Chapter 114: An Unexpected Turn!
"Pfft—"
The ambushing figure violently spewed a large mouthful of blood. His body was sent flying dozens of zhang by that single punch.
Both his arms were now twisted at unnatural angles, the entire limbs seemingly crippled.
Yet at this moment, he had forgotten the pain in his arms. Instead, he stared at Jiang Yun with terror. The fearsome power transmitted from Jiang Yun's fist had instantly overwhelmed him.
And most terrifying of all, the opponent's physical body was extraordinarily tough. Even his low-grade spirit artifact had failed to break through its defense. That level of physical body—even the experts he had seen who had passed the Fleshly Tribulation could not compare.
In truth, this was merely his misconception. Though Jiang Yun's physical body was formidable, it wasn't quite this outrageous. It was simply the application of devouring power that had allowed him to reach this level.
For someone who had never witnessed such a thing, forming this misconception wasn't strange at all!
"How can your physical body be this strong?!" A look of horror flashed across the faces of the crowd. They immediately wanted to retreat hastily.
The opponent's physical body couldn't even be scratched by a low-grade spirit artifact. By now, they deeply understood—Jiang Yun's trio were absolutely no ordinary people. They definitely came from some major power. The methods of these people were absolutely not something they could afford to offend.
"Trying to leave?" However, the instant their figures moved, Jiang Yun grinned sinisterly, his fist wind howling forth fiercely.
"Bang—"
With not even a chance to react, the man was killed by one punch from Jiang Yun!
"What—"
This scene immediately drew waves of shocked outcry from the few still alive. Jiang Yun, at the late stage of the Heaven Transformation Realm, under the combined encirclement of several people, had easily killed a fellow late-stage Heaven Transformation Realm fighter with just two punches!
What kind of monster was this?!
Such strength—let alone the late Heaven Transformation Realm, even someone at the Heaven-Connecting Realm would struggle to accomplish it!
Their former companions were now dying one after another before their eyes. Before grief could even set in, Jiang Yun's figure had appeared, ghost-like, in the sky above the remaining men.
His handsome face turned toward them, offering a faint, detached smile.
Boom!
Vast spiritual energy surged from within Jiang Yun's body, blotting out the sky. The black-and-white intertwined spiritual energy seemed like the fusion of yin and yang, extraordinarily bizarre. And clearly, this black-and-white spiritual energy was far more condensed and powerful compared to Dou Qi.
Spiritual energy rippled, directly transforming into an illusory world behind Jiang Yun. Within that world, a colossal beast phantom condensed and took form, finally shooting out as a rainbow light. Above the few men, it transformed into an immense, unparalleled divine seal.
"White Tiger Seal!" Jiang Yun's eyes were icy cold. The seal formed in his palm and abruptly pressed down.
"Boom—"
The white giant tiger roared toward the heavens. That divine seal erupted with dazzling divine light. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth all frantically fled that area.
The men below, watching the divine seal descending from the sky to suppress them, all felt their faces drastically change. Sensing the terror of Jiang Yun's attack, they dared not hesitate. They roared in unison, the spiritual energy within their bodies sweeping out without any reservation whatsoever.
Several terrifying attacks howled forth, clashing directly and forcefully with Jiang Yun's White Tiger Divine Seal.
Bang!
The two forces collided, waves of force sweeping outward. But very quickly, the men's expressions twisted dramatically. Because as the White Tiger Divine Seal pressed down, their resistance was crumbling at a shocking speed.
Their attacks completely failed to halt the seal's descent. Then, under the men's despairing gazes, the divine seal howled down. In an instant, it suppressed itself directly upon their bodies.
"Pfft—"
No screams. The instant of contact, the few men had no power to resist whatsoever. They visibly, slowly dispersed into nothingness between heaven and earth.
Collecting the men's storage bracelets, Jiang Yun turned his head to look at the leader being besieged over there. He shot like lightning toward the trio's battle circle.
"Boom—"
A sword slash tore through space, grazing past the opponent's forehead and severing strands of pitch-black hair.
This slash was immensely powerful. Though it didn't strike the ground, a mountain peak below was cleanly cleaved in two by the penetrating sword energy that seeped down.
His eyes swept over the flattened mountain below. A bead of cold sweat appeared on the man's brow. Looking at the woman in the red brocade robe wielding a serpent-shaped longsword, he cursed his luck inwardly.
What a fierce woman!
"Taixu Void-Breaking Claw!"
A delicate shout rang out. The bitterness on the man's face deepened. Gritting his teeth, the thunder spear in his hand blazed with light as he thrust it toward Zi Yan.
"Boom—"
The long spear met a slender palm that reached out from the void. Yet he dared not relax in the slightest. It was precisely this delicate, tender palm, with the force it transmitted, that had made him suffer so bitterly.
