Chapter 461: Demonic Cultivators' Secret Talk, the Young Master Appears

Inside the small, narrow secret chamber, one could see six or seven figures crowded together, all masked and hooded, hiding their heads and tails. Their heights and builds looked identical from the outside, making it impossible to identify any distinguishing features.

That they were gathered together like this was naturally to plot and discuss their grand plan.

"Damn it! Although we accidentally obtained that blistered corpse, allowing things to make obvious progress, this current state is still not enough. At most, we can produce individuals equivalent to the Nascent Soul perfection stage; compared to our original conception of Spirit Severing, the gap is truly immense!"

"What? Your words are full of insinuations—are you complaining that our planning was wrong? Or are you saying that even now, you want to back out?"

Someone asked back in a cold, displeased tone, causing the atmosphere to suddenly stall.

"Instead of being so eager to pin the blame on me, you'd better think about how to get things done!"

"Enough, stop arguing. The point now is how to crack the secret hidden within that corpse!"

"Crack it, my foot. That thing is extremely sinister, even more so than the demonic and evil arts practiced by everyone here. I think instead of courting death by continuing to crack it, we should set it aside, or even move it out of the interior and put it further outside to avoid any accidents!"

"Judging by what you're saying, you want to set up formations and restrictions here? Heh! Who doesn't know your reputation as a grand Evil Formation Master? When we gathered to act, it was explicitly stated that no extra restrictions or formations would be set, and that we would be open and honest with each other. If you really do that, then I won't be accompanying you!"

These demonic and evil cultivators in the residual image were all unruly and defiant, their tones of voice extremely strange. As they discussed, they targeted each other with snide, sarcastic remarks; it really didn't look like they were conspiring to commit evil together, but rather like they were about to come to blows at the slightest disagreement.

Just as Du En and his companion thought this conversation, which didn't actually contain much information, was going to drag on like this, one of the demonic cultivators suddenly glanced slightly toward the doorway.

They discovered us... No, that was just an instinctive, cautious reaction that happened back then.

Also, these eyes...

While Du En was lost in thought, that demonic cultivator had already spoken: "Actually, we all know the crux of the problem lies there—that is, a suitable human vessel is hard to find; it requires a special bloodline. And now that things have reached this point, the arrow is on the string and must be fired. It is time to find a way to capture that only son of Jiuyun who possesses the bloodline of a Great Cultivator!"

Once these words were spoken, the other demonic and evil cultivators fell quiet, remaining silent as if they were hesitant about this.

Judging from some faint details, these guys were only at the level of late Nascent Soul perfection. Now, going to skin the tiger that is a Great Cultivator was clearly very stressful.

However, judging from the current situation of Du En and the others, these people ended up choosing to strike after all! The residual image ended here, hiding itself within the flickering blue light. Triggering and activating it again with the power of observation allowed it to play from beginning to end once more.

After a few times, there was no new information, and Du En stopped.

"It seems these guys are the culprits behind the missing rogue cultivators and the capture of spirit beasts."

Sheng Zhaoshui said what was obvious, then his gaze flashed. "Never mind the spirit beasts, but the first requirement for a human vessel for cultivators isn't cultivation base, but some kind of bloodline? It seems that little sister Zhu Yi was targeted because of this!"

"Nine times out of ten, that's the case. The formation of this past residual image might be related to her."

"Also, you noticed it too, right? That guy who spoke last is that old Daoist, Chili!"

"Although it does give one that impression, we cannot easily jump to conclusions. Let's wait until we rendezvous with Fellow Daoist An later to judge, and then..."

Before the words were finished, Du En had already shifted his gaze.

Deep in the mine, a change was occurring at this moment.

Bang! There was a faint sound of something shattering and colliding.

Immediately after.

"Quick! Save me! Save me!!!"

"Ah!"

A series of shrill cries and screams came through, causing the guards who had just finished killing the humanoid monsters to suddenly look up. They only saw a person stumbling and falling as they ran out of the dim, yellow-lit tunnel ahead.

The person looked very young, only in their twenties, wearing a flashy white silk robe with cloud patterns. They could be considered handsome with star-like eyes and a dashing air, but now their clothes were dirty and torn, and their face was twisted in terror, with tears and snot streaming down—clearly, they were scared out of their wits.

The final scream, as if they had lost their parents, was because the light behind them suddenly extinguished and vanished, and a thick, ferocious aura surged over, making one's hair stand on end and realizing that a great danger was lurking in the darkness.

"Young... Young Master?!"

The guards were dumbfounded at this moment, because the other party's appearance was so sudden and abrupt that none of them reacted for a moment.

