Chu Jun took off those few concealment talismans and casually stuck them on Ning Buwei’s shoulder.
Ning Buwei frowned, “You—”
“Silence.” Chu Jun said in a low voice. A gust of wild wind whistled past the crevice. He reached out casually, and instantly a burst of dense green light exploded between his fingers.
“Got it.” Chu Jun lowered his gaze to look at the flowing light in his palm. With a fluid motion, he applied a talisman, and the surrounding environment suddenly changed.
Ning Buwei looked around and found that the surroundings were endless emptiness, ethereal and intangible. Time and space seemed to stagnate here, yet also seemed to be rapidly flowing and distorting, leaving one with nowhere to stand.
Above Fusion, primordial spirits could enter the void. In a single breath, thousands of years could pass, or thousands of years could pass in just one breath.
Chu Jun looked at Ning Buwei who suddenly appeared beside him and was stunned for a moment, “How did you get in?”
Ning Buwei had entered the void with Ning Xingyuan before, so he naturally knew what it felt like. He narrowed his eyes at Chu Jun and said sinisterly, “Golden Core stage cultivator?”
Chu Jun cleared his throat, “It’s dangerous here, stay close to me.”
As soon as he finished speaking, hundreds of dazzling green lights suddenly appeared in the emptiness, enveloping the primordial spirits of the two from all directions. They seemed to move extremely slowly, but in the blink of an eye, they were right in front of them.
A Taiji seal floated up in Chu Jun’s palm, and he waved it out with his sleeve.
The moment the Taiji seal touched the green light, it suddenly expanded hundreds of times. Countless crimson spiritual energies intertwined to form a fine net, suddenly gathering into countless crimson points, then abruptly transforming into hundreds of crimson spirit lights. Under the blessing of the Taiji seal, they each formed countless Eight Trigrams shapes, firmly trapping the green light that was trying to close in various places.
The dazzling spirit lights exploded in the void. Ning Buwei only felt his mind violently shaken, a sweet and bloody taste surging in his throat. Yet from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a person wielding a sword charging directly at his primordial spirit’s brow.
Ning Buwei narrowed his eyes. Just as he was about to mobilize the spiritual energy within his body, a hand firmly pressed it down. Then his waist tightened, and he was thrown out directly. Countless crimson spiritual energies extended to steady him, wrapping around him tightly.
He looked at the red rope that had somehow been wound around his waist, fell silent for a moment, then raised his head to look. He saw two primordial spirits, one black and one red, fighting fiercely in the void, moving so fast that only traces of afterimages could be seen. The Taiji seal hovered firmly at the top, with countless crimson spirit lights trapping the green light with nowhere to go.
Ning Buwei had cultivated for five hundred years but had only reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm. This was the first time he had seen primordial spirits battling in the void. At first, he only felt dazzled, but for some reason, the red rope tied around his waist seemed to have a deep connection with that surnamed Chu’s primordial spirit, allowing him to vaguely see what was happening.
Although Ning Buwei’s cultivation level was only at the Qi Condensation stage now, he still had the eyesight of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Entering the void at the Nascent Soul stage and being able to observe the battle of primordial spirits of Hinayana cultivators was an opportunity that could be encountered but not sought. He immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes to open his spirit, and began to observe and comprehend the battle.
The residual spiritual energy from the battle alone was dozens of times more concentrated than in the outside world. It would be foolish not to take advantage of such an opportunity.
Chu Jun hadn’t expected to pull Ning Buwei’s primordial spirit into the void as well. While battling the green light, he couldn’t help but divert some attention to check on Ning Buwei. To his surprise, he found that this guy had started comprehending and cultivating without any hesitation. Chu Jun felt both annoyed and amused, but still sent over a few sword energies to protect him while he cultivated.
The master of the green light, dressed in black, seemed angered by their actions. His attacks became increasingly fierce, with sinister and tricky moves aimed directly at the wound on Chu Jun’s shoulder.
