Spirit Severing Array

Outside Taian City, the sound of horses' hooves was like thunder, as several carriages sped along the mountain road.

This time, Xie Xuanyi did not allow Deng Baiyi to accompany him.

He sat alone in the rearmost carriage.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

Xu You had arranged a residence, and Xie Xuanyi's group pretended to move in. As soon as Xu You's subordinates left, they immediately packed their luggage and left Taian. This sudden departure... did not restore the peace in Xie Xuanyi's heart. On the contrary, the unease pressing on his heart grew even stronger!

"It seems this was a setup from the start, waiting for me?"

Xie Xuanyi was expressionless.

He sat cross-legged, with an Azure Origin Pill floating in front of him.

After taking a deep breath.

Xie Xuanyi adjusted his mental and physical state to their peak, and then, without hesitation, crushed the pill.

With a bang!

The Azure Origin Pill shattered, and its rich Qi instantly poured out!

This vast Qi, which should have burst the carriage apart, was perfectly controlled by Xie Xuanyi. He stretched out his hands and forcibly compressed the thousands of strands of Qi that were spilling out, condensing them into a fist-sized ball of light!

This ball of light was very unstable, but after a few breaths, it floated obediently in front of Xie Xuanyi.

"This Azure Origin Pill could probably kill seven or eight Qi Refiners..."

Xie Xuanyi stared at the brilliant energy in front of him, his mind focused to the extreme.

He couldn't help but chuckle softly.

The quality of these five Azure Origin Pills was very good. No wonder Xu You was so distressed when he gave them away.

"Good, let me see how many strands of Golden Qi... can be condensed from this one Azure Origin Pill."

Xie Xuanyi held his breath.

Normal Qi Refiners also cultivate their souls while refining Qi!

The stronger the soul, the easier it is to control Qi...

Now that Xie Xuanyi had been reborn, although he had lost all his Qi, his soul strength had not decreased but increased. His eyes flashed with a bright light, and the Qi ball in front of him was instantly crushed—

"Rumble!"

The sound of wind and thunder reverberated through the carriage!

The fierce horses neighed, as if sensing the terrifying energy behind them, and the carriage's speed increased significantly!

Xie Xuanyi's eyes grew brighter and brighter!

He was doing something crazy that defied the understanding of cultivators, forcibly manipulating the Qi of the Azure Origin Pill, compressing it, and compressing it again...

In less than five breaths!

A strand of golden Qi was born in the carriage!

Xie Xuanyi inhaled it into his lungs, and one of his acupoints was lit up. Then came the second strand, the third strand!

This "weak" body finally welcomed back its long-lost power!

At this moment, Xie Xuanyi knew that his previous guess was correct.

As long as there were enough high-quality Qi pills, the process of cultivating Golden Qi would be greatly accelerated!

Unfortunately...

The Qi of the Azure Origin Pill was not enough!

This Azure Origin Pill, which would take a Qi Guiding Realm cultivator three to four weeks to digest, only lasted for less than a hundred breaths under Xie Xuanyi's frantic absorption before dissipating!

One Azure Origin Pill condensed eleven strands of Golden Qi!

Although this was many times faster than absorbing Qi from heaven and earth... it was still not enough. A Qi Refiner needs to ignite one hundred and eight acupoints to advance to the second realm.

This also meant that

Xie Xuanyi needed one hundred and eight strands of Golden Qi to advance!

"Thirteen acupoints have been ignited..."

After absorbing the Golden Qi, Xie Xuanyi's mental and physical state changed again!

His eyes were flashing with golden light!

One doesn't only get stronger when advancing.

If his original body was a dried-up pond, then after eating an Azure Origin Pill, there was finally a thin layer of water belonging to Xie Xuanyi in this dried-up pond!

"Very good! Again!"

Xie Xuanyi's aura climbed. After confirming that this cultivation method was feasible, he completely let go and directly crushed the second and third Azure Origin Pills!

The power of his soul swept out.

He was multitasking, simultaneously manipulating two light spheres into his body!

"Boom! Boom!"

The quality of these two Azure Origin Pills was slightly inferior to the previous one. After refining, they only condensed nineteen strands of Golden Qi in total!

Adding that to the previous amount.

Xie Xuanyi had now ignited thirty-four acupoints, nearly a third!

If he consumed all five Azure Origin Pills, he could probably ignite half.

"Not enough, still not enough..."

Xie Xuanyi didn't crush the remaining two Azure Origin Pills.

He quietly felt the faint power within his body, then lifted the carriage curtain and looked back at Taian City.

The night was pitch black, and Taian City was getting further and further away.

But the chill in his heart grew heavier and heavier.

"Baiyi, keep going forward, don't look back, and don't stop."

A voice transmission swept into the foremost carriage.

Deng Baiyi, who was holding Jiang Huang, looked nervous, finally hearing the voice she had been longing for.

"What's wrong with Benefactor?"

Ever since leaving Taian City, Deng Chicheng had been nervously looking at the rear of the carriage, fearing some kind of accident.

But he noticed.

The last carriage suddenly stopped.

A figure in white stood alone on the mountain road, showing no intention of following.

Deng Chicheng was stunned, "Why isn't Benefactor coming?"

"Hey, stop for a moment..."

He subconsciously wanted to tell the coachman to stop.

"No, we can't stop!"

Deng Baiyi gritted her teeth, saying each word carefully, "We'll go first and wait for him up ahead."

Although she didn't know what had happened.

But she knew that ever since their meeting in Jade Pearl Town, Xie Zhen had never harmed her—

From Northern Prefecture to Qing Province.

Along the way, the two had gone from strangers to acquaintances, although there hadn't been much verbal communication...

