"The Heaven Refining Cauldron!"
A startled cry rang out beside Moon Hermit's ear.
Having just struck Old Daoist Jiyuan dead with a single finger, Moon Hermit paused as she withdrew her pale, jade-like hand. "Chart Spirit, what are you talking about?"
The artifact spirit of the Myriad Beasts Chart hesitated. "I was mistaken. That cauldron merely resembles the Heaven Refining Cauldron. Its grade and power are vastly inferior."
Moon Hermit let out a breath of relief.
She thought as much. She had watched with her own eyes not long ago as the Heaven Refining Cauldron self-detonated above the sea of clouds. How could a second one possibly appear?
Still...
For the artifact spirit of the Myriad Beasts Chart to mistake it even for a fleeting moment, the cauldron hovering above Demonic Lord Qingyang's head was surely no ordinary treasure.
Her attention naturally drifted toward the battle unfolding over there.
"Little Sister, give it up! Old Daoist Jiyuan is dead, and Blood Nightmare Moluo won't last half a cup of tea against Blood Hermit. Your alliance has already crumbled. The Yuan Demon Sect is gone, and you can never return to the Penglai Immortal Sect. But I have founded the Myriad Immortals Association. Come back with me, and I will protect you."
Holding her scroll, enveloped by rings of beast phantoms, Fairy Feileng fell silent.
Seeing her state, Moon Hermit shook her head and carefully recalled the Myriad Beasts Chart.
Formidable as this spirit treasure was, its drain on magical power was simply too immense. Even with her cultivation having recently stepped into the late Nascent Soul stage, forcibly driving it was still exceptionally taxing.
Yes, late Nascent Soul!
No one in the world would have imagined that Moon Hermit—supposedly the weakest of the Northern Sea's Three Great Loose Cultivators—had already quietly advanced to the late Nascent Soul stage, becoming a bona fide Great Cultivator!
By comparison, Mad Hermit had lost his mind long ago, while the overbearing and arrogant Blood Hermit had lost three Blood God Children during this excursion, leaving him incapable of matching a Great Cultivator.
Moon Hermit had leapt to become the strongest loose cultivator in the Northern Sea!
This was precisely how she had slain Old Daoist Jiyuan so swiftly and captured Fairy Feileng alive.
The might of a Great Cultivator crushed peers of the same realm with peerless supremacy!
Even so, the strain a spirit treasure placed on a Nascent Soul cultivator's magical power was unexpectedly harsh.
Seeing that Fairy Feileng offered no further resistance, Moon Hermit ceased her attacks and looked up at Luo Chen's battlefield.
With just a single glance, she let out a soft exclamation of surprise.
"That cauldron actually has the power to suppress a cultivator's Nascent Soul from shifting through the void?"
Within her sight, the small gray cauldron suddenly radiated five-colored brilliance, unfurling across heaven and earth like exquisite bolts of silk.
Clutching the fractured golden bell, Feiyunzi's Nascent Soul teleported incessantly in all directions.
Yet no matter where he darted, ribbons of five-colored light snaked out like chains to seize him.
Not only that, but beneath the high-hanging gray cauldron, bursts of cyan flames showered down.
Motes of golden light drifted within those cyan flames. Though gorgeous to behold, boundless danger lurked beneath their dazzling exterior.
A cultivator's Nascent Soul dared not touch them in the slightest.
Under this layered suppression, Feiyunzi's range of motion shrank steadily, making it impossible for him to unleash a Nascent Soul's thousand-li void displacement.
A hearty laugh rang across the square.
The nine-zhang giant clutched at empty air, and countless five-colored ribbons snapped shut. Feiyunzi's Nascent Soul was pinned directly in the void, unable to budge in the slightest. His tiny face was painted with an ashen look of sheer disbelief.
Watching this, Moon Hermit nodded slightly.
"That gray cauldron is truly extraordinary. It appears to be merely a high-grade magic treasure, yet it is only a single baptism of heaven and earth away from becoming a True Artifact. If it truly attains the rank of a True Artifact, any bare Nascent Soul exposed before it would be entirely powerless to resist."