“Venerable Jinghe’s calculations are quite good,” the opponent laughed. “You’re even willing to sacrifice disciples within the sect to lure me out. But do you know how long your forcibly raised cultivation level can last?”
Black energy spewed from the wound on Chu Jun’s shoulder, beginning to entangle and invade his primordial spirit, spreading rapidly. His forcibly raised cultivation level to the Hinayana stage began to gradually weaken.
Chu Jun’s gaze cooled slightly. He pressed two fingers together, forcibly gathering the black energy into one place. “Long enough to send you to the afterlife.”
“Heh,” the man chuckled lightly. “Don’t you care about the disciples of the Wushi Sect? If I die here, the entire Wushi Sect will have to accompany me in death.”
Chu Jun flipped his wrist, and a bright, clear long sword appeared in his palm. He charged at the opponent without hesitation, who also summoned a broad sword to counter.
Sword edges clashed, spiritual energies entangled, and the Taiji seal pressed down mercilessly. The spiritual energy fluctuations in the void suddenly surged again, with spirit light splashing in all directions.
Clearly, he didn’t care about the lives of the Wushi Sect disciples.
The man sneered, “The Venerable is so heartless, you should go cultivate the Heartless Dao!”
Chu Jun held the sword in one hand and formed seals with the other, forcing the opponent into a dead end. To prevent him from escaping like last time, the countless crimson spiritual energies around them merged into Eight Trigrams, leaving no chance for even a bit of the opponent’s primordial spirit to escape.
Unexpectedly, the man let go of his sword, cutting directly towards Ning Buwei, who was meditating with closed eyes in the void.
Chu Jun’s long sword shot out at high speed, knocking down the sword attacking Ning Buwei in mid-air. A few pieces of the excited Suzaku Knife, arriving a step late, circled around Chu Jun’s long sword before returning to their master’s side, looking uninterested.
Chu Jun: “……”
Thinking about fighting while comprehending, simply ridiculous.
“This one you indeed can’t bear to lose,” the man laughed mockingly. “You could fall into possession once because of him, do you believe you could fall a second time?”
Chu Jun said coldly, “Who exactly are you?”
“A good person,” the other replied leisurely.
Recalling his long sword, Chu Jun, who never liked to waste words when fighting, split the primordial spirit with one sword strike. The Eight Trigrams closed in, the Taiji seal pressed down, and the soul scattered, completely destroyed.
The vast, boundless void instantly returned to silence, but Chu Jun didn’t relax. Instead, he concentrated on sensing the subtle spiritual energy fluctuations around him.
Ning Buwei sat with his eyes closed. Pure, concentrated spiritual energy flowed through his extraordinary meridians and gathered in his dantian. Countless cracks were instantly repaired. The scenes of the two Hinayana stage cultivators fighting, which had been so fast they left afterimages, flashed through his mind one by one. Each move and technique became extremely slow and clear, even how they formed hand seals and how spiritual energy flowed seemed to be slowed down dozens of times.
Even within each realm, the gap between mid-stage and grand perfection was extremely large, let alone the gap between Hinayana and Nascent Soul stages with the Fusion stage in between. Even though Ning Buwei watched so carefully, he could only comprehend two or three tenths of it. But this was already enough to be exciting. If he were to cultivate on his own, it would take hundreds of years to comprehend this much.
He felt that less than half an incense stick’s time had passed, yet the gray dantian in his sea of consciousness was already faintly coated with a layer of brilliant golden light. It was even larger than his dantian when he had reached the grand perfection of Nascent Soul stage. His extraordinary meridians had also widened by more than double. Countless spiritual energies surged in, directly breaking through from Qi Condensation stage to mid Golden Core stage. If Ning Buwei hadn’t suppressed it in time, he would have almost directly reached half-step Nascent Soul.
Ning Buwei firmly suppressed the spiritual energy within his body, sighing in relief as if having survived a disaster.
