Boom!
A streak of light landed not far from Chen Sheng.
Seeing the streak of light, Chen Sheng clutched at it like a drowning man grasping a straw:
"Lord Protector!"
Seeing Chen Sheng in such a sorry state, Venerable Qingming acknowledged him, then asked:
"Holy Son, who did you run into?"
Chen Sheng sighed and said in a low voice:
"I couldn't figure out who he was, but his strength is definitely above the Nascent Soul level. He's very likely a Mid Spirit Transformation expert or stronger."
"Is that so?"
Venerable Qingming raised an eyebrow, half convinced.
He was not so arrogant as to think that being a Spirit Transformation cultivator made him invincible under heaven.
Still, he was confident that within the Spirit Transformation Realm, he was no weaker than anyone.
Just then.
Venerable Qingming seemed to sense something. A flash of sword light appeared in the distant sky, and a flying sword came hurtling across a thousand miles.
"This is bad."
Boom!
An incomparably tyrannical Sword Intent erupted from the sword silhouette in the sky. Like a primordial divine mountain descending from the heavens, it brought with it a boundless sense of oppression.
The sky seemed to collapse at that very moment!
Venerable Qingming's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly drew his own lifebound flying sword to defend himself.
The sword art he used was none other than the Flying Immortal Sword Instruction.
The enormous phantom of an immortal seemed ready to hold up the sky itself.
Only now did Chen Sheng realize just how vast the gap between him and Han Xuanji was.
This power could easily kill even a Spirit Transformation expert, let alone a trifling Nascent Soul Cultivator like him.
Even so, he still trusted in Venerable Qingming's strength. After all, he was the Heavenly Devil Cult's foremost protector.
In the devil cult, reputations were carved out one blade and one sword at a time!
"Beyond the heavens..."
Venerable Qingming's eyes went wide as he felt an unprecedented crisis of life and death.
The next moment.
The sword silhouette came at them with overwhelming force. Its terrifying Sword Intent sealed off the space around them, as though trapping them in another world, and even the circulation of his spiritual power slowed considerably.
"Sword Intent Forms a Domain..."
Venerable Qingming had no time to think. At that moment, he had only one thought.
Run!
But the power of that sword strike was too great, and its speed too fast. The thought had only just arisen when the flying sword pierced through his body.
"How is this possible..."
Venerable Qingming's voice trembled. Before he could finish speaking, brilliant sword light erupted from his body, reducing it to ashes. His Primordial Spirit had no time to escape, and both body and soul were destroyed.
The terrifying aftermath instantly destroyed everything in the surrounding area.
Chen Sheng's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Why..."
Faced with this world-destroying power, he could only watch helplessly as it swallowed him.
A yellow glow spread across the sky, heralding the arrival of dusk.
Meanwhile.
Dozens of miles from the battlefield, a middle-aged man stared with his eyes so wide they nearly popped out of their sockets.
Had he seen that right? A Spirit Transformation expert of the devil cult had been killed with a single sword strike.
Such a powerful sword cultivator had actually been hidden away in Yong Province...
At that moment, he felt just how insignificant he was, even as a dignified Spirit Transformation venerable.
In fact, Han Xuanji was a little surprised as well.
He hadn't expected that strike to kill the enemy's reinforcements outright.
He had even worried that the other party might have concealed his cultivation too, so he had only dared to attack from a distance. He hadn't expected to kill them both just like that.
Han Xuanji deliberately observed them closely and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that both were completely and undeniably dead.
But he could see that something seemed to have been left behind where Chen Sheng had died.
"Anything that can survive an attack like that intact must be a treasure."
Han Xuanji thought no further and made his way into a large crater.
At the bottom of the enormous crater, a palm-sized token could be seen gleaming.
"What is this?"
Han Xuanji muttered to himself and examined it.
He found that the token was unremarkable, with two ancient characters engraved on it.
Based on his experience reading cultivation novels in his previous life, it was most likely something like a key.
"Come out."
Han Xuanji suddenly spoke.
The next second.
A figure quickly appeared. Looking at the immortal-like figure before him, Zhang Xiuyuan spoke in a grave voice:
"Senior, I am Zhang Xiuyuan, an outer sect elder of the Divine Profound Sect and the city lord of Lintian City. I have absolutely no ill intentions."
The reason he dared to come was that he had concluded this senior was probably a member of the righteous path. Otherwise, he would not have slain those Devil Cultivators.
With such an expert appearing in Yong Province, he very much wanted to make his acquaintance.
"May I ask where you come from, Senior? Could you tell me, so that I can give my superiors an account?"
"If you are unwilling, Senior, I will not press the matter."
Zhang Xiuyuan humbled himself as much as he could.
Han Xuanji had altered his appearance, and the other man could not possibly see through it, so he was not worried about his identity being exposed.
