The Heaven Burning Sect and Hundred Refinements Sect had temporarily ceased hostilities, dispatching a vast number of cultivators to cast a net of heaven and earth, all to find Shang Tianjue and Shang Xingchen.
However, the Nether Dao Sect's Ghost Palace was located within the Heaven Burning Sect's territory. In this regard, the Heaven Burning Sect clearly held some advantages.
The Hundred Refinements Sect had attempted multiple times to infiltrate the Ghost Palace to uncover its secrets, only to be repelled each time by the Heaven Burning Sect's Golden Core cultivators.
In the Southern Wildness of the cultivation world, a month blinked by, while on Blue Star, ten months had already passed.
When Chu Xuan returned to the array in Two Dragons City, he was startled to find the ground covered with Yin Thunder, each emitting an aura capable of annihilating everything.
The wandering souls within the grand array dared not approach, fearing that a mere touch of the Yin Thunder would reduce them to ashes.
Chu Xuan's face lit up with joy as he quickly brought out a large water jar and collected the Yin Thunder one by one. If placed within a storage bag, the Yin Thunder would obliterate all his treasures to dust. Hence, they must be contained in a vessel.
This large jar had been crafted by a refiner from the Hundred Refinements Sect; its contents were not water but rather a paste of colored glaze. The entire jar was completely non-conductive, allowing the safe storage of Yin Thunder.
"Now I can begin my cultivation!" he exclaimed. "I have long coveted the spells of the 'Yin Thunder Evil Technique'."
Chu Xuan smiled.
The "Yin Thunder Evil Technique" comprised nine levels, each corresponding to the nine levels of the Golden Core.
Chu Xuan placed special emphasis on mastering the first, fifth, eighth, and ninth levels of the technique—Yin Thunder Seed, Yin Thunder Ghost Hand, Fierce Thunder Finger, and Yin Evil Thunder Shadow.
The Yin Thunder Seed involved condensing Yin Thunder into pellets, stored indefinitely within the dantian. In battle, hundreds of Yin Thunder Seeds could explode forth, and even the strongest Golden Core would fall!
The Yin Thunder Ghost Hand, similar in power to the Blood Evil Demon Claw, was a formidable control spell.
The Fierce Thunder Finger, an attack spell, offered low consumption and high speed. Once unleashed, the endless barrage left enemies powerless to resist.
The Yin Evil Thunder Shadow, formed from the soul and Yin Thunder, approximately matched sixty percent of the caster's strength. Typically concealed within shadows, it harbored a soul fragment, allowing it to combat foes autonomously.
Chu Xuan had set his sights on the "Yin Thunder Evil Technique," particularly for the spell known as the Yin Thunder Seed. Other cultivators, limited by their resources, could not amass a significant number of these seeds.
But Chu Xuan was different. With the Reverse Thunder Transformation Array and the Soul-Capturing Evil-Nurturing Array at his disposal, Yin Thunder was limitless. As long as he stored enough Yin Thunder Seeds in his dantian, he could even slay Nascent Souls!
As for the other spells recorded in the "Yin Thunder Evil Technique," some were of little practical use—merely auxiliary spells without offensive or defensive capabilities.
"The only thing I need to do now is cultivate as quickly as possible. The preliminary technique 'Mysterious Demise Technique' has been mastered, and there are no further obstacles!"
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Chu Xuan felt exhilarated. Ten months had been more than sufficient for him to master this foundational cultivation technique.
"Let's begin!"
As Chu Xuan absorbed the Yin Thunder, he accelerated his practice of the "Yin Thunder Evil Technique." With his ultimate-level Thunder Spiritual Root and relentless perseverance, it took him only two months to grasp the basics of the technique and master the "Yin Thunder Seed."
From that day on, his dantian housed numerous thumb-sized purple-black thunderballs. The number of Yin Thunder Seeds grew daily.
After cultivating the "Yin Thunder Evil Technique" up to the fifth level in one go, Chu Xuan's dantian contained over a thousand Yin Thunder Seeds!
