CHAPTER 549: 283. HUNDRED-HOLE FISH TALISMAN SKILL

"Xu Daoist, I am willing to join the Butian Sect and become a House Elder of the Butian Sect! Please, stop this Divine Power!" Hong Wenren pleaded, his face etched with grief.

In just a few breaths, the lower half of his body had been incinerated by this unknown black fire, and he feared the rest of his Dao Body wouldn’t last much longer. What was even more terrifying was that his Nascent Soul was now also tainted by several clusters of the black fire. It wailed ceaselessly and piteously within his Dantian, his Divine Soul suffering severe damage.

"I am willing to be a slave! Have a Slave Mark placed upon me! I will serve Master Xu and the Butian Sect for my entire life..." Seeing Xu Xing remained unmoved, Hong Wenren swallowed his humiliation and bowed his head once more.

Having finally achieved the Nascent Soul realm, he was unwilling to perish and become just another skeleton beneath Xu Xing’s feet after enjoying only a few good days. He had never imagined that, despite also being a Nascent Soul Cultivator, he would be utterly powerless against Xu Xing, incapable of even resisting, only able to passively await death.

This is the power of Dao Principles... Hong Wenren’s heart turned to ash.

Although his strength was inferior to Xu Xing’s, his insight was not shallow. He knew the black fire Xu Xing wielded was likely some form of fire-element Dao Principle.

Divine Powers derived from Dao Principles can only be countered by Dao Principles.

His cultivation, however, was still shallow. He had only recently condensed his Nascent Soul and had not yet comprehended the Dao Principles he had nurtured back in the Dao Pill Realm. Thus, he possessed no means to resist Xu Xing’s fire-element Dao Principle.

"Too late," Xu Xing stated, his expression cold and unmoved.

After speaking, he flicked his sleeve robe, unleashing the Bi Feng Divine Power from his left eye as well.

Wind fueled the fire’s intensity.

Instantly, the conflagration surged. Hong Wenren’s upper body was engulfed by the black flames, his Dao Body continuously immolated until it turned to nothingness.

At this point, Hong Wenren abandoned all thought of begging Xu Xing for mercy. He gritted his teeth, resolving to forsake his Dao Body and allow his Nascent Soul to escape alone. This way, even if attaining the Great Dao in the future proved difficult, it was far preferable to perishing here and now. As for the black flames clinging to his Nascent Soul, he acted with extreme decisiveness, using his palm like a knife to carve them away piece by piece.

Though the steps to escape were complex, Hong Wenren’s cultivation was not low. Once he made his decision, he accomplished it all in the blink of an eye.

Thus, just as the black flames completely consumed Hong Wenren, a plump, white infant—his Nascent Soul—shot out from the crown of his head. It cast a venomous glare at Xu Xing before fleeing towards the rear of Lishan Mountain.

Witnessing this, Xu Xing remained unhurried. The purple glow in his eyes slowly faded, his expression returning to its earlier calm. He mused for a short while, his lips moving slightly as he murmured a brief incantation.

Instantly, a layer of silvery-white brilliance enveloped him, suffused with Immortal Qi. Behind him, an ethereal figure appeared—a feathering immortal, much like the one associated with Zhongtai Dao Monarch previously. Above his head, tier upon tier of Immortal Palace structures materialized, along with Caves and Blessed Lands.

"Mysterious Truth Art!" Xu Xing stopped chanting. Gazing at the tranquil Hong Family estate in the distance, he uttered these three words.

The feathering immortal detached from his body. As if merging into water, it passed unimpeded through the great protective array established by the Lishan Hong Family. Following the imperceptible sword imprint of the Tide Feather Sword, it sped directly towards the direction in which Hong Wenren’s Nascent Soul had fled.

「Shaoqing.」

Hong Wenren’s Nascent Soul burst out from the rear of Lishan Mountain. Seeing the feathering immortal behind it, like a spectral phantom, it panicked, its face turning deathly pale with fright.

How can such a bizarre technique exist in this world? Impossible, impossible... Hong Wenren cried out, his voice laced with disbelief.

Lishan Mountain was the ancestral territory of the Hong Cultivator Family, sprawling and vast. How could Xu Xing track my Nascent Soul with that bizarre technique without Breaking the Array and without extending his Divine Sense? For safety, he hadn’t even alerted any members of the Lishan Hong Family during his escape, instead hiding in a remote, secluded spot.

The feathering immortal, however, showed no interest in hearing what Hong Wenren had to say. It seized his Nascent Soul, extracted its Divine Soul, and swallowed it whole. Deprived of its Divine Soul, the Nascent Soul instantly detonated, transforming into pure Spiritual Energy that dispersed between heaven and earth.

After devouring Hong Wenren’s Divine Soul, the feathering immortal once again passed through the array, returned to Xu Xing’s body, and faded from sight.

Just six years... He’s already mastered the Feather Transformation Immortal Scripture and cultivated the Mysterious Truth Art... Hidden in the shadows, Ding Jifeng, the Sect Master of the Nanhua Sect, watched Xu Xing and his retinue. Astonishment flickered in his eyes, his face a mask of disbelief.

The Nanhua Sect and the Flying Feather Immortal Palace shared generations of friendship, and thus knew more of the latter’s secrets than any of the other Higher Teachings. Regarding the Flying Feather Immortal Palace’s secret transmission, the Feather Transformation Immortal Sutra, the Nanhua Sect also possessed some fragmented portions of this ancient scripture, though they had never revealed this to outsiders. According to his knowledge, the essence of the Feather Transformation Immortal Sutra, a Nascent Soul Level cultivation technique, lay in cultivating a "feathering immortal" under one’s complete control, and then utilizing this "feathering immortal" to execute the corresponding Three Great Immortal Techniques.

Now, Xu Xing’s use of the feathering immortal to devour Hong Wenren’s Divine Soul unequivocally proved he had mastered the Feather Transformation Immortal Sutra and one of the Three Great Immortal Techniques: the Mysterious Truth Art.

The Mysterious Truth Art emphasized refinement. Specifically for the feathering immortal, this meant devouring all things in the world to enhance its spiritual physique.

Although the Golden Crow Immortal Body is formidable, his comprehension is what truly marks him with Banished Immortal qualifications, the aptitude to seek immortality and attain the Dao... Ding Jifeng sighed inwardly.

In the early stages of cultivation, innate talent and physique are paramount; in the later stages, comprehension takes precedence. Cultivators with an Immortal Body usually possess good comprehension, but typically not to Xu Xing’s extraordinary degree.

Could the Xu Family possess some ancient bloodline to have produced such a peerless talent like Xu Xing? Ding Jifeng resolved that upon returning to the Sect, he would dispatch men to the North Wilderness to recruit outstandingly gifted members of the Xu Royal Family into the Nanhua Sect.