"You, you lot, you damn well better hurry up and save me!"

That only son of Jiuyun was also stunned. He looked closely and saw a crowd of familiar faces, immediately overjoyed, but his expression changed instantly when he saw them standing there in shock: "A bunch of pigs and dogs! What are you still standing there for?! If you don't hurry, when I go back and report to my father, I will definitely have you skinned alive, ah..."

By the end, he let out a scream.

Because a tongue suddenly stretched out from the darkness. In everyone's eyes and divine sense, it was as if the darkness were a living beast; the tongue was only captured the moment it shot out, moving with extreme speed toward its target.

A burst of light immediately erupted from the only son of Jiuyun's body. The source was that tattered robe; it was not an ordinary garment, but a fifth-grade low-tier magical artifact, the White Cloud Dharma Robe. It could spontaneously protect its master and was something Master Jiuyun had obtained with great difficulty; it could even withstand attacks from the Spirit Severing stage.

It was just that the situation was very clear: this young master had already relied on it to save his life many times, and the robe was already on the verge of shattering. Although the white light was still bright, it could not form the mysterious scene of layered white clouds; it was simply the treasure light of the robe itself.

Snap! Under the impact, the treasure light shattered completely, and the robe burst open with a tearing sound.

The violent impact caused the only son of Jiuyun to tilt to one side. Before his shouting had even stopped, one of his arms was grazed, completely pulverized. The pain erupted as he fell to the ground, causing him to continue letting out pig-like screams.

Hearing and seeing this, the guards were suddenly jolted into action.

"Quick! Quickly save the Young Master!"

"Yes!"

Under the roar of the guard leader, the guards hurriedly responded and struck one after another. Magical artifacts and treasures erupted with rays of light, shooting toward the darkness.

Although they temporarily shattered the darkness, they did not hit any target.

Did it run?

Was it hiding?

Or was it something else?

The guards were not incompetent; for a moment, they instinctively wanted to launch a blanket attack and scour the area with spells, but that was clearly not possible now. Their own Young Master was right there, and his protective robe was gone. If they accidentally hit him even a little, with his Foundation Establishment physique, he would likely turn into a pile of minced meat and pulp on the spot! With this concern, they naturally couldn't do that. They could only let their magical artifacts and treasures circle and weave into a large net to block any possible attacks, using it to cover the guard leader.

That leader, flashing with golden light as if he were a divine soldier, had already suddenly crossed a distance of a hundred paces to reach before his Young Master. He dispersed the sword and halberd he had thrown, reached out his hand, and moved to grab the other party.

Amidst the screams, the only son of Jiuyun waved his remaining arm wildly. Once he was caught and held, he gripped tightly, like a drowning person clutching a straw, holding on for dear life.

The guard leader couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, because with the other party's Foundation Establishment strength, no matter how tightly he gripped, it wouldn't have any effect on him. Conversely, he only needed to kick off and leap back to return to the others.

Although the darkness before him was illuminated and torn apart by various treasure lights, he was extremely wary because he didn't know where the enemy was at all. He had to retreat quickly and use a blanket attack to break the enemy's hiding method! "Quick! Quick! Take me back!"

The only son of Jiuyun was still shouting.

The guard leader was already retreating.

"Young Master, rest assured, the Venerable One is right here!"

"What?" Hearing this, the only son of Jiuyun was stunned. His eyeballs rolled around, sweeping past the conspicuous guards, and finally, as he was lifted high and his view was unobstructed, he saw the figure standing at the entrance of the secret chamber, looking over.

The first thing he saw was a pair of calm eyes.

That is, his father? That shouldn't be right, should it? "Forget it, never mind..."

"What?"

The guard leader couldn't help but freeze, an inexplicable sense of unease surging in his heart, cold and chilling, ugh!

He looked down in astonishment, only to see that his dantian had been pierced and shattered, and his Nascent Soul was being gripped in a blood-stained hand, still struggling incessantly, yet completely unable to escape.

"You!"

"Heh!"

Facing the guard leader's shock, anger, and fear, the Only Son of Jiuyun just gave a cold laugh, suddenly stopping his movement, their actions pulling in opposite directions, and with a *rip*, the guard leader's arm snapped, and at the same time, that hand was detached from his body.

Taking away the Nascent Soul, taking away his life.

"Evil beast!"

He still wanted to self-detonate his Nascent Soul, to self-detonate himself; this was purely an instinctive act born of shock, anger, and despair.

However, that Only Son of Jiuyun did something that made the guards' hands and feet turn cold.

He swallowed the Nascent Soul in one gulp! Chew, chew~

The desperate final strike came to an abrupt halt.

