Chapter 1123: Chapter 1108: The Little Cat’s Tempering
"Fourth brother, aren’t you going back home? We won’t interfere with you returning gloriously! However, you should still bring a little something for our father and mother to show your sentiments!
We are brothers, your parents are our parents, so here, this is a token from the three of us for our father and mother. Help us deliver our regards, and if there’s a chance in the future, we will personally visit father and mother!" said the Great Saint of Jinghai.
Ye Zhen’s expression was a bit surprised; he didn’t expect Jinghai, Fug Hai, and Sea-Breaking to consider this matter.
To be honest, whatever farewell gift the three might send to Ye Zhen, he wouldn’t really care, but a gift for his parents, regardless of what it is, the sentiment alone is significant.
"Since it’s a sentiment from the three brothers for my parents, I will accept it on their behalf, and also thank the three brothers on their behalf. Once I return home, I will definitely tell my parents about the three brothers’ good intentions," Ye Zhen stated solemnly as he stood up.
"That’s good!"
Nodding, the Great Saint of Jinghai also handed over a jade talisman, "We don’t have a detailed sea map of the Outer Domain Dead Sea, but we do have a simplified map, and with Fourth Brother’s current abilities, a simplified map is sufficient!"
"Enough with the small talk, Fourth Brother, if you’re leaving, depart early. Moreover, if there’s anything you need us to do, feel free to ask!" said the Great Sage of Fug Hai.
"There is indeed one thing; the three brothers know that I have been employed and cultivating in the Sun and Moon Divine Sect of the True Spirit Domain. This time, I’ll be out for quite a long time, and again returning home will take a year or so; I would trouble the three brothers to send a message to Fengh Qingyue in the True Spirit Domain, just to say that all is safe, and not to worry," Ye Zhen specifically instructed.
Two hours later, with the best wishes of the Great Saints of Jinghai, Fug Hai, and Sea-Breaking, Ye Zhen mounted the Cloud Winged Tiger King. As the boundless cloud qi gathered, Ye Zhen’s figure vanished into the clouds and mist.
Leaving Heavenly Wing Island this time to return to the Black Dragon Domain was much more relaxed than the hardships encountered when arriving at Heavenly Wing Island from the True Spirit Domain.
At that time, Ye Zhen had to avoid the countless demon beasts densely packed in the sea, and could only travel on costly passenger sea-crossing shuttles, and with the sea filled with dangerous forbidden lands and beast tides, even aboard the shuttle, the route was circuitous and slow.
Sometimes, a linear distance of originally a hundred thousand miles might take two days to navigate.
But now, the return was different.
Ye Zhen’s Black Dragon Martial Meridians have now been unsealed by sixty percent. The mere release of a little of the Black Dragon Aura contained within his meridians was ten or even dozens of times more effective than the White Dragon Banner held by the White Dragon Envoy of the Dragon Alliance.
Any demon beast coming within ten miles of Ye Zhen, unless driven to frenzy or madness, would be scared off in all directions.
So, on the way back, Ye Zhen advanced almost in a straight line, directing the little cat to fly straightforward in the direction of the Black Dragon Domain.
Under normal circumstances, to travel from the sky wind domain sea area where Heavenly Wing Island is located to the Black Dragon Domain, across at least three domains, even a Ninth Stage Establishment martial artist would need more than half a year to make the journey at the fastest speed.
But now, with Ye Zhen flying in a straight line, given the little cat’s speed, he estimated it might take as little as three months or as much as four months to reach the Black Dragon Domain and see his parents.
"Perhaps I might arrive in the Black Dragon Domain before my senior sister, although she has a token infused with Black Dragon Aura, capable of intimidating demon hordes onward. However, my senior sister does not have the same agility as the little cat,"
"I might even run into my senior sister along the way," with this thought, Ye Zhen felt a touch of anticipation.
However, traveling on the sea is extremely monotonous.
Fortunately, the little cat possesses spirit communication, and its spirit wisdom, thanks to Caiyi’s early cultivation, is quite remarkable. Relieved, Ye Zhen entrusted the little cat with many tasks and then sat cross-legged on the little cat’s back, commencing cultivation.
Though slightly slowing the speed, it was not to the extent of wasting these three months entirely, considering time was what Ye Zhen most lacked now, while cultivation resources were abundant.
At Ye Zhen’s current level, he even looked down on mid-grade spirit crystals; for cultivation, he solely used high grade spirit crystals, which were purer and refined faster.
According to the sea map given by the Great Saint of Jinghai, Ye Zhen exchanged numerous mid-grade spirit crystals for high grade spirit crystals in batches while passing by several islands.
Were it not for supreme spirit crystals being beyond quotation and hard to exchange for, Ye Zhen would have converted everything to supreme spirit crystals for cultivation.
Nevertheless, the number of high grade spirit crystals in Ye Zhen’s possession still surpassed two million pieces.
After departing from Shuili Island, Ye Zhen’s total number of spirit crystals remained at over 1.2 million pieces, and after the siege on Heavenly Wing Island, slaying Dao realm experts Yang Ben and Yin Yi, the gains were remarkable.
The spirit crystals distributed to Ye Zhen alone were equivalent to over 800,000 high grade spirit crystals.
This was amidst the distribution shared by the Sky Wing Four Saints, Hei Tian, Wu Shu, Yangg Min, and others, not to mention the various heavenly materials and earthly treasures, materials, pills, and spiritual artifacts obtained.
Although there is no concept of time in cultivation, during the cultivation journey, Ye Zhen was still startled awake several times.
