Chapter 598 - 507: Feint in the East, Attack in the West

The Yaoguang Islands.

After capturing the two Sword Sect Nascent Souls, Su Ye immediately withdrew from Linyue Immortal City.

As for Fairy Miaoyue and the others, his kin, he had them break up into smaller groups and lie low.

WHOOSH.

The Gang Wind howled as pale-green cyclones swirled around.

At an altitude of a hundred thousand feet, the Ghostly Flood Dragon's engines roared as it transformed into a blood-red meteor, streaking away at incredible speed!

In the captain's cabin.

Su Ye sat with one leg crossed over the other, a playful look on his face as he muttered to himself.

"A buy-one-get-one-free deal. Two Nascent Souls captured."

"Heh... The Jade Void Sword Sect must be absolutely freaking out this time."

Even for the Yaoguang hegemon, the loss of two Nascent Soul True Monarchs was a devastating blow.

'Unfortunately, a good thing like this can happen once, but not twice.'

Su Ye shrugged.

'My Ghostly Floating Dharma Aspect is one of a kind, completely without precedent.'

'Therefore, the Jade Void Sword Sect had no way of knowing my Dharma Aspect was so unusual it could corrupt, control, and forcibly brainwash their Golden Core cultivators, making the Embroidered Robe Envoy provide false intelligence.'

'In contrast, the Miaoyin Aspect of Qinghua, Miss Sanhua, is clearly recorded in the classics as possessing the power of Divine Enchantment and mind control. They've even developed countermeasures against it!'

'In that situation, even her Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect is rendered useless.'

'And after this, the Jade Void Sword Sect will be on guard against me. They'll develop methods to detect mental manipulation, making it difficult for me to succeed so easily again.'

However.

Su Ye had already planned to stop anyway.

'The promotion conditions for the Ghostly Flood Dragon have been met. There's no need to take any more risks.'

'Besides... I haven't reached the Nascent Soul Realm yet. Every time I use my Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect, it requires a massive supply of Spiritual Power... Even with an Orbit prepared, it still consumes millions of living souls.'

'Committing such a Demon Dao act once in a while is one thing. I can still use online shills for damage control and frame the Jade Void Sword Sect for it. But if I do it a few more times, no amount of spin will work, and my reputation will be ruined. Won't I become the public enemy of the seas?'

Su Ye shook his head. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

In the Island Cultivation Realm, the righteous path still flourished. Gaining too much infamy was definitely not a good thing.

At this stage, Su Ye didn't want to make too many enemies. Adhering to the strategy of great men—unite the many, strike the few—it was most logical to focus his attacks solely on the Jade Void Sword Sect.

'Making enemies everywhere? Do I think I'm some True Immortal descended to the mortal world?'

...

'Now, it's time to refine the Nascent Soul and upgrade to a fifth-tier spirit ship!'

Su Ye's Divine Sense flickered and, as if leaving his body, descended into the Ghostly Flood Dragon's divine kingdom. The physical bodies of Shishanzi and Jinghua True Monarch were imprisoned here.

VMMM.

Two ice statues emanated a biting chill.

The ground nearby was covered in a thick layer of white frost from the encroaching cold.

Within the divine kingdom, wandering living souls that inadvertently touched the frost were instantly frozen, turning into ice sculptures themselves, keeping the two Nascent Souls company.

BAM.

With a mere thought from Su Ye, Shishanzi's ice statue instantly shattered!

His physical body crumbled and disintegrated along with it, like a landslide. A fluorescent and incredibly weak Nascent Soul slowly flew out from the mixture of ice shards and mangled flesh, its face etched with confusion.

"This is..."

"Refine!"

Su Ye wasted no words and immediately began the refinement!

VMMM.

Inside the Ghostly Flood Dragon's divine kingdom, Spiritual Power surged like a millstone, grinding Shishanzi's Nascent Soul to pieces and turning it into a spiritual glow!

This time, Su Ye chose not to perform a Soul Search.

