Leaving Purple Mountain

Otherwise, if the liver divine treasury grew too powerful while the other divine treasuries remained weak, it might trigger a clash among the five elements within his body. Just as wood subdued earth, it would suppress the spleen divine treasury.

In that case, I probably can't keep cultivating here! Jiang Zhu pondered.

He now possessed two supremely powerful bloodlines, those of the True Dragon and the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass. The Nine-Leaf Sword Grass belonged to wood, and the True Dragon to water. He also had the fire-aligned Divine Phoenix Immortal Medicine and the metal-aligned White Tiger Immortal Medicine.

Of the five elements, only earth was not strong enough at present. He had neither an Immortal Medicine nor a true spirit bloodline of that element.

Then I'll still have to find the Qilin bloodline, or an Immortal Medicine containing the earth element! But the Qilin Divine Medicine has already entered nirvana, leaving only a seed. Can it still be of use?

Jiang Zhu's thoughts raced. Whether it was useful or not, he would have to examine it first. Otherwise, his only option would be to search for Qilin in the Primordial Ancient Mine.

There were no True Dragons or Qilin in the world now. But True Dragons represented purity of bloodline and the ultimate direction of evolution, so creatures containing dragon blood were easy to find. Creatures containing Qilin blood, however, were truly difficult to track down!

On Big Dipper today, there might only be that one brood of mixed-blood Qilin in the Primordial Ancient Mine!

Perhaps it was not just Big Dipper. That family might be the only one left in the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. Among the Kunlun Remnant Clan on the dozens of ancient stars along the Hangu Pass Starry Sky Ancient Road that Jiang Zhu and the Crocodile Ancestor had traveled, none had possessed the Qilin bloodline.

What sort of place was the Primordial Ancient Mine? Even Milk Baby had mined there. In the days of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, it had produced abundant primordial life stones. After heaven's will slashed down its blade, those life stones had become scarce.

Yet it still drew many Supremes there. The Supremes sleeping there now could not even be counted on one hand. Besides, if he wanted Qilin blood, wouldn't the Qilin Ancient Emperor slap him dead with a single blow?

Time to leave!

Jiang Zhu rose, dispersed the earth-vein dragon qi restraining the Black Emperor with a wave of his hand, and took out the emperor jade, ready to leave.

The Black Emperor had been bound for over a month and was seething with pent-up anger. "Brat, you're the first person who has ever dared to tie this emperor up. Just you wait! This isn't over unless you hand over an Immortal Medicine!"

Seeing Jiang Zhu ignore him and prepare to leave, the Black Emperor darted in front of him. "Hey, hey, everything can be negotiated! Forget the Immortal Medicine. Surely a medicine king will do?"

Jiang Zhu waved his hand lightly and pushed the Black Emperor aside. The dog's blood held little appeal for him right now, and he could find another way to obtain it later. His immediate priority was resolving the impending imbalance in his Dao Palace.

"Don't go! Don't you still want this emperor's blood? Just give me a Medicine King Fruit, and I'll give you blood," the Big Black Dog called from behind him.

"I'm not interested anymore!" Without looking back, Jiang Zhu headed toward the Stone Book. The Black Emperor was tempted now, but he was still opening his lion's maw to demand an outrageous price.

Besides, what were medicine kings and treasure medicines? They were kin to his Nine-Leaf Sword Grass. He would have to demand more blood!

Seeing this major deal about to fall through, the Black Emperor steeled himself and sent a glob of black dog blood flying out. "A treasure medicine! A treasure medicine will do!"

Jiang Zhu knew when to take the win and did not squeeze him too hard. Although this black dog was so wicked he practically smoked, slyly fleeced those he knew, and was greedy and arrogant...

He might, after all, be the dog who had once saved Milk Baby, and he was also Great Emperor Wushi's pet. It was best not to push him too far.

Jiang Zhu took out a treasure medicine and refined the black dog blood. A new true spirit totem really did appear on the wall of the Demon-Refining Pot.

The new true spirit totem had a head resembling a wolf's, but a pair of enormous, ancient-looking gray horns like those of a bull grew from it. A vertical eye sat between its brows, ferocious beyond measure.

Its body was covered in black scales, hard and cold, gleaming like black gold. Long hairs sprouted from the gaps between the scales, blood-red and half a foot long.

