Chapter 415: Vanquishing the Foe and Claiming the Treasure

Chapter 415: Vanquishing the Foe and Claiming the Treasure

Chu Ning was currently flying downward at high speed, his spiritual sense tightly locked onto the yellow spell flag.

He had not expected that the cold-faced cultivator would take advantage of the moment when his physical body exploded to hide his Nascent Soul within the falling spell flag.

If not for Chu Ning's powerful spiritual sense, sensing that something was amiss with the spell flag, by the time the opponent truly escaped, it would have been difficult to retrieve it.

Chu Ning's actions naturally attracted the attention of the cold-faced man hiding within the flag.

The flag, which had been drifting down, suddenly accelerated and shot straight toward the ground.

It then plunged directly into the mountain forest below.

Seeing this, Chu Ning's eyes narrowed slightly, and he decisively dove into the earth as well.

"Hmm, such a fast escape technique!"

As he employed the Earth Shadow Escape Technique, Chu Ning extended his spiritual sense to perceive his surroundings.

He couldn't help but be surprised by the cold-faced cultivator's escape technique, wondering if it was due to the Nascent Soul's mastery or the effect of the spell flag.

The cold-faced cultivator's escape technique underground was astonishing, even slightly faster than Chu Ning's Earth Shadow Escape Technique.

After his initial surprise, Chu Ning immediately stopped using the Earth Shadow Escape Technique.

Instead, he flickered and instantly closed the distance to within ten meters.

This was the Void Escape!

As a spatial secret technique, the Void Escape was unaffected by external mediums, be it in the air, water, or underground.

For Chu Ning, it was equally effective in all environments.

With the cold-faced cultivator's Nascent Soul riding the spell flag, no matter how fast he went, Chu Ning relentlessly closed the distance.

"How is this possible? How can your escape technique be so fast even underground?"

The cold-faced man, who had remained silent since the start of their confrontation, finally exclaimed in shock.

He could sense that the escape technique Chu Ning was using was the same as the one he had used in the air.

However, he couldn't fathom how an escape technique could be so fast both in the air and underground.

Realizing that he couldn't escape Chu Ning's pursuit underground, the cold-faced man immediately urged the spell flag to drill toward the ground.

As the flag burst out of the earth, a tiny figure frantically flew out from it.

Then, with a small hand clutching the spell flag, the figure quickly flew forward in escape.

At this moment, the cold-faced cultivator didn't hesitate to consume a large amount of Nascent Soul power to employ the instant movement technique, unique to Nascent Soul cultivators.

His Nascent Soul flickered several times in the air, and he had already fled dozens of meters away.

However, what truly shocked this Nascent Soul cultivator from the Demon Path Alliance was that behind him, Chu Ning's body also flickered in and out of visibility, relentlessly pursuing him.

"Instant movement?"

With the heightened sensitivity of his Nascent Soul, the cultivator finally realized the reason for Chu Ning's incredible speed and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

Instant movement was almost instinctual for every Nascent Soul cultivator.

This was also why it was difficult for a Nascent Soul cultivator to be killed by someone of the same level.

Even if their physical body was destroyed, as long as their Nascent Soul wasn't immediately captured and they could employ the instant movement technique, it would be challenging for a fellow Nascent Soul cultivator, even with the aid of magical treasures, to catch up.

As long as the Nascent Soul escaped, there would always be a chance to find another body and start anew.

But what truly horrified the cold-faced cultivator at this moment was that the young cultivator pursuing him relentlessly could even perform instant movement with his physical body!

"Impossible! This is impossible!"

The cold-faced cultivator's Nascent Soul cried out in shock, his tone filled with astonishment and fear.

However, the fact was that the distance between the two was constantly shrinking.

Chu Ning's physical body instant movement speed was even faster than the cold-faced cultivator's Nascent Soul instant movement.

As the distance closed to within ten meters, Chu Ning took advantage of the brief moment when the cold-faced cultivator's Nascent Soul finished performing the instant movement technique.

He flicked his finger, and a ball of dark ice flame flew out from his hand.

Although the cold-faced cultivator sensed Chu Ning's action, his speed, no matter how fast, couldn't outpace Chu Ning's Mysterious Ice Flame.

At such a close distance, he barely had any chance to dodge.

Just as the cold-faced cultivator prepared to use instant movement again, the dark ice flame reached him.

As soon as the two made contact, the cold-faced cultivator felt the bone-chilling cold.

