The Treasures of the Bloody River (2)

"What is it?" Sitting cross-legged in front of Ja Sun, she inquired calmly. Even though the situation looked grim for others, Ah Yin was quite calm. Why? Because she never did take part in the war. Her value was extremely less to others and she knew it. Unless she reveals her age and cultivation, she can silently live in the city for a month or two and slip out quite easily.

It was Ja Sun, the mission junkie, who needed to be careful. Despite his age, being a Spirit Elder wasn't too low of a talent. Many factions will want him to be cultivated under their name since he had been shooting groups of Spirit Elders without rest!

"Did you really mean it when you said about being free to move after reaching rank 60?"

Ja Sun's inquiry pulled a nod from Ah Yin.

"What if I said my next destination is Spirit Hall?" He continued.

Actually shrugging, Ah Yin responded calmly, "I have no immediate burdens after reaching 60. So what if you want to enter Spirit Hall? In fact, they wouldn't even think that one of the most renowned child devils will actually join them.

But the problem is reaching rank 60. From rank 51-60, cultivation is extremely slow. Even with my speed and your boost, it will take me three years. After all, it has only been a few days since I reached rank 52."

Ja Sun nodded.

Even he was starting to understand the difficulty of cultivation after seeing Ah Yin.

"Your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Empress... what if I said that I can help you reach rank 60?"

Saying so, Ja Sun placed an incomparably beautiful sapphire gem in the middle. Ah Yin gazed at the crystal silently. Shock filled her mind and body the more she looked at this crystal. Even now, she couldn't sense it and if it wasn't for seeing it with her own eyes, Ah Yin would have thought that there was only empty space in front of her.

Realization struck her mind and she looked at Ja Sun carefully, "This is why your mind wasn't destroyed when you used that strange mental cultivation technique?" Ah Yin didn't touch the crystal. Her heart was filled with greed, but more than that, she was also relieved. What Ja Sun dared reveal, why wouldn't she dare take? Formalities didn't exist between them and even if Ja Sun kept a cool smile, Ah Yin felt a terrifyingly eerie intent hidden behind it.

"Yes. It healed my consciousness but now, it is useless to me. I took it from somewhere... but it should be useful to you because of your Martial Soul, right?"

Ah Yin nodded calmly.

"How long will it take for you to reach rank 60 with this?" Ja Sun inquired.

"Can I pick it up?" She inquired.

"Of course. It's for you," Ja Sun exhaled softly. Only he knew how terrible he felt. Even though this item was useless, Ja Sun simply hated giving up. It was for Ah Yin was simply a consolation for him. And deep down, he understood that considering long-term goals, the core was best suited with Ah Yin rather than him.

If they didn't have a good relationship already, Ja Sun wouldn't have even thought of giving this baby up.

Slowly, Ah Yin grasped the core in her hands and closed her eyes. Instantly, her body trembled. Her quivering lips parted slightly and she looked at Ja Sun with astonishment.

"Where did you find this?" She gasped.

"I pulled it out of my ass. Now, do you want it or not? Make it simple!" Ja Sun scoffed and crossed his arms.

Seeing him as such, Ah Yin's mood condensed and she gently placed this core on the ground before shaking her head.

"No. I cannot have it... sorry."

"Why?" Ja Sun inquired.

"We don't lie to each other. At least, that's what I feel. Usually, we simply deny to speak at all if it touches are soft spots and... I value such a partner," her sapphire eyes were clear.

"This is the core of a 100000-year-old Spirit Emperor. It is a supreme cultivation item for me. Not only will it increase my cultivation, it may benefit my martial soul and will also increase my talents permanently."

"And... you are thinking that to repay me, sleeping with me won't be enough but you'll have to marry me and find even more mistresses, right?" Ja Sun sighed and shook his head.

"This is serious," Ah Yin's gaze turned sharp but much to her shock, Ja Sun gave an even sharper look.

"Then stop spouting nonsense. You think I want to give this treasure up? If you don't take this in three seconds, fine. I accept your sincerity. But I will still go to Spirit Hall. Have a happy life and when you finally become a Spirit Emperor, you can try finding me if it's worth anything."

His words somehow managed to strike Ah Yin deeper than she wanted to admit.

Her hands slowly reached up towards the core before she eyed Ja Sun carefully, "This doesn't mean I will sleep with you."

