Daoist Competition

"No good!"

In shock, he urgently gathered his mana, trying to shake it off, but just as the bead left his hand, it trembled suddenly and spewed out a cloud of red mist, swiftly surrounding him tightly.

Elder Lin immediately smelled a hot, bloody wind at the tip of his nose, instantly feeling his qi power fade. Initially, he struggled fiercely, but after dozens of breaths, his mind gradually grew fuzzy, and he stopped resisting. In the end, his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.

Ancestor Hui Xuan, witnessing the scene, shivered inwardly. Stroking his beard, he mused, "This Pearl Fruit indeed has other mysteries, lucky I didn’t act rashly just now."

He had been somewhat greedy during his time in the underground palace but held back out of caution. Now, he felt fortunate, turned his head, and seeing Daoist Ji looking as if he knew it would happen, asked, "Brother Daoist, is there something strange about that bead?"

Daoist Ji glanced at him, saying, "I’ve heard the elders of my sect speak before; this Nine Yellow Star Bead is eerie and sinister. Once used, it requires a satiation of cultivators’ essence blood, and only ten Nascent Soul cultivators can nourish one bead, yet even so, their primordial qi is severely depleted afterward. If not restricted by this, would Gui Ling Sect have been annihilated by Da Mi?"

He sneered, pointing below, "This person was unaware and touched it with his flesh, thus regarded as the sacrificial offering by the bead."

Ancestor Hui Xuan squinted his eyes, realizing Daoist Ji had earlier covered his hand with a brocade handkerchief, unwilling to touch the bead. The reason was now clear.

Furthermore, it made sense why he only took one Star Pearl; just one of these Star Pearls requires unknown amounts of cultivators’ essence blood for nourishment. With nine in hand, where would he find so many cultivators to nourish them? Even having them would be useless.

After a hundred breaths had passed, the red mist below dispersed, revealing a thin human skin, which gently fell downward.

However, in such a brief moment, a Nascent Soul cultivator had their blood and flesh essence absorbed fully.

Seeing the Nine Yellow Star Bead shining even brighter, Daoist Ji was pleased and beckoned to retrieve it. This time, however, it wasn’t as easy as before; the bead struggled, escaping his grasp.

Daoist Ji was momentarily stunned, tried to cast another spell, but still couldn’t capture it. Instead, the Nine Yellow Star Bead emitted a piercing scream, echoing far away, then "whoosh," it shot up like fireworks into the sky, paused for a moment before booming, transforming into a thin green line, flying south, its momentum swifter than lightning, disappearing into the horizon in an instant.

The incident was sudden, unanticipated by Daoist Ji, seeing the treasure he had just obtained escape like this, he was both anxious and furious, let out a rageful roar, and his body suddenly lifted, accelerating in a tunneling light like a rainbow, chasing after it across the sky.

Ancestor Hui Xuan was also taken aback by the change, his expression shifting several times, eventually relaxing slightly.

He discerned a clue in this; Daoist Ji seemed familiar with this Treasure Bead, but evidently didn’t know all the key aspects; otherwise, why such a blunder?

However, this person’s departure disrupted his original plan. Just as he was preparing to act, he heard a rumbling sound in his ear; the sound seemed distant and ancient, echoing among the mountains, causing him to look with surprise. He discovered the sound came from the Southwestern Dragon Pillar, his thoughts churned, his face slightly changed, saying to Qu Changzhi, "Quickly, let’s go!"

With that said, he and Qu Changzhi launched their escape technique together, flying rapidly to the west.

On the golden platform, Sect Leader Qiao was exchanging cups with the three sects’ leaders, suddenly pausing and looking westward.

He Yizhu also set down his wine cup, listened carefully, saying, "This sound seems to be coming from the Dragon Pillar over there."

Both Chen Yuan and Mao Wuwei turned their gaze towards Sect Leader Qiao.

Sect Leader Qiao, despite having an agreement with Ancestor Hui Xuan, didn’t expect such a disturbance. But reaching this point, there was no choice but to proceed as previously discussed. He glanced at those present, cupped his hands, saying, "Don’t look at me, I don’t know what happened either. Perhaps wait a moment, disciples will surely report back soon."

He Yizhu sneered, saying, "Wait? If we wait another moment, I’m afraid the matter below the Dragon Pillar will have gone who knows where."

Sect Leader Qiao feigned annoyance, saying, "What do you mean by that, Sect Leader He? If you don’t trust my Zhongtai Sect, then why not come along for a look."

At that moment, Zhang Yan arched an eyebrow, stood up, walked to the edge of the golden platform, sleeves behind his back, eyes shining as he gazed into the distant sky.

Sect Leader Qiao, seeing him move, asked in surprise, "True Master Zhang? Is there something amiss?"

Zhang Yan replied in a deep voice, "I sensed the spiritual mechanism just now and felt eight strong qi veins surging. The nearest is that Southeastern Dragon Pillar, so it seems besides this pillar, the other seven are also showing unusual signs."

Meanwhile, that Nine Yellow Star Bead seemed to have received some kind of summon, hastening southward, with Daoist Ji already left far behind.

Within a day and night, the bead traveled from East Victory North to the Southern Continent. Once reaching the Great Chen Border, it propelled directly towards the direction of Southern Martial Mountain Guantang Institute.

After another half day, it arrived above its territory. This place is not home to immortal city, devoid of any Forbidden Array, and lately, disciples forced by miasma poison mostly meditate in Cave Mansions, even mountain patrols absent, thus it proceeded unimpeded, rushing into the inner hall, circling around, then sunk below, swiftly disappearing.

At that moment, Zhang Boyant was refining elixir pills in the alchemy room, suddenly feeling a surge of unprecedented panic within. His hand trembled, causing the fire to miss its mark, and earth fire rebounded upward. He caught a whiff of burnt scent, realizing this batch of elixir pills was ruined, furrowing his brow unknowingly, not for the ruined pills, but for that instant earlier, he felt as if he was being watched by some evil monster.

...

...(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to cast votes on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)