In the void, they were primordial spirits, so naturally, there would be no tribulation lightning. But it would be different once they left. Once the primordial spirit returned to the physical body, breaking through from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment, and from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, these tribulation lightnings would stack together. Since he didn’t cultivate any orthodox method, the Heavenly Dao would naturally try to strike him to death. Each tribulation was a life-and-death situation. With so many tribulation lightnings, he feared he would be directly struck to ashes.
Ning Buwei took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.
However, the moment he opened his eyes, he leapt up. The Suzaku fragments by his hand instantly condensed into a narrow knife. With a piercing gaze, he chopped directly towards a spot in the void. Another long sword arrived almost simultaneously.
The knife and sword intersected in the air. Suddenly, a burst of green light exploded in the void. The primordial spirit that Chu Jun had just split with his sword retreated several steps quickly, using an array to block the knife and sword.
Chu Jun stood holding his sword, glancing at Ning Buwei beside him, then looking at the green light’s primordial spirit, “Rejuvenation Array.”
No wonder last time when he had scattered the opponent’s soul, the green light still appeared again in the Wushi Sect.
The primordial spirit chuckled softly. “Venerable Jinghe has good eyesight.”
Ning Buwei suddenly turned his head to look at Chu Jun, his face showing completely undisguised shock. He even unconsciously stepped back half a step, his disdain evident.
Chu Jun: “……”
There was no need to react so obviously.
Ning Buwei stared at the primordial spirit with blurred features and coldly questioned. “What’s your relationship with Ning Xingyuan?”
“What’s my relationship with Ning Xingyuan?” The primordial spirit seemed amused, “What do you think?”
A Hinayana stage cultivator who could use the Rejuvenation Array so skillfully and resurrect without being restricted by the Heavenly Dao… Ning Buwei remained silent, gripping the Suzaku narrow knife tightly.
“Did you like my welcome gift?” the other smiled, “Chengfeng.”
Ning Buwei’s face changed as he raised his head to stare at him intently.
“Five hundred years ago, weren’t you just like that little disciple, practicing evil techniques and falling into possession, killing the few remaining bloodlines of the Ning family?” The other sighed with some regret, “What, have you forgotten?”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Ning Buwei stared at him expressionlessly, “Are you here to avenge them?”
The primordial spirit chuckled. “Of course not. I’ve already said, this is a welcome gift—”
“Thanks to Venerable Jinghe, otherwise I would have had to wait much longer to speak with you.”
As soon as these words fell, Chu Jun, standing beside Ning Buwei, suddenly became alert, “Ning Xiu!”
Ning Buwei’s face changed instantly.
The other laughed happily. “Venerable Jinghe, you know how to draw the snake from its hole, and I also know how to lure the tiger away from the mountain.”
“Quick, go back!” Ning Buwei said to Chu Jun.
Chu Jun nodded, grabbing Ning Buwei to leave, but was blocked by that primordial spirit.
In the cave at the foot of Yijian Peak, half of Chu Jun’s primordial spirit in the red-robed shell, holding Ning Xiu, engaged in battle with the newcomer.
“Venerable Jinghe, you’re already injured, you won’t last long,” the opponent’s moves were clearly effortless. “One misstep, and I’m afraid the heart demon from five hundred years ago will emerge again. Falling into possession once more would be a loss not worth the gain.”
Chu Jun controlled the red-robed shell, the suppressed evil energy at his shoulder wound beginning to spread again.
While speaking, the person’s attacks became increasingly fierce, directly threatening Ning Xiu in Chu Jun’s arms. “This is just a demon creature, surely the Venerable can see that? Or is it—”
He chuckled softly, his voice sometimes far, sometimes near, as if drilling into Chu Jun’s mind through the spreading evil energy of the wound, “Your foolish infatuation with Ning Chengfeng, even five hundred years of cultivating the Way of Tranquility couldn’t suppress it?”
“Wah!” Ning Xiu suddenly awoke in Chu Jun’s arms, clutching Chu Jun’s clothes with a terrified expression, wailing loudly.
