I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals 343

## Chapter 339: The Spirit Object for Nascent Soul Formation

Hundreds of miles away, a blood cloud, cloaked in a ray of escaping light, ripped through the air. It revealed the Blood Bat King, with massive, blood-red wings growing from its back.

“Hm? Disappeared!”

The Blood Bat King’s escaping light solidified, revealing the escape trajectory of the Sky Demon Patriarch, which had vanished without a trace from hundreds of miles away.

Normally, the range of a nascent soul cultivator’s divine sense is around a hundred miles. The Blood Bat King, being at the peak of the early nascent soul stage, could reach a hundred and fifty miles.

The Blood Bat King raised its palm and extracted a concentrated blood bead from the air, a miniature heart that pulsed with a rhythmic, beating motion.

Through his blood-path secret art, he confirmed that the Sky Demon Patriarch’s presence had not truly disappeared and had indeed been in the general area.

From the Blood Bat King’s perspective, it could only mean one of two things: either he had entered a separate space, such as a small secret realm, or he was using a method to conceal himself, like an illusion array or concealment techniques.

In such a desolate place, the possibility of a secret realm was extremely low, making the latter more likely.

The Blood Bat King slowed down its speed, becoming wary and staring coldly at the area where the Sky Demon Patriarch had been.

With his rich experience in combat, the Blood Bat King knew that the situation likely indicated a trap set by the Sky Demon Patriarch, an all-or-nothing, desperate counterattack.

…

Inside a fourth-order illusion array.

“Don’t joke, Realman Xiang! If I had a Nascent Soul Pill, I would have used it to nurture a new generation of nascent soul cultivators long ago. Why would I keep it?”

The Sky Demon Patriarch chuckled wryly, denying the accusation.

He truly didn’t have a Nascent Soul Pill.

Even for the Golden Sun Sect, with its deep-rooted heritage, acquiring a Nascent Soul Pill would require substantial effort and resources.

Furthermore, the Sky Demon Sect, with its greatly diminished foundation and history of decline for hundreds of years, was far less capable.

In fact, three hundred years ago, the Sky Demon Patriarch had managed to obtain a Nascent Soul Pill, but unfortunately, the nascent soul seed failed to make a breakthrough and he perished.

“You don’t have a Nascent Soul Pill? Don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Lu Changan’s expression hardened, he became unreasonable and controlled his pre-fourth-order puppet and the puppet army to launch an attack.

Buzz!

The puppet energy released from the puppet army outlined a purple and green formation diagram, converging into a massive beam of light that charged towards the Sky Demon Patriarch.

“Realman Xiang, stop! Though I don’t have a Nascent Soul Pill, I do have a spirit object for nascent soul formation.”

The Sky Demon Patriarch waved his “Windcloud Fan,” forming a thick cloud of wind and mist that vibrated, absorbing and deflecting a powerful attack.

“A spirit object for nascent soul formation?”

Lu Changan wasn’t surprised; he had simply been making a grand demand, knowing that the Sky Demon Patriarch likely didn’t have a Nascent Soul Pill.

“This bottle of ‘Noon-Midnight Clear Wind’ is a top-notch spirit object for nascent soul formation. It can cleanse and purify your physical body and magical power. When used during nascent soul formation, it can optimize your state and slightly promote the shattering and formation of the nascent soul.”

The Sky Demon Patriarch brought out a two-foot-tall transparent bottle, containing a semi-transparent cloud of clear wind, with a color resembling light-colored bamboo leaves.

“As long as Realman Xiang helps me withstand and repel the Blood Bat King, this bottle of ‘Noon-Midnight Clear Wind’ will be your reward.”

The Sky Demon Patriarch proposed.

“Haha! You want to use a mere spirit object for nascent soul formation to make me risk my life and fight against the Blood Spirit Sect? With my strength and resources, do you think I can’t obtain a spirit object for nascent soul formation?”

Lu Changan snorted, disdain evident in his tone.

At that moment, the Blood Bat King’s escaping light had entered a range of a hundred and twenty miles and was cautiously approaching.

Dozens of blood-colored bats were tentatively flying towards the illusion array area.

Even a nascent soul cultivator in the middle stage would not foolishly charge into a fourth-order illusion array, especially one with a nascent soul cultivator guarding it and whose details were unknown.

This brief window of opportunity was the perfect time for Lu Changan to pressure the Sky Demon Patriarch.

“Realman Xiang, be merciful!”

The Sky Demon Patriarch also sensed the blood path aura approaching from outside, causing a surge of urgency in his heart.

