Chapter 358: Chapter 356: Mysterious Light Accomplished (Congratulating Alliance Leader 20230505021948214!)_1
Southern Wilderness Cultivation Realm.
High in the sky.
A flash of light, and Fang Xi’s figure emerged.
"At the age of two hundred and sixty-three, I have spent nearly twenty years for this Heterodox Nascent Soul..." he thought.
"But it was worth the expense."
Fang Xi formed a magic spell with his hands, and his Heterodox Nascent Soul inside his body gave a slight smile, forming the same spell, as a surge of Nascent Soul-level magic power burst forth.
In an instant, he changed his appearance, transforming into a sword-browed, star-eyed scholar carrying a sword.
Even the fluctuations of his magic power appeared to be around the initial stages of Core Formation.
"An Immortal Cultivator need only cast a casual magic spell to overpower a Core Formation Cultivator... It’s the crushing power of a higher realm. With my current strength, even if I casually cast an illusion to change my appearance, Immortal Cultivators below the Nascent Soul level would probably become blind despite having eyes open, even if they have cultivated Spiritual Eye Skills."
Fang Xi scanned with his Divine Consciousness and confirmed his direction: "The hundred-year agreement is approaching, it’s time to return to the Three Kingdoms’ Cultivation World. I wonder how the people of Dragon Fish Island are doing?"
He still had a hundred-year agreement with that old ghost from the Nine Leaves Sect, and by his calculations, there was still about twenty years left until the deadline.
Fang Xi had no intention of missing this appointment.
After all, his strength was sufficient now, and he was truly eager about the old ghost’s claim that the Kuyong Skills used in combination with the ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ could increase the probability of forming a Nascent Soul.
Moreover, he was quite interested in the ancient Green Emperor Mountain, whether it be the Spiritual Object ’Nine Heavens Purified Spirit Water’ found in the ruins there or the Transcendent God-level cultivation techniques of the Kuyong Skills that stirred his heart!
Back then, the old ghost only disclosed the Kuyong Skills for cultivating up to the late stages of the Nascent Soul, keeping the rest hidden away.
’Perhaps... this could be regarded as a great opportunity?’
’It’s a pity I initially wanted to let my external incarnation replace me...’
’However, it seems that there might still be a way... At least with the Demon Path secret skills mastered by the Yanmo Taoist Master, it’s definitely going to make this trip safer.’
Fang Xi stroked his chin, then suddenly turned into a blue light and vanished without a trace.
...
StarMoon Market.
With a flash, Fang Xi, in the guise of the scholarly swordsman, entered into the heart of the market.
Although he had decided to return to the Three Kingdoms’ Cultivation World, the journey was long and he was unaware how much time it would delay.
Fang Xi naturally planned to stock up on some unique spiritual items from Yuan Country.
Moreover, after dropping a bomb and running away back then, he really needed some intelligence on the current state of Yuan Country.
"Why are there so few people?"
Looking at the sparse number of Immortal Cultivators on the streets, Fang Xi frowned and turned into a small alley.
Before long, he arrived at the Xue Family Old Store.
The sign of the shop was mottled, bearing the breath of the years.
Fang Xi entered, and a young scholar came forward to greet him, seeing Fang Xi’s unhidden Core Formation-level cultivation base, he paid a respectful bow: "Xue Qing pays respects to the senior..."
"Wen Lan?"
He frowned and asked.
"The aunt has already passed away five years ago..." the youth’s face showed a trace of sorrow: "Now I am managing the store..."
"I see."
Fang Xi sat down, his demeanor neither hurried nor slow: "I want the latest intelligence on all fronts in Yuan Country..."
"As expected of a regular, please wait a moment," Xue Qing replied.
Xue Qing went to the back cabinet and returned shortly with a tray: "Our store’s intelligence is graded..."
"No need to elaborate, I know the rules."
Fang Xi casually gestured and a jade slip fell into his hand, rapidly being read by his Divine Consciousness.
Soon, he found the information he wanted:
"Jiang Country in turmoil... Seven Deadly Sins Hall waging war against the Void Sect..."
"Green Leaf Commerce Association reconciling with the Blood Sect..."
"An increasing number of Core Formation elders from Mixed Origin Sect passing away in the last twenty years under mysterious circumstances..."
