Chapter 422: Small World

【In the Qinghua Small World, my Qisha Demon Palace is in conflict with the 'She Xi Division,' one of the Eight Divisions of the Qing Emperor Palace, and requires student reinforcements…】

Fang Xing glanced over, and beneath the jade tablet's mission, there was an introduction to the Qinghua Small World:

【The Qinghua Small World is suspected to be a small realm formed after a traitorous great adept of the Qing Emperor Palace perished; one entrance lies within the territory of Qisha Demon Palace…】

【Such small worlds often conceal treasures and legacies… yet come with specific restrictions.】

【To enter the Qinghua Small World, one's cultivation must not exceed Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer…】

【All inner-disciple students of Qisha Demon Palace may apply to explore it; any legacy acquired belongs solely to the individual… Kill members of the 'She Xi Division' demon race to earn combat merit points as rewards…】

"A legacy secret realm? And restricted to below Nascent Soul?"

Fang Xing's eyes lit up.

When faced with something like this, he naturally wanted to give it a try.

As for the cultivation restriction on such legacy secret realms, it was only natural.

In fact, the Qingyuan Great World was famed for its abundance of treasures and legacies—there were even ten well-known, legendary ones; if one obtained them, not only could one aspire to become a Celestial Immortal, but even reach the Chaos Realm was within reach.

Once clues to such treasures surfaced, even the Qisha Daoist would go mad.

The Qinghua Small World was merely a minor treasure, beneath the notice of Celestial Immortal greats, left to junior students as a trial.

If a Celestial Immortal greats intervened, they might indeed claim the entire small world—but more likely, the realm would shatter, leaving both sides ruined.

Even if the legacy was destroyed, they would never hand it over!

This had happened many times in the history of the Qingyuan Great World.

As for the cultivation restriction, it was only to be expected!

"This is because Nascent Soul is irreversible… and once one's Nascent Soul is fixed, one's path is largely set… For example, if one cultivates the Qisha Nascent Soul Art to achieve a Qisha Nascent Soul, one will inevitably follow the Path of Killing, or the Laws of Killing, Death, and Destruction… the bonuses gained are already enough to rival or even surpass one's original talent."

"In other words, before the Nascent Soul stage, changing sect arts or legacies is still relatively easy… After the Nascent Soul stage, though countless greats of this world may have ways to alter it, it becomes a matter of cost-effectiveness… Why expend great costs to transform a Nascent Soul's nature when one can simply nurture a promising disciple? Unless the fit is utterly perfect, astonishingly brilliant…"

Fang Xing knew his own situation best.

He lacked legacies! Especially legacies containing unique Nascent Soul formation methods!

The ideal would be the 'Qiankun Nascent Soul Art' of the Qiankun Dao.

If that was unattainable, even the 'Void Nascent Soul Art' would be quite good.

As for 'Fire Nascent Soul,' 'Fire Spirit Nascent Soul,' 'Fire Virtue Nascent Soul'… those could only serve as backups.

…

After accepting the mission, Song Zhong, spear in hand and sword at his side, slung a black dragon over his shoulder and flew out of Qisha Demon Palace.

After flying a million miles in one go, he felt a boundless freedom—as if the sea stretched wide for fish to leap and the sky soared high for birds to fly.

Of course, it wasn't him who felt this way—it was Fang Xing!

'The Qing Emperor Palace is impressive—a demon race faction with Chaos Realm greats; even their She Xi Division can match Qisha Demon Palace…'

Of course, although Qisha Demon Palace had only one Celestial Immortal—the Qisha Daoist—it was allied with the Yuanmo Sect.

The Yuanmo Sect was a major demonic sect of the Qingyuan Great World, also guarded by Chaos Realm greats.

Moreover, Chaos Realm and Celestial Immortal greats never meddled in such minor affairs.

Qisha Demon Palace and the She Xi Division treated the Qinghua Small World as a battlefield to hone their disciples.

Human and demon clashed, leaving countless dead and wounded.

But for Fang Xing, the Qing Emperor Palace being a demon race faction was perfect.

At least it had no ceiling on advancement—its prospects far surpassed those of Qisha Demon Palace.

Here, he could at best be a minor beast; there, he might even rise to become a prince or imperial scion.

Among the demon race, strength is supreme; below Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer, one is an insignificant minor demon—only those above Foundation Establishment Seventh Layer are considered 'Great Demons'!

Demon race Nascent Soul cultivators are called Demon Kings!

Demon race Celestial Immortal cultivators are hailed as Demon Emperors!

Only Chaos Realm greats may call themselves 'Imperial' or 'Demon Emperor'!

The terms 'prince' and 'imperial scion' refer to demon race prodigies with potential to reach Celestial Immortal—or even Chaos Realm—status!

'My understanding of the Laws is decent, but my internal energy is merely from instinctive breathing—barely even common-grade… To compete for a 'prince' position, I still face some difficulty.'

'But if I obtain a superior legacy and elevate my energy to high-grade, I can instantly transform into a cloud-dragon!'

A flicker of ambition surfaced in Fang Xing's eyes.

At that moment, his expression shifted—Song Zhong immediately hurled his crimson spear.

The crimson spear shot forth like a dragon, striking a point in empty air.

Xiong Xiong!

Flames trembled, burning a hundred li around.

A flash of light appeared in the void—suddenly, a massive hand emerged!

It summoned heavenly qi, turning it into tides—clearly a Nascent Soul great!

Even this hand's hue was dark yellow, its patterns distinct, formed from strands of earth-elemental Laws.

