Chapter 137: Realized Master Iceflame

"Old Ancestor, do you mean to lure him in here, have me distract him, and then you seize the opportunity to take over his body? But what if his body has already been possessed by someone else?"

Master Sanmiao asked timidly. According to the laws of the cultivation world, a cultivator could only possess another body or be possessed once.

"If his body has never been possessed, that would be for the best. Even if it has, I still have great use for his physical vessel! As for you, why do I detect a hint of fear in your voice?"

The voice inside the black urn said in a weird, mocking tone.

"This grandson wouldn't dare!" Sanmiao was so frightened that he immediately knelt down and kowtowed heavily. "This grandson is only overjoyed that the Old Ancestor is about to gain freedom, and I harbor absolutely no disloyal thoughts. Please search my soul and judge for yourself, Old Ancestor!"

"Hmph, that had better be the case. Once I successfully break free, it will be time for True Immortal Bingyan to restore our former glory. Then I shall roam the entire world at will, and you, as my direct descendant, will enjoy endless benefits. Hmph, pull yourself together and don't ruin matters of great importance, you understand?"

"This grandson understands!"

Just as the two were speaking, a series of explosive sounds echoed from the cave passageway. The momentum was so great that it caused the entire cave to vibrate slightly, clearly indicating that someone was using brute force to smash through the various restrictive barriers within the passage.

"They arrive rather quickly. It seems the people outside have all been wiped out by him. Grandson, you shall..."

"Ah, the Old Ancestor is truly wise!"

In a short while, the area near the sacrificial altar fell silent.

Bang!

Following a final deafening crash came the sound of rushing wind, and a figure quickly appeared at the entrance of the sacrificial altar.

"Jiang has arrived, making the Master wait quite a while."

Jiang An stepped inside, his eyes immediately falling upon Master Sanmiao and the sight behind him: an ancient sacrificial altar upon which hovered a small red and white sword, radiating a powerful aura that made one's heart skip a beat.

"Jiang An! Did you slaughter all the disciples of my Divine Medicine Mountain? How utterly ruthless! Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?" Master Sanmiao pointed at Jiang An, his hair and beard standing on end as he roared in anger.

"The Master does Jiang An a great injustice. There are over a thousand people in Divine Medicine Mountain, but Jiang An merely exterminated the few dozen who blocked my path. As for the spoils of battle, I haven't had time to collect them yet, because I feared that if I dawdled, the Master would depart without saying goodbye, leaving behind a profound regret," Jiang An said with a cold expression.

"Audacious! Am I the kind of coward who would abandon his sect mates and flee alone?" Master Sanmiao shouted righteously. "I merely came here to retrieve the ancestral treasure of our sect so that I might sever your dog head!"

Jiang An automatically filtered out the first half of his sentence, his gaze shifting to the exquisite small sword behind Sanmiao. He chuckled softly, "Is this your reliance? It doesn't look like an ordinary magic tool; rather, it carries a hint of a true magical treasure. No wonder the Master was willing to risk his life to come here. Very well, let Jiang An witness its power."

"Fine! I will hack you into a thousand pieces!"

Sanmiao squeezed the harsh words through his teeth, then puffed out his sleeves and executed a sword incantation. The red and white small sword behind him trembled slightly, vanished from the spot in a flash, and instantly reappeared directly above Jiang An, slashing downward at his head.

Jiang An had been on guard for a long time. With a grip of his large hand, he was just about to throw a punch when the small sword suddenly burst apart. A hidden green light flashed and vanished directly into Jiang An's glabella.

Seeing this, Master Sanmiao was overjoyed. He had not expected it to go so smoothly; an Old Ancestor was truly an Old Ancestor after all.

Within the Sea of Consciousness realm.

A green light materialized out of thin air, transforming into the face of an old man with an enormous mouth. He burst into laughter, "It is done! This place now belongs to this True Immortal. Boy, show yourself at once and obediently let the Old Ancestor consume you!"

No sound answered him.

"Hiding? Let's see how long you can hide!"

The green-faced old man smiled sinisterly and flew rapidly toward the spiritual platform in the center of the Sea of Consciousness. After a moment, just like the ghost face that had invaded previously, he discovered something abnormal.

This Sea of Consciousness was vast beyond measure, yet devoid of any spiritual ocean water. As far as the eye could see stretched an endless, parched seabed, a sight that shocked the green-faced old man to the core.

"Alas, the guests who arrive here are always far too weak. In that case, let Jiang An welcome you in person!"

A clear and resonant voice rang out inexplicably, startling the green-faced old man.

"Who is it? Who is playing God?!"

Before the words had even faded, a terrifying divine sense of infinite majesty descended from the sky, spanning countless spaces. The green-faced old man was instantly frozen in place, watching in helpless horror as a colossal green hand, blotting out the heaven and earth, grabbed him and squeezed with gentle force.

"No!"

