Within the Zhong Alliance.
Inside the secluded cultivation chamber.
A exotic black pill flame burned slowly in the air.
During this entire period, Fang Qing had been refining the Nine Abyss Stone according to the natal dharma artifact refinement method recorded in the Devouring Sea Art.
Now, after incorporating countless supplementary materials, the terrifying black hole-like aura originally emitted by the fourth-rank ore had completely vanished. In its place remained only an ordinary-looking black jade bottle.
Only Fang Qing himself knew just how many precious materials and restrictive arrays had been embedded within that seemingly unremarkable ink-jade vessel.
“Devouring Sea Bottle, it contains its own internal space and can even hold living creatures.”
“It also possesses devouring abilities capable of swallowing an enemy’s divine abilities and mana.”
“And lastly, it has a ‘suppression’ function. Since it was forged from Nine Abyss Stone, once a target is sealed within the bottle, they immediately fall unconscious.”
His hands formed seals continuously as streams of talisman restrictions poured into the Devouring Sea Bottle.
The pitch-black pill flame blazed ever brighter.
As time passed, the aura of the Devouring Sea Bottle gradually stabilized further and further.
Suddenly!
Fang Qing sensed the talisman sacrifice array he had placed outside his cave dwelling being triggered.
“So it is finally time?”
He withdrew his cultivation technique. The dark black Devouring Sea Bottle, faintly tinged with a blue glow, flew into his dantian and settled beneath the pitch-black True Core.
“At this point, my entire body is practically covered in treasures.”
Fang Qing sighed softly and turned his divine sense inward.
Within his heart region burned a transparent flame, constantly refining and purifying the metal qi within his lungs.
Beneath that sharp metal aura, inside his dantian qi sea, the True Core formed from the Devouring Sea Art occupied the absolute center in an overbearing manner.
Beside it, the Tide-Birth Pearl was clearly larger in size, yet it revolved around the True Core pitifully like a satellite orbiting a planet.
As the Devouring Sea True Core continuously absorbed spiritual qi, streams of True Core essence descended to nourish the newly forged embryonic form of the Devouring Sea Bottle.
As for artifacts like the Black Heaven Halberd, Sea-Transformation Pearl, and jade flute, they had naturally been squeezed off into the corners. They could only occasionally receive a bit of True Core essence to maintain their rank from declining.
“Now that the talisman sacrifice has been triggered, it seems something has happened at Ice Heaven Market.”
“And that Nascent Soul opportunity should finally have ripened as well.”
Mirage qi shifted across Fang Qing’s face. In the end, his appearance transformed once again into Fang Shui, the identity he had used during the previous chaos at the market.
He raised his right hand and gently lifted the curtain of the void.
Silver ripples spread outward.
His figure vanished without a trace.
…
Ice Heaven Market.
An old man dressed in feathered robes stood with his hands behind his back before the towering nine-layer palace complex.
His hair was completely white, yet his face resembled polished jade.
Countless talismans covered his robes, each forming individual feathers that wove together into a terrifying pressure.
“So Xue Tianhong is hiding here?”
Master Heavenly Talisman smiled faintly and produced a command token.
The token itself was formed entirely from talisman script, complete from talisman head to body, core, and tail.
With a casual flick of his finger, Nascent Soul-level mana poured into it.
Instantly, the token expanded into a colossal talisman that blotted out the heavens and covered the earth.
“Ah?! What is that?”
“What terrifying mana fluctuations... a Nascent Soul old monster?”
Within Ice Heaven Market, countless cultivators emerged from their cave dwellings, their hearts trembling in fear.
“It’s here!”
At the very top of the Eight-Corner Tower, Shang Yuanxin clenched defensive talismans and treasures tightly in his hand as he stared toward the gigantic talisman hanging across the sky.
“That is the Master Heavenly Talisman of Talisman Sword Island.”
“The four great Nascent Soul Master of Talisman Sword Island are Heavenly Talisman, Heavenly Script, Heavenly Book, and Heavenly Sword. Every one of them stands among the strongest of the Nascent Soul realm!”
“So this time, Master Heavenly Talisman personally came himself!”
The heaven-covering talisman was not merely intimidation. It also served as a declaration of identity.
“I am Master Heavenly Talisman of Talisman Sword Island.”
“After investigation, the lord of Ice Heaven Market, Ice Heaven True Person, is in truth Xue Tianhong, a discarded disciple of Blood Fiend Island.”