"Blood Transformation Art!"
Sensing Medusa beside him once again raising her sword to strike, the man's face changed. A savage look flashed across it. In the next instant, he suddenly roared furiously.
His entire body emitted steam. His exposed skin began turning crimson red. Veins bulged hideously across his flesh. And at this moment, his aura leaped from the early Heaven-Connecting Realm to the mid Heaven-Connecting Realm.
"Die!"
With a furious roar, the long spear in his hand seemed to flash with scarlet lightning. Carrying a bloody light, it thrust toward the comparatively weaker Zi Yan.
"Careful!"
Sensing the opponent's erupting strength, Medusa's face changed dramatically. She anxiously shot toward Zi Yan. At the same time, her hands did not slow. Nine-colored spiritual energy blazed. A nine-colored serpent shadow slammed viciously toward the opponent's exposed back.
Although the two usually didn't get along, when Zi Yan truly faced danger, her heart couldn't help but tighten. She instinctively erupted with her full power, rushing to Zi Yan's rescue.
Zi Yan watched the erupting, incoming terrifying spear shadow, her pretty face full of gravity.
"Great Heavenly Dragon Imperial Seal!"
Zi Yan shouted. Dazzling purple light exploded violently from within her. The blood in her body was boiling, roaring. Light filled the horizon.
At this moment, upon her graceful figure, dense, layer upon layer of purple dragon markings rose and surged. In the void, a sky-obscuring phantom of a purple dragon seal rapidly took form.
Simultaneously, Zi Yan's pretty face turned pale. In the depths of her eyes, a slumbering Taixu Ancient Dragon was awakening. In this moment of crisis, the bloodline power within her was beginning to overdraw.
This was precisely what Qing Ming had spoken of—Zi Yan's Taixu Ancient Dragon royal bloodline was still unstable, still in the process of maturing. Using excessively powerful inherited Dou Techniques risked harming her own bloodline, leading to instability.
They hadn't encountered this situation on the Dou Qi Continent before. Unexpectedly, it happened here.
Zi Yan naturally knew her own condition. But recalling Jiang Yun's words about needing to take a captive alive, her originally evasive steps halted. She forcibly executed the Heaven Class Dou Technique from her inherited memories.
Indeed, the Great Heavenly Dragon Imperial Seal was a Heaven Class Dou Technique, and moreover, one exclusive to the Dragon Emperor bloodline. With Zi Yan's Dou Huang cultivation, she naturally lacked the capacity to execute a Heaven Class Dou Technique.
But after the Dou Qi within her had converted to spiritual energy, coupled with the boost from her bloodline, she could now just barely perform it.
Sensing her weakening body and watching her opponent right in front of her, Zi Yan shouted delicately, her palm about to strike.
"Utterly reckless! Compared to you—do you think I care about one living captive?"
At the critical moment, Jiang Yun abruptly appeared beside Zi Yan. He grabbed the palm she was about to thrust out. Dou Qi full of vitality surged into her body, soothing her seething bloodline.
Jiang Yun gazed at her pale cheeks, his heart aching with a hint of reproach. At the same time, a surge of fury rose within him.
"Demon-Slaying Xuan Spirit Light!"
An ancient Sanskrit chant echoed by everyone's ears, its source unknown. A purple pattern faintly emerged between Jiang Yun's brows.
Vast soul power blanketed the entire area. Since breaking through to the Spirit Realm soul, Jiang Yun had diligently cultivated all along. Now, he had naturally advanced to the mid-Spirit Realm, even on the verge of breaking through to the late-Spirit Realm.
This level of soul power was exceedingly terrifying, even among Dou Zuns. The horrifying soul power gave everyone present an oppressive, suffocating feeling.
And the first to bear the brunt, the man, only felt a profound, mysterious stream of light flash past. Then, his consciousness instantly plunged into pitch-black darkness. The power gathering in his hands dispersed accordingly.
"Boom—"
Medusa's attack arrived late, but arrived nonetheless. The instant the man's consciousness vanished, the nine-colored giant serpent descended. One strike slammed him onto the ground—dead beyond dead.
Staring stunned at the dead opponent, Medusa recalled the sudden shift just now. She looked at Jiang Yun, doubt and uncertainty in her eyes. She saw Jiang Yun knocking Zi Yan on the head, making Zi Yan yelp repeatedly.
"Alright, alright, I know! I know I was wrong. I won't dare next time! Xiao Yun, stop hitting me." Zi Yan clutched the forehead Jiang Yun had knocked, looking pitifully at the stern-faced Jiang Yun. Seeing he still wore a strict expression, she could only hug Jiang Yun's arm, shaking it as she said softly, "Medusa is watching. Xiao Yun, you're making me lose face."
