Chapter 507: You Are Luo Chen?

In the pitch-black dungeon, it was even quieter due to the sound of low breathing.

This silence lasted for a long time.

Until a sigh of despair completely broke it.

The cultivators trapped in the small dark rooms all looked up toward that location.

"Fellow Daoist Haoran Zi, how is it?"

"Can you undo the restriction?"

There were those who spoke, and even more with urgent gazes.

Facing these inquiries, Haoran Zi smiled bitterly: "No, the Core Formation in my body is silent, and I cannot mobilize any magic power at all."

"You are the one with the deepest cultivation among us, just one step away from the Core Formation Great Perfection. If even you cannot undo the restriction, then we are completely fish on the chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered," said the Moon God Messenger of the Star-Moon Temple.

Haoran Zi shook his head: "You all overestimate me too much. That one is an existence that made five great Nascent Soul True Persons flee in fear. I am but a mere Core Formation cultivator; how could I undo a restriction personally placed by her?"

Mentioning that one, everyone's expressions changed.

Making five great Nascent Soul True Persons flee upon seeing her—what this meant, even if they hadn't personally stepped into that realm, they could imagine a thing or two.

Among the five, Han Zhan and the others, there were no weaklings.

Whether it was Tian Yezi, who had many means and possessed dual wind-thunder spirit roots, or True Person Jade Cauldron, who had cultivated for hundreds of years and whose sword techniques had reached perfection, they were absolutely famous powerhouses in the Eastern Wasteland cultivation world.

Even in terms of realm, He Qingzi was also a profound cultivator comparable to the mid-stage of Nascent Soul!

With such five people joining forces, let alone ordinary Nascent Soul True Persons, even mid-stage Nascent Soul powerhouses would not be afraid!

But with such a lineup, just when that woman stepped out a small foot, they fled regardless of everything.

As such, one could imagine the woman's strength!

She was absolutely a Great Cultivator of the late stage of Nascent Soul!

It could even be said that even among late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, she was the most top-tier existence.

They did not know the subsequent results.

But True Person Cloud-Crane was destroyed in body and spirit by just one strike, and even his Nascent Soul did not have time to escape.

Such thunderous means were simply unbelievable.

It was only natural for Haoran Zi to have such a feeling.

Wei Wuya, who came from the Nascent Soul superior sect Motian Cliff, said extremely incomprehensibly: "Although there are countless demon race powerhouses in the million-strong wilderness, I observed that the woman's means were actually very simple, yet the power was so strong. Such a unique and striking combat style should have been recorded by the top sects of the human race. But why have I never heard of this demon's existence?"

Facing this question, Ye Xiang, who also came from a Nascent Soul sect, said hoarsely: "Perhaps it is a demon race powerhouse that has risen in recent years!"

"Recent years? How recent? And how many years?"

"Every opening war, not only do the applying sects do intelligence investigations, but the Holy Land Mingyuan Sect also gives a rough intelligence. Within five hundred years, I have never heard of such a person. It can't be that she cultivated to this realm within five hundred years, right!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! For such an existence, five hundred years is not enough!"

"Yes, for our human race's heaven-gifted individuals, five hundred years is only early-stage Nascent Soul. The more powerful ones are about mid-stage Nascent Soul, but that woman..."

In the dark dungeon, the sound of conversation rose and fell.

Even though everyone was separated by small dark rooms and could not use spiritual sense or magic power, it did not affect everyone's verbal communication.

Amidst this lively conversation, Luo Chen was slightly silent.

He, like everyone else, tried various means to mobilize the magic power in his body, but ultimately gained nothing.

Spiritual sense was trapped in the sea of consciousness and could not go out.

The Core Formation containing his pure magic power was like a clay ox entering the sea, or as if trapped in a different space, completely untraceable.

He learned from others that this was a very high-level restriction method.

If it corresponded to the seven basic restrictions—mountain, water, wind, cloud, darkness, brightness, and void—then without a doubt, this restriction method was closest to the space restriction.

And the strange state in his body also matched the description of the space restriction very well.

It seemed traceless and shadowless, yet it was omnipresent, spread throughout every corner of the body.

Luo Chen could not find a solution; after all, this was the means of a late-stage Nascent Soul demon beast.

If, among all his past foundations, there was hope of solving this restriction, perhaps there were only two.

One was to be proficient in all seven basic restrictions and break the restriction with a restriction.

The other was the Dragon-Slaying Technique that could clear foreign objects from the body.

But these two means also had great limitations.

The former, he had only mastered a part of the darkness restriction, and the distance to perfection was far away.

The latter required magic power support and also had to be cultivated to a very high level.

At least a master or great perfection, and it was even possible that even at the great perfection level, it might not be able to clear the space restriction in the body.

Because he thought through these things, Luo Chen became more and more desperate.

