Chapter 37: The Dharma of Derived Appearances

Page (1/3)

Jiang Heng frowned. She was just about to step forward and speak when Han Jie caught her by the arm.

Han Jie turned to Peak Master Xu. “Disciple wishes to examine the corpse of the demonic cultivator who brought us here. Would that be convenient?”

Peak Master Xu nodded and waved a hand. The little old man’s corpse instantly appeared before them.

This was another example of Peak Master Xu’s apparent roughness concealing a careful mind. Though the soul was gone and its memories could no longer be searched, he had neither treated the body as rubbish and thrown it away nor destroyed it in a fit of anger. Instead, he had preserved it.

Han Jie stepped beside the corpse and swept a finger through the air.

Several streaks of golden light shot into the little old man’s abdomen. His clothes split apart, and his wrinkled belly was sliced into several sections. Not a drop of blood splashed out. The flesh unfolded from within outward like petals, revealing the organs inside.

Everyone else marveled at Han Jie’s clean, efficient technique. Only Huo Shiqing narrowed his eyes and stared at Han Jie’s face, suspicion flickering in his gaze.

Han Jie said, “He was indeed telling the truth. He was genuinely a Qi Refining cultivator. There is no Golden Core within him, and his spiritual sea and meridians are only at the level of Qi Refining.”

Peak Master Xu muttered, “That’s right. That was exactly what he said at the time. But why…”

“Earlier, I had a theory,” Han Jie said. “I was merely uncertain of it. Now that we have confirmed a second example, I am seventy to eighty percent certain.”

“What theory?” Peak Master Xu asked.

“I once read in a jade slip that the Lost Moon Palace possesses a forbidden art known as the Grand Art of Evolving Forms. It can rapidly raise another person’s cultivation realm within a short period and connect its aura to theirs, placing their life and death under the control of the host.”

“I was certain that the Sixth Young Master was only at the Foundation Establishment realm, which was why I dared approach him and strike. I never expected him to suddenly become a Nascent Soul cultivator. The fact that the people on the other side learned of his death without a sound may also be explained by this.”

Peak Master Xu’s heart jolted. He could not help blurting out, “No. Impossible…”

The Grand Art of Evolving Forms was a quasi-saint-level demonic technique said to be mastered only by the Palace Master and elders of the Lost Moon Palace.

In later generations, all those who imitated or falsely claimed its name might resort to every kind of deception, intimidation, and self-promotion, but so long as their leader did not know this technique, they were nothing more than clowns borrowing the name for attention.

Yet the Lost Moon Palace had been eradicated root and branch for countless years. How could such a terrifying existence have appeared again?

Huo Shiqing said coldly, “The more you speak, the more absurd it becomes. The Lost Moon Palace is nothing more than an illusory legend from antiquity. Demonic cultivators may use it as a pretext, but you are a righteous cultivator. How dare you use something unverified from a jade slip to spread wild rumors here? You are merely trying to shirk responsibility.”

He looked toward Peak Master Xu. “The most important thing now is to leave this place. We can discuss the matter with the Sect Master and the senior cultivators from the other sects after we return.”

Peak Master Xu likewise did not wish for Han Jie’s words to be true. He nodded. “Indeed. I’ll search for the weakest point in this mountain’s barrier. Prepare to form the array.”

The Star-Dipper Formation was one of the Myriad Spirits Sect’s treasures for suppressing the sect. It could be used for both offense and defense, and its power was extraordinarily domineering.

Under Peak Master Xu’s direction, the Core Formation disciples coordinated with the treasure, drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and pouring it all into his body.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

With a thunderous roar, he shattered the Daoist robe from his body. His muscles swelled dramatically, spiritual energy coiled around him, and his eyes turned scarlet.

Thick pillars of light shot one after another from his magical weapon toward the barrier suspended in the void, shaking heaven and earth and throwing the winds and clouds into turmoil.

Before long, cracks appeared in the barrier overhead, accompanied by a sharp hissing sound. The ground beneath their feet trembled without pause.

For some reason, Jiang Heng felt a chill creep over her back.

It was as though a pair of invisible eyes were watching them.

She swiftly scanned her surroundings, but discovered nothing unusual. Even the black shadows they had seen earlier were nowhere to be found.

