The Barrier

Previously, Lu Xiaotian had been played in the palm of the old man in black's hand without even knowing it, repeatedly plotted against. If not for this extremely mysterious misty veil, he probably would not have escaped this time and would have had his Primordial Spirit swallowed by the old man in black.

Now, having escaped the crisis by a fortuitous coincidence, Lu Xiaotian was overjoyed and had no energy to care about the origin of the misty veil. Being able to help him escape danger was a heavenly gift; it seemed he was not destined to die. At the same time, Lu Xiaotian harbored extreme hatred toward the old man in black, and right then he alternated between digging and mocking, shouting the old man in black into a fit of rage.

"Brat, don't get cocky! Do you think this mere misty veil can stop this old man? It's pure pipe-dreaming. Oh well, then I'll let you witness this old man's methods."

The old man in black's Primordial Spirit was a mere ten feet or so from the misty veil. After shouting a few times and letting out a cold laugh, he drifted backward over a dozen feet.

Lu Xiaotian's expression changed. He was well aware of the old man in black's formidable nature; this old monster knew many immortal spells, especially that golden flying sword, which split mountains and shattered rocks as if they were nothing. It could easily carve out a cave dwelling, yet the layer of misty veil before his eyes looked thin and did not seem sturdy at all. It was just that Lu Xiaotian was helpless against the immediate danger; even if he wanted to flee, his speed could not compare to the old man in black.

"Fireball Technique!" Following the old man in black's incantation chant, a succession of small fireballs glowing with flames appeared and smashed against the misty veil one after another.

Lu Xiaotian's heart gave a jolt and he prepared to flee, but abruptly discovered that although those small fireballs looked formidable with a series of booming explosions, the defense barrier formed by the mist did not move in the slightest. Immediately, his suspended heart fell back into his stomach. With this experience, he remembered that when he woke up by the cliff, what he recalled was not a dream, but rather an unknown mysterious place his Primordial Spirit had discovered within his body.

"Old thing, it seems your spells aren't much after all."

"Don't get smug, this old man still has a vast number of spells unused." The old man in black's Primordial Spirit shouted, "Golden Spear Technique!"

With a rapid succession of bangs, over a dozen golden spear tips shot into the misty veil, colliding to produce countless golden fragments, yet the nearly transparent misty veil still did not show a shred of movement, and not even a single white spot appeared on it.

"Wind Blade Wind!"

"Earth Spike Technique!"

"Water Arrow Technique!"

After a burst of rapid crackling, the old man in black let out a miserable scream, "Ah, how did I drop back to the Eleventh Layer of Qi Refining!"

Lu Xiaotian completely set his mind at ease at this point, and only then discovered that the body representing the old man in black had dimmed considerably, looking somewhat more transparent than before. It turned out that casting spells in the Primordial Spirit state would result in a drop in strength.

If this old monster kept this up, he feared it wouldn't be long before he dropped to the First Layer of Qi Refining. Thus, he stepped forward, separated by the misty veil, and provoked him aloud, "Old thing, why can't you hit hard anymore? Keep hitting! I'm right here."

"Stinking brat, how audacious!" The old man in black was angered to the point of ascending to heaven and meeting the buddhas, yet having spent his whole life scheming with other cultivators, how could he so easily fall for Lu Xiaotian's trap? Soon, he reacted and said, "Brat, you don't need to provoke me either. The salt this old man has eaten exceeds the rice you've eaten—how could I fall for your trick?"

He truly was an old fox. Lu Xiaotian cursed inwardly; he couldn't beat him in a fight, and when using words to provoke him, he wouldn't take the bait either. Truly a troublesome fellow, though fortunately he couldn't charge out, otherwise he really would have been in a difficult spot.

"Not falling for it? Then fine, anyway you can't hit me, and once you've arrived here you can't get out. Just stay here for a lifetime."

"Do you know what place this is? Is there any method of entering or exiting? Tell your master, and our previous grudges will be completely wiped away. Haven't you always wanted to learn your master's spells? Your master will teach them all to you later." The old man in black's eyes flickered slightly as his soul drifted in midair, looking at Lu Xiaotian with a complex gaze as he spoke.

"Do you think I'm a fool? Having fallen for it once, you still want me to fall for it a second time. Releasing you would probably mark my doomsday."

