Chapter 456: Sea Pearl

Gu Yan?

It's not only that Shen Xinrui has never heard of this name; even Qi Zhou Bingxuan has never heard of a Human Clan cultivator named "Gu Yan" who uses a Beast Soul Banner.

However, Human Clan cultivators are countless; even Yuan Ying Cultivators far outnumber the Sea Clan's Fourth Level cultivators, so the sudden appearance of an unknown cultivator, while surprising, is still within expectations.

What is truly unexpected is Gu Yan's strength.

The Beast Soul Banner in his hand seems to be more than just a Mid‑Tier Fourth Level Artifact?

After Qi Zhou Bingxuan is surrounded by dense Ghost Qi and a mass of beast souls, his movements strangely become smaller and smaller?

Even the surrounding ice crystals begin to show signs of melting.

"Formation."

Watching the surging Ghost Qi, Shen Xinrui steadies herself, her eyes brightening as she discovers that the seemingly erratic flow of beast souls actually follows a special pattern.

It is clearly a formation, without doubt.

Sword Qi Turns to Threads!

Using one's own name to pressure others for the first time feels rather strange.

From beneath the wide hood comes a hoarse, chilling laugh.

"And this formation too!"

Thus Qi Zhou Bingxuan never even considered targeting Yunhe, the Old Demon Yun.

Fine strands of black mist coil around the wound like a festering ulcer, seeping in bit by bit.

"Gu Yan!" Qi Zhou Bingxuan shouts, his voice fierce yet trembling.

"This time I admit defeat; I have already sent word to my clan's Grand Elder, and the Grand Elder will arrive in no time!"

Qi Zhou Bingxuan is instantly hit at a sore spot by Yunhe.

Moreover, having altered his appearance and deliberately concealed certain habits, it is normal that he is unrecognizable.

"You!"

"Old Demon Yun is stationed in Wu State; even if the Grand Elder you mentioned arrives, what then? Could you represent the Sea Clan right now and launch a full‑scale attack on my Human Clan?"

Among Demonic Cultivators, artifacts like Beast Soul Banners and Ten Thousand Soul Banners are very common; the only difference is their tier. As a true Demonic Cultivator, who doesn't wield a demon banner?

Beast Soul Banners, Ten Thousand Soul Banners, Soul‑Slashing Banners, and the like are standard equipment for Demonic Cultivators.

Sensing the change in the Ice Shield, Qi Zhou Bingxuan immediately opens his mouth and exhales a puff of snow‑white frost.

Qi Zhou Bingxuan grits his teeth, thrusts his arms outward, and a thick Ice Shield instantly descends, blocking beast soul attacks from all directions.

This is felt even more clearly by Qi Zhou Bingxuan, who is trapped within the beast souls.

Because in technique, Cultivation Base, and divine sense, he is completely different from Yunhe.

Suddenly a sharp claw shoots out from the black mist, striking Qi Zhou Bingxuan's back heart; although he reacts in time to dodge, the claw still scratches his skin.

In response comes an even denser Corpse‑Evil Qi, mingling with the thick Ghost Qi, like countless fine hair‑like needles.

As long as Yunhe conceals the beast souls of the Flame‑Stepping Red Jackal and the Wind‑Devouring Beast, it is almost impossible to recognize him.

Even that dense Corpse‑Evil Qi alone differs greatly from Old Demon Yun's five‑element qi, and the techniques within are evidently far apart.

But Qi Zhou Bingxuan dares not pause to tend his wound, for before he steadies himself another claw shoots out from a different direction.

The needle‑like Corpse‑Evil Qi, formed from the dense qi, follows the claw marks left by the beast souls and pierces the Ice Shield.

In fact, not only Qi Zhou Bingxuan, but even the people closest to Yunhe could not recognize him at this moment.

Not long ago, Grand Elder Qi Lin Changlan of the Qi Lin clan, while dueling the Human Clan cultivator Old Demon Yun, was deeply impressed by the opponent's Sword Qi Turns to Threads, and he relayed this to the Sea Clan cultivators.

Having no choice.

But she could not identify the formation, only that its power was extraordinary.

However.

But the next moment.

Then the claws descend, accompanied by shattering ice crystals and swirling Ghost Qi; the Ice Shield instantly begins to wobble and collapse.

"Beast soul of a mid‑stage Fourth Level monster, still two heads!"

He knows the Sea Clan's internal situation better than Yunhe, far less than what the Human Clan side perceives.

Qi Zhou Bingxuan's expression changes drastically, quickly realizing this is not merely Corpse‑Evil Qi turning to threads, but

"Sword Threads?!"

"Fish dead, net broken?"

As for the Beast Soul Banner artifact.

"Is this a top‑tier Fourth Level Beast Soul Banner?!"