"It seems that the bomb I dropped last time was quite effective."
As for the Heaven Alliance wanting to plot against him, Fang Xi naturally had to retaliate fiercely.
He read ten lines at a glance, and his attention suddenly fixated: "The sovereign of Profound Ice Palace is suspected to have obtained an External Pill, advancing to Core Formation battle power, and has announced that Yun Jiezi, the Supreme Elder, has entered secluded death meditation..."
Seeing that Profound Ice Palace was also unharmed, Fang Xi couldn’t help but feel a bit of joy.
Finally, his eyes landed on a piece of intelligence: "The big auction at the Hovering Mountain Market will be held in two months?"
"It happens to be the perfect opportunity to sell some goods and exchange for some unique Cultivation resources of Yuan Country... Since there is still time before the hundred-year agreement, it won’t delay my cultivation."
Fang Xi left the market and released the saintly carriage.
The Demon Blood Flood Dragon roared, pulling the carriage off, formidable from all sides.
He now had the full ability to do so and didn’t care about the coveting that a high profile might bring.
In Yuan Country, Nascent Soul Cultivators were as mighty as heaven!
Although he wasn’t a true Nascent Soul yet, he could at least act as though he were for the most part.
...
Inside the carriage.
Fang Xi was sitting cross-legged, silently contemplating the Kuyong Mysterious Light.
Since it wasn’t suitable for cultivation while traveling, he naturally used the time to contemplate Divine Skills.
Specks of blue and yellow radiance flickered around him, continuously dissipating and blending to form a grayish light...
The grayish light grew increasingly bright and eventually formed a ring.
"Kuyong Mysterious Light... has it reached great accomplishment?"
Fang Xi opened his eyes, looking at the grey halo in his hand that seemed to emanate an aura of decay and withering, and talked to himself.
This Divine Skill attached to the ’Kuyong Skills,’ he had barely entered the beginner stage by practicing with his ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ before reaching Core Formation.
It was only when he reached the mid-stage of Core Formation that he managed to reach small accomplishments.
Now, he had finally achieved great accomplishment!
"With the great accomplishment of Kuyong Mysterious Light, the lifespan exchange ratio with the enemies has reached one to one. If I encounter the Saint again, just over three hundred years of lifespan would be enough to finish him off..."
"Of course, if I were to face a Nascent Soul old monster, even if I spent hundreds or thousands of years of lifespan, I might still not be able to reduce even a year of theirs... Because the gap in our major realms still exists, I am still only at Core Formation, subject to backlash!"
"But once my Nascent Soul has congealed, the situation will be truly different, and I can go anywhere in this vast world!"
A trace of light flashed through Fang Xi’s eyes.
It would be too much of a loss to use life-for-life exchange against Golden Cores now.
It would be better to save his long lifespan for when his Nascent Soul had been formed, especially since he had the Monster Tree.
"Hopefully, at this Sky Mountain Big Auction, I can find the item I desire..."
He thought for a moment and then took a jade box out of his Storage Ring.
Upon opening it, there was a white jade chessboard inside, the size of a palm.
"Star Luo Chessboard!"
Seeing this spiritual object, Fang Xi took a deep breath.
The next moment, with a flash of blue light above his Heavenly Spirit, a Heterodox Nascent Soul directly emerged.
The green-black Nascent Soul with two horns laughed gleefully, raising its hands, and a great flood of Magic Power surged into the Star Luo Chessboard.
Crack crack crackle!
Unlike the previous few times, this time the remnants of the Saint’s magic power imprinted on the Star Luo Chessboard dissipated in an instant.
Not only that, with a flash of radiance, the chessboard expanded from palm-size to its regular size; each of the black and white chess pieces appeared smooth as jade, engraved with mysterious runes.
Fang Xi had long wanted to sacrificially refine this spiritual object, but his previous attempts were futile due to insufficient cultivation level.
This time, after refining a Heterodox Nascent Soul, there were no longer any concerns.
At this moment, Fang Xi could also feel a spiritual resistance still subtly rejecting him from within the chessboard.
