Chapter 222 - 128: Sacrificing the Nascent Soul for the Lineage, Personally Confronting the Hated Foe (Part 2)

Chapter 222: Chapter 128: Sacrificing the Nascent Soul for the Lineage, Personally Confronting the Hated Foe (Part 2)

After a single exchange, one of his signature Divine Techniques was neutralized. Mu River’s face showed no anger, but he thought to himself, ’He really came prepared.’ He pondered for a moment and realized that this Iron Muddy Fog truly suppressed the Divine Flow True Skill. He couldn’t let Chao Qianji use it freely. Having made up his mind, he flew high into the air and took out a green lantern.

The grand plan of the Divine Flow Sect was at stake, so Mu River didn’t have time to feel the sting of using one of his personal trump cards. He tipped the lantern over, and the flame poured down with the oil into the iron fog. It was like a single spark starting a prairie fire. In just a few breaths, it burned a hole in the fog and continued to chase and burn away the rest of it.

Seeing that the entire Iron Muddy Fog was about to be burned away, yet with still no sign of Elder Chao, Mu River couldn’t help but grow wary. He quickly covered himself with a layer of spiritual light and summoned another Magical Artifact, which emitted a hazy yellow glow as it circled around him.

After setting up his defenses in one go, Mu River finally breathed a small sigh of relief, though he didn’t let his guard down. He stared intently as the spiritual flame below burned on. After about a quarter of an hour, it had burned away most of the dense fog. As it reached the edge, it suddenly seemed to catch on to something. As the last of the fog was incinerated, a ball of fire was left hanging in the air.

’Elder Chao?’ Mu River peered suspiciously into the flames and indeed saw the blurry figure of Chao Qianji within the fireball. A rosy light was struggling to hold on around him, keeping the spiritual flame a few feet at bay. However, the flame’s intensity did not wane; instead, it grew ever stronger.

"Haha, you ignorant old fool! How dare you try to withstand my Three Yang Refining True Flame head-on? You’re courting death!" A flash of delight crossed Mu River’s face. Although he knew Elder Chao must be up to something, letting the Three Yang Refining True Flame attach itself to him was an absolutely foolish move.

This Three Yang Refining True Flame was something Mu River had spent over a hundred years to create, using a Qimen Magical Artifact to gather three types of Great Sun Essence Qi. The flame specialized in burning True Qi. Once it attached itself to someone, there was no escape. It would relentlessly burn away all of their Magical Power until they were reduced to ash.

’Victory is decided. I just need to avoid giving Elder Chao an opening for a final, desperate attack...’ As this thought crossed Mu River’s mind, he suddenly froze. He looked down and saw Elder Chao’s hands forming seals, his mouth endlessly chanting. He had clearly been casting this spell for a long time. Now, he parted his hands, revealing a Jade Talisman. A wisp of vital energy within it gradually formed into a likeness of Mu River.

"An energy-siphoning technique! Old Chao...!" Mu River was horrified. He immediately summoned his escape light and tried to flee, but Elder Chao just looked at him and smiled. He then swallowed the Jade Talisman. At the same time, his entire body seemed to have its essence drained, instantly withering into a desiccated husk.

"Not good!" Atop the Jade Platform, Chu River’s eyes widened. He shot to his feet, but before he could even take off, he felt the gazes of all the cultivators from the various sects—including Yang Bijie of Dragon Image and even Jiang Chengzi of Celestial Permanence—all land on him. He froze, and in the end, did not move.

The next moment, from the top of Elder Chao’s now-skeletal skull, an infant-like figure riding a Gangyun leaped out. The Three Yang Refining True Flame instantly latched onto it. But before it could even burn for a single breath, the infant’s body had already transformed into a magnificent golden light. It shot into the sky, overtaking its target from behind, and in an instant, struck Mu River in the back, erupting in a blinding radiance that filled the heavens.

"Junior Brother Mu River." Chu River closed his eyes, as if unable to bear the sight. Even without the uproar from the crowd reaching his ears, he knew. Struck by the deathblow from a Nascent Soul Second Level Cultivator who had sacrificed his own nascent soul, there was no way Mu River could have survived.

’Chao Qianji—or rather, Yang Bijie—probably planned this from the very beginning. If they couldn’t severely injure me, they would at least trade a life for Mu River’s.’

Chao Qianji’s aptitude was indeed ordinary. He had cultivated for nearly a thousand years, his lifespan was almost at its end, and his cultivation level was unremarkable among Nascent Soul Second Level Cultivators. But he was, after all, a senior elder of the Dragon Image Sect. Chu River truly hadn’t expected the Dragon Image Sect to resort to such a move.

Chu River let out a long breath and looked toward the Dragon Image Jade Platform. Yang Bijie still held his duster, his expression unchanged. Chu River said coldly, "Sect Master Yang, what a fine tactic. The Divine Flow Sect has learned its lesson."

