Translator: AnubisTL
The Thousand-Thread Needles formed an ancient zither, its strings resonating with gentle, melodious notes. Yet these sounds, though pleasing to the ear, were far from pleasant for the Lingyun Sect cultivators present.
Each note carried a soul-shattering force. Covering their ears proved futile, for the melodies struck directly at their divine souls!
This was an innate divine ability of the Exquisite Treasure Physique: the Exquisite Immortal Sound!
This immortal melody could dispel demonic illusions and aid cultivators in overcoming their heart demon tribulation when breaking through to the nascent soul realm.
Now, Exquisite True Lord wielded this natal immortal melody as a weapon of annihilation, aiming to obliterate all the Lingyun Sect cultivators in one fell swoop!
"Ugh... ah!" Wu Chong was the first to succumb. His divine soul, weaker than Li Qing's, soon erupted in searing pain.
Li Qing, standing closest to the source, also felt immense pressure. He endured the soul-tearing agony, desperately trying to disrupt Exquisite True Lord's technique.
Yet under the influence of the Exquisite Immortal Sound, he found it impossible to focus his mind!
Let alone using daoist arts and divine abilities, Li Qing's very thoughts had become chaotic. Every time he tried to unleash a divine ability, it was immediately disrupted.
"What a terrifying killing sound! Truly worthy of the Exquisite Treasure Physique."
Li Qing's mind was in utter disarray, unable to focus. He could only force himself forward, relying on his fleshly body to engage Exquisite True Lord in close combat.
Yet with each step, the immortal melody grew more intense, even his cultivated soul core method proving insufficient to suppress the tearing pain in his divine soul.
I need a plan! I have to think of something!
The others were also suffering significant effects.
True Lord Fu Xuan was the most severely affected. His entire arsenal relied on talismans, but activating them required mental power. Under the interference of the Exquisite Immortal Sound, his mental power became impossible to focus, drastically reducing his combat effectiveness.
Fortunately, Yang Tian's attention remained fixed on Exquisite True Lord. His expression was urgent, as if he understood the consequences of unleashing such a devastating technique.
But Liu Hanyue and Shen Ningbing weren't so fortunate!
Their opponents were ruthless, seizing any opportunity without hesitation and immediately launching deadly attacks.
"Kill!"
Ling Ying's eyes blazed with murderous intent as he unleashed a barrage of wind blades, each aimed precisely at Liu Hanyue's position.
Faced with this relentless, life-threatening assault, Liu Hanyue had no choice but to retreat step by step, her face pale from the immense pressure of resisting the Exquisite Immortal Sound.
Having initially suppressed Ling Ying, the situation had suddenly reversed.
Shen Ningbing's situation was even more dire. She struggled to maintain control over her natal magic treasure, forced to rely on her ice crystal sword to parry her opponent's ferocious attacks.
"Hahahaha, die!" Yan Xi roared with laughter, swinging his massive blade at Shen Ningbing without a trace of mercy.
As time passed, the immortal melody grew increasingly frantic, the agonizing pain in their divine souls intensifying.
Li Qing, directly facing the full force of the immortal melody, felt his heart turn to ice. He struggled to formulate a coherent countermeasure.
Something's wrong... I should know how to deal with this! Why can't I remember the solution now?!
The Exquisite Immortal Sound was not only tearing apart Li Qing's divine soul but also disrupting his thoughts. Every time an idea surfaced, it was immediately cut off.
This sensation felt vaguely familiar, yet he couldn't quite place it.
As the immortal melody grew increasingly frantic, hairline cracks began to appear on Li Qing's divine soul—a clear sign of soul damage.
Soul injuries were far more difficult to heal than physical wounds, posing a grave threat second only to injuries to the Great Dao.
Apart from a handful of rare spirit herbs capable of restoring soul power, there were few spiritual objects in the world that could treat soul damage.
"Today... I... face... tribulation... here..."
Overwhelmed by the terrifying Exquisite Immortal Sound cultivation manual, Li Qing's consciousness grew increasingly muddled. He could barely understand his own words, his sentences collapsing into incoherence.
At this critical moment, a peculiar, misshapen stone suddenly flew out of his storage pouch.
This stone, with its strikingly irregular shape, was a spiritual object Crimson Hair Immortal had selected from the Ghost Sword Sect's sect treasury long ago.