But in Deng Baiyi's heart, Xie Zhen was definitely someone to be trusted.

He wanted her to go forward and not look back.

Then she wouldn't look back.

Xie Xuanyi stopped the carriage, standing alone on the mountain road outside Taian City.

All around, it was pitch black.

Tonight's night was particularly deep, the stars in the sky swallowed by dark clouds. Standing here, it was as if he was standing in the very center of a black ink painting.

East, south, west, and north, all was silent.

No matter which direction he looked, he could only see darkness.

Xie Xuanyi held the horse's reins, took a few steps, and stopped completely.

He patted the steed's head, smoothing the mane of this big fellow who had been running for more than ten days, then spoke softly.

"Go."

The steed snorted loudly and slowly walked away.

The carriage only traveled a few dozen feet before seeming to dissolve into the ink in the painting... disappearing into nothing in Xie Xuanyi's sight, even the sound of the hooves being "swallowed."

Xie Xuanyi stood in the pitch-black world and smiled.

"Spirit Severing Array, the masterpiece of Qin Baihuang, the head of the Weapon Forging Division, can sever the connection between heaven and earth Qi and cultivators."

In the pitch-black world, a second laugh rang out.

"Young Master Xie has good eyes, you seem to have a good understanding of array formations as well?"

Xie Xuanyi smiled slightly, putting his hands behind his back, "Talismans and array patterns are inseparable. Since I have some knowledge of talisman techniques, I should naturally know something about the Dao of array patterns."

"That's the logic."

A sigh echoed in the darkness. "However... since you recognize the Spirit Severing Array, you shouldn't have stepped in."

"A true Spirit Severing Array is indeed terrifying. Once you enter, it's like entering a prison, nearly impossible to escape."

Xie Xuanyi scrutinized the surrounding darkness.

He reached out, touched something with his finger, and chuckled. "But yours is a bit lacking. It only covers a hundred zhang in radius... If Qin Baihuang had set it up himself, the surrounding ten mountains would be included in the array, completely isolating it from the world."

Upon hearing this.

Xu You, standing atop the high mountain, couldn't help but freeze.

He frowned, subconsciously re-examining the white-robed youth before him, confirming that the latter had no Qi about him.

"Going on and on about Qin Baihuang..."

Xu You sneered coldly, "A mere Qi Refiner, is that a name you can call so casually?"

Xie Xuanyi chuckled softly upon hearing this.

Indeed...

With his current status and position, directly calling the head of the Weapon Forging Division by his name was a bit arrogant.

"A hundred zhang Spirit Severing Array is enough to kill you ten times over!"

Xu You held his great spear, standing at the highest point of the small mountain, indifferently looking down.

To be absolutely sure, he had brought this great spear and come personally.

But after confirming Xie Zhen's cultivation realm, Xu You didn't even bother to attack himself.

He simply raised two fingers and flicked them upwards!

In an instant, earth and stone shattered!

Xie Xuanyi lowered his head.

The area where he stood, a radius of ten zhang, was instantly submerged in a large patch of dark killing intent!

"Boom!!!"

The ground shattered, and a huge black shadow, like a whale leaping from the sea, swallowed Xie Xuanyi whole!

It was actually a large box that had been opened long ago, lying dormant underground—

Upon receiving its master's command, it rose instantly like the mouth of Taotie, breaking through the earth, and then suddenly closed, directly "swallowing" Xie Xuanyi into its belly!

Qi Guiding Realm cultivators can condense natal artifacts... The specific number of artifacts condensed depends on the talent and aptitude of different cultivators, as well as their cultivation path.

Some cultivators only condense one Lifebound Artifact in their entire lives!

Others prefer to have as many as possible. For example, sword cultivators, most of whom have more than one flying sword.

Xu You had condensed a total of two treasures!

One was the sixth-grade treasure, the Cloud Piercer Lance!

The other was the fifth-grade treasure, the Essence Devouring Box, which was currently hidden beneath the Spirit Severing Array!

"That's all there is to it."

Seeing this scene, Xu You, standing on the peak of the high mountain, couldn't help but sneer, "Putting on an act, I thought you were capable of something..."

The next moment.

The smile on Xu You's lips froze.

He suddenly sensed something was wrong!

Natal artifacts are connected to the cultivator's mind. He could sense the state of the Essence Devouring Box at any time. At this moment, the box's "closure" was 99% complete, only a sliver away from closing tightly!

But it was stuck on that sliver!

Smoke billowed, surrounding the black box that had broken through the earth and was suspended in the air.

The huge black box, just a tiny bit away from completely closing, began to tremble violently out of control.

Crack!

Xu You's pupils contracted. He heard a very faint sound of cracking...

Xu You's heart trembled.

A crack had actually appeared on the surface of his Essence Devouring Box. The sound of cracking continued to spread, and the crack became longer and longer—

A golden light bloomed from the crack in the black box!

"...This?!"

Xu You simply couldn't believe his eyes.

The cracking of the Essence Devouring Box was irreversible. After a few breaths, more and more cracks appeared, and the golden light shone brighter and brighter!

Finally, with a bang, a complete, golden Qi barrier, like a canopy, fell down and closed! Completely supporting the Essence Devouring Box, blasting it open!

Beneath that golden canopy.

A young man in white robes sat cross-legged, suspended in the air, possessing nothing, not even a Lifebound Artifact.

Only a crushed Azure Origin Pill.

And over a hundred golden, shimmering little swords of Qi!

Each sword seemed to possess its own soul—

At that moment, all the flying swords trembled, their tips shifting in unison, aiming directly at Xu You!

Z——