Chapter 258: Chapter 247: Refining a Foundation Establishment Master
Inside the private chamber, a profound silence reigned.
Qi Yun sat cross-legged before the Profound Black Banner, eyes slightly closed, his presence receding into an unfathomable void.
A moment later, Qi Yun’s eyes opened slightly, a cold glint flashing within them.
With a wave of his hand, nine drops of Heart Essence Blood flew into the air, forming nine tadpole-like Secret Demon Seals.
The seals, as crimson as if they were alive, flew toward the Human Emperor Banner on their own and branded themselves onto its staff. The banner immediately let out a low moan, its spectral glow intensifying.
"Activate."
With that single True Word, the Array Map already etched into the chamber floor suddenly lit up.
An indentation at its center perfectly matched the spot where the Human Emperor Banner stood.
Everything was ready.
Qi Yun extended two fingers and pointed at the Profound Ice sealing Xuan Ping Master.
CRACK...
A crisp cracking sound echoed. Countless fissures spread from the core of the immense Profound Ice. It didn’t shatter but instead peeled away and dissolved layer by layer, like a blooming lotus.
Finally, it transformed into a wisp of pure, frigid essence, which Qi Yun inhaled.
With the ice seal gone, Xuan Ping Master’s body slumped to the floor.
But a faint point of Spiritual Light between his brows began to struggle violently. It was his Divine Soul, which had been frozen by the intense cold and was now trying to rapidly revive.
"Demon! How dare you refine me?!
Nine Kings above, protect my True Spirit!"
Xuan Ping Master’s Divine Soul let out a silent yet incomparably fierce roar. Even with his body restrained and his Magical Power sealed, the Divine Soul of a Foundation Establishment Master remained incredibly resilient.
A point of Pure Yang Spiritual Light erupted from between his brows, transforming into nine golden Wish Power Chains. They were as fine as silk yet incomparably tough, rattling as they connected to some unseen realm.
They looked as if they would pierce through the chamber to guide the nine phantasmal Divine Kings, enshrined in the ancestral hall on Nine Kings Mountain, to descend and offer their protection!
"This is my domain.
The Nine Kings?
They can’t save you."
Qi Yun’s expression was impassive. He pressed his left hand down toward the Array Map.
The silver-gray Array Patterns within the Array Map suddenly sprang to life. Like countless starving, silvery insects, they swarmed up the nine golden Wish Power Chains, gnawing at them ferociously!
The golden chains dimmed and crumbled at a visible rate, letting out a sorrowful HISS as their connection to the outside world was severed.
Simultaneously, he made a grasping motion with his right hand. As if on cue, hundreds of special Soul-Calming Talisman Papers flew from his sleeve. They were neither yellow nor white, having been made with Thousand-Year Corpse Wax, and felt cold and greasy to the touch.
The Talisman Papers spontaneously combusted in mid-air, emitting a strange, greenish smoke. The smoke formed into semi-corporeal tendrils that coiled from all directions toward the Spiritual Light of Xuan Ping Master’s desperate Divine Soul.
"ROAR—!"
Sensing a mortal threat, Xuan Ping Master’s Divine Soul erupted with unprecedented resistance.
The point of Pure Yang Spiritual Light suddenly swelled, manifesting an illusory yet imposing Divine Soul Daoist Palace above his head.
The Daoist Palace had a foundation of jade and tiles of Talismans. Inscribed on the plaque above its gate were three ancient Daoist words: Upper Profound Hunting!
This was the very Upper Profound Hunting Dao Foundation he had cultivated with his life’s essence, the basis of his Foundation Establishment.
The gates of the Daoist Palace boomed open. The interior contained no buildings, but countless roaming Talisman sprites, phantoms of armored, halberd-wielding Divine Generals, and, sitting at the center, three even clearer figures whose auras corresponded to the three Divine King Talismans he had diligently refined!
This Daoist Palace was the strongest bastion of his Divine Soul, the crystallization of his life’s work in Daoist Skills!
"Suppress!"
Qi Yun’s eyes narrowed. He knew this was the critical moment.
He fiercely activated the Soul Refining Array Map. Silver light erupted from its center, coalescing into nine heavy chains. They pierced the void and viciously slammed into the Daoist Palace manifested by the Upper Profound Hunting Dao Foundation!
The chains tightened. The Daoist Palace trembled violently, its tiles shattering and falling away.
"Demon! Don’t even think about it!
I, Xuan Ping, would rather burn my True Spirit to ashes and scatter my Dao Foundation to Heaven and Earth than be enslaved by you!"
Feeling his Daoist Palace locked down and his very foundation shaken, Xuan Ping Master’s Divine Soul let out a resolute shriek.
