The Fisherman Reaps the Benefits

Chapter 47: The Fisherman Reaps the Benefits

With a single strike from the Void-Trapping Seal, dozens of Blood Pythons died in an instant. Its power was heaven-shaking. One had to remember that every one of those Blood Pythons had been a Heavenly Immortal!

"So powerful! A low-grade Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure can unleash such terrifying might when its power is fully brought to bear?" Xuanji was utterly astounded. The strike had instantly killed dozens of Heavenly Immortals, some of them even at the middle stage. The might of the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor was simply extraordinary. Though Profound Immortals ranked a level above Heavenly Immortals, instantly killing even one Heavenly Immortal was no easy feat, let alone dozens.

Only now did Xuanji understand the advantages of Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasures. Innate Spiritual Treasures were naturally wondrous, but they required countless years of painstaking effort to nurture, and contained innate restrictions. To unleash their true power, one first had to break through those restrictions. Without overwhelming cultivation, even someone who possessed an Innate Spiritual Treasure could only gaze at it and sigh. Take Donghuang Taiyi, for instance: he was blessed with profound fortune, his origins nearly on par with the Three Pure Ones, a deity of the sun and a three-legged Golden Crow. He had even listened to the Dao in the Purple Heaven Palace, and his cultivation reached the heavens and pierced the earth. He could be called the foremost beneath the Heavenly Dao Sages. Yet even after exhausting his life's efforts, he had been unable to completely break through the innate restrictions within the Chaos Bell and fully refine the treasure before his death.

Though Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasures could not repair damage on their own or contain innate principles that helped one comprehend the Dao, attain profound insight, and improve one's cultivation, their power was in no way inferior. They were also specially made for offense, defense, or support. Innate Spiritual Treasures, meanwhile, possessed extraordinary effects, but many were not particularly suited to offense or defense. It was truly difficult to sum up their relative merits in a few words.

Seeing the Void-Trapping Seal's formidable power, Xuanji couldn't help feeling envious and tempted. Crafting a low-grade Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure would be extremely difficult for him. Quite apart from the materials, he didn't even know the method. Now that a ready-made low-grade Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure had appeared before him, the thought of making it his own sprang up at once.

The Blood Python Holy King's already gloomy expression darkened further. The might of the Void-Trapping Seal filled him with fear.

"Attack! All of you, attack! Kill Xiankong!" the Blood Python Holy King shrieked furiously. The Void-Trapping Seal was powerful, but Heavenly Immortal Blood Pythons were as numerous as hairs on an ox. Even if one strike could kill dozens, he didn't believe the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor could withstand tens of thousands—or hundreds of thousands—of them swarming him all at once. When the time came, if Xiankong didn't want to die and have his Dao destroyed, fleeing would be his only choice. As for what happened afterward, they could deal with it once they survived this crisis!

"Kill!"

"Hiss!"

Waves of hissing and battle cries rose all around, filling the sky. Heavenly Immortals could naturally refine the bone in their throats and speak the language of the Dao, but these Blood Pythons had only just transformed and advanced to Heavenly Immortal. They weren't yet accustomed to speaking it, and most still hissed.

Seeing the Blood Pythons surge toward him from every direction, stretching farther than the eye could see, Xiankong felt a chill run through him. His cultivation was profound, but a swarm of ants could bite an elephant to death, and the gap between him and the Heavenly Immortals was nowhere near as great as that between an elephant and an ant.

If this goes on, things will turn bad. I'd better focus on what matters! He steeled himself. With a thought, the Void-Trapping Seal hovered above his head, and great streams of pale-yellow light cascaded down, shielding his entire body and keeping him firmly in an invincible position. A mighty expert had forged this treasure. After it was completed, Xiankong had nurtured it day and night with his own origin power, pouring into it all his insights into the principles of the Great Dao in hopes of making it even more powerful. It could be said that treasure and master had cultivated together, their fates bound as one!

