Chapter 677: Void Anomaly

Hearing Qin Ming's order, Han Yuan and Liu Ye both let out a long, relieved breath.

It seemed this Nascent Soul elder had merely passed by accidentally, and his temperament was even fairly normal—they had finally saved their lives.

Yet Han Yuan, staring at the design of the Lingxiao Bao Nian, felt his thoughts churn and surge: third-stage late Aquatic Giant Crocodiles pulling the carriage, coupled with such youthful features, combined with the rumors he'd heard earlier.

Moreover, the stranger had arrived from the direction of the Southern Wilderness cultivation realm.

He instinctively connected the dots to the identity of this elder.

'All these traits confirm that this elder is none other than the famed Wangyue Zhenjun, whose name echoes across every cultivation realm!'

Han Yuan and Liu Ye were overwhelmed with excitement—they never imagined they'd encounter such a towering figure.

With Wangyue Zhenjun's reputation, their safety was now assured.

'Yes! Zhenjun Elder, we shall lead you there at once!'

Han Yuan and Liu Ye replied with utmost reverence, moving with extreme caution.

'Hmm. Lead the way.'

'The storage bags of those demonic cultivators are yours.'

Qin Ming sat back inside the carriage.

He no longer cared for the meager possessions of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

'Thank you, Zhenjun Lord!'

Han Yuan and Liu Ye were overjoyed, ecstatic, immediately cleaned up the scene, then hurried ahead to guide the way away.

Shortly after.

After flying for a little over half a day.

Han Yuan and Liu Ye brought Qin Ming to the edge of a barren canyon, its ground blanketed in dark blackened soil, as if corrupted and eroded by demonic energy.

Within a ten-li radius, not a trace of life remained.

'Zhenjun Lord, the Void Anomaly lies just ahead—'

Han Yuan was about to turn and report to Qin Ming, when he saw the Lingxiao Bao Nian behind them vanish as if it had never existed…

Ding ding dang dang!

'Hurry up, all of you! Before we're discovered, finish building the Reception Platform and prepare to welcome the arrival of the Demon Lord!'

A bald giant, shirtless, his body covered in pitch-black demonic tattoos, radiated the aura of a Golden Core cultivator.

At his roar, the low-level demonic cultivators scrambling in the canyon redoubled their efforts.

'Yes, Demon Envoy!'

The bald giant then barked at his subordinates: 'Any word from Lülin and Xuedao?'

'They were just sent to hunt down two Foundation Establishment cultivators—how could they take so long?'

'No word yet from the two elders,' came the trembling reply, each man terrified of provoking this one and meeting his end.

At that moment.

The bald giant suddenly felt a strange disturbance, and pulled out a blood-marked demonic tablet from his robe. After reading it, his expression changed abruptly.

'Impossible! All the men Lülin and Xuedao took with them have been wiped out.'

Meanwhile.

Qin Ming had arrived above the canyon. He released a faint spiritual sense, and instantly understood everything within.

'Only one Golden Core demonic cultivator here, along with dozens of demonic disciples, still busy constructing their so-called "Reception Platform."'

The black stone platform at the canyon's center must be the one used to summon demonic cultivators from the other realm.

Qin Ming ignored these Blood Refining demonic disciples entirely, his gaze fixed on a point in the canyon's empty air.

There, a black void rift, several zhang wide, spiraled like a vortex, continuously spewing demonic energy—as if ready to devour and dissolve anything that fell into it into nothingness.

Even Qin Ming's spiritual sense, upon entering, vanished instantly. Near this void rift, two smaller rifts also existed.

The demonic disciples were erecting arrays and carving demonic runes onto nearby rocks, embedding coordinate stones into them.

'So this is what they call the "Void Anomaly."'

Qin Ming was startled, and immediately pulled out a recording jade slip, capturing every detail of the scene.

'Who's there?!'

Qin Ming made no effort to hide—he walked openly into their midst, calmly recording the anomaly.

Obviously, any sighted person could see him, let alone these demonic cultivators.

The bald Golden Core demonic cultivator roared and flew over to investigate.

But when the bald giant released his spiritual sense and glanced over—

He saw only a young human cultivator standing midair, with not a trace of spiritual energy, as if an ordinary mortal. Such an eerie sight stunned him—ordinary mortals simply couldn't do this.

There was only one possibility.

'Nascent Soul powerhouse!'

A terrifying thought flashed through the bald giant's mind.

Just as he prepared to retreat, a terrifying spiritual force locked him in place.

