A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 158 The Arrival of the Nascent Soul

He immediately activated the twelve Xuan Yuan Pearls, forming a heavy water barrier with flowing dark light within his dantian, separating the pitch-black demonic blade from his golden core.

However, the Xuan Yuan Pearl seemed quite wary of it, circling around but not daring to get too close, while the demonic blade just hovered quietly, without making any other unusual movements except for slowly absorbing the slight amount of pill energy naturally emitted by the golden core.

Even so, Luo Ming would never dare to let this completely out-of-control ferocious creature, which had devoured Liu Shi's primordial spirit and the two true demonic phantoms, remain in his body for long. But this place was definitely not the place to deal with this matter.

He suppressed the turmoil in his heart, glanced at the ravaged sea, summoned the Xuan Turtle that he had just put into his spirit beast bag, and instructed it to swim towards the depths of the hidden sea.

The Xuan Turtle let out a low growl, indicating that it understood. It was naturally skilled in water escape and concealment, especially in the vast deep sea. Luo Ming flew and landed on the turtle's back. A soft, aquamarine light emanated from the turtle's body, enveloping him as well. Then, its massive body silently sank beneath the waves, quickly diving towards a remote, spiritually sparse area of ​​the deep sea, far from the islands. Soon, it disappeared beneath the surface of the sea, leaving only the gradually calming waves and the lingering spiritual energy fluctuations in the air.

About half a day later.

A sharp purple streak of light pierced the sky at an astonishing speed, hovering precisely above the sea area where a fierce battle had erupted half a day earlier. The streak of light dissipated, revealing two figures.

One of them was Wen Tianren, whose face was still somewhat pale and whose aura was weak. His usual arrogance and composure were gone; a trace of fear and deep gloom remained between his brows. Beside him stood a middle-aged cultivator in a black robe, with a refined appearance. This man possessed an aura as deep as the sea; merely standing casually, an invisible spiritual pressure rippled around him—clearly a Nascent Soul stage elder! However, his gaze towards Wen Tianren was quite gentle, lacking the arrogance commonly seen in high-level cultivators.

"Elder Ma, this is the place." Wen Tianren pointed to the sea below, his tone respectful yet tinged with resentment. "That rogue cultivator was here. He used an incredibly strange blood-red blade, which instantly devoured the two True Demons that I summoned with my True Demon Technique... I was caught off guard and my soul was injured, so I had no choice but to retreat." He briefly described the situation, emphasizing the strangeness and terror of the bloodthirsty blade, while glossing over details such as his initial sneak attack.

The middle-aged cultivator, addressed as Elder Ma, nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping across the sea like lightning. He did not make a hasty judgment based on Wen Tianren's one-sided account, nor did he mind that the other's cultivation was far lower than his own; his attitude remained calm: "Young Master Wen, please be at ease, let this old man take a look."

With a flick of his sleeve, an invisible divine sense spread out like a gentle spring breeze, meticulously sensing every trace of energy, every disturbance of spiritual energy, and even the faintest fragments of aura remaining in the space. After a moment, he raised his hand and grasped, extracting several almost imperceptible strands of Luo Ming's magical power from the air, condensing them into a faint halo that hovered in his palm.

"Hmm, it is indeed the early stage of Core Formation cultivation. The magical power is quite pure and profound, faintly carrying the aura of the three elements of metal, water, and earth, and also connected to a rare demonic beast's blood aura... It must be that turtle-like spirit beast." Elder Ma pondered, then frowned slightly, "This person is quite cautious, not escaping through the air, but using that spirit beast to dive into the deep sea and leave."

He tried to follow the faint traces of water movement and the unique concealment fluctuations of the Xuan Turtle. After his divine sense penetrated dozens of miles into the sea, the traces completely dissipated into the complex and ever-changing ocean currents, the aura of sea beasts, and the chaotic spiritual energy of the deep sea itself, making it impossible to detect them again.

"The deep sea is vast and the atmosphere is complex. This beast is also adept at concealment, making it difficult to track." Elder Ma withdrew his divine sense, shook his head, and looked at Wen Tianren. "However, Young Master Wen need not worry too much. I have roughly memorized this person's aura and physical characteristics. Later, I will order all strongholds and affiliated forces of the Reverse Star Alliance to keep a close watch and search. Any clues will be reported to Young Master immediately."

Upon hearing this, Wen Tianren knew that searching for a deliberately hidden Core Formation cultivator in the vast chaotic star sea was like finding a needle in a haystack, but having a Nascent Soul elder give the order was better than searching blindly on his own. His expression softened slightly, and he cupped his hands, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Elder Ma. This monstrous magic weapon is strange; it can even devour the phantom of a true demon. If it cannot be eliminated as soon as possible, it may become a major threat in the future."

Elder Ma stroked his beard and smiled knowingly, saying, "Young Master Wen is a prodigy, personally taught by the Holy Lord, and his future is limitless. These petty clowns are not worth mentioning. The Holy Lord sent me a message the other day, inquiring about the Young Master's cultivation progress, and his words were quite concerned. He instructed the Young Master to prioritize cultivation and not to let external affairs delay his progress. Although the area around this Star Palace is suitable for training, it is also fraught with danger. The Young Master should return as soon as possible and cultivate peacefully under the Holy Lord's tutelage; that is the right thing to do."

His tone was gentle, yet carried an unquestionable air, clearly indicating that the "Holy Lord" was somewhat displeased with Wen Tianren's unauthorized actions outside.

Wen Tianren's eyes flickered slightly. Although he was still resentful for not being able to personally capture Luo Ming and seize his treasures, he knew that Elder Ma's words made sense, and he dared not disobey his master's orders. He took a deep breath, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and respectfully replied, "Elder's teachings are correct. This junior will now prepare to set off for return. I entrust the investigation into that rogue cultivator to Elder."

"It's my duty." Elder Ma nodded with a smile, and a delicate white jade flying boat flew out from his sleeve. "I will see the young master off."

Two streaks of light rose again, quickly disappearing into the horizon. The sea returned to calm, with only a slightly salty sea breeze gently smoothing away the last traces of the battle. Deep beneath the sea, Luo Ming was riding the Xuan Turtle, cautiously venturing into an even more desolate and unknown territory. Within his dantian, the dormant demonic blade continued to slowly exhale and exhale dantian energy, like a slumbering ferocious beast.

Five days later, the skies above this sea area, which had just returned to calm, were once again shattered by two cold and obscure beams of light.

The beam of light in front was exceptionally tall, about ten feet high, and its entire body was shrouded in a thick, gray-black corpse aura. A humanoid monster with blurred features, wearing armor, could be vaguely seen. Its body was emerald green, and it was covered in shiny black iron armor. It was bare-handed, with sharp fingernails about an inch long, and a mouth full of yellowed fangs. Its expression was ferocious, and the stench of corpse aura was strong.

Following closely behind was a streak of dark light, which receded to reveal a short, withered youth with a face covered in black pockmarks and an extremely ugly appearance; his eyes were sinister and arrogant, and his body was surrounded by a chilling demonic aura; he held a pitch-black demonic blade in his hand.

At this moment, he was closing his eyes and sensing something, holding in his hand a slightly warm black jade tablet engraved with the life soul imprints of the cultivator surnamed Tong and Cao Yunfeng. The light spots representing the two of them on it had long since been extinguished.

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