Chapter 744: A Single Misstep, Attaining the Nascent Soul Dao

The "Iron Wall Demon Emperor," with a wisp of white beard hanging from his face, looked at Li Mu with a faint smile, then shook his head gently and said:

"Fellow Daoist Li, you have misunderstood. I have no life-or-death grudge with your sect, and obstructing a tribulation is against the Heavenly Dao. Having cultivated for thousands of years, how could I easily stain myself with such karma?

I have come here today merely because I have long heard of your great name and wished to exchange pointers. I have no interest in other matters."

"If Fellow Daoist Iron Wall wishes to exchange pointers, why go to the trouble of coming to my Mount Guyang? I have urgent matters to attend to today and cannot fight. Just name a time, and I shall personally visit your residence another day to seek your guidance."

Hearing Li Mu’s reply, the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" waved his hand and said: "Fellow Daoist Li, I am here today at the behest of another. Whether you want to fight or not is no longer up to you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" opened his mouth and spat out several streams of water that rushed straight toward Li Mu’s position. These streams quickly grew from a small brook into a surging river, engulfing Li Mu and the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" beside him into a water prison.

Seeing this, Li Mu immediately controlled the magic treasure before him to resist the surrounding water, attempting to rely on brute force to break out of the water prison’s encirclement.

But the water released by the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor," while appearing no different from ordinary river water, flowed with such rapid velocity that even the magic treasure in Li Mu’s hand could not hold it open for a moment, causing him to frown involuntarily.

"Brother Iron Wall, with you taking action today, we will surely succeed. I will personally visit you another day to express my gratitude as promised."

Hearing the flattery of the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" beside him, the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" nodded slightly and smiled: "I only promised to pin down Li Mu; I will not interfere in the rest.

Whatever you want to do, you had better do it quickly, lest you delay and fail, and then blame it on me."

"Very well! I leave this to you, brother."

The "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" cupped his hands in acknowledgment, then immediately rushed out of the water prison through a gap specially opened by the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor."

Having just emerged, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" swept a glance at "Mount Guyang" not far away. Seeing that the sixth Nascent Soul tribulation lightning was already forming in the sky, a look of triumph immediately appeared on his face.

In coming to Mount Guyang to obstruct Bai Yuxian’s tribulation this time, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" had not only roped in the "Red Cloud Demon Emperor" to come along, but also used a treasure in his possession to persuade the higher-cultivation "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" to help.

Having spent such great effort, their goal was to prevent the "Carefree Sect" from birthing a second Nascent Soul cultivator. Now that all the "Carefree Sect's" strength was pinned down, he only needed to kill the Bai Yuxian before him, and the mission would be accomplished.

Once Bai Yuxian perished in the tribulation lightning, the "Carefree Sect" would suffer a heavy blow and find it difficult to recover for hundreds of years. When the next beast tide arrived, they would have a great chance to capture the north of the Wei Kingdom in one fell swoop and slowly encroach upon the territory of the human cultivators.

Having arrived above "Mount Guyang" and watching the tribulation lightning above the sky, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" felt a surge of excitement at the thought of the demon race marching south in the future.

Because the Heavenly Dao tribulation lightning was immensely powerful, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" dared not rashly attack Bai Yuxian at this moment, lest he be stained by the aura on her and be accidentally struck by the lightning.

For him, the simplest method was to wait for the moment the tribulation lightning fell, when Bai Yuxian was exerting all her strength to resist it, and then move to directly destroy the "Universe Soldier Armor Array" in Bai Yuxian’s hand.

As long as this final barrier against the tribulation lightning vanished, Bai Yuxian would inevitably be reduced to ashes under the lightning without the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" needing to lift a finger.

Just as the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" stood in the distance, single-mindedly waiting for the lightning to fall, he did not expect that after a long while, the black clouds above the sky merely churned incessantly, yet the heavenly lightning he anticipated never fell.

Standing in mid-air, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" saw this situation, and a look of confusion slowly emerged on his face.

"This is... Not good, I’ve fallen for a blinding trick!"

Sensing something amiss, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" waved one hand, releasing a fireball, and then cast a spell to scatter it into dozens of rays of light, shooting them toward his surroundings.

