Shen He cautiously returned to the entrance of the previous underground cavern.
In theory, without a key, one could not enter that small space. However, when he had exited, he had crushed a Trace Pill. As long as he followed the pill’s lingering traces, he could find the correct path.
As for the small space…
Shen He took out the damaged Jade Ring.
Zhang Sizhe had not examined it closely, so he did not know that this Jade Ring seemed to be a Mustard Seed Key.
However, this Mustard Seed Key could only be used to enter, not to exit, and it was single-use. It had already been completely ruined.
But Shen He was still a pill refiner with some talent and decent technique.
The Nine Spirits Totem Entry Jade Slip from Xu Zhen contained an appendix with a pill formula for quenching demon beast corpse bones to extract more bloodline essence and power.
Before coming, Shen He had gathered all the medicinal herbs and materials he could redeem, since he did not know what pills Xie Linlang would need after reviving, nor whether Xie Linlang would require on-site pill refining. It was better to be prepared.
He prepared a set of materials on-site according to the pill formula. If one or two materials were missing, he could find them in the secret realm.
Shen He lit the furnace and refined the pill. Then, he threw in the beast bones that Zhang Sizhe had given him.
Shen He’s thinking was simple: the corpse bones in the space should be Senior Xu Zhen’s remains. He would try quenching a bit of essence blood from the bones and drip it onto the damaged Jade Ring. What if it activated? There was no loss in trying.
Now that everything was ready, Shen He returned to the underground cavern.
He formed a Magic Formula and groped deeper bit by bit along the previous pill traces. At a certain spot, the pill reaction vanished—this should be where he and Zhang Sizhe had entered the small space.
Shen He took out a Jade Bottle and poured the drop of pitch-black liquid inside onto the Jade Ring.
The edge of the Jade Ring had gear-like markings, as if it were a component meant to nest into something. The black liquid fell onto it without any reaction.
Shen He felt somewhat disappointed. He walked a few steps around with the Jade Ring in hand and tried channeling Demonic Qi into it, but still no reaction.
At that moment, he suddenly thought of something and slapped his forehead.
The Nine Spirits Sect was an orthodox immortal sect—how could it have a Mustard Seed Key that opened with Demonic Qi?
He immediately summoned the Azure Flame Leopard, which had been forced to change owners.
The entire leopard was in a depressive phase. Upon being summoned, it immediately flopped to the ground, buried its head in its paws, and acted as if it were deeply saddened and wanted to be left alone.
Shen He hurriedly took out an Advanced Feed Pellet and placed it by the leopard’s mouth. He whispered softly, “Please, can you input some spiritual power? I know you can use spiritual power. Begging you—if we get back, I’ll refine something tasty for you.”
The Azure Flame Leopard’s yellow eyes gloomily stared at Shen He. Irritated, it lifted a thick black paw and smacked the Jade Ring.
The next second, the surrounding space developed a subtle sense of instability. Shen He was overjoyed. He scooped up the Azure Flame Leopard with one hand and gripped the Jade Ring with the other. Using Divine Sense to control the Emerald Jade Sword, he fiercely released over a dozen sword qi strikes in all directions.
Sure enough, the space became even more unstable. The Jade Ring emitted a faint buzzing sound. Immediately after, Shen He felt a massive suction force. Whoosh—he squeezed through as if from mid-air and clanged into a familiar cavern.
Wasn’t this the corridor he had passed through with Zhang Sizhe before?
Shen He set down the Azure Flame Leopard, gripped the Emerald Jade Sword tightly, took a deep breath, and dashed forward.
The Azure Flame Leopard was somewhat dazed. The leopard circled aimlessly in place, let out a low roar, and then hurriedly followed.
Returning to the hall, pushing open that door again, and being flung back by the Black Spirit Sword once more—Shen He was full of vigor, even somewhat excited.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but upon his return, the Black Demonic Beast Spirit seemed extremely irritable. The speed, angles, and sword techniques of its attacks had all grown stronger.
At one moment, the quadrupedal Demon Beast Spirit actually stood on its hind legs, spreading its forepaws like a human and executing a Sword Art!
Shen He watched clearly. After the Sword Art was unleashed, the Black Spirit Sword instantly turned into dozens of phantoms, which then scattered explosively!
Boom—
The ground, walls, and ceiling were all torn with deep gashes by this terrifying sword qi, as if a brilliantly beautiful flower had bloomed centered on the Black Spirit Sword.
Shen He drew in a cold breath, then his eyes brightly fixed on the Black Demonic Beast Spirit’s movements.
In this moment, he seemed to enter a wondrous state. No matter how fast the Demon Beast Spirit moved, he saw it crystal clear and even wanted to imitate it with his own Emerald Jade Sword.
At first, the Azure Flame Leopard made a token effort to help its new master, but after several sneak attacks created openings for escape, it realized the new master seemed to be here deliberately to get beaten.
Thus, the Azure Flame Leopard licked its fur singed by black flames, tucked its tail, hung its head, and went to a corner to continue mourning its abandonment.
Shen He continued battling the Black Demonic Beast Spirit.
Due to the secret realm’s suppression, the Black Demonic Beast Spirit’s strength remained at Late Foundation Establishment. Strangely, it held back from killing several times. Shen He seized the chances to wildly improve his sword techniques.