However, the current Sword Threads differ greatly from Old Demon Yun's Sword Threads.

"I hope you stop while you're ahead; don't fish dead, net broken!"

The frost quickly turns into a barrage of Ice Needles, shooting upward.

His robe is also a fine artifact, crafted from green bullfrog skin; although it is merely a Low‑Tier Fourth Level Artifact, its purpose is entirely to conceal qi and hide his form, which is why Qi Zhou Bingxuan did not notice his arrival at first.

The fact is, the cultivator who calls himself "Gu Yan" is actually Yunhe!

More precisely, he is Yunhe's external avatar.

At least, it is not that united and harmonious.

Within the Sea Clan there have always been conservative and radical factions; although the radicals always hold sufficient initiative, the conservatives' influence is also considerable.

Moreover, the Sea Clan comprises three sub‑clans: Qi Zhou, Qi Lin, and Qi Hun, and they are not completely of one mind.

More importantly.

Not long ago, Grand Elder Qi Lin Changlan was wounded by Old Demon Yun; if the Grand Elder of the Qi Zhou clan arrives and fails to defeat Old Demon Yun in their duel, it would greatly affect the morale of the entire Sea Clan.

'My own name is actually more useful than I imagined.'

While Yunhe secretly sighed in his heart, he spoke again, his voice turning grim.

Moreover.

But we need to keep the line as a single output line with 【62】 prefix.

He flicked his wrist, and the banner snapped loudly.

Dealing with you doesn't take nearly that much time!

Arrogant!

Qizhou Bingxuan flew into a rage.

He admitted that in strength he was inferior to the Guyan before him, but being an early Nascent Soul—or early Fourth Level—cultivator, even if he couldn't win, the other side basically had no way to keep him.

Boom!!

Centering on Qizhou Bingxuan, a burst of extreme cold air exploded outward.

Woo—

But before his cold energy could wreak havoc, a loud, wolf-like howl rang out.

A frantic crimson treasure pearl appeared in the black mist.

Roar!

Flames rose upward.

Next, crimson jackals howling in rage burst out one after another, instantly suppressing the wanton frost.

This is.

Seeing the crimson jackal howling toward him, Qizhou Bingxuan's pupils shrank sharply.

He recognized this magical treasure!

He glared at Yunhe standing outside the black mist.

This is the magical treasure of the Flame-Stepping Crimson Jackal!

What a pity.

Even though he recognized this magical treasure, Qizhou Bingxuan still didn't think of sending his external incarnation onto Yunhe's body.

After all, trading magical treasures is all too common; exchanging a useless magical treasure for useful materials or treasures is completely normal.

Moreover, even if he recognized it, the impact on Yunhe is already insignificant.

Because he definitely won't be able to leave here today.

Under the cover of the black mist, Shen Xingrui and Shen Mu simply couldn't see what was inside.

Trapped among thousands of beast souls, plus the suppression of the crimson treasure pearl's flames, Qizhou Bingxuan's proud ice-attribute techniques lost more than half their effectiveness.

Boom!!

After a few breaths.

Guyan, I'll remember you!

Qizhou Bingxuan's figure had already vanished, leaving only an azure-blue pearl emitting a faint glow, flickering.

Whoosh—

After leaving a word, that pearl immediately shot out like a meteor.

Tsk, you sea clan only ever say that line, right?

Yunhe couldn't help but mutter a complaint, yet his hand movements didn't stop.

With a pinch of two fingers, a five-colored talisman appeared in his hand.

And as the talisman was activated, an extremely strong suction targeting the soul within that pearl immediately appeared.

Five Elements Spirit-Attracting Talisman!

That pearl is the foundation of the sea cultivator, called the Sea Pearl, akin to a human cultivator's Nascent Soul; although it cannot perform short-range teleportation like a Nascent Soul, its flight speed is far greater than that of a human cultivator's Nascent Soul.

After all, whether it's a human cultivator's Nascent Soul or a sea clan's Sea Pearl, both require the soul to command and drive.

This is.

You are Yun.

Only after seeing this talisman, plus the earlier crimson treasure pearl, did Qizhou Bingxuan finally recognize Yunhe's identity.

However, it was already too late.

Pop!

Yunhe raised his hand and grabbed the azure-blue pearl, soon feeling a chill.

Afterward, he carefully put away that talisman.

Faintly, one could still hear the curses transmitted from Qizhou Bingxuan's soul.

The sea clan's physique is strong, but the Sea Pearl's escape ability—let alone compared to the Abyss clan's Soul Silk Escape—even compared to a human cultivator's Nascent Soul escape, there's a considerable gap.

This might be the shackles exchanged for a strong physique.

Is the monster clan's physique strong enough?

However, the monster clan's monster core simply cannot leave the body.

