I Shall Be Everlasting In the World of Immortals 357

## Chapter 353: Main Force Allocation

Two fourth-order treasure talismans, one for offense and one for defense.

One of them, a golden talisman, transformed into a dazzling golden sword, expanding rapidly to several feet, then dozens of feet… comparable to a single attack from a Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator.

However, before the golden sword could reach its full size, it was struck by the dark yellow, deep dragon flames, melting away like a thin sheet of paper.

Lu Chang An’s heart skipped a beat, but he wasn’t surprised.

The attack of a fourth-order talisman was no match for the magic treasures and divine powers of a Nascent Soul True Monarch. The dragon flames at this moment, however, were the life essence flames of the demonized Stone Heart Dragon, possessing cross-rank killing power.

Before the golden sword was completely consumed, Lu Chang An activated the fourth-order defensive talisman, summoning a third-order mid-grade turtle puppet to shield him.

Boom!

The turtle puppet, specialized in defense, instantly turned to ashes, unable to withstand the sheer power of the dragon flames, not even the lingering heat.

The fourth-order defensive talisman transformed into a water sphere barrier, encompassing Lu Chang An in all directions.

The dragon flames still had more than half their power left, and the fourth-order water sphere barrier was unable to hold on, quickly evaporating and dimming.

Fortunately, after three layers of weakening, the terrifying power of the dragon flames was greatly diminished.

Whew!

Lu Chang An’s Immortal Golden Dan True Essence surged forth, summoning a golden-veined fiery mountain treasure, with molten flames rolling, resisting and absorbing the remaining dragon flames.

Lu Chang An, at third-order late-stage Body Refinement, felt a burning sensation in his body, his blood boiling. This was merely the impact of the dragon flames’ lingering aura.

Fortunately, he was unharmed.

On the contrary, he felt his Body Refinement technique become smoother, and the effects of the long-accumulated tempering elixirs in his body were being absorbed.

An intangible roar echoed through his entire body, his blood, marrow, and internal organs resonating.

Lu Chang An’s dual cultivation of Body Refinement finally reached the peak of third-order late-stage.

Before leaving, he was only a hair’s breadth away.

Today’s battle, with the constant use of Body Refinement power in binding the demonized dragon, and the promotion through the tempering of the dragon flames’ lingering aura, he had finally taken a leap forward.

Lu Chang An had escaped danger, emerging unscathed after blocking the Stone Heart Dragon’s deadly counterattack.

On the other side, Jing Wu Feng was in a much more difficult situation.

Crack!

The yellowish-brown petrification spreading over Jing Wu Feng’s body, upon completely covering him, abruptly shattered inch by inch.

A gust of wind illusion exploded in place, accompanied by his pulverized clothes and lingering traces of blood.

Whew!

The pale-faced Jing Wu Feng, his disguised silver-haired old woman appearance shattered, stood naked thirty feet away.

His entire body, including his face, limbs, and everything else, was left with patches of yellowish-brown, bloodstained stone fragments, like a stone-scaled human covered in wounds, a gruesome sight.

Lu Chang An glanced over, Jing Wu Feng looked pitiful, but he hadn’t sustained any fatal injuries.

Due to the use of some life-saving secret technique, his True Essence was depleted.

In terms of killing power, the dragon flames aimed at Lu Chang An were stronger.

The petrification technique was powerful due to its strangeness and control, particularly effective against lower-level cultivators.

If Lu Chang An had practiced dual cultivation of both body and essence, he would have been more resilient against this petrification technique.

Conversely, Jing Wu Feng, with his powerful and skillful space and wind-based techniques, could potentially evade the dragon flames, but his margin for error was not as large as Lu Chang An’s.

…

“Daoist Xiang, please hold the line a bit longer.”

Jing Wu Feng transformed into a wisp of wind, using the cover of the Illusionary Void Formation to enter the shallow layer of the void, taking out elixirs and ointment to quickly repair his injuries, otherwise he would be disfigured for life.

Fortunately, while recovering, he could still control the Illusionary Void Thousand Slaying Formation, unleashing most of its power.

What surprised Jing Wu Feng was that even without him, the “main force”, on the field, Lu Chang An was still restraining and suppressing the demonized Stone Heart Dragon.

The primary reason was that after unleashing two powerful techniques in its counterattack, the Stone Heart Dragon fell into a slump, its struggling force significantly diminished.