After all, the soul barrier of a Nascent Soul was extremely sturdy.

Don't be fooled by Shishanzi's current dazed and confused appearance.

If Su Ye wanted to perform a Soul Search, it would take at least two or three years of constant torture and attrition to slowly wear down his will to resist and succeed.

Time was tight right now.

Su Ye urgently needed the Nascent Soul to meet the promotion conditions and upgrade the Ghostly Flood Dragon.

As for the Soul Search, he simply didn't have the time. Losing some intelligence was unavoidable.

'Good thing I kept Jinghua True Monarch. I can still perform a Soul Search on her.'

'As a high-ranking member of the Sword Sect, Jinghua True Monarch must know their top-secret information from the last seventeen years.'

Su Ye felt a little more at ease.

Besides, there was another reason to keep Jinghua's Nascent Soul.

Su Ye wondered if he could use the Divine Enchantment and mind control abilities of his Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect to control a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

'Once I advance to the Nascent Soul Realm, I can give it a try. If it works, ruling the Yaoguang Islands in the future will be much more convenient...'

After a moment of thought,

Su Ye's focus returned, and he called out his status panel.

[Fifth-Tier Spirit Ship Promotion]

[Conditions Met]

[Proceed with Promotion?]

[Yes/No]

"Yes!"

With a flicker of his Divine Sense, Su Ye confirmed his choice.

Inside the Ghostly Flood Dragon's divine kingdom, a spiritual light flashed. A pearly white glow emanated from the kingdom's core.

It then flooded the Ghostly Flood Dragon's Spiritual Energy Pods before continuing to expand, covering the ship's entire hull. The spirit ship began to undergo a drastic transformation!

After several dozen breaths, the transformation finally ended!

The first change Su Ye felt from the Ghostly Flood Dragon's promotion was that the weakness he experienced after using his Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect had vanished!

'The divine kingdom!'

Su Ye's eyes gleamed. Compared to the embryonic divine kingdom from before, the Ghostly Flood Dragon now contained a true and proper kingdom of a deity!

As the master of this divine kingdom, he enjoyed the maximum possible empowerment.

Su Ye even felt that he could activate his Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect again right now without paying any extra price!

'So this is the empowerment of a divine kingdom. No wonder the deities of the Far South Continent all build them. With the protection of a divine kingdom, they can fight back even against deities far stronger than themselves!'

'What's more...'

'My fifth-tier spirit ship is a portable divine kingdom! It doesn't have the traditional drawbacks of being immobile and fixed to one spot!'

A joyful expression appeared on Su Ye's face. With a fifth-tier spirit ship at his side, he could finally consider himself safe and sound in the Yaoguang Islands!

Even a Late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't threaten his life; he could escape with absolute ease!

'However...'

'Merely ensuring my own safety isn't enough to satisfy me...'

Su Ye narrowed his eyes, ambition glinting within them. With his temperament, he could never be satisfied with just being safe. He wanted to rule the Yaoguang Islands and dominate the surrounding seas!

Not vanish without a trace, hiding here and there like a rat that couldn't bear the light of day!

'To achieve that, there is only one path: advance to the Nascent Soul Realm!'

As long as he reached the Nascent Soul Realm, with his profound foundation, he was confident he could even slay a Late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator!

That level of combat power was the apex of the Jade Light Cultivation Realm. Unless a Divinity Transformation Daoist Monarch appeared, no one could contend with him!

And now,

to reach the Nascent Soul Realm and achieve this wonderful blueprint,

the only thing Su Ye lacked was a fifth-tier Spirit Vein!

'A fifth-tier Spirit Vein...'

Su Ye mused to himself.

'The fifth-tier Spirit Veins in the Yaoguang Islands are all monopolized by the Inner Sea's Nine Sects. To use one to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm, I absolutely cannot avoid them.'

'The most direct way to get one is to wipe out one of the Inner Sea's Nine Sects and plunder their fifth-tier Spirit Vein!'

