Chapter 111: Death Threat

The enhancement effect of the Soul Pill seems to have a great deal to do with one's innate aptitude.

The better the Spirit Root, the better the effect of strengthening the Soul and body naturally; after strengthening to the bottleneck period, the degree of improvement also varies, and the differences slowly begin to manifest.

The two Elders showed the least change; after all, their cultivation was already stable, and their advanced age meant they had already missed the optimal time. Their dantian and meridians were each strengthened by less than twenty percent, but this twenty percent change was enough to loosen the bottleneck that had made their Golden Core prospects hopeless, allowing their cultivation to advance further and giving them a complete opportunity to break through to the Danyuan Realm.

As for all the Disciples, including the Eldest Senior Brother and the other senior brothers and sisters, their weakest souls and dantians were strengthened several times over; the Eldest Senior Brother, who had the best aptitude, even stated that his soul had strengthened by at least two times, and his dantian had expanded by more than two times.

This forcibly improved aptitude not only allowed him to easily form a Golden Core, but even greatly increased his chances of breaking through to the Spirit Transformation Realm in the future.

Of course, the effects of everyone's pill-strengthened cultivation were far inferior to those of Xu Chen and Zhao Xuan.

After all, both of them had their souls and physiques transformed and strengthened by a nearly massive amount of white Qi with the direct help of the Demon Refining Art.

Xu Chen's bottleneck period had long since arrived, and he had nearly a tenfold increase.

And Zhao Xuan also had nearly a threefold improvement.

But this situation could not be replicated; Xu Chen would absolutely not forcibly transform everyone in the Taiyuan Sect like this, otherwise the secret of the Blue Light Treasure Bottle could never be kept again. Perhaps even Xuan Chen Zhenjun would be unable to suppress his greed and curiosity, split his head open to grind it into powder, and completely unearth the heaven-defying secret on him to claim it as his own.

Attaining the Dao and immortality is a desire that no cultivator can break free from.

Once greed arises, let alone fellow disciples or masters, even parents and brothers could become murderers and mortal enemies.

At present, only Zhao Xuan and Lan You had received benefits from Xu Chen. Although Xu Chen was occasionally worried and nervous inside, he would not dwell too much on things that were already established facts.

Because there can never be an absolutely confidential secret in this world.

What he had to do was to strengthen his own cultivation and improve his realm as quickly as possible, so that he would have greater self-preservation capabilities before the secret was spread.

He believed that in his current state, even under the attack of a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator, he was not without hope of survival.

After all, the Blue Light Treasure Bottle is a powerful Immortal Treasure that could even contain the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus, which even a Shenling Realm Great Cultivator could not deal with, and it was a terrifying existence that even nearly subdued the Ancient Fierce Beast suppressed within the Netherworld Passage.

Xu Chen knew very well that the reason that Fierce Beast was able to finally break free and escape was because his own realm was too trash.

If he had the cultivation and strength of the Danyuan Realm at that time, he could have withstood more white Qi refinement and soul strengthening from the Great Void Demon Refining Art, and could have supported the Blue Light Treasure Bottle for a longer time; that Fierce Beast would definitely have been dragged into the treasure bottle and suppressed within, then become a source for him to refine and strengthen his power in the future.

But unfortunately, opportunities could not make him succeed every time.

That the Blue Light Treasure Bottle could protect him until now was already a heaven-shattering miracle.

He could not be too greedy.

At present, Xu Chen's own cultivation had already reached the late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm; although he had not yet reached the Great Perfection state, it was not far off.

In at most another month, he would also have the strength to attempt Foundation Establishment.

However, he did not have a Guiyuan Pill; the three Guiyuan Pills he had brought back from Jingshi had all been divided up by the Fifth Senior Brother, Seventh Senior Sister, and Jiu Shixiong.

In reality, he also looked down on the Guiyuan Pill a bit; after all, the ten percent chance of Foundation Establishment was really too low. His goal was a Heqi Pill, so that he could successfully achieve Foundation Establishment smoothly.