He could still survive being chased by the Blood Bat King alone; he could maneuver and hold out for several days.

The Blood Path True Monarch’s primary advantage lay in protracted wars of attrition, but he couldn’t kill the Sky Demon Patriarch in a short period of time. With some nascent soul secret arts, the latter had some room to maneuver.

If he were held back by Lu Changan, however, his chances of survival would dwindle.

“After the matter is settled, I’ll further compensate you with the key ingredient for the Nascent Soul Pill, the Heavenly Infant Fruit.”

The Sky Demon Patriarch showed a pained expression, as if he was making a significant sacrifice.

Lu Changan’s heart stirred. The Heavenly Infant Fruit was the most difficult ingredient to obtain in refining the Nascent Soul Pill, ranking first among the three main ingredients.

The Heavenly Infant Fruit had demanding survival conditions, requiring cultivation on a fourth-order spirit vein and at least a thousand years of medicinal properties.

Even ordinary forces would find it difficult to cultivate a Heavenly Infant Fruit with insufficient years, even if they obtained it.

“Don’t waste my time! Hand over the ‘Noon-Midnight Clear Wind’ and the ‘Heavenly Infant Fruit,’ and I’ll let you live!”

The middle-aged, sturdy man bared his teeth, issuing a threat.

“The ‘Heavenly Infant Fruit’ is not on me; it’s hidden in a secret location. Even if I carried it, I couldn’t trust you unconditionally.”

“But I can provide the ‘Noon-Midnight Clear Wind’ as a deposit, as a sign of good faith. Once the matter is settled, you can then claim the ‘Heavenly Infant Fruit.’”

The Sky Demon Patriarch urgently transmitted his voice through divine sense, making concessions.

Poof, poof!

At that moment, a few blood-colored bats seeped into the fourth-order illusion array, but were easily killed by the two cultivators.

“Alright, I agree to your terms.”

Lu Changan took advantage of the situation and stopped pressing further; time was running short. He could have squeezed out more benefits if he had more time.

The key resources for nascent soul formation had not been carried by the former Fire Separation Venerable; he had made other arrangements, entrusting them to Elder Wang. At that time, Lu Changan was only at the late foundation stage.

As for the Sky Demon Patriarch, from the very beginning of relocating his sect, he had never put all his eggs in one basket.

“Please accept, Realman Xiang.”

The Sky Demon Patriarch was also quick to agree and threw the bottle containing the “Noon-Midnight Clear Wind” over.

Lu Changan scanned it with his divine sense and quickly put it away, overjoyed.

This ‘Noon-Midnight Clear Wind’ alone couldn’t be purchased through normal channels anywhere in the Great Azure Eastern Domain.

The spirit object for nascent soul formation he had obtained in his previous life wasn’t as good as this, and he had fought and explored ruins and caves for it.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Large numbers of blood-colored bats, accompanied by billowing blood, constantly charged into the fourth-order illusion array.

The original desert illusion had been transformed into a blood-red swamp.

Lu Changan worked with the Ground Rock Rat to quickly withdraw the fourth-order illusion array, including the puppet army.

In an instant, the rolling blood clouds and a sky-obscuring swarm of blood-colored bats rushed in from outside.

“Xiang Jinglong! What’s the meaning of this? You dare to break your promise!”

The Sky Demon Patriarch roared in anger, wielding his “Windcloud Fan” to sweep away the surging blood and the blood spirit bats that had gotten close.

“Xiang is a劫修 (劫修, Jie Xiu – A cultivator who pursues strength through any means, regardless of morality, often seeking shortcuts or forbidden practices) and I was only collecting a toll.”

With the fourth-order illusion array withdrawn, Lu Changan took advantage of the situation to gather up the Ground Rock Rat and stood on the shoulders of the pre-fourth-order blue-armored puppet, making his escape in the first instance.

Lu Changan never intended to fight alongside the Sky Demon Patriarch against the Blood Bat King.

Since he had gotten the spirit object for nascent soul formation for free, why fight to the death?

The Blood Bat King’s blood path divine abilities were primarily directed at the Sky Demon Patriarch.

Lu Changan faced far less pressure, using the pre-fourth-order puppet and unleashing his power as a Nascent Soul cultivator to smash through the surrounding blood-colored bats, successfully escaping the bloody area.

Although the Sky Demon Patriarch was furious, he had anticipated this.

He spat out another mouthful of blood and true fire, merging them into the “Windcloud Fan.” In an instant, the sky clouds churned, a hurricane roared, and his figure transformed into a vortex of wind, clouds, and mist, rapidly flying away.