'Among the lower six sects, there are indeed one or two that don't have a Late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator presiding over them. Their strength is at the bottom of the barrel.'

Su Ye estimated that with his strength, as long as there was no outside interference and his strategy was sound, the probability of successfully destroying an Inner Sea sect wasn't low.

'Other than that, perhaps the True Treasure Pavilion can help?'

Su Ye rubbed his chin.

'Li Jinhua of the True Treasure Pavilion has been providing protection for the Nanyaoguang Corporation for these past seventeen years.'

With such a friendly gesture, Su Ye felt that as long as he made some promises—for example, to support the True Treasure Pavilion and repay them after he achieved his Dao—

'borrowing a fifth-tier Spirit Vein shouldn't be too difficult, right?'

However,

no matter which option Su Ye chose, he would face one major obstacle: the Jade Void Sword Sect's interference!

The Jade Void Sword Sect wasn't stupid. They naturally knew how powerful a Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect became after advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm. Miss Sanhua was one thing; she had already succeeded, and there was nothing to be done about it.

'So, to break through this obstacle, I'll need to do some planning.'

As for how to plan?

'It all comes down to four words!'

'Feint east, strike west!'

...

「Several days later.」

The shocking events in Linyue Immortal City—the fall of two Sword Sect Nascent Souls—sent tremors throughout the Yaoguang Islands!

Every Nascent Soul True Monarch was a major figure in the Yaoguang Islands, to say nothing of a Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Jade Void Sword Sect. How could it not be terrifying?

Keep in mind that in the entire hunt for the remnants of the Blood Moon Demon Palace and Miss Sanhua, only three Nascent Soul True Monarchs had fallen so far!

Of those, only one was a Sword Sect Nascent Soul!

But now, two had fallen in a single night!

Such a grievous loss left every power that received the news utterly shocked!

But what was even more unbelievable was the identity of the person who killed these two Nascent Soul True Monarchs: Su Ye, who had vanished from the seas for seventeen years without a single trace of news!

Yehai!

The peerless prodigy who possessed a Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect!

After seventeen years, he had burst back onto the scene, and upon his reappearance, he displayed a terrifying level of strength.

According to eyewitnesses in Linyue Immortal City, Su Ye unleashed his Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect and forcefully killed two of the Sword Sect's Nascent Soul True Monarchs within ten breaths.

—And that included Shishanzi, a Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator!

A Golden Core cultivator attacking Nascent Souls, fighting one against two, and killing them with ease!

Such power caused a huge uproar throughout the Yaoguang Islands, leaving many Nascent Soul True Monarchs sighing with emotion and lament.

Influenced by this, among the Inner Sea's Nine Sects, with the exception of the Jade Void Sword Sect and its staunchest ally, Tingchao Pavilion,

the other neutral powers, like the True Treasure Pavilion, quietly took down the wanted posters for Su Ye that they had been forced to put up in their territories under pressure from the Jade Void Sword Sect.

Su Ye wasn't a remnant of the Demon Palace, and they had no grudge against him. Why take the heat for the Sword Sect?

So what if he reached the Nascent Soul Realm, dominated the Yaoguang Sea Region, and lorded over the Inner Sea sects?

—As if the Jade Void Sword Sect's dealings with the other Inner Sea sects were so equal and democratic, as if they respected their opinions?

What a joke!

What difference would a change in hegemon make?

Besides, the Jade Void Sword Sect had been trying to hunt down and kill Miss Sanhua for over a decade with no results.

If Su Ye reached the Nascent Soul Realm, as another with a Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect, he could even act as a counterbalance to the Blood Moon Demon Palace.

Considering all this, it was no surprise that the leanings of the Inner Sea's Nine Sects began to shift.

In response to this,

the Jade Void Sword Sect was furious, but there was nothing they could do.

They could only keep a close watch on the sects that were leaning toward Su Ye, such as the True Treasure Pavilion.

"Monitor their Spirit Veins at all times! We absolutely cannot let Yehai use their veins to advance to the Nascent Soul Realm!"