Nine tails grew from its back. At the end of each tail was a relatively small beast's head, resembling a dragon's, hideous and frightening. More than half its magical power was concentrated in those nine tails.

It was none other than the Nine Nether Ao, one of the ancient Ten Fiends!

Jiang Zhu and the Black Emperor: I've made a killing on this deal!

Man and dog were both delighted. This transaction was a win for both sides.

The Black Emperor tucked the treasure medicine into the golden bell beneath his neck, lifted his enormous head, and opened his blood-basin maw in a grin.

"Brat, you're ruthless. This is the first time in my life that this emperor has ever yielded to anyone. You seem decent enough. I can take you to an Immortal Pool for just one drop of Immortal Medicine liquid!"

The Big Black Dog's eyes kept darting about. He was plotting another scam.

"Not interested!" This time, Jiang Zhu did not even look back as he placed the emperor jade into the recess beside the Stone Book.

A single piece of emperor jade naturally could not open the Wushi Scripture, but it could activate the teleportation formation and send someone out.

Jiang Zhu was teleported into the dragon vein through which he had entered Purple Mountain, with a Big Black Dog following behind him.

"Let this emperor tell you, that Immortal Pool is a supreme Immortal Soil! It has countless divine springs and treasure medicines everywhere. Immortal qi curls through it, clouds billow and rosy mists blaze. Nowhere else can compare to it. It's simply beyond imagination!"

"Countless fairy maidens live there, too. They're all gifted and breathtakingly beautiful, with skin of ice and bones of jade. Their looks could topple cities and kingdoms, and their bearing transcends the dust of the mortal world..."

The Big Black Dog chattered nonstop along the way, describing the scenery and people of the old Jade Pool grounds, hoping to swindle a medicine king out of him.

It was as though a fly were buzzing incessantly beside Jiang Zhu's ear. With a thought, he sent dragon qi surging down and sealed the black dog's annoying mouth.

How could he not know what lay in the old Jade Pool grounds?

There was indeed an Immortal Pool there. The spiritual energy was so dense it was almost liquefied, and the essence of heaven and earth would enter a cultivator's body on its own. But that place had once been the very heart of the great accomplishment sacred body's corpse transformation.

It had been so horrifying that Jade Pool had abandoned the place. Now, not a soul remained there.

As for fairy maidens, there were indeed plenty, but they had all sunk into the divine springs, becoming countless corpses of young women.

Was he trying to introduce him to an Immortal Pool? He was trying to fleece a wealthy bumpkin!

Jiang Zhu retraced his steps and returned to the surface.

As soon as the Big Black Dog saw the land of the Northern Region, he began making muffled noises and writhing incessantly. Seeing this, Jiang Zhu had no choice but to remove the seal.

"Awooo-woof, woof, woof..."

The Black Emperor immediately let loose a chorus of ghostly wails and wolfish howls. "This emperor is finally out! This emperor is going to take human pets..."

Thump!

Before the Black Emperor could finish proclaiming his grand ambitions, Jiang Zhu interrupted him with a slap to the top of his head.

"It's the middle of the night. What are you making such a racket for? Even if you aren't sleeping, other people are!"

The Black Emperor looked around in utter bewilderment. They were in the wild mountains. Who the hell was sleeping here?

He was just about to say something when Jiang Zhu shot into the sky and flew into the distance.

"Where are you going? This emperor can't fly! Woof, woof..."

Those barks sounded filthy enough to be curses. Jiang Zhu ignored him and went on his way.

In any case, the Big Black Dog had copper skin and iron bones, carried plenty of treasures, and knew the Wushi Emperor Formation. Black-hearted and thick-skinned, he was always the one bullying others. He could live comfortably anywhere, so Jiang Zhu had no need to worry about him.

Jiang Zhu flew all the way to the Azure Cloud Sect's headquarters. Once the surviving disciples at its various outposts learned that their sect's stronghold had fallen and the fate of its disciples was unknown, they changed their identities. Some joined other factions, while others concealed their names and disappeared.

A band of brigands had now moved into the place. After inspecting their souls, Jiang Zhu discovered that they raped, plundered, and killed by nature, so he disposed of them in passing.

Then he entered a cave abode and took out a pile of stone gall. Most were ordinary, but two pieces, one golden and one purple, were quite extraordinary.