The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron
chapter-76

The words uttered by the Nine Deadly Poison Devil had given Su Yu some understanding of his own Holy Decree. When he joined hands with Xia Jingyu, it could bring out the power of a saint grade Holy Decree. So, if he were to make his move alone, the Holy Decree should only be half the saint grade level.

While his old Holy Decree was undergoing a transformation, his new Holy Decree had not yet formed. So there was only half the Holy Level. Su Yu wasn't sure if he was entirely correct with his newfound understanding, but he was going to have to give his theory a shot! In Su Yu's mind, there already was a concept of a Holy Decree. Now, in his strong hands, he had formed a newly-improved Holy Decree!

Su Yu's every movement looked fluid and natural. Every part of him, inside and out, was simple and natural; nothing about him was artificially deliberate or man-made. In Su Yu's mind, there was a harmonization of all his learning and comprehension of the Holy Decree's essence.

I am nature, nature is me! Nature and all your power—listen to my command!

Swish—

As he flew towards the wall of ice, Su Yu's body was like a flashing light and a fleeting shadow; he was as weightless as a feather, drifting in the void. Deep comprehension glimmered in his eyes.

"Ice! And! Thunder! Feast!" Su Yu growled. The natural realm enveloped him from all directions with him as the center!

It was as if Su Yu became the supreme ruler of the natural realm! As Su Yu growled, a vision was born.

Aha—

Sizzle—

From Su Yu's index finger came a surge of pure sparkling white ice and violet rays of burning thunder-flames. Both fused together into one stream! The fusion of ice and thunder was a convergence of natural powers! A feast of ice and thunder! Ice and Thunder Feast!

Following Su Yu's pointed command, the ice and thunder flames fused together into an alternating purple and white light beam which shot across the sky into the Nine Deadly Poison Devil's chest.

Ah—

The Nine Deadly Poison Devil's face rapidly changed. He hastily resisted the attack, but this attack in the gesture of a finger resembled nature itself. It contained the power of nature and could not be resisted!

Pop—

His chest had a huge gaping blood hole made by the ice and thunder flames! The boundless power of nature struck him and sent him flying backward several dozens of feet away, and he heavily slammed against a big tree.

As he opened his mouth to violently spurt a mouthful of blood, the seriously injured Nine Deadly Poison Devil looked terrified. "Half a divine grade Holy Decree! No, it's a saint grade Holy Decree; it's definitely not as powerful as even half a divine grade Holy Decree!"

Swish—

A transparent silk thread lassoed his neck. The Nine Deadly Poison Devil, with his seriously injured body, found it difficult to fight back.

"Move and you'll die!" Su Yu had the black jade ring in his hand. He gently pulled, tightening the entwined dragon silk wound around the Nine Deadly Poison Devil's neck. A trickle of fresh blood flowed down from the Nine Deadly Poison Devil's neck. The Nine Deadly Poison Devil's face turned to horror as he stopped struggling, not daring to move.

Su Yu inwardly nodded. The entwined dragon silk material was astonishing; the Nine Deadly Poison Devil's blood, extremely poisonous and virulent, was helpless against the entwined dragon silk. The Nine Deadly Poison Devil waited for Su Yu to make his move. Suddenly, Su Yu had a sharp pain in his heart.

Pop—

Su Yu's knees weakened and he fell to the ground, clutching his chest in extreme pain. Visible to the naked eye, a trace of black poison was flowing throughout Su Yu's internal blood energy channel, heading toward his heart! Su Yu had unavoidably inhaled too much poisonous mist in the fight. The poisonous mist in the air had dissipated, but Su Yu was already deeply poisoned.

Xia Jingyu's pretty face was devastated. She smashed the ice wall and gracefully dashed over. Her beautiful eyes blinked once as Xia Jingyu pressed her jade-like hands onto Su Yu's chest.

"Reverie of Dewdrops!"

Crash—

The blood in Su Yu's body seeped from his pores and surrounded Xia Jingyu's jade-like hands. The blood was black and poisonous! Xia Jingyu used Reverie of Dewdrops, and the poisonous mist within his blood was absorbed by the water vapor in the air, which transformed into the venom and dripped to the ground.

After his blood was clarified, it once again permeated Su Yu's body through his pores and returned to his veins.

The Nine Deadly Poison Devil was surprised. "Water-based Deity Level cultivation technique, with a secret healing technique?"

