Cultivation is just so scientific!

Chapter 705: Chapter 399: Corpse Lotus

The Golden Core cultivators in the space were attacking the foul-smelling roots with all their might, trying to prevent the roots from entangling them.

Every time the foul-smelling roots were attacked, they would explode and release a cloud of poison mist. More and more roots exploded, filling the space with an increasing amount of poisonous mist.

The Golden Core cultivators soon discovered that with their attacks, the poison mist from the burst roots had now filled the space above the water surface.

No matter what method they used to try and disperse the poison mist, the entire space was already saturated with it, leaving no room to clear it away.

The intense poison made contact with the spiritual power shields, making a ’ssss’ noise that was very clear in the quiet space.

The spiritual power shields were being depleted at an alarmingly fast rate, and it was clear they wouldn’t hold out much longer, not to mention there were still foul-smelling roots reaching out.

The first Golden Core cultivator, weaker than the rest, was entangled by the foul-smelling roots. His spiritual power shield hadn’t been completely depleted yet, but as soon as the roots wrapped around him, they became extremely tough and no longer burst open like before with a single strike.

”No, save me!” the Golden Core cultivator screamed in agony as he was dragged into the water, and his screams quickly faded away.

After the first one, there came a second, and a third.

These Golden Core cultivators, who were considered a central force in the Cultivation World, were dragged into the water one by one by the foul-smelling roots without being able to unleash even a tenth of their strength in such an environment.

Elder Jing Geng watched everything that was happening in the space, and he couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes.

He had deceived everyone. If he could abandon the Spiritual Crane Sect and the Endless Sect, then he had never planned to rely on these Golden Core cultivators.

Of course, the most important thing was that without the sacrifice of these Golden Core cultivators, when the time came for the spiritual objects to naturally mature, the opportunity would not fall to him to enjoy.

His master had discovered, years ago, a crack in this space that had appeared after a certain seismic event. According to his research, this space was not unclaimed.

Because the mountain had good spiritual energy but no Great Demons had come to claim it, it indicated that the mountain had an owner who could deter Great Demons.

Moreover, from the walls of the space, one could find some isolation methods used by the Spirit Beast Clan.

This was something only a Fourth Grade Spirit Beast could do, suggesting there was a high probability that this place was the private treasure land of a Fourth Grade Spirit Beast.

It was just that the treasures here were not ripe yet, and the Fourth Grade Spirit Beast would only come to collect them when they matured.

His master and he, after many years of research, had discovered how to use the lives of Golden Core cultivators to fill the energy requirements of a Fourth Grade Spirit Object and make it mature prematurely.

For this, his master and he had always endeavored to cultivate Golden Core cultivators, even establishing two medium-sized sects, all to produce more Golden Core cultivators under the surveillance of major sects.

After falling into the water, the twenty-nine Golden Core cultivators were dragged to the bottom, with countless roots piercing into their bodies.

Their bodies quickly withered, and even the spiritual energy within their Golden Cores was extracted at an incredible speed. Throughout the process, they were still alive, but due to the intense poison and the chilling waters of the pool, they were unable to move.

Feeling their centuries of cultivation being stripped away little by little, they were nearly driven mad, and in their hearts, they cursed Elder Jing Geng.

They had been loyal to their sect, even fighting against the Senluo Sect without regard for their lives for the sake of their sect.

But what did they get in return? They were sent to this fate by Elder Jing Geng.

Soon after, they could no longer even think, as the strange creature in the pool not only absorbed their bodies and the energy within their Golden Cores but was also devouring their souls.

The water parted, and a pristine lotus emerged from below.

”Emerging from the muck unsoiled, who would have thought this was a Corpse Lotus?” Elder Jing Geng’s eyes were fixed on the lotus, muttering to himself.

A Corpse Lotus, a type of lotus that grew from a corpse. The stronger the corpse, even in death, the more energy it contained, not to mention that if a corpse remained in a special environment for a long time, it could undergo unusual transformations.

This was like Corpse Refining, a sublimation of the original energy within a corpse, transforming it into another form of life.

But with a Corpse Lotus present, no matter how powerful the corpse and no matter how suitable the environment, it could not transform into a refined corpse because all the energy would be used for the growth of the Corpse Lotus.

A Corpse Lotus was like using a powerful corpse as fertilizer; any energy produced by the strong corpse would be devoured by the Corpse Lotus.

A Fourth Grade Corpse Lotus. Elder Jing Geng could hardly imagine what sort of life’s corpse could give rise to a Fourth Grade Corpse Lotus.

But he didn’t have the guts to investigate, as the pool water was not something he could endure even coming into contact with, let alone entering, being a practitioner of magic cultivation.

He waited, for the Corpse Lotus to fully mature, which would signal the time for him to act.

The essence of twenty-nine Golden Core cultivators’ lives nurtured the Fourth Grade Corpse Lotus, providing it with enough energy.

In the center of the Corpse Lotus, a tender pod began to form.

The color of the pod slowly changed from a tender yellow to gold, and then from gold to dark gold.

In a cavern thousands of miles away from the mountain hollow, a Fourth Grade spirit beast with the head of a wolf and the body of a human opened its eyes, puzzled.

It sensed a trace of energy, related closely to a precious object of its own that seemed to have matured prematurely.

This was decades earlier than its predictions. Had it not been for a recent small enlightenment, which kept it in a phase of self-assessment, it might have missed the ripe moment of that object.