Chapter 872: Secret Arts and Aberrations (For Alliance Leader Xiaoxiao's Mighty Celebration! )
Chapter 872: Secret Arts and Aberrations (For Alliance Leader Xiaoxiao's Mighty Celebration! )
"Qing Hezi? Could it be His Excellency Qing Hezi, one of the Human Race Five Sons?"
"According to rumors, wasn't he only at mid-stage Soul Transformation? He's actually reached late-stage Soul Transformation?"
Upon seeing Fang Xi, the cultivators immediately exchanged dismayed glances, their internal schemes and burning ambitions doused as if by a bucket of cold water poured over their heads.
As one of the Human Race Five Sons, his status was exceedingly high. Having arrived as reinforcements, he carried the banner of righteous legitimacy.
After Long Qingzi, the former master of this domain, perished, he was indeed the most legitimate figure to take control of the entire city's power!
Meanwhile, the tall, graceful lady, upon seeing the 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan' in Fang Xi's hand, a flicker of surprise passed through her beautiful eyes. She then transformed into a crimson streak of light and approached: "Yue Qianqian of the Divine Feather Sect greets Your Excellency Qing Hezi!"
"So it is the Grand Elder of the Divine Feather Sect. This venerable one remembers all the contributions your sect has made in supporting the human race."
Fang Xi nodded, knowing that the woman had set her sights on. . . the 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan' in his hand, but he did not expose her.
"Wait. . . this is the city of Master Long Qingzi. Before Master Long Qingzi transcended his tribulation, he left behind a final. . ."
A Return to Void cultivator of the Winged Clan flew out, speaking with a face full of panic.
"Impudent!"
Fang Xi immediately roared: "The human race is still at war with the myriad races, and you, an alien, dare to make such a ruckus? I say Long Qingzi was too pedantic, keeping you Winged Clan members as servants, which is why this disaster occurred. You must be spies, kill them all!"
As his words fell, Zhai Xingzi, smiling faintly, tossed out a chain.
Starlight spread across the chain, countless astral powers overflowed, transforming into a dazzling nebula.
The nebula unfolded, erupting with swathes of radiant light. Under the terrifying suction force, how could those Return to Void cultivators of the Winged Clan, even the most powerful among them, resist? They were all sucked in and ground into dust by countless starlight millstones. . .
"Hmph. . ."
Fang Xi let out a cold snort in his heart.
These Winged Clan members. . . he had seen a Return to Void cultivator descend from the Minghuan World when he fled from its power, so it was clear they were indeed Long Qingzi's loyal subordinates.
What a pity. Their hero was his foe.
Now, the more loyal Long Qingzi's subordinates were, the more certain they were to die.
'The grudge from that day. . . it's finally settled today. . . '
He leisurely collected all the items left behind by Long Qingzi. His Divine Consciousness swept over them one by one, finding no issues, but he still placed them into jade boxes and affixed seventeen or eighteen talismans as seals.
With him suppressing the area, the human race Soul Transformation cultivators in Po Suo Twin Cities naturally dared not resist.
The remaining Return to Void Winged Clan members were easily dealt with by Zhai Xingzi.
Before long, Po Suo Twin Cities was declared to have changed hands.
Fang Xi stood atop the ruins of what was once the City Lord's Mansion, now a desolate wasteland. In the void, cracks still remained unhealed.
—The aftershocks of Long Qingzi's failed tribulation would likely affect Po Suo Twin Cities for a millennium.
But even more intense changes were rapidly approaching!
"Your Excellency!"
A streak of starlight descended, transforming into Zhai Xingzi's form: "We have already taken over several storehouses. . . this is a portion of them."
Saying this, he handed over a storage ring.
Fang Xi took it, and with a sweep of his Divine Consciousness, he saw that in addition to Immortal Jade, there were many high-grade materials. He couldn't help but nod.
Long Qingzi's old lair naturally contained many good things, especially the low-grade materials in the various storehouses; they might even be too numerous for storage rings and cave-heaven treasures to hold.