He had actually heard of Zhang Xiuyuan in the sect before. Born a commoner with only mystic-grade aptitude, Zhang Xiuyuan had defied the heavens and changed his fate through astonishing perseverance, attaining Spirit Transformation. He was among the foremost figures of the outer sect and held command over Lintian Immortal City, which the Divine Profound Sect had established in Yong Province. He hated evil like a mortal enemy and had an excellent reputation.
The fact that he dared show himself meant he was quite bold, which fit the rumors well enough.
Han Xuanji said calmly:
"Who I am is unimportant. Those devil-path scoundrels deserved to die."
Seeing that Han Xuanji was unwilling to reveal his identity, Zhang Xiuyuan showed not the slightest displeasure. He cupped his hands and said:
"Your righteousness is admirable, Senior!"
Seeing how respectful Zhang Xiuyuan was, Han Xuanji thought for a moment, then took out a token and said:
"Do you recognize this?"
Zhang Xiuyuan took the token and examined it carefully, then said gravely:
"Senior, this is an Azure Dragon Abode Token."
"An Azure Dragon Abode Token?"
Han Xuanji raised an eyebrow.
Zhang Xiuyuan pondered for a moment, then explained:
"The Azure Dragon Abode Token is a ticket into the Azure Dragon Immortal Abode. Whenever the Immortal Abode is due to open, the tokens turn up in various places and are obtained by people blessed with fortune."
"The Immortal Abode opens at irregular intervals. Sometimes a thousand years pass between openings, and sometimes even ten thousand. Whenever it opens, a great calamity is certain to befall the cultivation world in the years that follow. Many people speculate that the Azure Dragon Imperial Lord had some special means of divining when a great calamity was approaching, and would open the Immortal Abode to leave his blessings for future generations."
"According to legend, the Azure Dragon Imperial Lord was an immortal reincarnated, possessing supreme Divine Abilities. In the space of a century, he swept across the Nine Provinces Continent and amassed countless resources. The Azure Dragon Immortal Abode he established is said to contain countless Cultivation Methods and Divine Abilities, wondrous pills and medicines, divine weapons and Law Treasures. One might even obtain an Immortal Artifact."
At this point, even Zhang Xiuyuan showed a look of longing.
"That impressive... How much Dao resonance must it have?"
Han Xuanji's expression shifted. He thought that this had to be an extremely high-level sign-in location.
How great would it be if I could slip inside and sign in?
"You truly are a person blessed with great fortune, Senior. These Azure Dragon Abode Tokens are extraordinarily precious. Only 108 appear each time. Someone once put one up for auction, and it sold for the enormous price of a million high-grade Spirit Stones."
Realizing he had lost his composure, Zhang Xiuyuan hurriedly returned the token to Han Xuanji and paid him another compliment.
"With so many treasures in the Immortal Abode, I imagine the competition must be quite fierce too?"
Han Xuanji asked.
Hearing this, Zhang Xiuyuan quickly explained:
"Senior, the Azure Dragon Immortal Abode is different from other inheritance secret realms. It exists in a special space, and there is no danger to one's life after entering. If one's luck is good enough, even a Qi Refinement cultivator can receive an exceptionally great reward. For that reason, the various factions all send people blessed with great fortune. There was once a cultivator with heaven-reaching cultivation who seized a token and went in, only to come away empty-handed."
That's good.
Han Xuanji was immediately reassured, but then another thought occurred to him.
Wasn't this a place tailor-made for those sons of fortune?
And he seemed to have seized his token...
Seeing that Han Xuanji was preparing to leave, Zhang Xiuyuan hurriedly said:
"If you need me, Senior, you can contact me through this Jade Slip."
With that, Zhang Xiuyuan nervously offered a Jade Slip with both hands.
The communication Jade Slip was of extremely high quality. It could make contact even across tens of thousands of miles, making it far more advanced than the one Han Xuanji had.
Han Xuanji checked the Jade Slip and found that nothing had been planted in it.
After some thought, he took it with him.
Zhang Xiuyuan opened his eyes and found that the senior had gone, but he had also taken the Jade Slip. His face immediately lit up with delight.
Meanwhile.
Northern Nether Province, the Heavenly Devil Cult's main headquarters.
Inside a magnificent hall.
"Who dares kill my disciple?!"
A tall, middle-aged man in purple robes slowly opened his eyes, his voice low.
He could sense that Chen Sheng's soul lamp had gone out.
"Someone, attend me."
The purple-robed middle-aged man's voice carried beyond the palace.
Before long.
Several Devil Cultivators entered the hall, their heads bowed low.
"Where did my disciple Chen Sheng go?"
A relatively burly Devil Cultivator answered:
"Reporting to the elder, the Holy Son went with Protector Qingming to Yong Province in Great Xia."
The purple-robed middle-aged man spoke coldly, fury burning in his heart:
"Investigate. You must find out who did this. I will make that person pay with their life. If you can't find out, there's no need for you to come back."
He had finally managed to take a disciple and had helped him become the Holy Son, only for him to be gone just like that.
After all, Chen Sheng was also a heavenly prodigy his clan had only managed to produce with great difficulty.