At first, the Golden Flower Maternal Sect thought this attack was nothing more than a common disturbance, a mere ripple. But in less than a month, they suddenly realized they were wrong. The speed, elusiveness, and ruthlessness of this mysterious cultivator's actions filled them with dread; he was impossible to guard against. Although they had awakened in time and tried to quell the chaos with the urgency of firefighters, a series of incalculable chain reactions had already been continually triggered. More and more disciples of the Righteous Path, guided by an indistinct belief, began to join the battle. Like a bursting dam, their momentum was unstoppable, irresistible. Disputes surged from all four cardinal directions. The entire An'ning Holy Nation, within this short span of a month, descended into complete disorder, the situation irretrievable. And the cause was merely a mysterious cultivator who had appeared out of nowhere.

「Meitan Prefecture, Jinxi Valley.」

This place was once private land, rich with two prosperous gold mines owned by the Shen Family of Jinxi County. Thanks to these two gold mines, the Shen Family had become the wealthiest in Jinxi County, envied by all. Regrettably, as the turmoil in Dianchuan grew unbearable, the Golden Flower Maternal Sect conquered the entire Meitan Prefecture. Jinxi Valley, due to its vast expanse and hidden gold veins, was seized by the Golden Flower Maternal Sect and converted into their main altar.

Dark clouds churned, and torrential rain poured down. Perhaps the heavens themselves knew of the Golden Flower Maternal Sect's ill-fated year, for a torrential rain poured down for three full days and nights, showing no sign whatsoever of stopping. Outside Jinxi Valley, numerous outposts of the Golden Flower Maternal Sect, both overt and covert, silently monitored the surroundings. With conflicts now breaking out throughout the An'ning Holy Nation, the chaos was unmanageable. Nearly all the experts within the sect had been dispatched. The main altar faced an unprecedented emptiness. To prevent their lair from being wiped out in one fell swoop, the Golden Flower Maternal Sect had increased its manpower severalfold, even using cultivators of the Dao-Entering Realm as sentries. They patrolled day and night, ever watchful and on guard.

Such stringent security.

Standing on the trunk of an old tree, Qi Xiu's eyes, gleaming with a vibrant violet light, gazed from afar at the Golden Flower Maternal Sect's main altar. In his black-and-white intertwined vision, at least seventy or eighty Initiate Realm cultivators were stationed, both overtly and covertly, around the periphery of Jinxi Valley. Although he did not detect the presence of any Blood-Stained Realm major cultivators, even the Golden Flower Maternal Sect, no matter how complacent, would never leave such a vast main altar defended solely by a group of Dao-Entering Realm cultivators.

The major cultivators of the Blood-Stained Realm are perhaps hidden inside the main altar. I just don't know if there will be any Dao Experts presiding over it...

His gaze shifted slightly as Qi Xiu pondered. After arriving at the Golden Flower Maternal Sect's main altar, he increasingly sensed the surging aura of calamity. According to the current signs, it seemed eighty to ninety percent certain that his fated tribulation was tied to this Golden Flower Maternal Sect Main Altar. But now, even though he had been stirring up trouble everywhere, a substantial force still remained within the Golden Flower Maternal Sect Main Altar. Infiltrating it would be no easy task.

I still need to find a way to whittle away their strength...

With a flip of his palm, a quaint, ancient bell, emitting a faint glow, appeared out of nowhere in Qi Xiu's hand.

The Shangqing Bell!

This Mysterious Ability, acquired by consuming a Shenyi Seed, was one Qi Xiu himself rarely used. Tai Yin, on the other hand, found it much more convenient to use. Thus, although Qi Xiu had possessed the Shangqing Bell for only a few years, its level had already reached the Third Realm, and it was only a dozen or so progressions away from breaking through to the Fourth Realm.

The Third Realm Shangqing Bell can summon creatures from other domains whose strength is still one realm below mine. But the variety of creatures has greatly increased. Among them are some with weak strength but possessing Divine Marvels and innate gifts.

He picked up the Shangqing Bell and gently shook it. The clapper softly struck the bronze bell wall, producing a series of clear, resonant, and lingering chimes.