The next instant, he brazenly ignited the point of Pure Yang Spiritual Light, setting his entire Divine Soul Daoist Palace ablaze!
BOOM!
In the raging Soul Fire, the Daoist Palace formed from the Upper Profound Hunting Dao Foundation revealed its complete form!
It was a three-story palace constructed from innumerable Jade Talismans.
Each "brick and tile" was a miniature Talisman True Intent. Realms of intent—Hunting Heaven, hunting the earth, Subduing Demons, Suppression of Evil—flowed through them all.
Deep within the palace, the three phantoms of the Divine Kings grew clearer. They erupted with a final burst of light, resisting the pull of the Nine Nether Chains and beginning to self-destruct, intending to return the origin of the Dao Foundation to Heaven and Earth!
"So unyielding.
A pity..."
Qi Yun finally rose to his feet. His previously dormant Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation thrummed to life with a deafening roar!
Within his eyes, a Nine-Colored Divine Radiance blazed with unprecedented intensity, as if a Star River flowed within them, witnessing the birth and death of the Ten Thousand Laws.
"Before me, not even Heaven and Earth can take it away!"
He used no external tools—no Talismans, no Arrays.
Instead, he slowly raised his right hand. He aimed his five fingers at the burning, collapsing palace of the Upper Profound Hunting Dao Foundation and made a clenching gesture.
Mastering All Skills
RUMBLE—
An invisible, immense will, one that transcended all Dao Principles, descended.
The collapsing palace and its dissipating Daoist Foundation Origin were frozen in time, as if encased in amber. All change was forcibly halted.
Under Xuan Ping Master’s disbelieving gaze, his Dao Foundation palace—the culmination of his life’s Cultivation, currently in the throes of self-detonation—was ripped from its state of collapse by an incomprehensible force.
It was compressed into a fist-sized, crystal-clear jade palace. Within it, countless microscopic Talismans flowed in a cycle of birth and death.
The miniature palace retained the dynamic state of burning and disintegrating, yet it was eternally frozen in that single instant. It had become a bizarre artifact, containing the complete Daoist Intent of the Upper Profound Hunting Technique.
"Enter my Daluo Heaven, to suppress your True Spirit."
Qi Yun pointed at the frozen Dao Foundation model with two fingers, then touched his own forehead.
The model transformed into a Flowing Light, shot straight into Qi Yun’s forehead, and settled deep within the vast, boundless, and all-encompassing Daluo Heaven.
Daluo Heaven trembled slightly. Within its void, a new corner of existence spontaneously formed to suppress the frozen Upper Profound Hunting Dao Foundation.
However, the pure Dao Principles and Talisman True Intent it released were slowly absorbed and analyzed by Daluo Heaven, becoming another source of Resources to nourish this foundation of Ten Thousand Laws.
As for the last remnant of Xuan Ping Master’s True Spirit, which was inextricably linked to the Dao Foundation, it was completely stripped of consciousness and memory before being swept wholesale into the Human Emperor Banner.
HUM!
On the surface of the banner, dark golden patterns blazed with light. Countless phantoms of Soul Spirits materialized, bowing in worship.
This powerful Foundation Establishment Divine Soul entered the Banner Spirit Space and began the deepest level of fusion with the banner itself.
A few moments later, the Human Emperor Banner trembled softly.
A figure slowly emerged from the surface of the banner. It had the exact same face as Xuan Ping Master in life, but its expression was blank and its eyes were hollow. Clad in robes woven from the phantoms of countless microscopic Talismans, it bowed silently to Qi Yun.
The Main Soul was forged.
Qi Yun’s face was slightly pale. Clearly, using Mastering All Skills at full power to suppress and extract a Foundation Establishment Master’s Dao Foundation had been immensely taxing.
But his eyes shone brightly. He could feel the unprecedented vitality and powerful aura emanating from the Human Emperor Banner, and he sensed the new Upper Profound Hunting Technique Daoist Intent Resources within his Daluo Heaven. A look of satisfaction crept across his face.
Outside the quiet chamber, the war beacons of the Northwest blazed.
Inside the quiet chamber, a Demon Banner had undergone a silent transformation.
Qi Yun gently massaged his temples. His gaze fell upon the Human Emperor Banner, which now seemed even more profound and unfathomable. ’A Foundation Establishment Master is truly something else,’ he thought, ’especially one so determined to self-destruct their Dao Foundation. Ordinary methods would have been useless to stop it; they would only have hastened its dissipation or triggered an uncontrollable backlash from the Dao Principles.’
’If my Mastering All Skills couldn’t target the very source and forcibly seize it, I’m afraid I really couldn’t have stopped that old bastard from taking us both down in flames...’
With a slight shift in thought, he looked at the figure standing respectfully within the banner’s spiritual glow.
