Chapter 321: Chapter 308: Fierce Battle in the Wilderness
After a bout of dizziness and disorientation, Zhouyang regained consciousness to find himself in an underground stone chamber, transported from the Teleportation Hall within Immortal Sun City to a location some 270,000 miles away.
He reached out to rub his still slightly dizzy head and looked down. Beneath his feet was a teleportation altar identical to the one in the Immortal Sun City’s Teleportation Hall, and ahead of him was a tightly closed stone door. He sensed that someone was waiting on the other side.
However, he didn’t rush to open the door immediately. Instead, he reached behind him and removed the "Teleportation Talisman" that Xu Zhengyang had placed on his back earlier.
This kind of "Teleportation Talisman" is intended for cultivators whose cultivation levels aren’t high enough. During teleportation, the body faces immense spatial tearing forces. Without such a talisman to help low-level cultivators offset these forces, they might be torn to shreds.
Zhouyang’s cultivation was at the First-Layer of the Purple Mansion, so technically, he shouldn’t have been unable to withstand those spatial tearing forces when using a small teleportation array. However, to be cautious, Xu Zhengyang attached the "Teleportation Talisman" to him.
The result was clear: Xu Zhengyang had completely underestimated Zhouyang’s physical strength, causing the "Teleportation Talisman" to remain unactivated throughout.
Zhouyang carefully removed the unused "Teleportation Talisman" and folded it neatly before placing it into a storage ring for future use.
Then he shook his head, finally waved his sleeve to push open the stone door, and stepped outside.
A moment later, after exchanging a few pleasantries with the Profound Sun Immortal Sect cultivator guarding the teleportation array, Zhouyang found himself in a desolate mountain wilderness.
The underground abode housing the teleportation array was located a thousand feet below, where a Tier Three Spiritual Vein ran underground, though its spiritual qi was sealed by the Profound Sun Immortal Sect’s array.
Thus, unless one personally used the teleportation array to arrive here, no cultivator would imagine that an array of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect existed in the depths of this desolate mountain wilderness.
Standing above ground, after a slight discernment of direction, Zhouyang used sword control to fly towards Yunxia Country.
Meanwhile, back in Immortal Sun City, upon learning that Zhouyang had gone to the Profound Sun Pavilion and hadn’t returned for a day, Murong Qianqian’s pretty face suddenly changed.
"Not good, it’s most likely that old bastard Xu Zhengyang knew that Master and the others left, and specifically informed that boy to use the teleportation array to leave Immortal Sun City!"
"I have to inform Master of this news immediately."
Murong Qianqian hurried to relay the message through the intelligence personnel of the Beast Taming Sect to her master, Han Yu, who had already escorted the Flood Dragon Egg out of Immortal Sun City.
Upon receiving the message, Han Yu and Zhong Chuming quickly replied with orders.
After reading the reply from her master Han Yu, she let out a dissatisfied snort, "Hmph, I knew this would happen!"
Then she turned her beautiful eyes, seeming to talk to herself or perhaps to the black cat in her arms, "However, that boy seems to be quite wealthy. If we take him down, it should make me a small fortune, and since his divine soul is so strong, if [Netherworld Cat] devours it, it would spare me years of hard cultivation!"
Meow~
It seemed like the "Netherworld Cat" understood its owner’s words, as its pair of ghostly green eyes flashed with a fierce light, accompanied by the sound of a cat’s meow.
"Since you agree too, kitty, let’s see where that boy has gone!"
Murong Qianqian said as she released the "Netherworld Cat" onto the ground, then tapped a spirit beast bag at her waist to release a gray crow exuding a chilling aura.
She flicked the "Spirit-Devouring Insect" that had consumed a strand of Zhouyang’s qi into the gray crow’s mouth. The crow, which had been closed-eyed, suddenly opened its eyes, revealing a pair of grayish white lifeless eyes.
Caw caw!
The gray crow opened its eyes and cawed loudly in a particular direction, then spat out a grayish white spiritual light onto Murong Qianqian’s jade hand, forming a grayish white symbol on her wrist.
After completing this, the gray crow closed its eyes again, resuming its slumber.
"Heading south, is it?"
Murmured Murong Qianqian as she raised her jade hand to glance at the grayish white symbol on her wrist. She quickly sent the gray crow back into the spirit beast bag, picked up the "Netherworld Cat," and left the Immortal Inn.
Meanwhile, Zhouyang, tens of thousands of miles away in a desolate wilderness, had temporarily stopped.
The simple reason for his halt was to refine the flying spiritual artifact "Illusory Cloud Ship" obtained through exchange on the Flying Giant Ship.
He had left in such haste that day, there wasn’t enough time to refine the artifact. Now, needing to travel a great distance, this flying spiritual artifact would certainly benefit from a good refinement.
Given his current cultivation level, refining a Tier Four Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact wouldn’t take long – at most ten days to succeed.
But unexpectedly, on the ninth day as he neared the successful refining of the artifact, Murong Qianqian tracked him down.
"Murong Qianqian, is it? Could you tell Zhou how you managed to find me?"
