The members of the Zhu clan were struck with inexplicable horror. They had clearly seen Xu Ying walk up to the prisoner cart and do nothing at all—so why had the old immortal suddenly burst into wretched screams?
"Could the old immortal be pulling a scam?"
Someone muttered, "They do this all the time in antique shops—holding porcelain to bump into people and extorting them for money. Is he trying to shake down Monster King Xu?"
A nearby Grand Nuo snapped, "Insolence! That's what hoodlums and ruffians do! How could the old immortal of our Zhu clan ever do something like that?"
Yet the scene looked remarkably like an extortion scam. Xu Ying hadn't laid a finger on him, yet the man was wailing and thrashing about on the floor.
It was also the old immortal's own fault for being conceited. He shouldn't have targeted Xu Ying with his soul. Xu Ying's soul had already been tempered into an imperishable true spirit, and imperishable spiritual light emanated from within it.
Then again, the Zhu clan had locked down the old immortal's physical Realm of Xiyi, restricting his magic power and imprisoning his divine consciousness. The only thing at his disposal was his soul.
If he wished to discipline Xu Ying, his soul was his sole recourse.
If he wished to punish Xu Ying, he could rely on nothing else.
After weeping for a long while, the old immortal finally stemmed his grief. Cradling his hand, he still shuddered from the agonizing pain. Two fingers of his soul had shattered, and the soul's agony transmitted directly to his physical body, piercing his heart.
Worse still, though those two fingers still remained on his fleshly body, they had lost all sensation—as though they had never existed at all!
Injuries to the soul were exceedingly difficult to heal; there was no telling how long this pain would plague him.
*There must be an extraordinary treasure protecting this person's soul, powerful enough to snap two fingers of my soul! Such a magical treasure is rare indeed. What kind of rare relic could it be?*
Enduring the excruciating pain, his gaze fell upon Xu Ying, and he thought to himself, *Since antiquity, heavenly tribulations have been hard to overcome. Among them is a thunder tribulation specifically targeting the Primordial Spirit and soul, scattering it to the winds with a single strike! If I possessed this boy's treasure, perhaps I would stand a better chance against the heavenly tribulation.*
His heart grew fervently ambitious: *This fleshly body of mine is useless now, its life force burnt to depletion by the immortal fire of the other shore. Zhu Zhongquan will soon form a Golden Core. Once I seize his body, I'll kill this kid and take that soul-protecting treasure! Then I'll refine the immortal medicine in this body, seize the migrants' immortal herb, and claim the Heavenly Dao divine artifact. Overcoming the tribulation and ascending will be well within reach!*
Zhu Zhongquan was also watching Xu Ying. Fury raged within him, yet a smile remained plastered across his face. *Damn him, ruining my immortal destiny like this! Still, Xu Ying truly is not to be underestimated. His mastery of the Mud Pill secret depository and his Mud Pill Nuo arts are indeed far superior to mine. Could Zhou Qiyun have taught him?*
The Zhu clan had been terrified by Xu Ying's slaughter. In particular, the Nuo masters whose life force Xu Ying had drained feared him as if he were a god.
Only the Grand Nuo and clan elders were itching for a fight, eager for an opportunity to eliminate Xu Ying. Yet because Zhu Zhongquan forbade it, they could do nothing.
The bronze bell said to Xu Ying, "Ah Ying, these villagers will never be able to hold onto the crimson immortal wonder-herb. Once we leave, the Zhu clan will just return to seize it. Even if the Zhu clan doesn't, other aristocratic families will catch wind of it and come to plunder the treasure."
Xu Ying nodded gently.
Possessing a jade ring made one a target. The migrants owned such a wondrous treasure without the strength to protect it; sooner or later, the crimson immortal wonder-herb would bring catastrophe upon them.
Just then, several elderly villagers stepped forward to see Xu Ying, bowing low to thank him for saving them. Xu Ying helped them to their feet and asked, "Where did the crimson immortal wonder-herb in your village come from?"
The village elder at their head replied, "Our ancestors seized this immortal herb on the Yunmeng battlefield to protect our village."
"Seized on the Yunmeng battlefield?"
Xu Ying's interest was piqued, and he inquired further. The village elder didn't know all the details, only that according to ancient lore passed down through generations, they were not locals, but migrants from another realm among the heavens.
Their ancestors had been the mightiest warriors chosen from that world, sent under orders to suppress fiends, winning illustrious merits for the gods of the Heavenly Realm.
Yet the heavenly road had been severed, leaving them unable to return to their respective worlds, with no choice but to remain on this land.
This crimson immortal wonder-herb was known to the villagers as the Nine-Zhi immortal herb. It was a treasure their ancestors had seized on the Yunmeng battlefield and planted in the village, allowing them to thrive and multiply here.