His final cry of despair rang out, and the green-faced old man's soul was shattered into oblivion, erased from existence entirely.

Having learned from his previous lesson, the divine sense of Jiang An did not mobilize too much power beyond the Earth's seal, so he could not use the mystical ability to trace back to the original source. Instead, he simply assimilated the invading divine sense and extracted a portion of its memories.

"Hmm? Rather interesting. Since there is such a fine treasure here, it would be ungracious of me not to accept it!"

In the real world.

"The Old Ancestor should be finishing up the battle soon."

Master Sanmiao walked around Jiang An's motionless, meditating physical body, thinking to himself that given the Old Ancestor's immensely formidable divine sense, dealing with a rookie whose divine sense could not yet project outward could easily be described as taking candy from a baby.

At that moment, Jiang An suddenly opened his eyes, locking gazes with Sanmiao.

"Ah! Congratulations, Old Ancestor!" Sanmiao instinctively moved to bow and offer congratulations, but Jiang An's piercing gaze made his heart leap with terror. He violently leaped backward, trembling as he stammered, "You, you, you are not the Old Ancestor! You are Jiang An!"

"Is that your final last word, Sima Yi?" Jiang An said coldly.

Sanmiao's expression shifted drastically. Jiang An actually knew his real name, which meant that—

He had no time left to think, for a blur flashed before his eyes, and Jiang An was already right in front of him. With a thrust of his large hand, he effortlessly shattered Sanmiao's feeble protective spiritual light and, amidst the man's terrified gaze, crushed his heart!

Allowing a physical body cultivator to get close was absolute death.

Crack!

Jiang An withdrew his hand, and Sanmiao's corpse—eyes wide with eternal grievance—hit the ground, signaling the final destruction of Divine Medicine Mountain.

At the exact same moment, in a valley more than twenty miles away.

More than a dozen acres of flat land had been cleared within the valley, planted with all sorts of spiritual flowers and herbs. Many of them glowed in the dark—blue, red, and yellow—resembling mesmerizing, brilliant fireflies. Most conspicuous of all was a massive tree in the center, towering over ten meters high, its canopy emitting a faint cyan-green fluorescent glow. Otherwise, there were no other anomalies.

Sitting cross-legged beneath the tree was a young boy—none other than Tianci's disciple, Tao'er.

Because the spiritual herb garden was filled with various medicinal plants, the spiritual energy in the air was exceptionally dense, which was highly beneficial for cultivation. However, to outsiders, the smell was rather unpleasant, being a bizarre mixture of various herbal aromas.

There were still quite a few spiritual herb gardens of this scale throughout Divine Medicine Mountain, but this particular one was exclusively tended by the Scripture Pavilion. Thus, as the sole disciple of the Scripture Pavilion elder, Tao'er was able to cultivate here at night, a fact in which he took great pride.

Only, tonight felt somewhat restless. Strange noises echoed from the distance from time to time. Especially when he thought of the mysterious man who had followed him and his master into the mountain, the youthful Tao'er couldn't help but gaze toward the direction of the main peak.

*Sigh*, just as Master said, my heart is not tranquil. Forget it, cultivating in this state is of no use; I might as well go back to my room and copy the Heart-Calming Mantra.

Thinking this, Tao'er stood up briskly, about to head toward the cottage, when suddenly, the tree trunk behind him shot out a faint green beam of light that accurately struck the boy's head.

The boy fell straight to the ground, clutching his head as he rolled around in agony. His face twisted horribly, and he continuously let out miserable, low growls. However, this condition lasted for less than ten seconds before the boy suddenly quieted down. As he stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes, his originally innocent and bright eyes turned gloomy and vicious.

"Fortunately, I managed to successfully cultivate a split soul over the past few decades, otherwise this True Immortal really would have perished here. Anyone capable of obliterating my main soul in the blink of an eye is definitely not someone I can afford to provoke right now. No, I must leave immediately! Although this boy's aptitude is simply atrocious, beggars can't be choosers; staying alive is what matters."

Young Tao'er muttered to himself, then looked back at the giant tree before him, saying with lingering hatred: "I absolutely cannot let the enemy have this Zidu Spirit Tree. But with my current cultivation level, I cannot take it away, nor can I destroy it. What should I do?"

The boy rubbed his chin, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes: "Since I can't take it with me, why should I leave it for someone else? I have to abandon everything here anyway, so wouldn't it be best if I detonate the sect-protecting grand formation and annihilate everything on Divine Medicine Mountain along with the enemy?!"

No sooner said than done, the boy gritted his teeth, turned around, and prepared to hurry toward a hidden treasure repository to execute his destruction plan, when suddenly a figure soared swiftly across the horizon, shouting from afar:

"Tao'er! A catastrophe has occurred! Pack your things quickly; Divine Medicine Mountain is facing total annihilation!"

The boy raised his head, a fierce and murderous intent flashing deep within his gloomy pupils.