Vaguely, a peculiar field of vision opened up before Qi Xiu's eyes. Bubbles of various colors, sizes, and odd shapes emerged before him. Contained within these bubbles were the phantoms of countless creatures from other domains. The process of summoning these creatures from other domains involved Qi Xiu popping these bubbles, after which the creatures would naturally descend and appear.

Since acquiring the Shangqing Bell, Qi Xiu had used it only a handful of times. The most recent occasion was at the Crystal Palace on the Nu River, where he had used the Shangqing Bell to summon a group of paper-effigy spirits. These spirits had impersonated him to lure those Evil Cultivators.

The two constraints in summoning creatures from other domains are the amount of True Gang and the limits of the Divine Soul. The amount of True Gang determines how many creatures can be summoned. And the limits of the Divine Soul dictate how many of those creatures I can control. I don't have to worry about the amount of Zhen Gang Qi; I can sustain it no matter how many come. But as for the limits of the Divine Soul...

Without reaching the Blood-Stained Realm, the Divine Soul could not take residence in the Ancestral Aperture, and thus could not be tempered at all. Therefore, below the Blood-Stained Realm, the Divine Soul levels of all cultivators did not differ greatly. The only exceptions were those few individuals born with exceptionally powerful Divine Souls.

Although my Divine Soul is ordinary, my Innate Mixed Yuan Holy Body allows me to achieve spiritual and physical unity.

His gaze shifted subtly as Qi Xiu's eyes fell half-closed. The spot between his eyebrows, on his frontal bone, began to emit a crystalline, translucent glow. The Divine Soul, hidden deep within his body, slowly merged with his physical form, enveloped in a halo of colorful light.

Two became one!

Once the spiritual and physical unity was complete, Qi Xiu opened his eyes. His gaze was vacant and indifferent, exuding an inhumanly rational calmness. His Divine Soul and physical body had merged into one. Thereafter, his previously fragile soul's will, bolstered by the physical body, began to display all sorts of magnificent powers. His mind became incredibly agile, his foresight almost prophetic, and his premonitions of danger achieved unprecedented accuracy. His every word carried the tremendous oppressive power of his Divine Soul. If this power merely brushed past someone with a weak Divine Soul, their very soul would be snatched away.

However, for ordinary cultivators, once spiritual and physical unity was achieved, it was an irreversible path with no way out. The merging of the Divine Soul with the physical body made it stronger, but from then on, the physical body also became a prison. If the physical body was destroyed, the Divine Soul would also be injured. If the physical body perished, the soul would scatter and disperse. It was tantamount to staking everything on this single lifetime.

Typically, only exceptionally pure Martial Path experts, those with no hope for further advancement, would choose spiritual and physical unity. They would bet everything on this single throw, forging their martial will in a crucible to enter the state of 'comprehending the method by forgetting the method.' In exchange, they gained terrifying combat power, enough to challenge Primordial Spirit Bosses. But if they could not unravel the profound mysteries and step into the Primordial Spirit Realm, time would relentlessly flow by. Primordial Spirit Bosses possessed nearly infinite lifespans. However, the longest recorded lifespan for a Martial Path expert was merely eight hundred years.

Qi Xiu's Innate Mixed Yuan Holy Body, however, was an exception. The true meaning of Hunyuan allowed him to advance or retreat freely. He could reverse the effects of spiritual and physical unity, thus avoiding that desperate, irreversible path of no return.

Upon entering the state of spiritual and physical unity, Qi Xiu's Divine Soul power was secured, and his thoughts simultaneously became much clearer and smoother.

These creatures from other domains are all of Common Realm strength; no matter how numerous, they are insignificant. I need to find a creature that is weak in strength but possesses a special Divine Marvel.

His gaze swept over the bubbles before him. After a moment, Qi Xiu's focus sharpened, resting on a light pink bubble.