Xu Ying grasped the general outline of what had occurred, though many questions remained unanswered. For instance, what kind of fiend required warriors to be selected from other realms among the heavens to suppress it?
What was the heavenly road? Why had it been severed? Why couldn't they return to their respective worlds?
Xu Ying walked up to the small earthen altar in the village and scrutinized the crimson immortal wonder-herb. Fragrance drifted from its nine zhi caps, and speckles of spiritual light flickered within the plant, darting between its stems and leaves.
As he stared at the spiritual light, resounding Dao sounds suddenly echoed by his ears. The nine-turn zhi herb seemed to grow larger and larger before his eyes, completely composed of streams of spiritual light, as though transforming into a spiritual root of heaven and earth that harbored immense power!
*This is a Dao image! The nine-turn zhi herb has a natural Dao image. It can be used as a magical treasure—and a living one at that!*
Xu Ying felt a jolt of astonishment. The sight before him was truly magnificent. Tracing the flow of the Nine-Zhi immortal herb's spiritual light, an understanding dawned on him, and he immediately felt he could deduce an extraordinary divine power from it!
Suddenly, within the vision, he spotted a cluster of aquatic light, a fist-sized orb of water floating among the spiritual radiance. Moist, glossy, and indescribably alluring!
Xu Ying channeled his magic power to draw the aquatic light over. To his surprise, the moment it touched his palm, it seeped directly into his body.
Having lost that aquatic light, the Nine-Zhi immortal herb wilted slightly.
Inside Xu Ying, a faint coolness surged forth and spread throughout his entire body, bringing supreme comfort.
Just then, within the cave-heavens of his Mud Pill secret depository, surges of powerful vitality were mobilized by that aquatic light. The potency of the celestial medicine of longevity from the Mud Pill secret depository erupted, refined by the aquatic light and swiftly forged into his limbs and bones!
He instantly felt surging, turbulent vitality merging into his body. His fleshly vigor grew ever more potent, and his physical frame became stronger by the second!
Brilliant light radiated from within him, shining through beneath his skin and enfolding his entire being in luminescence!
An extraordinary fragrance even wafted from Xu Ying's body, refreshing and sweet, making him resemble a humanoid Nine-Zhi immortal herb. It even provoked the appetite of Yuan Qi, who was closest to him.
"Ah Ying, you smell so good! Let me have a bite!" Yuan Qi cried.
Xu Ying shot him a glare. The divine radiance around him gradually dimmed, but the sweet fragrance still filled the air.
The marvelous medicinal potency contained within that aquatic light had catalyzed the longevity medicine of the Mud Pill secret depository, ceaselessly refining the celestial medicine of longevity into his body and inducing an extraordinary transformation!
The reason the divine light had dimmed was that the rate at which he fished the longevity medicine from his three Mud Pill cave-heavens could not keep up with the speed at which the aquatic light refined it, causing the light to fade considerably!
"Lord Bell, what was that aquatic light within the Nine-Zhi immortal herb?" Xu Ying asked the bronze bell.
The bronze bell replied, "I once heard my master say that certain immortal herbs in the Heavenly Dao world and Immortal Realm contain a wonderful energy known as primordial Dao essence. The aquatic light you obtained from that immortal herb is probably the primordial Dao essence nurtured within it."
Excitement took hold of the bell, and it buzzed around the back of Xu Ying's head. "Ah Ying, you smell delicious! Let me take a sip of your vitality! I haven't tasted what you're like after consuming primordial Dao essence yet. We're good brothers who have risked our lives together—what's wrong with letting me have one taste? Not even a single taste? Then our friendship is over!"
Xu Ying locked his Realm of Xiyi tight, resolutely barring it from entering.
Yuan Qi snapped, "You wretched bell, your injuries healed long ago, yet you cling to Ah Ying without any shame! Ah Ying, ignore it. If you humor it, it'll take a yard for every inch. It'll take one bite, then two, and then eat you clean up. Um, Ah Ying, why don't you chop off a leg for me to taste?"
The giant snake revealed his true colors, nuzzling up to Xu Ying and yelling, "You can grow it back anyway, so let me taste a leg! We've been good brothers for years!"
Furious, Xu Ying threw a punch, sending the giant snake tumbling and rolling clean out of the village.
Seeing this, the bronze bell hurriedly flew after Yuan Qi, shouting, "Master Qi, you have his scent on you! Come on, let me take a sip!"
The giant snake yelled back, "Get away! I'm keeping it for myself!"
Xu Ying summoned the village elder and said, "Earlier, when I contemplated your Nine-Zhi immortal herb, I derived an incantation to teach you. If you cultivate according to this incantation, you will be able to control the Nine-Zhi immortal herb to protect your village."
He imparted the sacrificial refinement incantation he had comprehended from the Dao image and Dao sounds to the villagers. It was a simple method of refinement and Qi cultivation; by chanting several different Dao sounds, one could activate the Nine-Zhi immortal herb.
