Record of a Demon's Cultivation Chapter 1538: The Bottomless Fallen Demon Valley

A crimson tide surged rapidly from beneath Song Wen's feet, crashing into the swarm of insects surging forward.

The Ghost Blight Mosquitoes were not particularly strong, their only threat being the Corrosive Poison Liquid within their bodies, capable of corroding mystic treasures.

But this posed no threat to the Blood Sea Seal; it merely drained a small amount of his blood essence.

Due to his divine sense being limited to a few dozen meters, the blood sea could only extend that far, but it was more than enough.

Within the churning waves of blood, not a single poisonous insect escaped, all swallowed whole without even a ripple.

The Ghost Blight Mosquitoes were not foolish. After losing hundreds of their kin, they seemed to realize that the "blood food" before them was too difficult to handle. They turned and fled in all directions.

Song Wen and Rong Shao naturally didn't pursue, letting the swarm escape.

"This place is not safe. We should leave as soon as possible," Song Wen said, continuing his descent.

The surrounding wind howled, constantly battering their protective spiritual light.

Yet as time passed, the two gradually began to sense something was amiss.

They had already fallen for tens of thousands of miles, yet still hadn't reached the bottom of the Fallen Demon Valley.

"Just how deep is this canyon?"

A sense of unease and doubt inevitably arose in both their hearts.

Fortunately, the concentration of nether ghost qi around them didn't increase as they descended. Otherwise, their range of perception would have been further suppressed, and the danger would have doubled.

"Master," the shadow void suddenly spoke in Song Wen's sea of consciousness, "the bottom of the canyon should be about two hundred zhang below."

Song Wen's expression brightened, but he didn't immediately share this information with Rong Shao.

Within two breaths, they both landed softly on the solid rock below.

"It seems we've finally reached the bottom of the Fallen Demon Valley," Rong Shao said with visible relief.

"That's likely the case," Song Wen replied.

His divine sense swiftly swept across the surroundings, revealing:

The rock beneath their feet was uneven, sloping inward toward the canyon's depths, and scattered with pits and fallen debris.

"If we head west now, we should be able to find the Yin Spring," Rong Shao said, and without waiting, he immediately set off westward.

Song Wen naturally followed close behind.

After traveling for about ten thousand li, a sheer cliff face loomed before them.

The cliff was steep and treacherous, its base completely beyond the reach of their divine sense.

Song Wen's peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a pile of boulders several zhang high not far away.

With a wave of his hand, he used his spiritual power to lift the boulders and hurl them down the cliff.

Then...

A quarter of an hour passed, then another...

They waited for a full half an hour, yet heard no sound of the boulders striking the bottom.

"Fellow Daoist Gu Huang," Rong Shao said, his lips twitching slightly, "it seems we haven't reached the bottom of the canyon after all. We're merely on a platform atop this cliff."

Song Wen's expression was equally grim.

The clues they had about the Yin Spring were too few, only knowing that it was near the third entrance.

But its exact location remained unknown.

The Fallen Demon Valley stretched for countless li, with cliffs that had platforms up to ten thousand li wide.

The platform, the cliff face, the canyon floor... any of these could be the location of the Yin Spring.

With their divine sense severely restricted, even without considering the lurking dangers, thoroughly investigating all these possibilities would be an almost impossible task.

"Finding the Yin Spring won't be easy," Rong Shao said softly.

Song Wen's eyes gleamed as he pondered for a moment before replying, "If we can sense fluctuations in the intensity of Yin Energy, we might be able to locate the Yin Spring. The nether ghost qi should be significantly denser near the Yin Spring."

Rong Shao nodded. "Fellow Daoist Song Wen, your reasoning is sound. However, I lack such methods. Fellow Daoist Gu Huang, what about you?"

Song Wen shook his head slightly.

But in the next instant, he seemed to recall something and sent a small portion of his consciousness into his sea of consciousness.

"Gu Que, how much do you know about the Fallen Demon Valley and the Yin Spring?"

To allow the shadow void to constantly monitor the surroundings, Song Wen had partially lifted the seal on his sea of consciousness. Consequently, Gu Que could observe everything happening in the outside world and was fully aware of the predicament Song Wen and Rong Shao faced.

"When I descended to the Lower Realm, I was already at the Tribulation Crossing Stage. The spiritual objects in the Fallen Demon Valley hold no value for me, so I've never ventured into this place nor paid it any attention. However," Gu Que continued, "I can assist you with what you mentioned earlier, Ji Yin—sensing the fluctuations in Yin Energy."

"Oh?" Song Wen's eyes lit up slightly. "What method is that?"

"I'll teach you a cultivation technique. You'll understand it once you see it."

With that, Gu Que began reciting the Profound Fiend ghost puppet Manual.

The technique was concise, only a few hundred characters long, and described a secret art for refining ghost puppet.

ghost puppet, as defined by the Profound Fiend ghost puppet Manual, possessed no formidable combat power but had an extraordinary sensitivity to nether ghost qi.

To refine these puppets, one didn't need to seek out specific Living Souls; any soul or Fierce Ghost could be used. However, over a dozen rare Ghost Dao spiritual materials were required.

At this point, a smile involuntarily spread across Song Wen's lips.

He had recently emptied the Myriad Sun Sect's treasury, and the sect itself was a Ghost Dao sect. Moreover, he hadn't used a single spiritual object from the treasury yet.

These ghost puppet weren't particularly remarkable. If even a major Ghost Dao sect, guarded by a Body Integration Stage cultivator, couldn't gather these spiritual materials from its treasury, then the Profound Fiend ghost puppet Manual would be utterly impractical.

As Song Wen reviewed the list of spiritual materials mentioned in the technique, he began to search his storage ring meticulously.

Finally, he discovered that one spiritual material was missing: Soul Infant Jade.

Although Song Wen didn't cultivate the Ghost Dao, he had heard of Soul Infant Jade's fame.

This material wasn't rare at all—it was a third-tier spiritual material commonly used in refining both high-tier and low-tier Ghost Dao treasures.

Song Wen was stunned. He had gathered all the rare spiritual materials, yet he was missing something as common as this.

Perhaps Soul Infant Jade, being so ordinary, didn't qualify for inclusion in the Myriad Sun Sect's treasury.

But the fact remained: it was missing.

Without this one spiritual material, even the most common one, he couldn't refine the ghost puppet.

"Could it be... I'll have to leave the valley to buy Soul Infant Jade?"

"But I only have one Purifying Fire Talisman left. If I leave, I'll be..."

"I wonder if the Five Decays Yellow Spring Qi can resist the corrosion of the poisonous mist?"

"Probably not."

"I condensed the Five Decays Yellow Spring Qi too recently, and the quantity is still too small."

Thoughts raced through Song Wen's mind as he looked up at the sky.

But alas, the nether ghost qi was too dense; beyond the pitch-black mist, nothing could be seen.