Translator: CinderTL
At the summit of the towering mountain where Zhong Jun had taken refuge, a massive boulder suddenly dislodged, roaring down the steep slope.
The boulder, over thirty meters wide, hurtled downward with increasing speed, its momentum unstoppable.
Trees and protruding rocks alike were crushed beneath its weight.
The boulder itself fractured under the relentless impacts, breaking into smaller fragments that continued to tumble down the mountain.
As these fragments reached the mountain's midsection, they seemed to strike an invisible wall, shattering into even smaller pieces and scattering sideways.
Remarkably, the thick shrubbery at the mountain's midsection remained completely unscathed by the cascading debris.
The Purple Cloud Dove, already several kilometers away, abruptly halted in flight. Its sharp eyes swiveled back toward the mountain, simultaneously noticing the Shadow King Gu at the summit and the shrubbery below.
The Shadow King Gu had pushed the boulder loose and was now burrowing deeper into the mountain's crevices.
However, the Purple Cloud Dove paid little attention to the sesame-seed-sized insect. While not ubiquitous in the Rotting Miasma Ridge, such creatures were hardly rare.
The shrubbery, on the other hand, clearly bore the mark of human cultivators.
Chirp—
The Purple Cloud Dove suddenly let out a piercing cry.
A silver bolt of lightning shot from its beak, striking the thicket below.
Boom!
A transparent barrier materialized instantly, blocking the lightning.
Beneath the barrier, Zhong Jun's eyes darted nervously skyward as the Purple Cloud Dove circled back.
The formation he had set up was merely a top-tier fifth-tier concealment formation, sufficient to deceive the divine sense of Void Refinement Stage cultivators. Its ability to withstand the dove's lightning wasn't due to its defensive strength, but rather because the dove's initial strike had been a probing attack, lacking its full power.
As the Purple Cloud Dove swooped down with increasing speed, its massive, razor-sharp beak drawing closer, a glint of resolve flashed in Zhong Jun's eyes. With a wave of his hand, he deactivated the formation, exposing himself completely to the dove's gaze.
The moment the formation collapsed, Zhong Jun flipped his hand and retrieved a medicinal pill, swallowing it instantly.
His aura surged violently, instantly breaking through to the peak of the Divine Transformation Stage.
But this was just the beginning. His aura continued to climb relentlessly, shattering the limits of the Divine Transformation Stage in the blink of an eye and surging into the Void Refinement Stage.
Yet his aura continued to surge.
Mid-Void Refinement Stage, Late-Void Refinement Stage...
A vast and profound pressure erupted from Zhong Jun's body, like an invisible gale sweeping outward.
The thicket of bushes near Zhong Jun was instantly shredded into fine splinters, which scattered into the air.
The pressure continued to spread, shaking mountains and rocks, and churning the miasma into violent eddies.
Finally, the pressure swept over the Purple Cloud Dove's massive form, freezing it mid-air, halting its dive.
To the dove, Zhong Jun now seemed like one of the most formidable and terrifying demon beasts of the Rotting Miasma Ridge—an existence it could never hope to challenge.
Yet it didn't flee immediately.
Its instincts told it something was amiss with this human.
If he truly possessed such power, why had he been cowering in a small concealment formation?
As the Purple Cloud Dove hesitated, a thunderous roar erupted from Zhong Jun's throat.
"Vile beast, meet your end!"
Zhong Jun's eyes blazed as he glared up at the Purple Cloud Dove.
Zhong Jun's robes billowed violently under the surge of his overwhelming aura, radiating an inexhaustible battle intent.
His voice crashed like thunder in the Purple Cloud Dove's ears, causing a ringing in its ears and momentarily blurring its consciousness.
A flicker of deep fear flashed in the Purple Cloud Dove's eyes. It frantically flapped its wings, soaring upward to pierce through the poisonous mist and escape into the high skies.
Seeing the Purple Cloud Dove retreat, Zhong Jun suddenly exhaled a mouthful of stale air.
With that breath, his aura rapidly dissipated like a receding tide, plummeting back to the late Divine Transformation stage in an instant.
His entire being now radiated extreme exhaustion, as if his Spiritual Power had been drained to its limits.
Without a moment's hesitation, Zhong Jun waved his hand to retrieve the thirty-six formation flags and hastily flew toward the foot of the mountain.
Reaching the base, he followed the terrain, fleeing into the distance.
After escaping over a thousand miles, Zhong Jun finally halted his escape light.
The Purple Cloud Dove hadn't pursued him, confirming that it had indeed been frightened off.
Zhong Jun secretly breathed a sigh of relief, his taut nerves finally relaxing slightly.
He leaned against a large boulder, his face pale.
His Spiritual Power was nearly depleted, and he needed to replenish it quickly.
Otherwise, even a newly ascended fifth-tier demon beast could claim his life.
Zhong Jun swallowed a medicinal pill and was about to set up a concealment formation on the spot when he suddenly sensed a chilling killing intent descending from above.
It was a ten-foot-long spear, moving like a lurking predator, silently hurtling toward him.
A cold dread gripped Zhong Jun's heart—the spear was a low-grade Spirit Treasure!
In his prime, he would have been confident in blocking it. But in his current weakened state, escaping unscathed seemed impossible.
Zhong Jun hastily summoned a shield and raised it above his head.
Just as the spear was about to strike the shield, it suddenly curved sharply, narrowly avoiding the barrier.
Simultaneously, nine transparent blades shot toward him from the front, already within thirty feet.
"A divine sense attack!"
Zhong Jun's eyes widened in realization. The Spirit Treasure spear had been a feint, a distraction to draw his attention while the true killing move—the divine sense attack—was unleashed.
Before he could react, the nine blades pierced his forehead, invading his Sea of Consciousness.
Only then did Zhong Jun realize the divine sense attack wasn't as potent as he had feared.
Although the pressure from the Purple Cloud Dove had severely depleted his divine sense, leaving his divine soul weakened, the damage inflicted by the nine blades remained limited. They merely caused a stinging pain in his Sea of Consciousness, still within tolerable limits.
Just then, a bronze-colored circular Phantom Shadow descended from above, aiming to encircle his head.
Reacting instinctively to the series of sudden attacks, Zhong Jun immediately activated his shield to block the Phantom Shadow.
However, the Phantom Shadow effortlessly pierced through the shield and settled around his chest, rapidly tightening to bind him securely.
Zhong Jun felt a constricting force surge through him, rendering his already dwindling Spiritual Power sluggish and nearly impossible to manipulate freely.
Even more terrifying, the Spirit Treasure spear had somehow reversed its trajectory and was now hurtling toward his lower abdomen, targeting his Dantian.
With his Spiritual Power paralyzed, Zhong Jun couldn't summon his shield in time to block the spear. He could only watch helplessly as the spear pierced his Dantian, shattering both his Dantian and nascent soul into fragments.
His cultivation, painstakingly honed over two millennia, was reduced to nothing in an instant.
With a resounding boom, a powerful Energy Stream erupted from the spear, tearing Zhong Jun's physical body to shreds, leaving only his head intact.
(End of the Chapter)
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