Celestial Refining Divine Scripture

Boom!

Yuan Mie thrust his palm at Xu Yang, murderous intent surging.

Xu Yang sneered, making no move to dodge.

In the instant before contact, Yuan Mie’s heart pounded wildly, thinking to himself, ’Not good!’ His palm shadow suddenly faded into a blur, yet its momentum didn’t diminish as it slammed toward Xu Yang, while his true body darted backward like lightning.

Crash!

The palm shadow struck down, but Xu Yang crumbled inch by inch, vanishing into nothingness.

"Afterimage?"

"Impossible."

Yuan Mie’s face changed drastically.

With his level of cultivation, he hadn’t detected even the faintest trace.

"Here, you can’t threaten me in the slightest."

Xu Yang appeared elsewhere, a mocking smile on his lips.

Yuan Mie spun around and charged at the barrier sealing heaven and earth.

Bang!

The barrier was utterly unmoved, impervious to any attack Yuan Mie unleashed—there was simply no way out.

He attacked in a frenzy, using all his strength, but got nowhere.

"Damn it, damn it."

"That little bastard’s playing me."

Yuan Mie felt as if he’d fallen into an icy abyss.

Thinking back to Xu Yang’s words, how could he not realize now: even if Xu Yang couldn’t fully control this place, he could direct at least a portion of its power.

Once inside, you’re like a turtle in a jar!

Even a Golden Immortal cannot escape.

A moment ago, he was mocking Xu Yang as unworthy of being a turtle in a jar—now, he’d become one himself.

Yuan Mie slowly turned, eyes fixed fiercely on Xu Yang: "Boy, I’ve lost. I admit it."

"What will it take for you to let me go?"

Xu Yang shook his head slightly. He’d put his life on the line to lure a Golden Immortal in—how could he just let him leave?

If he let Yuan Mie out, surely the guy would kill him the instant they left this realm.

"Senior, it’s best you stay here obediently."

Finishing, Xu Yang’s form flickered and vanished completely.

"You little bastard, get out here!"

"How dare you play tricks before me—do you really think this place can hold me?"

"Heh."

"Senior, save your strength. This place has no treasures, not a whiff of Immortal Spirit Qi. Use up your power, and you won’t even be able to recover."

"If a Golden Immortal loses his strength, with Evil Qi eroding from all sides, even you won’t last long."

Xu Yang’s cool laugh drifted from outside.

Yuan Mie’s expression kept changing; he roared again and again, but there was no reply.

Unwilling, he searched the surroundings and sped off.

Half an hour later.

Yuan Mie had a complete breakdown.

Just as Xu Yang had said: a desperate deadland, and not a single treasure!

Not even a scrap of Immortal Spirit Qi.

This vast world was, without a doubt, a wasteland.

Besides Evil Qi, only worthless corpses remained.

Even the divine weapons had utterly rotted away.

He struck again, summoning his Divine Weapon, hoping to break the barrier.

But the barrier was indestructible. No matter how he attacked, he couldn’t even leave a mark.

At last, Yuan Mie collapsed, slumping to the ground.

"Greed!"

All because of greed.

If only he’d taken those two treasured pills and left, he wouldn’t have fallen into such a plight.

Greed destroys men—but who in this world can restrain themselves?

Feeling his energy drain, he’d already used up nearly half.

His injuries still weren’t healed.

He had plenty of Spirit Pills in his Storage Ring, and some other opportunities snatched from the Starry Extreme Night.

Enough to last a few days.

But after he runs dry...

Yuan Mie looked at the mountain of corpses, at the boundless Evil Qi filling the air.

As strong as a Golden Immortal, he didn’t even dare approach it.

"That brat could rouse Evil Qi from outside, separated by heaven and earth. If he can control this place, inside he’d draw on even more."

Once the Evil Qi invades—

The outcome is easy to imagine.

A turtle in a jar, devoured by attrition.

Such an ending left Yuan Mie cold all over.

He was a Golden Immortal, one of the top powerhouses in Northern Continent.

Even being beaten to death outside would be a hundred times better than suffocating to death in here.

"And there’s Qian’Er. If I don’t return, she’ll know something happened; and a few enemies—if they find out, how will Qian’Er survive?"