“Old Sky Demon! Let’s see how much blood essence and magical power you have left to burn.”

The Blood Bat King locked onto the Sky Demon Patriarch and glanced at Lu Changan, who had escaped in another direction.

This person’s strength was close to that of a nascent soul cultivator, and he didn’t want to create unnecessary trouble.

Xiang Jinglong?

The Blood Bat King remembered this name, choosing to pursue the Sky Demon Patriarch first.

…

After escaping for hundreds of miles, Lu Changan stood on the shoulders of the blue-armored puppet, a “Nail-Head Arrow” hidden in his sleeve.

If the Sky Demon Patriarch had insisted on sticking with him during his escape and dragging him down, Lu Changan would have cooperated with the Blood Bat King, attacking from both sides, at least causing him serious injuries.

The Sky Demon Patriarch was wary of him and hadn’t taken this approach, perhaps because he was worried that the Blood Bat King would persuade Lu Changan to join forces against him.

Lu Changan didn’t want the Sky Demon Patriarch to die too quickly, fearing that the Blood Bat King would shift its target to him.

The Blood Bat King was a much greater threat.

Even if Lu Changan teamed up with the Sky Demon Patriarch, they could only fight against him, not kill him.

A Blood Path True Monarch’s healing abilities and self-preservation skills were much stronger.

Once entangled in a battle with multiple nascent soul cultivators, the situation would become complex, with mutual distrust and intrigue.

He wasn’t sure if there were any other demonic nascent soul cultivators lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike, like those from the Intermittent Sect.

Lu Changan, with his nascent soul vision, knew the risks of challenging opponents of higher cultivation levels. The various secret arts and fatal counterattack methods hidden by old nascent soul monsters were too unpredictable.

Although the Blood Bat King was crushing the Sky Demon Patriarch, it could still fall into a trap if it became complacent.

Therefore, Lu Changan ultimately decided to take what he had gotten and retreat.

After all, getting something for free was essentially a gain.

He flew for another few thousand miles.

Lu Changan inspected the “Noon-Midnight Clear Wind” given to him by the Sky Demon Patriarch and found no traces of tampering.

Then, he used the sensory divine sense of his fourth reincarnation to check his entire body.

Nothing unusual was found there either.

Finally, he found a problem with the blue-armored puppet.

Zzzzt!

Lu Changan summoned his Eternal Green True Fire, forcing out a crimson wisp from within the blue-armored puppet. It manifested as a blood bat mark, which dissipated in the air.

It must have been a secret technique left behind by the Blood Spirit Sect True Monarch when they were breaking through the blood-colored bats.

“That old sly fox! He probably took a liking to my pre-fourth-order puppet.”

Lu Changan’s eyes darkened and he cursed under his breath.

Thankfully, he had never intended to cooperate with either of the two old nascent soul cultivators.

Before attaining the nascent soul stage, one was always in a position of weakness.

After confirming that he had missed nothing, Lu Changan put away the blue-armored puppet, changed his appearance and identity again, and flew towards the Seven Kingdoms Alliance in a low-key manner.

A pre-fourth-order puppet consumed a lot of energy. If he were truly engaged in a bloody battle, the puppet crystals used for one battle would cost him several thousand spirit stones to refine.

…

Two days later.

Lu Changan was gradually approaching the border of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, not far from the location of the spatial node of the Listening Sea Pavilion.

At this time, the young cultivator Lu Changan was impersonating slowed down his pace.

On the outskirts of the wilderness region bordering the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, he discovered cultivators from the Blood Spirit Sect stationed in the area.

He could see the territory of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance from only seven or eight thousand miles away.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four or five blood-colored rays of escaping light shuttled between the mountains. The leader was a Blood Spirit Sect cultivator in the late foundation stage.

“Don’t let him escape!”

“Capturing and killing the Sky Demon Sect master, a great feat indeed.”

Five Blood Spirit Sect foundation cultivators were chasing a middle-aged scholar wearing a crimson robe.

The scholar was at the late foundation stage but seriously injured, his face pale and his breath weak.

“The Sky Demon Sect master, Wei Qing.”

Lu Changan suppressed his aura and hid under a cliff, recognizing the identity of the pursued individual.

Though he had never met him, he knew about Wei Qing.

Wei Qing was originally a Spirit Root genius of the Sky Demon Sect. In pursuit of the Dao, he married into the Xie family.