Soon, the scenery around the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" changed, and he realized that his current position was actually still halfway to "Mount Guyang."

And at this moment, the Nascent Soul tribulation lightning above the sky had already fallen, and Bai Yuxian was manipulating the array, struggling to resist this final, immensely powerful bolt of lightning.

Seeing this, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" immediately transformed, revealing his true form, and then spat out a powerful black light directly toward Bai Yuxian’s location, wanting to stop her from resisting the tribulation.

Unexpectedly, this black light had only traveled halfway when it was blocked by a massive bronze mirror that appeared out of nowhere. Immediately following this, a white-haired old man holding a horsetail whisk and possessing a somewhat immortal air appeared in front of the bronze mirror.

"Hehe! I had hoped to let you stop and save some effort, but I didn't expect this little trick would eventually fail to deceive you. It seems I cannot steal a moment of leisure after all.

Those who obstruct a Heavenly Dao tribulation will mostly suffer some karma, which will eventually have to be repaid. It was not easy for you to cultivate and attain the Nascent Soul Dao just like us, so why seek more trouble for yourself?"

"Old Ghost He, so it was you hiding in the shadows all along."

Seeing the person who had suddenly appeared to block his attack, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor’s" expression changed, instantly becoming filled with annoyance, and his voice became somewhat gnashing.

On the battlefield not far away, Song Qingming and the others, who were still entangled with the demon beasts, all felt a surge of joy on their faces upon seeing this old man.

They had guarded the vicinity of "Mount Guyang" for so long without ever noticing that another Nascent Soul cultivator was hidden on the mountain.

Only Li Mu, who was fighting the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor," was not surprised by this; clearly, he was the only Supreme Elder in the entire "Carefree Sect" who had known about this matter all along.

This white-haired old man holding a horsetail whisk was someone Song Qingming had seen from afar years ago—it was He Wuyou, the Supreme Elder of the "Starry Sky Gate" in the Wu Kingdom.

He Wuyou’s cultivation had already reached the peak of the sixth level of Nascent Soul, a step higher than the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor." It was no wonder the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" was so annoyed to see such a formidable enemy suddenly appear to block his path.

Seeing that the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" recognized him, He Wuyou nodded with a faint smile and said: "I have rarely traveled out of my sect, so it is a great honor that you can recognize me at a glance.

I have come here today to protect the Dao. I advise you to retreat quickly and not advance any further, otherwise, I fear you will find it difficult to leave unscathed today."

"Hmph! We have come this far; how can I let you have your way today? If you want me to retreat voluntarily, you will have to see if you have the ability."

Facing He Wuyou’s warning, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" did not fear him and opened his large mouth again, condensing a black sphere within it.

"Since that is the case, then I shall learn from your high techniques, Fellow Daoist!"

No sooner had He Wuyou finished speaking than the black sphere in the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor’s" mouth was fired. However, his target was not the He Wuyou before him, but Bai Yuxian, who was at the critical moment of her tribulation not far away.

Seeing this, He Wuyou lightly raised the horsetail whisk in his hand, and another massive bronze mirror appeared in the mid-air in front of him, easily blocking the black sphere just fired by the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor."

Seeing this scene, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor," knowing that the opponent’s strength was no less than his own, looked extremely grim. But looking at Bai Yuxian, who was undergoing the tribulation not far away, he truly did not want to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obstruct the Dao.

"Old Ghost He, I miscalculated today. I didn't expect Li Mu to secretly find you to help protect the Dao. But if you think this is enough to stop me, then you are underestimating us."

The "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" roared and opened his large mouth again to spit out a mass of black light. However, he did not rush to launch an attack this time; instead, he gathered the black light into a spherical black ball before firing it toward He Wuyou’s position.

Facing the Demon Emperor’s accumulated strike, He Wuyou’s expression also became serious. He waved the horsetail whisk in his hand, instantly flipping out three bronze mirrors in front of him, stacking them in a row to block the attack of the black sphere.

However, just as He Wuyou was struggling to deal with the black sphere before him, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor’s" massive form suddenly emitted a burst of white light and vanished from where he stood.

The next moment, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor’s" figure suddenly appeared in the mid-air behind He Wuyou, having bypassed his current position, and then quickly rushed straight toward Bai Yuxian at the mountain peak.

