Immortal Refiner

Giant boulders shattered, and Heaven’s End Island completely collapsed. This once-miraculous island crumbled into fragments, plunging into the sea territory below.

The nascent soul cultivators, previously protected by the Heavenly Evolution Spirit Formation, were now mostly bound by five pitch-black rings.

The Five Elements Spirit-Sealing Rings completely suppressed their mana, rendering them utterly powerless.

Without mana, these cultivators were no different from mortals—mere lambs awaiting slaughter.

Only a handful of cultivators with keen senses of danger managed to escape. Li Qing, for example, had concealed himself within the Black Furnace, narrowly avoiding the black rings’ binding.

He landed on a fragment of the collapsing island, plummeting rapidly toward the sea.

Besides him, a few other cultivators had also escaped using various mystical techniques.

”Fourth Brother!” The Black Flood Dragon King, having narrowly escaped, suddenly realized his fourth brother hadn’t evaded the black rings’ confinement. The Scarlet Flood Dragon King, along with numerous human cultivators, was firmly bound.

The Scarlet Flood Dragon King transformed into his flood dragon form, but no matter how desperately he struggled, he couldn’t break free from the strange black rings.

”The formation has been broken. Don’t let a single human cultivator escape!” the Flame Demon Clan leader commanded coldly.

As soon as his words fell, a swarm of ancient demons in the nascent soul realm surged into action, descending upon the scattered Nascent Soul cultivators who had managed to break free.

A vast wave of demonic qi, accompanied by a cacophony of wailing and crackling, swept across the heavens.

”Such ruthless tactics... They’ve even brought a demonic treasure to the lower realm?” Wan Shengtian’s expression grew grave.

The moment the Heavenly Evolution Spirit Formation shattered, he had reacted instantly, using the towering pagoda beneath his feet to evade the demonic treasure’s binding force.

Now, Heaven’s End Island lay in ruins, yet the pagoda still stood tall.

Wan Shengtian stood atop the tower, his robes billowing in the fierce wind.

”With the formation broken, let’s see what else you humans can rely on,” the Flame Demon Clan leader roared, summoning a torrent of demonic fire that surged toward Wan Shengtian.

Meanwhile, Bai Cang, who had activated the Five Elements Spirit-Sealing Rings earlier, remained motionless. The previous attack had clearly drained his energy, requiring him to recuperate before continuing to maintain the rings’ suppression of the Nascent Soul cultivators.

Wan Shengtian remained silent, lightly tapping the towering pagoda with his foot. The massive structure instantly shrank, hurtling forward to suppress the Flame Demon Clan.

This tower was revealed to be an ancient treasure, its origins stretching back to an immeasurably distant past.

While its power couldn’t rival that of a spirit treasure, it far surpassed the natal magic treasures of most Nascent Soul cultivators.

The colossal tower loomed across the sky, intercepting the incoming demonic fire. In an instant, it unleashed a powerful wave of suppression aimed at the Flame Demon Clan’s Divine Transformation stage cultivator.

But this formidable ancient demon wouldn’t be subdued so easily. He conjured a massive wolf formed from demonic fire, channeling the Primordial Energy of Heaven and Earth to empower the fiery beast.

With a thunderous roar, the fire demon wolf stubbornly resisted the ancient treasure’s suppression, even launching a fierce counterattack.

The two Divine Transformation stage powerhouses clashed across the divide of the towering pagoda and the colossal wolf.

The sheer force of their collision shook the surrounding heavens and earth, overturning the very fabric of reality.

In this region, six Divine Transformation stage experts were locked in a fierce battle, with an ancient demon of the same realm observing from the sidelines, ready to strike. The scale of the conflict was truly earth-shattering.

Hidden within the Black Furnace, Li Qing had narrowly escaped annihilation. Yet, he was now too preoccupied to even notice the cataclysmic upheaval raging around him.

With a thought, a pair of silver-purple bone wings materialized behind him, ready to propel him away from the terrifying battlefield.

However, the nascent soul realm demons from Heaven’s End Island, who had been attacking the spirit formation earlier, immediately pursued him upon receiving orders.

The fleeing Nascent Soul cultivators were few in number, so each cultivator was being chased by at least a dozen ancient demons!

