Chapter 238: Middle Jindan Period [5K]
Upon hearing this, a hint of coldness appeared in the eyes of the Lord of the Desolate Sword.
The deep sea is vast and boundless, and the nearest continent to the Seven Domain Alliance is probably millions of miles away.
It is basically impossible for such a large swarm of soul-eating locusts to cross the deep sea.
Because ordinary Soul-Eating Locusts have weak cultivation bases, they may become exhausted after flying for thousands of miles and need to find a place to rest and recover.
Not to mention that there are countless sea beasts in the deep sea, and these soul-eating locusts are a great delicacy for sea beasts.
So normally speaking, only Soul-Eating Locusts above the Golden Core stage are barely capable of crossing such a vast sea.
If the Soul-Eating Locusts only come to the Seven Domain Alliance with a few Demon Locusts, then they will need to multiply the population first.
In order to grow to its current size, it would require at least several decades of accumulation, and in the process of growth it would inevitably devour the spiritual medicines of the major forces, which would surely make it noticed in advance by the major forces.
In that case, without the help of these hundreds of millions of Soul-Eating Locusts, these Soul-Eating Locusts in the middle stage of the Golden Core would not be a concern for the Seven Domain Alliance at all.
But the current size of the Soul-Eating Locust population is obviously not developed step by step, but rather snowballed into shape at a very short speed.
Being able to do this means that at least the second-order Soul-Eating Locusts in this Soul-Eating Locust colony had probably successfully established their foundation before coming to the Seven Domain Alliance.
Only in this way can the soul-eating locusts reproduce so quickly and on such a large scale.
Thinking of this, the Desolate Sword Master couldn't help but asked with a sudden change of expression: "Are you saying that these Soul Devouring Locusts are probably someone's pets, and they were brought here by the Spirit Pet Bag?"
"This is the only possible explanation."
Ye Linyuan spoke calmly, and then asked with a frown, "To be able to possess a mid-stage Jindan demon king, the person behind him must be very powerful."
"He should be the best among the middle stage of Jindan."
Upon hearing this, the Lord of the Desolate Sword could not help but nod.
The reason why they thought that the person who came was not in the late Jindan stage was because if the other party was really in the late Jindan stage, then there would be no need to hide his head and show his tail.
With the strength of the late Jindan period, he is invincible in the Seven Domain Alliance. As long as he does not go to the Tianxing Continent to confront the Tianxing Sword Sect's trump card, this kind of person is basically invincible.
Thinking of this, the Desolate Sword Master couldn't help but ask, "What do you think this person wants to do?"
"I suspect that this person is related to the Canghai Sect." Ye Linyuan spoke out of thin air, his eyes solemnly saying, "It is very likely that he is coming for me."
The Desolate Sword Master frowned slightly, and then said, "In that case, your trouble is not small."
Ye Linyuan nodded, and suddenly said with a gloomy look: "This is a trouble, but perhaps also an opportunity."
"..."
After leaving the Seven Domain Alliance, Ye Linyuan returned to the Xuanyuan Islands, and then began to gather his clansmen to prepare for the locust plague.
The Ye family is nearly a million miles away from the Xinghen Palace, so the speed at which the locust plague spreads is still slow.
According to Ye Linyuan's estimation, it would take at least a dozen years for the locust plague to spread to the Xuanyuan Islands.
Of course, if the master behind the locust plague brought the locusts to the Xuanyuan Islands with the treasures used to store spiritual beasts, it is possible that the Xuanyuan Islands would be swept across in a very short time.
However, Ye Linyuan felt that this possibility was not very high, because the storage space for storing treasures of spiritual beasts was also very limited.
Even a top-grade third-level storage magic weapon could not carry hundreds of millions of locusts across hundreds of thousands of miles of sea.
Therefore, if the master behind the locust plague really wants to cross the sea, he can only take away elite demon locusts above the late stage of Qi training.
But in this way, the number of demon locusts would probably be reduced by a hundred times, and the overall strength would be greatly reduced.
The Xuanyuan Ye family is not the Xinghen Palace, and the Tianxing Sword Sect is not a pushover either. Once the other party dares to arrive with only a small number of elite demon locusts, they will probably be besieged by more than ten Jindan masters before the snowball even starts.
Therefore, Ye Linyuan believed that the process of the locust plague was mostly orderly. When the other party started to sweep from the weak Star Mark Islands, it had been planned from the beginning.