But just as the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" approached Bai Yuxian’s location and was preparing to launch an attack, He Wuyou, whom he had just left behind, suddenly appeared before him out of thin air again.

"Shifting Form and Changing Shadow; I didn't expect you to know this technique. You truly almost made me underestimate you."

Hearing what He Wuyou said in front, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" thought he had fallen for another blinding trick and, ignoring the opponent, spat out a ray of black light, only to find it easily blocked by the opponent again.

The "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor," sensing something was wrong, turned around and saw another "He Wuyou" behind him, who was still resisting the black sphere he had just fired, and could not help but show a look of shock.

"Could this be the Art of the External Incarnation!"

The two He Wuyous looked almost exactly the same. Although the aura emitted by their bodies seemed slightly weaker than before, their cultivation levels were both above the Nascent Soul stage, clearly not puppets or corpse puppets.

Setting aside these suspicions, it could only be the Art of the External Incarnation that only high-level cultivators could cultivate.

"Haha! This avatar of mine is merely a temporary manifestation created with the help of my life-bound magic treasure; it is by no means any 'external incarnation' technique. Fellow Daoist, you are too kind with your praise for this old man."

The "He Wuyou" who had struggled to block the black sphere explained to the still-puzzled "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor," then dived directly into the bronze mirror before him, and immediately emerged from the mirror beside the other "He Wuyou."

To the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor’s" surprise, the two "He Wuyous," both at the Nascent Soul cultivation level, immediately merged into one, and the aura on his body returned to his previous cultivation level.

"So that’s how it is. I didn't expect you to know such a secret technique of splitting the spirit. I truly underestimated you today." "It is merely a petty trick; why do you praise me so?"

Not far away, Bai Yuxian had already resisted the majority of the power of the final tribulation lightning and threw out a fourth-level spirit talisman, which transformed into a protective shield above her head to welcome the remaining lightning, whose power had already greatly diminished.

For her, she had already survived eighty percent of this tribulation, and with one fourth-level spirit talisman left to resist, it was basically foolproof; she was just waiting for the tribulation lightning to end.

After fighting with He Wuyou for a while, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor," though unwilling, knew that his divine abilities were inferior to the person before him. With him there, he had no chance to cross over and obstruct Bai Yuxian’s Dao.

Having meticulously planned for so long, he had still fallen a move short in the end.

Realizing that his mission had failed, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" looked back at the battlefield where fighting was still ongoing, then decisively issued a sound transmission to retreat and flashed backward.

Seeing that the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" had voluntarily retreated, He Wuyou did not pursue him but stood firmly on guard at "Mount Guyang," watching the direction in which they had fled.

The demon cultivators who were entangled with the "Carefree Sect" members, upon receiving the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor’s" sound transmission to retreat, also hurriedly disengaged from the battle and voluntarily withdrew outside the "Carefree Sect’s" mountain-protecting array.

Seeing that the enemy wanted to retreat, the "Carefree Sect" members still wanted to step forward and entangle them, forcibly keeping them there.

However, the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor’s" side was clearly prepared, directly sacrificing a banner magic treasure that manifested bursts of thick black smoke to block the pursuing "Carefree Sect" members.

Afterward, he and the "Red Cloud Demon Emperor" took all the Demon Kings and used the cover of the thick smoke to flee rapidly toward the north.

On the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor’s" side, seeing the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor’s" failure, he sighed softly, voluntarily put away the water prison that had trapped Li Mu, and fled toward the south without looking back.

Seeing this, Li Mu did not choose to block him. Only after letting the "Iron Wall Demon Emperor" leave Mount Guyang did he fly to the side of Song Qingming and the others, opening his mouth to stop the pursuing crowd.

"Do not pursue a desperate foe; guarding the mountain gate is the priority. Everyone, return first; there will be plenty of opportunities to settle accounts with them in the future."

At this moment, although the demon race had voluntarily retreated, their own strength had not been damaged, and it would be difficult to keep them there if they rashly chose to pursue.

For the current "Carefree Sect," guarding Bai Yuxian, who was still undergoing the tribulation behind them, was the top priority. As long as Bai Yuxian could successfully pass the tribulation and advance to the Nascent Soul realm, these invading demon cultivators would sooner or later have to pay the price.