After the Crimson Hair Immortal died at Li Qing's hands, the stone fell into his possession. Yet, despite all this time, he still had no idea what it was!
All he knew was that the Crimson Hair Immortal had called it the Stone Embryo.
The human-head-sized Stone Embryo materialized, spinning rapidly in the air.
Against the onslaught of the Exquisite Immortal Sound, the stubborn stone remained completely unaffected, its rotation only accelerating.
Soon, flakes of stone began to peel away from the Embryo, as if someone were personally sculpting it.
As the stone fragments fell, the mind-altering Exquisite Immortal Sound seemed to weaken.
The vast torrent of Exquisite Immortal Sound that had been unleashed just moments before was now being absorbed into the Stone Embryo.
Moreover, the Embryo was gradually losing its bizarre, amorphous shape, instead faintly resembling an infant.
In an instant, the tearing pain in Li Qing's divine soul subsided, and the effects on the others diminished as well.
Within the blink of an eye, Li Qing's consciousness regained clarity, his back drenched in cold sweat.
If not for this Stone Embryo, he might very well be dead right now!
"Huff! Huff! What's going on?"
Still reeling from the effects of the Exquisite Immortal Sound, Li Qing hadn't yet grasped how the Stone Embryo had appeared.
But its appearance quickly made it clear: his escape from this perilous situation was entirely thanks to this infant-like Stone Embryo.
In that brief moment, thoughts surged through Li Qing's mind like a tidal wave, hundreds of ideas flashing through his mind in an instant.
"When I fought the Crimson Hair Immortal, he used a leather drum that trapped me in a similar state."
"Back then, I used the Black Furnace to resist. But I don't have the Black Furnace now... Could I use that leather drum to counter this immortal melody?"
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Li Qing couldn't help but shake his head. Then, he suddenly remembered he had another trump card!
"That's right! Why make things so complicated? I almost forgot about this!"
With that, Li Qing produced a flawless, radiant Moon Disc from his hand.
Earlier, at Moonchase Palace, he had shamelessly begged Palace Master Yue Xuan for help in dealing with the Shangqing Sect.
Although True Monarch Yue Xuan hadn't agreed, she had bestowed upon him a Moon Disc, claiming it could unleash two attacks equivalent to her own power.
Without hesitation, Li Qing immediately retrieved the Moon Disc.
Meanwhile, Exquisite True Lord, still playing the Thousand-String Ancient Zither, finally sensed something amiss.
She realized her Exquisite Immortal Sound had lost its effect; everyone present had instantly broken free from its influence.
"How is this possible? This is my primordial immortal melody!" Shock flashed in Exquisite True Lord's beautiful eyes.
As Li Qing aimed the Moon Disc at Exquisite True Lord, he kept a close watch on the Stone Embryo before him.
Bathed in the primordial immortal melody of the Exquisite Treasure Physique, the Stone Embryo had completely transformed into the shape of an infant, cradling an immortal exquisite in its arms.
"What exactly is going on here?" Li Qing muttered, his mind a fog of confusion.
He had traveled far and wide over the years, accumulating vast experience, yet he couldn't make sense of this situation.
Since the Stone Embryo had withstood the Exquisite Immortal Sound, he decided to observe further rather than immediately activating the Moon Disc to kill the Exquisite True Lord.
He wanted to see what final transformation the Stone Embryo would undergo.
"What is this thing? It's actually devouring my primordial immortal melody?" The Exquisite True Lord's shock far surpassed Li Qing's.
Ever since her birth, she had known the primordial immortal melody within her was extraordinary.
After all, anything bearing the title "immortal" must possess immense power!
In the entire world, only the Exquisite Treasure Physique could replicate such an immortal melody.
Legend held that the Exquisite Treasure Physique originated from a wisp of immortal exquisite aura from the celestial realm, which descended to the mortal realm through reincarnation, choosing a host to be born with.
This physique naturally possesses the Exquisite Immortal Sound within its body, an immensely powerful aid on the path of cultivation.
By listening to the immortal melody day and night, one's divine soul would far surpass that of cultivators at the same cultivation stage.
Moreover, with the Exquisite Immortal Sound as support, one could maintain a state of perfect clarity, free from distractions, throughout the cultivation process.
Gradually ceasing the activation of her primordial immortal melody, Exquisite True Lord's eyes filled with a hint of resentment.
