C307 Two Evil Spirits
At the bottom of the lake lay a pebble, seemingly insignificant, yet it held a universe within.
Magnified a million times, one could discern a few tiny specks of light within its crystalline body.
Entering this realm, those specks of light revealed themselves to be Yan Qiling, the High Oracle Zhou Cangmin, and the Python Queen Xu Zixi.
A single point of green light belonged to Yu Zhu.
Yan Qiling, a master of this art, had crafted a miniature world within the pebble.
Yu Zhu, who had been managing the mid-lake island for some time, was tasked with masking the aura, rendering it undetectable to both deities and specters.
Their combined magic had eluded the Silverfrost Dragon, as well as the Spirit Walk cultivators from the Thunder Sect and Winter's Bite, leaving no trace to be found.
Within the miniature world inside the white pebble, the High Oracle Zhou Cangmin smiled wryly, "Yu Yuan, that young rascal, has quite a knack for mystification."
Yan Qiling appeared as a phantom, hovering between reality and illusion, laboring to sustain this little world and keep it hidden from the prying eyes of the Spirit Walk cultivators.
Unable to afford distractions, he was unable to converse with Zhou Cangmin.
Xu Zixi, with her commanding presence, admired Yan Qiling's apparition, remarking, "To carve out a little world in such a brief span, this skill is indeed remarkable."
"The Moonfall Sanctuary once held numerous Star-Spawned Terrors and various Earth Fiend Evil Spirits from the Everlands. These Alien Soul Demons excel at conjuring small spaces swiftly, though they struggle to maintain them for long," Zhou Cangmin commented, unperturbed. "This individual also hails from the Moonfall Sanctuary, having escaped the grand formation's clutches with Yu Yuan's aid."
He and Xu Zixi were eager to engage Yan Qiling in conversation.
Yet Yan Qiling offered no reply.
With a gentle wave of her hand, Xu Zixi brought forth the image of Yu Yuan striding across the lake within the white little world. Observing Yu Yuan's composed demeanor as he walked atop the water with his Golden Sanctum cultivation, she smiled warmly, "Your talent for deception bears a striking resemblance to your younger self."
The High Oracle chuckled, "Feiqing will need a bit more time. Until the Ancient Echoes of the Void mantra seriously wounds her, the Thunder Sect, Winter's Bite, and the Silverfrost Dragon will all wait patiently. Until then, let Yu Yuan do as he pleases."
The net was cast, and the fish were eagerly swimming into it, much to his delight. Shen Feiqing was merely the lure, and Yu Yuan's antics were of little consequence in his view. Moreover, the Phaseblossom and other such treasures behind Yu Yuan would prove extremely useful.
He was also eagerly anticipating the moment when the Phaseblossom would unleash Shen Feiqing's latent potential, allowing her to wreak havoc before they stepped in to clean up the aftermath.
"I'm just worried he might accidentally get himself killed," Xu Zixi remarked. "Wang Jinlin's sword, known as 'Shadowgold,' was used by Chong Xiao to slay a seventh-level Five-clawed Golden Dragon. He forced the dragon to infuse its blood essence into its scales to withstand a mortal blow, which in turn shattered its Dragon Soul, sealing the essence within the scales forever."
"The scales, once stripped, were forged into 'Shadowgold.' The Dragon Soul itself became the sword spirit of the blade."
"This sword is highly regarded within the Ethereal Void Sect. Although its exact rank isn't clear, I would venture to say it's of heavenly grade."
"With a heavenly-grade Shadowgold and his Subtlety-level cultivation, Yu Yuan might not have the upper hand, even with assistance."
Xu Zixi expressed her thoughts, though she wasn't genuinely concerned. After all, Yan Qiling, capable of crafting temporary little worlds from mere pebbles, and Yu Zhu, whose powers resonated with the Way of Heaven in the Forgotten Ruins, were both covertly aiding Yu Yuan.
And weren't she and Zhou Cangmin also keeping a close eye on things? If Yu Yuan truly couldn't cope, Yan Qiling could invert space in an instant, altering the course of events.
"You haven't spent much time with him to truly understand him," the High Oracle said serenely. "Consider this a bit of amusement before the looming battle. Just keep an eye on him."
Xu Zixi nodded, then hesitated briefly before asking, "What will be the outcome after the battle?"
"From what I can deduce, many will die..." Zhou Cangmin's voice grew colder, and the disregard for life that emanated from him sent a shiver down Xu Zixi's spine.
She knew Zhou Cangmin well enough to recognize that when the High Oracle adopted such a demeanor, calamity was sure to follow.
After all, he was a Hellbreed of the Ruby Hand, and his time was nearly up.
The atrocities committed by the state preceptor surpassed even those of the Blackfang Legion's commander.
Moreover, the majority of those who perished by the state preceptor's hand were cultivators, not mere mortal soldiers.
...
The cultivators assembled by the lakeside were all visibly astonished.
Yu Yuan, treading upon the lake's surface, made the water seem to solidify with each step, allowing him to effortlessly approach Wang Jinlin as if he were walking on solid ground.
Standing in the lake, ripples danced around his feet.
"I have come from Asvetaesi. My name is Yu Yuan."
With a slight shrug of his shoulders, dazzling streams of light began to flutter like moths to a flame from the surrounding shrubbery, merging into his body.
