Chapter 153 - 182: Dusk, Deserted Village, Old Man in Burial Clothes! North Sea of Netherworld
As September arrived, the weather turned cool and pleasant. In the sky above, colorful larks often flew past, their wings catching the brilliant sunset glow as they chirped happily and headed for the horizon.
Dusk.
Su Bai, dressed in moon-white robes, walked at a leisurely pace out of the city gates.
Yesterday, after searching the area for a long time, he had finally tossed Hei Wushuang and the Black Nether Wolf into a large Demon Cave.
The large Demon Cave was wreathed in deep black Demonic Qi. It had no name and was located in an extremely remote and hidden place.
Su Bai even felt he might be the first person to have discovered this Demon Cave.
Viewed from high above, jets of brilliant flame erupted from the Demon Cave’s surroundings, creating a rather spectacular sight.
The Demon Cave was vast, and many Demon Fiends lived inside. A quick sweep with his Divine Thoughts revealed hundreds of thousands of them. He even found several powerful Demon Fiends whose strength was comparable to the Spirit Transformation Realm—more than enough for Hei Wushuang and his other beast to hunt for a good while.
After settling his two Pet Beasts, Su Bai flickered through the air and returned to the Imperial City.
Now, in the evening, sunset clouds hung in the sky, and birds sang in chorus.
Su Bai followed the well-established official road east for about seven miles before turning onto a wilderness trail.
After many twists and turns, he finally arrived before a desolate and dilapidated village.
The village before him seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, with no signs of habitation.
Several skeletons hung from the dead trees at the village entrance, and the ink-black branches were covered with crows pecking at rotted flesh.
The entire village exuded a grim and terrifying aura, thick with Ghost Qi.
Even the sunlight falling from the horizon seemed to dim considerably as it shone upon the village.
Su Bai, however, strode inside as if he hadn’t noticed a thing, his expression unchanged.
After entering the village, Su Bai had only taken a few steps when an old man in black blocked his path.
The old man’s face was deathly pale and his features were withered. His eyes were a strange, dark green. Suddenly appearing in broad daylight, he looked just like a ghost!
He wore tattered burial clothes and stared intently at Su Bai, exuding an indescribable creepiness.
"Young man, what brings you here?"
"I’m looking for someone."
"Looking for someone? Everyone in this village died long ago. I’m the only old man left."
"You should go. The person you’re looking for isn’t here. You’d best leave quickly!"
"What a coincidence."
A brilliant smile spread across Su Bai’s face. "The person I’m looking for is you," he said.
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, the old man’s expression immediately turned bizarre. A hint of wickedness surfaced on his withered face as he stared at Su Bai with a strange, not-quite-a-smile.
"I’m rather curious. What would you want with an old man like me, who’s already at death’s door?"
Su Bai said nothing.
Instead, his aura began to radiate from his body, bit by bit.
The old man’s expression shifted from indifference to a sneer, then to suspicion, then shock, and finally, to utter terror and disbelief!
Only then did Su Bai speak softly, "Seeing as you’re getting on in years, I thought I’d find you a new home."
After returning to the prison yesterday, he had spent the night poring over the Prison Suppression Bureau’s secret files and had finally found this target—
[Identity: Suspected Inner Sect Elder of the Canghai Sect!]
[Cultivation: Above Spirit Transformation]
[Motive: Unclear. May have ulterior motives!]
[Location: Deserted Village...]
Su Bai couldn’t be bothered with what the man’s motives were.
The Martial Artists of the Prison Suppression Bureau were hesitant and overcautious, not daring to make a move to capture him. Su Bai, on the other hand, would not be so courteous.
’This man’s identity and strength are a perfect fit for my needs.’
’I’ll just drag him back, toss him into the prison’s depths, and suppress him in that mysterious cave.’
’Simply perfect!’
「A short time later.」
"If you had just cooperated like this from the start, you wouldn’t have had to suffer so much!"
Su Bai casually released the old man in burial clothes from his grip.
He cross-referenced the results of the Soul Search with the evidentiary memories from the Purification Tripod, finally pinpointing the exact location of the Canghai Sect.
Beside him, the old man in burial clothes—his face now several shades paler—clutched his head with a withered right hand. He was curled up and trembling violently, like a terrified insect.
