Immortal Refiner

Hearing the cold, clear voice, Li Qing instinctively turned his head.

He hadn’t noticed when Shen Ningbing had appeared beside him, her hand firmly gripping his wrist.

The usually ice-cold Shen Ningbing now wore a palpable sorrow on her face.

Leave? Where to?

Li Qing nearly blurted out the question, but swallowed it back at the last moment.

In Shen Ningbing’s other hand, she held a talisman covered in mysterious runes. The silver symbols radiated an unfathomable power; even a single glance made Li Qing feel dizzy and disoriented.

The next moment, Shen Ningbing activated the talisman.

Boom!

The space before her tore open, revealing a bottomless spatial rift.

Spiritual light poured from the talisman, flowing like liquid mercury across Shen Ningbing’s body before enveloping Li Qing as well.

”Go!”

With a single, soft word, Shen Ningbing pulled Li Qing into the spatial rift before them.

The scene left both the demonic race and the cultivators stunned.

”What kind of technique is this? How can they tear through space?”

”Are they insane? Attempting spatial travel with only foundation establishment realm cultivation? Even ten lives wouldn’t be enough!”

”Void turbulence can shred anything to pieces. How can their fleshly bodies possibly withstand it?”

Some demons cried out in disbelief, their eyes wide with incredulity.

Amidst the gasps and shouts, Li Qing and Shen Ningbing plunged into the spatial rift.

In the northern sky, two core formation ancestors from the Shangqing Sect, who had just returned from pursuing True Lord Ziqing, witnessed the entire event firsthand.

”What’s happening? Why is there such a violent disturbance in space?”

”What’s going on? Did someone escape again?”

Only Wen Xing, her face grim, spat out three words:

”Void-Piercing Talisman!”

The moment these words left her lips, the two core formation ancestors who had just returned from their pursuit gasped in unison.

”Hiss! Such a divine talisman exists? Even in ancient times, these talismans were exceedingly rare and have been lost for countless years!”

”Legend has it that such a heaven-defying treasure talisman was lost in ancient times. It’s impossible to see one now, so how could it have reappeared?”

”According to ancient texts, this talisman can not only briefly tear through space but also protect cultivators from the ravages of void turbulence.”

Even the core formation realm True Lords couldn’t hide their shock, unable to believe such a treasure talisman had actually appeared.

”They were just a couple of insects that escaped. Ignore them and finish off True Lord Bing Yun,” Wen Xing said coldly, drawing the nine lives bow and aiming at True Lord Bing Yun, who was still locked in fierce combat with the ancient demon.

But in the next instant, True Lord Bing Yun’s body began to crystallize, inch by inch, turning into ice.

The ancient demon, equally bewildered, ultimately unleashed a fist wreathed in surging demonic qi.

Bang!

The ice crystal statue that had been True Lord Bing Yun shattered into countless fragments.

Ice shards danced through the air, refracting the sunlight into dazzling brilliance.

Was she really dead?

The question flashed through everyone’s minds, for the entire sequence had unfolded with shocking suddenness.

Below, only four or five Lingyun Sect elders remained, their grief and rage echoing across the battlefield.

”No! Ancestor Bing Yun!”

”Demonic bastards, I’ll fight you to the death!”

”Run! Stop fighting and run! As long as the green hills remain, we can always gather firewood!”

”...”

Alas, they were no match for the overwhelming numbers of the Chi Demon Tribe. Wave after wave of ferocious ancient demons completely blocked their last escape route.

The three core formation ancestors of the Shangqing Sect exchanged swift glances, their eyes communicating volumes.

”Search the area thoroughly!” Wen Xing said coldly. ”Bing Yun’s methods are unpredictable. This might be some kind of Ice Evasion Technique.”

Before they could act, a colossal demonic qi palm descended from the heavens, blotting out the sun.

Boom!

The three Shangqing Sect ancestors were simultaneously struck by the palm, but each managed to unleash a life-saving divine ability to break free.

Wen Xing’s face paled slightly, a flicker of terror in her murky eyes.

The other two core formation ancestors sustained significant injuries, their faces etched with confusion. Why had the Chi Demon Tribe’s ancient ancestor suddenly attacked them?

”Senior of the demonic race,” Wen Xing called out, ”we just helped you. Why are you suddenly attacking us?”

”Please believe us, we harbor no hostility towards you!”

