Chapter 400 : Capturing a Nascent Soul
Chapter 400: Capturing a Nascent Soul
“Not bad, truly not bad. Chen Fellow Daoist is indeed worthy of being the Mirror Moon Daoist known throughout the Nine Realms of the Southern Wilderness!”
The newcomer wore a simple azure robe, had white hair on his head, and stood upon empty space. His steps were unhurried, and his tone was indifferent.
‘Damn it, it is a True Monarch from the Azure Spirit Sect!’
Yun Yishu struggled to raise her head, her pupils shrinking.
As a Golden Core Elder of the Mirror Moon Sect, although she was not stationed on the frontline battlefield, she was still responsible for the sect’s logistics management. She had some understanding of the cultivation techniques and information regarding the higher-ups of the four Nascent Soul sects of the Yellow Evolution Realm.
Moreover, the Mountain Burial Realm was the sect’s territory, and its defenses were extremely strict.
Any powerhouse above the Nascent Soul True Monarch Realm who dared to rashly enter the Mountain Burial Realm would definitely be detected by the sect’s Heaven-Connecting Profound Treasure 【Heavenly Primordial Lord Instrument】.
Unless the Nascent Soul True Monarch sneaking into the Mountain Burial Realm was particularly skilled in techniques for concealing aura, capable of blocking the detection of the sect’s Heaven-Connecting Profound Treasure, or could actively isolate and seal away their own True Monarch aura, restricting it within a certain area.
From this Azure Spirit Sect True Monarch’s completely undisguised pressure, it was most likely the second possibility.
Clearly, the entire Dan Star Market’s spiritual energy of heaven and earth was now isolated by a special restriction. Even if a True Monarch’s aura erupted, it would not be detected by the Heavenly Primordial Lord Instrument. Otherwise, the opponent would not act so recklessly.
This also meant that before the sect’s higher-ups noticed something wrong, she and her junior sisters and junior brother had to face a Nascent Soul True Monarch directly.
Thinking of this, Yun Yishu could not help but feel a chill run through her heart.
“Azure Spirit Sect, True Monarch Shangyi!”
Seeing the newcomer’s appearance, a flash of insight passed through Li Wan’er’s mind, and she exclaimed in shock.
Among the Nine Realms of the Southern Wilderness, there were extremely few Fourth-Tier Profound Alchemists. Every one of them was a renowned Nascent Soul True Monarch, and only a very small number of Profound Alchemists possessed Golden Core cultivation.
And Azure Spirit Sect’s True Monarch Shangyi was precisely one of the publicly recognized Ten Great Pill Kings of the Yellow Evolution Realm.
His Azure Flame of Shangyi had reached the pinnacle of perfection, and he had even refined a batch of premium Nascent Soul Formation Pills before. His achievements in the Dao of Alchemy were truly famous throughout the Yellow Evolution Realm.
However, what was strange was that the resources, connections, and influence that a Pill King could mobilize far surpassed those of a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator. His status could even rival peak Nascent Soul True Monarchs.
Unless the higher-ups of the Azure Spirit Sect had gone insane, a Profound Alchemist with such a high position and authority would normally be refining pills while stationed at an important sect location, rather than being sent out of the sect and risking danger deep within another sect’s territory.
Yet now, a famous Pill King stood before her, and there were not even any other Nascent Soul True Monarchs protecting him.
“Oh?”
“This True Monarch spends years in secluded cultivation refining pills and rarely moves about outside.”
True Monarch Shangyi’s gaze fell upon Li Wan’er. “I did not expect that even a junior like you would know of this True Monarch’s reputation.”
Li Wan’er swallowed.
As True Monarch Shangyi’s gaze fell upon her, a terrifying pressure instantly surged into her spiritual platform and sea of consciousness.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, a familiar figure stepped forward and stood before Li Wan’er.
In an instant, the vast pressure sweeping through her sea of consciousness silently dissipated.
Li Wan’er breathed heavily, staring blankly at the white-clothed figure before her that seemed to support the heavens and earth.
“True Monarch Shangyi, I have heard of your deeds.”
“Logically speaking, as a main lineage elder of the Azure Spirit Sect, you are revered and worshiped by countless cultivators. Resources are readily available to you, and you have no reason to personally take risks and sneak into my sect’s territory.”
Chen Beiwu stared at True Monarch Shangyi with both eyes, his gaze gradually becoming sharper. “Unless you cannot have others do it for you and have a reason you must come personally.”
