Chapter 280: Arrival of a Void Refiner
"You're certain there's a late-stage Soul Transformation here?"
A middle-aged Daoist returned to Tianyuan Immortal City and summoned his fellow Soul Transformation cultivators, voicing the doubt in his heart. He had been dispatched by his sect as reinforcements, a late-stage Soul Transformation, because not long ago, a junior brother in the early stage of the realm had fallen here—apparently at the hands of someone in the late stage.
For the local natives to dare attack them was no trivial matter. If the culprit was not brought to justice, it would embolden the natives and undermine their authority.
That would make much of their work here difficult. Thus, the moment he arrived, the middle-aged Daoist began probing throughout the Tianyuan Immortal Realm, determined to uncover the killer.
Yet his search turned up nothing. In the entire Tianyuan Immortal Realm, not a single late-stage Soul Transformation could be found. As for whether the culprit might be hiding…
The middle-aged Daoist cultivated a quasi-divine detection art. Unless the target possessed concealment abilities at the level of true divine arts, it was impossible to evade his senses.
"Senior brother, it's absolutely true. Though Junior Brother Zhu Lei was only in the early stage, his strength was not weak. If not for a late-stage Soul Transformation, how could he have fallen so quietly and without a trace?" At this, several of the cultivators offered their guesses.
"Could the culprit have already left this continent, fleeing elsewhere?" one of them asked.
This suggestion quickly won nods of agreement. If the murderer knew reinforcements at late-stage had been dispatched, staying here would be suicide. Escaping to another continent was the logical choice.
"So be it. I'll have to search more widely." The Daoist found the reasoning sound. Though it would be troublesome, the killer had to be found—this concerned the sect's honor.
With that, he departed Tianyuan Immortal City, setting out to search other realms. At that very moment, three figures radiating late-stage Soul Transformation auras emerged from the Nine Nether Domain.
"Found them!"
Just as he left the Tianyuan Immortal Realm, the middle-aged Daoist sensed a late-stage Soul Transformation aura. His heart leapt—so soon! This would save him considerable time.
More time to hunt zombies, earn contribution points, and exchange them for immortal relics. As a late-stage Soul Transformation, he still dreamed of charging into the Void Refiner realm.
"Hm?"
His brows furrowed. From two other directions, he also sensed late-stage auras. Including the first, that made three.
For such a small world to hold three late-stage Nascent Divinities was inconceivable. "No wonder a small world with an immortal's ruins has its secrets," he mused, surprised yet unafraid.
After all, the local cultivators' strength was limited by their inheritances. He, however, belonged to a Void Refiner sect. With the powerful techniques and divine abilities he commanded, even three-on-one was nothing to fear.
"No—this is death qi. They're late-stage Soul Transformation zombies!"
As the three auras drew nearer, the truth dawned: those presences were steeped in death qi, not living beings.
This discovery delighted him. Killing three living late-stage cultivators would earn nothing, but slaying three zombies of the same level meant a fortune in contribution points—points that could be traded for immortal relics.
"Careful. That outsider won't be easy to handle."
The three evil-sect Nascent soul Transformation communicated silently. Once they realized the late-stage outsider had left, they pursued at once.
Since receiving the remnant soul's boon and advancing to late-stage, their motivation had been completely reignited. If they could capture a late-stage cultivator's primordial spirit and soul, perhaps they could climb even higher.
Soon the Daoist and the three Evil-sect Nascent Soul Transformation confronted one another. No words were exchanged—blades crossed immediately. Shock flickered on both sides.
The Daoist realized these three zombies still retained their intellect—far harder to deal with than mindless husks.
The three evil-sect cultivators, on the other hand, were stunned by the Daoist's strength. Though all were late-stage, his combat power far exceeded theirs.
Yet neither side withdrew. The Daoist was tempted by the massive contribution rewards; the three were zombies—fearless of death. Even if their bodies were smashed apart, as long as death qi remained, they could rapidly regenerate.
Besides, zombie flesh was unimaginably tough. To destroy the three entirely would not be easy.
The battle of four late-stage Nascent Divinities stirred heaven and earth, an uproar that could not go unnoticed in Tianyuan Immortal City.
"How… how can there be four late-stage auras?" The city's cultivators gazed into the distance, eyes wide with disbelief.
One of those auras was familiar—their senior brother. The other three were strange, their qi concealed, but clearly not allies.
"Should we go aid him?"
One versus three, their senior was being besieged.
"Go die, you mean?" one shook his head. They were only early-stage. To step into a late-stage clash was pure suicide.
"It's those three from the demonic sect."
The native cultivators—Qing Zunzhe and his two peers—had also sensed the battle. For them, the three auras were familiar enemies: the three demonic Nascent Divinities.
But one thing baffled them: how had their foes reached late-stage? Corrupted by death qi and turned into zombies, their paths should have been cut off entirely.
"It's that Corpse Immortal!"
The realization struck like lightning, filling Qing Zunzhe and the others with a trace of envy. Late-stage Soul Transformation was a realm they could only dream of. As mere early-stage cultivators, even reaching mid-stage was their most fervent hope.
"That's borrowed power, not their own. It could be taken back at any time." The Taixuan Sect's Soul Transformation elder shook his head.
"Agreed. With the higher inheritances we've received, we may yet advance further by our own strength." The Yin-Yang Sword Sect's elder nodded.
The three of them had exchanged for advanced inheritances from foreign sects and were now diligently studying them, hoping to complete their own paths.
"Has the battle ended? I wonder who won." Suddenly, Venerable Qing gazed into the distance. At this moment, the surging power of heaven and earth was gradually fading, which meant the battle was already over.