Xia Jingyu labored unceasingly. She was soaked in sweat as she carried on her technique, and she was getting weaker and turning pale. Her eyes blacking out, Xia Jingyu almost fainted a few times. But, she did not stop until the end. Because, once she stopped, the poisonous blood would attack Su Yu's heart and even the gods would find it hard to save him.

Just as Xia Jingyu reached her breaking point, Su Yu's blood vessels were fully cleansed. But, Su Yu did not wake up—instead, within his chest ice was gradually taking over and freezing his body. His life force, as his body increasingly froze, gradually weakened.

"What's going on?" Xia Jingyu's beautiful eyes looked flustered. She glared at the Nine Deadly Poison Devil hatefully, "What poison did you give him?"

The entwined dragon silk around the Nine Deadly Poison Devil's neck was tightly fettered; if Xia Jingyu caught hold of the finger with the black jade ring and gave it a pull, his head would land on the ground, far from his body.

"Nothing to do with this devil's poison!" The Nine Deadly Poison Devil solemnly shook his head, "It must have something to do with his cultivation of the Deity Level cultivation technique!

"Just now he succeeded in his comprehension of the saint grade Holy Decree, prompting the Deity Level cultivation technique to show signs of a breakthrough. But, Deity Level cultivation techniques have always been dangerous. During the breakthrough stage, one needs to have one's elders to watch over—as one's life is in great danger during this time. He must be at this stage."

Xia Jingyu's beautiful face paled. Deity Level cultivation technique breakthrough?

"How do I save him? Quickly, say it!" Xia Jingyu's tone was urgent and slightly sharp, as she was flustered. She dared not imagine it but... What if Su Yu were to perish, would she find peace in her heart again?

The Nine Deadly Poison Devil's cultivation experience was rich and plentiful—far more than a junior with insubstantial cultivation like Xia Jingyu. After staring intently for a while, he considered the situation for a moment. "The only way to save him is to prevent his body from becoming cold."

Xia Jingyu felt as if she'd caught a lifeline. She left the dense forest in a flurry to look for firewood. In a blink, she was muddy from head to toe, cutting a sorry figure, as her garments were torn with visible bloodstains. But Xia Jingyu was unaware of her physical state; her eyes were misty and her whole heart was focused on Su Yu's life and death.

With a bonfire burning, the frost on Su Yu's body surface gradually melted as his body temperature gradually returned to normal.

"Cold..." A subconscious murmur came from Su Yu's chilled lips.

The ice on the front of his body, which faced the fire, had already melted. But, there was still a dead corner of skin on his back where the ice still existed. Xia Jingyu lightly bit her red lips, bent down, and took Su Yu into her embrace as she hugged his cold back to her chest.

"Hiss—" Xia Jinghu gasped; the bone-chilling cold was like ice that pierced her body. She tightly clenched her white teeth and silently endured the cold, the weak corners of her mouth still showing satisfaction and gratification. "Your embrace has warmed me many times… This time, let me warm you..."

The following morning, the faint morning light penetrated the dense forest. Su Yu's whole body was comfortably warm as if he was wrapped in a winter quilt. From his neck down he was even warmer and sweet-smelling; an indescribable sense of coziness covered him. He unconsciously rubbed the soft weight on his chest and buried his face into the warmth, deeply inhaling its intoxicating fragrance.

Suddenly, his ears heard a shy voice. Then, the warmth that his head leaned against gently shivered. Su Yu opened his eyes and saw a pleasing sight of a beautiful and exquisite face, eyes still tightly closed and long eyelashes gently fluttering in the breeze. She was as quiet as a beautiful immortal in her deep sleep, her beauty moving him. He had stayed in her arms for an entire night. Her chest still had the remnants of the ice.

Boom—

Su Yu quickly jumped up; there was a roaring in his head as he focused his gaze and closely examined Xia Jingyu; her entire body was ice-cold and her complexion was slightly pale, she was suffering from signs of hypothermia.

He vaguely recalled what had happened the day before, and he instantly understood why she was so cold. Without thinking, Su Yu immediately imbued Xia Jingyu with vital energy to help her dispel the chill inside her body.

"I'm sorry." After a long while, Xia Jingyu slowly opened her eyes. Su Yu was remorseful, as well as thankful in his heart.

"I'm okay," Xia Jingyu gave a placid smile, dazzlingly beautiful like a summer lotus.

Su Yu was filled gratitude and respect; Xia Jingyu had saved his life again. How would Su Yu ever repay her?