On the other hand, Lu Chang An’s robust physique, honed by Body Refinement, seemed even more resilient.

Lu Chang An, with his dual cultivation of body and essence, coupled with the fourth-order puppet, and two extraordinary spirit pets, could already suppress ordinary Nascent Soul early-stage cultivators.

Furthermore, Lu Chang An had also deployed four third-order puppets to assist in guarding the foundation of the fourth-order formation, supplying more formation power.

Jing Wu Feng’s mind raced, filled with a mixture of frustration, self-deprecation, and awkwardness.

According to the strategy, he was supposed to be the most important main force, responsible for containing and killing the Stone Heart Dragon.

Now, Jing Wu Feng, recovering from his injuries, had become a supporting player, primarily controlling the Illusionary Void Thousand Slaying Formation.

The awkward part was that he didn’t even need to participate, Lu Chang An had stabilized the situation anyway.

Inside the starry sky-like formation space.

Shhh…

Transparent silver threads, forming an invisible net, wrapped around the Stone Heart Dragon’s abdominal torso, continuously leaving tiny wounds.

The Thunder Serpent Whip controlled by Lu Chang An, with flickering arcs of lightning, tightened around the demonized dragon’s neck, emitting puffs of foul black smoke.

The fourth-order puppet entangled and fought the demonized dragon head-on, its outer shell damaged in multiple places.

The Earth Rock Rat, cooperating with the Xuan Shui Gui’s circular heavy water, bound the demonized dragon’s tail, rendering it inflexible.

Numerous attacks restricted the dragon, although not fatal, but the small wounds were continuously accumulating.

Lu Chang An admitted, the damage was indeed superficial.

However, sustained superficial damage, over time, could also cause excruciating pain.

Even ants, in large numbers, can kill an elephant.

Half an hour later, the demonized Stone Heart Dragon’s body was covered in wounds, heavily injured.

Before the dragon could recover from its slump, Jing Wu Feng, after consuming a thousand-year spirit milk, rejoined the hunt.

The Stone Heart Dragon’s agility and reactions were far inferior to before.

Jing Wu Feng controlled the [Voidless Blade], which would sometimes mysteriously disappear in the void, then reappear out of thin air, cutting into the Stone Heart Dragon’s vital points, increasing its killing power.

The [Voidless Blade] contained spatial qualities, making its wounds the deepest each time.

However, each void slash from this blade consumed a lot of energy, preventing Jing Wu Feng from using it consecutively, forcing him to take a breather.

Lu Chang An had to acknowledge that Jing Wu Feng, aside from his movement and escape techniques, was also stronger than him in terms of attack and penetration.

Without the fourth-order Illusionary Void Formation, defeating the Stone Heart Dragon would not be difficult, but killing it was highly unlikely.

Ugh~

The demonized Stone Heart Dragon’s roars and struggles grew weaker.

Perhaps sensing its disadvantage, the Stone Heart Dragon gave up resisting and focused all its power on its defensive technique.

The dragon scales on its body shimmered with a layer of stone-patterned light film, gradually transforming into stone skin, spreading across its entire body, significantly enhancing its defense.

“This dragon is going to seal itself in stone, don’t let it succeed.”

Jing Wu Feng’s expression changed, and he sent a voice transmission.

If the demonized Stone Heart Dragon completely sealed itself in stone, even a Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator would find it difficult to kill.

Lu Chang An and Jing Wu Feng exchanged glances and quickly discussed countermeasures.

There were two ways to break the seal.

First, kill the demonized Stone Heart Dragon with extreme speed.

Second, inflict extremely fatal damage on the Stone Heart Dragon, or strike its spirit essence consciousness, interrupting the stone seal.

“Daoist Xiang, the wound on the Stone Heart Dragon’s neck is quite deep, I’ll try my best to cut off its head with a secret technique later.”

“If the damage isn’t enough, Daoist Xiang don’t need to hide, just deliver your strongest blow.”

Jing Wu Feng quickly clarified his approach.

“Good.”

Lu Chang An agreed.

…

Whoosh!

Jing Wu Feng retreated, once again disappearing into the shallow layer of the void, his fingers forming hand seals, his True Essence consumed at a frantic rate.

After a few breaths, he spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which landed on the [Voidless Blade], further increasing its power.