In the face of absolute strength, no matter how many techniques he was proficient in, it was just fancy and vulnerable.

"Ten years ago, our people were sure of success in the opening war and never thought of failure. Even if there was an accident like the Proud Howl Wolf Emperor, it was just a matter of spending more effort. Who could have thought that so quickly, the situation and treatment would be worlds apart!"

"Yes, a day ago, we were high-and-mighty Core Formation Masters, heroes of a side, respected by all. A day later, we became prisoners."

Listening to the bitter sighs in the dungeon.

Luo Chen stopped his useless efforts, and a helpless bitter smile appeared on his face.

He thought of more things.

Cultivators built Immortal Cities, divided shops, and pre-divided the many territories of the Howling Moon Mountain Range that had not yet been taken down.

Everything, from the high-level Nascent Soul cultivators to the million low-level cultivators, did not take this opening war seriously in their hearts.

What everyone thought of was not whether they could win, but how to obtain the greatest benefits with the smallest losses.

After all, there were nine superior sects, eighteen great Core Formation sects, plus loose cultivators, totaling a million cultivators!

With such a lineup, attacking a domain, who felt they would lose?

But now... it can only be said that arrogant soldiers will be defeated!

"In fact, the strangeness appeared very early. If the other four True Persons hadn't taken action, the Proud Howl Wolf Emperor alone could have reversed the situation. This person's talent and talent are not inferior to our human race's heaven-gifted individuals."

"That's not how it should be said. The Howling Moon Mountain Range, we really took it down. The problem, after all, lies in being greedy for merit and advancing, trying to swallow the Great Snow Mountain in one go."

"Hehe..."

Someone let out a mocking laugh.

Someone on the side asked unhappily, "Sloppy Daoist, what are you mocking? Is what I said wrong?"

The Sloppy Daoist leaned against the wall, his hands behind his head.

He curled his lips and mocked: "Is it being greedy for merit and advancing? You Nascent Soul sect cultivators should know far more inside information than us! I heard that when the Broken Moon Immortal City was first built, the three fairies of the Hundred Flower Palace were already running around and connecting, already prepared to attack the Great Snow Mountain."

Regarding this sentence, everyone's gaze was cast toward the three female cultivators in the corner.

The Hundred Flower Fairy stopped her useless efforts and opened her eyes. She parted her red lips: "We were prepared, and obviously the demon race was also prepared, otherwise how could a top demon race powerhouse appear so coincidentally at the Bone Dao Palace? In the end, it's just a matter of success or failure!"

Yes, it's just a matter of success or failure!

If that green-shirted woman named Qing Shuang hadn't appeared, the Great Snow Mountain would already be in their pockets.

They wouldn't be making useless complaints in the dark and gloomy dungeon, but would be drinking and feasting in the decorated Bone Dao Palace, discussing how to distribute the resources and spirit lands of the Great Snow Mountain.

Gloomy thoughts and desperate moods spread out.

Luo Chen was one of them.

Perhaps the only thing that made him not so desperate was that he wasn't the only one caught.

Don't worry about scarcity, worry about inequality; the principle is just like this.

Everyone is in trouble together, and no matter how desperate the mood, it can be relieved.

Anyway, if they are to die, they die together.

With a few late-stage Core Formation Great Cultivators present, the lower-level cultivators felt even more balanced.

Of course, this is also sophistry.

Someone raised a question.

"In front of that one, we are nothing but rotting grass and fireflies, which can be extinguished with a flick of a finger. Why not kill us, but instead go to such great lengths to imprison us here?"

Once this was said, everyone was silent.

In fact, this question had been hidden in everyone's heart from the beginning.

But no one dared to face it easily.

After all, who wants to die?

Most of them could say they had the potential to reach Nascent Soul.

Who wants to die inexplicably under someone else's move, without being able to resist at all?

No one answered, each had their own guesses.

But this question would eventually have an answer for them.

Half a month later.

In the gloomy dungeon, the sound of crisp footsteps came.

Everyone opened their eyes, looking in the direction the footsteps came from.

The darkness gradually dissipated.

A plump and beautiful woman, carrying a green lamp, came before everyone.

Looking at the person who came, everyone widened their eyes, revealing a look of disbelief.

"Senior He Qingzi, how are you..."

"Shut up!"

A fierce look flashed on He Qingzi's face, stopping the person who spoke.

Everyone was silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to anger this person.

Although they didn't understand why she wasn't dead and could walk freely on that one's territory, everyone was more concerned about the purpose of her coming.

The other party didn't say anything, just took out a green and white feather and stuck it in front of the cave mansion where Haoran Zi was.

"Come out!"

The gate opened, and the old man walked out slowly.

Haoran Zi pursed his lips tightly, looked back at everyone, and then followed He Qingzi with heavy steps, walking out step by step.

The green lamp moved away, the light was gone, and the dungeon returned to gloom.

