Chapter 455: Replication and Submission
"You're not dead!?"
Staring at the suddenly reappearing Lin Langtian, Yuwen Tuo collapsed to the ground, his face pale with terror as if he had seen a ghost.
"Impossible! You're just a Life Profound Realm cultivator. How could you possibly escape the confinement of the Stasis Divine Token?"
Ancient divine artifacts were renowned for their mysterious and terrifying powers. The Stasis Divine Token, in particular, was known to immobilize not just individuals but even the flow of time and space itself. Not even experts in the Death Profound Realm or Wheel of Reincarnation Realm could escape its effects.
The Stasis Divine Token could freeze time and space, rendering anyone caught within it utterly defenseless, a mere fish on the chopping block.
However, Lin Langtian remained calm, responding with a faint smile. "It was close, but unfortunately for you, I'm no ordinary Life Profound Realm cultivator."
Indeed, the Stasis Divine Token was an extraordinary relic, capable of freezing time and space to such an extent that even powerful cultivators would be rendered powerless. But Lin Langtian possessed the Spatial Ancestral Symbol.
While the token could bind space, it was no match for the highest authority over spatial power—the Spatial Ancestral Symbol. Much like the Flame Ancestral Symbol ruled over all fire, and the Thunder Ancestral Symbol was king of lightning, the Spatial Ancestral Symbol stood as the ultimate ruler of space.
Though the Stasis Divine Token ranked 13th among ancient divine artifacts, it was not personally forged by the Symbol Ancestor and could not compare to the power of the eight great ancestral symbols. Attempting to use the token to confine the Spatial Ancestral Symbol was as futile as wielding a blade before a master swordsman.
Moreover, Yuwen Tuo's insufficient strength prevented him from unleashing the token's full potential. Had it been wielded by a Minor Completion Death Profound Realm expert like Yuwen Zhong, Lin Langtian might have faced a dire situation.
These factors combined enabled Lin Langtian to escape its effects, though they underscored the terrifying power of the token. Against opponents of equal strength, possessing the Stasis Divine Token could instantly turn the tide of battle.
"Lord of the Judge Corps, here! Take the Stasis Divine Token! I beg you to spare my life!" Yuwen Tuo, consumed by panic, dropped all pretense and groveled for mercy.
With the token lost, all his hopes were dashed. Survival was now his only goal.
Lin Langtian's lips curled in disdain, and his gaze turned icy. "No chance."
With a wave of his sleeve, demonic flames surged forth once again. Yuwen Tuo and his companions screamed in terror as the flames engulfed them completely.
The dark flames churned with an evil energy, filling the air with waves of malice. Their anguished cries were cut short moments later, and when the flames dissipated, nothing remained of Yuwen Tuo and his group but ashes scattered on the wind.
Having executed the remnants of the Yuwen clan, Lin Langtian turned his cold gaze to the Stasis Divine Token in his hand. A thoughtful expression flickered across his face.
The token's power was immensely tempting, even to him. Handing it over to the Dark Hall would feel like a painful loss.
After all, the Sky-Feather Demon-Subduing Fan, the treasured artifact of the Nine Phoenix Clan—one of the four great beast clans—was ranked 14th among ancient divine artifacts, a rank below the Stasis Divine Token.
Yet keeping the token for himself would complicate his ability to justify his worth to the Dark Hall and secure the Life-and-Death Reincarnation Pill.
As Lin Langtian wrestled with this dilemma, Ling Yi's voice emerged, her tone tinged with amusement.
"Why not try using the Golden Spirit Wheel Mirror to replicate the Stasis Divine Token?"
"Replicate it?" Lin Langtian blinked, then frowned in thought. "But the mirror just replicated the Spatial Ancestral Symbol not long ago. I'm not sure if it has enough energy to replicate another artifact so soon."
"True, the ancestral symbols are unique and immensely difficult to replicate. But the Stasis Divine Token, while impressive, is far less extraordinary compared to the ancestral symbols. There's a good chance it can be replicated," Ling Yi suggested.
Lin Langtian's eyes narrowed slightly before he nodded. If the replication succeeded, he wouldn't need to choose—he could have both the Life-and-Death Reincarnation Pill and the Stasis Divine Token.
With that thought, Lin Langtian summoned the Golden Spirit Wheel Mirror. A mysterious, otherworldly glow emanated from its surface.