Yang Bijie gave a faint bow in return. "Venerable Chu River is too modest."

Chu River’s voice was grim as he asked, "It seems Sect Master Yang believes he has me cornered?"

Most of the cultivators in the arena had yet to recover from the shock of Chao Qianji’s sacrificial strike. Suddenly seeing that Divine Flow and Dragon Image were about to tear away all pretense of civility, all eyes turned to them.

Yang Bijie remained unhurried, asking calmly, "Why does Venerable Chu River say such a thing? This round was merely a draw. We don’t yet know who your esteemed sect will send for the next match."

"Hahahaha!" Chu River didn’t answer, but instead let out a long laugh. He tapped his foot on the Jade Platform, and the entire Yellow Jade Plaza shook violently. He then shot up into the sky on a plume of roiling yellow smoke, standing proudly in mid-air. "I will fight this round myself!" he roared. "Yang Bijie, send out your reinforcements!"

As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the Crane Robe Taoist beside Yang Bijie. The man seemed somewhat surprised, but then gave a relaxed smile and was about to rise. Yang Bijie, however, raised a hand and gently pressed down on his arm. "Fellow Daoist," he said, "allow me to fight this battle personally. Please stand watch for me for now."

The Crane Robe Taoist raised an eyebrow, then cupped his hands in a salute. "In that case, I shall await the news of your victory, Fellow Daoist."

Only then did Yang Bijie seem to reveal the faintest, almost imperceptible hint of a smile. He nodded, then swept his gaze around, silencing the several Dragon Image elders beside him who looked like they wanted to speak. With a flick of his duster into the crook of his arm, he rode a cloud up into the sky and came to a stop.

Of the ten representatives from the Dragon Image Sect, besides the Crane Robe Taoist of unknown origin, only Yang Bijie and Chao Qianji had reached the Nascent Soul Second Level. Since this was a three-round duel, how could the Dragon Image Sect possibly send a Nascent Soul First Layer elder up to be slaughtered?

But Chu River had expected to have to deal with the mysterious helper first. He never thought Yang Bijie himself would take the stage. He gave a cold smirk. "It seems Sect Master Yang can’t wait to experience my Divine Techniques."

Yang Bijie stood with composure, his voice clear. "Indeed. Please make your move, Venerable."

A flame of rage had long been burning in Chu River’s chest, which he had suppressed only to keep his mind clear. How could he bother with pleasantries now? With a great shout of "Good!", his figure shot upward. Roiling yellow smoke billowed from the crown of his head, twisting and coiling in the air to form a massive Yellow Smoke Rope. As Chu River pointed a finger down from high above, the rope flew down with formidable power to bind his foe.

For Chu River’s opening move to be an attempt to bind and capture the Sect Master Yang Bijie himself—it was nothing short of arrogant.

Seeing this, Yang Bijie’s brow furrowed. A flicker of anger arose, but not enough to affect his reason. Just by observing the power of Chu River’s technique, he knew he couldn’t receive this attack lightly.

At the Nascent Soul Third Layer, every step of advancement makes a world of difference. This was not just an empty saying.

If the step from the Nascent Soul First Layer to the Second involved refining a Gangyun and represented an improvement in techniques and Magical Artifacts, then the Nascent Soul Third Layer—known as the Great Accomplishment stage—represented the perfection of a Nascent Soul Cultivator’s core cultivation. Their cultivation base could advance no further. From this alone, it was clear that the Magical Power of a Third Layer cultivator was several times greater than those below.

Furthermore, although a Nascent Soul Third Level Cultivator’s cultivation base was considered complete, their mastery of Daoist arts and techniques was not necessarily shackled. Barring any bottlenecks, they could continue to improve. It was perfectly normal for their techniques to reach the Eighth Realm. And for those with heavenly talent, it wasn’t impossible to grasp the true meaning of the Dao and advance to the Ninth Realm.

However, such figures only existed in legends within the Celestial Waterfall Realm. Moreover, Chu River had only reached the Nascent Soul Third Layer within the last one or two hundred years; it was unlikely he had mastered any Heavenly Dao Skills. This was why Yang Bijie was confident he could fight Chu River for a round or two with the help of his magical treasures.

But now was obviously not the time to reveal his trump cards. Seeing the extraordinary power of Chu River’s Divine Technique, Yang Bijie had no desire to meet it head-on. He quickly activated his escape light, intending to dodge first.

But since Chu River had made his move, how could he let Yang Bijie escape so easily? This Yellow Smoke Rope was a Divine Technique he had refined into his Gangyun. With a mere thought, it twisted like a swimming dragon and lunged forward with the speed of lightning, catching up to Yang Bijie and halting his escape with its binding power.