Chapter 477: Deep Abyss Cultivator
The male cultivator was good-looking but had a gloomy air that made others uncomfortable.
Jiang Yue was no exception.
As soon as the person stepped onto his martial stage, Jiang Yue frowned.
For an unknown reason, he felt uncomfortable and unwilling to stand close to the person.
’Is it because of his origin, or is he practising a strange cultivation technique?’ He wondered, but none of his confusion showed on his face.
"Deputy mountain master Jiang, will you accept my challenge?" The man asked with an upward curl on his lips.
Unfortunately, the smile only made his face gloomier.
Rather than ease the atmosphere, it made Jiang Yue feel even more uncomfortable.
’What a strange situation.’ Jiang Yue thought and subconsciously shivered.
"The fellow Daoist seems to be in the fourth level of the reincarnation realm." Jiang Yue observed, his eyebrow raised in question.
"Deputy mountain master Jiang is right." The man said and chuckled.
"My name is Mu Huan, and I am from the Deep Abyss world." The man introduced himself.
When he heard the introduction, Jiang Yue frowned.
The Deep Abyss world was a top-grade world.
However, as a world, the Deep Abyss world was one of the strangest ones.
From what Jiang Yue knew, each cultivator from the Deep Abyss world was born with an accompanying abyss beast.
The existence of the so-called abyss beast was similar to a ghost or soul body.
They were born in the abyss and attached themselves to newborn babies.
When the child advanced, the creature would also improve.
However, if the host encountered a tragedy and died, the abyss creature would not die.
Instead, it would retreat into the abyss and wait for an opportunity to attach to another newborn.
As far as Jiang Yue knew, there was no way to kill an abyss creature.
At best, one could weaken or trap it but not kill it.
’I seem to have attracted a troublesome opponent.’ Jiang Yue thought.
However, he didn’t think about refusing the duel.
Although his duelling conditions were not as absolute as Yu Nianzhen’s, Jiang Yue was not afraid of hardship.
Since he and Yu Nianzhen were eternal Taoist companions, he naturally could not fall behind.
If his Azhen could deal with a sixth-level reincarnation realm cultivator, why shouldn’t he deal with a fourth-level one?
However, Jiang Yue was unwilling to take additional risks without corresponding rewards.
"Fellow Daoist Mu should know my cultivation is only in the first level of the reincarnation realm." Jiang Yue said and looked at the person.
Hearing that, Mu Huan smiled and threw a storage ring.
With practised ease, Jiang Yue caught the storage ring and used his divine sense to check it.
A moment later, his hand shook a little, and his eyes narrowed in shock.
’A piece of low-grade soul crystal.’ He thought with barely concealed excitement.
In the Nine Treasures’ secret realm, Yang Xu found a soul stone vein and mined thousands of soul stones.
However, the harvest was only thousands of low-grade and tens of mid-grade soul stones.
Compared to soul stones, soul crystals were a higher-level existence.
As far as Jiang Yue knew, ten thousand peak-grade soul stones were equivalent to one low-grade soul crystal.
Unfortunately, peak-grade soul stones were already a legendary treasure, let alone a soul crystal.
After seeing the soul crystal, Jiang Yue was excited and almost blinded himself to the strange situation.
However, after thinking about it, he felt something was not right.
’A soul crystal is too valuable. Why risk it on a gamble?’ He wondered, and his eyebrows creased in thought.
"Fellow Daoist Mu, isn’t your treasure a little too valuable?" Jiang Yue asked.
Hearing the doubt in his opponent’s voice, Mu Huan chuckled.
"I want to have a good fight with deputy mountain master Jiang." Mu Huan said, but a strange light flashed in his eyes.
’Do you think I am stupid?’ Jiang Yue thought but forced himself not to sneer.
Without a doubt, he knew Mu Huan had an ulterior motive, but Jiang Yue couldn’t figure it out.
Unlike Yu Nianzhen, defeating Jiang Yue would not win the origin source stones or the mines belonging to the Cangxing mountain.
As such, Mu Huan had no reason to risk so much to tempt Jiang Yue into a duel.
’Unless...’ A thought crossed his mind, and Jiang Yue quickly grasped it.
From his words, Mu Huan only wanted to have a good fight.