Because of Haoranzi's departure, everyone felt as if a heavy stone had been pressed upon their hearts.

They did not know what Haoranzi would have to face next.

And they did not know if it would be their turn after Haoranzi.

One hour later.

The silence was broken.

Footsteps were heard once again.

Everyone looked toward the sound.

In the darkness, the woman carried an unconscious person in one hand and a green lantern in the other.

When she reached the original small dark room.

Clang!

Thud!

He Qingzi did not say a word; after locking the person up, she left directly.

After she left, the suffocating atmosphere finally eased.

Everyone looked toward the unconscious existence.

"Haoranzi!"

"Fellow Daoist, wake up!"

"What happened? Tell us quickly!"

There was no response; Haoranzi lay slumped in the black prison cell as if dead.

But everyone knew he was not dead yet, as a rich vitality was still radiating from him.

And to be able to make a Jin Dan cultivator this weak, even unconscious, it must be a severe injury to the soul!

For a moment, everyone looked at each other in dismay.

Suddenly, from the cell opposite Haoranzi's, came a bitter laugh.

"I hope I'm not the next one!"

It was Wei Wuya, who was the existence with the second-highest cultivation base among those present, after Haoranzi.

Everyone hurriedly comforted him.

But those words of comfort sounded somewhat hypocritical no matter how one listened to them.

Wei Wuya was anxious, only hoping that time would pass more slowly.

The slower, the better!

He was a renowned powerhouse of Motian Cliff and the one most likely to advance to the Nascent Soul stage; Motian Cliff would certainly not abandon him.

As long as he could drag it out long enough, perhaps the sect would send someone to save him.

Even if Motian Cliff lacked sufficient strength, there were Jin Dan cultivators from other Nascent Soul sects imprisoned here as well.

Usually, it looked like there were many Jin Dan cultivators, but that was just an illusion created by many forces gathering together; any Nascent Soul sect had a limited number of Jin Dan cultivators, and no one would be willing to let a Jin Dan True Person fall without any value.

At the very least, the nine great Nascent Soul sects presiding over this battle would not sit idly by!

Above the nine great sects, there was the Soul Transformation holy land, the Mingyuan Sect, which sat in the Eastern Wasteland; they would certainly not remain indifferent either.

"Time, please move slower!"

Unfortunately, the heavens could not hear the cries in Wei Wuya's heart.

Early the next morning, the familiar footsteps appeared in the dungeon corridor once again.

He Qingzi appeared again.

Just as everyone expected, she took Wei Wuya away.

An hour later, she carried him back just like a dead pig.

Still unconscious, still not knowing what had happened.

The remaining people finally began to panic.

Especially the four remaining late-stage Jin Dan cultivators, who could not even maintain their composure, with a trace of panic on their faces.

At their level, being injured in battle was not a big problem.

But if the soul was damaged, then there would be no hope for future advancement to the Nascent Soul stage.

Clearly, the current state of both Haoranzi and Wei Wuya was a manifestation of severe soul damage.

On the third day, the Supreme Elder of Mengquan Cave was taken away.

Because of this scene, Yu Jiaolong, who was located in the back, could not help but shout, repeatedly asking why they were taking people away.

But He Qingzi ignored her completely.

She was like the warden of this prison, ignoring everything and faithfully executing the task of interrogation and detention.

The only good news was that in the evening, Haoranzi finally woke up.

Facing the eager questions of the crowd, his expression was somewhat dazed, his face full of confusion.

After a long while, Haoranzi covered his head and whispered: "I was soul-searched."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expressions changed!

Soul-searching, a demonic method!

It causes irreversible, massive damage to a cultivator's soul!

Once forcibly soul-searched, it is equivalent to exposing everything from one's past to the enemy.

Inner secrets, cultivation techniques, killing moves, insights into realms, the hundred arts of immortality, interpersonal relationships...

Everything was like an unfurled scroll, left for others to browse at will.

Cultivators who have been soul-searched have a much higher chance of attracting inner demons when breaking through realms because their souls are incomplete.

In other words, if their entire group were to be soul-searched, the already difficult chance of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage would become even more remote!

Suddenly, Jin Buque asked: "If one of us has a soul restriction placed by a sect elder, and the other party forcibly soul-searches us, what will happen?"

Haoranzi could not answer this question.

He only said uncertainly: "The one presiding over the soul-searching is that black crow; it seems to be of the ancient Nether Yin Crow lineage, with very strong attainments in the soul path, and might be able to break it without harming one's life... No, wait, if it is a soul restriction placed on you by your sect's Supreme Elder, True Person Shenyuan, I fear the consequences are unpredictable!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Buque's face turned pale.

The Five Elements Divine Sect was different from most Nascent Soul sects.

This sect loved to study various divine arts and secret techniques, and indeed had obtained many novel ones.