Furthermore, diligent practice would strengthen one's own vitality.
This already amounted to creating a new cultivation technique. Even for the Nuo masters of the Guo and Zhu clans, such a technique would be considered a top-tier art, comparable only to the secret arts reserved for the upper echelons of their clans! Yet to Xu Ying, it was merely an offhand creation born from observing the Nine-Zhi immortal herb.
After teaching several villagers, Xu Ying left them to instruct the rest, then inquired about the ancient Yunmeng battlefield.
The village elder said to him, "Much of our village's history has been lost, and there are no records of that."
"Are there records in the stone city?" Xu Ying asked.
"That is an ominous city. It has long been empty, with no living inhabitants. The fires of war in that city have burned unceasingly for a thousand years; the ghosts of our ancestors dwell there."
The village elder told him that every day, the heroic spirits of their ancestors who had died in battle still drilled with weapons in the city. The deafening sounds of clashing blades and slaughter often rang out, as though they continued their bloody war even in death!
"The villagers of every settlement live in these villages; there are no living people in the city. In the middle of the month, when the full moon rises, the city vanishes," the village elder said. "Anyone inside disappears along with it. In the past, many villagers strayed into the stone city and, coinciding with the full moon, vanished without a trace alongside the great city. None of those who disappeared ever returned alive."
An old woman nearby chimed in, "One fool came back alive, stark raving mad, babbling every day about wanting to kill this person or that."
The elder recalled this and nodded. "He wasn't a fool before entering the stone city. By the way, Benefactor, several days ago, a strange group of people entered the stone city."
Xu Ying expressed his thanks and walked out of the village. Calling over Guo Xiaodie, Zhu Hongyi, Li Yingzhu, and the others, he explained the origin of the immortal herb, adding, "That stone city vanishes on the night of the full moon. It's extremely bizarre. Today is the fourteenth; past midnight tonight will be the fifteenth—ouch, that tickles!"
Xu Ying hurriedly pushed Guo Xiaodie's face away. The girl had been licking his ear, sending a numbing tingle through his body that threatened to make his limbs go soft.
Guo Xiaodie stammered, "You smell so good, I couldn't resist wanting a taste... Keep going!"
Li Yingzhu gazed at him with dazed, flickering eyes. "Yes, keep going."
She leaned so close her face was practically touching Xu Ying's, prompting Guo Yue to hastily pull his wife back.
Li Yingzhu murmured, "He smells so good..."
Xu Ying collected himself and said, "This immortal herb was a treasure their ancestors obtained upon entering the ancient Yunmeng Marsh battlefield. I suspect the stone city is actually a conduit to the ancient battlefield. Entering the city may allow one to cross into the ancient battlefield on the night of the full moon, where more immortal herbs might be found."
Flanking him on the left and right, Guo Xiaodie and Zhu Hongyi pressed in on both sides, harboring dubious intentions toward him.
Xu Ying extended his hands, placed a palm on each woman's face, and pushed them back. Maintaining a calm expression, he said, "Once you gather the immortal herbs, you will smell even better than I do. This kind of herb can help you rapidly refine the immortal medicines of the six secret depositories! Furthermore, the village elder mentioned that a group has already entered the stone city. The cooking smoke we saw rising from the city earlier must be from them preparing meals!"
Once pushed away from him, Guo Xiaodie and Zhu Hongyi snapped back to their senses.
Guo Xiaodie declared murderously, "Who has the gall to snatch the Guo clan's immortal herbs?"
Zhu Hongyi gave Xu Ying an elegant bow of thanks and immediately returned to the Zhu clan's ranks to inform her clansmen.
The group set out at once toward the stone city. Along the way, Xu Ying spotted other settlements and burial mounds outside the villages, which were likely the graves of their ancestors.
Waves of exceptionally potent slaughtering intent broke through the earth from these mounds, rising dozens of fathoms into the sky to coalesce into blades, swords, battle-axes, halberds, and all manner of weapons, radiating torrential bloodlust!
From atop some graves, blood even seeped out, while a blood cloud hovered above the mounds, constantly drizzling crimson rain!
The slaughtering intent of these graves was so thick that even Xu Ying, who had once wielded a malevolent weapon like the stone axe, felt uncomfortable facing them.
"In life, they bathed in blood across the heavens and earth; in death, they still refuse to lay down their arms. True warriors!" Yuan Qi muttered.
Xu Ying nodded. "Well said, Master Qi."
Arriving outside the stone city, they looked up. The main structure of the city's walls was the colossal skeleton of an immense serpent, with the gap where its head met its tail serving as the city gate.
The migrants had built the city walls around the framework of this gigantic serpent skeleton. The walls towered far higher than those of the imperial capital, likely designed to fend off the charges of behemoths from Yunmeng Marsh. Xu Ying tilted his head back and saw claw marks three to four feet thick and over a dozen fathoms long gouged into the wall—scars left by some unknown beast, still stained with dried blood.