He didn’t ask for anything, which meant his ulterior motive was something he could get even without Jiang Yue’s cooperation.
’Is it something I own? One of the treasures I won in the past thirty-five years?’ Jiang Yue wondered as his mind went through everything he owned.
However, he couldn’t think of anything.
All the treasures he won were ordinary, and none were suitable for abyss cultivators like Mu Huan.
’Am I overthinking?’ Jiang Yue couldn’t help but doubt himself.
However, he quickly shook his head in denial.
No matter how he thought about it, he felt it was abnormal for a fourth-level reincarnation realm cultivator to desperately seek a fight.
’There has to be something hidden in the treasures I own.’ He thought and frowned.
The more he thought about it, the more Jiang Yue felt he was right.
Naturally, he also understood the ramifications.
If Mu Huan wanted something he owned, he could only get it by killing him and taking his storage ring.
In that case, the following challenge was not a competition but a life-or-death duel!
After figuring it out, Jiang Yue turned to the main stage.
Seeing this, Yu Nianzhen smiled, and Jiang Yue subconsciously returned the smile.
’If it was Azhen, he would not hesitate.’ Jiang Yue thought.
However, he didn’t feel inferior for his momentary indecision.
After all, he and Yu Nianzhen were different people.
Their fighting styles were not the same, and their considerations were also different.
’My main issue is the abyss creature.’ Jiang Yue thought and frowned.
To his knowledge, there were many kinds of abyss creatures.
Some were easy to deal with, but most were extremely difficult to handle.
If he encountered a creature he couldn’t handle, Jiang Yue would fall into fatal danger.
At that time, negotiations and compromises would likely have no positive effect.
’Still, I want to give it a try.’ He thought.
In the cultivation world, if one didn’t advance, they would retreat.
Although the situation was dangerous, danger and opportunity were two sides of the same coin.
’I will try it.’ He decided with a resolute look in his eyes.
Several metres away, Yu Nianzhen saw when his lover made the decision and couldn’t help but feel proud.
In his heart, he wanted Jiang Yue to be safe and happy.
However, in the cultivation world, only the strong had a right to be happy.
In that case, swimming in a sea of fire and climbing on a mountain of corpses was inevitable.
This time, it was Jiang Yue’s turn to forge a path through an impossibly dangerous situation.
’XiaoYue, I believe in you.’ Yu Nianzhen thought with a proud look in his eyes.
’After this fight, you will see a wider and brighter world.’
While Yu Nianzhen was thinking, Jiang Yue had already turned to look at Mu Huan.
"Fellow Daoist Mu, I accept your challenge." Jiang Yue said.
"Deputy mountain master Jiang is brave. It’s a pity..." Mu Huan started but sighed without finishing his words.
When the duel ended, only one of them would be alive.
Considering that, there was no need for superfluous sentiment.
Without another word, Jiang Yue and Mu Huan retreated to opposite corners of the martial stage.
At the same time, Jiang Yue released Fuyue while black smoke enveloped Mu Huan’s body.
"Demonic qi?" Jiang Yue muttered.
The sealed battlefield in the Cangxing world was filled with demonic qi.
Because of this, Jiang Yue, Yu Nianzhen, and other high-level cultivators from the Cangxing world were familiar with demonic qi.
At this time, Jiang Yue immediately recognised the black smoke surrounding Mu Huan.
However, upon closer inspection, he felt the demonic qi was mixed with a foreign substance.
"Is it the abyss creature?" Jiang Yue wondered with a solemn look on his face.
It was commonly known that abyss creatures were formless.
They could merge with qi, liquids, or condense to form a solid body. Because of this ability, abyss creatures were difficult to deal with.
’The qi transformation technique we learned in the sealed battlefield can deal with the demonic qi, but it can’t deal with the abyss creature. I should try as much as possible to stay away from the demonic qi.’ Jiang Yue thought and immediately struck a note on his pipa.
Soon after, an ethereal melody floated away from the pipa.
The melody was full of temptation and touched a chord in people’s cores, enticing them into the unknown.
In reaction, the black smoke around Mu Huan began to contort into different shapes.
Seeing this, Jiang Yue had a strange feeling that the black smoke or abyss creature was dancing.