But this made them easily coveted by others.

Therefore, there had always been a tradition of top sect powerhouses placing soul restrictions on certain techniques to prevent core ones from being stolen.

And his Five Elements Divine Sect's Supreme Elder, True Person Shenyuan, was a great cultivator of the late Nascent Soul stage!

The black crow that had been standing on the green-shirted woman's shoulder did not actually have a very high cultivation base, at most in the early to mid-Nascent Soul range.

Even if its soul path attainments were strong, it would be difficult to exceed the means of a great cultivator.

If the other party forcibly broke the soul restriction, he would surely die!

Jin Buque was not the only one present with similar concerns.

Ye Xiang of the Divine Talisman Sect and Feng Yue of the Fenghua Palace had also changed color.

But no matter how worried they were, He Qingzi's footsteps of interrogating one person every day did not stop.

One day, two days, three days...

After the late-stage Jin Dan cultivators were interrogated, it finally reached the mid-stage Jin Dan cultivators.

The first day was Jin Buque.

And he did not return alive.

This meant that the thing he had worried about had come true.

Ye Xiang and Feng Yue, however, luckily returned alive.

This was likely because the elders who set the restrictions for their sects did not have such high attainments in cultivation and soul restrictions, so they were easily broken by the black crow, which instead allowed them to save their lives by chance.

This could be considered another kind of luck.

Additionally, it was somewhat strange that Fairy Boshuang of the Ice Fortress did not return either.

This exception left everyone completely baffled.

But among them, Luo Chen could no longer afford to wonder about these things.

Because it would soon be his turn.

In the dark room, Luo Chen had a bitter expression; the feeling of being at the mercy of others was truly uncomfortable.

Especially watching that butcher's knife approaching him day by day, bit by bit.

Outside the prison, some cultivators who had woken up also looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

Haoranzi sighed: "Don't worry. If it is a blessing, it is not a disaster; if it is a disaster, it cannot be avoided. We cultivators are destined to have this tribulation."

Luo Chen opened his mouth, but was speechless.

Haoranzi said leisurely: "It's just soul-searching. As long as you can survive, you might be able to find one or two methods in the future to repair the lingering poison of soul-searching."

He had already let go and appeared very open-minded.

Luo Chen pursed his lips tightly, suppressing his restless mood.

That's right!

As long as he survived, that was enough!

Under his determined gaze, the sound of death-summoning footsteps rang out in the dark corridor again.

This time, He Qingzi stopped outside Luo Chen's cell.

"Come out!"

Luo Chen took a deep breath and followed the woman, whose waist swayed like a willow branch, step by step toward the outside.

It was clearly heading toward the bright outside world.

But for some reason, it felt more like falling into a bottomless abyss, making his mood increasingly heavy.

"This is..."

Passing through layers of corridors, Luo Chen stood outside a grand hall.

Looking back, he saw green mountains, with towering parasol trees hundreds of feet high standing among the rolling mountain ranges.

Groups of colorful birds, according to their identical colors, circled and danced among the cloud-shrouded peaks.

It was just like a place where a hundred birds pay homage to the phoenix, a place where ten thousand feathers roost.

And among those bird groups, there were everything from first-tier to third-tier, and even a few that were infinitely close to the level of fourth-tier demon beasts.

Judging by their breeds, most were rare spirit birds from legends.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth, rich beyond measure, flowed within; just breathing a mouthful made one feel refreshed and happy.

Even his imprisoned Jin Dan seemed to have a desire to leap.

"A third-tier spirit vein?"

"No, at least the fourth-tier level!"

Facing Luo Chen's muttering, He Qingzi glanced back at him.

"Your knowledge is not bad, but too limited. This Mount Cangwu is one of the rare fifth-tier spirit lands in the Shanhai Realm, sitting on a fifth-tier spirit vein."

A fifth-tier spirit land!

Luo Chen's heart shook; wasn't that the place of cultivation for Soul Transformation cultivators?

Not long ago, he was still running around for a third-tier spirit land, and now he had suddenly arrived at a legendary fifth-tier spirit land!

The things of the world, nothing is more unbelievable than this.

Wait a minute!

Could it be that the green-shirted woman was not a fourth-tier demon beast comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator, but a fifth-tier ancient demon no different from a Soul Transformation one?

Just as his mind was shocked, He Qingzi's footsteps stopped.

Luo Chen looked up and saw a plaque hanging on the incomparably huge palace.

"Duzhen Hall!"

"Go in, Youquan is waiting for you."

Youquan must be the name of that Nether Yin Crow.

Luo Chen gritted his teeth; unable to resist, he stepped into Duzhen Hall.

As soon as he entered.

A pair of unfathomable eyes locked onto him.

The moment Luo Chen lost his composure, that strange power suddenly retracted.

"You are Luo Chen?"