"Those foreign Nascent Soul cultivators aren't so remarkable after all." The Wanxue Demon Sect held a struggling primordial spirit in his hand—the primordial spirit of that middle-aged Daoist. Once one's primordial spirit was captured, it meant life and death were no longer in their own hands. This was nothing short of a crushing defeat.
But for this victory, the three Nascent Soul cultivators of the Demon Sect had paid a horrifying price. The Wanxue Demon Sect himself was left with only half a body, while the other two had only their heads intact.
Such grievous injuries would normally leave an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator with only one path—let the primordial spirit leave the body and seize another vessel. Yet for zombies, such wounds were hardly a concern.
With the primordial spirit of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator to present, their lord would surely grant them ample reward. Compared to that, what was the loss of some flesh?
Nine Nether Domain.
The Remnant Soul gazed at the captured primordial spirit with satisfaction and nodded. "Not bad, you did well." A single late-stage Nascent Soul primordial spirit was worth tens of millions of ordinary mortal souls. This alone would greatly restore his power.
"You dare touch me? Aren't you afraid of my sect's revenge?" The middle-aged Daoist's primordial spirit threatened, but the Remnant Soul ignored him entirely and swallowed him in a single gulp.
In that instant, the Remnant Soul felt a wave of fullness wash over him, his soul force surging. Immediately, his consciousness entered the headless corpse. From within, torrents of dark, abyssal death qi poured forth. The death qi coalesced into three black dragons, which plunged into the bodies of the three Demon Sect Nascent Souls, rapidly regenerating their missing flesh.
Not only that—their cultivation levels soared, pushing them directly to the great perfection of Nascent Soul. This was already the upper limit this small world could sustain.
Thus, once the three reached Nascent Soul great perfection, the infusion of death qi ceased. The remainder condensed into new zombies, each at the Nascent Soul stage.
"Thank you for the reward, my lord!"
Feeling the power boiling inside them, the three Demon Sect Nascent Souls were beside themselves with excitement. A realm they had always thought insurmountable had now been breached with ease.
"Merit naturally deserves reward," the Remnant Soul said calmly.
He knew well that after slaying one of the foreign late-stage Nascent Souls, their enemies would have only two choices: retreat, or send stronger reinforcements.
Retreat was impossible. That meant they would inevitably send stronger cultivators.
In such a situation, he had to enhance the strength of the Demon Sect's three Nascent Souls. Once they contributed more, he would even pass down to them powerful divine abilities and secret arts.
Ordinary zombies had no intelligence and thus could not cultivate spells or techniques. Though the Remnant Soul could enlighten them to grant wisdom, doing so consumed his soul force. In his current condition, he naturally could not afford that.
Therefore, the only choice was to strengthen these three. Besides, since they had become zombies, their life and death lay wholly in his hands—there was no risk of rebellion.
While the Remnant Soul bestowed rewards, in Tianyuan Immortal City the faces of the other Nascent Souls had turned pale. The battle had ended, yet their senior brother had not returned.
Soon, a transmission from their sect confirmed their fears: the senior brother's soul lamp had gone out. A late-stage Nascent Soul powerhouse… fallen, just like that.
This time, however, the culprits were clear: it was the strike of three late-stage zombie Nascent Souls.
"Already? Zombies of late-stage Nascent Soul appearing so soon?"
In the Qinghe Immortal Realm, Gu Mo too received the news at once. That foreign late-stage Nascent Soul had obviously come for him. Now that the man was dead, the zombies had drawn the hatred away, giving Gu Mo more time to develop.
Still, the zombies' rate of growth was unnervingly fast. In such a short time, late-stage zombie Nascent Souls had emerged—at this pace, zombies of great perfection would not take long to appear.
Gu Mo knew it was only a matter of time before the zombies reached the upper limit of this small world: Nascent Soul great perfection. Unless someone resealed that Corpse Immortal, its leaking power would ensure their strength continued to grow unstoppably.
It seemed now their growth was accelerating even faster than expected.
But with foreign cultivators resisting, Gu Mo reckoned he still had some time. Casting his gaze upon the second fifth-rank Sunflower blooming in his cave-heaven space, Gu Mo resumed his farming.
"Our sect has sent word—a Void Refiner elder will descend, suppressing his realm." Just as the foreign cultivators' morale was faltering from the late-stage Nascent Soul's death, this message spread, rekindling their spirits.
This small world's upper limit was Nascent Soul, so Void Refiners could not enter. But if a Void Refiner willingly suppressed his own cultivation, he could still pass through.
Though his realm would be lowered, his comprehension, divine abilities, and techniques all remained intact. His combat power would utterly crush ordinary Nascent Souls.
Sending in a Void Refiner proved how much the sect valued this place. After all, suppressing one's cultivation was no simple sealing. Ordinary seals could not fool the world's awareness; only a true reduction of cultivation could.
Such suppression could not be undone quickly, and while weakened, the cultivator could not train further. For any cultivator, being unable to advance was nearly unbearable.
But for greater benefits, such sacrifices could be endured.
At the World Gate.
That day, the foreign Nascent Souls all gathered, for the sect's Void Refiner elder was about to arrive. The three native Nascent Souls—Venerable Qing and his peers—were also present, curiosity filling their eyes at the thought of seeing a realm beyond their reach.
Time passed. Suddenly, the World Gate blazed with dazzling light. An overwhelming heavenly might descended, but quickly faded. Out staggered an old man, disheveled and awkward.
"Greetings, Elder!"
The foreign Nascent Souls saluted at once. As for the elder's bedraggled appearance, they tactfully ignored it. Clearly, he had harbored some improper thoughts when entering, only to be sensed by this small world itself—the heavenly might just now had been proof enough.
Had the elder been more stubborn, they might well have witnessed the heavenly lightning strike down a Void Refiner.
"Hmph!"
The Void Refiner elder straightened his robe and gave a faint, indifferent reply.
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