Just how had such a profound treasure been forged?
The Myriad Beasts Chart possessed a similar capability, but it was a spirit treasure, agonizingly difficult to drive.
If she could obtain Demonic Lord Qingyang's gray cauldron and refine it a little...
A flicker of greed crossed Moon Hermit's graceful eyes.
Suddenly, a low whisper reached her ear.
"Elder Sister, that gray light holds secrets concerning Heaven Refining Demon Lord's ascension to the Body Integration stage. Do you not desire it?"
*Whoosh!*
Moon Hermit snapped her gaze toward Fairy Feileng. "Truly?"
Meeting her gaze, Fairy Feileng remained calm. "Though the painting in my hand is no spirit treasure, it holds a painting spirit. It once spent day and night beside the master of this realm and knows many hidden truths. I would never deceive you."
Moon Hermit remained half-skeptical. Instead of pressing Fairy Feileng for proof, she questioned the artifact spirit of the Myriad Beasts Chart, which she had only recently claimed.
Faced with her inquiry, the spirit of the chart grew evasive.
Moon Hermit's temper flared slightly. "Since you have acknowledged me as your master, how dare you hide anything from me?"
The chart spirit spoke in a heavy voice: "Every hall has its own inheritance rules. To obtain an inheritance, one must demonstrate corresponding worth and pass the corresponding trials. That gray light is a treasure left by the old master for the inheritor of the Alchemy Hall. You should not covet it."
"Hmph!"
Moon Hermit pressed no further.
The artifact spirit's attitude was more than enough to confirm her sister's words.
In that case...
In a flash, Moon Hermit soared into the sky, darting straight for the gray light.
Layers of moonlight radiated from her body, striking awe and an urge to submit into the heart of anyone who looked upon her.
Having just restrained Feiyunzi's Nascent Soul, Luo Chen watched this scene with fury flaring between his brows.
He had gone through unspeakable trials and tribulations, and had even seen his own physical body destroyed, to finally obtain that inheritance treasure.
Now, every single person who walked by seemed to think they could lay claim to it.
Was there no law in this world?
Naturally, there was no law in the cultivation world; there were only the rules enforced by the great sects within their own territories. And the Land of the Fallen Demon was beyond the reach of any great sect.
However, subduing that strand of gray light was by no means an easy feat for Moon Hermit.
Without the aid of the Myriad Beasts Chart, she cast several spells in succession and brought out multiple magic treasures to capture the gray light, yet all of them failed.
In fact, several treasures that were visibly extraordinary bizarrely disintegrated upon contact with the gray light.
Not only that, but the gray light expanded outward, showing signs of attempting to refine Moon Hermit herself.
For a time, Moon Hermit was reduced to a state of utter disarray in midair.
Down on the square, Fairy Feileng's eyes flickered.
*My sister is tied down.*
Now, all she needed was to wait until the teleportation array activated, and she might just break free from her grasp.
And the catalyst for that activation was arriving right now!
Her gaze settled on the two floating palaces that still shone with brilliance.
The Light Hall and the Artifact Hall!
The light upon them flickered faintly, clear evidence that the inheritors within had reached the very end of receiving their inheritances.
According to the painting spirit, once the inheritance trials concluded, Mingzhao Heaven would expel the masters of these halls to the outside world.
As for the cultivators stranded within the Five Elements Heavens, if they were lucky enough to find a stone chamber inscribed with a Spirit Absorbing Formation, they would be teleported out at the same time.
Those less fortunate would likely spend the rest of their lives trapped in this Land of the Fallen Demon, assimilated into entities no different from the strange beasts and elemental spirits here.
*Just hurry, please!* Fairy Feileng shouted in her heart.
She hated the Yuan Demon Sect. Though it had been the blessed ground where she reached the Nascent Soul stage, it was also the source of the humiliation of her earlier years.
She hated the Penglai Immortal Sect. Its disciples constantly preached benevolence and righteousness, yet proved the most cold and heartless when it mattered most.
