Jia Ren activated the Turtle Breath Technique, exuding an aura nearly identical to that of the Mysterious Turtles, causing many to circle around him, seemingly mistaking him for a deformed kin.

He couldn't help but recall how, at the Great Wilderness Market, Luo Yuzhu's black turtle took a particular liking to sticking to people.

After modifying his cultivation technique, the special affinity didn't disappear. It must be the effect of the Xuan Gui Aquatic Gift.

He had no choice but to distance himself a bit before he finally managed to evade the harassment from the Mysterious Turtles.

He stayed hidden for half a month without any trouble coming his way.

Jia Ren stopped his cultivation but didn't remain idle. He dedicated his time to researching the Ancient Talisman Wings.

This time, while confronting the Heart-devouring Illusion Bizarre, his weaknesses were laid bare. He used too few Banishing Evil Talismans each time. Either he had to improve the quality of the Talismans, so a single Talisman could unleash tremendous power, or he had to create an item similar to the Ancient Talisman Wings, where quantity would replace quality. Again, the number of Banishing Evil Talismans he could deploy at one time was just too few.

Once he successfully replicated the Ancient Talisman Wings, his power wouldn't be limited to the wings; he could also create other types of talisman artifacts.

He immersed himself in research for a month and made steady progress.

This was thanks to the experience Jia Ren had gained from studying Ancient Inscriptions and replicating the River Mountain Bag—the replication of ancient Magic Artifacts came even more naturally to him.

The Inscriptions on the Ancient Talisman Wings were not as complex as those of Magical Treasures bearing Ancient Inscriptions. They were only slightly more complex than the River Mountain Bag, so replicating and learning the Inscriptions wasn't difficult.

The biggest challenge was identifying the materials for the Ancient Talisman Wings, discerning the materials used, and finding replacements if the original materials couldn't be found.

Compared to substituting ingredients in elixirs, it was much more difficult with Magic Artifacts.

The naked eye couldn't identify the materials of a Magic Artifact. It's not like he could dismantle the Ancient Talisman Wings, taste them, and guess their composition...

Many ancient materials were extinct, leaving him no choice but to look for substitutes and restore them in a completely new way.

He had replicated the River Mountain Bag using materials he had at hand. After his proficiency reached the Grandmaster Level, its quality surpassed the original.

First, Jia Ren took out several materials, attempting to refine them through the Water Refinement Method.

I almost forgot, this isn't the Water Mansion.

He started the Water Refinement Method with the Six Xuan Yuan Heavy Water, then remembered that he was not far from a Thousand-Year-Old Black Turtle.

Was he tired of living?

No trouble had come knocking on his door, and the Thousand-Year-Old Black Turtle had not even lifted an eyelid, showing no intention of driving him away.

I don't know if it considers Jia Ren harmless or if it sees him as one of its own.

Life is too precious to entrust to someone else.

Still careful, Jia Ren returned to his Water Curtain Cave Abode to replicate the Ancient Talisman Wings.

Before he could get back to his quarters, several blood rainbows cut across the sky and landed on the surface of the river, searching around for something.

Demon Cultivators?! Blood Demon Sect Cultivators!

Having led the Blood Demon Sect for over three years, Jia Ren, with a cultivator's flawlessly retentive memory, had a deep impression of each Demon Cultivator.

The figures streaking across the sky were very familiar, and he could even call them by name.

It wasn't that he particularly cared about the Blood Demon Sect. Rather, these individuals were regulars on the special contribution board, and he had grown familiar with their faces.

They haven't given up searching for someone, have they?

Jia Ren shook his head. In their lifetime, they would never find Elder Ying, who had absconded with the funds.

The formations of the Water Curtain Cave Abode and the Water Mansion were subtly extraordinary, aptly suited to the location. Even Golden Core Cultivators would have to search carefully to discover them.

He didn't believe that the Demon Cultivators could find his Water Curtain Cave Abode and the Water Mansion.

"The Blood Demon Command has a reaction!"

One of the cultivators held a blood-colored token, emanating strange power fluctuations.

It was a High-Grade Magical Artifact similar to a Demon-Spotting Talisman. It was capable of locating Magical Beasts within a hundred zhang that had a strong blood aura.

The Blood Demon Command was not particularly powerful. It mainly relied on the intensity of blood aura to sense Magical Beasts and was easily affected by disturbances, making it less practical than the Demon-Spotting Talisman.

