Chapter 197: Ambush and Kill Song Qing (Congratulations to the Silver Grand Alliance Leader! )
Chapter 197: Ambush and Kill Song Qing (Congratulations to the Silver Grand Alliance Leader! )
With Fang Xi’s current divine abilities and methods, quickly killing Daoist Huahe would be simple, but capturing him alive proved to be quite difficult.
Inside a newly opened cave-dwelling.
"You. . . what are you doing?"
Daoist Huahe struggled to lift his head, his eyes filled with pleading.
Alas, Fang Xi harbored not the slightest shred of pity for this notorious brigand who had once roamed outside White Peace Immortal City.
"Fellow Daoist Huahe, please relax. I merely wish for you to cooperate in performing a spell. . ."
Fang Xi wore a gentle smile on his face, as a vine tendril extended from his sleeve, a demonic tree seed at its tip.
According to his experience in refining 'human puppets', to maximize the preservation of a cultivator's spiritual power realm, it was best to craft them while the target was still alive!
"You. . . what are you trying to do? Ahhh. . . !"
Daoist Huahe watched as Fang Xi planted a seed into his body, initially confused, but as the seed burrowed into his flesh, took root and sprouted, and began devouring his bones. . . he immediately let out a piercing shriek.
Fortunately, the cave-dwelling was surrounded by array formations, so no matter how terribly Daoist Huahe screamed, the sound could not possibly spread outwards.
Meanwhile, Fang Xi pressed one hand onto Daoist Huahe's head, as if watching a disjointed film.
These memories were quite chaotic, and finding useful information required powerful Divine Consciousness and patience:
"So. . . that group of rogue cultivators I encountered outside the Grand Auction back when I was still in Qi Refinement, the mastermind behind them was also this scoundrel Huahe!"
"This person specialized in robbing Qi Refinement cultivators, accumulating countless offenses, yet his cultivation remained at early Foundation Establishment. . . because the majority of his gains were secretly taken by the Song Clan. . ."
"Later, he was wanted by White Peace Immortal City but gained the Song Clan's protection. . . he even occasionally dared to target Foundation Establishment convoys. . ."
"Hmm? Is this. . . Song Qing? !"
"This person hasn't left the State of Yue yet?"
...
A moment later.
Daoist Huahe's face had completely stiffened.
Driven by the demonic tree, his face turned green. With his hands, now reattached after his severed arm, forming hand seals, spiritual power barely at the level of when he first entered Foundation Establishment overflowed from him.
"Although his spiritual power has fallen somewhat, he still maintains the Foundation Establishment realm. Not bad, not bad. . ."
A thought struck Fang Xi regarding this kind of 'human puppet', and he immediately conceived more uses for them.
Human puppets were slow in movement, had high offense but low defense, and lacked agility, making them living targets if directly used in combat against others.
Therefore, it was best to teach them the way of battle formations. As long as their numbers increased and they formed battle arrays, Qi Refinement cultivators fighting Foundation Establishment, and Foundation Establishment fighting Core Formation. . . would be far from mere fantasy!
'Battle formations' were a type of array formation where cultivators served as the various array foundations and array cores, connecting their spiritual power to impact higher levels of strength!
Aside from that, having human puppets hold array flags, acting as guardians and humanoid spirit stones for replenishing spiritual energy, was also a good option.
With the protection of array flags and formations, the human puppets' shortcomings could be compensated for.
Of course. . . their reputation wouldn't be very good.
The main reason Fang Xi turned Daoist Huahe into a human puppet was to extract as many of his memories as possible.
"This old man lied. . . The reason he lured me with bait in White Peace Immortal City back then. . . was entirely his own initiative. He heard Song Qing disliked me and wanted to kill me to curry favor with the Song Clan's Young Master. . . Heh heh. . ."
Earlier, when the old Daoist was being hunted by Fang Xi, he naturally dared not speak the truth, only able to shift the blame onto Song Qing.
But even so, Fang Xi still had no intention of letting Song Qing off the hook!