Amidst the wilderness, Zhouyang gazed solemnly at Murong Qianqian, who was riding on a blue Spiritual Eagle. More precisely, he was looking at the black cat that Murong Qianqian always held in her arms like a treasure.
A Tier Four Middle Grade "Netherworld Cat," truly a rare high-tier Demon Beast.
After learning that the one who schemed against him was this "Netherworld Cat," he specifically researched information about it.
According to historical records, this "Netherworld Cat" is the nemesis of all Yin Soul Ghosts. The entire species was once hunted by the lineage of Ghostly Demon Cultivators, and now their numbers are extremely scarce.
Moreover, for this kind of Demon Beast to advance, it needs to devour a sufficient number of cultivators’ Divine Souls and ghosts.
For this reason, even though the Cultivation Realm knew that the Ghostly Demon Cultivators were hunting the "Netherworld Cat" clan, no one wanted to intervene and help.
The fact that Murong Qianqian managed to cultivate this "Netherworld Cat" to a Tier Four Middle Grade, Zhouyang couldn’t even imagine how many cultivators’ Divine Souls or Yin Soul Ghosts had become resources for the beast’s evolution.
Faced with his inquiry, Murong Qianqian simply gave a charming smile and said, "Hehehe, do you think I would tell you that?"
"If you won’t say it, then Zhou here will find a way to make you speak!"
Muttering to himself, Zhouyang’s eyes suddenly turned fierce as he preemptively unleashed streaks of crimson Sword Light.
This "Great Derivation Divine Light Sword" had just been successfully refined, and he had never tested it on anyone. Murong Qianqian, with her Seventh-Layer of the Purple Mansion Cultivation, seemed like a perfect test subject!
At this moment, ten beams of Sword Light floated in the air, forming a "Ten Directions Extinction Sword Array" under his spell control, enshrouding Murong Qianqian.
Being the first advanced Sword Array among the five in the "Great Derivation Sword Technique," once the "Ten Directions Extinction Sword Array" is set up, it can unleash a barrage of Extinction Sword Qi at any enemy within the array; as long as the array holds, the Sword Qi is inexhaustible.
However, Murong Qianqian, being a famous sect disciple, was far more knowledgeable than ordinary cultivators. When Zhouyang unleashed the "Great Derivation Divine Light Sword," she sensed its extraordinariness.
When she saw Zhouyang forming the sword array with ten Flying Swords to enshroud her, her face changed dramatically. She quickly slapped her Storage Bag, and pulled out a Tier Four Middle-Grade Spirit Talisman aimed at the sword array.
A mere Tier Four Middle-Grade Spirit Talisman couldn’t break Zhouyang’s "Ten Directions Extinction Sword Array," but it did successfully stall the array momentarily, giving Murong Qianqian enough time to retreat.
Retreating some distance, she immediately retrieved her blue Spiritual Eagle, then took from her waist a Spirit Beast Bag, releasing thousands of black venomous bees.
The aura from these black venomous bees ranged only from Tier Two Lower Grade to Tier Two Top Grade, but there were so many of them!
Gathered together, these thousands of venomous bees formed a cloud of insects measuring an acre or two.
The moment this cloud of insects appeared, it rushed toward Zhouyang following the strange whistle from Murong Qianqian.
Meanwhile, Murong Qianqian also summoned a Silver Treasure Umbrella to protect herself, before bringing out a black Treasure Bottle, pouring out a torrent of black water toward Zhouyang.
"Mere venomous insects, how dare they be so insolent!"
Zhouyang looked at the incoming black venomous bees, raised his hand, summoned the "True Yang Fan," and with a vigorous wave, the Fiery Flame transformed into a Flaming Firebird that soared into the sky, plunging into the insect cloud and converting it into a sea of fire.
He then willed the ten "Great Derivation Divine Light Swords" comprising the "Ten Directions Extinction Sword Array" to erupt with brilliant, blazing crimson firelight. The corrosive black water evaporated into black smoke before it could reach the swords.
This "Great Derivation Divine Light Sword" wasn’t merely sharp, having required significant effort and materials to refine.
If sharpness was the sole pursuit, using regular materials infused with some "Taiyi Essence Gold" would suffice; there would be no need to incorporate the precious "Star Pattern Steel" and "Fire Separation Essence Gold."
"Quite a talented guy, this girl truly underestimated you. Looks like I’ll have to show some real skill!"
Murong Qianqian’s brows furrowed in determination as she finally took her opponent, Zhouyang, seriously.
Seeing this, she swiftly formed a spell with her hands and uttered a soft incantation; a dark green Unihorn Flood Dragon’s phantom surged from behind her, flying straight towards Zhouyang.
Simultaneously, her Spirit Pet "Netherworld Cat" expanded in size, transforming from an ordinary black cat into a massive cat four to five zhang long.
Meow~
After its transformation, the big cat let out a loud cry, and from its ghostly green eyes, two beams of eerie green Spiritual Light shot towards Zhouyang.
But what it didn’t expect was that Zhouyang had anticipated this move.
When it cried out, golden light also burst from Zhouyang’s eyes, and the black and white of his pupils radiated a golden-red glow.
In an instant, a pair of ghostly green feline eyes and a pair of golden-red fiery pupils locked in a distant stare.