Seclusion and the Giant Spirit Clan

Chapter 48: Seclusion and the Giant Spirit Clan

A forest of chaotic stones stretched a million miles in every direction, its strange and bizarre formations thrusting up into the sky. No living creatures could be found there, only enormous rocks and mountains. The region lay millions of miles from the North Abyss River, in the far north.

Xuanji sat cross-legged in hiding among the chaotic stones, eyes closed as he circulated his cultivation and recovered his spent magical power. Ever since snatching the Void-Trapping Seal and the Blood Transformation Pearl from Void-Trapping Old Ancestor right under his nose, Xuanji had flown without pause until he reached this Sea of Chaotic Stone Forests. Only then had he felt somewhat at ease. He could hardly afford to be careless: Xiankong was an early Profound Immortal! The man could crush him like an ant with a mere twitch of his finger.

This had been an extremely dangerous undertaking. If Xiankong had reacted quickly and struck, Xuanji might have been gravely wounded, if not killed. It had been no different from dancing on the tip of a blade!

"Though the Ancient Wild World was damaged this time, the gains make that loss insignificant! The Blood Transformation Pearl's origin is intact. Once it has finished gestating, it'll be a low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure! And the Void-Trapping Seal can be refined for my own use. It even contains all the Great Dao principles Void-Trapping Old Ancestor comprehended. That'll be of unimaginable benefit for deducing cultivation methods and divine abilities, and even for perfecting the Ancient Wild World!" After recovering his magical power, Xuanji tallied up his gains, his heart overflowing with delight.

The benefits were truly enormous!

"Now that the Loose Immortal Chapter's cultivation method is nearly fully deduced, I need to hurry and raise my cultivation." He was only at the early Hexu stage. Even if the Loose Immortal Chapter's method was fully deduced, he still wouldn't be able to cultivate it. So he immediately settled down to cultivate. The Blood Transformation Pearl had been placed in the Ancient Wild World to gestate on its own. Blood energy could speed up the process, but Xuanji had no time to kill living creatures for their blood. As for the low-grade Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure, the Void-Trapping Seal, his Primordial Avatar would refine it. The Primordial Avatar's cultivation had just reached the peak of the early Earth Immortal stage and was on the verge of a breakthrough. While refining the seal, he could also comprehend the Great Dao principles within it. Combined with the Heavenly Dao's deductions, his Dao comprehension could soar.

He circulated the Hexu Chapter of the Eight Meridians Mystic Pole cultivation method. Immediately, waves of spiritual energy surged in, entering through the eight meridians throughout Xuanji's body. Its speed was eight times greater than that of the orthodox inner-breath method, and as his cultivation rose, the gap in efficiency grew ever wider.

The spiritual energy in the Era of Giant Beasts was so dense and abundant that it had reached a terrifying level, ten times that of the early Primordial World. Even the sparse spiritual energy in this Sea of Chaotic Stone Forests was still plentiful. Xuanji's true form was nothing more than an ordinary crab, yet his cultivation efficiency was astonishing, no worse than that of the Human Race in his previous life. Unlike the mighty beings of the Primordial World, whose true forms and origins were extraordinary, each breakthrough required him to absorb a terrifying amount of spiritual energy. Yet all things were balanced: creatures with poor origins cultivated swiftly in the early stages, but slowed down later on—the exact opposite of the mighty beings of the Primordial World, whose origins ran deep.

All twenty-four Inner Mansion Primordial Spirits circulated at full force, absorbing spiritual energy and building magical power. Though the energy was abundant, cultivating with twenty-four Primordial Spirits at once made progress quite slow.

Who knew how much time had passed? Xuanji's cultivation gradually advanced from the early Hexu stage to the peak of Hexu. Then he began studying the Loose Immortal Chapter's method, and with the Ancient Wild Heavenly Dao's aid, he grasped it completely in no time.

As soon as he began circulating the Loose Immortal Chapter, he felt the difference. It was ten times more profound and intricate than the Hexu Chapter, and its efficiency at absorbing spiritual energy was terrifying. The twenty-four Inner Mansion Primordial Spirits immediately began circulating its method in rhythm. Meanwhile, Xuanji's consciousness entered Dao Ming's body—the main Primordial Spirit—in the Ancient Wild World. Using the Ancient Wild Heavenly Dao, he comprehended all kinds of divine abilities: the five elements, wind and thunder, turning beans into soldiers, sealing formations, seizing souls and binding spirits, illusion and manifestation... He thoroughly mastered hundreds, even thousands, of divine abilities one by one.

As Xuanji cultivated his methods and comprehended divine abilities, the outside world was already awash with turmoil. A battle that would blot out the sky was brewing.

Yin Yang and Mang Jun rode the clouds westward, passing through vast forests, deep ravines, mountain ranges, rivers, and more. They traveled well over a hundred million miles before finally stopping.

Looking down, they saw a pitch-black swamp stretching tens of thousands of miles. The entire bog was as black as ink and still as a mirror. Now and then, a breeze stirred ripples across its surface, lending it an eerie air. An indescribable feeling welled up within them.

"Big Brother, the Shadow Clan is a strange lot. Their lair is actually a swamp. If I didn't know better, I'd never have guessed!" Yin Yang looked at the placid bog below and laughed, though he felt wary as well. If he had come alone, he wouldn't have dared approach this closely. The Shadow Clan might not be the strongest of the Six Races, but they were certainly the strangest. Yin Yang reckoned their leader could seriously wound him!

