Chapter 358 - 329: Late Stage of Golden Core... What a Pity

Chapter 358: Chapter 329: Late Stage of Golden Core... What a Pity

Trapped by the Grand Array, Chu Mu felt a terrifying Spiritual Pressure descend upon him, like Mount Tai crashing down. His entire body was restricted by this frightening force.

He couldn’t move a muscle, the flow of his Magical Power was almost stagnant, and his Divine Sense, hidden within his Sea of Consciousness, was completely sealed.

All the Foundation Establishment Cultivators were imprisoned, trapped in a cage.

The Chu Capital had once been home to many Cultivators, but after this demonic turmoil, the city was now filled with blood, with countless dead and injured.

The few Foundation Establishment Cultivators present were nearly the only ones left in the city.

Now... they were all imprisoned. Their life and death rested on a single thought from the Golden Core True Master before them.

Chu Mu’s expression was one of shock and suspicion, his gaze fixed on the Jade Bottle in his hands.

But strangely, at that moment, there was no longer any movement from within the Jade Bottle.

If the voice from just now hadn’t still been so clear in his memory, Chu Mu would have thought he had imagined it.

He pursed his lips. Under the effect of his Spiritual Radiance Blessing, his thoughts raced.

He had always been extremely wary of this so-called Residual Soul.

After all, this Residual Soul had merged with the bloodline in a bizarre way and was hidden so deeply it was impossible to detect.

This meant that whoever performed the Refinement on this Bloodline Essence would very likely be parasitized by this Residual Soul.

Although he didn’t know much about this kind of parasitism, it was obvious that in such a state, it wouldn’t be difficult for the Residual Soul to influence, or even perform Possession on, its host.

He could not be too cautious when dealing with such a strange existence.

The original deal required him to return the Bloodline Essence to its Clan and hand it over to a direct blood descendant.

Although the Residual Soul had stressed that its time was short, he had always suspected that it probably wanted to use the body of a direct descendant... for Possession and rebirth!

However, ever since the deal was struck, the Residual Soul had vanished without a trace, and this suspicion had remained without any solid evidence.

But now, in a situation like this, the Residual Soul had reappeared...

Chu Mu, of course, didn’t believe in sayings like "fortune and misfortune are intertwined."

’So the reason is...’

Chu Mu looked at the ferocious Demon Body, his eyes flickering as he fell into thought.

At this moment, the old Golden Core True Master had already sat down cross-legged on the altar.

The Blood Pool began to surge once more. The accumulated blood from the city continued to flow endlessly into it, finally gathering upon the Demon Body under the guidance of crimson patterns.

After a moment, the old man opened his eyes. A torrent of Demonic Qi instantly enveloped the entire altar.

The Demonic Qi churned, completely obscuring the scene within from view.

"This Demon Body should belong to a True Demon who fell during the war between the righteous and demonic paths in ancient times."

Just then, the voice sounded in his ear again.

"You can speak. Right now, he’s too preoccupied to notice you."

Chu Mu’s expression shifted slightly. He asked tentatively, "The ancient invasion from the Demon Realm was so long ago. How can this demon still be alive?"

"The True Demon fell long ago. The glimmer of consciousness you see now should be Spiritual Wisdom born from the True Demon’s Residual Thoughts..."

"However, the True Demon’s body must have suffered a devastating blow in the past, damaging its source. This blood sacrifice is meant to repair the Demon Body."

Chu Mu asked again, "Then... will he succeed?"

The Residual Soul fell silent for a moment. When it spoke again, it didn’t answer Chu Mu’s question. "Young friend, how about we make a deal?"

"What kind of deal?"

The Residual Soul replied, "How about I save your life?"

Chu Mu frowned. Before he could speak, the Residual Soul’s voice continued.

"He may have said he’d spare you, but this demon certainly won’t. A few Foundation Establishment Cultivators would make for some decent blood-food."

Chu Mu’s heart tightened, and he shot a look at the mass of Demonic Qi enveloping the altar.

"Just watch. The real show is about to begin!"

The Residual Soul chuckled. "The Demon Race is famous for its cunning and wickedness. How could one of them be so easily plotted against...?"

As if to prove the Residual Soul’s words, the moment its voice fell, the surging Demonic Qi suddenly began to roil violently.

Wisps of True Demon Qi appeared out of nowhere. Then, as if they were enemies, the abruptly appearing True Demon Qi began to frantically devour the surging Demonic Qi.

In just a few breaths’ time, nearly half of the Demonic Qi surrounding the altar had transformed into True Demon Qi.

And this devouring process was still continuing at a rapid pace.

At the same time, Chu Mu clearly sensed that the Giant Bamboo Array imprisoning them, along with its terrifying Spiritual Pressure, was becoming unstable. The Array Prohibitions flickered as if they could shatter at any moment.

This array was formed with that Golden Core Cultivator’s Lifebound Treasure as its core.

A Lifebound Treasure is connected to its owner’s very life!

The Residual Soul let out a soft sigh. "Late Stage of Golden Core. What a pity..."

Chu Mu found it hard to believe. Decades of planning... had failed at the final step?

"No need to guess. The Golden Core Demon Cultivator you all killed earlier was this True Demon’s external incarnation."

"Its supposed death was just its consciousness returning to the Demon Body."

"If the Demon Body were ownerless, he could occupy it at will. But since the Demon Body has a master, that master has just served himself up as blood-food!"

"I’m afraid this Golden Core Cultivator has been outsmarted by the demon."

"A Golden Core incarnation, a Late Stage of Golden Core master, and an entire city of Cultivators for blood-food... The birth of this demon will likely be a great catastrophe!"

The Residual Soul spoke of this terrifying truth in a light, casual tone, as if it were a trivial matter.

Chu Mu forcibly suppressed the terror in his heart. Under the effect of his Spiritual Radiance Blessing, his thoughts spun wildly, and a clear timeline of events quickly took shape in his mind.

’In other words, after this True Demon fell, its Residual Thoughts within the Demon Body gained Spiritual Wisdom over the long ages, but the Demon Body itself was severely damaged.’

’Therefore, the consciousness in the Demon Body used some method to create an external incarnation to house its Spiritual Wisdom, allowing it to walk the world as a Demon Cultivator.’

’But for some unknown reason, that Golden Core master from the Longevity Sect discovered the existence of the Demon Body. Believing its Spiritual Wisdom to have been extinguished, this Golden Core Cultivator got greedy.’

’But obviously, the demon sensed the Golden Core Cultivator’s intentions and decided to play along, which led to this demonic turmoil in the Chu Capital...’

’...and led to... this scene of failure at the final hurdle.’

’This Residual Soul... was right.’

’The Golden Core master from the Longevity Sect might have spared them, but this True Demon... clearly won’t.’

’Once this demon emerges, the entire Chu Capital will surely be turned into a Demon Realm. Everyone will probably become its blood-food.’

’As for reinforcements from the Longevity Sect...’

Before, he still had some hope.

But now, having witnessed this Golden Core True Master fall into the Demon Dao with his own eyes, that hope was clearly just wishful thinking.

After all, with a Late Stage of Golden Core master guarding the Chu Capital, any fabricated excuse would be enough to make the Longevity Sect feel completely at ease about the changes here.

Chu Mu took a deep breath, lowered his head to look at the Jade Bottle, and said in a heavy voice, "Senior, what do you need me to do?"

......