Chapter 263: Encountering Jin Ao Xing Again

The evil spirit stood in place, its completely black pupils flickering with incredulous light.

He watched helplessly as Wang Ping's silhouette vanished at the end of the passage, the pure aura of solar true fire fading away with it.

"How..." he muttered, his voice tinged with suppressed fury.

"A mere Golden Core cultivator actually broke my bloodfiend barrier?"

He looked down at the blood soul pearl in his hand, this natal magic treasure forged from the essence of a Nascent Soul cultivator now dim and lusterless, its surface covered in fine cracks.

The restraining power of yin wood divine thunder against evil things far exceeded his expectation; that strike left him suffering a hidden loss.

"Solar true fire... yin wood divine thunder..." a flicker of greed and wariness crossed the evil spirit's eyes.

"This kid hides many secrets; I truly look forward to it!"

Thinking this, he could no longer restrain himself, surging with blood light as he prepared to give chase.

The bloodfiend barrier recondensed, the bloody smell in the passage grew more intense, countless twisted faces writhing frantically in the blood membrane.

However, just as he prepared to move, the entire space suddenly solidified.

Not a description, but a genuine solidification.

The writhing blood membrane froze in place, the drifting bloody scent halted in midair, and even the blood light surging around him ceased flowing as if frozen.

At this moment, time and space seemed to have been paused, only his thoughts still turning.

"This..." the evil spirit's pupils contracted sharply, shock appearing on its face for the first time.

He could feel a power far surpassing his own enveloping this space—the power of a Union-stage King-seal!

Ninth Dao Institute, summit of the Cloud Sea.

Jiang Mingyuan slowly opened his eyes, a hint of coldness flashing in his pupils.

He had just sensed that within the dean's decree he had bestowed upon Wang Ping, a protective talisman had been triggered.

"Blazing Flame Valley..." he calculated with his fingers, brows slightly raised, "Bullying the weak with strength, hum."

As he calculated, his eyes suddenly manifested a deep starry sky, countless stars arising and fading within.

His gaze pierced the endless void, layers of space appearing transparent in his eyes, quickly locking onto that blood-colored silhouette in the depths of Blazing Flame Valley.

"So it's a Void Refining-stage bloodfiend evil spirit." Jiang Mingyuan's lips curled in a cold smile, "As a Void Refining existence, to act against a junior—you shall not be spared."

He slowly raised his right hand, fingers slightly spread.

With this simple motion, the entire Cloud Sea surged, spiritual energy madly converging above the Dao Institute, all cultivators within a thousand li feeling a pang of palpitation.

"Refined, it'll be perfect for my disciple to practice a magic treasure."

Before his words finished, his right hand had already reached into the void, that hand continually expanding as it emerged, as if the whole heaven and earth were grasped in his palm.

In the depths of Blazing Flame Valley, the evil spirit's hairs stood on end, an unprecedented sense of crisis enveloping it.

He wanted to struggle, but found the surrounding space like an iron barrel tightly imprisoning him, not even a finger able to move.

"Which fellow daoist is here?" he forced himself to stay calm, attempting to send a mental message, only to discover even his divine sense was locked within his sea of consciousness.

Just then, the rock wall above his head melted away soundlessly, a sky-covering giant hand breaking through layers of space to grab him.

This hand was not corporeal, but condensed from countless starlight points, each point containing the power to destroy heaven and earth; wherever the palm passed, space automatically yielded, as if making way for it.

"Starfall Giant Hand Seal! You are..." the evil spirit finally recognized this divine ability, despair flashing in its eyes, "Jiang Mingyuan!"

He desperately drove the blood soul pearl, hoping for a final strike; the pearl burst with blinding blood light, attempting to break the spatial confinement.

Yet under the pressure of the Starfall Giant Hand, the blood soul pearl could not even raise a ripple, instead beginning to crumble inch by inch.

"No!" the evil spirit let out a piercing howl, its blood light swelling violently, the entire earth-core passage trembling intensely.

He exerted all his cultivation, countless resentful soul patterns appearing on his blood-red robe, each pattern representing a powerful being he had devoured.

Yet it was all in vain. The Starfall Giant Hand gently clenched, seizing him together with the surrounding hundred-zhang space in its palm; those resentful soul patterns dissipated under the purifying power of the stars, and the evil spirit's true form rapidly shrank.

"Jiang Mingyuan! As the dean of the Dao Institute, why strike against me!" the evil spirit frantically struck the palm, yet could not even raise a ripple.

"To lay hands on my disciple, you must be prepared to be refined."

Jiang Mingyuan's voice transmitted across the endless void, calm yet carrying undeniable authority.

The Starfall Giant Hand slowly retracted, space automatically healing in its wake, leaving no trace.

Only the evil spirit's despairing howl echoed in the passage, lingering for a long time.

At the same time, powerful divine senses from various places in the Spirit Realm simultaneously turned toward Blazing Flame Valley.

Deep in the Arctic Ice Plains, within a ten-thousand-year ice palace, a white-clad woman let out a soft sound of surprise:

"Jiang Mingyuan, this old coot, why did he suddenly act against a Void Refining evil spirit?" she flicked her fingertip, before her appeared a mirror of condensed ice and snow, showing exactly the scene of the Starfall Giant Hand retracting.

Nethergod Clan's Yellow Springs Sect, a black-robed elder opened his crimson eyes: "Starfall Giant Hand Seal... that person from the Ninth Dao Institute, has he acted again?"

His body surged with deathly qi, clearly wary of the Dao Institute's dean.