Any good treasures within the Blood Demon Sect would not have remained to this day.

The Essence-Sealing Spirit-Locking Array was more than enough to block this artifact, and there was no worry of the Spirit Fish hidden within the abode being detected.

The Mountain and River Pearl was a Top-grade Magical Instrument specially crafted by Jia Ren. It was also inscribed with Inscriptions that blocked aura detection, so the Blood Demon Command couldn't probe it.

This Magical Artifact is quite useless, with a limited detection range, hardly worth mentioning.

"There are Magical Beasts nearby, and not just a few!"

"There are even a few hundred-year-old Spiritual Medicines..."

"Shut your mouth, don't mention Spiritual Medicines!"

At the mention of Spiritual Medicines, the Demon Cultivator beside him immediately turned red with anger.

For years they toiled, collecting Spiritual Medicines from everywhere, even buying hundred-year-old Spiritual Medicines from their own pockets, all for the chance to acquire a Foundation Establishment Pill.

They paid a high price, engaged in fierce internal competition, all for the chance to snatch first place.

The fourth Foundation Establishment Pill was his to take by right!

But then… the Elder ran off. The anticipated Foundation Establishment Pill vanished into thin air along with him.

Reflecting on the past three years, rage flared from within, fury rising from the gall.

Were these even Demon Cultivators anymore?! Demon Cultivators were supposed to be wanton and unbridled, engaging in pillaging, killing, Soul Drawing and Soul Refining... Since when did they become medicine-picking slaves?

"If I ever come across that damned Elder Ying... I will report him to the Blood Demon Sect."

Elder Ying is at the Foundation Establishment Stage. A Qi Refinement Demon Cultivator standing against someone at Foundation Establishment is akin to handing over his head.

The two controlled their Blood Fork Magic Artifacts, targeting the location where the Magical Beast's aura was the strongest and firing away.

The Blood Fork Magic Artifact shot out, deflecting as if it had hit an incredibly solid boulder.

The river trembled as a three Zhang large Mysterious Turtle emerged from the waters.

Its pitch-black shell showed no trace of damage; the attack could not harm it in the slightest.

"Damn, a Second-Order Monster!"

Their faces turned pale as they hastily maneuvered their blood-disk-shaped Flying Artifact away into the distance.

The Mysterious Turtle opened its mouth, and a water arrow shot out like lightning towards the Demon Cultivators.

The nearest Demon Cultivator revealed a Fish Scale Inner Armor, hoping to block the attack.

BOOM!

The Fish Scale Inner Armor buckled but didn't completely break. The Demon Cultivator, carried by the impact, fell into the surging river.

Before he could resurface, dozens of sizable Mysterious Turtles swiftly moved in, and spots of red blood appeared on the water's surface, quickly diluted by the current.

The Superior Grade defensive Fish Scale Inner Armor could not save his life, and he died a tragic death in the mouths of the Mysterious Turtles.

They had arrived swiftly, but they died even quicker.

Jia Ren returned to the Water Curtain Cave Abode to study the Talisman Wings and refine Magic Artifacts with Innate True Fire.

The efficiency of Forge is far higher than that of the Water Refinement Method.

The speed of refinement with Six Xuan Yuan Heavy Water still falls short of that of Innate True Fire Refinement.

To match the speed of refinement, at least Seven Xuan Yuan Heavy Water would be necessary.

Dozens of materials were refined into a basic form and inscribed with the acquired Talisman Wings Inscription for experimentation.

The effectiveness of the refined Magic Artifacts was tested to confirm whether the Inscriptions could function properly.

Failure!

Still a failure!

After numerous failures, it was not until the thirty-second experiment that a flawed item was finally produced.

Next was to use it as a basis for optimization and improvement.

Material after material was rapidly consumed, turning into useless scrap.

Replicating an ancient Magic Artifact in its entirety is no easy feat.

Many materials are missing, making it hard to find perfect substitutes.

Without sufficient wealth and high-level Artifact Refining experience, success might elude one for a lifetime. One wouldn't know how many failures it would take to get there.

But for Jia Ren, as long as he could replicate a rudimentary form, the rest would be much simpler.

With records on the Proficiency Panel, continuously improving the Proficiency Level would lead to rapid optimization.

What others might struggle to accomplish in decades, he could reduce to a matter of months. Given time, exceeding the creator was not out of the question.

Jia Ren devoted himself to Artifact Refining for three days, with astonishing progress.

BOOM!