“Interesting. Are you questioning this True Monarch?”
Hearing this, True Monarch Shangyi’s eyes moved slightly. He deeply looked at Chen Beiwu, then smiled faintly. “A very courageous junior. Unfortunately, you and I stand as enemies. Otherwise, this True Monarch might have been able to discuss the Dao with you and leave behind a fine tale.”
“Forget it, there is no point in saying more.”
After Golden Egg finished arranging his methods, Chen Beiwu no longer delayed and calmly said: “Capture you, and naturally we will understand what the Azure Spirit Sect and Red Sun Sect are plotting.”
As these words fell, the reactions of the cultivators present varied greatly.
Yun Yishu raised her head, looking at her junior brother’s calm side profile. A hope she could barely suppress surged within her heart.
All beneath the True Monarch Realm were merely ants!
But perhaps… perhaps this Junior Brother Chen whom she had watched grow could defeat a Nascent Soul True Monarch with Golden Core cultivation and create a miracle.
Hearing this, Li Wan’er was first stunned, then her eyes brightened slightly.
She understood her junior brother’s personality and knew that Ziang was absolutely not someone who made reckless claims or spoke arrogantly without reason.
Since junior brother dared to say this, he must have means to contend against a Nascent Soul True Monarch.
“Ridiculous.”
True Monarch Shangyi let out a mocking laugh and commented without restraint: “Empty threats are useless against this True Monarch.”
Saying this, he shook his head. The pressure around his body surged, dyeing the entire sky and clouds a deep azure color:
“This True Monarch already investigated. Within tens of thousands of li, there is absolutely no aura of any Mirror Moon Sect True Monarch.”
“From the beginning of the abnormal changes at the market until now, only two hours have passed.”
True Monarch Shangyi looked down upon the three of them, delivering judgment: “In other words, before the Mirror Moon Sect notices anything wrong, this True Monarch still has one hour to resolve all of you.”
After speaking, he no longer wasted words. He flipped his palm, and an object appeared within it.
This object was about seven inches long, pointed at the front and broad at the back. It resembled a wooden spike, yet it emitted a strange and eerie light.
True Monarch Shangyi held the Withered Wood Spike in his palm, aimed it at Chen Beiwu, and opened his mouth, spitting out an incomparably pure Heavenly-Gang True Qi.
“Boom!”
In an instant, the originally ordinary wooden spike suddenly flashed with lightning and disappeared.
Sensing the power of the lightning, Yun Yishu and Li Wan’er both turned pale, yet they could not detect the trajectory of the Withered Wood Spike at all. They could only hear the roar of thunder.
‘He failed to react?’
Seeing Chen Beiwu standing motionless, without any additional movements, and not even offering a treasure artifact, True Monarch Shangyi inevitably felt somewhat disappointed.
His original target had been Cloud Grace Immortal, whose reputation was gradually rising within the Earth Evolution Realm.
However, after personally witnessing the scene of the Mirror Moon Daoist killing the Solar Radiance Army with a single seal, he had developed another thought and temporarily decided to change his target.
It seemed now that he had overestimated the Mirror Moon Daoist.
Golden Core was ultimately only the realm of a True Person. Even if Chen Ziang could rely on the supreme Dao techniques of the Mirror Moon Sect to suppress three hundred Solar Radiance Army soldiers, he still could not detect the trajectory of the Heavenly Lightning Spike.
However, this was normal. The Nascent Soul True Monarchs who had died beneath his Heavenly Lightning Spike were not one or two. Even mid-stage Nascent Soul True Monarchs who used their divine senses to detect the Heavenly Lightning Spike and instantly move away still could not evade it, and could only rely on Fourth-Tier defensive Profound Treasures to forcibly resist.
“Roar!”
At this moment, a sudden change occurred.
The space before Chen Beiwu suddenly rippled, and a dragon claw covered in dark golden scales violently emerged, lightly striking the Heavenly Lightning Spike.
“Clang!”
As the sound of metal colliding rang out, under True Monarch Shangyi’s divine sense perception, the Heavenly Lightning Spike slowly broke through the dragon claw’s scale defense. In the end, its power was exhausted and it was firmly caught by the dragon claw, unable to break free.
“This is a Fourth-Tier demon… Beast King!”
Yun Yishu’s expression was filled with astonishment, her eyes tightly fixed upon the dragon claw.
