Chapter 72: Subjugating a Grand Ascension Cultivator
On a spacious rooftop somewhere in the inner city of Black Water City, Daoist Clear Bright and Layman Bone Flame were standing next to one another in silence.
The latter's brows were tightly furrowed, and he had a furious look on his face, looking as if he could snap at any moment.
The former's expression wasn't much more pleasant, and after a long while, he finally mused, "Who exactly is this man? Not only was my Spirit Nascent Sword Talisman unable to strike him down, even you..."
His voice trailed off there as he heaved a faint sigh, not wanting to speak any further on the matter.
A pained look appeared on Layman Bone Flame's face as he spat through gritted teeth, "That Golden Dao Warrior of mine was close to a Profound Immortal in power, how could it possibly have been defeated by a descended immortal?"
He had broken through the interrealm barrier at great cost to forcibly open up a spatial passageway and send down a primary bean, but only a short while later, his connection with the bean was completely severed, leaving him both furious and despondent by the loss.
"It seems like either the Ubiquitous Pavilion's information is inaccurate, or he must've encountered some especially fortunate circumstances that allowed him to return to full power. Now that we've failed to capture him, there's going to be trouble looming for our two sects in the Spirit Domain Realm. We have to find a way to address that as quickly as possible," Daoist Clear Bright said with a contemplative look in his eyes.
Layman Bone Flame's expression darkened even further upon hearing this. "He's not getting away with this!"
……
Meanwhile, in the Origin Realm Temple.
Daoist Closed Mountain looked on as Han Li approached him in an expressionless manner, and his flabby rolls began to tremble uncontrollably from fear.
If he hadn't been bound by the rope formed by the Flame of Essence, he would've already fled the scene even faster than the elders and disciples of the temple.
Han Li drew to a halt before him, then stared at him expressionlessly for a while before suddenly raising a hand and extending a finger toward his glabella.
"Spare me, Senior Han! I was only following orders! I had no choice!" Daoist Closed Mountain hurriedly implored as his back instantly became drenched in cold sweat.
"Is that right? Whose orders were you acting on?" Han Li asked with a faint smile as he lowered his hand again.
"The orders were from the patriarch of our temple in the Immortal Realm. Otherwise, there's no way I would've dared to try and go against you, Senior Han," Daoist Closed Mountain hurriedly replied.
"Why would the patriarch of your Origin Realm Temple issue an order to have me captured? Does he know me?" Han Li asked.
"According to our patriarch, a powerful organization in the Immortal Realm is offering a reward for your capture, and the reward is far loftier than what lower realm cultivators like myself can imagine. Patriarch Bone Flame of the Heavenly Ghost Sect received the bounty, and he coaxed our patriarch into joining forces with him. That's what led to this... this misunderstanding," Daoist Closed Mountain hurriedly replied.
"Misunderstanding? You make it sound so trivial! So you're telling me that Patriarch Bone Flame received the bounty, but Patriarch Clear Bright of your Origin Realm Temple didn't?" Han Li asked with an unconvinced expression.
Daoist Closed Mountain's expression stiffened slightly upon hearing this, and he carefully answered, "Perhaps the two patriarchs hatched the plan together. I'm only responsible for carrying out their orders, I don't know the exact details. I was extremely reluctant to oppose you, Senior Han, but I couldn't go against the orders of the patriarchs."
Han Li fell silent upon hearing this, and he began to ponder the information that he had just received, particularly the part pertaining to the reward being offered for his capture.
Daoist Closed Mountain was rather unnerved by Han Li's silence, and he thought that Han Li was hesitating about whether to take his life. Thus, the longer the silence continued, the more fearful he became, and finally, he gritted his teeth as he made a decision.
"Senior Han, your power is unmatched. From this day forth, I wish you to follow you as my master. I can give you all of my pills and cultivation resources, and the entire Origin Realm Temple will also be yours to do with as you see fit."
Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which he remarked with an amused expression, "You sure are adaptable."
Given Han Li's personality, he had no plans to spare Daoist Closed Mountain, but before he even had a chance to perform a soul search, Daoist Closed Mountain had already told him everything and had pledged his subordination to him, thereby saving him a lot of trouble.
After all, he had no intention of stirring up too much trouble in the Spirit Domain Realm.
Back in the Spirit Realm, he had encountered many Grand Ascension Stage beings, but never had he met one like Daoist Closed Mountain, and he couldn't help but think of a certain Sun Ergou. [1]
Daoist Closed Mountain could see that Han Li didn't seem opposed to the idea, and he immediately said in a respectful voice, "Thank you for sparing my life, Senior Han!"
"I have no interest in taking over your Origin Realm Temple. All you need to do is follow my orders and do some things for me. However, before that, I have to apply some restrictions onto you," Han Li said.
He raised a hand as he spoke, then chanted an incantation, and the tips of the five fingers on the hand lit up in unison. A series of thin translucent threads then emerged from his fingertips, swaying from side to side like seaweed in the current.
Han Li curled his fingers ever so slightly, and the translucent threads instantly became as straight as needles.
Daoist Closed Mountain shuddered slightly upon seeing this, and his face also turned quite pale, but he still displayed no intention of putting up any resistance.
A pleased look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon seeing this, and as he reached forward with his hand, the five translucent threads instantly shot into Daoist Closed Mountain's head.
In the instant that the translucent threads pierced into his body, Daoist Closed Mountain felt a sharp pain spear through his consciousness, and he couldn't help but let loose an agonized groan as his face paled even further.