"According to Daoist Huahe's memories, Song Qing is currently hidden within a Qi Refinement clan in the State of Yue. . ."
"This person definitely carries the Song Clan's accumulated wealth of many years. . . and their true foundation!"
"Moreover, he also holds a grudge against me, and his current strength is still at early Foundation Establishment. . . Has he encountered a bottleneck?"
Although Fang Xi always acted cautiously, at crucial moments, he didn't lack the courage to take risks!
"Even if this person is hiding something, his cultivation at most is mid-Foundation Establishment. . . In just a few decades, it's difficult for even a superior-grade spirit root to cultivate to late Foundation Establishment. Even if I were to encounter a late-stage cultivator, I might still be able to kill them by employing my secret techniques and talisman treasures. . ."
After a careful deliberation, Fang Xi decided. . . to act!
While he could still use the Black Heaven Sect to kill with a borrowed knife once more, the rich spoils of war would not be his.
That was the accumulation of hundreds of years from the largest aristocratic family in the State of Yue!
...
The Zeng Clan of Red Maple Forest.
This was a small Qi Refinement clan, not well-known even within the State of Yue, located in the southeastern part of the State of Yue, near its border with the State of Mu.
Maple Forest Mountain.
The mountains were covered in red leaves, the forests dyed in deep hues, making for a rather beautiful sight.
A small Qi Refinement clan was nestled in the valley, its family head a late Qi Refinement cultivator who had consistently led his clan members in striving hard for survival.
On this day.
Fang Xi, wearing a bamboo hat and appearing to be only at mid-Qi Refinement, arrived near Maple Forest Mountain.
"According to Daoist Huahe's memories, this Zeng Clan of Maple Forest Mountain is also a hidden pawn of the Song Clan. . . Song Qing is lurking here, not directly fleeing to the State of Mu. Could he still be hoping for something?"
Fang Xi murmured to himself. As darkness fell, he activated his Breath Concealment Art to full power and arrived near the Zeng Clan's territory.
With his proficiency as an array master, stealthily infiltrating a first-order array formation was effortless.
However, just as he intended to delve deeper, he suddenly felt a sense of danger.
"Within the Zeng Clan, a second-order array formation is hidden? "Fang Xi's eyes gleamed. He did not forcibly dismantle it but quietly retreated, leaving behind a wooden puppet outside the Zeng Clan's grounds, specifically to monitor those entering and exiting.
As a longevity seeker, his patience was excellent.
Spending several years or even over a decade here waiting for Song Qing would be nothing.
...
Fang Xi did not wait long.
Several days later, a streak of light flew out from the Zeng Clan's grounds, heading towards the State of Mu.
The escape light was originally faint in aura and dim in illumination. . . but after leaving the Zeng Clan, its speed immediately surged dramatically!
Within the escape light, Song Qing's expression was exceptionally grim.
"The clan. . . it's actually perished. . . and the Green Wood Sect is unwilling to send troops!"
He had been lurking in the State of Yue, not only to gather the Song Clan's hidden forces but also to persuade the Green Wood Sect to attack the State of Yue! To ignite a great war between the two cultivation worlds and avenge the Song Clan!
Alas, as time passed little by little, the Black Heaven Sect's control over the State of Yue became increasingly stable, while the Green Wood Sect had no intention of acting whatsoever.
A few days prior, the 'fate token' that Daoist Huahe had left with him had a crack appear.
This made Song Qing feel that the State of Yue had become extremely dangerous, so he completely abandoned his revenge plan and prepared to flee far into the State of Mu.
When the Zeng Clan was initially set up as a hidden pawn, it was precisely because this location was at the border of the two countries, not far from the State of Mu, making it convenient for escape.
In the blink of an eye, Song Qing had flown dozens of miles. As long as he passed through a cultivation market located in the Myriad Beast Mountain Range, he would be able to enter the State of Mu!
"Indeed. . . powerful Divine Consciousness makes combat quite convenient."
Fang Xi followed behind Song Qing, his Divine Consciousness constantly observing this person, yet the person had not the slightest inkling.
