NOVEL WEB Ch. 167
Chapter 167: This Damn Thing Is a Nascent Soul!?
Above the island, the two groups were still locked in a standoff.
The leader of the Divine Firmament Sect was a Daoist nun in a robe, graceful and elegant, her fair face now filled with murderous intent as she glared ahead.
Opposing them was the Azure Thunder Sect, led by a white-browed old Daoist who appeared otherworldly.
He held a turquoise-blue magic orb in his hand and sneered, “Madam Xiao, who in this entire stretch of the Chaotic Sea doesn’t know your sect master is dead, leaving only you in the Divine Firmament Sect?”
“Today, no one can save you!”
“You should know that the Divine Firmament Sect was founded by a traitor from our Azure Thunder Sect. You’ve had your way for long enough. It’s time to return to the source!”
As his words fell, the people behind him echoed loudly.
Madam Xiao’s delicate face flushed red with fury, her chest heaving violently. “Shameless! It was your Azure Thunder Sect that split from my Divine Firmament Sect!”
“It’s only because my Divine Firmament Sect has declined that you’ve managed to take advantage.”
“Traitors who betrayed their master and ancestors! Now that you’ve gained some power, you want to destroy my Divine Firmament Sect? Do you really think my Guishui Divine Firmament Grand Formation is just for show?”
As her words ended, Madam Xiao immediately formed hand seals.
In an instant, the sky roared with the sound of rushing water as layers of formation light intertwined, eventually manifesting into a boundless sea!
The seawater churned in mid-air, real yet illusory, continuously surging with waves. On closer inspection, every stream of water was actually leaping arcs of lightning, their rumbling thunder merging with the crashing waves, causing the mortals below to tremble as if facing heavenly wrath.
“What a magnificent Guishui Divine Firmament Grand Formation.”
Seeing this, the white-browed elder’s expression immediately turned wary, though greed burned even stronger in his eyes. A cold smirk soon curled on his lips.
“.What a pity, attack!”
With a shout, the grand formation, which had nearly fully activated, suddenly stalled. One of the formation’s core nodes quickly dimmed.
Madam Xiao’s pupils shrank in shock.
She turned in disbelief toward one of the key formation controllers below. “Junior Brother Liu, you’ve colluded with the Azure Thunder Sect and betrayed the sect!?”
The saboteur was none other than her junior brother, Liu Chi.
When their master had accepted him as a disciple, he had praised him as the future hope of the Divine Firmament Sect’s revival, treating him with utmost care and effort.
Yet now, at the sect’s moment of crisis,
He had chosen to disable the sect’s defensive grand formation and become the first to betray them!
“The Azure Thunder Sect is the true lineage of the Divine Firmament. How is this betrayal?”
A scholarly-looking man stepped forward leisurely, spouting nonsense, deliberately making sure the claim that “Azure Thunder Sect is the true lineage” echoed in all directions.
This had always been part of his deal with the Azure Thunder Sect.
Originally, he had joined the Divine Firmament Sect because of its long heritage and profound Dao techniques. But as time passed, he grew increasingly discontent.
Because the Divine Firmament Sect was in decline.
Especially after Madam Xiao’s master, the renowned Nascent Soul cultivator, went missing, the sect seemed to him like a sinking ship.
With his talent as a mutant lightning spiritual root, how could he stay on a sinking ship until death? A wise bird chooses a good tree to nest in; naturally, he had to seek another path.
“Hahaha! Well done!”
At that moment, the white-browed elder burst into laughter. “Liu Chi, rest assured. After today, you shall be an elder of my Azure Thunder Sect. Now, all of you, follow me…”
Before he could finish uttering the word “kill,” his voice abruptly stopped.
A stunning woman with a graceful figure and breathtaking beauty suddenly appeared before him, her autumn-water-like eyes casually glancing at him.
With just that single glance, the elder’s expression froze on the spot. Cracks rapidly spread across his body.
Boom!
With an explosion, his spiritual energy collapsed, and he perished without a trace.
“A few late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, stop wasting words here. Let someone who can actually make decisions step forward. Where is your sect’s True Person?”
Lü Yang, possessing Su Nu with his divine sense, spoke calmly.
At the same time, he decided in his heart that if more than three Foundation Establishment True Persons appeared, he would immediately detonate Su Nu and flee to avoid major karmic entanglements.
However, he quickly realized that the crowd’s reaction was off.
