Chapter 742: Chapter 685 Death of Returning to Emptiness (Additional updates for monthly ticket) _1
"Playing with your superficial Void Divine Power in front of me..."
Fang Xi snapped his fingers, and countless Phoenix Seal Scripts converged into a silver-white glove that landed on his right hand.
With a gentle grab of his right hand, the Void twisted, and the Devil-locking Tower let out a mournful cry as Fang Xi directly grasped it in his hand.
The surge of Immortal Origin Energy turned Ice Xuanzi’s face pale as he spat out a mouthful of Essence Blood violently.
"This tower is decent, it’s mine now."
Fang Xi cracked a slight smile and continued to grab with his right hand.
Spurt!
Ice Xuanzi’s icy armor was directly pierced, and a Nascent Soul was caught in the palm of the snow-white glove, seemingly having its Instant Teleportation Skills sealed!
As a Returning to Emptiness cultivator, if Ice Xuanzi were still able to struggle, that would indeed be a joke!
"Do you have anything else to say?"
Fang Xi asked indifferently.
"Victors reign, the defeated perish, I only ask for a swift death!" The Nascent Soul of Ice Xuanzi emitted a fine voice.
"Quite the man, but a pity..."
Streams of green and yellow radiance entered Ice Xuanzi’s Nascent Soul from Fang Xi’s eyes, employing the Soul Searching Skill!
Although he was more adept at the Soul Searching Skill of the Demon Path, the Transcendent God and Returning to Emptiness Chapters of Kuyong Skills included similar secret techniques inherited from the Soul Searching Skills, which were not any less formidable compared to the Demon Path’s version.
Soon, the life experiences of Ice Xuanzi unfolded like a scroll before Fang Xi.
He skipped over the memories from the Mortal Realm and looked at those before and after ascension.
"That fifth-order turtle demon truly managed to escape... Its Turtle Breath hiding technique is indeed astoundingly impressive..."
"Besides, this Ice Xuanzi also remembers several defensive deployment maps of the human race’s army and the movement trajectories of several Commanders, truly not bad..."
Fang Xi immediately locked onto one of the Commanders from the Heaven Crowd Camp.
Without needing much thought, he knew that this individual must be a subordinate of Changqingzi!
With that in mind, he gestured with his hand and took Ice Xuanzi’s Storage Bag, tossed the Nascent Soul into the Earth Immortal Spiritual Realm, and transformed into an Escape Light that shot into the distance.
For Fang Xi, killing a Returning to Emptiness cultivator had recently become an exceedingly simple task.
He only needed to confirm that the target was alone, then cast the "Supreme Northern Dipper Life-controlling Divine Light," and a one-strike kill was assured!
Subsequently, he could return to the Mortal Realm with the opponent’s corpse and dispose of the body and evidence without any divine or spectral awareness!
...
Months later.
Thunder Marsh Wilderness.
In a barren wilderness.
Countless flames devoured the withered grass, sending plumes of black smoke soaring into the sky.
Fang Xi’s Heterodox Incarnation, along with Fairy Yunxi, Liu Xu... and Master Kuantao and several other officers, were all intently focused on what lay ahead.
Roar roar!
Accompanied by a bestial roar, several fire-red beasts with fur that seemed to burn continuously bolted out.
"Indeed, they are Fire Cave Beasts!"
Master Kuantao said coldly: "These Wild Beasts are most skilled at manipulating Fire Formation Divine Light and are quite tricky... I can only hold off one."
He roared, transforming into a Divine Demon figure, spewing demon light to intercept one of the Fire Cave Beasts.
Xu Qingzi’s face turned serious as he took out a small green banner, muttering words under his breath.
He threw the banner and it instantly turned into a curtain of Blue Light, enveloping another Fire Cave Beast.
Since their last joint effort in dealing with a group of Wood Monsters, the relationship between these Transcendent God cultivators had improved, and they had agreed to help each other in solving tough problems.
As a result, the danger level in their pioneering efforts in the wilderness had significantly decreased.
Roar roar!
