Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

Simultaneously, Zhang Chi caused the Demon Pill he controlled to dissipate into nothingness. In response, the other bear’s Demon Pill dimmed, and shocking cracks appeared on its surface. The Demon Bear’s Divine Soul within it was severely wounded.

The Demon Bear itself coughed up blood from its grievous injuries and crashed heavily to the ground.

Fortunately, it was inside the Array at the time, while the opposing Demon Pill was outside.

At the critical moment, the Array had unexpectedly protected it. Otherwise, it would have suffered far more than just coughing up blood and being heavily injured; its physical body would have been destroyed outright.

But even so, it couldn’t get back up for a long time after crashing. It couldn’t even access the items in its Storage Bag.

"Damn it, are you insane?"

At the same time, it was filled with rage and confusion.

Meanwhile, the Demon Bear controlled by Zhang Chi had breathed its last, dying on the spot.

The strand of Zhang Chi’s Divine Thought Power within it dissipated as well.

However, at the critical moment, Zhang Chi had already moved this Demon Bear far away from the center of the explosion before withdrawing his consciousness.

As a result, Zhang Chi’s main body was unaffected, only feeling a momentary dizziness.

He returned to normal right after.

And while the Tier Four Early Stage Demon Bear’s body was now completely dead due to its Demon Pill exploding and its Divine Soul scattering, the corpse itself was preserved in relatively good condition. Its materials were still usable.

Zhang Chi had moved it away in time precisely because he didn’t want to waste the materials.

After all, he had already invested a great deal in this endeavor, consuming an Array, a Tier Four Demon Pill, and a strand of Divine Thought Power.

Fortunately, the rewards were even greater.

Just then, the Corpse Puppet and Flying Dragon No.1 suddenly appeared on the scene. They seized the Tier Four Middle Stage Demon Bear and its Demon Pill, respectively, using Spirit Talismans to temporarily seal them.

Afterward, Zhang Chi performed a Soul Searching Technique through the Corpse Puppet. He then used the Divine Splitting Possession Technique to transfer the strand of Divine Thought Power that had been attached to Flying Dragon No.1 over to the Demon Bear.

The entire process was smooth and practiced.

The Soul Search, however, had been a bit risky.

First, the Corpse Puppet wasn’t Zhang Chi’s main body, so its Power of the Divine Soul wasn’t strong enough.

Second, the Demon Bear’s Level was too high, already on par with the Corpse Puppet’s.

Fortunately, the Demon Bear’s Divine Soul had been severely wounded along with its Demon Pill in the previous battle, leaving it at its weakest. Only then did the Corpse Puppet succeed.

’What a pity. It seems I can’t use this method again to deal with the Demon Bear King.’

’But based on the information from the Soul Search, he’s extremely powerful—far stronger than this Tier Four Middle Stage Demon Bear. He also has powerful treasures for protection and isn’t so easily deceived, so this method wouldn’t have worked on him again anyway.’

’Thankfully, a Tier Four Middle Stage Demon Bear is more than enough for the next step of my plan!’

Zhang Chi felt a twinge of regret but quickly dismissed it.

In fact, this plan had been a great success.

He immediately had the Demon Bear swallow its Demon Pill and then had the Corpse Puppet feed it a Healing Elixir. He began to treat his new Demon Bear body, which soon showed some improvement.

"Nine Revolutions Soul Reviving Pills?"

Next, he inspected the Demon Bear’s Storage Bag, and what he saw couldn’t help but surprise him.

Because he had found three precious healing medicines inside.

’Good thing this Demon Bear didn’t get a chance to use this Pill before.’

Feeling quite fortunate, Zhang Chi immediately took out one of the pills and ate it. His injuries immediately improved again, and in a short while, he had recovered by more than half.

Of course, these three pills were certainly not refined by the Demon Bear, but were part of the inheritance from the Pill and Artifact Sect.

After that, Zhang Chi continued to inspect the Storage Bag and was stunned to find a large number of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

Clearly, this Demon Bear’s wealth far surpassed that of the previous one.

Besides the beehive and honey, Zhang Chi even discovered three types of Nascent Soul Materials: Tongyou Grass, Cyan Scale Fruit, and Void Absorption Grass.

In addition, Zhang Chi was amazed to find three Jade Scrolls, which contained the Tiers One to Four Inheritances for Arrays, Alchemy, and Artifact Refining respectively.

The Array Inheritance was exactly what Zhang Chi needed. As for the Alchemy and Artifact Refining Inheritances, he already had them. However, the content of different inheritances could vary, and the higher the tier, the greater the differences.

Therefore, obtaining two more inheritances allowed him to cross-reference them with the ones he already possessed.

And these gains undoubtedly made Zhang Chi quite happy.