After all, there are too many powerful people in the Xuanyuan Sea where the Ye family is located. Once they are discovered in advance, the locusts will probably be killed before they have time to reproduce.
Although the Xinghen Palace has an ancient heritage, it has been suppressed by various major forces in recent years. The Jindan and even foundation-building cultivators in the palace dare not go out for patrols, which has given these locusts the opportunity to proliferate.
"It will take at least a dozen years."
After Ye Linyuan informed everyone of the news, he fell into deep thought.
He began to organize his own practice and ponder how to deal with this disaster.
If this locust plague was really planned by Canghai Sect, and the ultimate goal was to target him, then Canghai Sect's back-up plan would definitely not be that simple.
Although the locust plague is terrible, it is difficult to shake the foundation of the Ye family.
Ye Linyuan is an unparalleled master who has cultivated a superior golden elixir. He has many other golden elixir masters around him to help him. It is impossible for just one or two middle-stage golden elixir masters to do anything to him.
Therefore, Li Xuangeng definitely has a backup plan. The opponent's strength can at least kill Ye Linyuan with a high probability. Otherwise, once Ye Linyuan escapes from the Seven Domain Alliance, it will be meaningless for them to pay such a huge price.
"They don't know that I have a magical skill of refining spirits, which improves my training speed and the quality of my magic power. I have never shown my Wanhua Sword Art in front of them."
"So Li Xuan Geng may not be able to fully understand my true strength."
Ye Linyuan pondered in his heart, and then said: "But no matter what, they will definitely try to overestimate my strength and trump cards, so the trump cards I hide are still not enough to turn the tables."
"So the most urgent thing is that I must do my best to improve my strength."
Ye Linyuan lingered there for a long time and began to think about improving his strength.
At his level, the improvements brought by ordinary magical powers and magic weapons are already negligible and cannot bring about any qualitative improvement at all.
If Ye Linyuan wants to have a big breakthrough, there are two best directions. The first is to break through the middle stage of the Golden Core, and the second is to use the magic of refining spirits to refine a third-level magic item.
After the former breaks through, the thickness and quality of his magic power will be elevated to a higher level, and his strength will at least be increased by 30% to 40% on the existing basis, reaching the top level in the middle stage of the Golden Core.
If he chooses the latter, after refining the third-order rare treasure, Ye Linyuan's strength will definitely be improved qualitatively, and it may even allow him to reach the level of the late Golden Core in some aspects.
However, after Ye Linyuan pondered for a long time, he gave up on refining the third-level rare object.
Because he didn't have any top-grade third-level treasures, it was even difficult for him to obtain mid-grade third-level treasures.
Even if he obtained a third-grade mid-quality treasure from the Tianxing Sword Sect, its effect would eventually be greatly reduced as his cultivation level improved.
By the time he reaches the great perfection of the golden elixir, the effect of the third-grade mid-quality treasure will probably be only one or two percent left.
At that time, how can he break through the Nascent Soul stage?
"In each realm, there is only one chance to refine rare treasures, and there is only one chance to be promoted to an original rare treasure. I don't have many choices. For long-term considerations, I cannot refine ordinary things."
Ye Linyuan pondered in his mind, then sensed the magic power in his body, and his brows couldn't help but frowned slightly.
It has been more than fifty years since he broke through the Golden Elixir stage. During these years, he has continuously refined the evil energy of Renshui and taken a large number of Creation Pills, and his cultivation progress has not been slow.
To date, he has cultivated two hundred and eighty magical powers, and is still eighty magical powers away from the perfection of the initial stage of Golden Elixir.
With the help of the Water Spirit Pearl and the Mahayana Ten Thousand Rivers Returning to the Sea, he can cultivate four magical powers every year. In addition to the long-term use of the Creation Pill, he can improve five or six magical powers every year on average.
It will take more than ten years to cultivate these eighty magical powers.
"I still have some good fortune fruits left from the Blood Prison Secret Realm a few years ago. They can support my cultivation for at least a dozen years."
"I hope there won't be any major chaos in the next decade or so."
Ye Linyuan kept pondering, thought for a while, picked a batch of rare spiritual medicines, and then walked through the Tianxing Sword Sect.
The advancement of a Jindan cultivator's cultivation level is inseparable from the power of Tiangang and Disha. The power of Disha produced in the Xuanyuan Sea alone is definitely not enough to supply so many Jindan cultivators of the Ye family.