However, he was still putting up no resistance whatsoever, allowing Han Li to do as he pleased.
Han Li swept a hand through the air to dispel the fiery silver rope around Daoist Closed Mountain's body, then said, "Those threads are formed by my spiritual sense, and they've already been planted deep into your soul. If you dare to go against me, I can destroy your soul from the inside with just a single thought, understood?"
"Yes, Senior Han. I'll be sure to serve you with the utmost loyalty and sincerity!" Daoist Closed Mountain replied with his head lowered in a respectful manner.
"There's no need to declare your loyalty to me. Instead, why don't you tell me where the array that you use to communicate with the Immortal Realm is?" Han Li asked.
"There are two such arrays, one on the Heaven Worship Peak, and the other on the Illustrious Mountain Peak. I'll take you to them right away, Senior Han," Daoist Closed Mountain replied without any hesitation.
Shortly thereafter, two streaks of light flew away into the distance.
At this point, peace and quiet had already returned to the Origin Realm Temple, but not long after that, two rumbling booms suddenly rang out one after another, separated by no more than 15 minutes.
Many of the elders and disciples who had only just returned to the temple were still feeling quite spooked, and they were greatly alarmed to hear this, but they were relieved to see that nothing more came out of the situation.
It had been an extremely tumultuous night, during which close to a third of the entire Origin Realm Temple had been reduced to ruins. In addition to that, the supreme elder was nowhere to be found, and everyone was wondering if the nightmare had truly ended.
A round an hour later, two figures flew over to a certain mountain deep in the Origin Realm Temple from afar, then entered a hall on the mountain.
At the very center of the hall was a white jade platform, upon which were engraved circles of complex runes to form a teleportation array.
"This is the teleportation array that leads to the Heavenly Ghost Sect?" Han Li asked as he inspected the array before him.
"That's right. This array is connected to the Heavenly Ghost Sect's Black Nether Peak, and even though it can't take us directly into the sect's core area, it'll allow us to bypass their sect's protective array," Daoist Closed Mountain immediately replied.
"Good. Come with me," Han Li replied with a smile.
"Yes, Senior Han!"
Thus, the two of them stepped into the array, and a burst of dazzling white light rose up from the ground to instantly engulf the two of them.
……
On the Serene Offering Peak of the Heavenly Ghost Sect.
On the main seat in a spacious hall sat a middle-aged man in a red silken robe. He had a pair of gentle eyes, and the lines and contours of his face were quite soft. There was also a slightly sickly white pallor to his skin, and overall, those traits culminated in a slightly feminine appearance.
At the moment, the man had an extremely grim look on his face, and he was gripping tightly onto the armrests of his chair as he said in a solemn voice, "Half a day ago, the soul badges of our sect's two supreme elders shattered in unison. Since then, we've tried to contact them using various secret techniques, but have received no response. What do you all think of this?"
There were around a dozen people seated on either side of the hall, all of whom were at the Body Integration Stage, and they were all silent with grim looks on their faces.
Thus, the entire hall fell into a tense and uncomfortable silence.
After a long while, a man with a thick beard was finally unable to bear the silence any longer, and he rose to his feet as he said, "Those soul badges must've malfunctioned somehow, Sect Master. Elder Tong is the number cultivator of the Spirit Domain Realm, who could possibly have killed him in this realm?"
"Exactly! Something must've gone wrong," someone in the hall immediately chimed in in agreement.
A beautiful woman in a red dress stood with tightly furrowed brows as she countered, "Soul badges are refined using a special secret technique with a cultivator's blood essence and a wisp of their soul acting as the medium. Has there ever been a case of a soul badge malfunctioning in the past?"
The bearded man opened his mouth to rebuke her, but he had no counterargument.
"There's no way the soul badges could've malfunctioned, but at the same time, it's extremely unlikely that our supreme elders could've both perished in such a short time. Is it possible that they've been trapped within some type of special array that's severed their connection to their soul badges?" another elder suggested.
A middle-aged man with a square face and a short purple beard rose to his feet as he said, "Regardless of what happened, the fact of the matter is that the two supreme elders went to the Origin Realm Temple, and now, we're unable to get into contact with them. What we should be doing is activating all of our sect's defensive arrays and contacting our patriarchs in the Immortal Realm as soon as possible."
The sect master was gently massaging his own glabella as he replied, "I agree. Elder Lu, you can take care of activating all of the arrays. As for contacting our patriarchs, I'll..."
Before he had a chance to finish, a burst of loud rumbling rang out, and the entire hall began to tremble violently.
"What's going on?"
Everyone immediately flew out of the hall at once, then arrived on the plaza outside.
There was a black light barrier hanging in the sky above the hall. The light barrier encompassed an area with a radius of several hundred kilometers, and it was none other than the Heavenly Ghost Sect's main protective array.
The dozens of mountains encompassed beneath the light barrier comprised the core area of the entire Heavenly Ghost Sect, and almost all of the sect's most important locations were situated on those mountains.
At this moment, the black light barrier was flashing incessantly with runes surging all over its surface, appearing to be in an extremely unstable state.
Outside the light barrier was a giant golden ape that was several hundred feet tall, and its arms were raised high above its head, seemingly preparing to land another blow on the already wavering black light barrier.
1. For more information on Sun Ergou, please refer to RMJI Chapter 100: Jia Yuan City. ☜
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