Li Qing’s situation was even more dire. He was being hunted by twenty-three ancient demons, all at the nascent soul realm, including several powerful late-stage nascent soul demons.

How could he possibly fight them? Even with the Wooden Spirit Puppet, he couldn’t possibly take on so many nascent soul realm demons at once—they were simply on a different scale!

Fortunately, I conserved some mana earlier and didn’t recklessly pour it all into the spirit formation.

Otherwise, I would have no chance of escaping this calamity today.

With this thought, Li Qing activated the Wind-Thunder Silver Wings behind him, unleashing the terrifying escape speed granted by the spirit treasure.

Whoosh!

His entire being transformed into a streak of Wind-Thunder escape light, vanishing in a flash across the sky. His speed was so great that it was impossible to track with the naked eye.

The ancient demons pursuing him revealed shock, stunned by the speed Li Qing had displayed.

”So fast? Those bone wings...”

”It’s a spirit treasure! This human is no ordinary cultivator. To possess a spirit treasure at the nascent soul realm is extraordinary!”

”Pursue him! We can’t let him escape. Capturing him alive would earn us immense merit!”

”A nascent soul cultivator can’t sustain a spirit treasure for long. Even with abundant mana, he won’t be able to maintain it for long.”

”I have several Wind-Guiding Mother-Child Talismans. Winged Demon Clan friends, each take a mother talisman and give chase. We can follow immediately using the child talismans!”

One of the demons produced several black paper talismans with cyan patterns and immediately handed them to the Winged Demon Clan ancient demons present.

”Agreed!” The Winged Demon Clan ancient demons accepted without hesitation. Their natural speed, enhanced by their wings, made them ideal for pursuit.

The Wind-Guiding Mother-Child Talisman was a specially crafted talisman, inscribed with demonic qi.

The mother talisman provided wind-based propulsion, allowing users to harness the ambient wind to accelerate their escape speed. This effectively allowed them to manipulate the Primordial Energy of Heaven and Earth.

Meanwhile, the child talisman could relentlessly track the mother talisman’s trajectory, following it to the ends of the earth.

On the Two Realms Battlefield between the demon realm and the spirit realm, this peculiar talisman proved exceptionally effective, inflicting devastating losses on the spirit realm’s reconnaissance cultivators.

Now, during their descent to the lower realm, these ancient demons had brought a portion of the Wind-Guiding Mother-Child Talismans with them.

The Winged Demon Clan members who received the Wind-Guiding Mother Talismans immediately displayed astonishing escape speed, nearly matching Li Qing’s velocity when he had been using the Wind-Thunder Silver Wings!

Li Qing, who had initially believed he had successfully escaped, soon realized that a torrent of demonic qi was surging behind him.

Sensing the Winged Demon Clan members relentlessly pursuing him, Li Qing’s scalp nearly exploded.

”How is this possible? They’re keeping pace with the escape speed of a yellow-grade spirit treasure! How can these winged demons be so absurdly fast?” Li Qing thought in utter shock.

He quickly noticed something was amiss.

”There’s wind energy circulating around these four ancient demons. Are they drawing on the Primordial Energy of Heaven and Earth to enhance their speed?”

Using the Wind-Thunder Silver Wings, Li Qing swiftly detected abnormal fluctuations in the wind energy of heaven and earth, originating from the Winged Demon Clan members behind him.

Gritting his teeth, Li Qing stubbornly flapped his wings with renewed vigor, fleeing even farther.

The four Winged Demons were indeed hot on his heels, barely falling behind.

”This won’t work! If this keeps up, they’ll catch me for sure. The Wind-Thunder Silver Wings consume far too much mana!”

Li Qing’s mind raced as he flew, desperately searching for a way to escape. But with the situation so dire, he couldn’t think of any good options.

”If they’re going to chase this relentlessly, I might as well kill them all! Then let’s see how they chase me!” Li Qing’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. He had no patience for this cat-and-mouse game with the Winged Demons.

He resolved to eliminate them as quickly as possible before resuming his escape. Otherwise, the staggering mana drain from maintaining the Wind-Thunder Silver Wings would inevitably exhaust him.

With this decision made, Li Qing acted decisively.

He abruptly reversed course, halting his retreat and charging directly toward the four formidable Winged Demons behind him.

