Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil in the Cultivation World Chapter 823 - 417: The Origin of the Ancient Catastrophe, Tree of Eternal Life

"Destiny Tip Two: As the old proverb goes, a wise man avoids standing beneath a crumbling wall. Since you are already aware of the Black Blood Curse and the fact that the ancient Daoist Yuanqing is deeply compromised, why not choose a quick retreat?

You have the option to fully trigger the Gate of the Void and seize the moment to flee the Void Secret Realm. By doing this, you can bypass numerous conspiracies and escape certain doom. However, such a choice means you will forfeit the treasures of the Taixu Sect entirely, leaving behind a massive hidden threat for your future. Furthermore, you will lose access to an immortal artifact capable of enduring the calamity at the end of days."

"Destiny Tip Three: Fortunately, the passage of countless years has weakened Daoist Yuanqing’s soul to its limit, and the strangeness parasitic upon him has withered as well. This is the optimal moment to strike.

Your first step must be to utilize the Demon-Vibrating Bell to force the entity out of Daoist Yuanqing. Next, deploy the Great Sun Buddha Mirror to release the True Sun Fire and incinerate its outer shell. Finally, as the creature attempts to flee, use the Primordial Talisman Pen to lock onto its aura and eliminate it with a single, decisive blow.

Be warned: the sequence of these actions must not be altered. If the order is disrupted, you will alert the strangeness hiding within Daoist Yuanqing. Once it is on guard, your chance to kill it will vanish forever, and you may find yourself the one being slaughtered instead."

Jiang Fan’s pupils constricted as he processed this revelation. He hadn't anticipated that a hidden strangeness was lurking inside Daoist Yuanqing.

The mystery remained: what exactly was this strangeness, and why was there no record of such a thing?!

Was it possible that this entity had warped Daoist Yuanqing’s memories, forcing him to relay deceptive information?

Had it even seized control of the Void Secret Realm to plant the Black Blood Curse?!

He realized that the Ancient Era had truly buried far too many enigmas.

It felt as though everything was shrouded in a thick black fog, making it impossible to distinguish truth from fabrication.

"Young friend, move quickly and claim the Human Emperor Sword."

"The great catastrophe is imminent; I fear your time is running short."

"You must awaken the true power of the Human Emperor Sword immediately."

Daoist Yuanqing gazed at Jiang Fan with intense longing. He was desperate for Jiang Fan, the Child of Destiny, to seize the Human Emperor Sword and perform a blood sacrifice of billions of souls to ignite the power of the immortal artifact.

Boom~~

Without warning, Jiang Fan produced the Demon-Vibrating Bell. He flooded the artifact with his vast Primordial Magical Power, fully awakening its latent strength.

Myriad ancient golden runes manifested across the surface of the Demon-Vibrating Bell. They resembled Demon-Vanquishing Runes, vibrating with the power to purge all corruption.

A violent sonic wave surged outward, saturating the entire hall.

Simultaneously, this demon-purifying sound slammed directly into Daoist Yuanqing.

"Young friend, what is the meaning of this? Why are you striking this old man?"

The expression on Daoist Yuanqing’s face shifted violently.

He was stunned that this junior Cultivation practitioner would dare to launch a preemptive strike against him.

This turn of events was completely outside his calculations.

Yet, before his sentence could finish, a blood-curdling shriek tore from his body. It sounded like the cry of a vengeful ghost, and a bone-chilling cold filled the chamber.

An instant later, a black entity the size of a palm tore itself away from Daoist Yuanqing’s soul form. Its head was a gnarled mess resembling twisted roots, and its skin possessed a sickly grayish-green tint, somewhere between rotting vegetation and bruised flesh, rippling with vein-like protrusions that looked like crawling worms.

It lacked conventional eyes; instead, three dark voids were scattered across its brow and cheeks. The rims of these holes were lined with stiff, fine hairs and occasionally leaked a thick, clear slime.

Countless black filaments had been rooted deep within Daoist Yuanqing’s soul, appearing as though they had fused into a single entity.

But under the assault of the Demon-Vibrating Bell, the creature let out a high-pitched scream.

One by one, those dark, root-like tendrils were forced to detach.

"Humans... wretched humans... how did you find me?"

The black strangeness hissed in a shrill voice.

It was in total shock.

Because it had spent so long merged with Daoist Yuanqing’s soul, even a master at a high-tier Cultivation level should never have been able to detect it.

Yet the human standing before it seemed to have known of its presence for a long time and even held the specific tools to combat it.

Had it not been for this specialized treasure pinning it down, it never would have been forced out of the soul body.

"Die."

Jiang Fan had no intention of offering an explanation. According to the destiny tip, this strangeness was exceptionally dangerous. If he allowed it even a moment to recover, it might strike back and end his life.

He knew its attempt at conversation was merely a tactic to buy time and find an opening to attack.

Consequently, he refused to give the strangeness any room to breathe.

Boom~~

He immediately triggered his second artifact—the Great Sun Buddha Mirror. The mirror radiated countless golden Sanskrit characters, and the sound of holy chanting echoed from the void as if a choir of Buddhas were singing.

A pillar of golden True Sun Fire surged out, resembling a miniature sun descending from the nine heavens. It flooded the hall with light, causing the temperature to skyrocket as the heat expanded.

Bang!

The True Sun Fire slammed into the black strangeness, erupting into a fierce blaze.

"True Sun Fire! How can a mere human like you command the True Sun Fire?!"

The black strangeness was shaken to its core, feeling the shadow of death loom over it.

If this continued, it would surely perish at the hands of this human.

In that moment, it was consumed by a burning rage.

If the long years hadn't drained its strength to such a pathetic level, how could it be humiliated like this by a common Nascent Soul Cultivator?

If it only had a little time to restore its power, it could have crushed this human like an insect.