Hearing Li Mu’s order, the crowd hurriedly stopped their pursuit and answered in unison, then turned and returned to "Mount Guyang," where Bai Yuxian was undergoing the tribulation.

This battle came quickly and ended quickly; from the appearance of the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" and his group to the end of the battle, less than half an hour had passed.

Although both sides had exhausted their means and used their full strength from the start, and the scene was very intense, there were no major casualties on either side after the great battle.

After the battle, the many Golden Core cultivators of the "Carefree Sect" had basically only suffered minor injuries; only the lower-cultivation Fang Baixuan and Yun Nishang had more serious injuries and would need to recuperate for a period of time to recover.

Just as the crowd returned to "Mount Guyang," Bai Yuxian’s tribulation had just reached its final stage.

After resisting a portion of the tribulation lightning with the "Universe Soldier Armor Array" above her head, Bai Yuxian injected all her remaining magic power into a fourth-level low-grade spirit talisman in her hand, transforming it into a shield that firmly held off the remaining tribulation lightning.

Knowing that passing the tribulation lightning was not easy, Li Mu had long prepared many spiritual items for Bai Yuxian in advance, and this fourth-level low-grade spirit talisman was also specially bestowed upon her for the tribulation.

Although this talisman’s power to resist tribulation lightning was not as good as the fourth-level "Thunder-Resisting Talisman" used by Feng He, it was still a fourth-level low-grade defensive spirit talisman, and its defensive capability was still there; resisting the remaining tribulation lightning was not a major problem.

A moment later, as the lightning light above Bai Yuxian’s head slowly disappeared, the black clouds hovering above her head also dissipated rapidly, revealing a burst of dazzling five-colored auspicious light.

Seeing a burst of sweet dew descending rapidly toward her location within the auspicious light, Bai Yuxian immediately took out several porcelain bottles she had prepared long ago and collected all of the "Earth Spirit Dew," which was very rare in the cultivation world.

"Congratulations to the Sect Master for attaining the Nascent Soul Dao!"

Seeing that Bai Yuxian had successfully passed the tribulation, Song Qingming and the others not far away hurriedly rushed over and cupped their hands in unison to congratulate her.

Bai Yuxian looked at the crowd with a smile and nodded, then took out two bottles of the "Earth Spirit Dew" in her hand and handed them to Xu Ziyan.

"For this tribulation, I have troubled you all to protect my Dao. These two spiritual items are just a small token of my personal appreciation. I must trouble Junior Sister Xu to take them and exchange them for spirit stones to distribute among everyone!"

Seeing the two bottles of "Earth Spirit Dew" given by Bai Yuxian, a glimmer of light appeared in Xu Ziyan’s eyes, and she hurriedly thanked her: "Hehe! Thank you, Uncle-Master Bai, for the reward. Please rest assured, leave this matter to me."

In the cultivation world, if there is no nominal master-disciple inheritance between two parties, the address between cultivators is based on the one who is more advanced. Now that Bai Yuxian had broken through to the Nascent Soul realm, everyone would naturally address her alongside Li Mu from now on.

Seeing Xu Ziyan change her address first, Song Qingming and the others immediately followed suit and thanked her in unison: "Thank you, Uncle-Master Bai, for the reward."

Just after the crowd finished thanking her, seeing Li Mu also bring He Wuyou to Bai Yuxian’s side, they tactfully retreated to the side to give these three Nascent Soul cultivators space to talk.

"Congratulations to Fellow Daoist Bai for joining our ranks. Your talent is outstanding, and your future will surely be limitless!"

Hearing He Wuyou’s praise, Bai Yuxian replied modestly: "Senior He, you jest. Yuxian’s cultivation aptitude is merely average; how can I be considered limitless before you?

This time I was able to successfully pass the tribulation lightning, all thanks to you blocking the invading Demon Emperor. I will never forget the grace of protecting the Dao. Please accept a bow from me."

After speaking, Bai Yuxian took the initiative to step forward and bow deeply to him.

Seeing this, He Wuyou, holding the horsetail whisk, hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Sigh! Now that Fellow Daoist Bai has broken through to the Nascent Soul realm, you can interact with us as peers from now on; do not call me Senior anymore.

