Chapter 5

No matter how the outward appearance changes, the core cannot be altered; the modern demonic sect practitioners truly have creativity—a demonic array has even produced the auspicious imagery of a dragon and phoenix.

Zhang Yunlu's face had turned somewhat pale.

She did not want to believe it, yet she felt this person had not lied to her.

The Soul-Siphoning Array was one of the most infamous demonic arrays, even those unfamiliar with the Ancient Cultivation Realm had heard of it.

It was an array listed in textbooks; the power it could unleash was tied to the cultivator's cultivation realm.

After the array activated, without special protection, any cultivator within it who was two realms below the arranger would have their soul instantly ripped away, while the arranger themselves received an extraordinarily potent boost.

The Void-Return realm grand cultivator, True Person Xiao Ning, has now arrived in Xuanjian City.

The mastermind behind this still dared to set up the array—meaning the arranger was at least a Void-Return realm cultivator!

Any cultivator below the Spirit Transformation stage would have their soul forcibly ripped away the instant the array fully activated.

Not to mention someone like her, a mere Qi Gathering cultivator.

"But there's no need to worry—just wait patiently. True Person Xiao Ning should have already noticed something's amiss."

Zhang Yunlu gazed at the sky, her eyes filled with worry.

Whether true or false, what could she, a mere Qi Gathering cultivator, possibly do?

And all those around her, also staring at the sky, believed the dragon and phoenix illusions were merely the 'special effects' automatically accompanying the arrival of a Void-Return realm grand cultivator.

Many pulled out their phones to take photos; some even rode flying swords into the air to find better angles, but were quickly driven down by Golden Core stage security guards.

Among them were a few hooligans with dyed yellow hair, looking lazy and careless; their flying swords were crudely made, yet emitted thunderous roars and dazzling light effects.

"What's going on with those people's flying swords?"

Zhang Yunlu's heart was fluttering, but she still answered instinctively: "Those are flying sword coatings—【Soul-Resonance Thunder Simulation Plates】, useless junk."

Xu Xing instantly understood—he realized they were the cultivation realm's version of ghost fire.

"It's said some flying sword coating masters can imprint the sword intent of top sword cultivators; swords coated by them allow even complete beginners with no sword cultivation experience to unleash true Sword Resonance Thunder—or even higher realms."

But the price was far beyond what ordinary people could afford.

"By the way, aren't you a Sword Sect cultivator? How come you've never heard of these?"

"I often enter seclusion; I haven't paid attention to the outside world in years."

Zhang Yunlu didn't doubt it—she assumed he was one of those reclusive cultivators oblivious to the world.

Dong~ Dong~ Dong~ Three long, ancient bell chimes rang out; Zhang Yunlu's pupils shrank as she saw the dragon and phoenix illusions draw near, radiating pure light, from which a small silver-white banner emerged.

Within Xuanjian City, regardless of cultivation level, all were drawn to it.

The banner glowed with shifting luminescence; wherever its pure light shone, countless solemn deities manifested, seated upon cloud peaks, overlooking the entire city.

Every cultivator who met the gaze of these 'deities' felt the divine light within their eyes was the very principle of the Dao, filling their soul with profound freedom and boundless ease.

Unprepared, in but an instant, seventy percent of Xuanjian City's cultivators became entranced, their souls on the verge of leaving their bodies.

Zhang Yunlu kept her head lowered, hearing only the chanting of sacred hymns, yet she still used her willpower to fiercely suppress the urge to look up.

Xu Xing watched her for several seconds, then nodded—even with his help, she had held out this long.

This girl, who had such a strong karmic connection with him, had a commendable disposition.

Then he looked up toward the side—the location of the city hall.

Had the Void-Return realm True Person Xiao Ning still not noticed? Had the current generation of Xian Sect disciples become this weak? ……

Inside the mayor's office, True Person Xiao Ning stood by the window, Expression Grew Serious—he had sensed something was wrong the moment the celestial anomaly appeared.

After the small banner emerged, he was certain.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner! Someone still dared to forge such an inhuman artifact!

