Chapter 987: City Lord Manor
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: StarveCleric
Without a doubt, an attack from a Primordial Spirit was extremely frightening. It could easily crush or even devour a soul. No matter how powerful one’s defense was, it was extremely difficult to guard one’s soul.
This was precisely the reason why a Primordial Spirit realm expert was extremely frightening, far beyond that of an Embryonic Soul realm cultivator.
When the Waterleaf King found himself poisoned and had his cultivation sealed, he knew that there was no way he would be getting out of here alive. Thus, he used a secret art to forcefully draw his Primordial Spirit out of his physical body, intending to devour the enemy’s soul whole as his final act of valor.
But when he dived into the other party’s body and saw the soul within, he nearly died of shock.
The other party’s soul was more than ten meters tall, and it commanded an aura of inviolable authority, reminiscent of the will of the heavens. Standing before it, he felt so pressured by the presence that it seemed like his mind would break at any moment.
"How... how could this be possible? How could anyone possibly have such a huge soul?"
The Waterleaf King couldn’t help but fly into a hysteria.
An ordinary Nascent Saint cultivator would have cultivated his soul, but it would only be at the elementary level of just being able to wield the power of the world. To make a comparison, it should have been nothing more than an infant before his.
But... what the heck was this?
More than ten meters tall, reminiscent of a massive mountain... and more importantly, there wasn’t the slightest bit of coldness or yin energy from it. On the contrary, it even carried a radiant tinge of lightning on it. Putting aside devouring that soul, it would be a huge blessing if he could avoid being devoured by it...
Could it be that... the fellow before him wasn’t a Nascent Saint but a Saint 5-dan or even 6-dan expert?
Otherwise, how could he have such a powerful soul?
He had thought that by going all out, he would at least be able to force the other party to pay a heavy price for his actions. Yet, who could have thought that the other party’s soul was far stronger than his? There was no way he could match that monstrous thing before him!
Why must reality be so cruel...
"Flee!"
Knowing that it was impossible for him to win, the Waterleaf King turned around and ran away without any hesitation.
But before he could get away, his body suddenly froze. Following which, a massive hand wrapped around his waist, and no matter how he struggled, he couldn’t break free from it.
"Soul Search!"
Grabbing the Primordial Spirit before him, Zhang Xuan uttered coldly.
It would have been extremely difficult for him to kill a Primordial Spirit realm expert using normal means had the other party not attempted to infiltrate his body with his Primordial Spirit. However, since the other party had done so, the rest was simple.
Flowing through his body was the incredibly powerful Heaven’s Path zhenqi, and on top of that, there was a Library of Heaven’s Path sitting within him. Even Vicious was no match for it, so how well could a mere Primordial Spirit possibly fare before it?
In just an instant, the other party was already screaming in agony, as if he had been dropped in a pot of oil.
"Young master, don’t kill that fellow. Leave his Primordial Spirit to me, I have a use for it!" Just as Zhang Xuan was about to conduct a Soul Search, Vicious abruptly spoke up.
"Leave his Primordial Spirit to you?"
"Yes. Consuming the Primordial Spirit of an Otherworldly Demon King can help me recover faster..." At which, Vicious hurriedly added, "Don’t worry, young master. I will make sure to squeeze every last bit of information that you want to know from him!"
"Alright then." Since Vicious had guaranteed it, Zhang Xuan nodded and passed the Waterleaf King’s Primordial Spirit over to him.
Leaving Vicious to be, he returned his consciousness to his physical body.
Exhaling deeply, it was only then did Zhang Xuan realize that he had broken out in cold sweat.
In truth, he was truly in a perilous situation for a moment there. Had the Waterleaf King decided to clash with him directly instead of foolishly slipping into his body in hopes of killing him faster, there was no saying who would be the ultimate victor.
While Zhang Xuan’s soul was indeed extremely large, it was still a little off from comparing up to a Primordial Spirit. After all, the difference between the two lay not just in their sizes but their level of existence as well.
