Black Dragon Mountain.
The moon was high in the sky. The place was silent and deserted.
Previously, Feather Transformation Heaven Palace had swept through, nearly exterminating all the disciples of the Hundred Refinements Sect at Black Dragon Mountain.
At this moment, however, two figures stealthily approached the area. They were Song Junjie and Qian Tang.
"The Gu in my body suddenly became less active; could it be that our master has left us far behind?" Qian Tang whispered.
Song Junjie pondered, "I heard from a Golden Core elder that the extraterritorial battlefield has opened. Could he have gone there?"
Qian Tang nodded, "That's very likely! Does this mean we are no longer bound? We don't have to follow the commands of that old demon anymore!"
Song Junjie laughed heartily, "Exactly! Now is our chance to find a way to dissolve the Five Organs Gu and completely free ourselves from that old demon!"
The transition from "master" to "he" to "old demon" was swift.
...
Moonlight bathed the forest. At the top of a tall mountain, a stern-faced middle-aged man spoke firmly.
"Major young master, you need not feel guilty over Mo Ming's death. He once betrayed the Nether Dao Sect by leaking information. Even though he repented and even offered up the heads of geniuses from Feather Transformation Heaven Palace, his heart had changed, and he was no longer worthy of being your confidant.
In the Corpse Nurturing Tower and Ghost Nurturing Tower are the physical bodies and living souls of Hidden Mountain Gathering members, at your disposal.
Major young master, when I, Qi Yin, was but a mere Qi Cultivator, you protected me. I seized another's spiritual root to establish my foundation, and only then could I step onto the path of the Golden Core. Your Nascent Soul is gravely damaged, and without a body, it would surely perish. I offer my body to you!"
With those words, he didn't even wait for Shang Tianjue to speak and used a secret method to destroy his own soul. In an instant, he became a mere shell, an excellent vessel.
A sigh from Shang Tianjue echoed in his mind. The stern middle-aged man's eyes suddenly brightened again.
However, this time, the look in his eyes was completely different.
Cold! Icy! Unrestrained!
These were the eyes of the Overlord, Shang Tianjue!
He scanned the two towers with his spiritual sense. Inside, he found ten Golden Core cultivators' bodies and ten Golden Core cultivators' souls, clearly killed by Qi Yin in his lifetime.
However, a few were missing. They must have sensed the danger and escaped in time.
No matter. From this moment on, Hidden Mountain Gathering ceased to exist.
"Qi Yin, Black Chess, Hidden Mountain Gathering… If it weren't for your pivotal role, our plan to severely damage Feather Transformation Heaven Palace wouldn't have gone so smoothly," Shang Tianjue acknowledged.
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"Qi Yin, I promise you, once I return from the extraterritorial battlefield, I will establish your family as a Golden Core family. A Golden Core in every generation, never to fade away!"
Holding the battlefield token, Shang Tianjue flew towards an ancient teleportation formation that was not guarded by any Feather Transformation Heaven Palace cultivators.
"The fall of the three Nascent Soul ancestors from the Nether Dao Sect on the extraterritorial battlefield was no accident. It could either be a great peril or a great opportunity! I must uncover the truth."
A fiery determination blazed in his eyes.
...
Extraterritorial Battlefield.
This was a land made up of wreckage and ruins. Everywhere one looked was desolate, completely devoid of life.
At this moment, on a plain, a group of slender, pitch-black demonic beasts was chasing a beautiful, slim woman. Her face was filled with terror, and her body was covered in wounds. Her close-fitting daoist robe was torn in many places, almost to the point of rags. Despite the sudden exposure, she had no intention of covering up. Escape was her only priority—there was no time for modesty.
"Spiritual Qi... I'm running out of Spiritual Qi!" she panicked as the bizarre demonic beasts closed in.
The woman tried to activate her escape technique again but found her Spiritual Qi completely depleted. She couldn't even muster enough to initiate her technique.
"Can anyone save me?" she desperately hoped for a miracle, a mighty savior to appear from the heavens.
Just then, the space in front of her twisted abruptly. In the blink of an eye, a figure appeared. It was Chu Xuan.
"Save me! I'll give you anything I have!" she exclaimed in delight, rushing towards Chu Xuan.
Her pitiful appearance, combined with her graceful figure and the exposed skin of her chest, would stir the heart of anyone.
Chu Xuan frowned deeply, glancing at the swarm of bizarre demonic beasts pursuing them. He quickly used an escape technique to put distance between himself and the female cultivator. He didn't hesitate to slap two movement talismans on his legs, boosting his speed significantly.
Soon, he had put a considerable distance between them. The woman was dumbfounded. She had always been confident in her beauty and had even resorted to using a charm technique, yet she had failed to captivate him!
The woman, teeth clenched in frustration, threatened, "I am a cultivator from the Majestic Sword Sect! My master is Flying Dragon Sword Shangguan Hao! My death image will be known to my master. If you abandon me, he will see it too!"
Upon hearing this, Chu Xuan immediately stopped. The woman's face lit up with joy, thinking that this person was the type who responded to threats rather than pleas, and she had successfully intimidated him into saving her.
"Fellow daoist, I will forever remember your lifesaving grace! Should you ever visit the Majestic Sword Sect, you will be handsomely rewarded!" she said, quickly approaching Chu Xuan while covertly readying a soul-capturing spell in her hand.
Chu Xuan turned around with a cold smile. In her eyes of despair, he lifted his foot and then…
Kicked her right into the midst of the beasts.
"Majestic Sword Sect wiped out my entire sect! This hatred is irreconcilable! I, He Liang, specifically hunt down cultivators of the Majestic Sword Sect!"
Chu Xuan's face was covered by He Liang's human skin mask as he spoke. The woman screamed repeatedly as she was torn apart by the bizarre demonic beasts.
Chu Xuan then took the opportunity to accelerate. Before the other demonic beasts could catch up, he threw out a barrage of Yin Thunder Seeds to temporarily repel them and made a quick escape.
...
A few days later.
Chu Xuan hid in a mountain cave, sighing helplessly.
"I didn't expect that these surroundings would be swarming with these bizarre demonic beasts known as Nether Crocodiles. Even if I can break out for a distance, I can't sustain it long; the surrounding Nether Crocodiles would swarm again. Such terrible luck, to land right among a group of demonic beasts."
Chu Xuan shook his head repeatedly.
If Wan Wuying hadn't given them each a jade slip imbued with the sense of common demonic beasts found on the extraterritorial battlefield before they entered, he might not even know what was surrounding him.
The Nether Crocodile, a common demonic beast found on the extraterritorial battlefield, is about the length of an adult's thigh, entirely black, with a body hard as steel and streamlined for swift movement.
Spells from a Golden Core cultivator are, at most, seventy percent effective against them.
"These Yin Thunder Seeds seem to cause decent damage to the Nether Crocodiles; looks like I need to stock up on these," he mused. "I shall return to Blue Star produce more Yin Thunder Seeds, and then blast them all!"
With a cold snort, Chu Xuan turned and returned to Blue Star.