Under his control, the Stasis Divine Token floated mid-air in front of the mirror. The mirror's surface began to ripple, and slowly, an identical copy of the token appeared within its reflection.
"Mirror Replication!"
With a soft command, Lin Langtian activated the mirror. Strange black-and-gold rays of light surged forth, exuding an inscrutable energy that seemed to pierce the void.
The black-and-gold light wrapped around the token within the mirror, making its features increasingly vivid and real. The faint inscriptions of runes on the token's surface became more defined, winding like serpents as they radiated a strange, mystical power.
Gradually, the token within the mirror transformed into a tangible object, gleaming with an aura identical to the original.
Time passed in a blur. When the light finally faded, Lin Langtian gazed at the token within the mirror, now seemingly complete. Its surface was adorned with intricate, living runes that pulsed faintly with energy.
"Did it… work?" Lin Langtian murmured with excitement.
Reaching into the mirror's surface—which rippled like water—he grasped the replicated token. The sensation was cool and solid, neither metallic nor wooden.
Pulling it free, Lin Langtian now held the second Stasis Divine Token. A faint smirk appeared on his face.
Since this one was a copy, it belonged to him entirely. Without hesitation, he pricked his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the token's surface.
The token glowed faintly as a subtle connection formed between it and Lin Langtian's consciousness. It floated upward, dissolving into a streak of light that merged into his forehead.
Within his mind's eye, Lin Langtian saw the token suspended in his spiritual sea, its surroundings rippling gently with waves of spiritual energy. As his energy infused it, he began to unravel its intricate workings, gaining a deeper understanding of its mysteries.
For hours, Lin Langtian meditated in silence, fully synchronizing with the artifact. When he finally opened his eyes, the setting sun cast a dim glow across the land.
A strange glint sparkled in his gaze. Slowly, he raised his hands and formed a peculiar, unfamiliar seal.
"Stasis!"
Focusing on a butterfly fluttering nearby, Lin Langtian completed the seal and whispered the word.
Buzz!
The moment his voice fell, an invisible, profoundly mysterious force rippled outward from the center of his brow.
As the ripple of power surged outward, the butterfly fluttering nearby suddenly froze in midair. Its wings, which had been gently flapping, became completely still as if embedded in a rift between time and space. The scene was deeply uncanny.
"Heh, just as I thought—this is identical to the real Stasis Divine Token," Lin Langtian said, his eyes lighting up with joy.
Although the replicated token was a copy, its power to immobilize time and space was nearly indistinguishable from the original.
With a faint smile, Lin Langtian waved his sleeve. The strange immobilization shattered, and the butterfly, as if startled, flapped its wings frantically and fled the area.
Lin Langtian then carefully stored the genuine Stasis Divine Token. His gaze shifted toward the Golden Spirit Wheel Mirror, noting that its black-and-gold frame now appeared slightly dim.
"It seems replicating the Stasis Divine Token consumed a significant amount of the mirror's energy." He shook his head and, with a thought, returned the mirror to his body.
Moments later, space around him subtly distorted. In an instant, Lin Langtian's figure disappeared.
It was time to return the Stasis Divine Token to complete his mission.
Eastern Region of the Northern Profound Domain, Yuwen City
The conflict over the Stasis Divine Token had finally concluded with the annihilation of the Yuwen Clan. As word of this spread, every faction in the Eastern Region came to a sobering realization: no one in the Northern Profound Domain could afford to offend the Dark Hall.
The cost of doing so was the complete destruction of an established power.
Once again, the Dark Tribunal demonstrated its ruthless efficiency, further solidifying its reputation as a fearsome force. The name Jiangshan, the commander of the tribunal's seventh brigade, now echoed across the Eastern Region.
Moreover, the Yuwen Clan's fall, as one of the region's premier forces, signified the beginning of a new power structure in the East.
The Dark Hall, however, showed no interest in the reshuffling of regional powers. As always, it maintained a position of detachment, indifferent to the petty squabbles of the lesser factions within its domain—like a giant ignoring the struggles of ants beneath its feet.
What the Dark Hall demanded was submission.
For those who refused, the Dark Tribunal would administer punishment. Such had been the unshakable law of the Northern Profound Domain for millennia.
The Yuwen Clan Manor
After the Yuwen Clan's downfall, the manor became a temporary base for the seventh brigade of the Judge Corps. Members of the tribunal moved in and out, busily attending to post-battle matters.