Additionally, he was thinking about whether to try refining a batch of Guiyuan Pills infused with white Qi; perhaps they would have unexpected miraculous effects, and he could succeed in one go after taking one.

If that were truly the case, the speed at which the Taiyuan Sect would rise in the future would shock and move the entire Immortal World.

At the moment, the entire Taiyuan Sect was holding their breath and cultivating crazily.

Compared to the two Elders and the group of senior brothers and sisters, Xu Chen appeared much more relaxed and at ease in his daily life.

Therefore, he became the main force for the Taiyuan Sect's outings, going to the Spirit Fox Valley every few days to patrol and check the activity status of the Black Wind and Soul Beasts.

The current Spirit Fox Valley had changed drastically; the original caves had completely disappeared and become a huge, complex Array. After a large amount of Black Mist was suppressed, there was only a thin layer of Black Mist drifting out within a radius of several dozen miles. Although it was a bit hazy, the general terrain could still be seen clearly.

However, in this recent period, the concentration of the drifting Black Mist seemed to be constantly increasing. Within the range of the Eight Extremes Array, it was already chaotic, and one could even occasionally hear faint roars coming from the cave in the center of the Array.

After Xu Chen reported this phenomenon to the sect, the entire Taiyuan Sect became somewhat nervous.

After the two Elders checked it one after another, they looked solemn and ordered to strengthen the patrols. Additionally, they specifically made a trip to Black Wind Ridge and found that the situation was the same. The Black Wind, which had been completely suppressed by the Five Elements Flag, had recently begun to emerge again. A black cloud of mist over a hundred feet high permeated the center of the Illusion Array, which looked worrying.

Yiyun Zhenren, who was responsible for guarding Black Wind Ridge, also sent these situations back to the sect using a Sound Transmission Jade Slip.

These changes all indicated that a huge change must have occurred recently in the Netherworld Passage suppressed deep underground. The leakage speed of the Nether Qi might be increasing rapidly, and as the Black Mist continued to appear in large quantities, the Soul Beasts suppressed within might also rush out of the seal, endangering the Great Song territory.

A few days later, the Elder group of Yuqing Hall sent back a message, stating that the three True Monarchs had all gone out, telling Yiyun Zhenren to be careful and cautious, and also stating that they had already reported this matter to the three True Monarchs who were out.

However, whether such a message without a specific destination or distance could be received was still an unknown.

Therefore, Yiyun Zhenren could only continue to hold his ground and observe.

Soon, another half a month passed. The Eight Extremes Array in the Spirit Fox Valley seemed to have begun to become unstable. A large amount of Black Mist leaked and steamed from the central Array Eye and the gaps all around, billowing and permeating the entire Array. The Black Mist churned and rushed to the sky, and deep underground, faint, thunder-like muffled sounds continued to ring out. A radius of over a hundred miles seemed to be vibrating slightly, and even the Taiyuan Sect could feel it faintly.

The Third Elder had no choice but to report this matter to Xuan Chen Zhenjun, who was in seclusion.

Xuan Chen Zhenjun did not dare to be negligent and could only end his seclusion again to come out. After seeing the situation at the Spirit Fox Valley, he went to Black Wind Ridge again and found that the situation in both places was the same. It should be that the pressure of the Nether Qi had begun to exceed the suppression power of the two Arrays and was beginning to break through the Array seals. If this continued, perhaps before long, the two Arrays would begin to collapse.

Therefore, Xuan Chen Zhenjun sent out several Flying Sword messages in succession to contact the four True Monarchs at Yuqing Hall and Longmen Mountain.

Half a day later, the four True Monarchs sent back information via Flying Sword one after another.

But the news terrified everyone.

Because in many places in the Shu Kingdom, Ming Kingdom, Xiang Kingdom, and Wu Kingdom adjacent to the Song Kingdom, Black Mist had recently begun to appear; the Nether Qi had actually begun to leak on a large scale.

These places where Black Mist emerged were accompanied by the appearance of a large number of Soul Beasts.