One of the Fire Cave Beasts roared angrily, wielding Fire Formation Divine Light in a fierce collision.
Fairy Pu cried out in shock as the blood jade Ruyi she was manipulating was sent flying.
Fairy Yunxi and Liu Xu, who were entangled with another Fire Cave Beast, saw this scene and could not help but be terribly alarmed.
The explosive power of these beasts was extremely strong, and if they could not be promptly dispatched, there was indeed the risk of a complete collapse of the battle situation!
"Go!"
Fang Xi saw this scene and tossed out the Mysterious Dark Banner in his hand.
Swoosh!
Nine Nether Underworld River Endless Sands!
A suddenly appearing endless black river, with a single sweep, engulfed the Fire Cave Beast; countless beads of Mysterious Dark Heavy Water extinguished the Fire Formation Divine Light, and grains of Mysterious Dark Divine Sand left the Fire Cave Beast bloody and battered.
"Sir, what a Spirit Communicating Treasure you have."
Fairy Pu gave Fang Xi a flirtatious smile, only to see Fang Xi withdraw the item expressionlessly with a wave of his hand.
The Divine Infant Sword whistled as it flew out from within another Fire Cave Beast.
This time the situation was somewhat dire, and he had no choice but to reveal a portion of his strength.
Transcendent God cultivators are no fools.
By now, those officers were all aware of Fang Xi’s hidden strength, especially Fairy Pu, who practically wished she could kick Liu Xu and the others aside and cling onto Fang Xi...
...
Sumeru Line Camp.
After handing in their task, Fang Xi and the others received a brief respite.
Inside the Dongfu.
He sat cross-legged, still silently nurturing the Divine Infant Sword and the Mysterious Dark Banner.
’With the main body taking action, these two Spirit Communicating Treasures should be able to advance to the sixth rank quite soon...’
The Mysterious Dark Banner goes without saying, the Divine Infant Sword is the life-bound magical artifact of the Heterodox Incarnation, naturally equivalent to Fang Xi’s own life-bound magical artifact, and the easiest to advance.
’Even, if the true self makes a move and directly infuses Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, the likelihood of my breakthrough to Returning to Emptiness is extremely high...’
As an Externalization, this was one of the benefits.
Once the true self reaches a certain realm, there’s basically no bottleneck before breaking through that realm.
Even the need for Returning to Emptiness Spiritual Objects could be dispensed with.
As long as Fang Xi’s true self personally injected True demon qi and then assisted with refining and utilizing Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy...
This kind of ’empowering technique’ could only be used on one’s Externalization, for soul and magic power are completely identical.
If it were to be given to another, even between parents and offspring, or even between Taoist Companions, it would be utterly impossible.
Therefore, theoretically speaking, as long as Fang Xi’s true self is willing to take action, the chance for the Heterodox Incarnation to breakthrough Returning to Emptiness is extremely high! And the cost, extremely low!
Alas...
"The issue with the cultivation method hasn’t been resolved yet, so let’s put aside the matter of cultivation level for now."
The Heterodox Incarnation had always maintained the magic power of the early stage of Transcendent God because of the limits imposed by the cultivation method.
If he were to breakthrough to Perfect Transcendent God or even challenge the bottleneck of Returning to Emptiness, he might just... disappear!
The Heterodox Incarnation completed his cultivation practice, stepped out of the Dongfu, and caught a Voice Transmission Talisman.
This Voice Transmission Talisman came from Fairy Pu, who invited him to have tea together.
The Heterodox Incarnation sneered and directly declined.
Although this woman indeed had some charms, with the great battle imminent, it would be best to keep his energy at its peak at all times.
...
On this day.
Just as the Heterodox Incarnation was getting ready to take on another mission, a Flying Sword suddenly arrived with a message.
He took the message, his brow slightly furrowed, then turned into an Escape Light and went to Prime Taoist Feixing’s Dongfu.
The inside of the Dongfu was already filled with cushions, each Transcendent God Cultivator sitting cross-legged, some wearing contemplative expressions, others with gloomy faces.