“Since establishing this market, he has committed countless atrocities. Under the identity of the ‘Bloodworm Demon,’ he slaughtered high-rank cultivators and harvested their cores. His crimes are innumerable.”
Master Heavenly Talisman’s voice echoed throughout the entire market.
As he spoke, the gigantic talisman above the heavens projected scene after scene like a live broadcast.
Images appeared of Ice Heaven True Personage murdering cultivators and extracting their cores, accompanied by all manner of aura evidence and proof.
It was practically a public flaying in broad daylight.
“What? The Bloodworm Demon... was actually Ice Heaven True Personage?”
“Damn him, my family ancestor died at that devil’s hands!”
“This evidence comes from the Master Heavenly Talisman of Talisman Sword Island. It seems Ice Heaven truly has fallen into the demonic path.”
In an instant, the entire market erupted into outrage.
Even some of the high-rank cultivators within the market’s enforcement teams began defecting on the spot, preparing to destroy the array cores and array plates of the quasi-fourth-rank Grand Array.
After all, whether Master Heavenly Talisman’s evidence was genuine or not no longer mattered.
Once a Nascent Soul superpower like Talisman Sword Island personally stepped in, Ice Heaven True Personage was already doomed.
Anyone who did not wish to die had only one choice.
Abandon ship immediately.
‘Mm… as expected, the reputation of the righteous path is truly useful. Otherwise, dismantling this quasi-fourth-rank array would have taken this old man quite a bit of effort.’
Watching chaos erupt within Ice Heaven Market, as the third-rank ice puppets that had originally defended against outside enemies began slaughtering one another under the control of different cultivators, Master Heavenly Talisman felt inwardly at ease.
He transformed into a streak of light, passing through nine layers of palace halls before arriving at the highest point of Ice Heaven Market.
Boom!
Nascent Soul mana possessed the power to move mountains and fill seas!
Streams of talismans poured downward like a mighty river. In an instant, they transformed into a gigantic golden hand that shattered the restrictions and lifted an entire palace of ice and snow into the air.
Crash!
The underground palace and blood pool hidden beneath were suddenly exposed before the eyes of every cultivator present.
“Ah… isn’t that Chixin True Personage?”
“Ancestor Tianzhu? You died such a miserable death…”
“There’s even Fairy Piaoyun?”
“Array Master Bixin too? Impossible…”
Within the market, the cultivators who had still been wavering instantly turned bloodshot with rage upon witnessing the scene.
“Ice Heaven, you’ve committed endless evil!”
Ice Heaven True Personage stood there in blood-colored robes. The vertical mark upon his forehead had turned pitch black as he stared blankly at the center of the blood pool, where the “Resentful Infant Fruit” was on the verge of ripening.
“What a coincidence, Heavenly Talisman old monster, you arrived at the exact moment the spirit fruit was about to mature. Hahaha! I knew it. They were never going to let me go.”
He pressed a hand against his forehead. The black mark wriggled like a living worm, rapidly spreading across his face until it resembled a sinister black opera mask.
A terrifying surge of mana, faintly surpassing the limits of Core Formation perfection, instantly erupted from Ice Heaven True Personage’s body.
One icy flying sword after another circled around him.
He stood atop the Ice Snow Palace, the Three Yin Mystic Ice Barrier suspended above his head as he faced Master Heavenly Talisman directly.
“To exchange blows with a Nascent Soul old monster… even death leaves me without regrets!”
“The Blood Fiend Island secret art is not bad. It allows you to barely stand before this old man. Unfortunately, the gulf between Nascent Soul and Core Formation perfection remains an uncrossable heavenly chasm.”
Master Heavenly Talisman slapped a talisman onto his palm.
The talisman was entirely golden, painted with the image of a tiny sword.
The instant it activated, a sword cry echoed through the void.
Ice Heaven True Personage’s expression suddenly turned vacant.
The icy flying swords surrounding him abruptly let out sorrowful wails before snapping apart one after another, as though sliced cleanly through by some incomparably sharp object.
At the same moment, a streak of blood appeared across Ice Heaven True Personage’s body.
“I shattered my own True Core and still cannot withstand even a single strike?”
Ice Heaven True Personage lowered his head to look at his wound, then suddenly smiled.
In the next instant, his figure vanished completely, leaving behind only a severed arm.
