Chapter 236: Piao Nanzi

Mount Hengyue Range, within the Xuandao Sect.

In the back mountain, at the very top of the dense network of caves where Wang Lin once cultivated in seclusion, within the only natural溶洞 (karst cave) there, Piao Nanzi sat cross-legged on a conical rock, meditating with his eyes closed.

His appearance, compared to four hundred years ago, had barely changed. His face was still broad and his ears large, giving him a rather majestic look.

At the top of the cave, there were several stalactites, from which water occasionally dripped onto the puddles on the ground, making pleasant sounds.

After a long while, Piao Nanzi's face flickered with strange lights, constantly changing. Slowly, he opened his eyes. At this moment, clouds and mist flashed within his eyes, as if they contained the sun, moon, and stars.

Piao Nanzi raised his right hand and slowly performed some Hand Seals. His expression then showed neither joy nor anger. He waved his hand forward, and instantly, the stone wall several zhang in front of him brightened considerably.

Immediately after, ten points of light slowly appeared on the stone wall.

However, as soon as these ten light points appeared, six of them flickered rapidly, growing dimmer and dimmer, eventually shattering and disappearing.

A barely perceptible twitch appeared on Piao Nanzi's face. His expression subtly darkened. At this moment, the surrounding air immediately became heavy, and even the water droplets slowly flowing down from the top of the stone wall froze at this instant, no longer dripping.

If a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator were here at this moment, their eyes would surely light up. To be able to change the spiritual energy fluctuations in the surroundings and thus perform some relatively complex Divine Abilities and Spells, this was something only a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator could achieve.

Piao Nanzi had now touched the edge of the Soul Transformation Stage. The Soul Transformation Stage was no longer far for him; it had become like a window paper that could be broken with a single poke, as long as the right spot was found.

Piao Nanzi stared at the light points on the stone wall for a long time, then murmured to himself, “Teng Huayuan, what kind of powerful expert did you provoke to cause such a disaster? Alas!

If not for the Emissary designating your Teng Family as the test subjects, this old man would truly not want to bother with your Teng Family's affairs!” Piao Nanzi's expression was grim. In truth, he still didn't understand what the Emissary saw in the Teng Family that made them designate it as the test subject.

If not for this, with the Teng Family's Aptitude, it would have been impossible for them to have nine Nascent Soul Cultivators. Teng Huayuan also would not have leaped from the Early Stage Nascent Soul to a Late Stage powerhouse in just a few hundred years, becoming second only to Piao Nanzi.

He fell silent for a moment, then stood up, flicked his sleeve, and his body instantly vanished from the spot.

When he reappeared, he was already at the summit of Xuandao Sect Mountain. Standing there, Piao Nanzi knelt on one knee, looked up at the sky, and rapidly performed Hand Seals. As his Hand Seals changed, the clouds in the sky gradually thickened, and a faint, almost imperceptible pressure slowly emerged.

Then Piao Nanzi waved his arms and shouted, “Piao Nanzi of the lower-level Cultivation Country, requests the use of Magical Artifacts!”

As soon as his voice fell, two lights, one green and one red, flashed from the two main peaks of the Mount Hengyue Range. These lights grew increasingly intense. At this moment, most of the spiritual energy within the entire State of Zhao surged wildly towards this location. Immediately after, the two green and red lights slowly floated up and landed on either side of Piao Nanzi. Their radiance dimmed, revealing their true forms within.

Their true forms were two Dharma Wheels. Four slanted blades extended from these Dharma Wheels, flashing with chilling gleams. Around the Dharma Wheels, or rather, within the surrounding black mud, circles of Rifts even appeared.

From this, it could be seen that these Dharma Wheels were certainly not Nascent Soul-level Magic Treasures. It was highly possible that they were Magic Treasures personally crafted by Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators or above.

Piao Nanzi respectfully kowtowed several times on the ground before cautiously imbuing the two Dharma Wheels with a spiritual light and carefully putting them into his Storage Pouch. He then let out a sigh of relief. His entire being immediately exuded a murderous Qi, and he muttered to himself, “Teng Huayuan, this is the last time I will help you. If your Teng Family still hasn't produced a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator within a hundred years, then don't blame this old man for being impolite to your Teng Family.”

With that, he flashed and vanished without a trace.

The instant the spiritual energy surged, Wang Lin immediately noticed it. His expression was normal, but his heart sank. A moment later, he let out a cold snort and sped towards the only core Teng Family member who had not moved.

At the border of the State of Zhao, there was a mysterious place. For four hundred years, nearby Mortals and Martial Artists would change their expressions drastically at the mere mention of this place. Even Cultivators were extremely fearful of it.

This was a massive black mud pit.

It was a deep pit composed of black mud that emitted a pungent odor. How deep it actually was, almost no one knew, except for a select few.

However, every hundred years, this pit would erupt, and each eruption was astonishing in its power.

As for ordinary times, this place was also a forbidden zone. Whether Mortals, Cultivators, or flying beasts, anything that came within a certain range of the pit would be sucked into the mud pit by a powerful suction force and buried alive.

Over time, a layer of gray mist unknowingly appeared outside this mud pit, completely shrouding the surroundings.