This wasn’t all, Jing Wu Feng then activated his [Voidless Dao Body] talent, a strand of silver-blue crystal light brushed across his fingers, coating the [Voidless Blade]’s blade.

After completing these actions, Jing Wu Feng’s face turned pale, and his aura dropped a notch.

“Go!”

Jing Wu Feng’s eyes sharpened, he pointed with his finger, a rapid tremor echoed in the shallow layer of the void.

The [Voidless Blade] instantly disappeared from his spiritual senses.

The next instant.

Shhh-

A semi-transparent, voidless short blade, shimmering with silver-blue sharpness, appeared out of thin air, slashing towards the deepest wound on the Stone Heart Dragon’s neck.

This deepest wound was the result of many attacks intentionally layered on top of each other.

Lu Chang An felt a tremor in his heart, this unpredictable blade brought a sense of threat greater than any Nascent Soul enemy he had faced before.

Roar!

The demonized Stone Heart Dragon sensed the fatal threat, desperately struggling, its爆发力[baofa li] (burst of power) returning to its peak, and it spat out a mouthful of dragon flames at Lu Chang An.

This time, the dragon flames were only 60% as strong as before, Lu Chang An retreated in time, summoning treasures, puppets, and talismans to share the burden of resistance.

As a result, the Thunder Serpent Whip binding the dragon’s head loosened slightly.

The demonized Stone Heart Dragon, with a hair’s breadth of effort, twisted its neck, causing the [Voidless Blade]’s fatal slash to deviate slightly, not perfectly aligning with the deepest wound.

Pfft!

Blood and flesh splattered, dragon scales fell, the Stone Heart Dragon let out a heart-wrenching howl.

The [Voidless Blade] followed the wound, cutting deep into the neck, inflicting serious injury on the demonized Stone Heart Dragon.

However, this slash ultimately failed to sever the dragon’s head or interrupt its stone-sealing life-saving technique.

Jing Wu Feng showed regret, sighing and sitting weakly in the shallow layer of the void.

This fatal slash had consumed too much energy, making it impossible to launch a second attack in the short term.

Just then, Jing Wu Feng’s spirit suddenly trembled.

A sharp, metallic tearing sound, piercing his soul, sent a chill through his consciousness, making him uneasy.

He saw that the Stone Heart Dragon, moaning in pain, suddenly froze.

A bizarre shadow of a spiked arrow, flickering with幽蓝之光[you lan zhi guang] (deep blue light), darted into the demonized Stone Heart Dragon’s pained, gaping maw.

The powerful soul attack ruthlessly struck the demonized Stone Heart Dragon’s consciousness, causing it to become confused, convulse, and tremble.

Furthermore, the spiked arrow unleashed Nascent Soul-level power, frantically stirring and destroying within the Stone Heart Dragon’s head, causing incredibly fatal damage.

The demonized Stone Heart Dragon’s stone seal technique was forcibly interrupted.

The massive dragon body struggled wildly for a few moments, then gradually lost its strength, completely bound by the formation, puppets, and spirit pets, losing its ability to resist, becoming weak and dying.

Jing Wu Feng, hidden in the shallow layer of the void, recovering his True Essence, unconsciously opened his mouth, his expression stiff.

Lu Chang An raised his empty sleeve, forming hand seals to control the spiked arrow connected to his mind.

The spiked arrow directly penetrated the Stone Heart Dragon’s body, Lu Chang An had only merged with his second life, amplifying his soul power, which was more than enough for the attack.

The spiked arrow, cultivated for the longest time, unleashed a single attack, still comparable to a Nascent Soul-level soul treasure.

And the demonized Stone Heart Dragon, covered in wounds, was already at its last legs.

Moments later.

The demonized Stone Heart Dragon’s body stiffened, under the numerous attacks, its life essence ceased.

Lu Chang An and Jing Wu Feng’s spiritual senses repeatedly probed, aided by the spirit pets’ sense of smell, confirming that the demonized Stone Heart Dragon was indeed dead.

…

Whoosh!

Jing Wu Feng transformed into a wisp of wind, arriving at the demonized Stone Heart Dragon’s corpse.

He said with a complex expression, “Daoist Xiang, you have such a powerful soul treasure, coupled with your soul-amplifying secret technique, ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn’t be able to withstand two or three strikes.”

“Daoist Jing, you are mistaken, although this nail contains soul attacks, in terms of regular killing power, it is far inferior to your Voidless Slash.”

