The aura of tribulation lightning was far too distinctive.
Once revealed, it was almost impossible to conceal.
A spirit insect capable of commanding tribulation lightning held boundless allure for any cultivator, even if the Heavenly Eye Butterfly could not yet offer much aid in facing heavenly tribulations.
Should word of this spread, it would inevitably invite tremendous trouble.
This was one of the reasons Qin Sang hardly ever let the Heavenly Eye Butterfly fight.
The man in white naturally understood this as well.
To wield tribulation lightning was unheard of.
He was shocked out of all composure, but what gripped him even more was terror for his own survival.
Had the other party not revealed the tribulation lightning, there might still have been room for negotiation. Now, it was strictly a battle to the death; neither side would ever permit anyone privy to the secret of tribulation lightning to leave alive!
It unfolded just as the man in white had feared.
Once the Heavenly Eye Butterfly struck, the Nascent Soul talisman puppet pressed its assault with redoubled savagery, every move aimed to kill.
*Boom! Boom!*
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly was ecstatic. She fluttered about the perimeter of the battlefield, a graceful, dancing flash of multicolored splendor, but the bolts of tribulation lightning she hurled were utterly merciless.
Forbidden by Qin Sang from using tribulation lightning, she had held it in for far too long.
At last, she could display her might!
Targeted by the butterfly, the man in white's spirit body dared not show itself at all. Meanwhile, the body of the Rainbow Rat he inhabited was nowhere near a match for the Nascent Soul talisman puppet, quickly battered into a mangled, ragged mess.
"Ah!"
A shrill scream suddenly tore from inside the Rainbow Rat.
It sounded like two voices crying out at once.
Right after, the rat's body began to convulse, its expression twisting into a savage grimace. Each shriek grew more piercing and agonized than the last; evidently, the Rainbow Rat's own consciousness was fighting back.
Undeterred, the Nascent Soul talisman puppet pushed the power of its puppet seal to the utmost. Rising like a dark fiendish specter, it extended a massive demonic claw and seized the Rainbow Rat.
*Squash!*
The puppet's five fingers punched through the Rainbow Rat's torso, and the energy of the puppet seal surged in violently, wreaking rampant destruction.
Blood sprayed in all directions, only to be swept away instantly by the raging tempest, wiped entirely clean.
*Crack!*
Its bones shattered completely.
The Rainbow Rat rolled its eyes back, the light of vitality fading rapidly from its gaze.
Right at that moment, an illusory silhouette drifted from the crown of its head—the Rainbow Rat's soul spirit. Like a wraith, it shot toward the depths of the storm.
The very next instant, a bolt of lightning struck the soul spirit with pinpoint accuracy.
The soul spirit instantly dispersed.
The Rainbow Rat had fallen!
Clutching the Rainbow Rat in one hand, the Nascent Soul talisman puppet swept over. Only after confirming that no remnant soul had escaped did it inspect the corpse in its grasp.
Inside the Rainbow Rat, not a wisp of breath remained.
During the fierce clash just now, beset by internal revolt and external assault, the man in white's spirit body had been annihilated.
Yet curiously, neither the puppet nor the Heavenly Eye Butterfly had detected the man in white's Nascent Soul from start to finish; it seemed to have dissolved into nothingness alongside the spirit body.
The talisman puppet stared at the Rainbow Rat, its expression stiff and its pupils turning mechanically. It pulled back its hand, holding an ice chest.
The chest was identical to those the man in white had cast away on the deserted island.
However, the restrictions layered over this particular chest were clearly extraordinary.
It was the sole relic left behind after the man in white's spirit body had dispersed.
Everything else, including his original fleshly vessel, had been abandoned by the man in white.
Only this item had been kept on his person.
Evidently, the contents of the ice chest were very likely that supreme treasure of Xuantian Palace.
Clutching the ice chest, the Nascent Soul talisman puppet obliterated the Rainbow Rat's corpse. It glanced around; the signs of battle had already been erased by the storm, leaving behind no lingering trail.
The Heavenly Eye Butterfly settled onto the puppet's shoulder.
Together, insect and puppet quietly departed.
No one knew that a vicious battle had just transpired here, claiming the lives of both a Demon King and a Nascent Soul cultivator.
***
On the deserted island.
The experts of both races remained entirely oblivious to the deception.