[Treasure Light Cicada]

[One of the spiritual insects from the Little Maitreya World. Its strength is no different from ordinary insects, but its tail has a Divine Marvel organ capable of emitting a treasure light that attracts living beings. This treasure light possesses an extremely strong illusory Divine Marvel, capable of stirring the deepest desires within a being's heart.]

You're the one!

Shaking the Shangqing Bell vigorously, the Hunyuan Apertures throughout Qi Xiu's body vibrated. Endless Zhen Gang Qi surged out, forming a conduit for the Treasure Light Cicadas to descend into this world. Simultaneously, countless tiny specks of light began to appear in Qi Xiu's sea of consciousness. These specks were the nexus through which he controlled the creatures from other domains.

Space itself trembled. Under the compelling power of the Shangqing Bell, a continuous stream of Treasure Light Cicadas, like a cyan river, descended. Qi Xiu looked at these Treasure Light Cicadas. They appeared identical to autumn cicadas but possessed a clear, metallic luster, and their tails sported a lantern-like Divine Marvel organ. He smiled faintly.

The stage is set, the actors are in place. Now all that's missing is the audience.

…

The torrential rain kept pouring, water splashing everywhere, filling the air with an irritating, clammy moisture. The Golden Flower Maternal Sect Disciples on guard outside scanned their surroundings while intermittently brushing off the rainwater that dripped onto them, their brows slightly furrowed. A woman's innate love for beauty is etched into her very bones. Even after becoming cultivators, they could not change these subconscious habits.

"When will this damned weather ever end?" a Golden Flower Maternal Sect Disciple muttered under her breath, gazing up at the Sky Dome, at the endless, dense dark clouds that showed no sign of thinning.

Suddenly, in the dim, rain-swept surroundings, a faint, almost imperceptible treasure light appeared almost simultaneously before the eyes of all the Golden Flower Maternal Sect Disciples. With his Observing Qi Skill, the hidden sentries were rendered completely ineffective. Under Qi Xiu's deliberate manipulation, these Treasure Light Cicadas from another world appeared precisely before the eyes of every Golden Flower Maternal Sect Disciple.

The Treasure Light Cicadas were as weak as ordinary insects; even a common person could crush them easily. However, the treasure light emitted by the Divine Marvel organ on their tails could mesmerize even Dao-Entering Realm cultivators for a period, leaving them unable to break free.

HUMMM—

In an instant, the mind-bewitching treasure light flared before the eyes of all the Golden Flower Maternal Sect Disciples.

Now's the time!

The moment the Golden Flower Maternal Sect Disciples succumbed to a dazed stupor, Qi Xiu launched himself forward. He transformed into an exceedingly subtle wisp of water vapor and, following an exceptionally cunning and bizarre route, instantly slipped into the Golden Flower Maternal Sect Main Altar.

The instant he stepped into the main altar, Qi Xiu's figure abruptly vanished. Activating the secret art of the Hunyuan Dragon and Tiger Scripture, he directly escaped into the Hunyuan Palace. From within a space existing on a parallel plane to the normal world, he silently observed it. Qi Xiu's eyes, blazing with vibrant violet light, unrestrainedly surveyed the entire Golden Flower Maternal Sect Main Altar.

While in the Hunyuan Palace, he could not interfere with anything in the normal world; doing so would trigger a severe backlash. This, however, did not prevent him from observing the normal world from within the Hunyuan Palace.

His eyes vibrated rapidly, thousands of times per second, as he pushed his Observing Qi Skill to its absolute limit. Qi Xiu strained his eyesight, scanning the entirety of the Golden Flower Maternal Sect Main Altar.

Nothing...

He closed his eyes, the violet light within them gradually receding. Qi Xiu's face was a shade paler. The Observing Qi Skill consumed solely mental energy. Forcibly scrutinizing the entire Golden Flower Maternal Sect Main Altar had consumed a great deal of his energy. Had he not been bolstered by the state of spiritual and physical unity, he would not have even been able to complete the scan.

But fortunately, the result was satisfactory. The Golden Flower Maternal Sect Main Altar, so heavily guarded, was astonishingly an empty shell.

Never mind a Dao Expert—there wasn't even a single living person inside!

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