But when he looked through the information gained from the Soul Search, he immediately understood why this was the case.

It turned out that these Demon Bears had a very average Comprehension for the Hundred Skills of Immortal Cultivation. Furthermore, they had an instinctual dislike for these things, so they didn’t consider them valuable at all.

That’s why it wasn’t just this Demon Bear; the other twelve Tier Four Middle Stage Demon Bears had also received inheritances as rewards from the Demon Bear King.

This was also a way to find talented bears, but unfortunately, none of these Demon Bears were up to the task.

’Good. With this inheritance, I’ll soon be able to refine my own Tier Four Array Flags and the like. The losses from this operation won’t matter then.’

’Also, I can use this Array knowledge as a foundation to find a chance to infiltrate the Pill and Artifact Sect’s Mountain Protection Array. If I have the help of the Grand Array, even the Demon Bear King won’t be able to do anything to me!’

Zhang Chi immediately became more confident in the next step of his plan.

Next, he immediately dealt with the body of the Tier Four Early Stage Demon Bear, stored some valuable items on his Corpse Puppet, and then returned to the Pill and Artifact Sect ruins. He went back to his new Demon Bear Cave Mansion as if nothing had ever happened.

In the period that followed, the Demon Bear Race soon discovered that a Tier Four Demon Bear had died and launched all sorts of investigations. Zhang Chi actively participated in these investigations.

In the end, the Demon Bear Race found nothing. They were even more clueless that the killer had already infiltrated their ranks and had become one of their leaders.

Some more time passed. One morning, the leadership of the Demon Bear Race suddenly called a meeting.

All the Tier Four Middle Stage Demon Bear Elders were present, with the sole exception being the King of Demon Bears himself.

As one of the leaders, Zhang Chi also arrived at the scene.

He discovered that all these Demon Bears were very powerful. His current body was only average among them.

Compared to the Demon Bear King, his body was not even worth mentioning.

Looking at the Demon Bear King’s mountain-like demonic form, he strongly suspected that even if all the Demon Bear Elders joined forces, they would be no match for him.

"I suspect that Fifty-Three’s death is related to human Cultivators. The Silver Wolf and Golden Ape clans have already discovered traces of human Cultivators and have even clashed with them," the Demon Bear King’s voice boomed like a great bell.

It turned out that these Tier Four Demon Bears, in an attempt to emulate the ancient human Cultivators, had all taken Xiong as their surname.

However, they didn’t understand complex things and wanted a way to reflect their hierarchy of strength, so their naming convention was very simple: they were ranked directly by strength and number.

The Tier Four Demon Bear that died was ranked fifty-three.

The body Zhang Chi now controlled was ranked ninth, so his full name was Xiong Jiu.

"Human Cultivators? How can there be human Cultivators? Aren’t humans nearly extinct? Haven’t they lost their civilization, been reduced to food, and degenerated into low-level beasts?"

"Could it be there’s a Secret Realm, or even a Grotto Heaven, that hasn’t opened? But that’s impossible, right? The entire Oasis fell into the void long ago. Secret Realms and Grotto Heavens ceased to exist. Otherwise, we could never have become the masters of this Oasis."

The other Demon Bears cried out in alarm and began to discuss among themselves upon hearing this. Many bears were deeply skeptical.

"Of course there are no more Cultivators here, but these are outsiders. Our Oasis recently re-established a temporary connection with the Endless Desert Sea," the Demon Bear King continued.

"Something like that happened?"

"So the legends were true? Our home really can connect to the Endless Desert Sea?"

The Demon Bears were enlightened, but even more astonished.

"Should we try to find a way out into the Endless Desert Sea?"

"Will more human Cultivators from the Endless Desert Sea come here? And will the Great Demons from the Endless Desert Sea come too?"

"How strong are the Cultivators who came in this time? Will they be a threat to us?"

The Demon Bears chattered amongst themselves, their attention no longer so focused on the murder of Bear Fifty-Three.

"We definitely cannot go to the Endless Desert Sea. Although it’s larger over there, it’s also extremely dangerous. We’re better off staying here than going there. Besides, this place isn’t small; it’s big enough for us to live," the Demon Bear King said, shaking his head slightly.

"The Bear King is right."

The Demon Bears all agreed.

They were the apex predators here. In the Endless Desert Sea, they would only be considered decent.

After all, the Endless Desert Sea had beings as powerful as Divinity Transformation Powerhouses.

Not only in the Desert Divine Palace, but it was very likely they also existed on the side of the Demon Beasts.

In comparison, this place undoubtedly gave them the greatest sense of security.

"Furthermore, you don’t need to worry about too many human Cultivators and Demon Beasts getting in. The convergence will last for fifty years at most, so not too many beings will discover the entrance," the Demon Bear King continued.