The sea cultivator's physique is also much stronger than that of a human cultivator; although the Sea Pearl can run more than the monster core, it also doesn't have much specialness.

Speaking of which

Yunhe lowered his head to look at the Sea Pearl in his hand, slightly narrowing his eyes.

This sea clan is more like a race between the monster clan and the human clan.

This is interesting.

Soon Yunhe thought of something.

If we take the sea clan's cultivation method as the axis to connect, blending the human cultivator's method and the monster clan's method.

Is it that it becomes the cultivation method practiced by those demon cultivators?

Among human cultivators, since there are cultivators who practice demonic Dao techniques, there naturally are also cultivators who practice demon beast techniques, and such cultivators are called demon beast cultivators.

However, in the Eastern Border cultivation world, demon beast cultivators are few, almost negligible; conversely, in the Cloud Upper Realm, they are relatively more numerous.

Let's set it aside for now.

Yunhe carefully put away this sea pearl.

He suddenly had an extremely bold idea in his mind, but realizing this idea would be extremely difficult, very difficult.

Besides that, there were also several scales, among which the more special one was Qizhou Bingxuan's storage bag.

Splash—

Banners fluttered, and myriad beast souls were all gathered.

Dead?

Seeing the vanished Qizhou Bingxuan, Shen Xingrui secretly felt startled.

Killing cultivators of the same realm is extremely difficult, especially upon reaching Nascent Soul and Fourth Level Tier.

But a Sea Clan Fourth Level early-stage cultivator who could easily slaughter them before was slain in such a short time?

Many thanks, senior, for saving my life!

Noticing the cold gaze Yunhe cast upon her, Shen Xingrui shuddered and hastily spoke up.

The other party is a demonic cultivator; just by seeing how many beast souls are in his beast soul banner, one knows he's no pushover, and if he's the sort who kills on a whim, they'd have nowhere to appeal.

However, Shen Xingrui had also made preparations.

If the other party really intends to attack, she would invoke Yunhe's name, which should at least have some effect.

"Two little brats," Yunhe said slowly, "What are you still doing here? Waiting for the Sea Clan's reinforcements?"

Hearing that, Shen Xingrui startled, then quickly realized and thanked him again.

"Many thanks, senior!"

Having said that, she grabbed Shen Mu and turned to run.

During their flight, they still retained some wariness toward Yunhe.

"Still quite wary." After the two ran off, Yunhe pulled down his hood, revealing a smile.

"This little girl's talent in formation Dao is far stronger than mine."

He also saw the formation Shen Xingrui had set up, which indeed bore some traces of the "Dragon Fish Vast Sea Grand Formation."

"She probably just glanced at it then; although it was only a bit of superficial knowledge, if she were given more to look at, she might actually be able to figure something out."

Muttering to himself, he looked toward the direction of Yuan State.

In the distance, he could already feel several powerful divine senses rapidly approaching.

Immediately, he did not linger; after rolling up his banner, he turned into a black streak and vanished into the rainy night.

Ice Immortal Pavilion.

Inside Yunhe's cultivation cave dwelling.

"How is it?"

Seeing the returned external incarnation, Yunhe opened his eyes slightly and asked.

"You yourself 'look'."

The external incarnation was also straightforward; upon arriving before him, it began synchronizing memories.

This included what the external incarnation had done during this time, as well as what it had seen and heard.

Originally, according to Yunhe's intention, the external incarnation's main role was to assist him in cultivation, especially in the paths of formations, elixirs, artifacts, and talismans.

However.

Later, after considering the existence of the Yellow Spring Old Ancestor and the possibility that he too had an external incarnation, and after much thought, he felt it necessary to let his external incarnation operate independently of himself.

First, the external incarnation could earn merit through this opportunity; after all, although its cultivation base advancement lacks the bottlenecks of the true self, it still requires a large amount of elixirs to raise its cultivation base.

If the external incarnation's cultivation base could also reach mid‑Nascent Soul, then when facing possible dangers and enemies, he would have greater confidence.

Second, as a demonic Dao cultivator, the external incarnation might obtain some information from angles Yunhe cannot access.

As for the possibility of the external incarnation betraying him,

such a short time and such close proximity make it impossible.

In fact, as long as the external incarnation does not leave the true self for more than ten years, there basically will be no major problems.

Once the corpse soul worm completes its metamorphosis in the future, Yunhe only needs to leave a corpse soul worm and sufficient backup on the external incarnation; then even if it departs for several decades, there should be no problem.

"Soul‑Nurturing Elixir" has also been refined in a batch; now we just wait to see whether the corpse soul worm can "digest" it.

"Thus, the name 'Guyan' of the demonic Dao loose cultivator has been made known."

(End of chapter)