This indicated the Nascent Soul cultivator's understanding of the Earth Law had reached the fourth stage—the Law Body state!

Condensing Law energy into a Dao Body!

A Nascent Soul cultivator's energy reserves were already ten to a hundred times greater than a Foundation Establishment cultivator's; combined with Law comprehension superiority, it amounted to a thousandfold advantage!

His attack meant he had no intention of letting Song Zhong live—he was a lion attacking a rabbit, using all his strength!

Qiang!

Facing such an opponent, Song Zhong had no right to hold back!

He roared, drawing his blade and slashing!

The Heartfire Battle Blade rang out—a world of flame descended!

With the power of this Nascent Soul treasure, Song Zhong barely closed the gap, facing an enemy ten times stronger than himself!

Though countless volcanoes, lava flows, and fire spirits were instantly reduced to ash beneath the massive hand,

that single moment of resistance was enough for Fang Xing to roar and reveal his true form—over twenty meters tall.

Song Zhong stood atop the black dragon's back, charging toward the earth-yellow hand that had crushed the flame world.

That hand, as it slammed down, covered all directions, all four poles and the entire cosmos… giving the sense that escape was impossible.

Since evasion was out of the question, only direct breakthrough remained!

Song Zhong gripped his long blade, hair standing on end, radiating the aura of a warrior fighting ten thousand foes!

But the next instant!

Sou!

A flash of white light.

He and his black dragon vanished instantly.

When they reappeared, they were dozens of li behind the earth-yellow hand. Sou! Sou!

Several flashes of silver light—and the man and dragon vanished without a trace.

"Break-Space Flash?"

In the void, a streak of earth-yellow Nascent Soul energy descended, forming a yellow-robed giant with hidden face: "A spirit beast capable of Break-Space Flash… a fine companion for survival."

The Break-Space Flash technique resembles the Nascent Soul Instant Teleport, requiring only second-stage Void Dao comprehension to possibly learn.

Of course, only possibly.

Unlike the Nascent Soul Instant Teleport, 'Break-Space Flash'—though also using the Tai Xu layer for teleportation, lacking the instantaneous ten-thousand-mile range of the Huan Xu layer—succeeds in being simpler to cast and allowing the user to carry their physical body!

Not only the body, but even other people!

Since the Void Dao is a higher-order Dao, its comprehension is exceptionally difficult.

A spirit beast capable of enabling its master to use 'Break-Space Flash' could fetch an absolute premium—even Nascent Soul sixth or seventh-layer experts might bankrupt themselves for one!

It was precisely because he saw this that the yellow-robed giant abandoned pursuit.

He knew he couldn't catch them.

He sighed, pulling out a token and spoke: "Mission failed…"

…

'So right after leaving, someone tried to assassinate me…'

'Such brazenness—must be from one of those assassin guilds…'

'I wonder which enemy of Song Zhong was so impatient…'

Tens of thousands of li away, Fang Xing stood atop Song Zhong's head, his vertical pupils flickering with thought.

Fortunately, though some things were exposed, it wasn't too much.

He still needed to go to the Qinghua Small World to see if the mastermind behind it would strike again.

Several days later.

Qinghua Small World, entrance.

A strange black palace floated in midair, surrounded by patrols of Qisha Demon Palace disciples.

Suddenly,

A streak of black light flew toward them.

"Halt!"

Several outer-disciple students, at Foundation Establishment Seventh or Eighth Layer, spotted the black light and immediately grew wary.

"I am inner-disciple Song Zhong, here on a mission."

Song Zhong arrived at the site and finally exhaled in relief.

As a frontline of the Seven Kill Demon Palace, there must be powerful Nascent Soul cultivators stationed beyond the small realm.

Even if that Nascent Soul assassin came again, he would no longer fear him.

After loudly declaring his identity, Song Zhong immediately tossed over his identity token.

"So you're Brother Song."

After checking it, the two patrolling disciples immediately beamed: "Brother Song, are you heading straight to the Blue Flower Small Realm, or paying respects to the Warden Elder?"

"I'll go directly to the Blue Flower Small Realm."

Song Zhong followed one of the disciples into a massive palace complex.

At the center of the palace, a crescent-shaped, pale-white glow hovered in the air.

Through the glow, faint glimpses of a landscape of clear mountains and pure waters could be seen.

"The entrance to the Blue Flower Small Realm is just a spatial rift…"

Fang Xing silently scoffed, but Song Zhong spoke up: "Is this the entrance to the small realm? Then how does the Qing Emperor Palace's She Xi Division enter?"

"According to speculation, the She Xi Division must have found another spatial rift entrance…"

A chubby outer disciple rushed to answer: "Right now, this small realm is extremely lively—it's seen as the place for our mortal realm disciples to make a name for themselves… countless disciples are fighting nonstop… strictly speaking, our Seven Kill Demon Palace is at a disadvantage."

"And what about the inheritance?"

Song Zhong asked the question most critical to Fang Xing.

"It hasn't surfaced yet… though occasionally some senior brothers have obtained a few treasures, they're all minor caches."

The outer disciple replied: "The real treasures are probably still deep within the small realm…"

"Hmm, it seems our human race has fallen behind again."

Song Zhong knew well that, as the creator of the secret realm, the heavenly realm's demon race would naturally favor their own kind.

His chances of seizing the core inheritance were extremely slim.

But for Fang Xing, it was an entirely different matter…

No extra update today

(End of chapter)