Lu Xiaotian snorted coldly. This old fox was craftier than a ghost, and furthermore, his experience was far beyond what a little hairless brat like him could compare to. He even possessed methods beyond his imagination, for aside from practicing the Primordial Unity Scripture, he was completely ignorant of immortal spells. Escaping the other party's clutches this time was a fluke, and by no means his own ability—it was entirely luck. If he gave the old man in black another chance, he might not have a second stroke of good fortune.

"Won't your master swearing an oath do? I beg you, let this old man out!" The old man in black pleaded miserably.

"Prepare to stay inside for a lifetime." Lu Xiaotian said with relish, ignoring the other party as he drifted further away. He remembered that last time he seemed to have passed through a layer of barrier, and then his spiritual consciousness went black, causing him to leave this place.

At this moment, flying a bit further and observing closely, Lu Xiaotian noticed that this boundary actually possessed a faint greenish hue and was circular in shape, seemingly resembling an infinitely magnified green fruit in a circular form. Inside the membrane-like boundary, a patch of land floated, and upon closer inspection, Lu Xiaotian discovered that this piece of land actually bore quite a bit of similarity to the terrain within that canyon.

Lu Xiaotian also harbored a bit of inner bewilderment; he had only eaten a green fruit, yet looking at this situation, it somewhat resembled swallowing an entire canyon into his belly.

"Hey, hey, don't leave!" The old man in black shouted hurriedly, but the tracks of Lu Xiaotian's divine sense had already vanished from before him. He couldn't help but utter a hateful resentment, "Stinking brat, let you be smug. The fact that you can get out proves there must be a method to exit. If this old man finds the way out, when the time comes I'll make you wish you were dead and beg for death!"

Hiss...

The needle-like pain all over his body caused Lu Xiaotian to gasp sharply; this was the effect of the soul-locking decoction the old man in black had spoken of. Lu Xiaotian opened his eyes to see the old man in black's body standing right before him, with one hand pressing directly upon his crown. A jolt went through his heart; seeing this old face, he felt some intrinsic terror, yet that withered face like an old tree bark was already devoid of all vitality.

This should be because the old man in black's Primordial Spirit hadn't returned to his body, so what stood before him was merely a physical shell. To actually be afraid of even a physical shell lacking spiritual consciousness—he really was quite pathetic. Lu Xiaotian smiled self-deprecatingly, moving the old man in black's hateful hand away from the top of his head.

"Calculated to the extreme, with vicious intentions, yet you never expected to have a day like today." Watching the old man in black stand propped there like a wooden stake, Lu Xiaotian's courage grew.

Several small black pouches hung from the old man in black's waist. Lu Xiaotian remembered that these pouches seemed to possess storage functions; in the past, the old man in black had always put certain items into the pouches and then retrieved them from within. Thinking that the items the old man in black used were likely all inside these black pouches, Lu Xiaotian instantly grew excited. The old man in black was naturally suspicious, and most of his good items were carried on his person, with virtually nothing left behind in the cave dwelling.

Yet in his impression, the old man in black usually only had a single black pouch when coming and going, and now there were unexpectedly four, which was somewhat strange. Still, the more pouches there were, the more items it indicated. But now these items all belonged to him, and Lu Xiaotian carefully removed the several black pouches.

There was also a jade gourd at the old man in black's waist; he knew clearly that this was specially used to hold small green ants, and he accepted it with a matter-of-fact smile.

"That's right, there's also the old thing's golden flying sword." Lu Xiaotian suddenly recalled the scene when the old man in black had carved out the cave dwelling, with that small golden sword flying out from his sleeve pouch.

Thus, he impatiently flipped open the old man in black's sleeve pouches, but they were already completely empty, with nothing to be found. Feeling somewhat disgruntled, Lu Xiaotian searched the old man in black from head to toe, yet still failed to discover the shadow of the golden flying sword.

Could it have been hidden inside a storage pouch? He pondered inwardly, and only this explanation fit. Glancing at the old man in black's body, a thought stirred within him, and he pushed the old man in black's physical shell into the soul-locking decoction inside the wooden barrel, adding some more water to the barrel until the water submerged the crown of the head. Since this soul-locking decoction could not be penetrated by a Primordial Spirit, even if the old man in black managed to escape by fluke later on, he would still be unable to return to this body—consider it payback for the previous score!