Suddenly, shrill whistles pierced the air as arrows shot out from the city toward the Guo and Zhu clan convoys!
Each arrow was twenty to thirty feet long, ground from massive bone. As they sliced through the air, they produced strange whistling shrieks, flying with terrifying speed far fiercer than flying swords!
Where the stray arrows struck the ground, the earth blasted open, churning in rolling waves with horrifying force; the blast waves alone were enough to blow back Nuo masters who had opened three cave-heavens!
"So it's Nuo masters of the Li clan!"
When Li Yingzhu recognized the Nuo masters ambushing them from atop the stone city, she flew into a rage and shouted, "Which blind fool dares attack even me?"
Coming from the imperial family, she held an illustrious status, deterring the Nuo masters on the wall from attacking further.
Just then, a young man hurried onto the city wall, peered down, and hastily called out, "So it's Second Aunt! This is all a misunderstanding!"
Turning around, the young man glared fiercely at the archers and hissed in an undertone, "If you can't kill them outright, don't be so eager to strike! Understood?"
The archers voiced their assent.
Li Yingzhu warned Guo Xiaodie and the others, "The man on the wall is Prince Heir Li Tingshu, the standout among the Li clan's younger generation. He sounds sweet when calling me aunt, but he's rotten to the core. Watch out—the moment he finds an opening, he won't hesitate to finish us off!"
Grave expressions fell over the crowd as they cautiously led their Nuo masters into the city.
Xu Ying also followed them inside. Prince Heir Li Tingshu came forward with a smile. "Second Aunt, how did you find your way here?"
He promptly knelt in greeting, chuckling. "Earlier, the Jinwu Guards' eyes played tricks on them; they didn't realize it was you, Second Aunt."
Li Yingzhu sneered, "One of these days, when your eyes play tricks on you, you'll probably finish off your imperial father too."
Li Tingshu laughed heartily. "Second Aunt is truly fond of joking. Monster King Xu!"
His gaze shifted to Xu Ying. Stepping forward, he bowed low and said, "Your great name precedes you! I have heard my imperial father and Imperial Uncle Li mention Your Excellency many times!"
Xu Ying's aura rippled slightly, but he paid it no heed.
Li Tingshu raised an eyebrow, thinking, *I unleashed a divine power under the guise of bowing, yet I failed to knock him over. Monster King Xu truly lives up to his reputation. But I haven't used my full strength yet. Once he helps me up, I'll clash with him again!*
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he saw Xu Ying stroll right past him, not only offering no hand to help him up, but not even sparing him a glance.
Li Tingshu was incensed.
Xu Ying surveyed his surroundings. At this moment, the city held not only Nuo masters of the Li clan, but also those of the Cui clan, among whom stood Cui Dongli.
Seeing Xu Ying, Cui Dongli's eyes once again burned with eager anticipation, as if itching to challenge him anew.
Seeing this, Yuan Qi said to the bronze bell, "That fellow must have had another lucky encounter recently. Look how much more confident he is than before."
Suddenly, the strumming of a zither drifted over, evocative of towering mountains and flowing water, its artistic conception profound. A young noble dressed in snow-white robes sat upon a stone bridge playing the zither, yet the notes rang out like warriors brandishing weapons, thick with killing intent.
The bronze bell said to Xu Ying, "That person's heart is far from peaceful. Ah Ying, do you have a grudge with him?"
Xu Ying looked over. Not recognizing the white-robed youth, he shook his head. "Never seen him."
Guo Xiaodie said, "That is Gao Xingqian of the Gao clan, a genius nurtured by an aristocratic pedigree. It's said he intended to intercept Monster King Xu on the Luo River back then, but for some reason, he never made a move."
Night fell, casting moonlight over the land.
Nuo masters from the Chai and Zhao clans arrived together, led by Chai Wuyong, while the Zhao clan was led by two young men. Both the Chai and Zhao clans were newly risen aristocratic families lacking the deep heritage of clans like the Cui, Gao, and Pei; they had to join forces to brave Yunmeng Marsh.
Feeling several more fervent gazes locked onto him, Xu Ying wondered in bewilderment, *When did I offend these people?* Still, he thought nothing of it.
Just then, a youth walked into the stone city from outside, completely alone, with a single Golden Core floating before him.
Xu Ying's gaze fell upon him, his eyebrows twitching in surprise. *This Qi Refiner is remarkably strong! Cultivating only Qi without practicing Nuo arts, yet able to reach such a level?*
The bronze bell was also filled with astonishment, murmuring in a low voice, "Ah Ying, I sense my master's aura from this youth! He must be cultivating my master's technique!"
The bronze bell grew restless. "Could my master... still be alive?"
Chapter 139