The pain from the recent Soul Search was nothing compared to the horror that now gripped his heart!
’Just what kind of being did I provoke?!’
With his Cultivation at the Divine Platform Realm Third Level, he was like a babbling infant before this young man, completely unable to control his own body.
’If he really wanted to crush me, it would be easier than squashing an ant.’
"Let’s go! First, I’ll take you back to the prison, then I’ll go check out the Canghai Sect!"
Su Bai casually grabbed the Canghai Sect Elder and turned to head back.
「Back at the prison.」
With a miserable roar, Su Bai pinned the old man with black chains.
Then, he checked the old man’s information.
[Criminal: Xiao Heifeng]
[Sin Level: Eight-Star]
[Strength: Divine Platform Realm Third Level]
[Status: Severely Injured (Imprisoned)]
[Suppression Involvement: 90%]
[Reward: 100,000 Experience Points/hour]
"Not bad!"
A hint of pleasure appeared on Su Bai’s face as he saw the Experience Points reward.
"Oh, right. I’ve been so busy, I forgot to draw the rewards for slaying the Golden Flood Dragon King."
The realization dawned on Su Bai.
And so, he started with the prize wheel.
A massive golden prize wheel materialized before his eyes.
The pointer, shaped like a Golden Dragon, slowly came to a stop.
In the end, Su Bai obtained ten million Experience Points and one million Tier Two Experience Points!
He poured all the Tier Two Experience Points into his [Third Immortal Golden Body Transformation].
As the Experience Points poured in, the aura emanating from Su Bai grew increasingly powerful!
The old man’s face twitched uncontrollably, and his body trembled like a leaf in the wind!
Nearby, the unconscious Seventh Sequence was jolted awake by this unimaginably potent aura.
But when he saw that Su Bai was the source of the aura, Seventh Sequence’s bloodshot eyes widened in an instant!
He then quickly lowered his head and forced himself to pass out again.
’This man is just too terrifying!’
[Cultivation Technique: Third Immortal Golden Body Transformation! (Ninth Grade!) Realm: Returning to the Essence: 1,200,000]
After the Experience Points for his [Third Immortal Golden Body Transformation] increased by a full one million, Su Bai’s Physique instantly strengthened severalfold!
If he were to encounter the Golden Flood Dragon King, Ao Jin, now, Su Bai wouldn’t even need to use his full strength; a casual palm strike would be enough to obliterate him.
"Extract!"
Snapping back to the present, Su Bai began to extract the Divine Techniques of the Golden Flood Dragon King, Ao Jin.
The next moment.
A massive orb of golden light plunged into Su Bai’s body.
Su Bai began to view the Golden Flood Dragon King’s memories.
Su Bai skipped right past the memories of Ao Jin’s birth.
However, some of the later memories did pique his interest.
In the year Ao Jin turned fifty, the Black Flood Dragon Ao Xuan was captured by the Prison Suppression Bureau for flooding the lands and drowning the common folk.
Because he tried to intervene, Ao Jin was captured by Yun Wuya, who drained his True Blood and tossed him into the East Sea, leaving him on the brink of death.
After that, having lost his True Blood, Ao Jin’s Cultivation plummeted. His body grew weak, and he could only wander aimlessly through the depths of the sea.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Then, Ao Jin unexpectedly discovered a massive Dragon Palace shimmering with golden light. Inside, due to his extraordinary bloodline, he caught the eye of a Great Power from the Dragon Race. This being used a Secret Technique to restore his True Blood.
The face of this Dragon Race Great Power was a blur, and Ao Jin never learned its identity. But every time he saw this being, Ao Jin felt a deep, instinctual fear, like a common beast encountering an apex predator!
Finally, before Ao Jin left, the Dragon Race Great Power gifted him a treasure: a Water Dragon Bead!
It also imparted a Great Divine Technique to him.
The rest of the memories detailed Ao Jin’s rise to power, culminating in his eventual death at Su Bai’s hands...
After he finished viewing the memories, Su Bai slowly opened his eyes.
He checked his gains.
[Divine Technique: North Sea of Netherworld! (Eighth Grade!) Realm: 5th Layer! (1,648/5,000,000)]