Now that he had taken all the high-grade items, the rest naturally became a windfall for Zhai Xingzi and his group.
This group of Starry Sky Domain cultivators had originally followed Qing Hezi to reinforce Po Suo Twin Cities, expecting to lay down their lives.
Unexpectedly, their first task was to suppress the Winged Clan, and in doing so, each of them grew rich and comfortable, making another fortune.
"Currently, the city is largely stable, but. . ."
Zhai Xingzi reported concisely: "The spiritual roots of the Po Suo Twin Trees are damaged, and so is the grand array. . . After all, this city-protecting grand array uses the Po Suo Twin Trees as its core nexus. . . With Long Qingzi's demise today, the news will likely be hard to conceal, and the alien army might make other moves. . ."
"This matter is indeed concerning. . ."
Fang Xi waved his hand, dismissing Zhai Xingzi. Alone, he faced the devastation: "Long Qingzi. . . is he truly dead? This manner of death, truly unexpected, yet within reason. . ."
In truth, breaking through the Mahayana bottleneck was inherently a near-certain death.
That Long Qingzi could reach the final step, his cultivation, insight, daring, and fortuitous encounters. . . they even surpassed ninety-nine percent of all previous Human Race Five Sons, Demon Race Six Kings, and Yao Race Seven Sages. . .
In Fang Xi's view, even the former Hunyuan Great Sage, who had overcome heart demons and the wind and fire tribulations but delayed crossing the immortal lightning tribulation with the Phoenix Nirvana technique, was slightly inferior.
It was just that he hadn't anticipated the Mahayana immortal lightning tribulation would be three points stronger than rumored, and the final bolt of immortal lightning even more terrifying. . .
'Perhaps with a single thought's difference, he could have overcome it and become a Mahayana cultivator. . . '
'But the outcome would have been no different. After this main body breaks through to Soul Transformation, even if Long Qingzi were a Mahayana cultivator, he would still have to die! '
'It's just that it happened earlier. . . '
'His demise, however, served as a reminder to me. Although with the Earth Immortal legacy, breaking through the Mahayana bottleneck will be a natural progression, I must still diligently prepare for the four great tribulations that will follow. . . '
Fang Xi had to admit that ever since he switched to cultivating the Earth Immortal legacy, his path had been smooth sailing, and breaking through major realms had been exceedingly easy. Perhaps he had underestimated this Mahayana immortal tribulation!
"Fortunately, it's not too late. Some preparations can be made now."
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, pondering some matters, when a flash of firelight descended, revealing Yue Qianqian's figure.
"Qianqian greets Your Excellency Qing Hezi."
Yue Qianqian offered a charming smile and bowed.
"You wish to inquire about the 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan' in this venerable one's possession?"
Fang Xi said: "This fan was obtained by this venerable one through a fortuitous chance, acquiring its blueprint and then replicating it. Is there something amiss?"
Yue Qianqian hadn't expected Fang Xi to be so direct; she paused, momentarily stunned, then continued: "Your Excellency Qing Hezi, to be frank, this 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan' is the Divine Feather Sect's sect-protecting treasure, but it was lost long ago, and its whereabouts are unknown. . . If there is even the slightest clue, everyone in my Divine Feather Sect would be eternally grateful."
"Divine Feather Sect?"
Fang Xi shook his head. A mere Soul Transformation sect was nothing in his eyes.
Even if this sect might have once produced a Mahayana cultivator!
"This humble one's sect might not be able to assist Your Excellency, but this humble one knows several secret arts and cultivation methods that complement the 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan', enough to elevate this fan's power to the next level."
Yue Qianqian said, gritting her teeth.
Even if the other party had refined a replica of an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure, how could it compare to the Divine Feather Sect, a sect that had studied the 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan' day and night?
"Complementary cultivation methods or secret arts?"
Fang Xi had some interest, but not much.
He knew instinctively that such cultivation methods and secret arts could, at best, boost the replica's power by a few tenths, not even ten percent!