The Shadow Clan's true forms were not powerful. Ordinary members had only the cultivation of early Earth Immortals, while their leader, the Shadow Emperor, had reached no higher than the early Heavenly Immortal stage. But their attacks were extraordinarily strange: they could manifest shadows that perfectly copied their masters' cultivation. An Earth Immortal could copy a Heavenly Immortal, and a Heavenly Immortal could copy a Profound Immortal. There were limitations, but even so, it was terrifying. Yet the ability had little effect on the other five races of the Eastern Wasteland. The Illusion Clan could change into myriad forms, naturally giving them many different shadows. And manifesting shadows consumed the Shadow Clan's magical power and took a little time, making it impossible to use against the Illusion Clan head-on. Yin Yang could change his form too. Though he wasn't as skilled as the Illusion Clan, he could still counter the Shadow Clan to some extent—though the effect was limited.

"The Shadow Clan? Heh. Others may not know their origins, but how could I not?" Mang Jun gazed at the pitch-black swamp below and smiled calmly, his expression composed. His eyes gleamed with insight, giving him an air of confidence, as if there were nothing in the world he didn't know or couldn't do.

"Big Brother knows the Shadow Clan's origins? What are they?" Mang Jun's words sparked Yin Yang's curiosity, and he immediately asked.

The corners of Mang Jun's mouth lifted as he slowly uttered two words: "Shadow—Demons!"

Just as Yin Yang was about to say more, the swamp below suddenly transformed. Black muck formed into a hundred-zhang giant hand that shot into the air and grabbed at them. At the same time, an enormous force tugged at them—the pull of their shadows. For a moment, neither could dodge. The muck hand was so fast that it arrived in an instant; even if they broke free of the shadow's pull, there was no time to evade it.

At the sight, Yin Yang's whole body stiffened. A trace of fear appeared in his fiery eyes. The hand hurtling toward them contained terrifying magical power, even stronger than his own. It had surpassed the peak of the early Profound Immortal stage, though it had yet to reach the middle stage.

Mang Jun's expression didn't change in the slightest. He raised the golden branch in his hand and lightly swept it downward. A flash of golden light passed by, and the muck hand scattered. All its magical power vanished. His bearing was that of a true master, and he seemed to regard the Shadow Clan as nothing.

"Low-grade Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure? Who exactly are you?" A blurred, hoarse roar erupted from the depths of the black swamp. The entire bog, tens of thousands of miles across, began to quake violently. At the same time, over a thousand faces of black muck appeared, each humanoid with a horn on its head. They wore fierce, vicious expressions, snapping, threatening, grinning cruelly...!

"Is this how the Shadow Clan treats its honored guests? If it weren't for Grandmaster Mang Jun, word that the Shadow Emperor was forming a God-Devil True Body would've reached the other five emperors by now!" Yin Yang shouted angrily.

"You, Yin Yang, were the one who spread that news? Since when have you been so kind as to help this emperor? What are you plotting?" the blurred, hoarse voice roared.

"The Illusion Emperor emptied my Yin Yang Domain. I came here to join forces with the Shadow Clan on a great undertaking. This is my big brother, Grandmaster Mang Jun. His cultivation is ten times mine." Knowing his own standing was somewhat lacking, Yin Yang introduced Mang Jun.

"Big brother? I never knew you, Yin-Yang Ancestor, had an elder brother. Judging by the low-grade Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure in your hand, sir, you must be connected to those people!" The Shadow Emperor directed his last words at Mang Jun.

"Likewise, likewise." Mang Jun smiled and was about to say more when his eyes suddenly shot toward the distant land. He swept the golden branch in his hand, and a streak of golden light instantly tore through the air and slammed into the flat ground. As the earth and stones exploded, a giant figure about ten zhang tall emerged. Its body was earthen yellow, as though built of soil and stone. Huge yellow stones covered it from head to toe, and its eyes, nose, mouth, and ears were hollow pits. Most unusual of all, it had no shadow and seemed one with the earth.

"A member of the Earth Giant Clan?" Yin Yang, Mang Jun, and the Shadow Clan were all stunned. The Earth Giant Clan was one of the Six Races of the Eastern Wasteland, but its members were spread throughout the Primordial World. It was the largest race in the Eastern Wasteland by any measure, claiming that wherever there was land in the Primordial World, it was under their control. Though the claim was an exaggeration, it showed just how numerous they were and how far their territory extended. The entire landmass of the Primordial World was the Earth Giant Clan's domain.

Even Mang Jun furrowed his brows at the sight of the Earth Giant. The Earth Giant Clan was terrifying. Every Earth Giant possessed the strength of a peak Heavenly Immortal, yet wielded the power of the earth, making their magical power almost inexhaustible. And when they died, they returned to the earth, where another Earth Giant would be born. Thus the clan's numbers remained stable, neither increasing nor decreasing, yet they numbered at least tens of billions, hundreds of billions, perhaps even trillions. They were truly fearsome.

"I never expected to find an Earth Giant here as well! It seems their reputation is well deserved. Even the Shadow Clan's lair lies within their domain!" Mang Jun sighed, then swung the golden branch in his hand without hesitation. A streak of golden light tore through the air and instantly reached the Earth Giant, striking it with tremendous force. It was smashed to pieces in one blow. Before it could even cry out, its body had scattered into a heap of dirt and stones.

"The Earth Giants are dull-witted and terribly stiff. If they run into someone nimble and skilled in movement techniques, they can't land a hit at all. Only earth-element cultivation methods and divine abilities can be used against them." Mang Jun knew quite a bit about the Earth Giant Clan.