Thinking of his disciple, Yuan Mie bit his lip and looked up at the sky: "Boy, get out here!"

"I admit defeat—so long as you let me go, I’ll agree to anything you demand!"

"I’m willing to make a Primordial Spirit Blood Contract!"

His desolate cries echoed in all directions.

But for a long while, there wasn’t the slightest response.

"Damn!"

"You little bastard, this is too much."

"Get out here!"

"Aaarrrgh!!"

Yuan Mie’s frenzied roars went unanswered, doomed to be a solitary lament.

Outside.

Xu Yang had already packed away the Celestial Refining Divine Tripod, pondering how to deal with Yuan Mie.

An itinerant Golden Immortal—if he kills him, so be it.

With his current identity, he fears nothing.

Besides, Yuan Mie seemed to have only one disciple and nothing else.

Still, killing him would be too much of a waste.

A Golden Immortal, after all.

No matter how weak, a true Golden Immortal.

"Once the Starry Extreme Night ends, I’ll head for the Eastern Continent."

"In the Eastern Continent, after all this, the geniuses and experts have grown much stronger—their opportunities surely far outstrip those here in the North."

One reckless step, and it’s all peril.

"And then there’s Blood Pool."

A killer organization bold enough to slay Golden Immortals.

"Let that old bastard stew for a while. I’ll show up when he’s truly desperate."

Everything he said before was true and without exaggeration.

With no Immortal Spirit Qi in there for recovery, and Evil Qi seeping in...

No matter how many Spirit Pills and elixirs Yuan Mie brought, he’d keep burning through them. In the end, doom was inevitable.

Yuan Mie would realize this soon enough.

Though the Lesser Immortal Realm’s source was exhausted, its foundation was still terrifyingly solid: sealed in here, not even a Daluo Immortal could get out, let alone a Golden Immortal.

"Keep this guy under control, make him my trump card. Solely for condensing the Golden Immortal Talisman, that’s a huge help."

"Once I reach Golden Immortal strength, he’ll no longer be useful. I can let him go then if I wish."

At this thought, Xu Yang smiled faintly, feeling fully at ease at last.

He gazed at the three treasured pills, satisfaction in his eyes.

The remaining time would be enough to perfect two, and the third could be refined to seventy or eighty percent.

With their essence, a single one was almost enough for him to break through to the Celestial Immortal Realm.

The other two, kept for recovery, would be incredibly effective.

The vast Immortal Yuan of a Twelfth-grade Immortal Foundation, together with these pills—in a fight, it’s like his enemy is pitted against a dozen opponents of the same level, trading attrition.

Even if the other is a bit stronger, they’d eventually be ground down and die.

Xu Yang set aside all thoughts, sat cross-legged deep within the mine cave, and cultivated in silence.

Time slipped quietly by.

At a certain moment—

In the dim world, all the myriad treasures’ lights gradually faded.

The boundless waves of ascension and revival began to withdraw at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally returning to the various treasure grounds for a last nurturing.

Heavenly light emerged, driving away the gloom, revealing vast firmament above.

Stars shone one by one, yet under the dazzling daylight, their images blurred, flickering between light and shadow.

Until the final moment—

Every mysterious radiance and vision vanished without a trace.

As if these seven days had never happened at all.

Yet the world now brimmed with vibrant life, with Immortal Spirit Qi billowing in astonishing abundance.

All those once-abandoned climes and barren wastelands now throbbed with life, nurturing immortal essence.

Deep in the mine, Xu Yang slowly opened his eyes, exhaling a long, turbid breath.

"Pity—the Source of the Rain Division still eluded me."

"But I can now sense traces of it. Once I master the Immortal Slaying Rain, reaching it will be no problem."

Xu Yang turned to the three treasured pills, which blazed dazzlingly, star-marks twinkling.

Two had been perfected; one was nearly eighty percent complete.

The rich primordial energy and power of ascension that once filled the place had entirely vanished.

Whoosh!

Xu Yang hooked his palm and summoned the three pills, nodding contentedly.

These seven days had been bountiful indeed.

Especially this final day—

He’d caught himself a Golden Immortal!