Chapter 309: Chapter Eight: The Lie Yuan Shu Strike!

The simulated Miezhi eye on Luo Feng’s third eye could perceive the figure of the Xinling woman, but he failed to recognize her, for the true form of the Hive Master and her Xinling split-body differed in appearance and aura.

“Hive Master?” The Changqing Lord, relying on the Dan Tower’s array, had only just glimpsed this Xinling woman’s figure—and he was stunned the moment he saw her.

He had dealt with the Hive Master too many times before, and had seen her Xinling split-body before.

“Changqing!”

The Xinling woman stood there, gazing coldly at the Changqing Lord, a ripple of Xinling energy transmitting: “Because this Divine Emperor Luo Feng joined your Dan Tower, you think you can ignore me? Is that why you’ve recklessly expanded your business?”

“I’m not expanding recklessly—I’m merely engaging in fair competition,” the Changqing Lord said. “My prices remain unchanged; I’ve simply begun supplying normally. My prices for comparable elixirs have always been lower than yours. Naturally, everyone in Yulan City prefers to buy from me.”

“Hmph.”

The Xinling woman looked at the Changqing Lord and laughed—unrestrainedly. “Do you even have the right to compete fairly before me?”

The Changqing Lord’s chest tightened.

“It seems I’ve neglected to discipline you for too long,” the Xinling woman sighed. “I’ve been too merciful!”

“Hive Master, we are both cultivators from the Source World, both with split-bodies,” the Changqing Lord snapped. “You can’t touch me—why torment me so?”

“I see you once, I torment you once—what of it?” the Xinling woman sneered, her gaze sweeping toward Luo Feng nearby. “This is the Divine Emperor Luo Feng, is it? Are you certain you wish to meddle in my affairs with the Changqing Lord?”

“Think carefully!” the Xinling woman fixed Luo Feng with her gaze. “Once you interfere, you pay the price!”

“I’ve already accepted the Changqing Lord’s payment,” Luo Feng said. “I am now Deputy Head of the Dan Tower. I have no intention of opposing the Hive Master—but no matter what, I will protect the Dan Tower.”

“I understand.”

The Xinling woman nodded. Her eyes suddenly turned pitch black, her voice deepening. “Let me see what kind of strength you have to dare defy me!”

“Luo Feng, be careful. This is her Xinling split-body—she specializes in Xinling contamination.” The Changqing Lord whispered a warning.

“I know,” Luo Feng replied. Having accepted the Changqing Lord’s invitation, he had long anticipated possibly facing the Hive Master.

Information about the Hive Master was no secret in Yulan City.

When she was still weak, the Hive Master endured extreme Xinling contamination. After reaching the late Divine Emperor stage in the Path of Enlightenment, the contamination became too severe—she could never achieve perfection. So she switched to the Bloodline System, exhausting all her reserves in the Dark Sacred Realm to acquire the high-grade Primordial Bloodline: “Infinite Cicada Tomb.”

This bloodline thrived on Xinling contamination—the more intense the contamination, the stronger her bloodline’s power could be unlocked, so long as she retained a sliver of clarity.

Legend says…

If one’s Xinling will could break free of the cage, and if paired with sufficient Xinling contamination, one might fully unlock the true power of the “Infinite Cicada Tomb,” triggering ultimate bloodline awakening and becoming a high-grade Primordial Life.

“She’s here with her Xinling split-body, so she’s relying purely on Xinling techniques,” Luo Feng thought. “In the Dark Sacred Realm, she’s done everything to amplify her Xinling contamination. She possesses the ‘Infinite Cicada Tomb’ bloodline and can still maintain clarity. But when her contamination touches other Semi-Primordial-level cultivators… even if they resist, they must spend long periods and great effort to gradually cleanse it.”

Even among Elders, many with Xinling will reaching the Semi-Primordial level still feared the Hive Master.

But Luo Feng was not afraid.

“The Indestructible Heart already resists Xinling erosion. I also possess the secret technique ‘Lie Yuan Shu’ left by Elder Yuan. With both in my possession, why should I fear her contamination? That would be laughable!” Luo Feng thought.

“Luo Feng!”

The Xinling woman grinned at Luo Feng.

Whooosh—

The Xinling woman suddenly appeared before Luo Feng and gently embraced him!

This was Xinling power—beyond the realm of speed! The moment she saw him, a single thought had already enveloped and entangled him; her surface now shimmered with countless twisted, frenzied faces.

The instant Luo Feng was embraced, everything around him vanished.

At this moment…

Luo Feng ‘saw’ a vast, illusory hive directly before him, trapping one consciousness after another—faces writhing in agony. The illusory hive also began to corrupt Luo Feng.

“How many cultivators have you killed? Not only killed them—but actively devoured their souls, making them part of you?” The moment he was corrupted, Luo Feng immediately perceived the Hive Master’s method.

The Hive Master had deliberately absorbed countless souls—not annihilating them, but fusing them into the hive as components, trapping their ‘consciousness’ forever within.

The Hive Master appeared to be a single cultivator, yet she contained the consciousnesses of billions of beings.

But her consciousness was the primary one—all others were mere nourishment.

“I alone cannot bear so much contamination—so I make them share it, share the burden.”

“This is the power of the collective. Hahaha… Luo Feng, experience the contamination I’ve endured in the Infinite Nightmare!”

The Hive Master’s voice echoed as contamination seeped in.