The entire space around him seemed crushed by an unseen pressure—he instantly felt as if plunged into an icy tomb.

Frozen midair, unable to move.

The Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators building the black platform, upon seeing Qin Ming, dropped their tools and scrambled to flee in panic.

But the next instant—

Black vines erupted from the void, wrapping around them, instantly draining their blood and leaving behind desiccated corpses.

"P-P Senior, spare me!" the bald giant gasped, summoning his last ounce of strength to beg.

He couldn't understand why, mere moments after descending, they'd encountered such a powerful cultivator—his luck was truly abysmal.

Qin Ming stared at him without expression, placed one hand on the bald giant's head, and began the Soul-Searching Technique.

As Qin Ming's spiritual force invaded, the bald giant screamed in unbearable agony.

Qin Ming ignored him, continuing the soul search.

Just as his spiritual force neared the bald giant's consciousness, a strange crimson seal flared to life within the man's mind, ready to detonate his soul.

'So this is what they've done,' Qin Ming realized—he now understood the Blood Refining Sect's manipulation of their core disciples' souls.

He was now a Nascent Soul True Person, his abilities far beyond what he'd possessed as a Golden Core cultivator.

Qin Ming's spiritual sense surged violently, instantly erasing the crimson seal.

'Aaaahhh!'

The bald giant shrieked in terror—the removal of the crimson seal unleashed soul-deep agony so unbearable he wished for death.

Half a minute later, the bald giant, the Golden Core demonic cultivator, was dead from soul-searching.

Qin Ming didn't waste the corpse—he used the Thorn Technique to turn it into blood pearls, then collected the storage bag.

By the time he finished, Han Yuan and Liu Ye arrived belatedly; seeing the canyon cleared by Qin Ming's thunderous might, they sighed in awe.

They saw the Golden Core cultivator, who would have fled at the mere rumor of danger, crushed by Qin Ming as easily as swatting a fly.

Qin Ming had also gleaned much useful information from the bald giant's soul—such as the method to break the Blood Ring Curse Seal, which was known only to the Nascent Soul Demon Lord.

'This is troublesome.'

Based on the soul-searching, Qin Ming now knew at least three Nascent Soul Demon Lords of the Blood Refining Sect had successfully descended into the mortal realm.

The strongest among them was a Nascent Soul mid-stage demonic cultivator named Tian Sha Mo Jun.

In the Blood Ring Realm, besides the Blood Refining Sect, there were four other major powers: Ghost Realm Temple, Ten Thousand Souls Cliff, Boundless Mountain, and Long Life Monastery.

The other four Shen Transformation sects had already descended into other major cultivation realms of the mortal world.

Among these five Blood Ring Realm powers, the Blood Refining Sect was the strongest.

Currently, the territories of the Three States of Zhongzhou and the Beast Roar Mountains lay within the Blood Refining Sect's descent zone.

Qin Ming pondered briefly.

"A Nascent Soul mid-stage Demon Lord… isn't too bad. After all, I've accumulated over four thousand years of killing experience. As long as the demon isn't a freakishly powerful cultivator of divine arts or a Shen Transformation Demon Sovereign who descended, I can handle him easily."

'No matter how strong a Nascent Soul Demon Lord is, his lifespan doesn't exceed two thousand years.'

Thinking this, Qin Ming felt slightly reassured.

'But constantly spending kill-line isn't sustainable—I must raise my cultivation and strengthen my divine techniques as soon as possible.'

Qin Ming also learned from the bald giant's soul:

'Descent' occurs when the spiritual tides of the three thousand minor realms beneath the Spirit Realm converge, creating a chance for a void rift to open between two realms.

The scale, size, and duration of such realm convergence vary—some last only ten years, others decades, even centuries.

As the void rift continues expanding, not only cultivators, but even low-level demonic cultivators and Shen Transformation Sovereigns can freely traverse the passage.

Even descent talismans become unnecessary.

Qin Ming's gaze flickered: 'The Void Anomaly in the Blood Ring Realm must have mutated into this scale—likely to persist for decades, even a century. It won't end anytime soon.'

He stopped thinking further, waved his hand, and destroyed the Reception Platform and array beneath the Void Anomaly.

On the descent platform of the Blood Refining Sect in the Blood Ring Realm.

A massive, towering Demon Lord, radiating Nascent Soul mid-stage spiritual pressure, prepared to use the platform to descend.

But the next instant—

From the endless abyss below, a white light erupted from a certain void rift, then shattered into fragments.

The giant's gaze turned icy. 'What happened?'