Jiang Heng could only put the matter from her mind and concentrate on protecting the formation. If the array were damaged, all their previous efforts would be wasted.

Just as the barrier was about to shatter, darkness suddenly swallowed everyone’s vision. A black hurricane, vast enough to overturn mountains and seas, engulfed them!

Peak Master Xu instinctively spread out a barrier to protect the disciples, but the hurricane struck him and sent him flying. His chest tightened, and the sweetness of blood rose to his throat. He nearly spat it out.

When their vision returned, they saw the ground dozens of yards away split wide open. From within it emerged half the body of a gigantic, hideous, pitch-black serpentine demon beast. It roared furiously and spewed thick black miasma toward them.

What an enormous serpent! Its mouth alone was nearly large enough to swallow half a mountain peak in a single bite!

Peak Master Xu recognized the beast’s level at a glance. When he sensed the turbid, sinister aura surrounding it, his heart sank to the bottom.

Years of rich experience in battles fought on the brink of life and death told him that they would probably die here today.

This was most likely a genuine ancient demon beast, possessing at least ten thousand years of cultivation. It appeared to have been sealed by an ancient great being long ago, yet for some unknown reason, it had awakened at this very moment.

Before an overwhelming disparity in strength, everything else was meaningless.

The records of surviving desperate situations that he took such pride in would probably end here.

Despair filled Peak Master Xu’s heart. He offered up his finest defensive artifact and merged it into the Star-Dipper Formation. The two fused into a massive lotus platform glittering with starlight.

While unleashing every last drop of his spiritual power and fighting the demon beast to the death, he roared, “Everyone, get on! Return to the Myriad Spirits Sect and report this matter! Nephew Huo, take them and leave!”

Several of his disciples burst into tears, crying out for their master.

They knew that their master intended to protect them with his life. Once they left, they would never meet again.

Yet no matter how grief-stricken they were, they still obeyed through their tears.

The chance to escape purchased with their master’s life—if they wasted it, that would be the greatest possible act of filial impiety.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Nearly everyone climbed onto the lotus platform, but for some reason, Han Jie remained where he was, standing still and gazing up at the demon beast.

Jiang Heng was just about to run over and drag him back when someone seized her by the collar and hauled her onto the lotus platform.

It was Huo Shiqing. He held Jiang Heng down with spiritual pressure so forcefully that she could not move at all.

Jiang Heng struggled. “Senior Brother Han hasn’t come up yet!”

Huo Shiqing said coldly, “No one is stopping him. If he wants to throw his life away, he can do so without dragging the rest of us down with him!”

As he spoke, he activated a spell. The lotus platform rose into the air and sped toward the crack.

Jiang Heng shouted for Han Jie. Han Jie turned his head to look at her and seemed to say something, but the sound of the wind mingled with the roar of battle, and she could no longer make out his words.

Jiang Heng’s heart seemed to sink into the bottom of an icy lake.

She did not understand why Han Jie was not fleeing. Could it be that he could not bear to leave Peak Master Xu alone to fight the demon beast and had chosen to stay behind to help?

But he was only a Core Formation cultivator. No matter how many treasures he possessed, he could not make any real difference.

The battles of cultivators had never been decided by numbers, but by the disparity in cultivation and strength. He was simply throwing his life away!

When the lotus platform had flown roughly half a mile from the mountain peak, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted. The resulting shockwave nearly shattered the platform.

Xia Zhiyu reacted swiftly and enveloped everyone in the Veil of Circular Radiance, preventing them from being blasted out of the sky.

Several of Peak Master Xu’s disciples began to weep bitterly.

That was the sound produced when a Nascent Soul cultivator self-destructed. Their master had fallen.

Even so, the blast had not killed the demon beast. It had merely slowed its attacks, buying them enough time to flee farther away.

Pinned down by Huo Shiqing and unable even to turn over, Jiang Heng looked sideways at the radiant afterglow blazing like the evening sky and at the giant serpent rolling and struggling amid a heaven-spanning rain of beautiful, tragic blood. Her fingertips nearly tore through her sleeve.

With such a devastating shockwave spreading across the battlefield, Han Jie could not possibly have escaped.

At last, she had encountered someone kind and warm toward her—and now he was gone.