"It's done!"
Chu Xuan was overjoyed. A thousand Yin Thunder Seeds, if released all at once, could even kill a ninth-level Golden Core cultivator on the spot. Even against a first-level Nascent Soul, he might be able to seize the chance to escape. If he had ten thousand Yin Thunder Seeds, even a Nascent Soul might pale in fear and turn to flee.
"Let's go to the Southern Wilderness."
With a sigh, Chu Xuan ceased his cultivation and departed immediately.
...
Beneath the Boundless Desert lay a massive ancient battlefield. This site was once the ancient kingdom of Loulan, ruled by a Nascent Soul cultivator, the King of Loulan.
The Blazing Flame Sect coveted Loulan's mineral resources and mobilized en masse, reaching the gates of Loulan's royal city within a month.
The Nascent Soul ancestor of the Blazing Flame Sect personally took action, intending to capture the King of Loulan and assimilate him into his soul fire.
In his dying moments, the King of Loulan sacrificed the corpses of all Loulan's cultivators and mortals, triggering a terrifying explosion of corpses.
The Nascent Soul ancestor of the Blazing Flame Sect was severely injured, with only his Nascent Soul escaping, while the rest of the Golden Cores perished on the spot.
After this battle, the Blazing Flame Sect was left weakened and was subsequently dismantled by other sects. Ultimately, the Heaven Burning Sect emerged victorious, unifying the territory and becoming the sole hegemon of Yue Country.
However, the kingdom of Loulan had become a haunted ancient battlefield, home to lingering spirits and fierce ghosts. Few cultivators dared approach it. Even demonic cultivators, though bold and cautious, only skirted the edges and never ventured deep.
The Heaven Burning Sect had initially stationed cultivators around the Loulan ancient battlefield to prevent demonic cultivators from sneaking in.
But now, in their quest to find Shang Tianjue and Shang Xingchen, too many cultivators had been reassigned. Only two old Foundation Establishment cultivators remained to guard the place, both of whom were nearing the end of their lives and hardly took their duties seriously, frequently rushing home to instruct their descendants. The site's defenses had long been virtually non-existent.
At this moment, in the deepest part of the Loulan ancient battlefield, a figure sat cross-legged, his body seemingly a black hole.
All the resentful spirits and fierce ghosts on the battlefield were irresistibly drawn towards him. They desperately tried to flee, but were quickly crushed by the aura emanating from his body and assimilated as nourishment into his form.
The lingering spirit of the King of Loulan had been crushed and absorbed by this man upon his arrival at the battlefield.
Above his head, a Golden Core spun lazily, completely covered in frost and studded with sharp spikes, lending it an especially sinister appearance.
He had been sitting there for an unknown length of time. At a certain moment, cracks began to appear on the surface of the Golden Core, spreading like a spider web until they completely enveloped it.
With a crisp crack, the Golden Core shattered.
From within, a small figure emitting a faint glow leapt out.
"Nascent Soul, achieved!" the man exhaled a breath of turbid air.
The faint light of the Nascent Soul illuminated his face, revealing a cold and ruthless visage, starkly different from the appearance of the Nascent Soul, which looked even more brutal and unrestrained, radiating an air of tyranny as if he were the supreme being between heaven and earth.
This face belonged to Han Liuyun, but the soul within was that of Shang Tianjue. The Nascent Soul naturally resembled the true face of Shang Tianjue.
The majestic aura of the Nascent Soul surged forth, threatening to sweep across all directions, powerful enough to resonate for thousands of miles and cause cultivators everywhere to bow in reverence.
Shang Tianjue stared at this sweeping, invisible aura and coldly commanded, "Come back."
The invisible fluctuations halted abruptly, then swiftly rolled back at high speed, quickly returning inside Shang Tianjue.
Not a trace of the Nascent Soul's aura leaked out.
"Shang Xingchen, my brother, I have stepped onto the path of the Nascent Soul. Do not disappoint me."
Shang Tianjue raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the void towards the Central Continent.