Chapter 328: Underworld Services
Chapter 328: Underworld Services
"It's you?!"
"Fellow Daoist Lu from the Celestial Sword Sect, what a surprise to meet you here."
The sudden sound of a voice sent a chill down Ning Deshan's spine. He turned to see a handsome young man smiling at him.
"This secret realm is neither too big nor too small. It's quite a coincidence to meet Fellow Daoist Ning in this abandoned herb garden," said the young man, who introduced himself as Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan carried an ancient-looking sword sheath and maintained a cautious distance from the Yin Vulture Elder.
"Indeed," Ning Deshan said, testing the waters. "I've discovered a Multi-Centennial Peaches of Immortality tree here with six spirit peaches on it. How about we split them evenly between us?"
"I wouldn't dare to split them with you," Lu Xuan said, glancing at the old woman's corpse on the ground. "Otherwise, I might end up divided into pieces instead of the peaches."
Ning Deshan's expression darkened.
"It seems Fellow Daoist Lu has seen something he shouldn't have," he said. "Well, it's time to settle the score, and I remember the incident with the spirit fish clearly."
Lu Xuan had caused his entire family great losses, and he had witnessed Ning Deshan's despicable actions. He couldn't be allowed to live.
Based on the information he had gathered, Lu Xuan, despite hailing from the prestigious Celestial Sword Sect, was a spiritual herbologist who spent most of his days among spirit plants. He was skilled in the ways of spirit plants, but that was the extent of his abilities.
With this in mind, Ning Deshan felt more confident in his chances against Lu Xuan.
He was determined to obtain the Multi-Centennial Peaches of Immortality.
Before he could finish his sentence, a shuttle-shaped magical artifact shot toward Lu Xuan at incredible speed.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Xuan reacted with lightning speed and found himself face-to-face with the artifact.
Unfazed, Lu Xuan brandished his Purple Electric Sword, which crackled with thunderous arcs of electricity, striking the middle of the shuttle.
Ning Deshan hadn't expected a mere third-grade artifact to pose a significant threat to Lu Xuan. His arm, which had just regenerated to half its original size, now pulsed with black light as his flesh and blood melted away. In an instant, his thick arm withered into a shriveled stump.
His hand transformed into a pitch-black claw, ignoring the distance between them, and lunged for Lu Xuan's heart.
Instead of dodging, Lu Xuan chose to face the attack head-on. His arms shimmered with a translucent jade hue, and he crossed his arms in front of his chest to block the incoming strike.
A faint dragon's roar echoed as tiny scales instantly sprouted across the front of Lu Xuan's arms.
With his Azure Glass Bones and the temporary semi-draconic transformation of his arms, Lu Xuan effortlessly withstood Ning Deshan's Heart Lock Claw secret art.
Ning Deshan was stunned. Despite his body not being in peak condition and the tremendous strain of using the secret art consecutively, even a weakened version of the technique shouldn't have been so easily blocked by a cultivator in the early stages of the Foundation Establishment stage!
"I didn't realize you were hiding so much strength!" Ning Deshan exclaimed.
Such a formidable physical body was not something that every cultivator in the mid or even late stages of the Foundation Establishment stage possessed.
Without hesitation, Ning Deshan turned and fled toward the exit of the herb garden, abandoning his desire for the peaches, which could extend his lifespan. At this point, he just wanted to maintain his current lifespan and felt that his chances of doing so would be better if he escaped and looked for another opportunity to steal the peaches from Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan had already revealed a fraction of his strength, and Ning Deshan wasn't about to let him get away that easily.
Suddenly, a wide rift appeared in the air ten feet in front of Ning Deshan, and a grayish-white eyeball emerged from the tear, fixing the Yin Vulture Elder with an unblinking gaze.
In that instant, Ning Deshan felt as if he had stepped into an illusionary realm, lost in a labyrinth of layered phantoms.
Elated, he disregarded the floating Void Nightmare Eye and fled in the opposite direction with all his might.
"Shoot it, Spear!"
A clear voice rang out, and in the next instant, a long spear made of white bones appeared out of thin air, piercing straight through him.
Immediately afterward, the White Bone Devil Puppet inside his body swiftly transformed, sprouting countless slender tendril-like bone spurs that drilled out from within him in all directions, turning the Yin Vulture Elder into a porcupine-like figure.
A green light shot out from his crown chakra, fleeing toward the distance faster than lightning.
Lu Xuan remained unmoving as he retrieved a bizarre lantern from his storage bag.
He grasped the lantern's pale bone-like handle, its shade resembling human skin. As Lu Xuan infused it with spiritual energy, the lantern swayed wildly in the air.
Known as the Soul Luring Lantern, this fourth-grade magical artifact was something Lu Xuan had obtained as a reward from a ghost-faced stone mushroom, a spirit plant from the underworld. The lantern could attract nearby souls, and by burning the vengeful souls that clung to it, it could wreak havoc on the mental states of cultivators and demonic beasts.
Lu Xuan held the Soul Luring Lantern aloft, and beneath it, countless tendril-like dark red tassels swayed gently, as if enticing their companions to join them.
Ning Deshan's soul didn't get far before it sensed an astonishing pulling force emanating from the spirit peach. It involuntarily retreated, finding itself before the Soul Luring Lantern.
The myriad dark red tassels entangled the green light, pulling it into the confines of the lantern's shade.
Within the dense mass of vengeful souls beneath the pallid candle flame, a familiar face suddenly appeared—a face that bore a striking seven to eight-part resemblance to Ning Deshan.
Only after Ning Deshan's soul and physical body were completely eradicated did Lu Xuan produce a third-grade Purifying Spirit Talisman and approach the corpse.
A white, ethereal light bathed the corpse, and seeing no abnormalities, Lu Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was a good use of resources," Lu Xuan muttered to himself as he gazed at Ning Deshan's vengeful soul trapped within the lantern.
"The grudge-bearing soul of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is worth more than a hundred regular ones."
"Additionally, there's the flesh and blood of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Although it's a bit aged, it can still be used to fatten up any underworld spirit plants that require such sustenance in the future."
Adhering to his principle of waste not, want not, Lu Xuan willed it, and the bone spurs that had sprouted from the White Bone Devil Puppet swiftly retracted, carrying Ning Deshan's tattered remains back to his side.
The Gluttonous Worm Pouch was not only incredibly spacious but also preserved items in their original state, eliminating any concerns about decay or corpse mutation.
As for the corpse of the elderly female cultivator, with no grudge between them, Lu Xuan cast a fireball spell, reducing her to black ash, before using an earth-drawing technique to bury the ashes in the spirit soil.
"Those bizarre spirit plants from the underworld garden are a perfect match."
"The fifth-grade Void Nightmare Eye appears and disappears mysteriously, its illusions delaying foes. The fourth-grade White Bone Devil Puppet is shape-shifting and a lethal weapon. The fourth-grade Soul Luring Lantern attracts souls, ensuring complete destruction of the body and obliteration of traces in that realm."
"Add to that the Thousand Wraith Mask that hides one's true face..."
"It's like an all-inclusive underworld service."
"It's a pity that being a cultivator from a major sect, my identity as a spirit herbologist is somewhat contradictory. I can only invoke this service in certain specific situations."
Lu Xuan mused with a hint of regret.
(End of Chapter)
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