There was no mistake. Being able to casually grasp a True Monarch Profound Treasure without suffering any injury, the owner of this dragon claw absolutely possessed over a thousand years of cultivation. It was an existence comparable to a human True Monarch and worthy of being called the King of Ten Thousand Beasts.
However, compared to this, what concerned Yun Yishu more was the familiar aura from the scales of the dragon claw.
If she remembered correctly, the foolishly adorable, gluttonous, and lazy plump Golden Scale from back then also possessed this type of scale. Especially after it transformed into a Flood Dragon, its scales became even more similar.
But why?
Logically speaking, the growth speed of high-tier beasts was far inferior to human geniuses and required an extremely long time to mature.
Not to mention a Golden Scale, even a Flood Dragon with noble bloodline would require several thousand years of tempering to ascend into a Fourth-Realm Beast King.
With sufficient resources, Golden Egg following Junior Brother’s bloodline evolution and transforming into a Flood Dragon, then advancing into a Third-Realm Beast General, could barely be considered reasonable.
But Junior Brother had only secluded himself for a mere fifty years. No matter how powerful Golden Egg’s bloodline was, even if it was a genius among beasts, it was impossible for it to advance into a Beast King in such a short period of time.
To put it bluntly, Junior Brother Chen’s talent was peerless. Even he could not attain the True Monarch Realm within several decades, so how could Golden Egg possibly accomplish such a thing? It was simply far too unreasonable.
However, this was ultimately a good thing. The hope of forcing back True Monarch Shangyi had increased by several points!
Thinking of this, Yun Yishu could not help but relax slightly, looking at the dragon claw with an extremely complicated gaze.
Everything feared comparison. Even the foolish Golden Scale could become a Fourth-Realm Beast King!
Yet she herself was still only an early-stage Golden Core True Person.
At the same time, the calmness on True Monarch Shangyi’s face disappeared, replaced by a solemn expression.
Heavenly-Gang Beast King!
And it was even a Flood Dragon-type existence, the most troublesome kind among Heavenly-Gang Beast Kings!
With such a Beast King protecting him, not only would he be unable to take away the Mirror Moon Daoist, he might not even be able to take away Cloud Grace Immortal.
“Capture him. If you truly cannot capture him, killing him is also fine.”
The moment Chen Beiwu finished speaking, a brilliant light tore through space and coiled across the sky.
Golden Egg raised its three dragon heads, six dragon eyes firmly locking onto True Monarch Shangyi.
Cooperating with its master to perform Myriad Spirit Tribulation Transformation?
No, there was simply no need!
Against a Nascent Soul mid-stage True Monarch of the Immortal Alliance, it might be lacking.
But against a Southern Wilderness Nascent Soul mid-stage True Monarch, it was full of confidence.
“Boom!”
Golden Egg’s dragon claw descended, activating Three Absolute True Aura.
Sensing the domineering and terrifying power of this claw, True Monarch Shangyi did not dare to take it head-on. He activated teleportation profound ability to evade.
‘Not good!’
True Monarch Shangyi’s pupils shrank.
The instant he sensed his teleportation profound ability had failed, he did not hesitate. A shield flashing with azure light appeared in his hand.
This treasure was called the Azure Abyss Shield, a Fourth-Tier upper-grade Profound Treasure. When fully activated by a mid-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch, it could withstand ten strikes from a late-stage Nascent Soul True Monarch without breaking.
When the Azure Abyss Shield shone with azure light and collided head-on with Golden Egg’s dragon claw, an unbelievable scene occurred before True Monarch Shangyi.
The roar exploded. The incoming dragon claw forcibly shattered the vast azure radiance and pierced through the entire Azure Abyss Shield, tearing it apart.
“Impossible, even a Heavenly-Gang Beast King should not be capable of this!”
True Monarch Shangyi did not know what had gone wrong. He instinctively sensed danger. Fortunately, as one of the Ten Great Pill Kings of the Yellow Evolution Realm, he might not have many other things, but he had countless life-saving Profound Treasures and Profound Talismans.
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
“Boom!”
Light flashed around True Monarch Shangyi as one rare life-saving Profound Treasure after another was rapidly brought out.
A nine-layered Profound Pagoda expanded against the wind, only to shatter inch by inch the instant it touched the dragon claw.
A black-and-white Profound Mirror released Yin-Yang Profound Light, attempting to immobilize the dragon claw, but the mirror surface cracked upon collision, losing most of its spirituality.