Su Yu's gaze fell upon the Nine Deadly Poison Devil, and his eyes abruptly turned cold! He stepped forward to immediately use the soul control technique on the already overpowered Nine Deadly Poison Devil.

Unfortunately, the spirit elixir inside the jade bottle on the back of the Nine Deadly Poison Devil had already been ingested! Su Yu darkly cursed at his bad luck; there was nothing to be gained from such a dangerously strong individual. The only gain was probably the advancement of his body's ability.

His brand new Holy Decree was no longer the Heavenly Finger from the old man in the mural. Rather, it was entirely unique to Su Yu—it was the innovative Ice and Thunder Feast! Even more delightful was that the refinement of his Holy Decree had caused the two types of Deity Level cultivation techniques to breakthrough dramatically!

The first was Icy Heart Core; he actually had a breakthrough in one shot and had reached the Upper Realm! Although it almost cost Su Yu his life, there was no doubt that the gain was immense.

Although Purple Star Thunderbolt had no breakthrough up to the Upper Realm, he had reached the high point of the Lower Realm. The thunder flames were more violent and its formidable power had sharply increased!

In a sense, Purple Star Thunderbolt was more difficult to comprehend when compared to Icy Heart Core; it was rare and precious to have such a breakthrough.

Of course, another gain was gaining control over the Nine Deadly Poison Devil, the terrifying master of poisons, as a puppet! This invisible way of killing was far beyond any ordinary Level Seven Peak technique; it was extremely horrible, but also useful. Though he was badly wounded and his combat power had been halved, there had been no damage to his extensive poison ability.

The only pity was that Su Yu would be unable to get the saint grade spirit elixir. But on second thought, Su Yu felt once again at ease; they had just entered the inner periphery, there were still plenty of opportunities.

Next, he and Xia Jingyu wanted to breakthrough to Level Seven, so they each needed at least three pieces of saint grade spirit elixirs; a total of six pieces. It would be extremely difficult to track all six pieces down. The Nine Deadly Poison Devil only had one on his body—or had, at one point.

As he stroked his chin, Su Yu pondered for a moment. He used the soul seeking technique on the Nine Deadly Poison Devil. The slayer had stayed in the inner periphery of the Evil Forest for years and knew of other slayers' locations. However, while Su Yu was soul seeking, he unexpectedly discovered another piece of information.

"The Falcon Conclave?" Su Yu was surprised.

Previously, when the Sanctuary disciples had launched a large scale killing expedition in the Evil Forest, the inner periphery slayers had been scared. A group of them created the Falcon conclave in response. Its purpose was to retaliate and kill the invading Sanctuary disciples, so they could seize their jade hammers and retrieve their own spirit elixirs, sealed on their backs.

The Nine Deadly Poison Devil had been invited, but he did not participate. Rather, he had operated on his own. The Falcon Conclave had originally only invited six people, all Level Seven Peak slayers. But because the Nine Deadly Poison Devil had refused, there were five people in total. Five opportunities for Su Yu and Xia Jingyu to get spirit elixirs, all grouped together.

With the Nine Deadly Poison Devil's poison techniques and Su Yu's greatly increased ability, they could at least take two slayers! Best of all, the Falcon Conclave would gather tonight, and the location was in a valley close by.

His eyes brightened as Su Yu discussed his plan with Xia Jingyu. Xia Jingyu's beautiful face still retained some of her blush and she had already tidied her clothing, which was disheveled in the front.

Upon hearing about the Falcon Conclave, Xia Jingyu's smile faded. Her eyes filled with worry, "It will hard for us to deal with no less than five Level Seven Peaks."

With the trio of their abilities, dealing with three Level Seven Peaks simultaneously was their limit. Since there were five in total, their victory was nearly impossible to predict. They would be taking an extremely dangerous risk.

Only, in their perilous quest for riches, they had gotten their breakthroughs from Level Five Upper Tier to Level Six Peak in just a few days—all thanks to the risks they'd taken.

The greater the risk, the greater the gains!

If he could not earn the right to become a Holy Disciple in the Storm Competition, he may as well die; Su Yu had no choice but to take every risk he could. Lightly tapping his chin, Su Yu discussed his plan with Xia Jingyu.

In the dark of the night, the three of them moved stealthily and arrived at a spot in the small valley. The valley only had one exit, a clear bottleneck for any invaders—it made the valley easy to defend and difficult to attack. The five slayers had gathered there, aware of the risks they too had taken by gathering.