Four months passed in a flash.

Du Youqian had already been at this Evil Pool for half a year.

His Cultivation had also risen accordingly, reaching Qi Cultivation Perfection.

He had reached the pinnacle of the Qi Cultivation stage, with no further progress possible. All he needed to do now was continue to polish and purify his power until the time was right, then break through to Foundation Establishment in one go.

To go from the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer to Qi Cultivation Perfection with the Lower Grade Spirit Root he had in his previous life would have taken a year and a half, even with the help of the Five-Flower Qi Storage Pill and the Dragon Kui Purple Extreme Pill.

But in this life, he possessed Middle Grade Fire-Wind Dual Spirit Roots. Even though the Spirit Vein he was cultivating with was a bit lacking, his speed was still unexpectedly fast.

In these six months, not only had he raised his Cultivation to Qi Cultivation Perfection, but he had also found the time to refine a suitable Top Grade Magical Artifact, a Defensive Spiritual Artifact, and create a Portable Array.

As for his Flying Sword, the Top Grade Magical Artifact Level Flying Sword left over from his previous life would suffice for now.

’Once I kill Xi Mengran and take her place as an Inner Disciple, I’ll have plenty of resources. I can refine a new Flying Sword of the Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact Level then.’

Although the Five-Flower Qi Storage Pills and Dragon Kui Purple Extreme Pills he had accumulated in his past life were all used up, trading Elixirs for time was clearly a worthwhile bargain.

If he could successfully reach Foundation Establishment in the next six months and hurry back to the Sect, Xi Mengran likely wouldn’t even reach the Foundation Establishment Third Layer, let alone the Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer.

After all, once at the Foundation Establishment Realm, breaking through a single layer often took ten to twenty years of painstaking effort.

And if one encountered a bottleneck between minor realms, such as from the third layer of Foundation Establishment Early Stage to the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, it was normal to be stuck for twenty or thirty years without the help of expensive realm-breaking Elixirs.

Facing a Foundation Establishment Second or Third Layer cultivator while at the Foundation Establishment First Layer only meant a difference in layers, not entire realms. Du Youqian was confident he had a ninety percent chance of success.

After all, he had the skills he had cultivated over several lifetimes. Unless Xi Mengran was a once-in-a-generation genius, how could she possibly contend with him?

And if Xi Mengran truly were such a genius, she would have long since been designated a True Inheritor. Why would she covet his pitiful and weak Spirit Root?

While Du Youqian was regulating his Magical Power and conditioning his body and mind in preparation to break through to Foundation Establishment, Luo Jinyu had taken it upon himself to handle all the miscellaneous tasks. This included tending to the Spirit Field, monitoring the Grand Array, and acting as an assistant whenever Du Youqian was performing Artifact Refining or Talisman Making.

Although it hadn’t been stated outright, he had already decided to pledge his loyalty to "Junior Yu."

Naturally, he had to serve diligently and prove his worth.

Du Youqian didn’t say much, tacitly accepting his service. Otherwise, he would never have revealed his knowledge of Artifact Refining and Talisman Making in front of the man.

However, he still needed to observe Luo Jinyu for a while longer to ascertain his character and loyalty before deciding whether to take him on as a trusted confidant.

Even with Divination as a guide, as his understanding of the Dao of Divination deepened, Du Youqian increasingly understood a certain truth: the information obtained from Divination was not necessarily one hundred percent accurate. It often contained ambiguities and was even open to interpretation.

Even when one’s Divination Art reached an extremely profound Realm, there was still a possibility of misinterpretation.

Therefore, he definitely couldn’t rely on Divination Art as an absolute truth; it could only be used as a supplementary tool.

On this day, the sandstorm was even more severe than usual.

After Du Youqian finished his breathing meditation, he had planned to step outside for some fresh air.

But the moment he walked out, the blasting sand and wind forced him to retreat.

’This has to be a Force 12 gale, right?’

The sky was dark and hazy, as if it were the dead of night.

The sandstorm nearly blotted out the sun and sky. If the gravel swept up by the gales were to strike the flesh and blood of an ordinary person, it would likely punch thousands upon thousands of bloody holes in them.

Even a Cultivator at Qi Cultivation Perfection like Du Youqian couldn’t withstand such an onslaught for long.

Thankfully, there was no one for a hundred miles around; otherwise, the devastation would have been unimaginable.

In his six months here, this was the first time Du Youqian had ever seen such foul weather.

He also finally understood why, upon his arrival, he had only found a few stubborn tufts of grass and almost no other plants or animals.

’It’d be a miracle if any ordinary creature could survive in this environment.’

Du Youqian went to the secret chamber that housed the Array Core, intending to have a word with Luo Jinyu.

He planned to enter seclusion for another month or two before attempting his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment, so some matters needed to be arranged in advance.

As soon as he entered the chamber, he found Luo Jinyu trembling violently, his face pale as a sheet. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

Du Youqian’s first thought was, ’Is Luo Jinyu sick?’

But on closer inspection, he saw that Luo Jinyu was staring intently at the real-time images displayed by the Array Core.

Du Youqian was a little puzzled. Luo Jinyu was a bit timid, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so scared witless upon joining the Holy Blood Sect that he requested to be exiled.

’But surely he wouldn’t be this terrified over just anything? Or rather, having seen so much cruelty and gore in the Holy Blood Sect, his threshold for fear should be higher now.’

Seeing his legs shaking so violently, it looked as though he was about to piss his pants in fear.

Du Youqian leaned in for a look but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary at first.

After staring for a while, he finally spotted a small figure in the image displayed by the Array Core. It was moving through the sandstorm with a strange gait, its four legs stiff as if they had no joints.

’A beast?’

Du Youqian quickly shook his head.

’Impossible.’

If it were a beast, it would have to be at least at the Foundation Establishment Middle to Late Stage to be able to ignore a sandstorm like this.

But beasts at the Foundation Establishment Middle to Late Stage were exceedingly rare!

’There probably aren’t even ten of them in the entire world.’

Du Youqian recalled a word he had seen when he accepted the mission.

"Demon."

’Could this be the Demon?’

"Junior Luo, what is that?"

"Ah?" Luo Jinyu yelped, nearly jumping out of his skin like a startled cat.

Du Youqian frowned. "Junior Luo, why are you so jumpy?"

"Br-Brother... Brother Yu!" Luo Jinyu pointed at the small figure, his voice frantic. "It’s here! It’s here!"

"I see that. So what if it’s here?"

"You don’t understand!" Luo Jinyu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. "Brother Yu, do you recognize that thing?"

Du Youqian shook his head. Luo Jinyu’s near-hysterical state was starting to affect him, and he couldn’t help but feel a little tense. "What is it?"

Luo Jinyu’s pupils shrank to pinpricks as he shivered. "I don’t know what it is either. I’ve only ever heard people call it a Demon Zombie. The Sect forbids anyone from recording or even discussing it. Every time one of these things appears, powerful cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Middle to Late Stage, or even a Core Formation Ancestor, will come to deal with it."

At this, his voice grew unstable and frantic. "Why is this happening? Aren’t they only supposed to show up once every twenty years?! That thing was here just last year, so why is it back again?!"

Du Youqian couldn’t help but frown again.

’It seems I’ve underestimated the danger of this situation...’

Luo Jinyu might not have much courage, but it wasn’t as if just anything could scare the piss out of him.

Clearly, he had witnessed the power of this Demon Zombie last year, which was why he was so terrified now.