Chu Jun’s primordial spirit was split in two, half battling the green light with Ning Buwei in the void, the other half in this red-robed shell fighting this person.
Ning Xiu in his arms had an unstable soul, his three souls and seven spirits about to scatter, as if something was forcibly trying to suck away his soul, crying heartbreakingly.
In the void, Ning Buwei, while Chu Jun was holding off the opponent, said in a deep voice. “Chu Jun, send me out!”
A moment later, Ning Buwei’s primordial spirit in the rock crevice returned to his body. He initially wanted to leave directly, but when his gaze swept over Chu Jun’s original body opposite him, he gritted his teeth and slung the person over his shoulder, flying swiftly on his sword towards Yijian Peak.
Just as he had broken through to the mid Golden Core stage in the void, twelve tribulation lightning bolts for Foundation Establishment and thirty-six for Golden Core came rolling out, closely following behind him. They seemed to be looking for the right target to strike down, and for a moment couldn’t keep up with his speed.
The tribulation lightning was majestic, carrying an anger that wouldn’t rest until it struck him dead. Black clouds extended from Yuanye Peak all the way to Yijian Peak, covering more than half of the Wushi Sect, alarming countless people.
“Wow, this tribulation lightning,” a middle-aged man on the pavilion of Ruogu Peak stroked his goatee, commenting, “Which unorthodox bastard is it trying to strike dead?”
Several elders beside him looked over upon hearing this. “It looks like just Foundation Establishment breaking through to Golden Core, but this scale makes it seem like some great cultivator is about to ascend.”
“Come to think of it, it seems like someone is fighting in the void,” the middle-aged man said with a smile. “At least Hinayana stage.”
“Then we’d better not get involved,” a female cultivator who had been eager to join in immediately lost interest. “Let’s not lose our lives watching the excitement.”
“Dean Hao, could it be Venerable Jinghe?” someone asked. “The Venerable has already cultivated to the Hinayana stage in just five hundred years… Now there are no more than five great cultivators at the Hinayana stage, none have undergone tribulation, ascension is hopeful.”
“Hinayana,” Hao Zheng snorted with a laugh. “Even if he cultivates to the Mahayana stage, it won’t happen.”
The person drew in a sharp breath, “What do you mean?”
Hao Zheng stroked his beard and yawned, “A stubborn fool, unable to pass the tribulation of love.”
Being tormented by a fated person for over five hundred years, who knows what will happen now that he’s out of seclusion.
The female cultivator who was drinking tea spat it out, her eyebrows shooting up, “I chased him for three hundred years without getting a single word, how can this ice block have a love tribulation?”
Hao Zheng looked at her pitifully, “Not only does he have one, but it’s quite deep.”
Shang Nuanwei silently rolled her eyes and said sourly, “Which unfortunate soul has caught his eye.”
—
Ning Buwei arrived at Yijian Peak amid thunder and lightning, and saw Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng cowering in a corner, protected behind that white-robed shell.
Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang looked at the sky full of clouds and lightning, their faces turning even paler.
And from the lake surface came the faint sound of a child crying.
Ning Buwei threw Chu Jun’s true body towards the white-robed shell, then flew towards the lake surface. He saw the lake surface instantly roil with waves, and the tribulation lightning seemed to have found Ning Buwei’s position, beginning to strike down one after another.
Ning Buwei held the Suzaku narrow knife, using the knife to guide the lightning. The lightning instantly lit up the night sky as bright as day, then with tremendous force struck directly towards that green light.
Chu Jun, controlling the red-robed shell, retreated rapidly, breaking through the rolling thunder clouds. The Taiji seal in his palm suddenly expanded and took shape, pressing down from above towards the person bearing the lightning. Then, with a pull of the red string in his hand, he yanked the bloodthirsty Ning Buwei away from under the tribulation lightning.