Though the tribunal had crushed the Yuwen Clan with overwhelming force, casualties were inevitable. Coupled with the logistics of managing rewards and punishments, the tribunal was bustling with activity.
"This is disgraceful! Letting some remnants escape—it's a stain on the seventh brigade's honor!"
In the manor's main hall, Jiangshan, a towering and imposing figure, roared at his subordinates, his frustration palpable.
"First and Second Captains, I want them tracked down! Search every corner of the Eastern Region—leave no stone unturned!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Jiangshan's orders, two Death Profound Realm captains responded immediately, bowing before turning to lead their squads in pursuit of the Yuwen remnants.
"Commander Jiang, don't be too angry. Who could've anticipated that Yuwen Hao had set up a spatial teleportation array in secret? That's my oversight for not detecting it in time," said Xu Lie, the Eastern Branch Master of the Dark Hall. His tone carried a hint of embarrassment as he tried to placate Jiangshan.
Monitoring the Yuwen Clan had been the Eastern Branch's responsibility, but Xu Lie had assumed the clan was as good as dead and let his guard down. He hadn't expected Yuwen Hao to sacrifice his entire clan to ensure his son's escape—a decision both ruthless and decisive.
Jiangshan frowned at Xu Lie's words but quickly shifted the conversation. "Branch Master Xu, did Yuwen Hao say anything about the Stasis Divine Token's location before he died?"
Securing the Stasis Divine Token was the mission's primary objective. As one of the Dark Hall's most treasured ancient artifacts, equal in status to the Dark Saint Scythe, failure was not an option.
"No," Xu Lie said with a bitter smile. "Yuwen Hao had resolved himself to die. No matter how we questioned him, he refused to reveal anything."
Xu Lie's expression grew somber as he continued, "I suspect the Stasis Divine Token was taken by those Yuwen remnants."
"Damn it!" Jiangshan cursed, slamming his palm on a nearby table. The terrifying surge of energy reduced the table to ashes. His face darkened.
"So it's as I suspected. Yuwen Hao truly deserved death. Did he really think the Stasis Divine Token was something his Yuwen Clan could claim for themselves? Zhong Kui, have you found out anything about the Yuwen remnants?"
At Jiangshan's question, the third captain, Zhong Kui, stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Commander, according to the Yuwen guards we captured, the leader of the escaped group is Yuwen Hao's son, Yuwen Tuo.
"His followers include only the most loyal of the Yuwen Clan's servants. The strongest among them is Yuwen Zhong, a Minor Completion Death Profound Realm expert."
"Yuwen Hao's youngest son, guarded by a Death Profound Realm expert…" Jiangshan narrowed his eyes, his tone turning cold. "It seems Yuwen Hao had planned this for a long time. He intended to rebuild the Yuwen Clan from the ashes.
"They'll surely try to flee the Northern Profound Domain, or even the entire Four Profound Domain Continent. There's no place left for them here.
"Hmph. Yuwen Hao had bold ambitions. This must be reported to the Hall Master immediately. We'll need the full resources of the Dark Hall to track these remnants.
"If they escape the Northern Profound Domain, the Stasis Divine Token might disappear forever. Retrieving it will become nearly impossible."
Xu Lie nodded in agreement. He understood the stakes.
While the Dark Hall's dominance in the Northern Profound Domain was unchallenged, its reach was limited to this single region. If the Yuwen remnants fled to another domain or the chaotic Demon Sea, the Dark Hall's influence wouldn't extend far enough to retrieve the token.
Worse, news of the Stasis Divine Token could attract the attention of other top-tier powers, as any artifact ranked on the Ancient Divine Artifact List was a treasure capable of tempting even Wheel of Reincarnation Realm experts.
As the leaders discussed their next move, a Judge Corps guard entered the hall and bowed respectfully.
"Commander Jiang, Branch Master Xu, Shadow Guard seeks an audience."
"Shadow Guard? What's he doing here?" Jiangshan frowned. The Shadow Guard's duty was to protect participants in the Dark Hall's trials—this situation was outside his jurisdiction.
"The Shadow Guard…" the guard hesitated briefly before continuing, "says he pursued the Yuwen remnants and retrieved the Stasis Divine Token."
"What!?"
Jiangshan and Xu Lie exchanged surprised glances, shock flickering in their eyes.
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