Chapter 63: Hard-Hitting Puppets? My First Encounter with Heavenly Mystery!

The metal hall trembled violently, and smoke and dust filled the air. Giant puppets with dangerous red lights flashing in their eyes, like steel beasts awakening from slumber, strode forward with earth-shaking steps, closing in from all directions. Their cold killing intent locked onto the four people on the altar! The few puppet leaders at the Nascent Soul level emitted energy fluctuations that were truly heart-stopping!

"Form the Big Dipper Array!" The long-bearded elder of the Star Fall Pavilion remained calm in the face of danger and shouted. The three Nascent Soul cultivators instantly stood back-to-back, their hand seals shifting. Brilliant starlight surged from within their bodies, connecting with one another to form a Big Dipper light array that covered all three. As the starlight flowed, their defensive power increased significantly.

However, their gazes could not help but glance toward Lin Xuan, who was still standing alone in front of the altar. Facing such a formation, how would this mysterious fellow Daoist Jin Thirteen respond?

Lin Xuan’s expression was calm. Facing the tidal wave of steel, he did not retreat; instead, he took a step forward!

His Chaos Nascent Soul opened its eyes within his dantian, and the chaotic airflow around his body accelerated its rotation. He could feel a subtle resonance between the Nether Soul-Suppressing Token in his bosom and the Star Core. Wisps of starlight and nether energy spontaneously intertwined, forming a thin, shifting halo of light on the surface of his body.

"Just in time to test you out."

With a thought, he did not use the Profound Heavy Ruler. Instead, he raised his hands, and the vast chaotic spiritual power within his body surged out!

"Chaos—Imprisonment!"

Hum!

With him at the center, an invisible force field suddenly expanded! The space seemed to become viscous, and the metal puppets charging toward him instantly slowed down, as if they had fallen into a quagmire! The Golden Core level puppets, in particular, were as if frozen in place, with only the red lights in their eyes flashing frantically!

This was the manifestation of the Chaos Nascent Soul’s preliminary control over the power of heaven and earth! Using the power of chaos to temporarily interfere with and imprison space within a certain range!

Although he could not maintain it for long, nor could he completely freeze the Nascent Soul level puppets, it had already created an excellent opportunity!

"Friends from the Star Fall Pavilion, attack the energy nodes at their joints!" Lin Xuan’s cold voice rang out.

Hearing this, the three from the Star Fall Pavilion did not hesitate! The light of the Big Dipper Array flared, condensing into three highly concentrated spears of starlight. As if traversing space, they shot with pinpoint accuracy toward the knees, elbows, and other key joints of the slightly sluggish Nascent Soul puppets!

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The starlight spears contained immense piercing and destructive power, instantly penetrating the puppets' defenses and shattering the internal energy conduction structures!

The Nascent Soul puppets’ bodies jerked to a halt, a series of sparks erupting from their joints, and their movements became even stiffer and more uncoordinated!

"Now!"

A cold glint flashed in Lin Xuan’s eyes. He executed "Shrinking Ground to an Inch," his figure appearing like a ghost above the head of a Nascent Soul puppet! He pointed his fingers like a sword, the gray chaotic sword Qi at his fingertips condensed to the extreme. Carrying the intent to destroy everything, he fiercely struck the control core in the center of the puppet’s head!

"Finger of Annihilation!"

Sss—!

The incredibly sturdy metal head was easily pierced like tofu under the force of the Finger of Annihilation! The force penetrated, instantly annihilating the control runes and energy core within!

The red light in the Nascent Soul puppet’s eyes suddenly extinguished, and its massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

A one-hit kill on a Nascent Soul puppet!

The three from the Star Fall Pavilion were dumbfounded, gasping for air! The three of them could only barely contain them by forming an array, yet he had solved one as easily as chopping melons and vegetables?! This strength was likely far beyond an ordinary mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator!

Lin Xuan did not stop, his figure flickering again. He repeated the same move, his fingertips flashing with gray light!

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Three more Nascent Soul puppets had their cores pierced by him with lightning speed and crashed to the ground!

The remaining Golden Core puppets, having lost their leaders and the influence of the Chaos Imprisonment, were even more vulnerable and were easily cleared away by the Star Fall Pavilion’s starlight spears and the chaotic sword Qi Lin Xuan casually unleashed.

In just over a dozen breaths, this seemingly dangerous puppet crisis was quickly dismantled by Lin Xuan with absolute strength and precise tactics!

Inside the hall, only the scattered wreckage of the puppets remained, along with three Star Fall Pavilion cultivators wearing complex expressions.

"Fellow... Fellow Daoist Jin, your divine abilities are vast; this old man is impressed!" The long-bearded elder bowed again, his tone now filled with deep awe. At this moment, he no longer had any doubts; the person before him was definitely that monstrous talent who had survived the Chaos Heavenly Tribulation!

Lin Xuan nodded slightly in response. However, his gaze sharpened once more, casting toward a dark corner of the hall.

"You have been watching for so long, are you not going to reveal yourself?"