Two early Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, one mid-Nascent Soul stage, and one late-stage nascent soul!

This was an exceptionally powerful lineup, capable of easily sweeping through most cultivation sects in the lower realm. Any Nascent Soul cultivator would flee in terror at the sight of such a force.

Yet Li Qing dared to turn and counterattack, displaying truly astonishing courage.

The Winged Demons showed no panic, as if they had anticipated this. They smirked mockingly:

”Realizing you can’t escape, are you going to fight to the death?”

”Fool! How could you possibly comprehend the divine mysteries of the treasure talisman created by a great power of the Demon Realm?”

”You think you can use a spirit treasure to kill us four? Heh, look behind us!”

As their words faded, Li Qing noticed faint, almost invisible threads extending from behind the Winged Demons. At the ends of these threads, over a dozen ferocious ancient demons were rapidly closing in.

Shit!

It’s over!

Li Qing’s breath hitched slightly, a rare feeling of helplessness gripping his heart.

In the next instant, the four Winged Demons surrounded him, cutting off all escape routes, while the remaining nineteen ancient demons swiftly converged.

In the blink of an eye, Li Qing found himself in the most desperate situation of his life.

A total of twenty-three ancient demons, all at the nascent soul realm, including several powerful late-stage nascent soul demons, their terrifying auras sent shivers down his spine.

Fight!

Li Qing acted decisively. He clapped his hands together and roared, ”Tree Puppet, descend!”

Boom!

In the next moment, the colossal Dark Willow Spirit Puppet descended, its shadow blotting out the sky as it enveloped the four Winged Demons.

But the Winged Demons’ speed and agility were astonishing. To them, the massive Dark Willow Spirit Puppet seemed clumsy, its sweeping willow branches unable to capture their fleeting forms.

”Intriguing. A spirit tree puppet? And such a colossal one at that. How was it forged?”

”This human’s methods are extraordinary. End this quickly; we can’t afford to linger.”

”Kill!”

The nineteen ancient demons trailing behind finally converged, forming a total of twenty-three Nascent Soul realm demons who completely surrounded Li Qing.

Despair washed over Li Qing.

He almost cursed aloud. Were Nascent Soul realm demons so worthless in the demon realm that twenty-three of them had been deployed to encircle him?

This was an impossible battle. No matter how sharp his skills, he couldn’t possibly withstand such a overwhelming force of demons at his level.

Yet he refused to surrender. He would fight to the bitter end.

Activating the Dark Willow Spirit Puppet, he launched an assault against the overwhelming number of ancient demons.

”Calamity Fire!”

Boom!

A massive wave of pitch-black demonic fire surged forth, instantly engulfing the Dark Willow Spirit Puppet. The scene mirrored the time when Li Qing had burned the tree with heavenly spirit fire, a technique originating from the Flame Demon Clan.

Li Qing’s expression darkened. He prepared to unleash his own heavenly spirit fire to counter the demonic flames and drive them back.

But before he could act, a barrage of attacks rained down upon him.

While ants might not be able to kill an elephant, such a swarm of ancient demons at the nascent soul realm could certainly overwhelm and crush him.

”Demonic Essence Heart-Devouring Hand!”

A late-stage nascent soul ancient demon seized the opportunity, unleashing a devastating palm strike that shattered the dark willow’s protective branches.

The palm landed squarely on Li Qing’s body, and dense demonic qi, like a virulent poison, burrowed into his fleshly body, beginning to devour and erode his physical form.

Pfft! Li Qing spat out a mouthful of crimson blood mist, staring in disbelief at his body, now suffused with primordial demonic qi.

He tried to circulate his pure spiritual energy to expel the demonic qi, but the effect was minimal.

The primordial demonic qi and pure spiritual energy mutually neutralized each other, making complete expulsion nearly impossible.

Fire Extreme Dharma Body!

Without hesitation, Li Qing activated this divine ability. Three-colored spirit fire erupted from his body, instantly coalescing into a colossal flame giant that enveloped him.

”A Dharma Avatar?”

”No, this isn’t a traditional Dharma Avatar divine ability. It’s likely a simplified version, lacking the earth-shattering power of the true form.”

”He has many secrets, but they’re useless. Capture him quickly!”

”...”

(End of the Chapter)

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