Ancestor Chi Ming ignored their pleas and pointed a finger at the three core formation realm ancestors once more.

A colossal demonic finger, as massive as a towering pillar, materialized instantly and descended with overwhelming speed.

”Run! Escape now!” Wen Xing shouted in panic, taking flight first.

The other two core formation realm True Lords reacted too slowly. The demonic finger crushed them beneath its tip.

”Ahhh! No! Why?!”

”You can’t be so ungrateful! We just saved you!”

Their cries were cut short by two muffled explosions. Twin bursts of blood mist erupted, filling the air with a thick, metallic stench.

”Why? Do I need a reason to kill human cultivators?” Ancestor Chi Ming asked, feigning confusion, his voice dripping with contempt.

”How strange. It’s not like I begged you to help me.”

He had captured several barely alive Lingyun Sect elders in the demon’s den to extract their memories, so he was naturally familiar with the human language.

He had heard everything that had transpired just now and roughly understood why these core formation realm cultivators had suddenly come to their aid.

Their motive was simply to use him to eliminate the nascent soul realm cultivator known as Heaven Devourer, and in truth, they had achieved their goal.

Chi Ming, however, wouldn’t mind killing a few more human cultivators. He felt no psychological burden whatsoever about this.

”One escaped. They sure know how to flee quickly,” Ancestor Chi Ming murmured to himself.

”I’ll hunt him down!” Chi Shang snarled, his murderous aura still blazing.

But Ancestor Chi Ming stopped him. ”No need. This is human territory after all. Chasing him might lead to unforeseen complications.”

”The battle with Heaven Devourer left me with significant injuries. There’s no point in pursuing him further.”

With that, Ancestor Chi Ming produced a stone tablet inscribed with the locations of spatial nodes leading to the demon realm.

One of them was within Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate, and it was nearby!

”Conserve your strength. Prepare to return to the holy realm.”

”Crossing between realms, even with the aid of our realm’s progenitor, won’t be easy. The void turbulence is terrifying—even I could be torn apart by it.”

”Unlike those two insects who escaped using Void-Piercing Talismans, we’re merely traversing space within this realm. The talisman’s protective power allows us to ignore the void turbulence.”

As he spoke, Ancestor Chi Ming led his fellow ancient demons to search the Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate.

It was a tragic sight. The once ethereal mountain gate, once a realm of spiritual energy resembling an immortal paradise, had now been overrun by ancient demons.

Many ancient demons had perished in the battle. Their remains were fully utilized, transformed into demonic qi seeds, and planted throughout the Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate.

With the planting of these seeds, the area was transformed into demonic soil. The once spiritually vibrant immortal sect now reeked of sinister demonic qi.

”After locating the spatial node, we must await the progenitor’s response. We’ll need to hold this position. Let’s hope no foolish humans come to interfere.”

Chi Ming soared into the air, gazing down at the Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate, now a stretch of demonic soil. His gaze scanned the stone tablet, comparing the spatial node information inscribed there.

”Found it. I never expected it to be right here.”

With those words, Ancestor Chi Ming’s figure flashed, and he arrived before the Lingyun Sect’s Ice Prison.

”I never imagined these cultivators would use a spatial node as a prison. How laughable.”

Staring at the tranquil Ice Prison before him, Chi Ming shook his head with a cold smile. Then, with a sudden burst of power, he unleashed a palm strike that shattered the entire structure, reducing it to rubble.

Once the prison’s interior was fully exposed, Chi Ming levitated a stone slab with one hand and began chanting in the mysterious ancient demonic language.

The ritualistic incantation, both mystical and grand, seemed to carry its syllables across vast distances.

As the final verse of the ancient demonic language echoed through the air, the stone slab in Chi Ming’s hand suddenly levitated. One of the spatial nodes inscribed on its surface began to glow with an intense, star-like radiance.

The luminous sphere gradually contracted, then focused its beam toward a specific spatial intersection within the collapsed Ice Prison—the deepest chamber where Elder Wu Yuan had once been imprisoned.

”This is the place. After all these years, will the progenitor still respond?” Chi Ming’s voice suddenly grew tense.

This method had been left behind by the Chi Demon Tribe’s ancestors who first invaded this realm. After countless ages, even Chi Ming couldn’t be certain whether the Demonic Realm Progenitors would still answer their call.

If they failed to respond, his entire race would be trapped here, silently awaiting their inevitable demise.

(End of the Chapter)

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