He sneered, and the Heterodox Nascent Soul formed a magic spell with its hands, summoning six huge black holes to descend around the Star Luo Chessboard: "A spiritual object that refuses to serve me is almost as worthless as trash... Since you, as the spirit of the artifact, possess consciousness, you should know that with my current strength, I am fully capable of forcibly erasing your spirit by reducing this treasure’s rank!"
Fang Xi’s words were matched by his actions.
The Heterodox Nascent Soul opened its mouth and spewed a tiny jet of pitch-black flame onto the Star Luo Chessboard; this was the Nascent Soul’s infant flame. Under the burning of this flame, the chessboard’s luminosity flickered uncertainly, seemingly on the verge of outright destroying this precious spiritual object!
The Star Luo Chessboard flickered with a white, blurry light, resisting the scorch of the infant flame, but without a master to inject Magic Power into it, it was clearly at a disadvantage in this confrontation.
Finally...
The chessboard let out a mournful cry, and Fang Xi felt his Magic Power flow unobstructed, having refined all of the chessboard’s Prohibition, even brutally imprinting his own mark on its spirit.
By this time, he had finally fully refined the Star Luo Chessboard, claiming the greatest legacy left by the Saint!
"With this spiritual object, I’m really almost on par with the early-stage Nascent Soul old monsters..."
Fang Xi picked up a chess piece, feeling the powerful Prohibition within, his face lit up with a hint of joy.
Most other Nascent Soul old monsters also only had one spiritual object cultivated from their life-bound magical artifact.
With the Star Luo Chessboard in his possession, he was definitely as strong as any of their life-bound spiritual objects.
"Moreover... this is a spiritual object with a Void Attribute, which is probably quite rare among spiritual objects."
Fang Xi stroked his chin, his gaze somewhat deep...
The Heterodox Nascent Soul, however, had no such worries and with a merry smile reached out its hand, instantly shrinking the Star Luo Chessboard and hugging it in its arms.
Then, with a flash of blue light, the Nascent Soul returned to the Dantian Qi Ocean inside Fang Xi, sitting cross-legged beneath the Golden Core.
"With my current strength, in the entire Yuan Country, there are only a few individuals I’m not sure I can handle..."
Fang Xi was quite pleased with himself.
He even started to consider finding a solution to the ’Resented Spirit Trace’ curse.
"The Void Sect has records about this curse... The Seven Deadly Sins Hall should have even more; however, that sect is the first Demon Path power of Jiang Country, probably with numerous Nascent Souls... not so easy to deal with."
"As for the Blood Sect, it’s confirmed to have only one Nascent Soul old demon... but with insufficient heritage, I’m uncertain if they have a method to resolve the curse..."
While Fang Xi was pondering, the Demon Blood Flood Dragon pulled the chariot, crashing straight on towards the Hovering Mountain Market.
Immortal Cultivators along the way were naturally no fools. Seeing a Core Formation-level puppet Flood Dragon pulling the cart, they dared not approach and disturb it, all retreating with a change in their expressions and paying their respects from afar with utmost reverence.
...
As he approached Hovering Mountain, Fang Xi retracted the Flood Dragon chariot, still dressed as the Jade Sword Scholar, transforming into a streak of sword light and speeding away.
After a short while, he looked up at the giant mountain suspended high in the sky, and a trace of strangeness crossed his face.
"Origin Magnetism Great Array... a fourth-order Array... I’m probably no longer trapped by it now."
After expressing this sentiment, Fang Xi’s figure flashed and he arrived at the jade platform specifically for guiding high-level Cultivators at the market.
"Sir, welcome to the Hovering Mountain Market. I am ’Huang Huzi,’ may I know how to address you, sir?"
A Golden Core initial-stage old man with a giant red gourd on his back and a bulbous nose approached with a grin, cupped his hands in a greeting, and asked.
"Jade Sword Scholar!"
Fang Xi replied with a smile. As the two exchanged pleasantries, he swept the area with his Divine Consciousness and felt the approach of another initial-stage Golden Core’s magic power.
Soon, the sky resounded with a cold, howling wind that faintly took the shape of an ice phoenix, and the temperature around plummeted.
Accompanied by a clear song, a slender, tall woman dressed in a snow-white palace gown arrived on the high platform.
’She’s here as well.’
Fang Xi watched the new arrival, feeling a bit odd inside.