Its features were identical to Xuan Ping Master’s in life, yet it lacked any trace of vitality. Its eyes were vacant and emotionless.
Only the faint Talisman phantoms swirling around its body and the Foundation Establishment Level Soul Power fluctuations indicated its extraordinary nature.
Qi Yun made a casual beckoning gesture.
The surface of the banner rippled, and the spirit of Xuan Ping Master, now refined into the Main Soul, drifted out. It sank straight into the physical body on the floor—a body left vacant and listless after its Divine Soul had been extracted.
The body shuddered slightly. The emptiness in its eyes was quickly replaced by a look of serene obedience.
The aura of a Foundation Establishment Master began to emanate from it.
Although Xuan Ping Master’s Dao Foundation had been taken by Qi Yun, he could still wield the power of the Foundation Establishment Realm by relying on the Human Emperor Banner, a Magical Treasure, and his Master Level Divine Soul True Spirit.
The method was just a bit different, that’s all.
After stretching his slightly stiff neck and limbs, Xuan Ping Master stepped forward and prostrated himself before Qi Yun.
He knelt on one knee with impeccable reverence, his voice steady and devoid of emotion:
"Xuan Ping pays his respects, my Lord."
"Mm," Qi Yun nodded slightly, accepting the gesture.
"Now that you are under my command, all that came before is but smoke and mist.
The name Xuan Ping is tied to old karma; there is no need to use it any longer."
He pondered for a moment, his gaze lingering on the man’s Nine Kings Mountain Daoist Robe. A flicker of understanding and amusement crossed his face, and he chuckled.
"Today, I will bestow upon you a new name: Zhe Cheng.
It comes from the principle: ’Where there is order in one’s Talisman Skills, there will be accomplishment.’
I also expect you to remember your rebirth today. Follow my laws, and nothing shall be beyond your grasp."
Upon hearing this, an extremely faint glimmer of Talisman-light seemed to flash in the depths of Zhe Cheng Master’s hollow eyes. He bowed his head again, his voice as steady as ever:
"Zhe Cheng thanks my Lord for bestowing this name."
"Very good."
Qi Yun flicked his sleeve, and a gentle force lifted Zhe Cheng to his feet.
"Since you have recovered, you need not linger here.
Depart at once. Infiltrate your way back to where you belong.
Your speech and behavior must be exactly as they were before. There can be no mistakes.
You are still Xuan Ping Master of Nine Kings Mountain."
Qi Yun walked up to Zhe Cheng. His gaze was so profound it seemed to pierce through his eyes, staring directly at the completely dominated Divine Soul within:
"Lie low. Observe in silence. Gather all useful information: the Nanyin Alliance Army’s movements, intelligence on their powerful cultivators, their logistical arrangements.
Do not return unless I summon you myself.
You may use your Talismanic Cultivation and your connections within the Sect as you always have. In fact... if the opportunity arises, it would not be a bad thing to rise even higher within the ranks of the Righteous Dao."
Zhe Cheng Master listened in silence, engraving every word deep into his Soul Body. Only after Qi Yun finished speaking did he bow his head and respond:
"Your servant understands.
I will be careful in my infiltration, I will fulfill my role, and I will await my Lord’s command."
"Mm," Qi Yun gave him a final look and waved his hand.
"Go. Remember to maintain this identity well. When the time is right, I will have great use for you."
"Zhe Cheng obeys."
Zhe Cheng Master said no more. After bowing to Qi Yun once more, he swiftly retracted and adjusted his aura. In the blink of an eye, he had regained the steady, dignified bearing of an Elder of Nine Kings Mountain.
His figure flickered. He wrapped himself in the Human Emperor Banner and transformed into an inconspicuous streak of Escape Light, silently passing through layers of Restrictions and vanishing into the war-torn night.
He vanished without a trace, like a drop of water returning to the ocean.
Qi Yun stood alone in the chamber, watching him depart.
After a long while, he slowly paced to the window, gazing toward the southern horizon from which a faint, murderous aura seemed to drift.
’Is one pawn enough...?’ he murmured, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the cool jade of the windowsill.
The Nanyin northern expedition is a raging tide.
The response of the Four Sects is shrouded in mystery.
Although he had used the construction of the Grand Array to seize massive Resources and his Cultivation was advancing steadily, he knew that in the face of a conflict that could sweep the entire region—one where even True Monarchs might intervene—his personal strength was still insignificant.
’I’m still too weak.’
Shaking his head, Qi Yun withdrew his gaze and turned toward the back of the chamber. The insights of the Four Seasons artifact and the Talisman True Intent he had parsed from the Upper Profound Hunting Dao Foundation were waiting for him to slowly digest.
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