His bones emitted a series of crisp pops.
"Evil Body Refining!"
Yang Yinquan of the Abyssal Dawn, standing next to Su Xiangtian and Su Yan, watched Yu Yuan intently for a moment before exclaiming in surprise.
"Evil Body Refining!"
Following his exclamation, others joined in, some recognizing the technique, others having heard of it. They all realized that this young man who claimed to have come from Asvetaesi had practiced the once-destroyed Evil Body Refining.
"Evil Body Refining?" Wang Jinlin scoffed, "This devil's mantra only reveals its extraordinary combat prowess after one has reached the Veil Breaking Stage. The Evil Body Refining, which emphasizes bodily fortification, requires the full flow of all twelve meridians and the eight extra channels before one can fully harness its power."
Any cultivator familiar with the intricacies of the Evil Body Refining acknowledged the truth in his statement.
Indeed, the most formidable aspects of the Evil Body Refining technique were realized during the Soul Awakening and Veil Breaking stages.
It was not a matter of the Golden Sanctum.
Yu Yuan, whose cultivation was at the level of the Golden Sanctum, approached with a demeanor that suggested he was eager to do battle with Wang Jinlin. It was a mystery where he found such confidence.
"Hu! Hu! Hu!"
Brilliant strands of light and an enigmatic miasma swirled around Yu Yuan, coalescing into a peculiar magnetic field.
A ball of green luminescence, wailing, materialized within the magnetic field.
Then, a tuft of black and purple mist morphed into a ghastly ghost face, its hollow eyes eerily fixed on Wang Jinlin.
"Evil spirit."
Yang Yinquan watched the convergence of light and the dark, purple mist with a furrowed brow, expressing his surprise, "Quite the technique."
Yu Yuan let out a soft chuckle and suddenly locked eyes with Wang Jinlin.
A disciple of the Ethereal Void Sect, clutching Shadowgold, snorted and began to covertly concentrate his spiritual sense. He aimed to overpower Yu Yuan with a superior cultivation level, intending to crush him with spiritual force and breach his third eye's sea of consciousness.
In the instant their gazes met, a concealed 'Spiritual Path' abruptly came into existence.
Yu Yuan's mouth twisted into a wild, maniacal laugh.
With a mere thought, four black sun-like glimmers quietly shone from the depths of his pupils.
Instantly, a soulful connection was established with the four ancient black characters that hovered in the enigmatic space beneath the Soulforge Pool within the Moonfall Sanctuary.
Yu Yuan's eyes became akin to the most mysterious and fearsome Maw of Oblivion, lying beyond the reaches of the Star River.
His dark, profound, and icy gaze seemed capable of engulfing the Star River itself, along with its shattered meteorites, cadavers, chaotic stellar currents, fragments of artifacts, and even light.
The Maw of Oblivion was an eerie place that even the Solar Spirits and Unbound cultivators of the Human Race would go to great lengths to avoid.
The moment Yu Yuan's eyes established a connection with the four ancient black characters beneath the Soulforge Pool, they seemed to be imbued with an arcane power.
They faintly resonated with the weirdness and mystery of the extraterrestrial Maw of Oblivion.
Wang Jinlin, who had only recently advanced to the Subtlety Realm and was still refining his spiritual sense, found himself inexplicably sinking into Yu Yuan's gaze.
His eyes appeared to be collapsing into his flesh as if an unseen force was pressing down on his eye sockets, desperately pushing them into his skull.
He felt as if his eyes were being forced back into his head!
Simultaneously, influenced by Yu Yuan's Evil Body Refining Technique, the evil spirit that Yu Zhu had unearthed from the Forgotten Ruins and subsequently confined after disintegration was now being drawn by Yu Yuan and abruptly launched towards Wang Jinlin.
Once the Evil Body Refining technique created an eerie magnetic field, it could attract mindless evil spirits. Given Yu Yuan's level of cultivation, he shouldn't have been able to summon such powerful evil spirits without having reached the Veil Breaking Realm. But with Yu Zhu's assistance, whose connection to the Way of Heaven in the Forgotten Ruins was profound, the impossible was achieved.
The two evil spirits in question were a sixth-level evilkind and a late-period Subtlety cultivator. Their wills and lingering thoughts, influenced by a peculiar vortex, had not faded into the cosmos, and Yu Zhu had managed to locate them. With Yu Zhu's intervention, these evil spirits were turned into Yu Yuan's puppets, manipulated by his aura.
Yang Yinquan, with his innate sensitivity to such malevolent entities, immediately recognized that these two evil spirits were no ordinary foes and would pose significant challenges for Wang Jinlin. Yet, Yang Yinquan was also aware of Wang Jinlin's formidable Shadowgold and the impressive arcane techniques he had mastered. He believed Wang Jinlin was equipped to handle the situation.
However, upon taking a closer look at Wang Jinlin, Yang Yinquan realized something was amiss. Wang Jinlin's eyes had become hollow, and his eyeballs were laced with fine, blood-red lines. Blood was actually seeping from his eyes!
Wang Jinlin, a practitioner in the Subtlety Realm, had focused his spiritual sense to confront Yu Yuan. Far from gaining the upper hand, he had suffered damage to his three souls, which left his consciousness muddled and made him utterly defenseless against the onslaught of the evil spirits.