The only reason why Zhang Xuan was able to emerge victorious was due to the overwhelming advantage he wielded in his body.
It seemed like he really had to be a little bit more careful when dealing with Primordial Spirit realm experts in the future.
Glancing at the corpse of the Waterleaf King, Zhang Xuan hooked his finger, and a storage ring flew into his grasp.
Immersing his consciousness within, he saw a huge mountain of treasures within. There must be at least several thousand high-tier spirit stones within the pile.
Most likely, he is on some kind of mission, just like the Goldenleaf King and Greenleaf King, that’s why he has so many high-tier spirit stones on him... Zhang Xuan thought as his eyes lit up.
Regardless of what the other party’s aim was, he had definitely made a killing with this sum of high-tier spirit stones.
He continued browsing through the other items in the storage ring, and there were a handful of secret manuals relating to the soul. However, just like those that the other two Kings had, their content was very bizarre and vague.
Casually flipping through those secret manuals, he found himself unable to make sense out of them. At that moment, a thought suddenly flashed across his mind.
Compile!
Compiling the soul cultivation technique manuals he had obtained from the three Otherworldly Demon Kings, a new book was formed.
He flipped open the new book and began browsing through it.
A moment later, his eyes lit up.
"To think that it works..."
He thought that due to the innate differences between humans and the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, their soul cultivation techniques would be useless towards him. However, after compiling many of them together, he realized that it was still possible to form a perfect Heaven’s Path Soul Art through it.
"From the looks of it, even though the soul cultivation techniques of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe differs from that of the humans, they are headed towards the same destination and possesses similar effects..." Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.
The original version of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe’s soul cultivation techniques was extremely bizarre. Based on his deduction, it was very likely that one could go berserk from cultivating it... However, thinking about it again, it might just be another different school of soul cultivation, one that was vastly different from that of the humans.
There were many different schools to interpreting cultivation, but the ultimate destination was the same.
Compile!
Taking out the Transcendent Mortal 9-dan soul cultivation technique which Mo Hunsheng had given him back then, he compiled it together with the soul cultivation technique which he had just compiled earlier on.
A moment later, a new book appeared before his eyes.
Taking a look at it, Zhang Xuan’s lips curled up.
He had finally perfected the Transcendent Mortal 9-dan Heaven’s Path Soul Art!
He had only cultivated his soul up to Transcendent Mortal 8-dan to date, and with this newly compiled Heaven’s Path Soul Art, he would be able to advance his soul cultivation to Transcendent Mortal 9-dan, thus advancing his strength further.
However, this isn’t the time for that!
Suppressing his urge to cultivate, Zhang Xuan cleared the corpse of the Waterleaf King before releasing the restraints in the surroundings and headed towards Inkcloud Quarter.
After wasting so much time, the auction was bound to have already begun.
The important matter at hand was to find the trail of the poison masters first.
Right after stepping into the auction, before Zhang Xuan could make sense out of the situation in there, Hu Yunsheng had already rushed up to him.
"Elder, the city lord has left the auction hall just a few moments ago!"
"He left the auction hall?" Zhang Xuan was surprised.
"Yes! Before the auction for the Sepulture Flower began, he suddenly turned around and left his VIP compartment. I thought that he might have some urgent matters to attend to and would be back very soon, but my men reported that he headed right back to the City Lord Manor. It seems like he has no intentions of participating in the auction anymore, but... I can’t help but feel that something is amiss." Hu Yunsheng frowned doubtfully.
That fellow was determined to obtain the Sepulture Flower previously, resorting to even forcing a trade with them. Yet, right before the auctioning of the Sepulture Flower, he suddenly turned around and left...
This had left Hu Yunsheng baffled.
Zhang Xuan was also rather perplexed by the situation as well.
There was something really off about this matter.
He had met the city lord for himself, and he could feel the latter’s determination in obtaining the Sepulture Flower... The latter had already come to the auction hall, and it was just moments before the auction of the Sepulture Flower. Why would he suddenly give up at this point?
"Could he be planning on snatching the Sepulture Flower?" Zhang Xuan asked.