“A demonic path substitution technique?”
Master Heavenly Talisman took a single step, his escape light astonishingly swift as he instantly arrived outside Ice Heaven Market.
In the distance, he saw a streak of blood-red light fleeing at incredible speed.
‘Your tricks are exhausted.’
He smiled faintly and casually pasted down another talisman.
A magnificent golden palace instantly manifested within the void, encompassing heaven and earth in all directions.
Within it stood countless pavilions and towers, along with golden-armored guards carrying halberds and spears, standing vigilant day and night.
The golden palace enveloped the blood-red escape light. Moments later, it condensed into a single figure.
It was Ice Heaven True Personage.
Yet the once-proud cultivator at Core Formation perfection had completely lost his former spirit. His eyes were utterly lifeless.
“You shall face righteous execution according to the law.”
Master Heavenly Talisman pronounced judgment, only to notice a strange smile lingering at the corner of Ice Heaven True Personage’s lips.
His Nascent Soul divine sense instantly spread outward, covering a hundred li in a flash.
Suddenly, his expression twisted with fury.
“You dare?!”
Within the blood pool, Fang Qing had already seized the Resentful Infant Fruit and torn it free in one motion.
‘Such terrifying divine sense…’
In that instant, every hair on Fang Qing’s body stood on end as he immediately slipped into the void.
For this, he truly had to thank both Master Heavenly Talisman and Ice Heaven True Personage.
Had Master Heavenly Talisman not attacked the market and halted the quasi-fourth-rank grand formation, Fang Qing would never have been able to move in and out so freely.
Moreover, Master Heavenly Talisman had thoughtfully blasted open the underground palace itself, causing the surrounding spatial restrictions to fail entirely.
In truth, Master Heavenly Talisman could never have imagined that a cultivator might evade his divine sense and openly snatch away a Nascent Soul treasure right beneath his nose.
This was simply defying the heavens!
As for Ice Heaven True Personage, having already reached the end of his road, he had embraced death completely and fought desperately to obstruct Master Heavenly Talisman. Most likely, he had hoped to create some unforeseen variable.
‘Did he predict that I would come?’
‘Or was this merely a final desperate struggle… while also attempting to use the fruit to scheme against me one last time?’
Within the chaotic currents of the void, Fang Qing carried his position of divinity with him and felt no fear whatsoever.
With a single thought, he arrived within the Ancient Shu world.
‘First, the aura of the Resentful Infant Fruit is extremely unique. Several demonic path secret arts can track it. Blood Fiend Island can definitely do so, and Heavenly Talisman old monster may very well be capable too.’
‘Second, my aptitude is extraordinary to begin with. I already possess hope of reaching Nascent Soul on my own. If I consume the Resentful Infant Fruit, then even if I successfully advance to Nascent Soul, my future path would likely be severed afterward.’
‘That Ice Heaven fellow was still plotting and taking revenge even in death.’
‘Unfortunately for him, I already divined the existence of the Resentful Infant Fruit long ago. How could I possibly fail to investigate it beforehand?’
‘This thing can stay in Ancient Shu for now. When the time comes, I can simply trade it away to someone else.’
Fang Qing shook his head. Entirely unconcerned, he took out a jade box and sealed inside it this heaven-defying opportunity that would cause countless Core Formation cultivators to fight with bloodshot eyes.
Qi Refining world, Ice Heaven Island.
“Dammit!”
Heavenly Talisman hesitated only briefly and did not dare send his Nascent Soul out in pursuit. By the time he reacted, the thief had already vanished completely, leaving him furious beyond measure.
For Nascent Soul cultivators, allowing the Nascent Soul to leave the body was itself an extremely dangerous act. Unless one was risking everything in battle or fleeing for one’s life, it was not something done lightly.
He looked down toward the market below, his aura gradually turning dangerous.
“Heavenly Talisman Daoist Friend, what business brings you to the territory of our Four Seas Sect?”
At that moment, another streak of light flew over, revealing an elderly man in azure robes.
“This is the territory of that old monster Tianshuang (Heavenly Frost). His temper isn’t exactly pleasant…”
“Tianshuang? Heh…”
Master Heavenly Talisman chuckled lightly, not the slightest trace of his earlier fury at being toyed with by a Core Formation cultivator visible on his face.
“This old man was merely pursuing a demonic cultivator to this place, nothing more.”
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