'Report, Lord Qishang, the Reception Platform we built near the mortal realm's void passage… seems… seems to have been destroyed.'

'We've lost contact.'

A disciple of the Blood Refining Demon Sect, seeing this elder fly into a rage, answered cautiously.

The Seven Sorrow Demon Lord sneered: "How dare you show your face before me?"

"How dare you delay my descent to the mortal realm!"

He curled his five fingers in the air and instantly sucked dry the blood essence of the Golden Core demon cultivator reporting to him, leaving only a pile of withered bones.

"Mercy, Demon Lord! No—!"

"Agh!"

……

In the Beast Roar Mountains, Qin Ming lightly exerted his power, attempting to destroy the rift before him.

But the result surprised him.

These rifts drifting through the void seemed impervious to ordinary methods of complete destruction.

Yet without the reception platform, demon cultivators from the Blood Realm would become extremely unstable when descending through the void passages.

Rashly passing through these void channels could even risk death and the dissolution of one's Dao.

Thus, destroying the reception platform could temporarily prevent demon cultivators from the other side from descending.

"Thank you, True Person, for your intervention—had more demons descended, the consequences would have been unthinkable," Han Yuan and the other bowed deeply to Qin Ming, their gratitude sincere.

Qin Ming replied coolly: "No need. It was merely incidental."

"By the way, you came here on a mission—do you have a base nearby?"

"Reporting to True Person, yes—we have established the Wei Dao Alliance's main base for countering descents, 'Wei Yuan City,' ten thousand li from here," Han Yuan replied respectfully.

Qin Ming asked coolly: "Who is in charge of Wei Yuan City?"

"Reporting to True Person, Wei Yuan City is the Wei Dao Alliance's foremost stronghold against the demonic path. It is currently governed by Elder Gan of the Flame Palace. In emergencies, the Nascent Soul True Persons of the Wei Dao Alliance will also come to direct the battle," Han Yuan answered in full detail, without concealment.

Qin Ming pondered briefly. "Hmm. Take me to Wei Yuan City."

"Yes!"

No sooner had Han Yuan answered than he was suddenly startled—he felt himself swept up by an unseen force and instantly flown away.

Two days later.

A grand, immense Immortal City appeared in Qin Ming's sight—Wei Yuan City, as Han Yuan had described.

Wei Yuan City lies at the strategic pass between the Southern Wasteland Immortal Realm and the Beast Roar Mountains, at the junction of two massive mountain ranges.

As soon as they arrived outside Wei Yuan City, a golden streak of light shot out from within the city and halted steadily before Qin Ming's Lingxiao Bao Nian.

"Gan Yue of the Flame Palace, pays homage to Wangyue True Person!!"

Qin Ming sat within the carriage and glanced coolly at Hua Tianxiong, his powerful patron.

Elder Gan had white hair and a youthful face, his spirit sharp and contained, his cultivation at the peak of Golden Core.

According to Hua Tianxiong, Elder Gan was now among the top ten cultivators in Great Jin, second only to Nascent Soul True Persons.

Clearly, Elder Gan had recognized Qin Ming's status from afar and come out to greet him.

"Oh? So you're Elder Gan of the Flame Palace. Are there any other Nascent Soul cultivators stationed in Wei Yuan City? I have matters to discuss." Qin Ming spoke coolly from within the carriage.

Elder Gan's heart tightened. He immediately replied: "Reporting to Elder Qin, only this junior is currently on duty. If you have urgent matters, please allow me to relay your message."

"The ancestral elders of the Wei Dao Alliance can arrive within a day."

"Hmm. Relay this for me—I have urgent business to discuss." Qin Ming's voice drifted out coolly.

"I humbly obey Wangyue True Person's command!"

Elder Gan dared not delay—he hurriedly agreed.

Qin Ming found it amusing—he never imagined he could command Hua Tianxiong so casually. "Han Yuan, Liu Ye—you've both done great service. Go to the Affairs Hall and claim your merit rewards."

After learning the full story, Elder Gan understood that these two had simply been extraordinarily fortunate.

Yet, with his deep understanding of worldly ways, he sensed Wangyue True Person's intention to protect Han Yuan and Liu Ye—and promptly chose to repay the favor.

Then, with utmost reverence, Elder Gan escorted Qin Ming into Wei Yuan City and arranged for him to reside in the finest guest quarters.

Only one day later.

A crimson streak flashed from afar and arrived instantly, revealing the figure of the Flame Immortal.

(End of Chapter)