malice towards it and even wanted to provoke him to deal with the yellow beast.
Whichever it was, it could serve as a meeting gift for the Demon King riding the yellow beast.
Qin Yi put on the ring and stored the token away.
This ring reminded him, so he wasn’t in a hurry to find the medicine storage room. He searched the ruins for anything he might have missed.
Soon, he spotted a broken mirror lying in the corner.
“The Mirror of Divine Sight, this isn’t witchcraft; it’s a tool crafted by cultivators,” Liu Su said, sounding a bit interested. “With some preparation, you can see everything happening in the area you’ve set up from the mirror. It’s for cultivators whose spiritual sense hasn’t yet been able to extend outside; you can monitor the outside from within your cave, which is quite useful for you. This damage can still be repaired, so keep it.”
This was why the wizard, alone on the mountaintop, could accurately grasp everything happening on the mountain and even hit the peach right on Ye Ling’s head. Qin Yi also found it very useful and took it as well. He searched around again but only found many damaged formation stones, which showed how intense the battle was. He had no idea how powerful the intruder was.
“This strong person…” Qin Yi weighed a piece of formation stone that had cracked into several pieces and pondered for a moment before suddenly saying, “Do you think it could be the yellow beast?”
Liu Su replied, “It’s very possible. This wizard was slaughtering demons right under its nose and harbored great malice towards it; if it were me, I couldn’t tolerate that.”
Qin Yi hesitated for a moment and then said, “Regardless of whether it’s the yellow beast or not, do you think… this person could be Cheng Cheng?”
To be honest, Qin Yi had suspected this for a long time. When Cheng Cheng fell from the mountain, it should have been around the same time the enemies came knocking and the wizard had a fierce battle. What a coincidence!
Liu Su was clearly considering this too, saying, “It is indeed quite a coincidence, but I can’t confirm it. If it really was a fierce battle between this strong person and the wizard, leading to a temporary loss of strength, then Cheng Cheng would definitely have serious injuries. But she wasn’t hurt; instead, she had bloodstains from rolling down the mountain.”
Qin Yi pondered for a moment, shook his head, clearly puzzled; it didn’t make sense.
“Forget it; when we enter the Demon City and see Cheng Cheng, we should know…” Qin Yi walked around, finding nothing else, and headed inside, wanting to look for the medicine storage room.
He casually pushed open a door, and the heat hit him, making him step back. Liu Su’s voice rang out: “Witchcraft ritual fire… Qin Yi, this might be your biggest gain from this trip.”
(End of Chapter)