Chapter 396 Netherworld True Lord

Dust swirled in the sky, casting a huge shadow that obscured the bright, lonely moon.

The sand and dust occasionally formed a huge, blurry human face, only to suddenly disperse.

As the wind howled, Ji An felt a chill seep into his bones. A powerful sense of oppression descended from the sky, making the air seem heavy and even his breathing difficult.

The ground seemed to shake, and black human hands reached out.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his whole body trembled reflexively, like a wild beast encountering a predator at a higher level of the food chain.

This is not controlled by him, but is the instinct of the organism.

At this moment, four words kept echoing in his mind, each word carrying immense weight: 'Nascent Soul Dharma Form!'

Time seemed to freeze as he silently endured the oppressive force, his heart filled with bitterness, cursing inwardly:

'That old monster is even trying to steal opportunities? He's shameless.'

However, he could only think it to himself; he dared not show the slightest resentment on his face. When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

Killing him would be easier for a Nascent Soul True Monarch than crushing an ant.

Many Foundation Establishment cultivators were unable to withstand the oppressive feeling brought by the Nascent Soul Dharma Form and collapsed to the ground.

I don't know how much time passed, but it shouldn't have been long. All the strange phenomena disappeared, and the bright moon in the sky once again illuminated this mountain valley.

"Greetings, True Lord of the Underworld. I will naturally obey your words."

However, I am a disciple of the Central Continent Taiji Palace. I hope that, True Lord, you will consider the reputation of my master, True Lord Huayang, and give us, my fellow disciples, some face.

The words of the unknown Golden Core cultivator rang out again. With a Nascent Soul cultivator taking action, he could only lower his head.

The Earthly Fiends Sect has only one Nascent Soul True Monarch, who is skilled in corpse refining. It is said that by chance, he condensed a Taiyin Moon Corpse and broke through to the Nascent Soul stage.

What's even more enviable is that when the Netherworld True Monarch broke through, the Corpse Refining also broke through to the Nascent Soul level.

When the news reached Zhongzhou, it shocked all the True Lords.

From then on, a Golden Core stage power suddenly rose to a dual Nascent Soul stage power.

Unless he encounters a cultivator who is one or two minor realms higher, cultivators of the same realm are no match for Netherworld True Monarch.

The situation in the Southern Continent, where the Shadowless Sect once held a monopoly, has instantly transformed into a situation where two powerful factions shine brightly.

The Earthly Fiends Sect's current power is firmly above that of the Shadowless Sect.

"Dignity, hehe, if Hua Yangzi were here today, I would naturally give him dignity, but why should I give you dignity, you mere junior!"

At this moment, Ji An saw a dark figure appear under the moonlight; a tall and robust cultivator appeared out of thin air.

As he appeared, eerie green flames emerged in the void, forming a canopy that instantly illuminated the mountain valley.

If you disregard the color, it's no different from daytime.

He smiled bitterly to himself, realizing he had underestimated the allure of the world's core. If such a treasure were to truly appear, it could sustain the prosperity of a power for tens of thousands of years.

This place is both an opportunity and a vortex of trouble; he only regrets that he couldn't extricate himself sooner.

If the Earthly Fiends Sect were to inspect each item individually, the Void Stone would inevitably be found, and at that point, the spiritual items he was carrying would likely be severely punished.

Furthermore, he was not confident that the stone tortoise could evade the detection of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Ji An gritted his teeth and let out a somewhat dejected sigh.

He was completely helpless when he encountered such an unreasonable high-level cultivator, and this feeling was extremely frustrating.

He dared not try to escape. He did not understand the methods of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, but in the entire history of the cultivation world, there was no record of a Chaoyuan stage cultivator being able to escape from a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Even those miscellaneous records of cultivation wouldn't dare to boast like this.

The scene was deathly silent; no one dared to utter a sound.

"Line up in four lines to be inspected by us, and then you can leave in an orderly manner."

Don't try anything funny, or I won't mind having another pet.

Hurry up, don't waste my time.

The Netherworld True Lord hovered in the air, coldly looking down at the cultivators below.

If it were any other opportunity, he wouldn't have acted so rudely; even a Nascent Soul True Monarch has his pride.

The message was relayed back to the sect by his disciple, who happened to be in Rongman Immortal City at the time. Upon receiving the message, he rushed to Rotten Peach Mountain immediately.

Upon discovering that the anomaly was caused by the disintegration of an unknown secret realm after its lifespan had reached its end, I immediately left a backup plan to monitor the area and fled back to my sect at full speed to report.

Upon receiving the news, he immediately ordered the sect to gather its disciples, while he, along with four Golden Core stage elders and elite Chaoyuan stage disciples, went ahead.

The Earthly Fiend Sect's foundation is not deep; it is not only inferior to the Nascent Soul sects of the Central Continent, but also slightly inferior to the Shadowless Sect.

If this fractured secret realm has already given birth to the core of the world, the Nascent Soul inheritance of the Earthly Fiend Sect will be stable.

Therefore, even if it meant losing face, the Netherworld True Lord was determined to seize every possible opportunity.

Before other forces can react, turn Rotten Peach Mountain upside down.

The Golden Core cultivators from the Earthly Fiend Sect landed at the mouth of the mountain pass, with five or six disciples emerging beside each of them, indicating that they had been lying in ambush there all along.

The Nascent Soul True Monarch spoke again, and the cultivators dared not be negligent, quickly dividing into four teams.