The Spirit Transformation stage mayor, along with a disciple from the Supreme Dao Sect who had arrived with him, stood silently behind him.

Suddenly, a Spirit Transformation stage Supreme Dao Sect cultivator stepped forward. "Uncle, I've reported the situation in Xuanjian City to our sect, but a demonic grand cultivator has sealed off the surrounding space—reinforcements will arrive in three minutes."

Hm? If the space is sealed, how did you notify the sect? True Person Xiao Ning turned his head and saw the disciple who had just spoken suddenly collapse—transforming into a bean the size of a thumb.

Bean-to-Soldier!

Damn! So it wasn't his true body!

Because the demonic grand cultivator had sealed the void, he had also severed control over his avatar.

Puff! Puff! More sounds followed—other cultivators turned into paper dolls, puppets, or simply vanished.

In the end, only three Spirit Transformation cultivators remained; not a single Nascent Soul cultivator was left—they were all avatars, and their illusions couldn't fool True Person Xiao Ning's Void-Return perception.

The mayor beside him looked utterly bewildered, not understanding what these Supreme Dao Sect cultivators were up to.

True Person Xiao Ning's eyebrow twitched.

Damn it, he had just lost face on a massive scale.

Now that it had come to this, he could only deal with the immediate crisis.

"The city's protective array has been inverted into the Soul-Siphoning Array. I'll delay the array's creator while waiting for sect reinforcements."

Without giving the mayor time to ask, he transformed into a streak of light and shot out, heading straight for the silver-white Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

Using a thread of pure white primordial qi as its foundation, he gathered boundless magic power into a colossal hand that reached for the banner in the sky.

Grand Divine Art—Primordial Qi Grand Grasp!

The residents of Xuanjian City had all been evacuated to sect outposts or schools—he could unleash his power without restraint!

Beneath the primordial qi hand, the banner trembled like a tiny boat about to capsize in a raging storm.

"We've been waiting for you, True Person Xiao Ning."

A voice as clear as jade rang out; the 'deities' seated upon the clouds all thrust forward a palm, sending a torrent of pure light crashing into the giant hand.

Boom—

A visible shockwave spread outward; beneath the collision, towering buildings were shredded like paper, as if meteorites had struck—the ground caved inward, forming a depression dozens of meters deep.

As the two clashed, the cultivators drawn in by the Ten Thousand Souls Banner suddenly snapped back to awareness.

The shockwave swept in, knocking many people to the ground; aside from a few, the rest had no idea what had happened.

The Sanskrit chanting at her ears vanished, and Zhang Yunlu's heart eased; she collapsed on the spot, drained of all strength.

Summoning what little strength she had, she raised her head to look up—the clouds and mist in the sky had already dispersed from that strike just now.

A 'god' of majestic bearing sat high at the edge of the sky, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner fluttering lightly, as a sunny, easygoing youth materialized from the void and reached out to grasp the banner's pole.

"Greetings, Xiaoning True Person." The youth said with a light laugh.

"Evil heretic! Dare you give your name!"

Xiaoning True Person watched him coldly, secretly activating a great divine ability.

"I wouldn't dare, wouldn't dare. The divine abilities of the Supreme Dao Sect are wondrous and strange—I wouldn't want to be hunted to death by the True Person's elders."

"You want to kill me?" Xiaoning True Person's eyelid twitched.

"No, I only wish to borrow the True Person's divine soul for a use."

The two faced off from afar; the youth was waiting for the Soul-Suppressing Formation's power to reach its peak.

Xiaoning True Person, meanwhile, was deliberating—should he hold out until reinforcements arrived, or… simply cleave this bastard in two with the Grand Void Evil-Slaying Sword Qi in his consciousness sea!

To tell the truth, he couldn't bear to part with it.

"Divine soul? I thought it was some fearsome demon lord—turns out it's just a dead-broke pauper who can't even afford a fabricated divine soul!"

The youth's expression stiffened; he could no longer laugh.

(End of chapter)