A black Profound Talisman transformed into a ten-thousand-zhang golden light barrier. It could only cause the dragon claw to pause slightly before being reduced to ashes.
A crimson Binding True Rope shone brilliantly, attempting to bind the incoming dragon claw, but it could not resist the Three Absolute True Aura, and the rope snapped.
Void-Crossing Escape Realm Talisman, Myriad Phenomena Protecting Mansion Diagram, Five Elements Suppressing Mountain Armor……
“No, this is impossible!”
“This kind of power… this kind of cultivation… how could it be possible!”
True Monarch Shangyi’s expression changed drastically.
If it were merely that his Profound Treasures and Profound Talismans could not withstand the attack, that would still be understandable. He had many more defensive treasures. Through accumulation, he could eventually reduce the power of the incoming dragon claw to its lowest point and seek another method to escape.
The key issue was that this Three-Headed Flood Dragon’s profound abilities were bizarre and unfathomable. As it destroyed more and more Profound Treasures and Profound Talismans, the pressure spreading from the dragon claw became increasingly terrifying. It even erupted with power comparable to a perfected Nascent Soul great cultivator, making it completely impossible to resist.
Without a doubt, he had encountered an unimaginable monster this time!
This Three-Headed Flood Dragon was not an ordinary Beast King. Its cultivation exceeded eight thousand years, and it might even have reached nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years of cultivation, only one step away from becoming a Fifth-Realm Beast Venerable.
Such a Beast King was a peak powerhouse even across the Nine Realms of the Southern Wilderness. Only a Divine Transformation True Venerable could suppress it.
“It was you who forced me!”
True Monarch Shangyi roared. His eyes turned blood-red, and an ancient Profound Talisman appeared in his hand.
This talisman was called the Void Rift Talisman. Its grade was as high as a Peerless Fourth-Tier item. It was a talisman inherited from the ancient Dao Sect, the Void Formation Sect. Once activated, even a perfected Nascent Soul True Monarch would absolutely be unable to stop him from escaping.
However, the Void Rift Talisman was limited in quantity. Every use consumed one. Its value was immeasurable. Unless he reached a desperate situation where death was certain, True Monarch Shangyi would never use it.
“Open!”
With a thought from True Monarch Shangyi, the Void Rift Talisman violently trembled, transforming into countless black streams of energy that enveloped his body, attempting to travel through space and leave.
“You cannot escape!”
Chen Beiwu’s expression remained unchanged. He used True Insight Tribulation Heaven Finger, combining it with Golden Egg’s Beast King True Qi. A finger struck out, forcibly tearing apart strands of black energy and causing True Monarch Shangyi’s escaping light to slightly freeze.
“No!”
Watching the dragon claw descend, True Monarch Shangyi let out an unwilling roar.
He did not understand why a Golden Core True Person could possess such a Beast King’s protection!
Why was the Void Rift Talisman useless, unable to escape the Beast King’s lock?
Clearly, his target had been Cloud Grace Immortal and the Mirror Moon Sect. Why had greed caused him to target Chen Ziang instead of silently ambushing and taking Cloud Grace Immortal away?
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. True Monarch Shangyi’s gaze hardened. Ignoring the incoming dragon claw, a purple-gold stream of light escaped from his Violet Palace Sea of Consciousness.
This Violet Palace Nascent Soul was only three inches tall. Its facial features resembled True Monarch Shangyi, and it tightly held an Immortal Golden Core within its arms, intending to burn the origin of the Golden Core and escape ten thousand li away.
“Rip!”
Golden Egg’s dragon claw tore apart and annihilated True Monarch Shangyi’s body. At the same time, Ji Ling’s figure flashed. Her fox tails moved, activating her innate profound ability and capturing True Monarch Shangyi’s Nascent Soul in one breath.
“It is over.” Chen Beiwu let out a sigh of relief.
Defeating a Nascent Soul True Monarch might be simple, but killing or capturing one was incomparably difficult.
Fortunately, he had ultimately succeeded.
“It is over?”
Yun Yishu blinked her beautiful eyes. Her gaze moved back and forth between Chen Beiwu and True Monarch Shangyi, her eyes filled with astonishment.
Strange. Junior Brother clearly had not made a move himself, so why did he say it was over?
But what was even stranger was True Monarch Shangyi. After making his ruthless declaration, he had actually remained standing upon empty space the entire time, eyes slightly closed, looking as if he was immersed in cultivation.