This was the most dangerous place in the State of Zhao for nearly four hundred years—the Black Mud Pond.

At this moment, in the deepest part of the Black Mud Pond, there was a black crystal coffin. The coffin had no lid, and its interior was completely covered by black mud. Around the coffin, or rather, within the surrounding black mud, countless chilling white bones were scattered.

Among these bones, there were humans and beasts. They were all the unfortunate ones who had been sucked into this place over the past four hundred years.

This place was the cultivation ground of Teng Yi, the person Teng Ba feared the most.

Teng Yi was a legend of the Teng Family.

This person was not a Junior of Teng Huayuan. To be precise, he was Teng Huayuan's clan brother.

He was the only one among the core members of the Teng Family whom no one dared to challenge from beginning to end, and also the only one who had consistently held the title of Teng Yi for four hundred years.

When Wang Lin was a thousand li away from the Black Mud Pond, he had already sensed its extraordinary nature. After a brief contemplation, he did not let his Mosquito Beast continue flying, but instead flew alone.

Almost the instant Wang Lin entered the thousand li range, a bony, emaciated hand suddenly reached out from the coffin beneath the Black Mud Pond. Slowly, a skeletal-like man sat up from inside the coffin.

His entire body was almost pitch black, practically skin and bones, without any flesh. On top of his head, there were only a few sparse strands of hair. The entire person looked extremely terrifying.

A faint, eerie light gradually emerged in his eyes, and then he slowly raised his head.

At this time, Wang Lin had already arrived above the Black Mud Pond. His expression was more solemn than ever. The Restriction Banner had already been activated, fluttering by his side. After glancing at the Black Mud Pond, Wang Lin did not hesitate. A red light flashed in his eyes, and his extreme realm Divine Sense burst forth, transforming into a series of lightning bolts that plunged into the black mud.

The eerie light in the eyes of the man in the coffin deep within the Black Mud Pond brightened considerably. Streaks of red lightning raced through the mud, descending towards him. The man extended his bony right hand and lightly tapped, touching one of the red lightning bolts.

With a bang, the red lightning vanished without a trace, and the man's finger showed signs of cracking.

The man licked the corner of his mouth, and intense Battle Intent appeared in the eerie light of his eyes. He slowly stood up. At this time, red lightning bolts continued to descend, but each time, they were blocked by his finger.

After all the lightning bolts finally disappeared, his entire right hand was already covered in layers of cracks. He glanced at his right hand, then with a shake, his right hand turned into dust and vanished.

He showed no concern. Instead, a strong Battle Intent emanated from his body. He parted his lips in a grin, and with a movement, he shot upwards.

Wang Lin's expression was quite grim. He had clearly felt that the lightning bolts formed by his extreme realm Divine Sense had been completely shattered by this person at the cost of one right hand.

This had never happened before. Wang Lin was absolutely certain that this person's cultivation had not reached the Soul Transformation Stage, yet he could block the extreme realm Divine Sense!

The moment the skeletal man charged out from the bottom of the pond, Wang Lin did not hesitate. The Restriction Banner transformed into a black curtain, enveloping the surroundings. Over ninety streaks of Restriction Qi, like black Dragons, rushed out from the black curtain and, under Wang Lin's right hand performing Hand Seals and pointing, roared towards the mud pond.

The skeletal man showed a blank expression towards the incoming Restriction Qi. He neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the Restriction Qi to fall and strike his body.

Immediately, his body showed signs of shattering. However, even after the last streak of Restriction Qi disappeared, although his entire body had countless cracks, his stance remained unshaken.

Wang Lin's expression was grim, and he immediately retreated. At the same time, he performed Hand Seals with his right hand and pointed at the black curtain in the sky. Instantly, another ninety-plus streaks of Restriction Qi appeared and descended.

The skeletal man lowered his head to look at the cracks on his body, then raised his head and licked the corner of his mouth at Wang Lin. His body instantly vanished from its original spot.

Wang Lin did not hesitate in the slightest. His body immediately flashed to the side, and with a tearing sound, a piece of Wang Lin's sleeve was ripped off. In the place where he had just vanished, the skeletal man held a corner of the sleeve in his left hand, his eyes flashing with intense Battle Intent.

Wang Lin's scalp tingled. He stared at the skeletal man. If he had dodged a breath slower just now, he would have been hit by the opponent.

His gaze was grim. With a single point, the Restriction Qi descended again, roaring towards the opponent.

The skeletal man's eyes once again showed a bewildered, blank expression. He neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the Restriction Qi to bombard his body. The cracks on his body increased.

Wang Lin's eyes flashed. Without waiting for the Restriction Qi to disappear, he once again spared no spiritual energy, summoning an equal number of Restriction Qi to continuously bombard him. At the same time, he did not stay in one place, but instead flickered around, and the lightning bolts formed by his extreme realm Divine Sense, disregarding his life, scattered out the moment he controlled the Restriction Qi to descend.

The skeletal man remained motionless, only extending his left hand to touch the extreme realm Divine Sense when it descended. Gradually, the cracks on his body increased, and even under the attack of the extreme realm Divine Sense, his left hand had already begun to shatter.

This was an extremely bizarre battle. Wang Lin's combat experience could be said to be extremely rich, but this was the first time he had encountered something so strange.