Once, he encountered a demon beast at the Heavenly Level Lower Grade known as the Iron Arrow Poison Mosquito, and from afar, the little cat screamed in fright.
This Iron Arrow Poison Mosquito isn’t large, merely about a meter in size, but it encompassed a vast expanse covering the sky densely in black clusters, numbering at least several hundred thousand.
Hundreds of thousands of Iron Arrow Poison Mosquitoes surged over, each spewing poison liquid at you; even a Dao realm expert might be reduced to ashes.
As for the Black Dragon Aura, it was utterly ineffective against such pack-driven, charging demon beasts.
Startled awake, Ye Zhen, along with the Cloud Winged Tiger King, plummeted straight down to the sea surface like a meteor.
Just after falling into the sea for a few breaths, the sound of hissing echoed, as hundreds of thousands of drops of poison liquid from the iron arrow poison mosquitoes poured down like a torrential rain, instantly enveloping the entire sea surface.
After thirty breaths, Ye Zhen desperately darted out of the sea and ascended into the sky again, gasping in shock.
On the surface of the sea, extending for thirty or forty miles from where he had fallen, countless sea creatures poisoned to death had already floated up densely, including a large number of Demon Beasts.
Moreover, the range was constantly expanding, with more and more corpses of blue-black demon beasts emerging from the sea.
This incident served as a wake-up call for Ye Zhen.
The Black Dragon Aura emitted by the Black Dragon Martial Meridians was not omnipotent; there were too many terrifying demon beasts in this Outer Domain Dead Sea or rather in this world that Ye Zhen had never seen.
Just three days after the iron arrow poison mosquito incident, Ye Zhen was chased by a group of over a hundred strange birds resembling great rocs of Early Stage Spirit Tier for three days and nights.
These strange birds completely ignored the Black Dragon Aura, and what was more deadly was that they could even pursue him into the ocean.
It took three days before Ye Zhen encountered another group of demon beasts, found some scapegoats, and finally escaped the pursuit of the flock of birds.
From then on, even though Ye Zhen had the Black Dragon Aura, he became extremely cautious when flying over the Outer Domain Dead Sea.
Through careful avoidance, there were no real dangers, but Ye Zhen still took action twice.
These two instances of intervention were when Ye Zhen was rescuing people.
He saved a few martial artists who were besieged by Sea Beasts while riding the Sea-Crossing Shuttle, but after rescuing them, Ye Zhen drifted away silently.
Those he saved didn’t even catch a clear glimpse of what Ye Zhen looked like.
All these sudden incidents made Ye Zhen’s long sea journey not too dull.
Unfortunately, perhaps because Ye Zhen was traveling in a straight line instead of following the sea map, he didn’t encounter the White Dragon Envoys patrolling for the Dragon Alliance.
Ye Zhen was thinking that if he happened to encounter any, seeing and taking out a few Dragon Alliance experts would be considered as weakening the enemy’s vital forces.
Similarly, the Stars Tower was also Ye Zhen’s target.
Unfortunately, this sea was the Dragon Alliance’s territory, and even though the Stars Tower had various intelligence operatives embedded, they were all in secret, leaving no opportunity for retaliation.
Along the way, Ye Zhen occasionally spotted vast expanses of land, and if he turned, he estimated he could step onto the soil of the other domains.
But Ye Zhen was eager to return, and despite the allure of the distinct beauty in each of the Nine Domains of the True Profound Continent, he had no interest in visiting them, choosing instead to bypass them.
Three and a half months passed swiftly, and according to the sea map, Ye Zhen had reached the edge of the Snowdrift Domain Sea. Crossing the Snowdrift Domain Sea would allow him to enter the Black Dragon Domain Sea, and from there, he could reach the Black Dragon Domain.
During this period of three and a half months, Ye Zhen’s cultivation also improved; originally at the Late Stage of the Seventh Stage of Vein Forging Realm, now just one step away from the Peak of Seventh Stage of Vein Forging Realm.
As for the little cat, though Ye Zhen fed it a large amount of Demon Core Spirit Crystals along the way, its entire form still appeared much thinner.
During these three and a half months, the little cat was almost continuously flying, constantly refining the power within the Demon Core Spirit Crystals, and then continuously consuming it.
Though it appeared leaner, there was a different kind of fierceness emanating from its whole body, with its Spiritual Power aura becoming more condensed and refined.
With a flap of its fleshy wings, it could traverse a thousand miles like smoke.
In Ye Zhen’s sensing, the little cat’s cultivation had reached the peak of Mid Stage Spirit Tier, always hitting a bottleneck but never stepping over, probably due to insufficient accumulation.
"It seems the breakthrough is not far off. Unexpectedly, this kind of tempering allowed the little cat’s cultivation to rapidly integrate and improve!" Smiling, Ye Zhen casually tossed a thousand High Grade Spirit Crystals into the little cat’s maw.
Only Ye Zhen could afford this; if it were anyone else, feeding ten thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals in one go would bankrupt them within days.
The rapid improvement in the little cat’s cultivation was heavily linked to Ye Zhen’s abundant supply.
"Let’s hope you can break through by the time we reach the Black Dragon Domain!"
"Hmm, I’m going to cultivate, wake me if anything happens!" Sitting cross-legged on the little cat’s back, Ye Zhen closed his eyes once again.
This time Ye Zhen’s cultivation had not lasted even two hours before he was awakened by the little cat’s fluffy tiger tail.
"Hmm, what happened?" Ye Zhen asked as he opened his eyes.
The little cat let out a low growl, gesturing for Ye Zhen to look below.
At the moment Ye Zhen looked down, his expression subtly shifted.