The next moment, his Nascent Soul was completely immobilized and enveloped by the mysterious ice flame, instantly turning into a small ice sculpture.

Chu Ning, who was hovering a few meters away, casually performed a set of hand seals, and the ice sculpture was engulfed by crimson flames.

In just three breaths, the Nascent Soul let out a miserable scream before turning into nothingness.

Chu Ning retracted the mysterious ice flame and, in the air, left behind only the yellow spell flag and a storage bag.

Chu Ning, of course, politely took both items and put them away.

Only then did he fly back leisurely to where he had come from.

At this moment, he sensed that Wu Changdong had already arrived.

Standing where the group had just fought, Wu Changdong looked at the bodies of the Demon Path Alliance cultivators scattered on the ground.

He glanced at Fu Jing'an, who was unscathed, and the two Golden Core cultivators from the White Crane Sect, who had obviously been injured but were not badly hurt, and heaved a sigh of relief.

Then he asked Fu Jing'an, "Fellow cultivator Fu, what about the Nascent Soul cultivator?"

"After his physical body was destroyed, the Nascent Soul escaped..."

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Wu Changdong smiled.

"This Demon Path Alliance rogue had considerable strength. I also happened to encounter a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stages.

If I had met someone of the same stage, I might have let him escape as well.

However, that person was almost at the mid-Nascent Soul stage, so it took me quite a bit of effort.

It's already remarkable that you were able to destroy his physical body, fellow cultivator Fu."

At this time, Fu Jing'an dared not take credit and quickly said,

"Fellow cultivator Wu, you've misunderstood. It wasn't me who destroyed his body, it was Chu Ning."

Chapter 415: The Power of Nascent Soul Blood

"Fellow Daoist Chu?" Wu Changdong asked, taken aback.

"He's already on his way back? What about the other wave of Demon Path Alliance cultivators?"

"Didn't have time to ask," Fu Jing'an shook his head slightly, briefly recounting the situation on their side to Wu Changdong and the others.

Just as he finished speaking, he looked up into the sky and said, "Fellow Daoist Chu has returned."

Wu Changdong had already noticed Chu Ning's arrival and was now looking on with curiosity.

Fu Jing'an, on the other hand, asked as soon as Chu Ning flew back, "Fellow Daoist Chu, how did it go?"

"Mission accomplished," Chu Ning replied with a smile.

Still not entirely convinced, Fu Jing'an asked again.

"And the Demon cultivator's Nascent Soul... has it been destroyed too?"

Chu Ning nodded slightly.

Wu Changdong, who was standing by, couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer and asked, "Fellow Daoist Chu, what about the group you faced?"

"They've been eliminated as well," Chu Ning said, seeing the astonished expressions on Wu Changdong and the others' faces.

He casually added, "The Nascent Soul cultivator on their side was only at the early stage, and he might have just recently advanced, too."

The old man in the green robe was actually quite powerful, and if it weren't for the ancient treasure, Chu Ning would have had to put in much more effort.

However, unless absolutely necessary, Chu Ning didn't want to reveal too much about the ancient treasure to outsiders.

Thus, he simply chose not to mention it.

Seeing how casually Chu Ning spoke about the matter, Wu Changdong exclaimed in admiration once again, "It seems I've underestimated your strength, Fellow Daoist Chu. Good! Haha, with you here, I feel the pressure on us has lessened significantly."

At this moment, Fu Jing'an's face also showed a hint of surprise as he said, "Fellow Daoist Chu's abilities have indeed broadened my horizons. I never expected that you would also be proficient in body refinement secret techniques."

Chu Ning didn't offer much of an explanation. The reason he had chosen to use the Nine Transformations Body Refinement Secret Manual against the cold-faced cultivator was twofold. Firstly, he wanted to test the power of his body refinement secret technique, and secondly, news of his fistfight with Shen Tu Ping from Ling Beast Valley had spread among the Cloudsoar Alliance cultivators.

Compared to using his ancient treasure, he naturally preferred to showcase his body refinement secret technique and avoid exposing his ancient treasure unnecessarily.

As for relying solely on his Five Elements Spirit Sword and spells, Chu Ning was confident he could still defeat that cultivator. It would just take a bit more time without the element of surprise.

Given the uncertain situation, it was better to end the battle quickly.

At this moment, Chu Ning and the others used their spiritual sense to scan the surroundings and, finding no trace of other Demon Path cultivators, they immediately returned to the Celestial Pavilion.