A chill ran through their entire bodies, their hair standing on end! "Hahaha! Idiots! A bunch of idiots!"

The Only Son of Jiuyun laughed while suspended in the air, his opened mouth filled with dense, eerie teeth, stained with flesh and fragments of the Nascent Soul, making one unable to help but tremble all over.

"Damn it! Avenge the boss!"

"Right! Kill him!"

"Die!"

Under the grip of fear, the guards made various stress responses.

The magical artifacts and treasures that had originally woven into a net suddenly turned to strike back, and at the same time, they each cast their spells, with Five Elements spells of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth erupting with a roar, filling the narrow tunnel.

Attacking from front and back, using their full strength, they believed that even if Jiuyun Shangren, this Soul Formation stage expert, were here, he would be injured, let alone this monster wearing human skin before them! Boom!

The attack was extremely swift, closing in from front and back in the blink of an eye, immediately erupting with a violent roar that shook the specially reinforced tunnel continuously, the shockwave spreading further toward both ends.

In an instant, it sent the guards tumbling, crashing into this and that, and rolling upon landing.

Zhu Qing was startled, but fortunately, she was not affected.

Naturally, this was the result of Du En quietly intervening from her side.

"Hiss! That really hurts!"

The dust had not yet settled, and the clamor still echoed, but from within it came a voice that made one feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar; the guards struggled to steady themselves, opening their eyes wide to look, and saw the dust suddenly shatter, revealing the fragmented Only Son of Jiuyun within.

He was in a miserable state at this moment, his upper body barely intact, while his lower body was smashed to pieces.

The reason for this was that he had used the guard leader's corpse and treasures as a shield, causing them to become even more shattered; what he held in his hand now were just two relatively large pieces of meat.

Charred...

*Crack! *

*Chew, chew! *

The Only Son of Jiuyun opened his broken mouth and began to gnaw and swallow directly, a sight that left the guards trembling in fear, their will to fight basically lost entirely.

"Exalted One! Exalted One!"

"Please, take action to subdue the demon!"

The guards crawled and scrambled, kneeling on the ground, facing Du En.

The gaze of the Only Son of Jiuyun also turned over, carrying deep resentment and hatred, and he couldn't help but roar: "Old man, it is in vain that you are a dignified Soul Formation stage expert, yet in the end, didn't you still let me kill your dog right in front of you! Hahaha! You are already worthless now, the next one I kill and eat will be you!!!"

Facing such noise, Du En didn't care about the family conflicts of Jiuyun Shangren, only looking a bit curious.

"Just like this?"

"Wh, what?"

"I originally thought you could show something more, but the result is somewhat disappointing; your actual strength is less than the Soul Formation stage, you have the weird tail of a pseudo-human, and your little tricks for hiding yourself are okay, hmm, your physical recovery is decent, but you can only act fierce within the level of a genius at the Nascent Soul perfection."

Du En calmly stated the various things he had just observed.

Such stable and ripple-less words made the Only Son of Jiuyun's face turn gloomy, and made the hearts of the guards go cold.

In other words, the Exalted One had clearly noticed something wrong long ago, and clearly could have lent a hand to stop it, yet he chose to sit by and watch, allowing the leader to die so miserably; this, this was truly a ruthless heart!

"Hahaha! Truly worthy of being you!"

The Only Son of Jiuyun couldn't help but laugh, his tone and manner becoming increasingly venomous: "Still the same arrogance, thinking everything can go according to your own wishes, still the same ruthlessness; it's laughable that I said they were no better than pigs and dogs, and they actually didn't believe it!"

Facing such remarks, Du En had no intention of wasting effort arguing; his figure seemed to flicker, and he had already appeared a few steps in front of the other party.

?! The Only Son of Jiuyun was greatly shocked, abruptly retreating, and suddenly revealing a look of madness; demonic power erupted, claws and teeth grew, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed from a tattered mess into a humanoid monster with mottled white fur and a mouth full of dense teeth.

"Heart-Devouring Claw!"

He shouted, pounced toward Du En, and extended his arm wreathed in demonic power.

Du En just raised his eyes, not looking at the creature inches away, but looking in the direction behind it, at the very depths of the mine pit.

It had already been stated so clearly, so what was with this lingering hope?

Within his calm gaze, such a color seemed to flow, and then he released a bit of his Primordial Spirit pressure; immediately, it was as if an invisible hand dug open the tunnel, heading straight forward, reaching the interior.

*Bang! * It was as if an invisible fist had struck hard inside, and immediately, screams of shock erupted.

A direct hit on the mastermind!

(End of chapter)