Chapter 279: The Three-Year Term of the Jiaolong Bone Cage

Although he was already far from the entrance of the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, relative to the vast scale of the ancient immortal-demon battlefield and the current forbidden land of death, he had only covered a very short distance.

He hadn’t been to the valley in several months, and with his significant improvement in Spiritual Sense, he could now venture nearly a hundred zhang deeper than his previous limit.

While a linear distance of a hundred zhang might not seem like much, the area Qin Haoxuan could now search was immense. He began his search from the edge of his new limit.

Ever since he learned that other parts of the Dragon Scale Immortal Sword remained in the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, his hopes for the valley had soared. It wasn’t that there were no treasures left, as he had mistakenly believed before, but that the valley was simply too vast, and the area he could explore was still too small.

After two hours of searching, Qin Haoxuan had found nothing but a few ruined pills. Just as he was preparing to head back, he suddenly sensed something different up ahead.

There were no special spiritual energy fluctuations, but with his stronger Spiritual Sense and the snake’s own consciousness, his sensitivity to life had sharpened. He had tested it before in the stalagmite forest; he could vaguely sense the faint life aura of the Cockscomb Grass from a zhang away.

However, the life aura ahead was exceedingly faint. If he hadn’t been searching so meticulously, he would have surely missed it.

Qin Haoxuan’s eyes lit up, and he immediately headed in that direction.

When he crossed a small mound and saw the scene before him, even he, who was accustomed to the sight of skeletons, was so shocked that his jaw dropped.

Skeletons were a common sight throughout the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, but nowhere else were they piled up into a small hill like this.

From a distance, he had mistaken it for a small hill, but as he drew closer, he realized it wasn’t a hill at all—it was a mountain of corpses.

The flesh of the corpses that formed this mountain had long since decayed, leaving only skeletons that had been corroded black by the poisonous qi. A rough estimate suggested there were likely several hundred bodies. Even in a naturally yin-aspected place like the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, Qin Haoxuan could feel that the yin qi here was bone-chillingly cold, many times colder than the worldly yin qi he absorbed for his Advent of the Ghost God art!

Fortunately, the small snake was immune to all poisons and its body was incredibly tough. Otherwise, if this yin qi were to invade his true body, he would surely have a hard time surviving.

A mountain of bones piled up from several hundred powerful cultivators was naturally far more terrifying than simple worldly yin qi.

The faint life aura that Qin Haoxuan had vaguely sensed was coming from behind the bone mountain. He skirted around it, pushing through the increasingly dense and frigid yin qi.

A small cluster of flowers appeared before his eyes. These flowers were peculiar, with pale gray blossoms and nine petals each. The entire plant consisted only of the flower; there wasn’t a single leaf. The whole thing was composed of a dark black stem and dusky gray petals.

“Soul Flowers!” The term flashed through Qin Haoxuan’s mind.

He had seen this flower before in the records of the sect’s books. The Soul Flower was a very special kind of flora. It was not a heavenly treasure used for alchemy, but it was an extremely rare item nonetheless.

Soul Flowers only grew in places of extreme yin. Even the yin qi of the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley was not enough to nurture them. The reason they could grow here was due to the overwhelming concentration of corpse qi from several hundred cultivators who had died in such a small area, their bones piled into a mountain.

In this place where the yin qi was most condensed, about twenty Soul Flowers had grown. If any high-level cultivators, especially those nearing the end of their lifespan, were to see this, they would be overcome with excitement.

For high-level cultivators whose lifespans were running out, the Soul Flower was an absolute treasure.

According to the books, Soul Flowers could be used to nurture ghosts. Normally, a ghost would gradually dissipate in the world until its soul scattered completely. But if it could hide within a Soul Flower, the rate of dissipation would be much slower. A single Soul Flower could generally protect a soul for over a hundred years.

Many powerful cultivators liked to collect a Soul Flower in case their lifespan ran out and they couldn’t find a life-extending pill, allowing them to store their soul for future reincarnation or body-seizing. However, when most powerful cultivators died, the majority of their soul would also perish with their aging body, a process commonly known as the five signs of decay. Only an extremely small number of cultivators with exceptionally powerful souls could luckily hide their soul in a Soul Flower at the moment of death.

However, Soul Flowers only grew in places of extreme yin, and many experts searched their entire lives without finding a single one.

Yet here, there were about twenty of these flowers that others dreamed of finding but could not.

These Soul Flowers could be used to nurture ghosts, which was quite rare. Qin Haoxuan thought of the two ghosts he was raising with his Advent of the Ghost God art. Perhaps placing them in the Soul Flowers would be much better than sealing them in his arm. Besides, in a month, he would have to go hunt rogue cultivators again. If he killed any powerful ones, he could seal their souls in the Soul Flowers.

Powerful ghosts were very useful, so Qin Haoxuan opened the snake’s mouth and bit off one Soul Flower.

If those powerful cultivators who searched bitterly for Soul Flowers to no avail knew that more than twenty of them were once before Qin Haoxuan, and yet he only picked one, one wonders if they would have exploded with rage.

After collecting the Soul Flower, Qin Haoxuan raised the snake’s head and looked at the bone mountain.

This bone mountain was piled up from the corpses of at least several hundred cultivators. After these cultivators were killed, could there be any treasures left on them?