Not long after, Prime Taoist Feixing arrived in the Dongfu, looked around and spoke, "I summoned all of you generals here to announce something."
Fang Xi glanced around and noticed that Fairy Yunxi and Liu Xu were also present, their expressions extremely somber.
’Could there be another Primordial Chaos Beast?’
The many Transcendent God generals exchanged looks, then heard Prime Taoist Feixing say, "The wilderness reclamation ends here... You all return and make preparations, then activate the Sumeru Moving Mountain and return to the Sky Brahman Army!"
"What?"
Xu Qingzi and Master Kuantao looked at each other, their faces revealing a touch of surprise.
Xu Qingzi even stood up and bowed, "Prime Taoist Feixing... it’s not that we doubt your words, but such news is indeed hard to believe. May we inquire about the reason?"
In history, every wilderness reclamation either ended in complete success or complete failure. Such an abrupt cessation was very rare.
However, being able to return early and not risk life and limb against Wild Beasts was indeed a wonderful thing.
"The reason? It’s fine to tell you all..."
Prime Taoist Feixing said sternly, "There’s news from the battlefield... a Cultivator assassinated ’Tang’ from the Heaven Crowd Camp..."
"Tang Command?"
The group of Transcendent God Cultivators looked at each other, taking a sharp intake of breath.
Due to Prime Taoist Gu’s habit of using Tang Command to instill fear in ascending Cultivators, they were all quite familiar with this leader of the Heaven Crowd Camp.
Knowing he was a Returning to Emptiness late-stage Cultivator who remained unharmed even through assassination attempts by the Two Tribes of Demons and Monsters, with an extraordinary fighting prowess, they wondered how he had suddenly fallen?
Many Cultivators’ faces showed grief and anger, yet inside, there was a sense of relief.
Many were already itching to go back and deal with Prime Taoist Gu.
With his backer toppled, wouldn’t there be a chance to settle scores and exact revenge?
"Has the real culprit been discovered?"
Fairy Pu asked.
"Not yet..."
Discussing the matter, Prime Taoist Feixing’s face grew even grimmer: "Even Great Integration Cultivators made a move but couldn’t find any trace; even the Skills of Divination could only see chaos. This matter has alarmed the higher-ups... so they ordered us to return and get ready for a big war!"
"A big war?!"
The many Transcendent God Cultivators were startled.
"Just a Returning to Emptiness leader is a minor matter, but having no trace at all and concealing the Heavenly Secret... Who could have such power, other than the Two Tribes of Demons and Monsters?"
Prime Taoist Feixing scoffed: "This matter, perhaps, is the precursor to the Two Tribes of Demons and Monsters planning another offensive... Therefore, all our forces have to prepare for war, and reclamation efforts are temporarily put aside! Military orders are like mountains; all of you should go down and get ready."
Whoosh, whoosh!
Streaks of light left the Dongfu.
The Heterodox Incarnation drove a mass of dark clouds, his expression unchanged, but his heart felt somewhat strange:
’The action of my true self has caused the Two Tribes of Demons and Monsters to take the blame?’
’But on second thought, if not even Great Integration can catch a hint of evidence... Such a powerful individual must either be a solitary Mahayana Monk or one of the Two Tribes of Demons and Monsters... For a Mahayana to kill a Returning to Emptiness being is nothing noteworthy, so the blame would naturally fall on the Two Tribes of Demons and Monsters...’
’Or is it that the human race leadership had long intended to declare war, and this incident merely served as an excuse?’
There were too many possibilities to consider at once.
However, the Heterodox Incarnation could confirm that his true self had returned to the Mortal Realm, and even Mahayana Individual Immortals had no way to harm him.
And since the Two Tribes of Demons and Monsters likely had no intention of invading, if the human race didn’t wish to wage war, the whole affair would probably just result in a false alarm.
’Who would have thought that my true self’s actions would inadvertently become the trigger for us not having to reclaim the wilderness...’
’In this world, everything is connected by cause and effect...’
In his heart, he couldn’t help feeling a sense of enlightenment and melancholy...