So Ye Linyuan could only take various elixirs and go to the Tianxing Sword Sect to exchange for various evil spirits.
Fortunately, the Tianxing Sword Sect is worthy of being a major sect with thousands of years of heritage. Its foundation is by no means comparable to that of ordinary Jindan forces. Not to mention the water evil power that Ye Linyuan needs, even the fire and earth evil that Ye Xuqiu needs are stored.
After changing these evil spirits, Ye Linyuan began to practice in seclusion. In a blink of an eye, another two years passed, and the Minghuang Sword Master personally came to Xuanyuan Island and gave Ye Linyuan a second-level rare black gold.
This is a small piece of second-level Gengjin, not too big, but it is enough to be used as a medicine for Gengjin needles.
After Ye Linyuan refined it, the Gengjin Needle was soon completely transformed into a small magical power.
After this magical power underwent transformation, astonishing changes suddenly occurred.
It transformed into a pure golden needle that floated up and down, emitting a terrifying edge that could tear the sky apart.
"Ding--"
Ye Linyuan tried to activate it, but found that the needle pierced through hundreds of miles of mountains and rivers in an instant. It was not until a long time later that the sound of piercing the air was heard.
"good."
Feeling the power of the Gengjin needle, Ye Linyuan couldn't help but whisper slowly and breathed a sigh of relief.
After the Gengjin Needle transformed into a magical power, its power not only increased several times, but it also gave off a chill that even Ye Linyuan felt dangerous.
Such a spell to kill spiritual plants has a terrifying penetrating power that can break through anything. Even a cultivator in the late Jindan stage would be seriously injured and dying if he was accidentally hit in the vitals by this spell.
Of course, the Geng Jin Zhen also has a big weakness. Although it has a great ability to break through the defense of Gang Qi and its speed can be said to be extremely fast, its destructive ability is very limited.
Facing this sneak attack, as long as you move an inch away and avoid your vital points, the Gengjin needle will only leave a small hole on your body.
Because the power of the Geng gold needle is too concentrated, it will directly penetrate the cultivator's body without causing too much damage.
If the fatal weaknesses such as the throat, heart, dantian or head cannot be pierced, the injuries caused are not serious at all for the Jindan cultivator, and they can recover by just escaping and recuperating for a while.
However, if used to deal with spiritual insects, this shortcoming is nothing. Spirit insects rely solely on numbers to win, and the combat power of an individual is often very weak. It may not be so easy to avoid the Gengjin needle.
"After transforming into a magical power, it shouldn't be difficult to deal with the Soul Devouring Demon King. The next step is to see if my cultivation can be promoted."
Ye Linyuan pondered over it, and then resumed his life of seclusion.
In the following period of time, drastic changes began to occur in the entire Seven Domain Alliance.
All the major forces were terrified of the evil locust, but they were helpless against it and were forced to pick all their own medicinal herbs.
Wherever the evil locusts sweep through, even the grass and trees will be devoured, and the size of the locust swarm will continue to expand, almost becoming a natural disaster for a while.
After continuous reproduction, the number of demon locusts began to snowball, and the number of elite demon locusts in the late stage of Qi training and above was also increasing.
They are divided into countless groups, migrating in the sea, constantly turning one spiritual island after another into deserted islands.
Time passed so slowly that by the time the locust swarm approached the Tianxing Sea, it was already more than ten years later.
The locust swarm advanced much slower than Ye Linyuan expected, because the vast deep sea greatly slowed down the swarm's speed.
If they want to cross from one sea area to another, they often have to pay a heavy price. The wind and waves and sea beasts in the deep sea are enough to eliminate most low-level locusts.
Just as the locust swarm was spreading close to the Tianxing Sea, Ye Linyuan received an unexpected news.
The locust swarm suddenly disappeared, or rather, the elite demon locusts above the late stage of Qi training suddenly disappeared overnight.
Afterwards, countless demon locusts became leaderless and began to retreat step by step under the suppression of various great monks.
"It really is coming for us."
After Ye Linyuan received this news, his brows couldn't help but frown slightly, revealing a hint of coldness.
The Minghuang Sword Master beside him nodded, and then handed a piece of information to Ye Linyuan and said: "From the existing information, although the demon locusts have ravaged the Seven Domain Alliance, causing disasters to the major foundation-building and Qi-training forces."
“But among the Jindan forces in the Seven Domain Alliance, almost no spiritual medicine garden of any force except the Xinghen Palace was attacked.”