As for this blood sister of hers, her suffocating desire for control made her physically sick. She disliked her most of all!
*Now that I have formed my Nascent Soul, I should roam freely between heaven and earth, never again bound by anyone's whims.*
Amid her quiet anticipation, the brilliance of the Light and Dark Halls gradually peaked.
***
"Luo Chen, how are things on your end?"
"I'm fine. Though less than a tenth of my magical power remains, it's just barely enough to suppress Feiyunzi's Nascent Soul."
Barely enough, but only just.
At the very least, Luo Chen could only watch helplessly as Moon Hermit attempted to forcibly subdue the gray light right before his eyes.
And he was powerless to stop her.
Truth be told, even at his peak, he would never dare provoke an old monster like Moon Hermit.
"What about you?"
"Though Haijiao Tianmu's cultivation is decent, she is utterly inept at combat. I'm having an easy time of it."
Luo Chen looked over in the direction of the voice.
Sure enough, just as Han Zhan had said, he held an overwhelming advantage over Haijiao Tianmu.
Seven bizarre puppets of unknown origin, each wielding a Seven Fiends Sword, formed the Seven Fiends Sword Formation to trap Haijiao Tianmu completely.
Furthermore, the Nascent Soul puppet Han Zhan was piloting stood guard at the formation's core, preventing any chance of escape.
As Luo Chen observed, he was startled to find that Han Zhan seemed to have power to spare.
*It seems he obtained immense benefits inside Mingzhao Heaven as well,* Luo Chen mused.
In the next moment, his attention was abruptly drawn back to the sky.
Moon Hermit suddenly spun around and unfurled that ancient, ink-wash scroll once more. A massive, mosquito-like proboscis emerged from the ancient painting.
All of Moon Hermit's grace and elegance were gone, replaced by madness.
She intended to forcibly drive this spirit treasure, which had only recently recognized her as master, to seize the gray light!
That proboscis was the attack of an unknown demon beast, yet it could briefly withstand the refining force of the gray light.
If this stalemate dragged on...
*Damn it!*
*In the end, I'm still too weak!*
Bitter and unwilling, Luo Chen clenched his fists tight.
Even after vanquishing an enemy like Feiyunzi, he was powerless against Moon Hermit's intervention.
Because of this, the opportunities he had secured in Mingzhao Heaven would be drastically diminished.
Not only had he failed to obtain a Heavenly Spirit Treasure, but even this mysterious gray light was about to change hands.
If he factored in the Five Spirits Dao Body he had gained and lost, the destroyed second primal core, the heavily injured Tianxuan, and the Black King whose fate remained unknown...
Luo Chen's breathing grew heavy and ragged.
"How dare you allow yourself to be distracted?"
A hollow voice drifted from the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Luo Chen was startled and instinctively circulated what little magical power remained in his golden core.
However, it was already too late!
Suspended in the void, bound by the five-colored ribbons, the three-inch Nascent Soul hoisted the golden bell aloft.
With utter resolve, he spat a stream of magical power onto the bell.
Already riddled with cracks, the golden bell abruptly expanded once more, forcefully tearing through the five-colored ribbons.
*Dong!*
The golden bell!
Before Luo Chen's widening, bloodshot eyes, it shattered violently.
The self-detonation of a True Artifact unleashed a localized tempest that radiated outward in all directions, centered on Feiyunzi's Nascent Soul.
Being the closest, Luo Chen took the brunt of the blow.
Driven by the tempest, his massive body stumbled backward repeatedly.
Buffeted by the shockwave, his natal magic treasure, the Hunyuan Cauldron, spun wildly in midair, faint cracks appearing upon its surface.
*Pfft!*
His natal treasure damaged, Luo Chen's divine soul flared with agonizing pain, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Yet even that blood was instantly obliterated by the True Artifact's detonating storm.
Across Cloud Sea Square, Blood Hermit and Han Zhan were both forced to cast defensive arts to withstand the blast from their respective skirmishes.
