Chapter 684 - 54: Jiaoxiu Seven of Jiaoshen

Fang Cheng’s vision blurred. His body suddenly began to fall, plunging into a vast, bottomless expanse of Immortal Mist.

His body kept falling.

To his horror, he realized he had completely lost control of his body.

As he fell, the Creation Golden Talisman in his sea of consciousness suddenly released a warm current that quickly spread throughout his entire body.

The warm current surged into his eyes, and he suddenly saw countless stars twinkling within the thick Immortal Mist. Deep among the stars, several mysterious and colossal shadows seemed to be watching him.

After an unknown amount of time, the sensation of falling gradually faded. His feet seemed to touch solid ground, and the Immortal Mist and starlight slowly receded from his vision.

...

"You want me to go undercover? Heh... The Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect is full of talented people. Why pick me?"

"If you don’t go, I won’t give you the position of Sect Leader. You went through hell to get past the Sin Punishment Abyss, only to let all that effort go to waste over this?"

"..."

"Master... this seems to go against the sect’s rules."

"Including myself, all three of the sect’s Spirit Immortals have approved this. Among all the Yin Spirit Realm Cultivators in the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect, you are the only one who has yet to awaken a True Spirit Bloodline. You’re the only one for the job."

"If you can accomplish this, you will have every right to take the Sect Leader’s throne."

...

The thick Immortal Mist and starlight faded from Fang Cheng’s vision, revealing a crimson bonfire.

A torrent of chaotic, jumbled memory fragments suddenly flooded his sea of consciousness.

He looked around, stunned. He was in a cold, damp cave, where chilling water seeped from the rough rock walls.

In the center of the cave, a crimson fire blazed, fueled by some kind of unknown animal bones. Its eerie light gave off a faint warmth, dispelling some of the chill.

Fang Cheng glanced toward the cave entrance. From the deep, pitch-black darkness outside, he could faintly hear ferocious roars.

He silently processed the tide of jumbled memories in his sea of consciousness.

Ascendant Xuan Hui, the abandoned disciple of the previous Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect. He was at the Perfect Yin God Realm but had been expelled from the sect nine hundred years ago for violating its rules. He was stripped of his True Spirit Bloodline and his entire cultivation base.

Ten days ago, Xuan Hui had made a powerful return, breaking through the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect’s Sin Punishment Abyss and successively defeating ten of the sect’s Yin God Realm Elders. In doing so, he had regained his status as a Disciple of the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect.

Afterward, Xuan Hui fought a fierce battle of a thousand moves against his senior brother, Ascendant Xuan Yun, for the position of Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect.

In the end, Xuan Yun was defeated.

Just as he was about to assume the position of Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect, his master, Venerable Guangyuan, came to him and ordered him to go undercover within the Nangong Immortal Race, the sect’s mortal enemy.

The reason was that another undercover agent within the Nangong Immortal Race had recently sent word: the five great Immortal Races of the Cyan Nether Sea were about to join forces to attack the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect. Their goal was to seize the sect’s ultimate treasure, the True Spirit Treasure Pagoda, and offer it as a sacrifice to the Divine King.

The True Spirit Treasure Pagoda was the very foundation of the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect; the True Spirit Bloodline of every Disciple came from it.

To have the pagoda taken would be no different from destroying their own foundation.

But the five Immortal Races had a total of seven powerful Spirit Immortals. The strongest among them was a Seventh-Grade Spirit Immortal who had cultivated the Three Great Circulations of Celestial Power.

The Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect, with only three Spirit Immortals, stood no chance of resisting them.

The three Spirit Immortals of the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect had emptied their coffers to purchase three Tier Seven Divine Thunders. The plan was for Ascendant Xuan Hui to infiltrate the Nangong Immortal Race and, during the God-King Festival held by the five Immortal Races, find an opportunity to ambush the seven Spirit Immortals...

As Fang Cheng was contemplating all this, the shadows on the cave wall suddenly flickered and twisted, then transformed into lines of text—

Spirit Realm Code: Jiaoxiu Seven of Jiaoshen

Location: Cyan Nether Sea, True Spirit Island, Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect’s Sin Punishment Abyss.

The requirements for this trial are as follows:

1. Kill at least three Spirit Immortals from the five great Immortal Races of the Cyan Nether Sea.

2. Obtain three divine boons at the God-King Festival.

3. Survive the conflict between the two major factions: the five great Immortal Races of the Cyan Nether Sea and the Ten Thousand Beasts Xuan Sect.

Note: You may return upon completing any two of the above trials.

Completing all of the above trials will grant a Milo Talisman.

’Killing Spirit Immortals... Is this really the lowest difficulty for an Immortal Court trial?’ Fang Cheng frowned, feeling the pressure. The difficulty of the Milo Immortal Road was even higher than he had expected.

Suddenly, he sensed something and looked up toward the mouth of the cave.

In the darkness, a pair of crimson eyes quietly appeared.

A flash of black light appeared before Fang Cheng as a pitch-black, broken sword shot forward. Its Sword Intent surged like a tide, rushing out of the cave.

"Wait, Xuan Hui. Venerable Guangyuan sent me to assist you," a haughty, ancient voice rang out.

A giant Golden Toad, about ten feet tall and forged entirely from Profound Gold, revealed itself in the darkness. Its eyes were like two crimson jewels, glittering with an eerie luster.

—A Tier Six Immortal Puppet, the Treasure-Refining Golden Toad.

Information about the Golden Toad surfaced in Fang Cheng’s mind automatically. Its origin was a complete mystery, impossible to fathom.

This Tier Six Puppet must have been crafted by a powerful Spirit Immortal highly skilled in Artifact Refining.

Moreover, the toad seemed to possess its own Spiritual Sense. He couldn’t tell if it had been born naturally or created by transplanting the soul of a Tier Six Demon Beast into it.

He looked at the Treasure-Refining Golden Toad and asked coolly, "Are the Tier Seven Divine Thunders with you?"

The Treasure-Refining Golden Toad glanced at the pitch-black, broken sword in front of Fang Cheng, a trace of fear in its eyes. It let out a low laugh. "That’s right. As long as you can get me close to the seven Spirit Immortals, I can guarantee they will be severely wounded."

It spoke with self-assurance, "The Divine Thunders are hidden in my Qiankun Stomach. Even a Spirit Immortal would find them difficult to detect. Furthermore, I excel at crafting talismans. Your cover for this mission is to be the Daoist partner of Bing Suqin, an Honored Guest Elder of the Nangong Family. You’ll be known for your skill in talisman refining, which is your pretext for entering the Nangong Family. When the time comes, I will craft the talismans for you, ensuring you can easily bluff your way through."