Inside the Celestial Pavilion, Qin Yangzi had been eagerly awaiting their return.

Upon seeing that they were all safe and sound and learning that they had eliminated several groups from the Demon Path Alliance, he was overjoyed.

Naturally, he couldn't help but express his praise and gratitude once again.

After all they had been through, from traveling to battling, everyone was quite exhausted, and the Golden Core cultivator from White Crane Sect had even been injured.

Thus, they all soon returned to their respective residences to rest and recover.

Wu Changdong requested that Qin Yangzi arrange for a message to be sent to Cloudsoar City, informing them of the recent events.

Back in his assigned residence within the Celestial Pavilion, Chu Ning cultivated for a while, practicing the Five Elements Chaos Technique and the Refine God Technique to restore his energy.

Then, he took out the storage bags he had obtained from the two Nascent Soul cultivators to inspect their contents.

First, he picked up the storage bag belonging to the old man in the green robe, and a smile appeared on his face.

"As expected of a Nascent Soul cultivator, his possessions are indeed valuable."

Without even considering the other items, the number of spirit stones in the bag was quite impressive.

In addition, there were also many refining materials that Chu Ning could use directly.

On the other hand, the pills and pill refining materials were mostly for demon pills or for refining demon pills, which Chu Ning couldn't use.

As for the dagger-shaped magic treasure that the old man in the green robe had used, it had been significantly damaged by Chu Ning's ancient treasure short dagger.

Chu Ning wasn't very interested in repairing it, so he just set it aside.

However, within the storage bag, Chu Ning also found more than a dozen thin red silk threads similar to the one that had bound him earlier.

Chu Ning casually picked up one of the threads and infused it with his spiritual power to activate it.

However, the thin red silk thread remained inert, prompting Chu Ning to furrow his brows slightly. He adjusted his spiritual power, no longer using the five elements spiritual power but instead using a single attribute spiritual power.

Still, the silk thread failed to respond.

"Could this thing only be activated with the combination of spiritual power and spiritual sense?" Chu Ning wondered.

He recalled that when this object had bound his magic treasure, it seemed to have not only isolated its spiritual power but also its spiritual sense.

With this in mind, he quietly fused his spiritual power and spiritual sense into the silk thread.

As expected, the red silk thread immediately activated, and under Chu Ning's spiritual sense control, it moved like an extension of his arm.

"However, according to reason, this shouldn't be enough to bind my Five Elements Spirit Sword," Chu Ning mused, his brows furrowing again.

After all, his Five Elements Spirit Sword was made with numerous top-grade refining materials and the condensed essence of an eighth-rank demon beast's spirit.

Even a single spirit sword would not be easily restrained.

As he thought back to the battle, he vaguely recalled that when the old man in the green robe had first used the silk threads to bind his spirit swords, they had flashed with bloody light.

"Blood essence!" Chu Ning soon realized the secret. He immediately spat out a mouthful of blood essence, condensing it onto one of the silk threads.

The blood essence quickly merged into the silk thread and disappeared from sight.

However, he could still clearly sense its presence.

When he activated the silk thread again, its power had increased significantly, and its might was even greater than when the old man in the green robe had used it.

"The power of a Nascent Soul cultivator's blood essence is closely related to their cultivation. The higher the cultivation, the more powerful the blood essence," Chu Ning thought to himself.

The power of this essence was far stronger than that of the old man in the green robe, so when used with this object, its might far exceeded that of its previous owner.

With this in mind, Chu Ning opened his mouth and spat out the Five Elements Spirit Sword.

Then, with a wave of his hand, the thin red silk thread that was infused with his essence immediately wrapped around the Five Elements Spirit Sword, which was flashing with five-colored light.

Instantly, Chu Ning felt his connection to the Five Elements Spirit Sword weaken considerably.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Ning picked up another red silk thread and spat out a mouthful of essence, merging it with the thread.

At the same time, he activated this thread and wrapped it around the Five Elements Spirit Sword once more.

Subsequently, Chu Ning felt his connection to the Five Elements Spirit Sword become vague and unstable.

"This thread fused with my essence is actually able to bind the Five Elements Spirit Sword!"

Chu Ning's eyes widened in surprise.

If his Five Elements Spirit Sword could be restrained by two threads, then the probability of binding magic treasures of cultivators at the mid-Nascent Soul stage and below was extremely high.