Blood Hermit was especially displeased. "To let an old bag of bones turn the tables—this brat Qingyang is utterly pathetic!"
Little did he know that this was Luo Chen's first time using the Hunyuan Cauldron's power to capture a cultivator's Nascent Soul. Furthermore, having undergone physical nirvana, his once-surging magical power had bizarrely vanished, leaving him unable to properly drive the Hunyuan Cauldron.
On top of that...
Of course, even if Blood Hermit knew this, he would only mock Luo Chen for lacking combat experience.
Luo Chen had no time to defend himself.
He was both shocked by Feiyunzi's ruthless decision to detonate his True Artifact, and furious at his own careless distraction.
"You are courting death!" he roared, halting his retreating form in midair.
The crimson origin power in his body erupted relentlessly, coalescing into a colossal, eagle-like blood claw that surged against the shockwave and tore through the air.
The Cloud-Seeking Divine Claw!
This was his most practiced technique. Combined with the backlash from detonating his own True Artifact, and positioned right at the center of the storm, Feiyunzi was at the end of his rope.
Defying the storm's impact and ignoring the scrapes from the golden bell's fragments, the crimson divine claw plunged directly into the eye of the tempest, clamping down on the golden-faced, three-inch figure.
The tiny figure still put up a desperate fight.
A sword pill frantically unleashed sword qi, riddling the incoming blood claw with countless holes.
Yet it was all in vain!
Luo Chen bared his teeth in a savage grin. Disregarding the sharp pain, his giant claw forcefully clamped down on both the sword qi and the three-inch Nascent Soul.
Then, he squeezed ruthlessly—
"Father—!"
A shrill, despairing scream pierced heaven and earth the moment Luo Chen crushed his grip.
Before his savage grin could fade, Luo Chen snapped his head up menacingly. Before the grand gates of the Light Hall, a young woman in a white dress wearing a golden crown stood with her hands over her mouth, watching the scene with eyes brimming with tears.
At the same time, the rumble of another hall's doors opening echoed across the sky.
From within the Dark Hall stepped a young man clad in a black tunic, his facial features bearing a sixty to seventy percent resemblance to Feiyunzi.
Across hundreds of li, he glared straight at Luo Chen with venomous hatred.
The opening of both the Light and Dark Halls meant the inheritance trials of Mingzhao Heaven had reached their conclusion.
The inheritors of the four halls—Alchemy, Slave, Light, and Dark—had all successfully claimed their inheritances.
Even though an accident had occurred on Luo Chen's side, finished was finished.
The Spirit Absorbing Formation that had operated continuously for twenty years suddenly reversed.
Mingzhao Heaven lost its light source.
The thirteen floating palaces, along with the half-ruined Alchemy Hall, began to slowly descend like dead stars.
Night fell across Mingzhao Heaven, turning it into a realm of eternal dark.
Amid the encroaching blackness, Cloud Sea Square began to rise with a deep rumble.
The teleportation array had activated!
Luo Chen pulled back his hand and summoned his natal treasure, the Hunyuan Cauldron, with a thought.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a streak of gray light chasing after the Hunyuan Cauldron.
"This..."
"That belongs to this seat!"
A chilling, hollow female voice rang out.
Disregarding the rising cloud-sea teleportation array, Moon Hermit lunged to seize the gray light.
Seeing a Great Cultivator bearing down on him, Luo Chen's face turned grim. Every muscle in his body coiled tight, preparing for a desperate, life-or-death struggle.
"Fall back!" Han Zhan's voice echoed in his ear.
In perfect sync, Luo Chen swallowed the shrunken Hunyuan Cauldron and the gray light mingled with it in a single gulp, retreating at top speed.
Passing right by him was a colossal dark shadow carrying the fury of wind and thunder. It opened its jaws and unleashed a massive orb of energy, blasting it toward the pursuing Moon Hermit.
Luo Chen saw it clearly—that dark shadow was a tiger.
A tiger?
Before he could dwell on it, Han Zhan had already reached his side.
"Go!"
Chapter 700