Chapter 305 - 289: Witchcraft
Dark red, blood-like qi surged from the crown of Situ Huaji’s head, resembling burning signal smoke. Behind him, the endless phantoms of Fierce Demons let out silent, heaven-shaking roars.
Though its light was dim, it still carried the brutal killing intent of a veteran who had survived a hundred battles.
He clenched his fists, his bones and sinews popping and crackling as he adopted a desperate fighting stance, ready to clash head-on with the sinister black mist.
Just as Situ Huaji was about to clash with the entity inside the bizarre black mist...
"Noisy."
Qi Yun’s indifferent voice rang out. It was devoid of emotion, yet carried a clear trace of impatience.
He didn’t get up, remaining seated cross-legged on the ground. He simply raised his left hand, fingers splayed, and made a casual grasping motion in the air toward the surging black mist and its terrifying, giant hand.
Mastering All Skills!
WENG!
The instant Qi Yun’s fingers closed, everything within a ten-zhang radius, with the black mist at its center, abruptly froze solid!
The churning black mist, the terrifying giant hand, the two crimson eyes, and even the vile, corrupting presence that had been spreading wantonly...
...were all forcefully frozen in mid-air by a supreme, overriding will!
The black mist stopped churning. The giant hand froze in mid-action. The greed and ferocity in the crimson eyes turned into frozen astonishment.
Even the jarring, bizarre laughter and the foul mental assault came to a screeching halt, as if their source had been severed.
"Such theatrics."
A Nine-Colored Divine Radiance swirled like a Star River in Qi Yun’s eyes before vanishing in a flash.
He gently pressed down with his still-clenched left hand.
"Get down here."
The words had barely left his lips.
BANG!!!
The frozen black mist, as if struck by an invisible sledgehammer, violently imploded and then burst apart!
The gray-black phenomenon that had filled the sky for a hundred li suddenly receded. The shadowy patterns on the sea ice rapidly dissolved, and the corrupting aura was completely purged by a vast, pure Dao Rhyme.
As the black mist scattered, a figure tumbled pathetically from mid-air, landing with a THUD, prostrate upon the stone platform before Qi Yun.
He appeared to be a man in his late twenties.
He wore simple, somewhat worn, azure cloth robes and had a tall, slender build.
His features were pleasant and refined, and he had a gentle, kind air about him, like a friendly older brother from next door.
He was a world apart from the crazed, sinister figure he had just been.
"Senior, please calm your anger! I know I was wrong!
I was blind and failed to recognize your greatness, offending your divine might. I implore you, Senior, spare my life!"
Having witnessed Qi Yun’s terrifying power, the man wasted no time in groveling.
Qi Yun ignored him, his gaze falling inside the open ebony silk box.
The bottom of the box was lined with soft, deep purple velvet. Nothing else lay upon it.
Only a delicate chain.
The chain was formed from dozens of thumb-sized Jade Crystals linked together. Each crystal was perfectly pure and translucent, sealing within it a wisp of hazy, milky-white light.
And in the largest Jade Crystal at the very center of the chain, a miniature, yet perfectly clear, figure was sealed within.
The figure sat cross-legged with its eyes closed, its expression serene. Its appearance was identical to that of the azure-robed man currently prostrating and trembling on the ground.
With a beckoning gesture from Qi Yun, the Jade Crystal Chain floated out of the box and into his palm.
It was smooth and warm to the touch. The seated figure within the central Jade Crystal radiated an aura of the exact same origin as the man on the ground.
Qi Yun’s gaze shifted between the Jade Crystal Chain in his palm and the man on the ground, a pensive look in his eyes. After a moment, he spoke softly.
"Witchcraft and Nuo Skill?"
His voice wasn’t loud, but it struck the azure-robed man’s ears like a clap of thunder.
The man’s prostrate form trembled violently and uncontrollably.
’So it is,’ Qi Yun thought, his suspicion confirmed by the man’s reaction.
Witchcraft!
A bizarre school of cultivation that had all but passed into legend in the modern era.
This path focused on the esoteric applications of the Divine Soul and the way of all natural spirits, employing methods that were both bizarre and unpredictable.
At high levels of attainment, practitioners could even entrust their Divine Soul to mountains, rivers, plants, and Golden Stone, borrowing their spiritual nature to cultivate and create all manner of unbelievable things.
However, the barrier to entry for this art was also frighteningly high.
It demanded nearly impossible talent with the Divine Soul—a true one-in-a-million prodigy—and the cultivation process was exceptionally perilous, with the constant risk of one’s soul being utterly annihilated.
Furthermore, its teachings were passed down in strict secrecy, causing its numbers to dwindle.
It had completely declined and its teachings were lost an untold number of years ago.
All that remained were a few fantastic legends.
And this azure-robed man was clearly the product of an extremely profound and esoteric Dharma Gate from the Witchcraft and Nuo Skill—the Divine Puppet.
It was neither living nor dead, neither person nor thing.
It could think, cultivate, and comprehend the Great Dao just like a normal living being, completely unhindered.
More importantly, as long as the Puppet Heart—the anchor for its Divine Soul’s core—was not destroyed...
...the Divine Puppet was nearly immortal and indestructible. Even if its physical body was destroyed...
...it could reform itself as long as the Puppet Heart remained.
Qi Yun stared at the exquisite, mystical Jade Crystal Chain in his palm, then glanced at the respectfully posed Divine Puppet Man on the ground, and couldn’t help but marvel once more.