As for activating each of these threads, it required infusing them with a wisp of spiritual sense.

For Chu Ning, who possessed the ability to divide his spiritual sense, this wasn't much of a problem.

Speaking of which, he hadn't used his ability to divide his spiritual sense much during battles.

Instead, it was indeed more useful for controlling multiple magic treasures.

As the thread continued to bind the Five Elements Spirit Sword, Chu Ning began to explore and experiment with the usage of this new item.

Soon, he made another discovery.

"If I leave one end of the thread in my hand after binding the sword, and continuously infuse it with spiritual power and spiritual sense, the consumption of my essence is actually minimal.

This way, I can use the thread several times after condensing my essence once.

If the target magic treasure is weaker than the Five Elements Spirit Sword, I might even be able to use it more than ten times."

With this in mind, Chu Ning proceeded to infuse all of the red silk threads with his essence, one by one.

He also replenished his ancient treasure dagger with his essence, even though it had only been used once.

Although this process consumed a significant amount of his essence, it was nothing that a day of cultivation couldn't restore, especially with the various spirit pills and elixirs that Chu Ning had on hand.

After storing away the threads and the ancient treasure dagger, Chu Ning took out the items he had obtained from the cold-faced cultivator.

The first item he picked up was the yellow spell flag, which seemed to be the cultivator's primary magic treasure.

As soon as he laid eyes on it, his expression turned slightly astonished.

"The demonic beast's soul essence on this spell flag is incredibly powerful, and it seems to be incomplete, just like the soul essence on my Fire Spirit Sword.

The rune and array patterns on the flag also seem to be incomplete."

Chu Ning's eyes flickered with curiosity as he pondered this mystery.

He sensed the soul essence on the flag once more and quickly confirmed his suspicion.

The soul essence on the flag was actually that of a higher-ranked demonic beast, but because it was incomplete, it gave the false impression of being from a ninth-ranked demonic beast.

"If the soul essence is incomplete and it's already from a ninth-ranked demonic beast, then wouldn't it be from a tenth-ranked demonic beast if it were complete?"

Chu Ning's face twisted in confusion, and he promptly picked up the cold-faced cultivator's storage bag to examine its contents.

Soon, he held in his hand a yellow spell flag that was similar to the one used by the cold-faced cultivator but appeared more ancient and lacked spiritual aura.

On the surface of this flag, two ancient characters could be faintly discerned.

Yellow Wind!

"So this spell flag is called the Yellow Wind Flag.

That cultivator from the Demon Path Alliance was only using an imitation, yet its power far surpassed ordinary cultivators' magic treasures.

If this Yellow Wind Flag were complete, it would likely be an incredibly powerful ancient treasure!"

Chu Ning mused, his eyes narrowing as he inspected the slightly worn Yellow Wind Flag.

"Indeed, there is a soul essence within that matches the one in the imitation, but its power is far greater.

It seems that when this cultivator from the Demon Path Alliance was refining this magic treasure, he knew he wouldn't be able to control a complete soul essence, so he used some means to divide a strand from it."

As Chu Ning examined the runes on the Yellow Wind Flag, his expression changed slightly as he made an unexpected discovery.

"The structure of this flag is intact, but the rune and array patterns on it are damaged, rendering it unusable.

This cultivator from the Demon Path Alliance must have studied the existing rune and array patterns and then slightly improved upon them before inscribing them onto the imitation.

However, he probably didn't fully understand them, as the additional runes he added are connected in an unnatural way.

No wonder I felt that the rune and array patterns on it seemed incomplete."

With this realization, Chu Ning couldn't help but feel a sense of respect for the cold-faced cultivator.

The runes and array patterns on the Yellow Wind Flag were incredibly ancient, and even with Chu Ning's insights into the art of treasure refining, it would have been challenging for him to replicate this feat a month ago.

But now, he had a newfound understanding.

He had noticed that the runes and array patterns on the Yellow Wind Flag bore some resemblance to the eighteen esoteric runes he had seen inscribed on the extradimensional Demon Suppressing Altar.

They were composed of the same eighteen types of runes but differed in their sequence and usage.

"If I can fully decipher the secrets of these eighteen runes, perhaps I can use the existing rune combinations on this Yellow Wind Flag to reconstruct the missing portions.

This might even mean that I have a chance to restore this ancient treasure!"

As this thought occurred to him, Chu Ning's eyes lit up with excitement.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end