“A junior like me shouldn't receive rewards without merit. I wonder what the senior needs me to do.”
Zhang Ling wasn't foolish enough to think he could curry favor with a transformed great demon just because he knew Tu Fei and Huang Ying. However, he did need a Yao Stone to refine a magic weapon, which was why he said those words.
“Hehe, giving you a piece of this order is no problem. You only need to obtain something for this king during the Spirit Offering Palace competition.”
Spirit Offering Palace again? Zhang Ling frowned and began to ponder.
He had just heard Huang Ying say that the Spirit Palace was a place for half-demons and demon beasts to compete, a bloody place with life-threatening dangers.
While he was thinking, he saw Huang Ying glance at the blue-robed man and softly say, “Fellow Daoist Zhang, don't worry. I will participate in the Spirit Offering Palace competition with you.”
“You're going too? Alright, you don't need to hold any grudges. Obtaining the Blood Wood Heart will definitely benefit Xi'er and might solve the hidden dangers in that girl's body.” The blue-robed man couldn't help but glance at Huang Ying, seemingly surprised by her words, but then nodded.
“So, what does this little friend think?”
“Since the senior has instructed, I will naturally do my best.” Zhang Ling thought for a moment and finally nodded in agreement.
“Fellow Daoist Zhang, rest assured. Whether you obtain the Blood Wood Heart or not, you will not lack the Yao Stone you need. You can go and get the Yao Stone first before participating in the competition.”
“Thank you, senior.”
“I also thank the Demon King for troubling himself with Xi'er's matter.”
“No need to mention it. This king will not let anything happen to Xi'er. That girl has some blood relation to this king. Alright, you should prepare yourselves. The Spirit Offering Palace competition is not simple.”
The blue-robed man waved his hand, and the Emerald Spirit Bamboo was put away. At the same time, a green light rose from his body, and his figure became blurry.
At this moment, Huang Ying seemed to remember something and suddenly transmitted a message to the blurring blue-robed man.
The blue-robed man snorted and said, “Hmph, I know. If Red Fire King dares to plot against the girl, this king will definitely devour him.”
The blue-robed man then disappeared, and only the small black-furred fox reappeared on the chair.
At this time, the fox looked listless, and its aura was somewhat chaotic, as if it had just fought a great battle with another demon beast.
Woof woof
The black-furred fox barked at Huang Ying.
Huang Ying came to the fox, squatted down, and stroked the demon beast's head before putting it into a spirit beast bag at her waist.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Ling immediately realized that the blue-robed man who had appeared earlier was not the main body, but a doppelganger that had manifested by parasitizing the black-furred fox.
At the same time, he recalled a strange secret technique called "Spirit Attachment Technique." This technique could achieve this.
This was a very profound secret technique, and it was difficult for ordinary people with insufficient cultivation to succeed. Only some Nascent Soul cultivators who were proficient in Demonic Dao techniques could perform it.
The Spirit Attachment Technique could separate a portion of one's divine sense and mana and graft it into another cultivator's body, greatly increasing that cultivator's cultivation. However, the body of the cultivator being used would be controlled by the Nascent Soul cultivator for a short period.
The conditions for performing this secret technique were also very harsh. If there was a blood relationship between the person being used and the person performing it, and they practiced the same cultivation technique, the effect would be best.
This secret technique looked very similar to body snatching, but the difference was that after the grafted power left, the person being used would regain their senses, but would fall into a state of exhaustion for a period of time, and their soul would also be greatly affected.
The reason this secret technique was a Demonic Dao secret technique was that, in addition to these conditions, it could also be used to cast forbidden curses to control other cultivators.
Seeing the fox's listless appearance, although Zhang Ling was not yet certain, he was already sure that the blue-robed man had used this type of secret technique to temporarily control the fox demon beast's body and create a doppelganger.
For a moment, the room was quiet. Neither of them spoke. After a moment of silence, Huang Ying glanced at the place where the blue-robed man had been sitting. The cyan fox jade pendant was left there.
Huang Ying waved her hand, and the object came into her possession.
“Since Fellow Daoist has agreed to the Azure Fox King, let's go. I will take you to the Demon King's Palace to get the treasure you need.”
Zhang Ling nodded and followed Huang Ying out of the house and out of the stone building.
……
The two walked along the street towards the east city, and Huang Ying explained along the way.
First, she explained that the thing they had to obtain in the Spirit Offering Palace competition was a Blood Wood Heart. What was this thing? It sounded like some kind of spiritual wood, but Zhang Ling had never heard of it.
Huang Ying didn't know much about it either. She only knew that it was a spiritual object refined using blood sacrifice and a secret treasure within the Spirit Offering Palace.
After taking it, it could greatly increase the physical strength of cultivators. It was said that only one piece could be refined every hundred years. The competitions between half-demons and demon beasts were mostly for this spiritual object.
Then, Huang Ying also said that this item was originally intended for her and Tu Fei to compete for together, but unfortunately, Tu Fei was currently in closed-door cultivation to break through to the mid-stage realm and had not yet emerged.
As for Tu Fei's identity, she also briefly explained it to him.
This Fellow Daoist Tu, who was proficient in sword control techniques, also had no small background. His master was a Nascent Soul cultivator named True Person Tianxin.
True Person Tianxin and the Azure Fox King had a close relationship and were close friends. However, this expert had disappeared for no reason decades ago, and Tu Fei had been entrusted to the Azure Fox King and became a disciple that the Azure Fox King publicly claimed.
Originally, the Azure Fox King had given up on this Blood Wood Heart, but seeing that Zhang Ling had this intention again, and seemed to recognize his strength, he used treasures to get him to take action.
At this point, Zhang Ling also understood the whole story and felt a great relief in his heart.
Afterwards, Huang Ying also solemnly thanked him, which made Zhang Ling quite confused.
Huang Ying explained with a somewhat sad expression that the Blood Wood Heart was not actually for the Azure Fox King himself. Although this spiritual object was very special, it had little effect on transformed demon beasts of the Demon King level.
The Blood Wood Heart was for the girl named Xi'er.
Hearing this, Zhang Ling also thought of the girl he had seen before, the green-haired girl that Huang Ying had rescued from Elder Chen at that time.
The girl had a blood relationship with the Azure Fox King and was a half-demon body, but she was born with defects, so the Azure Fox King was looking for ways to make up for it.
And this woman also had a blood relationship with the girl. The girl was the orphan of her own sister. Huang Ying herself also came from a medium-sized immortal cultivation family.
Unexpectedly, there was this reason behind it. After Zhang Ling roughly understood, he sighed in his heart.
However, these things had nothing to do with him. He only needed to participate in the competition in the Spirit Offering Palace with peace of mind and exchange the Blood Wood Heart for the Yao Stone.
The two talked as they walked towards the Demon King's Hall.
