Chapter 182: Final Fight [PART 2]
Ten figures sat around a circular table, their imposing silhouettes partially obscured in the chamber’s ethereal light. The atmosphere was quite chilling, an ordinary cultivator would’ve not been able to last a minute in the room.
"The elemental spirits have been detected in the Eastern Continent," one man said.
"So what?" another man replied impatiently, dismissing the news with a casual wave of his hand. "They’re in the Nascent Soul realm at best. Why should we care about them?" His fingers drummed against the jade table in irritation.
The first man let out a sigh. "We have detected signs of the birth of a new spirit," he continued.
"What?" The impatient man’s dismissive attitude vanished instantly, replaced by genuine shock.
A woman seated across the table interjected before the conversation could escalate further. "What’s the big deal? It’s just another spirit. What does it matter if there are five or ten?" Hearing her words, the impatient man calmed somewhat, returning to his chair.
But the first man shook his head. "It’s not that simple," he explained with a weary sigh. "We’re almost ninety percent sure that this time, the new spirit is human."
"Impossible!" The impatient man slammed his palm against the table again.
A third man, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke up. "If it’s a human, then it is indeed cause for concern," he acknowledged, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Have you confirmed this information?"
"We’re in the process of confirming it," the first man replied.
The third man nodded, his eyes gleaming with interest. "If it is indeed a human, then they must possess extraordinary talent. I’ll have to invite them to my Heavenly Palace."
When the impatient man heard this, his expression twisted with indignation. "What? They should join my Celestial Ascension Sect," he countered, unwilling to concede such a potential treasure.
The others merely shook their heads at this exchange. These two had always been rivals, competing for resources and talents across the ages. Some things just never changed.
"Alright, it hasn’t been confirmed yet. Let’s discuss this matter later," a fourth man interrupted, causing the two to cease their verbal sparring.
"That’s right," the third man conceded, retreating from the conflict temporarily.
The fourth man’s gaze swept across the assembled people. "A thousand years are almost over," he spoke. "It’s time for another ’Demon Hunting Order.’"
...
Gao Aotian’s soul clone stood before a seemingly ordinary rock formation. After spreading his divine sense throughout the sect earlier, he had noticed this peculiar area blocking his perception. After checking it out, he could confirm that it was a concealment array.
A predatory smile spread across his face as he considered what might be hidden here.
"If not her most important person, then what could be worth concealing with such care?" he thought smugly. Though she had been clever enough to use this protective measure, she had inadvertently revealed her secret. For someone with a sufficiently powerful divine sense like himself, even areas shrouded by concealment formations became conspicuous through their very absence.
He placed his palm against the invisible barrier and began deconstructing it. For someone of his level, seeing through such formations was elementary. Unlike the sect-wide defensive array, which he’d carefully manipulated to avoid detection, this one he could dismantle without care of alerting anyone. Within seconds, the protective veil dissolved beneath his touch.
Stepping through the small cave entrance, he found himself somewhat disappointed. Rather than the elaborately hidden sanctuary he had anticipated, he discovered what appeared to be a natural, unmodified cavern.
He wondered if he was mistaken before he detected another subtle fluctuation at the cave’s end. "Another concealment array?" He placed his hand against the seemingly solid wall and began the deconstruction process once more. Just like the previous barrier, it yielded to him within seconds.
As he passed through the second veil, his surroundings transformed dramatically. Before him lay a verdant sanctuary built around a spirit spring.
"A low-level spirit vein," he assessed with a dismissive scoff. While unexpected, it hardly impressed someone whose sect possessed three mid-level spirit veins. Still, it confirmed he was on the right track—something of value was definitely hidden here.
Extending his divine sense, he detected a single presence—a young man tending to spirit herbs, completely oblivious to his presence. Or so he thought...
What the soul clone didn’t realize was that his presence had already been detected by Xiang Yu:
[Name: Gao Aotian (Soul Clone)]
[Realm: Soul: Nascent]
[Techniques: ...]
[Scriptures: ...]
Xiang Yu’s heart had nearly stopped when he saw the scan. He immediately understood the cult leader’s strategy—using his main body as a distraction while the soul clone infiltrated the sect to capture hostages who could be used against Li Yao. Just as he had anticipated, their enemy had no intention of fighting honorably.
Luckily, the sect-wide formation would provide sufficient protection, if he tried to break in, someone would instantly notice. But before he could finish the thought, he felt his personal concealment formation beginning to break. His face paled as he realized that his sanctuary had been discovered. He wanted to extend his divine sense to confirm the intruder’s identity but decided against it—such an action would only expose his awareness.
Xiang Yu was almost completely certain that it was the soul clone’s doing. He wondered how the soul clone had penetrated their defenses without triggering alarms, he didn’t even detect the main formation being breached. He then remembered that Gao Aotian’s main body was already a Soul Formation expert. Such a cultivator might possess methods to bypass defensive formations without detection.
With seconds remaining before the formation was breached, Xiang Yu moved quickly. First, he halted his pill refinement, concealing his equipment and materials within his spatial ring and retracting his Abyssal Void Flame. Then he positioned himself among the herb beds, assuming the appearance of an oblivious mortal focused on mundane garden work.
Mentally, he ran battle simulations using his system’s function, but the results...
Each scenario ended with his immediate defeat—he simply lacked means to effectively attack a soul entity. Even when he attempted simulations utilizing his soul infant, the results were hardly better. Though the infant could touch the soul clone, it lacked sufficient power to inflict meaningful damage.
As the final protective formation shattered and the soul clone entered his spirit vein, Xiang Yu maintained his facade of ignorance, continuing his work despite the unmistakable sensation of predatory eyes fixed upon him. He struggled to steady his breathing and remain calm, his mind racing.
Before he could formulate a viable plan, the soul clone materialized directly before him.
"I’m fucked!"
...
Author’s Corner
For those who don’t understand how he found him: so basically, he covered the entire sect with his divine sense, then noticed the area that was blank (blocking his divine sense) thus he found it. Its safe to say that the concealment formations exposed him lol