Especially in the Eastern Wasteland, there was originally a Void Abyss on the seabed that spewed out Black Water all year round, dyeing the seawater for tens of thousands of miles ink-black. Many Soul Beasts lived inside, and it had previously been a relatively famous Evil Land in the Eastern Wasteland.

But a month ago, that Void Abyss suddenly had black light soaring into the sky, rushing out of the sea surface. The billowing Black Wind rushed straight into the ten-thousand-foot-high sky, completely shrouding the sky. Now, more than a month later, nearly one-third of the Eastern Wasteland sea area was shrouded by this Black Mist, and the seawater had been polluted and turned black. A large number of sea beasts and fish died, and shrimp, crabs, and shellfish were even wiped out. The mortals living on the islands of the Eastern Wasteland were like the arrival of the apocalypse, constantly dying under the erosion of the Black Mist and Black Water, while cultivators fled one after another to the Dongwu territory.

A powerful figure in the Eastern Wasteland entered the Void Abyss to investigate the cause, but the result was heavy losses; one Spirit Transformation Great Cultivator and four Danyuan Realm powerhouses were buried inside.

At present, except for the Song Kingdom, the mortal worlds of other surrounding countries had already begun to be polluted by the Nether Qi, and a large number of Soul Beasts had begun to invade the human world. Caught off guard, many cultivators in the Immortal Worlds of various countries lost their lives because they rashly entered the Black Mist range to hunt Soul Beasts.

After receiving the message from Xuan Chen Zhenjun, the four True Monarchs were all rushing back.

At the same time, Chixia Zhenjun stated in his reply that in order to prevent the Five Elements Array from being completely broken through by the Nether Qi, it was necessary to open a gap in the Array to allow the Nether Qi a place to vent and reduce the pressure on the Array. However, in this way, the Nether Beasts would inevitably rush out of the Array, so it was necessary to arrange personnel to intercept and kill them, minimizing their numbers and opportunities to break into the mortal world.

Taiwu Zhenjun also had the same intention in his reply and stated that he would have a Danyuan Realm Elder from Longmen Mountain lead a team to come and assist in suppressing the Soul Beasts.

These matters could only be presided over by Xuan Chen Zhenjun for the time being.

So he quickly issued an Immortal Alliance Order to the large and small Immortal Sects and rogue cultivator families of the Great Song, recruiting cultivators to participate in the defense mission of the two major Arrays near the Taiyuan Sect.

In the next few days, the large and small Immortal Sects and rogue cultivator families within the Song Kingdom arrived one after another in response to the order. For a time, the Taiyuan Sect once again had Escape Lights filling the sky, and Immortals gathered.

Yuqing Hall arrived the latest this time as well, but they also brought the most people; they actually had four Danyuan Realm Elders leading the team, fifty Zhenyuan Realm Disciples, and one hundred Kaiyuan Realm Disciples.

Just this quantity and strength were enough to crush all other sects in the entire Great Song Immortal World.

In addition, Yuqing Hall has brought a large quantity of Spirit Stones, Spirit Pills, and Magic Treasures this time.

Longmen Mountain is the same; although they only sent one Danyuan Realm Elder, the combined number of Zhenyuan Realm and Kaiyuan Realm Disciples is close to one hundred, and they also brought a large amount of medicinal pills, Magic Treasures, and Spirit Stones.

This is a joint operation the likes of which the Great Song Immortal World has not seen in a thousand years.

The total number of participating cultivators has exceeded five hundred.

The value of the various Magic Treasures and Spirit Pills collected will be no less than five hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

All of this wealth will serve as material reserves and will be distributed to all cultivators who participate in slaying Soul Beasts as compensation and rewards.

The reason for such grandiosity is that the sudden leakage of Nether Qi and the mass appearance of Soul Beasts in surrounding nations have already caused massive casualties in both the mortal and Immortal worlds; in particular, the death of a Spirit Transformation Great Cultivator in the Eastern Wasteland has completely shaken all the nations surrounding Great Song.

Therefore, the four True Monarchs who went out to scout for information, including Xuanchen Zhenjun who had just reached Spirit Transformation not long ago, all felt immense pressure and even sensed a threat of death they had never experienced before.

(End of chapter)