A huge explosion shook the outside of the Water Curtain Cave Abode, the noise seeming to come from upstream.

"Xuan Guang Water Mirror!"

A Master-Level Xuan Guang Water Mirror rapidly took shape in front of him, reflecting the surrounding scenery upon its surface.

This secret technique allowed for gathering intelligence through water and could reflect enemy spell attacks, making it extremely practical.

Jia Ren valued the ability to collect intelligence most. Compared to the Parasitic Spirit Mark of the Insect Control Technique, the Xuan Guang Water Mirror was more secretive and had a wider detection range.

Within the water domain, the pervasive range of a Master-Level Xuan Guang Water Mirror could reach hundreds of li, with room for further enhancement.

His gaze searched and detected the source of the disturbance—it was his neighbor, the area where the Thousand-Year-Old Black Turtle resided.

Could it be that the thousand-year-old turtle, usually so secure in its watery domain, faced trouble at its doorstep?!

The incoming party was precisely the Blood Demon Sect Cultivator who had escaped three days ago, accompanied by two Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators.

One had an unfamiliar face and was not recognizable.

The other was quite familiar, the third one to have received a Foundation Establishment Pill.

This was the only Demon Cultivator who advanced to Foundation Establishment after Jia Ren took control of the Blood Demon Sect.

After being ostracized by Yang Shengwu, he had gone to another branch of the Blood Demon Sect. Unexpectedly, he had now returned.

The two Foundation Building Demon Cultivators each controlled a Bloody Demon Blade and a Blood Jade Ruyi. These transformed into a blood-red saber light and a jade Ruyi ten zhang in size, smashing into the river at the spot where the demonic aura was sensed.

BOOM!

The river water trembled as a Mysterious Turtle spanning three zhang emerged.

A Four Zhang Xuan Gui surfaced!

A Five Zhang Xuan Gui displayed its enormous demonic body!

"Second-Order Monster!"

In a short time, no fewer than seven Second-Order Monsters appeared, along with over a hundred First-Order Mysterious Turtles. The numbers were astounding, as if a nest of turtles had been stirred up.

The faces of the two Foundation Building Demon Cultivators turned pale, no longer maintaining the composed demeanor they had shown upon their first encounter.

"Wasn't it just a low-grade Second-Order Mysterious Turtle?"

The Demon Cultivators turned their malicious gazes towards the Demon Cultivator who had narrowly escaped death.

Without any hesitation, they decisively piloted their Flying Artifacts to make a swift exit.

Deeper within the riverbed, an even more formidable presence stirred to life.

The aura of a Third-Order Great Demon erupted. This caused the river water to rise and transform into a hundred water columns, each about a zhang in size, hurtling towards the two men.

"A Third-Order Great Demon?!"

"Found it! We've finally found the Third-Order Great Demon!"

The two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, upon sensing the aura of the Third-Order Monster Beast, were simultaneously shocked and overjoyed.

The shock was due to facing a Third-Order Monster Beast, from which escape was unlikely. The joy was... they could finally complete their mission.

Half a month ago, a mysterious Golden Core Cultivator had tasked them with finding a cultivator and a Third-Order Great Demon.

All cultivators of the Blood Demon Sect had been subjected to a control spell over their life and death.

If they failed to complete their mission, they would die…

Searching for a hidden cultivator was too difficult. Compared to that, a Third-Order Great Demon was easier to find. Such a level of Great Demon was few and far between even in the Barren Extreme Land.

The appearance of the Third-Order Great Demon proved that they had found the right target.

"Split up and run!"

Three figures transformed into streaks of blood-light, fleeing in three different directions.

The Third-Order Great Demon could at most capture one or two of them; hopefully, the unlucky one wouldn't be me.

BOOM!

An invisible force suppressed them, their movements slow as snails, laborious and difficult.

Law Domain! An ability exclusive to Golden Core Cultivators!

Once the Law Domain was deployed, their chances of escape were gone.

The hundred water columns, unaffected, directly blasted the Blood Demon Sect cultivators into a spray of flesh.

The Demon Cultivators plummeted like dumplings from the sky into the rolling river.

The two Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators and one Qi Refinement Demon Cultivator all failed to escape and were buried there.

Jia Ren saw everything clearly through the Xuan Guang Water Mirror.

"As neighbors, it's only right for me to help you clean up the battlefield," he said. The Thousand-Year-Old Black Turtle is fighting at the front; I'll just follow behind and reap some benefits.

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