Time was short, and dawn was approaching. Without much thought, Qin Haoxuan immediately climbed onto the bone mountain. Soon, enduring intense nausea and extreme yin cold, he squeezed through the gaps between the skeletons. In the end, however, he found nothing of value in the bone mountain.

Leaving the bone mountain, he continued his search.

Fortunately, heaven rewards the diligent, and he finally made a discovery.

Not far from the bone mountain was the remnant of a dried-up stream. There, Qin Haoxuan saw a lone skeleton, and lying quietly beside it were three fist-sized black objects.

If it weren’t for the extremely faint aura emanating from these three objects, which felt inexplicably familiar to the little snake’s senses, he would have never thought that these three stone-like things could be anything valuable.

Qin Haoxuan also found a jade slip on the skeleton. Probing it with a trace of his Spiritual Sense, he was surprised to find that the jade slip was an inventory list, which included the name and function of the three fist-sized black objects.

“Jiaolong Bone Cage, a one-time-use magic treasure refined from the bones of a Jiaolong. A Jiaolong Bone Cage can imprison a cultivator for three years. Even a Spirit Tree Realm expert trapped inside has no hope of getting out. There are only two ways to release a cultivator from the cage. The first is to use the correct unlocking hand seal. The second is to wait for three years, after which the cage’s restriction will automatically dissipate, and the cage itself will turn to dust and disappear.”

Reading the description and function of the Jiaolong Bone Cage, Qin Haoxuan couldn’t help but feel his eyelids twitch, his heart wild with joy. This was a fantastic treasure! Even a Spirit Tree Realm cultivator would be trapped inside. Moreover, whether from the inside or the outside, even a Spirit Tree Realm expert had no hope of breaking the cage with brute force.

Only someone who knew the unlocking hand seal could open the restriction from the outside. The person trapped inside could not unlock it, even if they knew the seal!

“Quick, look for the usage instructions in the jade slip!” Learning of the Jiaolong Bone Cage’s power, Qin Haoxuan’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

He tried to calm himself down and searched the jade slip with his Spiritual Sense. A short while later, he opened his eyes. “The jade slip really does have the instructions for using the Jiaolong Bone Cage!”

Qin Haoxuan was incredibly excited. He even imagined that if he were ever pursued by Master Chi Lian again, he could find a way to trap him inside the cage’s restriction space. No matter how powerful Master Chi Lian was, he would have no way of escaping. Then, he could find a way to travel to the Star Sea and toss the cage imprisoning Master Chi Lian into it.

The various ancient beasts in the Star Sea were incomparably powerful. If the cage were thrown in, it would likely be swallowed by a formidable beast. Even if it wasn’t, after three years, it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven for Master Chi Lian to escape from the perilous depths of the Star Sea, because the ancient beasts on the seabed would surely be delighted to eat a cultivator!

Putting away the three Jiaolong Bone Cages, Qin Haoxuan thought gleefully, ‘Although these Jiaolongs are not true divine dragons, their entire bodies are treasures! The Jiaolong blood essence I obtained from the slain rogue cultivators was so potent that even my demonic-cultivated body couldn’t handle it; it’s a top-grade ingredient for alchemy. And a Jiaolong’s bones can be refined into a treasure like the Jiaolong Bone Cage! Their whole body is truly a treasure!’

An absurd thought even crossed Qin Haoxuan’s mind: ‘Maybe I should go hunt a Jiaolong for fun someday?’

If Perfected Man Huanglong knew of this thought, he would surely fly into a rage and slap him dead. “You little brat, don’t you dare underestimate a Jiaolong. Although it’s much weaker than a dragon, even I, at the Dao Fruit Realm, wouldn’t dare to have such thoughts, and yet you’re already thinking of dragon slaying?”

After stowing the Jiaolong Bone Cages, Qin Haoxuan did not linger in the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley. Dawn was fast approaching. With such a major event as someone trying to open a spatial passage to the Netherworld Demon Abyss occurring within the borders of the Soaring Dragon Nation, Perfected Man Huanglong and the other Hall Masters would surely be restless and might come to fetch him at first light.

Qin Haoxuan’s guess was correct. He had just returned to his room and his soul had just re-entered his body when a frantic knocking sounded at his door. A disciple from the Nature Hall, under Master Xuanji’s orders, had come to summon him to the Immortal Cloud Carriage Park.

Master Xuanji, his face still quite pale but looking slightly better than the day before, stood in the thin mist. An Immortal Cloud Carriage was parked before him, waiting for Qin Haoxuan’s arrival.

Qin Haoxuan hastily dressed, washed up, and quickly made his way to the Immortal Cloud Carriage Park.

Master Xuanji’s expression was grave. Seeing the fatigue on Qin Haoxuan’s face, he couldn’t help but say, “Your foundation is still relatively weak. You shouldn’t overdo your cultivation. You must rest at night when you’re supposed to.”

Qin Haoxuan nodded. He couldn’t very well say that he spent his nights with his soul attached to the little snake, treasure hunting in the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley.

Led by Master Xuanji, they took an Immortal Cloud Carriage to Emperor Peak.

Elder Yu, Su Baihua, and Master Bizhu were already waiting for them. Seeing Master Xuanji approach, Elder Yu called out from a distance, “Senior Brother Xuanji, good morning.”

Master Xuanji nodded in acknowledgment. After once again reminding Qin Haoxuan to be careful and cautious, he said to Elder Yu, “Senior Brother Yu, I must trouble you to take good care of Haoxuan.”

(End of Chapter)