In the beginning, the Sky Demon Sect wasn’t solely dominated by the Xie family. But by Wei Qing’s generation, it was difficult for those who weren’t Xie family members to compete for resources that would allow them to rise to the upper ranks.

After gaining their trust, Wei Qing’s cultivation improved steadily, eventually becoming the master of the Sky Demon Sect.

However, the Sky Demon Patriarch was a strong-willed individual, with too many Xie family members as direct beneficiaries of the sect. His position as master was more in name than in reality, with far less actual power than Zhang Tianfeng, the master of Golden Cloud Valley.

“As the Sky Demon Sect’s late foundation cultivator and nominal master, this person likely carries important resources. Even if he doesn’t have a nascent soul formation opportunity, he must know quite a bit of inside information…”

Lu Changan pondered silently.

However, two days had passed, and he didn’t know the whereabouts of the Blood Bat King or the outcome of the pursuit of the Sky Demon Patriarch.

To act now would be risky, as he could be surrounded by the Blood Spirit Sect.

Lu Changan hadn’t noticed that among the five foundation cultivators chasing Wei Qing, the young man in blood armor who was lagging behind had a moment of struggle in his eyes.

The look of struggle disappeared, replaced by a cloud-patterned, virtual lightning bolt.

“Fate has come! A less than thirty percent chance of success, and I pulled through.”

The Sky Demon Patriarch, possessing the body of the blood-armored man, silently breathed a sigh of relief.

He couldn’t escape the Blood Bat King, and he didn’t dare to possess his own descendants, as it would easily be targeted by the Blood Bat King’s blood path secret arts.

In desperation, the Sky Demon Patriarch, after pulling away a certain distance, cast his nascent soul out of his body.

In the desolate wilderness, where heaven and earth spiritual energy was scarce, it would be difficult to find a suitable body to possess, possibly leaving him with no chance of redemption.

The Sky Demon Patriarch used a soul-suppressing secret art.

At the cost of burning his physical body and permanently shrinking his nascent soul by one-tenth, he split off a false nascent soul to escape.

The false nascent soul escaped in the direction of the Righteous Path Alliance.

The real nascent soul could only flee for half an hour before becoming weak and needed to possess a body quickly.

Moreover, the success rate of possession would be halved.

If the Blood Bat King pursued the true nascent soul, the Sky Demon Patriarch would be doomed. His plan would be exposed, his general location would be revealed, and he would eventually be captured.

Fortunately, the fifty percent chance paid off.

Later, he was lucky enough to find a lone Blood Spirit Sect foundation cultivator to possess.

Due to the shrinkage of his nascent soul, the possession nearly went awry. This used up his last chance to possess another body.

…

Inside the cliff, Lu Changan divined and calculated, his expression turning ugly, and he gave up on taking action again.

He didn’t know why, but his divination of good or bad fortune had changed upon approaching the Seven Kingdoms Alliance.

The previous uncertain good or bad fortune had become a minor ominous sign.

Lu Changan gave up his idea, no longer greedy. He carefully traversed the final stretch of the journey.

His nascent soul-level divine sense perception avoided the detection and sensing secret arts of the Blood Spirit Sect along the way.

In the end, he encountered no unexpected events and finally stepped into the territory of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance.

In the final thousand miles before entering the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, Lu Changan faintly sensed the Blood Path True Monarch’s frenzied aura, roaring back. He didn’t know what had happened.

He couldn’t help but feel fortunate that he hadn’t acted on Wei Qing. If he had been intercepted by the Blood Spirit Sect from both sides, it would have been trouble.

This was Lu Changan’s second time coming to the Seven Kingdoms Alliance.

After flying for several thousand miles, he saw traces of native cultivators.

Lu Changan had thought that once he entered the territory of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance, he would be able to break free from the ominous sign in his divination.

However, the divination hadn’t changed, but had instead become clearer.

Lu Changan calmed his heart and sank his breath into his golden core.

The undying golden core, shaped like a fruit, vibrated slightly.

Lu Changan had a sudden intuition, sensing a mysterious, fated attraction, along with a dangerous calamity.

“…It’s coming!”

Following the sensation of the Eternal Green Dao Fruit, Lu Changan’s heart leaped and he looked toward the southwest of the Seven Kingdoms Alliance.

There, a sense of origin, connected to his own, caused a feeling of interconnectedness between heaven and man.

He wasn’t far from the Seven Kingdoms Alliance!

This was the first time Lu Changan had sensed any activity from the Eternal Green Art of the Central Domain.

He had managed to quietly sneak into the Great Azure Eastern Domain without a sound.

(End of chapter)

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