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Blood Python tails lashed against the curtain of light one after another. The pale-yellow glow rippled and trembled, and the shield shook more and more violently beneath the barrage. It was obvious it wouldn't hold out much longer.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

The Void-Trapping Old Ancestor paid no attention to the shield. His hands moved at incredible speed, phantoms flickering between his fingers as dazzling spell lights flashed. At the same time, the Blood Transformation Pearl before the Blood Python Holy King seemed to be affected by something and began to tremble. Mysterious talismans appeared one after another, hovering in the air. The Blood Python Holy King's horrified expression made it plain that he had already lost control of the Blood Transformation Pearl. Clearly, someone had tampered with it long ago, proving beyond doubt that Xiankong's earlier words had been true.

"Damn it! The Blood Transformation Pearl is mine! It's the supreme treasure of my Blood Python Clan!" Rage and desperation filled the Blood Python Holy King's face. He glared with bulging eyes and desperately used his magic power to restrain the Blood Transformation Pearl. In his heart, this blood-colored pearl was the foundation of his clan's rise, as vital as his own life.

His spell continued, but the pressure kept mounting. Seeing the Blood Python Holy King restraining the pearl with his magic power, Xiankong knitted his brows, then let a cold smile appear. "Since you're asking to die, then let me show you the might of the Blood Transformation Pearl!"

"Blood—Transformation—Divine—Light—Flame!" He spoke each word slowly. His hands seemed as heavy as mountains, and his gestures moved with extraordinary slowness. Yet the Blood Transformation Pearl underwent a tremendous change. Blood-red light burst forth, shining for tens of thousands of miles. Everything in sight turned red, as if the heavens and earth had been drenched in blood. Clusters of scarlet flames, red to the extreme, surged from the Blood Transformation Pearl, while streaks of divine blood-colored light shot in every direction, piercing through countless Blood Pythons. As the divine light pierced them, the flames tore through space and wrapped around their bodies. In an instant, they burned into thick pools of blood, which the divine light absorbed, growing even more powerful.

The Blood Python Holy King had profound cultivation, after all. An early-stage Profound Immortal was no ordinary foe, and years of refining and nurturing the Blood Transformation Pearl had given him some resistance to the Blood Transformation Divine Light Flame. For a time, he managed to withstand it with every means at his disposal. The other Blood Pythons had no such ability. The moment the divine light touched them, it pierced through them, and the flames immediately scorched their bodies and turned them to blood. Their Heavenly Immortal cultivation offered no defense at all. They were like chickens and dogs before a blade, perishing in swathes as easily as grass beneath a scythe.

The Blood Transformation Pearl truly lived up to its name!

"What a vicious Blood Transformation Pearl! This is only a third of its basic power, and it's already this formidable. If it were fully restored and its innate restrictions broken through and refined, its power would be unimaginable! It could turn all living things across tens of thousands of miles into thick blood in an instant. And Big Brother wants to use it to forge the Blood Transformation Divine Blade, which would more than double its power. This... this is too terrifying!" Watching the Blood Transformation Pearl's might, and the many Blood Pythons turning into thick pools of blood before the Blood Transformation Divine Light Flame, even the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor was shaken. He couldn't help marveling at the pearl's power.

Time passed. More than a thousand Blood Pythons had been turned into thick blood by the Blood Transformation Pearl's might, while the rest fled in terror. Xiankong wasn't in a hurry. All the Blood Pythons had obtained their bodies by relying on the Blood Transformation Pearl, and they had left marks inside it. Once he dealt with the Blood Python Holy King, he could seek them out one by one and refine them into the pearl.

As the Blood Pythons fled, all the Blood Transformation Divine Light Flame turned toward the Blood Python Holy King. Though his cultivation was deep and his resistance to the Blood Transformation Pearl formidable, he still couldn't withstand it. The divine light and blood flames pressed closer and closer. The moment they touched him would be the moment he perished.

His full strength couldn't hold them back, and despair filled the Blood Python Holy King's heart. Seeing that there was no hope of reclaiming the Blood Transformation Pearl, rage rose from his heart and evil from his guts. Madness blazed in his eyes as he threw back his head and roared in grief, "Xiankong, you old scoundrel! If I die, I'll drag you down with me!"

"Not good!" A sudden sense of foreboding struck Xiankong. He was about to flee from the Blood Python Holy King, but it was already too late.

Rumble!