"It doesn’t seem too likely considering that he returned back to his City Lord Manor... My guess is that there might be an abrupt situation that left him no choice but to return!" Hu Yunsheng pondered for a moment before replying.
Zhang Xuan fell into a moment of deep thought before nodding, "I understand. For the time being, you should focus on running the auction and continue keeping a lookout for the poison masters. I will go and see what is going on with the city lord."
The very fact that the city lord wanted the Sepulture Flower, which should have only been useful to the poison masters, had already rung some warning bells in his head. For the other party to suddenly leave so hurriedly at this moment, there was probably something even deeper to the matter. This was something that deserved looking further into.
"Alright!" Hu Yunsheng nodded. "The City Lord Manor is well-guarded, and it will be dangerous to infiltrate it... Elder, do be careful!"
He wasn’t worried about Zhang Xuan’s safety, but there would be no one to cure his poison should something happen to the latter.
"Rest assured!" Zhang Xuan waved his hands.
He might not be a match for a Primordial Spirit realm Otherworldly Demon, but those guards of the City Lord Manor could barely be considered a threat to him.
"Un." Recalling that the middle-aged man before him was not only a powerful cultivator but a poison master as well, Hu Yunsheng heaved a sigh of relief and nodded.
After which, he quickly pointed out the direction of the City Lord Manor and explained its layout to the other party.
As an intelligence agency, it was no surprise for Inkcloud Quarter to have detailed information about the blueprint and security of the City Lord Manor.
Very soon, after Zhang Xuan gained a decent level of understanding regarding the City Lord Manor, he began making his way over.
The City Lord Manor stood at the very heart of Jingyuan City, just a few kilometers away from Inkcloud Quarter. Flying under the cover of the night sky, it didn’t take long for a vast manor to come into sight.
Recalling the intelligence which Hu Yunsheng had supplied him earlier, Zhang Xuan activated his Eye of Insight and easily found the openings in the defensive formations and patrols.
It seems like that fellow’s intelligence network is pretty impressive after all!
Zhang Xuan chuckled under his breath before making his way in.
It was only due to the extreme secrecy the Poison Hall maintained that Hu Yunsheng was unable to obtain much news regarding it. As for the other matters, Inkcloud Quarter’s intelligence network was still of great use.
With the intelligence Zhang Xuan had obtained beforehand, it didn’t take long for Zhang Xuan to bypass the defenses of the City Lord Manor and arrive in the vicinity of the main hall, where the city lord resided.
With a nimble leap, he hid amidst a huge tree in the courtyard and secretly peeked in.
Following which, he saw the city lord pacing around the vast main hall nervously, seemingly waiting for something.
The two guards that were with him were also standing on high alert, scanning their surroundings seriously.
"The both of you are dismissed for the time being." The city lord waved his hand.
"Yes, my lord!"
The two guards left the main hall, and the room fell silent.
The city lord continued pacing around the room nervously, and a moment later, a unique aura suddenly permeated the room.
Following which, a silhouette abruptly appeared in the room.
"Paying respects to the great lord..."
Upon seeing the silhouette, the city lord heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly clasped his fist. It seemed like this was the person he was waiting for all this while.
"Un." The silhouette placed his hands behind his back and nodded nonchalantly.
"Lord, the auction for the Sepulture Flower you tasked me to purchase is about to begin..." The city lord said questioningly with a tinge of doubt in his voice.
It was under the other party’s orders that he was going to purchase the Sepulture Flower, but just moments before the auctioning of the Sepulture Flower, the other party abruptly summoned him back. He couldn’t help but feel a little bewildered by the situation.
"Something has happened..." Instead of responding to the city lord’s query, the silhouette said with a deep frown.
"Something has happened?" The city lord repeated uncomprehendingly.
"Un."
The silhouette waved his hand, and just as he was about to speak, his eyebrows suddenly shot up. Turning his gaze in the direction where Zhang Xuan was hidden, he bellowed coldly, "Who is there?"