Looking at Zi Yan's tear-brimmed eyes, Jiang Yun said helplessly, "Only this once. No next time!"
"Mm!" Hearing Jiang Yun relent, Zi Yan immediately nodded happily.
Only then did she turn her head toward Medusa. With a somewhat unnatural expression, she said, "Just now... thanks!"
Hearing Zi Yan's thanks, Medusa was slightly stunned, momentarily dazed. Then, reacting, she nodded.
"Xiao Yun, what now? We don't even have a single live captive anymore!" Zi Yan swept her gaze over the corpses strewn across the ground and couldn't help but ask Jiang Yun.
"Judging by their appearance, they should belong to some organization. If this world truly holds an opportunity, there should be other similar organizations. As we travel, we're bound to run into them sooner or later."
Medusa looked at the corpses, pondering before speaking.
Nodding, Jiang Yun thought likewise. As long as they remained within this ancient battlefield, they would encounter others eventually.
With a wave of his hand, several storage bracelets landed in his grasp. Seeing the women's puzzled gazes, he explained, "These are storage bracelets of the Great Thousand World. They function the same as storage rings!"
Hearing this, the two women's eyes immediately lit up. No wonder they hadn't found any storage rings on the men earlier. They'd assumed they were simply too poor to afford them. So they existed in bracelet form.
Having won the battle, it was now time for the happy task of dividing the spoils.
"The Great Thousand World's auxiliary professions are quite mature. Besides alchemists, there are also Spiritual Array Masters, Battle Formation Masters, Artifact Refiners, and so on. Thus, storage items are not scarce in the Great Thousand World!"
After briefly introducing the two women to the variety of auxiliary professions in the Great Thousand World, Jiang Yun broke the soul imprints on the bracelets and began looking through the men's possessions.
A moment later, Jiang Yun shook his head in disappointment. As expected, one couldn't set expectations too high. Aside from some healing pills, he also found a few spiritual arts. Unfortunately, only one was a Divine-grade spiritual art—and none of the three were interested.
There was a fair amount of miscellaneous junk, but nothing useful for the three of them!
"Broke bastards!" Looking at the items spread on the ground, Zi Yan curled her lip disdainfully. She popped a spiritual pill into her mouth. These Great Thousand World pills actually tasted pretty good.
"Those weapons are somewhat extraordinary, though!" Toward Zi Yan's behavior, Medusa merely curled her lip with mild scorn, turning her gaze toward the weapons the men had used.
Zi Yan naturally noticed Medusa's expression. But recalling what the other had done just moments ago, she endured it. She would be magnanimous and not bicker with her this time.
"These are all spirit artifacts of the Great Thousand World!" Jiang Yun looked at Medusa and said with a smile.
"These are spirit artifacts?"
Not only Medusa, but even Zi Yan curiously picked up a spirit artifact and fiddled with it.
"Spirit artifacts of the Great Thousand World are ranked from low to high: Spirit Artifacts, Divine Artifacts, Sacred Objects, and Peerless Sacred Objects. Each category is further divided into four grades: Low, Middle, High, and Supreme. Here, only this long spear is a middle-grade spirit artifact. The rest are all low-grade!"
Jiang Yun explained to the curiously exploring Zi Yan and Medusa, then continued, "Do any of you find anything fitting? If you need something, feel free to take it."
Shaking their heads, none of the weapons here suited them. The only middle-grade spirit artifact was lightning-attributed, which didn't match any of them. It wasn't as handy as their own conjured weapons.
Putting down the long spear, after hearing Jiang Yun's explanations, Zi Yan's eyes brightened. She thought of Qing Ming. Qing Ming was also the spirit of a weapon. She wondered what grade it was.
Curious, she wanted to ask. But thinking of Medusa beside her, Zi Yan forcibly held back.
After packing up, the three set out again, hunting for energy cores while simultaneously heading toward the continent's center, where spiritual energy was denser.
As time passed, the three didn't encounter any more unfamiliar squads. Although this was just a fragment of a continent, its area was not small. It was normal not to run into anyone.
During this period, as energy cores gradually became plentiful, Jiang Yun and Zi Yan successively reached the peak of the Heaven Transformation Realm, while Medusa recovered her Heaven-Connecting Realm cultivation.
Then, one day, a terrifying sound echoed from the depths of the battlefield. Following it, circles of fiery-red ripples spread outward.
Everyone saw the space in the distance distorting.
And as time passed, that distorted space began slowly tearing open. Behind the tearing, distorted space, it was as if boundless fiery light had materialized. An ancient, vast aura emanated from within, as if returning to a primeval land.
"Hm?"
"What is that?"
"Could an inheritance be emerging? The rumors are true!"