His voice was flat, yet it carried an invisible pressure that shrouded that direction.

The three from the Star Fall Pavilion were startled upon hearing this and immediately looked over with vigilance. They had not even realized that someone else was hiding there!

"Hehe... As expected of someone who could trigger the Chaos Heavenly Tribulation and condense a Chaos Nascent Soul. Your perception is indeed sharp."

A slightly hoarse voice, like the sound of metal rubbing together, rang out. The shadows twisted, and a figure slowly emerged.

This person was tall and thin, wearing a wide cloak that seemed to be woven from countless silver threads, shrouding his entire body. Even his face was hidden in the shadow of his hood, with only a pair of eyes that seemed to see through people’s hearts and flashed with cold data streams exposed. His aura was ethereal and elusive, and to Lin Xuan, he felt even more dangerous than Elder Youquan from before!

"Heavenly Mystery Pavilion?" Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes, stating the other party’s origin. This mysterious and transcendent temperament was exactly as the Star Fall Pavilion elder had described.

"You may call me 'Silver Thread'." The cloaked person’s voice had no inflection. "I have been observing you for a long time, from when you stepped into the secret realm, to the Five Elements Demon-Sealing Land, and now to this place. Your growth rate has exceeded my calculations."

Lin Xuan felt a chill in his heart. Had he been secretly observed by this person the entire time? Was his luck-concealing effect insufficient, or did the other party have special means?

"What advice does the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion have for me?" Lin Xuan asked calmly.

"Advice is too strong a word; it is merely a transaction." Silver Thread’s voice remained flat. "You possess something we are interested in. Likewise, we can provide you with information you urgently need."

"Something you are interested in?" Lin Xuan’s gaze sharpened. "For example?"

"For example... the Chaos Nascent Soul in your dantian, for example... the two incomplete array eyes in your possession." Silver Thread’s gaze seemed to pierce through Lin Xuan’s body, seeing directly into the Nascent Soul in his dantian and the Soul-Suppressing Token and Star Core in his storage space!

Lin Xuan’s heart shook; the other party actually knew so much! This Heavenly Mystery Pavilion was truly bizarre!

"What do you want?"

"Now is not the time." Silver Thread shook his head. "The timing is not yet right. Appearing this time is merely to greet you in advance and offer you a 'meeting gift'."

He raised his hand, and a white token—neither gold nor jade, with a surface smooth as a mirror and clouds swirling within—slowly flew toward Lin Xuan.

"This is the 'Heavenly Mystery Guide'. Holding this token, you can sense the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion’s reception point near the 'Hall of Heavenly Mandate' at the core of the secret realm. When you feel the need for a transaction, you may come with this item. Remember, transactions require a price; it could be treasure, it could be a promise, or it could be... your own luck."

Lin Xuan reached out and took the token; it felt warm and cool to the touch. His spiritual sense swept over it, and he found the internal structure of the token to be incredibly complex, containing a type of spatial coordinate he could not understand.

"Additionally, I will give you a piece of information for free." Silver Thread continued, his gaze seeming to pierce through the hall toward the deeper parts of the secret realm. "The 'Nascent-Condensing Creation Dew' you are looking for does indeed appear in the core area of this secret realm. However, many people are eyeing it, including... several true 'Children of Heavenly Mandate'. Take care of yourself."

After speaking, without waiting for Lin Xuan to ask further, Silver Thread’s figure faded like ink dissolving in water, eventually disappearing completely into the shadows of the hall, as if he had never appeared at all.

Coming without a shadow, leaving without a trace; mysterious and unfathomable!

The three from the Star Fall Pavilion had long been stunned by this sudden conversation and the heart-stopping aura of Silver Thread, remaining silent as cicadas in winter.

Lin Xuan held the Heavenly Mystery Guide token, his brows slightly furrowed. The appearance of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion made him feel as if an invisible net was slowly tightening. They seemed to have placed a heavy bet on him, and their intentions were surely not small.

"Nascent-Condensing Creation Dew..." he repeated the name in a low voice. This was precisely the crucial heaven and earth spiritual object he needed to condense his perfect Chaos Nascent Soul and prepare for his future breakthrough to Soul Transformation! He had not expected the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion to know even this, and to have told him the location directly.

Was it goodwill? Or a lure to draw him into a trap?

Regardless, he had to go to the core area of the secret realm. Not only for the Nascent-Condensing Creation Dew, but also to investigate the background of this Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, as well as the potential greater opportunity regarding his own Chaos Dao.

He put away the Heavenly Mystery Guide token and looked at the three from the Star Fall Pavilion: "This matter is concluded. Three friends, we shall meet again."

"Take care, Fellow Daoist Jin!" The three hurriedly cupped their hands in farewell.

Lin Xuan said no more, his figure turning into a green rainbow that broke through the hole in the roof of the hall and vanished into the vast star mist.

The next step: straight to the core of the secret realm—the Hall of Heavenly Mandate area!

(End of Chapter 63)