Ji An deliberately lagged behind to meet Han Yan, both of them looking helpless.

Han Yan transmitted her voice:

"Junior brother, what should we do?"

She understood perfectly well what the Nascent Soul cultivator's goal was; she didn't have one, and she also knew that the Nascent Soul cultivator would definitely look down on her meager possessions.

However, the inspection certainly wouldn't be carried out by the Nascent Soul True Monarch himself; his subordinates' disciples would undoubtedly have been involved in shady dealings.

"We can only wait and see," Ji An said bitterly, his heart pounding with anxiety, even more so than the other person.

He was at the mercy of others, like a fish on a chopping board, and had no say in the matter.

He wasn't worried if his opponent was a Golden Core cultivator, because a Golden Core cultivator couldn't see through the stone tortoise inside his body.

But now, he can only entrust his fate to the elusive realm of luck.

Han Yan sighed. Even if a cultivator obtained the world's core, the Earthly Fiend Sect's actions would make it impossible for them to find it.

A knowledgeable cultivator will surely hide the core in some corner, while an unknowing one will miss it even if he sees the world's core.

The group of cultivators moved forward at a leisurely pace. Occasionally, a cultivator would shout that something was missing, only to be rudely pushed away. These minor incidents cast a shadow over everyone's hearts.

Sang Chen, a Golden Core cultivator from the Earthly Fiend Sect, strode up to the Netherworld True Monarch and, suppressing his excitement, transmitted his voice:

“Ancestor, I have discovered a peculiar space being nurtured here.”

As he spoke, he handed over a stone no bigger than a glass marble.

The stone is light gray and somewhat resembles a gourd. The upper half displays patterns of the sun, moon, and stars, while the lower half displays patterns of flowers, birds, insects, and fish.

The stone's base color features intricate patterns, exuding an air of mystery.

He discovered a space several meters in diameter inside. Outside the space, there was a strong wind blowing, lightning flashing and thunder roaring from time to time, and several black spatial rifts occasionally appeared.

The Netherworld True Lord's face lit up with joy, and he immediately took the stone, its texture as smooth and warm as jade.

Disappointment flashed across his face, and he threw the stone back, transmitting his voice:

"This space is an extremely unstable fragment of the world, and it is at risk of collapsing in the future."

Don't keep it. If space itself is annihilated, a part of your body might disappear.

This space is indeed a very small core of the world, but it has not yet been conceived.

Now that the world that gave birth to it has collapsed, it can no longer be born.

Keeping it in your hand is like carrying a lightning talisman that could explode at any moment; it might be blown to smithereens one day.

The Netherworld True Lord sighed deeply. The core of the world had been found, and it seemed that the Earthly Fiend Sect was not destined to obtain a small world.

Sang Chen felt his excitement had been short-lived. He took the items back, tossed them to Sang Ji, the disciple in charge of the inspection, and transmitted his voice:

"A useless thing might explode, so don't keep it."

Sangji raised an eyebrow slightly, returned the stone, but then discreetly smeared some sacrificial corpse dust on it.

Corpse dust is similar to ash, but it emits an extremely faint, special odor that only corpse refiners can detect.

Even through the storage bag, you can tell the difference.

This is a mark he made to indicate that the other party is a big fish, and if an opportunity arises, he wants to make a profit without any initial investment.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator put the stone into his storage bag; it was something he had obtained in the evening.

However, he did not discover the space inside because his divine sense could not penetrate it.

This characteristic of the stone made him feel like he had found a treasure, because so far, apart from magical restrictions, he had not found anything that could hinder divine sense.

The fact that the Golden Core cultivator handed the stone to the Nascent Soul cultivator for inspection further proved the stone's extraordinary nature.

Although he didn't know why the people from the Earthly Fiend Sect hadn't taken it away, he felt that this better demonstrated the stone's mystique.

The monks continued to advance, each with a grim expression, yet they were helpless.

Half an hour later, another Golden Core cultivator from the Earthly Fiend Sect hurriedly approached the Netherworld True Monarch, handed him a black sphere covered with moon-white stars, and said in a low voice:

"Ancestor, my divine sense cannot penetrate this stone."

The Netherworld True Lord, who had been lost in thought, came back to his senses. He took the sphere and extended his divine sense, only to find that it was bounced back.

He was immediately overjoyed and carefully examined the patterns of the stars, quickly discovering the key to their secrets.

His divine sense condensed and covered the surface of the sphere in a special form, and his divine sense immediately entered a mysterious space.

This space is about fifty acres in size, with a volcano rising in the middle, and thick fire spirit energy rising from the billowing black smoke.

Thunderous explosions echoed from the depths of the earth, and the ground would crack open from time to time, gushing out turbid spring water.

The wind howled, lightning flashed intermittently, and a deafening roar echoed.

The Netherworld True Lord's divine sense withdrew from the space. He was screaming inwardly, but remained outwardly calm.

This is a small world that has already been conceived, reshaping the earth, fire, water, and wind. Once it gradually stabilizes, it will become a world that can be utilized.

He tucked the stone into his sleeve, and at the same time, he drew a lump of black mud from the ground, instantly refining the poison in the mud, and then used other means to make a replica of the same shape and size as the sphere.

He subtly imbued it with a magical restriction, preventing even a Golden Core level divine sense from penetrating it.

The Netherworld True Lord tossed the replica away, shaking his head as he said:

"A kind of hard, strange stone that can isolate divine consciousness; having a lot of it would come in handy."

(End of this chapter)