East Sea Dragon Palace, an old man with horns on his head shook his head and chuckled lightly: "This Jiang the Mad, still so protective of his own."

He reached out to stroke the dragon pearl at his side, a glint of reminiscence flashing in his eyes.

The Spirit Realm's foremost clan, the Ancient God Clan, a woman in colorful robes shook her head slightly: "After all these years, his temperament hasn't changed."

In the northern human territory of the Spirit Realm lies a vast mountain range where few people tread.

Wang Ping fell out of the void, his complexion pallid.

Just now, to activate the Transcendence Great Adult and break the barrier, he had nearly exhausted all his spirit crystals, leaving scarcely any spiritual power.

"At last I've escaped..." he exhaled deeply, took a few pills, and began to regulate his breath to recover.

This mountain range is ancient and primitive, towering ancient trees blocking sky and sun, the air filled with the rich fragrance of plants.

From afar, the occasional howl of demon beasts sounded, indicating the danger of this region.

Just as he closed his eyes to regulate his breath, a fierce battle cry suddenly rang out in the distance, mixed with the roars of demon beasts and the angry shouts of cultivators.

Wang Ping swept his divine sense over, his brows slightly rising. In a valley ten li away, five cultivators were besieged by a pack of blood-eyed demon wolves, each wolf having late Foundation Establishment strength, the wolf king leading them having reached mid Golden Core, their speed astonishingly swift.

Among the besieged cultivators, a familiar silhouette caused him to start slightly.

That was a young cultivator wearing a golden robe, holding a golden long spear, his spear technique fierce.

This figure gave him a vague sense of familiarity, yet he couldn't immediately recall who it was.

Besides this familiar person, there were four others: a burly man wielding a giant axe, a blue-clad female cultivator controlling ice arts, a green-clad youth constantly throwing talismans, and a purple-clad woman wielding twin swords.

The five formed a simple defensive formation, but under the wolves' fierce assault they were already in dire straits.

"It's him!" Wang Ping thought, a hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

Back then in the lower realm, he passed through the silver stone gate to go to the upper realm to participate in the opportunity of Luo Immortal Valley, and indeed he had some dealings with this Jin Aoxing. I recall that back then, it was only with Jin Aoxing's help that he managed to tell the coordinates of the Sixth Seal Demon Land to the Great Cultivator Qingyu.

"It seems our fate is not yet exhausted." Wang Ping gave a light chuckle, his form flickering and disappearing on the spot.

In the valley, Jin Aoxing flung a demon wolf into the air with a single spear thrust, panting as he told his companion: "This won't do; the wolves keep gathering in greater numbers!"

The blue-clad female cultivator at his side gritted her teeth and said: "It's all my fault; I shouldn't have picked that stalk of Blood Jade Ginseng. Had I known it would attract so many demon wolves, I wouldn't have touched it for anything."

"What's the point of saying this now!" the burly man swung his giant axe to repel a demon wolf, adding: "Besides, people die for wealth, birds for food—that stalk of Blood Ginseng is worth what we're doing."

The purple-clad woman wielding twin swords had exquisite swordsmanship, each strike precisely hitting the wolves' vital spots, but her face grew ever paler: "My spiritual power is about to run out!"

The green-clad youth kept throwing fireball talismans, temporarily blocking the wolves' offensive, but it was merely a drop in the bucket: "I don't have many talismans left either!"

Just then, the Wolf King let out a long howl, and the wolves' assault suddenly intensified.

The five's defensive circle was instantly broken; Jin Aoxing, through a moment of carelessness, had a demon wolf tear a deep wound on his back, down to the bone.

"Damn it, if my White Incandescent Bottle hadn't been taken, this demon wolf wouldn't be a match for me." Jin Aoxing had already prepared himself for a desperate fight.

However, at the critical moment, a golden light descended from the heavens.

It was a golden sun only the size of a grindstone, yet it emitted a terrifying heat that made one's heart palpitate.

The Golden Yang split into five in midair, each shooting toward the wolves in five directions.

These Golden Yangs seemed to possess life, precisely avoiding the five cultivators while solely hunting demon wolves; wherever they passed, the wolves turned to flying ash before they could even cry out.

The Wolf King sensed danger, raised his head to howl, and condensed a crescent moon in his mouth.

This was its innate divine ability—Cold Moon Slash, capable of killing a Mid Golden Core cultivator.

However, the Golden Yang merely swirled around it, and the crescent moon shattered like a bubble.

The Wolf King wanted to retreat, but it was too late; the Golden Yang fell upon it, and this Golden Core Wolf King followed his subordinates into oblivion, dissipating into a wisp of green smoke.

In the blink of an eye, the ferocious wolf pack was utterly wiped out, leaving only a mess on the ground and the five cultivators stunned.

With Late Golden Core cultivation plus Fourth Realm Dao techniques, Wang Ping already had the qualifications to enter the Dao Academy's Hidden Dragon List, whether the sub-list or the main list—he would surely make the cut.

He was a heaven‑chosen genius among the hundreds of millions of Golden Core cultivators of humanity; his strength is unfathomable, and ordinary Golden Core Perfection cultivators are no match for him even in ten exchanges.

"Thank you, senior, for thinking of saving me!" Jin Aoxing bowed in gratitude.

Wang Ping's intention to greet him suddenly stalled as he recalled that back then he seemed to have been wearing a mask, had knocked him out, and seemed to have even taken a magic treasure from him.

But the other party had never seen his true face; thinking of this, he halted his words and nodded:

"Just a small effort."