“Elder… Elder…”
“The elder was killed by that cultivator!”
“Who is he?”
The disciples of the Azure Thunder Sect stared wide-eyed in shock, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened.
“Y-You’re finished!” Finally, one disciple snapped out of it, pointing at Lü Yang and shouting angrily, “The elder was the favorite disciple of the Azure Thunder Patriarch and an outer elder appointed by the Immortal Alliance. You killed him! From now on, the Immortal Alliance and the Azure Thunder Patriarch will be your mortal enemies!”
Killing was done by Su Nu. What does it have to do with me?
Lü Yang remained utterly unflustered. Instead, he focused on another part of the disciple’s words. “Azure Thunder Patriarch? Could that be the Golden Core True Monarch of the Azure Thunder Sect?”
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out:
“Who dares kill my beloved disciple!?”
The voice rumbled like raging waves through the air, spreading from hundreds of miles away. Soon, a figure composed entirely of true Qi flew toward them at high speed.
Such momentum, even without approaching yet, caused the entire island to tremble slightly.
Madam Xiao’s expression turned utterly despairing. If it had been only the white-browed elder, she still had the confidence to fight with the support of the Guishui Divine Firmament Grand Formation.
But even with the formation, she stood no chance against the Nascent Soul Azure Thunder Patriarch!
Could this really be the end of the Divine Firmament Sect?
In the next moment, the figure arrived, instantly locking its gaze on Lü Yang. Without a word, it unleashed a vast, ocean-like torrent of water-light.
Lü Yang took one look and immediately laughed.
“Peak Qi Refining? I’ll give you points for courage!”
With that, Lü Yang casually grabbed the figure as if lifting a dead dog, then turned back to face the Azure Thunder Sect disciples:
“Stop sending these small fry. Where are your Foundation Establishment True Persons?”
The response was a series of dazed stares.
“Azure Thunder Patriarch… This is impossible!”
“He subdued the Patriarch with one hand!?”
For a moment, several Azure Thunder Sect disciples fell to their knees in mid-air, their expressions a mix of tears and laughter, as if unable to accept reality.
Seeing this, Lü Yang finally realized something was off.
He looked at the so-called peak Qi Refining cultivator in his hand, who was now trembling in fear and hurriedly begged for mercy before Lü Yang could speak:
“Esteemed superior, spare me! This humble one, Qing Ting, greets the superior!”
Lü Yang opened his mouth slightly and asked in a low voice, “…You are Qing Ting? The Azure Thunder Sect’s Patriarch?”
“Yes, yes. May I ask if the superior has any questions?”
Big questions, actually!
Lü Yang wore an utterly baffled expression. “Isn’t the Azure Thunder Sect a Golden Core sect?”
Hearing this, the Azure Thunder Patriarch quickly shook his head. “Superior, you’re mistaken.”
Oh? A misunderstanding? Then that’s less surprising.
In the next second, the Azure Thunder Patriarch spoke with some pride, “This humble one has successfully condensed a Nascent Soul not long ago. The Azure Thunder Sect is now a Nascent Soul sect!”
“…Nascent Soul? You?”
Only then did Lü Yang notice that this fellow in his hand had no physical body at all, his entire form composed of true Qi, with a glowing root-like core at the center.
You call this a Nascent Soul?
Though Lü Yang had never actually seen a Dao Lord before, he had heard True Person Chong Guang mention it in passing, and he remembered it well.
A Nascent Soul is the true essence of Wuji, the essence of Two and Five, gathering the primordial energy of Heaven and Earth, merging Yin and Yang, connecting with the universe, comprehending the wondrous Dao, and nurturing the essence of life. The essence of Two and Five refers to human nature, while the true Wuji essence refers to human destiny. Only when these two are perfectly combined does a Nascent Soul emerge.
Yet the thing in his hand—if one were to put it bluntly—was just a high-quality strand of true Qi shaped like an infant!
This is supposed to be a Nascent Soul?
“I almost fell for your trick!”
Lü Yang’s expression shifted as he carefully scrutinized the Azure Thunder Patriarch in his hand. Suddenly, his brows twitched slightly because he found this state somewhat familiar.
It possessed consciousness but was essentially just true Qi.
“…Innate One Qi!?”
In an instant, Lü Yang’s expression turned suspicious and uncertain.
Innate One Qi—wasn’t that the signature technique of the original owner of the Myriad Spirit Banner, the very Innate True Person who created the 『Innate Dao Book』?