"Good. It should be the other way around. I'll sleep with you," Ja Sun nodded and Ah Yin's lips twitched. She didn't bother waiting and picked the core up.

"Since we cannot leave the city, I'll absorb this core right here. My domain hides aura completely and doesn't exude spirit energy...

However, you have to stay here. And protect me."

She stood up without waiting for a reply. Climbing up the bed, she swallowed the core and instantly covered the area around the bed with her domain. Giving Ja Sun one last look, she silently closed her eyes.

'Wow, emotional much,' Ja Sun thought internally. He understood what Ah Yin seemed to be thinking and it would be the greatest day of this life when he reveals that all her suspense was for naught.

Thinking for a moment, Ja Sun closed his own eyes. He might as well condense his third spirit ring.

Slight spirit fluctuations rose from his body. The process of condensing a spirit ring wasn't complicated at all. In fact, this was the last spirit ring he could gain from the Bright Goddess Butterfly.

The first two spirit abilities had proven quite useful so far so Ja Sun looked forward to his third ability.

His spirit energy moved around his body and from his pores, tiny speckles of purple light slowly floated around him. These motes of light held an attractive force that made them rotate around his body. Not only that, the moment Ja Sun began condensing his spirit ring, the Final Buddha Array moved quicker and quicker. It did not refine his spirit sea. It was already refined to the brim and waiting to explode. Instead, the Final Buddha Array's refinement force affected the Bright Goddess Butterfly.

Her body shuddered once again. A breath of pressure covered Ja Sun as the light released from the Bright Goddess suddenly grew! Ja Sun's entire mental scape lit up. The light had a slight condensation effect on his loose mental energy but overall, the light was affecting the Bright Goddess herself.

Her body shrank by a few percent and now, she looked extremely pure. Her white carapace looked like jade carving and her fluttering wings were simply too delicate. The pattern of her wings released a gentle radiance. Unlike the first time Ja Sun met Bright Goddess, she did not release a sharp glow. Instead, it looked like she was bathing in her glow at the moment.

Ja Sun's suppressed spirit energy, meanwhile, shot up.

The motes of light moved quicker than before. They took the same pattern and continued to move until they looked like a ring itself.

At this moment, the radiance from Bright Goddess shot out from Ja Sun's forehead and landed on the moving particles.

Under the effect of light, the particles slowly condensed into a beautiful purple spirit ring and finally, Ja Sun's cultivation stabilized at rank 32.

---

Ah Yin had her eyes shut. Usually, any ascension would cause a burst of energy but even without her domain, the fluctuations would be extremely low. The main aspect of Blue Silver Grass is its vitality and tenacity. But having a superior variant for her martial soul, Ah Yin had another trait to her martial soul and that is concealment. Her domain had even shown this trait quite a few times. One of these instances was when Ah Yin managed to sneak up on Ja Sun in the Demon Pond Forest.

This concealment did not mean invisibility.

Blue Silver Grass is everywhere. It simply goes unnoticed and her martial soul, Blue Silver Empress, can take this aspect of the blue silver grass and use it actively. This causes her already low spiritual fluctuations to turn nonexistent— unable to sense and hence, concealed. This was also the reason why Ah Yin could never sense the core itself.

Right now, within her body, the Blue Silver Emperor's Core continued to slowly dissolve. It was simply the greatest treasure for Ah Yin. Waves after waves of pure spirit, mental, and life energy filled her body, clearing her pores, mending any past injuries left unchecked, and finally, strengthening her body. This was a 100000-year-old core. It would easily allow her to reach the peak of rank 60 but her greatest priority was strengthening her bloodline and martial soul.

Her skin slowly turned translucent and eerie. Her veins revealed a faint golden light as the inexhaustible power of Blue Silver Emperor's Core continued to mix with her bloodline— her martial soul.

Her martial soul appeared around in front of her. Thin black trunk and branches covered with brilliant blue silver vines. In fact, the dark trunks and branches were another set of thickly wrapped vines. The shape of her marital soul looked like an ethereal willow tree, however, her origin was grass.

Under the effects of the core, her cultivation began to rise. But more prominent were the changes to her martial soul.

Slowly, the willow tree continued to tremble. A blue-silver radiance covered it and its vine-like leaves trembled.

At this point, Ah Yin's cultivation finally broke into rank 53.