This was why so many Elders feared the Hive Master—this contamination carried the collective burden of billions of consciousnesses. Once another Elder was tainted, it was far worse than destroying several of her split-bodies.

“Huh? What’s going on?”

The Hive Master was astonished.

For several breaths, she exhausted every technique she knew—but found not a single crack, not a single gap. She contaminated not a single particle of Luo Feng.

“Hive Master, you may indulge in your own cultivation—but devouring billions of cultivators’ souls, forcing them to suffer eternally—you’re a scum who deserves death.” Luo Feng’s killing intent surged.

At this moment, Luo Feng cursed his own weakness!

The Hive Master came from the Source World—she had multiple split-bodies. Killing her was nearly impossible.

“No wonder you dared help the Changqing Lord—you have a way to resist Xinling infiltration. This time, I came only with my Xinling split-body to warn you. Next time, it’ll be my true form—” The Hive Master realized she couldn’t touch Luo Feng.

“Do you even have the right to warn me?”

“You scum!”

“Lie Yuan Shu!”

Luo Feng showed no mercy.

His Xinling will had already reached the Divine Emperor’s peak. Recently, while contemplating the Primordial Bloodline and glimpsing the ultimate truth, his Xinling will had naturally risen by a fraction—just a fraction, yet it brushed against the limit beneath the Cage!

Before breaking the Cage, Xinling will had reached its absolute ceiling—this was the level held by many Elders, many Semi-Primordial-level cultivators.

Yet those who possessed the secret technique passed down by Elder Yuan were exceedingly rare.

The Founders of the two nations on the Origin Continent and the three alien races had long sought Elder Yuan’s secret techniques—even if unsuitable for them, they craved them, for no Divine Emperor could create such techniques.

Luo Feng had studied “Lie Yuan Shu” for too long. Recently, while contemplating the Primordial Bloodline and glimpsing the core essence of escaping the Cage—perfect unity! Only by perfectly uniting all mysteries could true transformation occur.

His understanding of “Lie Yuan Shu” had deepened further, faintly acquiring a natural, effortless resonance.

“Destroy!”

With Xinling will at the limit beneath the Cage—and his current insight—he activated “Lie Yuan Shu.”

A slowly rolling miniature star appeared in the Hive Master’s ‘vision.’

This star was far smaller and more ordinary than before—but it signified greater Ninglian of Xinling will, its aura completely contained.

Boom—

The moment the Hive Master’s Xinling split-body saw the miniature star roll, there was no escape.

“ Xinling technique?” The Hive Master’s split-body paid no mind. She had clashed with countless other cultivators’ Xinling will—why fear Luo Feng’s attack?

Boom!

The miniature star instantly struck the Hive Master’s Xinling split-body, transforming her from a woman’s form into a terrified, illusory hive—the most stable form.

Yet even this illusory hive was torn, pierced, and crushed by the miniature star.

“How is this possible?” The Hive Master couldn’t believe it.

Luo Feng’s Xinling star was so small, so ordinary—yet utterly unstoppable!

Only now did the Hive Master sense that the miniature star carried a faint trace of “natural harmony”—a resonance vaguely similar to the “Infinite Cicada Tomb” bloodline she had once acquired.

“He must have obtained the secret technique left by Jin and the others,” the Hive Master thought, writhing in pain.

The illusory hive, pierced and crushed from within, instantly shattered billions of fused souls within it—those souls, as they were crushed, finally wore expressions of release. The hive’s once-stable structure now erupted into chaos; suppressed contaminations surged wildly.

“Bad! My Xinling split-body is wounded—I can’t suppress the contamination anymore. I must return immediately.”

After taking the blow, the Hive Master’s Xinling split-body instantly streaked across the sky toward her nest.

“Luo Feng! I didn’t expect you to possess such a powerful Xinling technique! I’ve taken a loss today—I’ll reclaim it next time!” The split-body’s voice echoed across Luo Feng and the Changqing Lord.

She herself had already vanished into the distance.

A pure Xinling split-body moved far faster than any physical body—whether attacking or fleeing.

Luo Feng had barely time to unleash “Lie Yuan Shu” once; before he could strike again, the Xinling split-body was gone.

“A pure Xinling split-body escapes incredibly fast,” Luo Feng remarked.

The Changqing Lord stared at Luo Feng in shock.

“You defeated the Hive Master?” he couldn’t believe it. He had invited Luo Feng merely hoping he could hold the line using the pre-set array.

He had never imagined defeating the Hive Master!

Who was the Hive Master? In Yulan City, below the Three Hall Masters, she stood alongside the Trickster Lord and Star Yi Elder—these were the few whose power differed qualitatively from ordinary Elders.

Ordinary Elders typically reached late Divine Emperor stage along one path. The Hive Master, Trickster Lord, and others like them generally reached late Divine Emperor stage along two paths.

“I only defeated her Xinling split-body—nothing remarkable,” Luo Feng said more gravely.

He knew well: when the Hive Master’s true form arrived, carrying multiple secret treasures, that was her real power—far more terrifying than a mere Xinling split-body.

…

“Damn Luo Feng.”

Within the massive hive, the Xinling split-body had returned; the Hive Master writhed in agony.

Luo Feng had no idea how much trouble his “Lie Yuan Shu” strike had caused the Hive Master—it was far worse than destroying several of her split-bodies.

“Contamination is out of control!”

“Must stabilize it! Stabilize it!”

The Hive Master could no longer think of revenge or anything else.

(End of Chapter)