Such a secret art might be very appealing to a Soul Transformation cultivator, but only if that cultivator possessed just one replica of an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure!
Yet in his hands, there were the Space-Suppressing Pagoda, the Sea-Churning Cudgel. . . he even possessed complete Immortal Abode Rare Treasures. Why would he fuss over this?
'But thinking about it, it was somewhat peculiar that the Saint Fire Cult could obtain a jade slip containing the blueprint for a replica of an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure back then. '
'Although the concept of fortuitous encounters in the cultivation world is elusive, it truly exists. . . The Great Void is boundless, and it's common for a void storm to send some supreme treasure into a lower realm. '
'But for the Saint Fire Cult to happen to have such a legacy is rather strange. . . Perhaps, the original 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan' flowed down to a lower realm back then? '
That was an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure!
Not to mention the Divine Feather Sect, even the human race Mahayana cultivators would certainly be paying attention.
But for so many years, there hadn't been a single piece of news, regardless of humans, yao, or demons. . . not even its fragmented parts had been discovered.
According to Fang Xi's conjecture, that Immortal Abode Rare Treasure had most likely indeed flowed down to a lower realm.
Whether it was intentional or coincidental, it was hard to say.
"This venerable one already said, the refining blueprint was obtained through a fortuitous chance, acquired from an ascended cultivator. . ."
"According to their account, it likely came from a lower realm."
Fang Xi shook his head.
"A lower realm?"
Yue Qianqian pondered for a moment, her eyes suddenly lighting up: "Indeed, for this treasure, our sect has long since scoured the entire Earthly Immortal World, even setting up altars to summon it, yet there was no response. . . The only thing that could sever such a connection would be the realm power of a lower realm."
She bowed formally: "Which lower realm might that be? Please inform this humble one, Your Excellency. . ."
As if fearing Fang Xi wouldn't agree, she immediately offered a beast-skin document: "Several secret arts from our sect that complement the 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan' are here. I am willing to offer them to Your Excellency. . ."
For a Soul Transformation cultivator, paying a certain price to send someone to a lower realm indeed offered some hope, but it required consuming realm-crossing stones.
This type of material, capable of dissolving realm power, was becoming increasingly rare.
Fang Xi, however, did not take it.
How could he possibly expose the Human World, his place of origin? And all for the sake of a mere secret technique.
Not even the complete 'Five Fires Seven Birds Fan' was worth that!
'Damn it! '
Upon seeing this, Yue Qianqian's heart tightened: 'Could this Qing Hezi also have his eyes on our sect's supreme treasure? Does this person, like Long Qingzi, also have a habit of descending to lower realms to seek out treasures? If that's truly the case, what is to be done? '
No matter how prosperous the Divine Feather Sect once was, that was in the past.
Its current foundation and influence were clearly no match for one of the Human Race Five Sons, who wielded immense power.
At this thought, Yue Qianqian couldn't help but feel a sense of confusion and helplessness.
Thump-thump!
Precisely at this moment, the sound of war drums echoed.
Fang Xi glanced towards the direction of the alien army's 'Heavenly Thunder Earth Fire Formation' and couldn't help but let out a mocking laugh: "What audacity. . ."
The alien army had originally been slowly retreating, but upon seeing the celestial phenomenon of Long Qingzi attempting to break through to Mahayana, their attention was naturally drawn.
Now that they knew Long Qingzi had perished and that even the Po Suo Twin Trees were severely weakened, it would be strange if they didn't take advantage of the situation!
But such behavior virtually treated Fang Xi, one of the Human Race Five Sons, as if he were nothing!
'Long Qingzi most likely couldn't leave the Po Suo Twin Trees due to the effects of some secret technique. . . that's why you were able to run rampant until now. Do you really think I, Qing Hezi, am the same way? '
Fang Xi sneered inwardly, then looked at the Po Suo Twin Trees, falling into contemplation.
If the alien race launched a full-scale assault, he would naturally be fearless, but Po Suo Twin Cities, with its grand array's power severely damaged, would likely not be able to hold out. . .
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