“Moreover, this was my single attack cultivated for a hundred years, it’s impossible to replicate.”

Lu Chang An smiled wryly as he retracted the spiked arrow, stained and absorbing dragon blood, looking pained.

Jing Wu Feng half-believed, humbly replying, “That fatal slash from the [Voidless Blade] just now, I can only use it once a month, it takes a toll on my soul, True Essence, and Dao Body.”

Lu Chang An glanced at him, not exposing his deception.

With his current spiritual senses, he could detect that Jing Wu Feng’s soul was not weak.

Coupled with the man’s thousand-year spirit milk for rapid recovery, as long as he was willing to pay the price, he could unleash that terrifying slash again today.

However, Lu Chang An also had his own hidden secrets, he had three spiked arrows, and he hadn’t allowed his fourth life’s Nascent Soul to possess his body.

The puppet formation was also not used in this hunt.

After successfully hunting the demonized dragon, the next step was to happily divide the spoils.

“This hunt for the Stone Heart Dragon, Daoist Xiang played a crucial role as the absolute main force. Aside from the previously agreed upon Essence Great Elixir and Stone Heart Dragon Heart, you can also choose some of the Stone Heart Dragon’s parts and materials.”

Jing Wu Feng took the initiative to make concessions regarding the spoils.

After all, future demon-sealing missions would require Lu Chang An’s assistance, it was better to show more sincerity.

Lu Chang An was secretly delighted, this fourth-order pseudo-dragon species was a treasure trove.

Its blood essence, skeleton, dragon scales, claws, etc., were all excellent fourth-order materials.

With this, he wouldn’t have to worry about the remaining materials for forging the Spirit Peacock Puppet.

“Daoist Jing is generous! I’ve spent all my wealth to help my spirit pets achieve transformation, I can only shamelessly accept this.”

Lu Chang An clasped his hands in thanks.

He knew in his heart that Jing Wu Feng had also played a vital role in hunting the demonized dragon. Without either of them, success would have been impossible.

The Stone Heart Dragon was enormous, when dividing the spoils, Lu Chang An let the fourth-order puppet and spirit pets help.

The Earth Rock Rat and Xuan Shui Gui seized the opportunity to taste a few drops of dragon blood, Jing Wu Feng didn’t mind.

Squeak!

The Earth Rock Rat was elated, its eyes shining, it burrowed into the Stone Heart Dragon’s body, digging out the Essence Great Elixir and the Stone Heart Dragon Heart.

The Essence Great Elixir was an enlarged version of the Earth Rock Rat’s Great Elixir, round and dark yellow, emitting an earthy煞气[sha qi] (evil qi) and demonic aura.

The Stone Heart Dragon Heart was crystal clear, like a grinding wheel-sized, crystal yellow玛瑙[ma nao] (agate), with flowing blood resembling liquid gold.

The Stone Heart Dragon Heart had a purifying effect, it hadn’t been significantly contaminated by demonic aura.

On the contrary, Lu Chang An would need to purify and cleanse the Essence Great Elixir afterward, fortunately, the Chang Qing Technique and the Xuan Shui Gui’s water-based divine powers could achieve this.

The Stone Heart Dragon was a Heaven-grade bloodline pseudo-dragon, its Essence Great Elixir had compatible attributes, and could serve as the Earth Rock Rat’s advancement material, its effects were no less than a 化婴丹[hua ying dan] (Transformation Elixir).

The Stone Heart Dragon Heart could serve as a top-grade spirit object to assist in transformation.

The Earth Rock Rat had basically collected all the crucial objects for its transformation, lacking only heart劫类[jie lei] (劫 category) treasures and elixirs.

Hmm?

While dividing the spoils, Lu Chang An suddenly felt something, he looked towards the outside of the Illusionary Void Formation.

He exchanged a glance with Jing Wu Feng.

Jing Wu Feng also sensed something, he closed his eyes, controlling the formation to probe the outside.

A moment ago, a Nascent Soul-level consciousness had subtly infiltrated the fourth-order formation, probing the situation inside.

Due to the intense fighting, the formation inevitably had loopholes.

Previously, they were fully focused on hunting, unaware of the unknown Nascent Soul’s stealthy approach.

“Daoist Xiang, there is a female Nascent Soul from the evil path, secretly spying nearby, do you recognize her?”

“A female Nascent Soul from the evil path?”