My coming here this time was at the request of Fellow Daoist Li; Fellow Daoist Bai need not be so polite. Moreover, we are both human cultivators; even if I were just passing by, I could not sit idly by and watch these demon thieves obstruct the Dao."

Bai Yuxian nodded slightly and smiled: "In that case, Yuxian will not stand on ceremony with you."

He Wuyou nodded in agreement, then turned his gaze to Li Mu beside him and asked directly: "When you invited me to protect the Dao, I thought you were being overly cautious. I never imagined that so many demon experts would actually come to obstruct the Dao this time, and that even the Iron Wall Demon Emperor would be persuaded.

These demon experts came at such a coincidental time; I fear there is some mystery behind it. Fellow Daoist Li, have you guessed where the problem lies?"

Li Mu, seeing this, replied with some displeasure: "Over these years, after Junior Sister went into seclusion to condense the Nascent Soul, I had long since strictly ordered the news to be sealed. Relying on the Golden Feather Mountain demon race alone, they could not possibly have had the ability to calculate the exact time of Junior Sister Bai’s tribulation.

It is not hard to guess why such a coincidence occurred today; it is nothing more than someone deliberately leaking the news to Golden Feather Mountain.

I know exactly who has had a grudge with my Carefree Sect all these years and would least like to see Junior Sister Bai break through to the Nascent Soul realm. Only that group of people could commit such base acts.

They thought that by borrowing the hands of the demon race, they could obstruct Junior Sister Bai from breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm, but they did not know that I had already invited you to protect the Dao in advance, leaving them with nothing but empty joy."

This time, when Bai Yuxian went into seclusion to break through to the Nascent Soul, to be safe, Li Mu had sent a letter to the Wu Kingdom a month ago, inviting He Wuyou, this Nascent Soul expert, to come to "Mount Guyang" to protect the Dao.

The relationship between the "Carefree Sect" and the "Starry Sky Gate" has always been quite good, and the two sides have always been in contact. When He Wuyou was undergoing his Nascent Soul tribulation lightning, Li Mu’s master, True Person Daoxuan, had also gone to the Wu Kingdom to protect him.

Upon receiving Li Mu’s request, He Wuyou immediately put down his affairs and rushed to "Mount Guyang."

However, after He Wuyou arrived, he did not appear publicly and had been hiding in a cave dwelling near "Mount Guyang." In the entire "Carefree Sect," only Li Mu knew of his existence.

Before Li Mu invited He Wuyou, he had indeed received some wind that the "Golden Feather Mountain" demon race in the north had some unusual movements. However, at that time, he was not sure whether the "Ink Dragon Demon Emperor" and his group would actually come to obstruct the Dao; this move was merely to prepare an extra layer of protection for Bai Yuxian’s tribulation.

Hearing Li Mu’s answer, He Wuyou smiled and nodded: "Hehe! As long as you have a plan in mind, I will say no more about this matter.

A few years ago, I heard that there were demon beasts undergoing tribulation in Taiyue Lake again, and to this day, I don't know if they succeeded. Now, the demon race’s strength in Taiyue Lake is getting stronger and stronger, and our pressure in the south is also increasing.

Fortunately, now that Fellow Daoist Bai has condensed the Nascent Soul, your sect has gained another Nascent Soul cultivator. From now on, the affairs of the demon race in the north will all depend on you two.

I have been here for so many days, and there are still some matters in my sect that need to be dealt with, so I will not stay here any longer." After speaking, He Wuyou cupped his hands to Li Mu and Bai Yuxian.

Seeing this, Li Mu hurriedly tried to persuade him to stay: "Sigh! It is not easy for Fellow Daoist He to come to Mount Guyang, and our sect has not been able to properly fulfill the duties of a host. Why are you in such a hurry to leave? It would not be too late to stay for a few days before leaving."

"Hehe! Fellow Daoist Bai has just broken through to the Nascent Soul realm and still needs to stabilize her cultivation, and Fellow Daoist Li also has many things to deal with. I will not bother you any further. Let us wait until Fellow Daoist Bai comes out of seclusion, and we will find another opportunity to have a good chat."