The trembling grew more and more intense. The area around Ah Yin's heart also revealed a soft radiance. Her blue hair grew slightly longer and her long eyelashes trembled. Her entire being let out a divine radiance and the interior of her domain couldn't be seen through normal eyes anymore.

54.

55.

56.

Her body shuddered. She felt blocked but the energy from the core felt like a gentle parent encouraging her to push beyond her limits. Her martial soul actually let out soft rustling sounds due to the violent trembled. Thin cracks spread out from every vine, letting out a golden glow.

57.

58.

59.

By now, Ah Yin's body began oozing grey, pungent substance. The more she pushed, the more these substances emerged.

60.

Instantly, for Ah Yin, time seemed to have stopped. The light of her domain completely disappeared but she knew that her domain was still active. The cracks instantly spread from her martial soul but right now, Ah Yin didn't feel a thing from this willow tree. It was what this willow tree hid within itself that formed a connection with Ah Yin.

Extremely tiny hands slowly poked out, stretching the cracks as it they had appeared on paper. With a soft tear, a blue figure poked her head out. The facial features of this entity seemed to resemble Ah Yin's features but when Ah Yin felt that this figure was alive, the willow tree form of her martial soul disappeared into a bright light that covered the figure.

She was wrong. This being wasn't alive.

The merging of the two revealed a small plant. That figure before was her own essence that perfectly merged with the new core and it finally created a martial soul that floated in front of Ah Yin.

Her blue pupils trembled and a warmth spread throughout her body. The moment she reached rank 60, she felt something inside her click. A form of suppression, a form of dread... everything disappeared. Meanwhile, an extremely delicate-looking blade of grass floated in front of her.

It did not seem to be made out of organic material. It looked like a thin film of translucent sapphire fashioned into the shape of a grass with beautiful and awe-inspiring silver vein patterns that gave a continuous glow.

Involuntarily, her spirit rings appeared around the delicate blade of glass. Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, and black. Each of them released a gentle blue light. This wasn't triggered by the core but by her evolved martial soul itself. Her spirit abilities were changing!

"Blue Silver Goddess..." Ah Yin softly muttered.

Closing her eyes, Ah Yin chose to understand her martial soul first. Then she observed the changes in her spirit abilities. Finally, she calculated the energy left in the core that still revolved around her.

The energy left was too low. In fact, reaching peak rank 60 didn't take much toll. Most of the energy contained was used in the evolution of her martial soul itself. This is why this core was simply the best treasure for her only. Or, any other poor soul who awakened a simple blue silver grass.

When Ah Yin focused, she found that even her domain had changed for the better! It was still active, but nobody could see its perimeters but this was simply the most basic change. All her abilities and strength had grown simultaneously. Current, Ah Yin's profits couldn't be measured with words!

Her physical quality had increased. Her mental energy went through a shocking transformation and finally, her internal talent of cultivation had grown further into the realms of absolute monstrosity!

With a gleeful heart, she looked around and found a rather indifferent Ja Sun sitting in front of the table while eating his meat jerky.

She blinked, her eyes lighting up in curiosity.

"I have reached rank 60," she nodded calmly.

Ja Sun nodded in return and pulled out a small book before focusing on it.

"What do you think?" Ah Yin inquired with gritted teeth. If it wasn't for Ja Sun, her goals wouldn't have been accomplished. So, she found herself in a rare moment of seeking validation. She was too strong now. Others might think of leaving for another location for better, but with her goals accomplished, Ah Yin didn't look at Ja Sun while finding value in him. Being companion with him now felt more worthwhile.

In his own words: It's interesting.

"I think... you stink," Ja Sun replied without looking up and a pang of guilt struck Ah Yin. She felt too euphoric due to this evolution. But she never stopped to consider what Ja Sun had to give up. Sure, it wasn't useful to him, but he could have easily exchanged it with someone and gained something far more beneficial for himself.

For instance, a Spirit Bone.

Revealing a disappointed look that Ja Sun wasn't willing to have a share in her joy, Ah Yin nodded with a bitter smile, "I will help you—"

"Stop talking nonsense," Ja Sun scrunched his nose but internally, he was cackling like a mad beast, "You physically stink. Take a bath already. You can say whatever you want after that."

Ah Yin's expression froze up before she looked down. However, hiding a relieved and selfishly pleased smirk, she silently nodded and entered the bathroom.

***

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