’Divine-Demonic Flesh and Blood... a Divine Puppet...’
’In a seemingly unremarkable side hall of the Upper Profound Celestial Palace, its entrance broken, a few casually stored silk boxes contained such rare treasures and forgotten arts, long vanished from the world.’
’What sort of divine wonders must the three main halls of the Upper Profound Celestial Palace hold, then!’
The more wondrous and precious the contents of the boxes, the more intense Qi Yun’s sense of regret and frustration grew.
He slowly put away the Jade Crystal Chain. His gaze, deep and inscrutable, fell once more upon the Divine Puppet Man.
"Speak."
Qi Yun coolly appraised the Divine Puppet Man before him.
"Who refined you?"
"Why were you sealed in this box?"
"And how much do you know... about the Upper Profound Celestial Palace?"
"In response to Senior’s question... I cannot speak of this matter."
The Divine Puppet Man’s face showed a trace of genuine helplessness as he slowly shook his head, his voice lowered to a whisper.
"Hm?"
At the sound, Qi Yun raised an eyebrow. He made no other overt movement, but the index finger of the right hand resting on his knee lifted half an inch.
The Divine Puppet Man immediately convulsed as if struck across the back by an invisible whip. He quickly bowed lower, his voice urgent.
"Senior, please quell your anger!
It is not my intention to conceal things from you, it is simply that... I truly cannot speak of it!"
He then opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out as far as possible.
There, on the surface of his seemingly normal tongue, near the root, was a branded character in an archaic, powerful script. It was the color of blood.
[Forbidden]
Faint golden lines of light, exquisitely fine yet impossibly resilient, flowed along the character’s edges, vaguely forming a closed loop.
"The masters... placed a Curse on me," the Divine Puppet Man said, retracting his tongue. His voice was even lower now, tinged with an undisguisable fear.
"If I dare reveal the secrets of the Celestial Palace without permission, I will instantly suffer a severe punishment."
"The Celestial Palace has already fallen, and its halls are in ruins. What ’severe punishment’ could there be?" Situ Huaji, who was standing nearby, couldn’t help but snort. "I think you’re just playing games," he said gruffly. "Trying to bargain, are we?"
The Divine Puppet Man turned his head to cast a sideways glance at Situ Huaji. A flicker of utter indifference—even a hint of condescending coldness—passed through his once-gentle eyes.
"Would you like to test... whether a True Monarch’s power can still reach across the river of ages and take effect?"
His voice was calm, but it sent a sudden chill through Situ Huaji’s heart.
’Test the power of a True Monarch?’
Situ Huaji opened and closed his mouth, but ultimately, he didn’t dare to reply.
Though he was proud and fierce, he understood the weight carried by the two words "True Monarch."
Who would dare to so lightly test a measure put in place by such a being?
Qi Yun took in both their reactions. His deep gaze fell once again on the faint, residual image of the "Forbidden" character on the Divine Puppet Man’s tongue.
He had personally experienced the horror of a Dao Evil. That thing was merely a bizarre creature born from the mutated remnants of a True Monarch’s will, yet it had rendered him all but helpless.
A Forbidden Curse Technique personally laid by a True Monarch, even after eons, was not something a mere Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator could possibly fathom, let alone challenge.
"Alright."
Qi Yun finally spoke, his voice level and devoid of emotion.
"I believe you."
"The Celestial Court has been destroyed, and the Upper Profound Celestial Palace is nothing but ruins," Qi Yun said, his tone shifting as he looked at the Divine Puppet Man.
"Now that you’re free, I imagine you have nowhere else to go."
"From now on, you will follow me."
"It’s better than... being sealed back in that dark box, oblivious to the passage of time."
The first half of his statement was an invitation.
The second half was a blatant threat.
The Divine Puppet Man was silent for a moment.
"To receive Senior’s favor is this junior’s Creation." The Divine Puppet Man bowed low again, his voice solemn. "This junior is willing to follow Senior and await your command."
Qi Yun gave a slight nod of acknowledgement.
He pointed to an empty spot nearby, indicating that the Divine Puppet Man should stand to the side.
The Divine Puppet Man did as instructed. He rose, straightened his worn azure robes, and walked silently to the edge of the stone platform. There he stood, with head bowed and eyes downcast in a posture of utmost deference.
Having dealt with the Divine Puppet Man, Qi Yun’s gaze finally fell upon the last silk box on the stone platform.
It was dark gold, its surface embossed with layered patterns of clouds and lightning that seemed to constantly shift and flow.
Its radiance was contained within, giving it an air of ancient dignity.
The first two boxes had yielded a Divine Demon’s finger containing the source of Innate ice, and an ancient Divine Puppet bound by a True Monarch’s Restriction and burdened with secrets.
’What could this last one possibly hold?’
Qi Yun’s expression was calm. He reached out from a distance, his touch landing lightly on the center of the dark gold Cloud Thunder Silk Box’s lid.
It was like a key fitting into a lock.
CLICK.
The lid instantly popped open a crack.
The very instant the crack appeared—
VMMMM!!!
The lid flew open, and a divine radiance erupted!
At the same time, an intense tremor surged through Qi Yun’s soul, and the Magic Technique Panel spontaneously materialized before him.
The Upper Profound Talisman flickered incessantly, radiating a powerful desire for Refinement.
As Qi Yun’s gaze fell upon the divine object within the box, his eyes locked on it, and he whispered in disbelief:
"Shenxiao..."
...