The Blood Python Holy King's full power swept toward the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor like mountains collapsing and seas turning over, while the Holy King, no longer protected by his magic power, was instantly turned into thick blood and absorbed by the divine light.

The full power of an early-stage Profound Immortal was simply unimaginable. It could shatter the heavens above and split the earth below, churn Yin Yang and Qiankun, and smash mountains and overturn seas with ease. Now, the Blood Python Holy King had gathered it all together, making its power even greater.

"Ah!" Xiankong let out a startled cry. The Void-Trapping Seal and Blood Transformation Pearl both went all out to defend him, while the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor unleashed all his magic power to protect himself.

Just as the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor had finished preparing, the Blood Python Holy King's power crashed down. Amid the force of a raging sea and collapsing heaven and earth, the Blood Transformation Pearl shattered outright. Its inner origin separated from its outer shell, reducing it to what it had been before any progress was made. All the Blood Python Holy King's painstaking efforts and Xiankong's hard work had gone up in smoke. The Void-Trapping Seal didn't break, but after shattering the Blood Transformation Pearl, the remaining torrent of power still raged on, directly erasing the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor's mental imprint from the seal. Only after withstanding it twice more did the force finally strike Xiankong head-on. By then, its power had dwindled, so it no longer posed much of a threat to him—but it still left him in a terrible state.

"Pfft! Pfft, pfft!..." Xiankong spat mouthful after mouthful of blood. His injuries were severe: he had been struck by the magic power, the mental imprint in the Void-Trapping Seal had been erased, and the Blood Transformation Pearl had been damaged, making all his efforts go to waste. He was wounded inside and out.

The Blood Python Holy King's magic power formed a shock wave that spread outward from the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor. In an instant, the vast Holy King City became ruins, and the land within tens of thousands of miles was flattened. The Blood Pythons and Giant Beasts that had been too slow to flee were all gravely wounded. Turbulent currents, whirlpools, and dark cyclones surged everywhere. The Crab Clan had already been taken into the Ancient Wild World by Xuanji. As soon as the shock wave struck, Xuanji immediately used the Ancient Wild World Power to shield himself. He remained entirely unharmed, but the Ancient Wild World was shaken considerably. Fortunately, the twenty-five great primordial spirits, the Primordial Avatar, and the Ancient Wild Heavenly Dao joined forces to suppress it; otherwise, it might have collapsed.

"What a perfect opportunity!" Seeing the situation, Xuanji's eyes lit up with delight. He struck like lightning, sparing no effort as he drew on the Ancient Wild World Power, the Primordial Avatar, the power of the twenty-five great primordial spirits, and the Sun Moon Pearl to bolster himself. His cultivation instantly rose to the early stage of Heavenly Immortal. He also used the Mysterious Art to transform, becoming a Blood Python that darted away. Two claws suddenly sprouted from his belly, and he seized the Void-Trapping Seal and the origin of the Blood Transformation Pearl. As for the Blood Transformation Pearl's outer shell, it would take considerable time to put back together, so there was no way he could take it.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and the Void-Trapping Old Ancestor hadn't expected Xuanji to be there. He froze for a moment. By the time he reacted, the Blood Python that Xuanji had transformed into was already far away. A tiny red speck flickered in the distance, then vanished beyond the horizon.

"You dare, you thief!" Xiankong was furious and about to chase after him, but the moment he moved, agony surged through his body and his mind began to grow hazy. He struggled for a while and managed to recover somewhat, but by then Xuanji was long gone. Looking at the blood-colored aura lingering around the Blood Transformation Pearl's outer shell, Xiankong was utterly frustrated. This time, he had suffered a truly crushing loss.

"A Blood Python? Ah! I swear, if I don't slaughter every Blood Python in the Primordial World, may Xiankong die and have his Dao destroyed, his spirit and body obliterated!" Xiankong roared at the heavens, sending a vast mass of water surging upward. Then, filled with bitter reluctance, he gathered the blood-colored aura from the Blood Transformation Pearl's outer shell before him. After all, it was the pearl's blood power, and still contained some of the might of an Innate Spiritual Treasure. He couldn't afford to let it go.