Ye Linyuan's eyes turned cold, and then he said, "In that case, the people behind the demon locust may have reached a tacit understanding with those forces."
Master Minghuang Sword nodded, and then said calmly: "The major forces of the Seven Domain Alliance are afraid of the two of us. They may not dare to intervene directly against us, but they are happy to sit back and watch the fight."
At this moment, the two of them already roughly understood the cause and effect.
Those demon locusts were most likely invited by the leader of Canghai Sect. Their purpose was to create a locust plague and eventually cultivate a large number of elite demon locusts to deal with Ye Linyuan.
In this situation, in order to prevent changes, the people behind the scenes will definitely not make enemies with the Green Bull Demon King and others, so as not to become the target of public criticism in the Seven Domain Alliance.
"This locust plague may reach your Xuanyuan Sea area next."
Minghuang Sword Master spoke calmly, and then said with a slightly serious look: "If it really doesn't work, you can move to my Tianxing Sword Sect for the time being."
"My Tianxing Sword Sect's mountain protection formation may not be able to resist the monster locusts. After you break through the middle stage of the golden elixir, we will take back this Xuanyuan Sea area."
Ye Linyuan shook his head and said, "Based on my understanding of Li Xuangeng, he definitely has more than just this move in his chess game."
"Oh?" Master Minghuang Sword was slightly stunned.
Ye Linyuan took a sip of the teacup, his eyes showing a hint of fighting spirit as he said, "If it goes as expected, he will lure me out of the mountains for a fight with a bait that I cannot refuse."
When Master Minghuang Sword heard this, he vaguely understood something, but he still said, "In my opinion, you have only been in the Jindan stage for a short time. It is not the time to fight him to the death."
"I understand, but since it concerns Madam's chance of enlightenment, I still have to give it a try."
At this point, Master Minghuang could only stand up and say, "If they really reach an agreement, my Tianxing Sword Sect may not be able to spare much strength for this battle."
"I will do my best to see if I can come and help you."
"Have a heart."
Ye Linyuan spoke politely, then stood up and saw Minghuang Jianzi off.
After watching Minghuang Jianzi leave, Shui Hanqing appeared behind Ye Linyuan without knowing when, hugged him tenderly from behind and said, "Husband, if you are not sure, let's retreat first."
"My chance of becoming a Taoist may have other opportunities."
Ye Linyuan grabbed her hand, patted it gently, and then said with a smile: "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."
Speaking of this, he lowered his eyes and sensed the powerful magic power in his body, and his heart couldn't help but feel slightly relieved.
But seeing that the magic power in his body was powerful, there were already more than 400 lines, which was a sign of breaking through the middle stage of the golden elixir.
It turned out that not long ago, he had broken through to the middle stage of the Golden Core.
After breaking through the middle stage of the Golden Core, in addition to the increase in the amount of mana, Ye Linyuan's mana quality has also improved to a certain extent.
Unfortunately, after breaking through the golden elixir, the effects of the second-level rare water spirit beads and the black gold sword embryo have been greatly reduced. The quality of Ye Linyuan's mana has only increased by 30%, and the speed of cultivation has not increased at all.
It stands to reason that after breaking through the middle stage of the Golden Core, his cultivation speed should be able to increase by at least 50%. Unfortunately, as the effect of the second-level rare water spirit bead was greatly reduced, his cultivation speed did not increase at all.
According to Ye Linyuan's estimation, after breaking through the late Jindan stage, the effect of the second-level rare water spirit bead will be reduced to only 10% or 20%.
By then, if he cannot refine the third-level water spirit bead, his cultivation speed will gradually return to its original level.
Even if one is in the middle stage of the Golden Core, with the current speed of cultivation, it would probably take at least three decades to cultivate to perfection in the middle stage of the Golden Core.
"After entering the middle stage of Jindan, I'm afraid the speed of cultivation will be much lower."
“Fortunately, after the breakthrough, the quality of my mana and the power of my magical powers have improved, and my overall strength has increased by 30%.”
Ye Linyuan pondered in his heart, according to his own estimation, his original strength was comparable to the sixth level of the Golden Core. With the breakthrough in his cultivation, his current strength was already at the top level of the perfect middle stage of the Golden Core.
This kind of strength is even stronger than Li Xuangeng's back then.
"If we add this formation."
Ye Linyuan's mind was in turmoil, and he pointed to the void with a flick of his sleeve.
(End of this chapter)