The moment Ning Buwei was pulled away, the Taiji seal along with the tribulation lightning crashed down. Huge waves surged on the vast lake surface, and within a hundred miles of Yijian Peak, mountains crumbled and the earth split, with rolling stones and several mountain peaks suddenly collapsing.
Viewed from high above, it was an enormous Taiji mark.
In the void, the green light entangled with Chu Jun suddenly disappeared.
However, with the disappearance of the green light person, only two of Ning Buwei’s forty-eight tribulation lightning bolts had struck.
Chu Jun’s primordial spirit returned to his body. Controlling the red-robed shell, he held Ning Xiu and moved away from the tribulation lightning. Then his true body flew up and snatched the Suzaku narrow knife from Ning Buwei’s hand.
In the Suzaku knife, fierce ghosts wailed. Dense evil energy followed like a shadow, trying to take the opportunity to devour its master. A faint crimson flickered in Ning Buwei’s eyes as he looked at Chu Jun with a fierce and guarded gaze. He said hoarsely, “Give me the knife.”
Chu Jun suppressed the evil energy of the fierce ghosts in the Suzaku knife with one hand. Then he quickly set up a tribulation-avoiding lightning array around them, using countless top-grade spirit stones to power the array. He pulled Ning Buwei into the array with the red string.
“Pass the tribulation first,” Chu Jun said, glancing at him indifferently.
As if to echo his words, thunder rolled in the black clouds, even faintly turning golden.
Chu Jun knew he couldn’t stay in the array for long. He directly erased the ownership mark on his storage ring and stuffed it into Ning Buwei’s hand, saying, “Use it as you like.”
Then he disappeared from the lightning-avoiding array. The golden mysterious thunder in the black clouds, sensing the target’s disappearance, instantly ceased. Ning Buwei’s tribulation lightning began to act up again, gathering strength to try to strike dead the bastard passing tribulation below.
Ning Buwei forcibly calmed his mind, sat cross-legged, and silently recited incantations. His divine consciousness roughly swept through the storage ring Chu Jun had given him, and he immediately felt that the remaining forty-six bolts of tribulation lightning were nothing to worry about—
This storage ring seemed to contain an entire secret realm.
The majestic tribulation lightning struck down successively, the thunder deafening.
Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng, lifted to mid-air by the white-robed shell to avoid the Taiji seal disaster, looked blankly at the flat, rocky ground stretching for a hundred miles in all directions—just an incense stick’s time ago, the area had been full of towering peaks and endless mountains.
Chu Jun put away both the troublesome white-robed shell and the red-robed shell, finally returning all his primordial spirit to his true body. He held Ning Xiu and carefully examined him.
Jiang Yizheng and Feng Zizhang, who had witnessed the entire process, were shocked.
Two such big people! Suddenly disappeared!
Ning Xiu’s soul, which had just stabilized somewhat, was scattering again. Moreover, he was severely frightened, his forehead burning hot. Chu Jun helped stabilize his soul but couldn’t immediately find suitable pills for a child to eat.
At this moment, countless streaks of light flew towards this place from the horizon, like fish crossing a river, steadily landing on the ground flattened by the Taiji seal.
While Ning Buwei was undergoing tribulation, Chu Jun was using his divine consciousness to search for traces of the green light to prevent another sneak attack. His divine consciousness was rapidly expanding and spreading, his gaze growing colder.
Chu Linyuan led the disciples and elders of the Wushi Sect to arrive. They saw an immortal in flowing white robes standing tall under the rolling black clouds and majestic tribulation lightning. His extraordinary beauty and indifferent expression made him seem like a banished immortal descending to the mortal world. The immense pressure around him made people dare not look directly at him.
“We welcome—” Chu Linyuan was about to pay his respects when Chu Jun raised his hand to stop him. The congratulatory words of the elders and disciples behind Chu Linyuan got stuck in their throats.
“What pills should a child with a fever take?”
Venerable Jinghe, who had just come out of seclusion in the middle of the night, fought in the void, and flattened the ground with a Taiji seal, asked while holding a child.