Demonic fire unfurled across midair, drawing wary looks from the cultivators and demons alike.
Bi Fang unleashed its divine transformations, blood-flame plumage clothing its form. Bent on seizing the treasure at all costs, it forced its way straight through the demonic fire.
Layer upon layer of demonic fire crashed against Bi Fang.
Resisting the flames, the plumage appeared remarkably solid.
In the short term, the demonic fire struggled to melt the feathers of blood-flame.
Seeing this, Bi Fang's confidence surged, and it charged forward with all its might.
Little did it know that Qin Sang was dividing his attention to monitor the Nascent Soul talisman puppet, his main focus elsewhere. After offering a perfunctory show of resistance, he gave up the pretense. Merging with his demonic fire, he also lunged toward the man in white.
At the same time,
Master Feng and the frog-fish were locked in a neck-and-neck chase, now within arm's reach of the man in white.
Throughout the pursuit,
the man in white had sustained wound after wound. He looked thoroughly wretched now: his white robes soaked red with blood, his injuries ghastly, his gait faltering, yet he stubbornly pressed onward.
Those watching could not help but marvel at such dogged determination.
But this was where it ended!
Catching the frog-fish off guard, Master Feng activated his scroll painting to force it back. Then, turning his magical treasure, he fired a pillar of wind straight into the back of the man in white's chest.
*Thump!*
Caught completely unprotected, the man in white pitched forward, crashed to the earth, and lay motionless.
Master Feng's expression flickered, an ominous foreboding welling up within him.
The frog-fish plunged toward the ground to seize the corpse.
A savage glint flashed across Master Feng's eyes, and he struck down viciously with a palm.
*Boom!*
The azure palm imprint slammed into the man in white.
The man's fleshly body blew apart on the spot.
What followed, however, caused the faces of both races' experts to pale in unison.
There was no Nascent Soul!
Not even the faintest aura of a nascent soul or primordial spirit!
Nothing remained but chunks of flesh and blood flying in all directions.
Even the dullest among them could tell that something was wrong.
*Plop!*
A shriveled mustard seed bag flew out from the mangled flesh. In the scramble, it was forcibly torn open, spilling out nothing but cheap, worthless trinkets. Where was any supreme treasure?!
"We've been duped!"
The same thought struck everyone simultaneously, leaving them furious beyond measure.
So many Demon Kings and Nascent Soul cultivators gathered on a single deserted island, only to be played for fools by a grievously wounded wretch! If word got out, the entire North Sea cultivation world would laugh them to scorn.
By this point, the Nascent Soul talisman puppet had already intercepted and slain the Rainbow Rat.
Learning the truth through the puppet, Qin Sang clicked his tongue in wonder.
When he had noticed the Rainbow Rat leaving the island on its own, he had initially suspected that the rat was up to some trick to steal the treasure for itself. Never had he imagined it was truly the man in white's doing—even when driven into a desperate corner, the man had possessed the cunning to pull off such an audacious deception.
Qin Sang hovered in midair, encircled by demonic fire, quietly watching events unfold.
The experts of both races had ceased fighting as well.
Without hesitation, Master Feng and Bi Fang whirled around and darted back into the deep ravine, only to find the shattered remnants of the four jade pillars.
What baffled the experts of both races was how the man in white could have projected his Nascent Soul in plain view of everyone and vanished into thin air.
Bi Fang scanned the surroundings, eyes flashing with vicious intent. Suddenly remembering something, it barked in a chilled voice, "Where did the Rainbow Rat go?"
The Demon Kings looked at one another in bewilderment.
Only then did it dawn on them.
Earlier, the Rainbow Rat had sent a voice transmission warning them of the man in white's true body, but had made not a single sound since.
The Rainbow Rat possessed profound abilities; the tracking mark it left on the man in white was not something a mere projection of the Nascent Soul could shake off. As long as the rat was around, finding the fugitive would have been effortless.
Yet the Rainbow Rat was gone as well!
The Demon Kings exchanged glances, a preposterous suspicion rising in their minds: could they have all ended up slaving away just to hand the prize to the Rainbow Rat?
"Such brilliant methods, everyone! Master Feng is truly impressed!"
Master Feng had also drawn the wrong conclusion, sneering with open contempt.
Chapter 1390