She knew the tide had turned against her today.
Even her desperate activation of the primordial immortal melody had failed to subdue her opponent, leaving her with few remaining options.
This desperate measure came at a heavy price. Excessive depletion of the primordial immortal melody would severely delay her advancement to the nascent soul realm.
Furthermore, due to foundational damage sustained in her youth, her Exquisite Treasure Physique was not flawless. This setback further diminished her already slim chances of reaching the nascent soul realm.
Finally, the Moon Disc in Li Qing's hand continued to unsettle her, radiating an aura of extreme danger that even she could sense.
"Kill!"
Seeing that Exquisite True Lord had finally ceased playing her immortal melody, Li Qing immediately began refining the Moon Disc with his true essence, without the slightest hesitation.
In an instant, the flawless, moon-white disc surged with a ferocious suction force, devouring over half of his true essence!
Boom!
Before anyone could react, a blinding lunar beam erupted from the disc, piercing through the very fabric of space with unimaginable speed.
Exquisite True Lord barely managed to react, twisting her body aside, but she couldn't fully evade the attack.
The lunar beam, like a laser, tore through her side, completely annihilating the vibrant crimson robes she wore.
"Ling Long!" Yang Tian roared, charging toward Li Qing like a madman, heedless of the cost. "Run, Ling Long! Run!"
But True Lord Fu Xuan, standing behind him, had no intention of letting him succeed.
"Thunder Annihilation Talisman!"
This was a third-rank high-grade talisman, an extremely rare and precious artifact.
Having shaken off the interference of Exquisite Immortal Sound, True Lord Fu Xuan regained his composure. With a slight flicker of mental power, a talisman etched with violet patterns materialized in his hand.
The purple runes on the talisman flashed with a brilliant spiritual light. In an instant, under the clear sky, a thunderous roar erupted!
Boom!
A terrifying thunderstorm, as if intent on annihilating the world, burst forth from the heavens. Each bolt of deep purple lightning was as thick as a towering tree, utterly impossible to withstand!
Boom! Rumble!
The colossal lightning vanished in a flash, the entire sky obliterated by its destructive power!
Yang Tian, who had been attempting to rescue Exquisite True Lord, was instantly and grievously wounded. His body was covered in hideous cracks, his flesh and blood a mangled mess.
"Run, Ling Long!"
"Ling Long... Ling Long!"
Buzz!
As Yang Tian's final thought faded, his body suddenly began to twist and contort into grotesque shapes!
"Damn it! He's detonating his Golden Core!"
A golden core cultivator choosing to detonate their Golden Core was an utterly terrifying prospect.
Detonating the Golden Core!
Only in the most desperate circumstances, when trapped in a completely hopeless situation, would a core formation realm cultivator resort to such a suicidal act.
For once the Golden Core was detonated, there remained absolutely no chance of survival, and even the cultivator's divine soul would be utterly annihilated.
This was no ordinary death. Detonating the Golden Core meant forfeiting any possibility of reincarnation.
Though many cultivators believed only in the present life and cared nothing for the afterlife, there were still those who clung to the hope of starting anew in a future life.
Few core formation realm cultivators would choose to detonate their Golden Core.
In the next instant, True Lord Yang Tian's body disintegrated into dust, and a terrifying shockwave erupted from his dantian.
Space twisted and distorted as the purple thunder summoned by the Thunder Annihilation Talisman was instantly obliterated.
The explosion came first, followed by an earth-shattering roar!
True Lord Fu Xuan, the closest cultivator, reacted swiftly, slapping several high-grade defensive talismans onto himself before retreating at full speed.
On the other side, the other core formation realm cultivators were equally startled, desperately fleeing to avoid being caught in the Golden Core's self-destruction.
Even Li Qing's expression changed drastically as he realized that the majority of the blast was aimed directly at him!
"I have to get out of here!"
He cast one last glance at the critically wounded Exquisite True Lord, whose vital energy had dwindled to almost nothing, before immediately retreating.
It seemed Exquisite True Lord had no chance of survival. Against such a Golden Core detonation, even in her prime, she would have struggled to withstand it, let alone in her current weakened state.
While everyone else fled, only one figure remained, his eyes burning with murderous rage, determined to kill his enemy at any cost.
This was Wu Chong!
"Gluttonous True Art: Devour Heaven and Earth!"
(End of the Chapter)
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