From this, it was evident that his Divine Consciousness was definitely weaker than late Foundation Establishment!
However, although the Divine Consciousness and spiritual power aura were identical, Song Qing at this moment appeared to be a middle-aged man, even with premature grey hairs, and his expression haggard.
Fang Xi found this perfectly normal. Some cultivators didn't care about their appearance, and with his clan exterminated, it was perfectly normal for his mind and spirit to be severely struck, leading to a haggard and aged look.
"Even a lion hunting a rabbit uses its full strength. . ."
Fang Xi's mind settled. He suddenly accelerated, completely revealing himself from concealment: "Hmph!"
Amidst a cold snort, the Primordial Demon Spike swiftly activated.
A black needle silently glided past Song Qing's spiritual energy shield, piercing into his Sea of Consciousness.
Divine Consciousness secret techniques inherently ignored ordinary spiritual energy shields and artifact defenses, making them extremely troublesome to deal with.
But the next moment, Song Qing merely let out a muffled groan, showing not the slightest sign of being hit. On the contrary, his eyes, like lightning, scanned his surroundings. On his left wrist, a purple bracelet suddenly expanded, becoming almost the size of a small house, protecting his entire person within it.
Clang!
Almost simultaneously, the Green Reaping Sword, like a bolt of green lightning, fiercely stabbed onto the Purple Vein Bracelet, letting out an earth-shattering clang.
"Oh? You can actually withstand Divine Consciousness attacks. . . Your Divine Consciousness is clearly not as strong as mine, otherwise, you wouldn't have discovered me so late. . . It seems you have some special artifact or talisman that protects your Divine Consciousness?"
Fang Xi, transformed into a streak of green light, descended from mid-air and, with a raise of his hand, summoned.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Eight second-order demon beast puppets appeared, each hovering in mid-air, surrounding Song Qing from all directions.
—To deal with this formidable foe, Fang Xi directly withdrew the Divine Consciousness thought that was monitoring the Shard World, ordering all eight main combat puppets to appear!
"You are. . . Fang Xi? !"
Song Qing only now discovered his attacker. Seeing the eight second-order puppets, his expression turned incredibly grim: "Divine Consciousness attacking secret arts. . . a puppeteer. . . and that flying sword. . . You've hidden yourself so deeply! Did you kill Huahe?"
He was very clever. Currently, his whereabouts, apart from the Zeng Clan, were only known by Daoist Huahe, the sole Foundation Establishment cultivator.
However, Song Qing couldn't understand why Huahe, despite having a restriction placed upon him, would dare to reveal his secret hiding place?
He had even less expected that a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator on the verge of his lifespan, whom he had looked down upon back then, would have hidden himself so deeply!
"Why do dead men need to know so much!"
Fang Xi waved his hand lightly.
"Roar, roar!"
The Golden-furred Ape King let out a roar, the tuft of fur on its chest, which resembled a rune, pulsed with light. It grabbed a massive rock and fiercely smashed it down towards the Purple Vein Bracelet!
Taking this second-order puppet's action as a signal, the other seven great puppets launched their attacks simultaneously!
If it were an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator, being besieged by eight second-order puppets, they would likely be crushed to a pulp in mere moments!
"Hmph!"
Song Qing let out a cold snort, forming hand seals with both hands.
The next moment, powerful spiritual energy erupted from his body, unexpectedly breaking through the limits of early Foundation Establishment and entering mid-Foundation Establishment!
"As expected, this person has also been hiding his cultivation!"
Upon seeing Song Qing's true cultivation, Fang Xi did not feel nervous; instead, he secretly let out a breath of relief.
"Go!"
Song Qing poured his mid-Foundation Establishment spiritual power into the Purple Vein Bracelet, immediately causing this exotic treasure to flash with dazzling light. Even taking the combined assault of the eight second-order puppets head-on, it remained completely unmoving.
He swept a resentful glance at Fang Xi, then with a flip of his hand, a dusty grey talisman appeared, depicting a small sword upon it.
"Talisman Treasure? !"
Fang Xi's pupils slightly constricted.
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