Spirit mist shrouded the Immortal Pool. Ripples gradually spread across its once utterly still surface.
The black coffin seemed to tremble slightly.
Xu Yan narrowed his eyes and extended his divine sense toward it.
A terrifying creature seemed to lie dormant within.
At the Nether King's level, his Dharma Form had been separated from his body for endless ages. It had probably developed a consciousness of its own long ago.
The Nether King had already warned Xu Yan about this. The Red-Robed Lady's remnant soul developing its own consciousness was a recent example.
Xu Yan did not act rashly.
He glanced back. The Golden-Winged Little Roc King and Xuanyuan Kanjing were locked in a fierce battle of spells, the human and demon shaking heaven and earth with their clash.
Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain, a dark mass of cultivators continued to swell, their voices buzzing with discussion.
Most, however, stopped at the mountain's foot and found secluded spots to cultivate in peace, keeping their noses out of matters that did not concern them.
Only a few Ninth-Turn Immortal Aperture Prodigies with profound Dao attainment attempted to reach the Immortal Pool.
"These people only want to sit back and reap the fisherman's spoils."
Elsewhere, Murong Ziyao and Nie Wushuang reached the edge of the Immortal Pool almost simultaneously.
They were fifteen zhang to Xu Yan's left.
The two women arrived on the summit terrace one after the other, panting, then sat cross-legged beside the Immortal Pool to rest and meditate.
Both possessed the Five Elements Divine Body, and that extraordinary constitution had allowed them to reach this place.
Meanwhile, Jiang Beixuan was still twenty zhang below the summit.
That short stretch of twenty zhang was like a heavenly chasm. Jiang Beixuan had never practiced a body-tempering technique, so making