Lu Chang An pondered, could it be that the previous luring process was noticed by someone, leading to a situation of a yellow bird waiting in the wings?

In the Wan Mo Mountain Valley, ordinary Jindan cultivators entering were very dangerous, encountering a Nascent Soul True Monarch wasn’t unusual.

…

Near the dense forest outside the Illusionary Void Formation.

A dark, gloomy stream of water enveloped a female cultivator in a dark blue skirt, the profound and cold water light concealed her features, only vaguely capturing the outline of her graceful curves.

“Hunting the demonized dragon… fourth-order puppet…”

The female cultivator from the evil path, maintaining a distance of tens of miles, carefully probed through the loopholes in the fourth-order formation, but couldn’t see clearly.

Just the few blurry glimpses she caught made her apprehensive.

A lineup capable of hunting a demonized dragon was no ordinary affair.

Unless, the hunters were severely injured, or had reached a stalemate, giving her a chance to pick up a bargain.

“Huh! It’s actually her… the冥水真君[Ming Shui Zhen Jun] (Ming Shui True Monarch)!”

Unexpectedly, Lu Chang An recognized the identity of this female Nascent Soul cultivator from the evil path.

This came from the memories of Sha Hai True Monarch.

As it turned out, Ming Shui True Monarch was from the Zhen Hai Sixteen Sects, and had participated in the bounty hunt for Sha Hai True Monarch, they were sworn enemies.

Due to the common origin of their cultivation techniques, Ming Shui True Monarch had been tirelessly searching for the lost inheritance secrets and rare treasures of the “Listen to the Sea Pavilion”.

Ming Shui True Monarch had killed and interrogated many peripheral disciples of the Listen to the Sea Pavilion, looting them.

Sha Hai True Monarch harbored deep resentment towards this woman. Due to their situation and the power of the other side, he could only flee in terror, powerless to resist.

Furthermore, Ming Shui True Monarch was also acquainted with the former tamer of the Stone Heart Dragon, the “Demon King of Slaughter”.

“The appearance of Ming Shui True Monarch at this time, is it because of the ‘Demon King of Slaughter’, or has she been searching for Sha Hai True Monarch?”

Lu Chang An couldn’t help but feel fortunate, not only had he disguised his identity this time, but he hadn’t used any treasures left behind by Sha Hai True Monarch.

Sha Hai True Monarch had a sea flag treasure, almost an extremely high-grade one, capable of triggering a devastating tsunami, which could actually deal with the Stone Heart Dragon and weaken its strength.

“Fellow Daoist within the formation, are the demonized Stone Heart Dragon’s blood essence and dragon eyes available for trade?”

Ming Shui True Monarch’s long hair danced, making her cold, hoarse voice slightly softer, she took the initiative to send a voice transmission to probe.

At this point, she had already sensed that the demonized Stone Heart Dragon within the fourth-order formation had fallen, its life essence extinguished.

Ming Shui True Monarch could not achieve such divine powers and techniques.

“The materials of the demonized Stone Heart Dragon, my master has his own decisions!”

The blue-armored puppet stepped out of the formation, its eye sockets flickering with ghostfire, its tone firm.

Ming Shui True Monarch briefly scrutinized it, this fourth-order puppet, although its outer shell was damaged in many places, its actual combat power was not significantly affected.

Even if the cultivator within the formation was seriously injured, relying solely on the fourth-order spatial illusionary formation and this powerful puppet, they could defend against her.

“Ming Shui True Monarch, my master also said, if you are particularly sincere in your trade, you can enter the formation.”

Wei, the puppet master, controlled the fourth-order puppet, saying with a chilling tone.

“Forget it, my wealth is limited, I’m afraid I can’t offer anything that would satisfy your master.”

Ming Shui True Monarch sighed softly, decisively giving up.

A lineup that could hunt a demonized dragon, how could she dare to enter the formation for a trade?

Whoosh!

Ming Shui True Monarch’s long hair fluttered like seaweed, transforming into a dark and cold stream of water, rapidly flying towards the depths of the Wan Mo Mountain Valley.

“Taking advantage of the people within the formation cleaning up the spoils and recovering their True Essence, now is the perfect time to search the Stone Heart Dragon’s lair, there should be some leftover treasures…”

Ming Shui True Monarch’s mind raced, avoiding the unknown powerful enemy, looking for a place with lower risk and more rewards.

(End of Chapter)

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