A few months ago, within the underground palace, he and Bao Siyan searched everywhere but could not find the place where Master Shentu had passed away.
Now, the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” pointed to this cave, and this location was also close to the edge of the outer realm of the Great Void Realm… Wei Tu was almost certain that this corpse belonged to the deceased Master Shentu.
“Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll!”
Almost in an instant, upon entering the cave and seeing the skeleton, Wei Tu immediately acted without hesitation, ruthlessly attacking the scroll in front of him, with no intention of holding back.
Golden Core cultivators could forcibly use their divine sense to search the souls of lower-level cultivators, seizing their souls and memories.
And Nascent Soul cultivators, not only could they use soul-searching techniques, but they could also perform the feared “body-snatching technique” that caused cultivators across the immortal world to tremble.
By the time a cultivator reached the Nascent Soul realm, their body was merely a temporary shelter. While not easily discarded, if the “shelter was broken,” they could use the body-snatching technique to find a new one.
Of course, cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage could also use this technique, but for them, it was not as easy and carefree as it was for Nascent Soul cultivators, and the success rate was extremely low, often near impossible.
Master Shentu had been dead for more than two thousand years.
By all rights, Master Shentu’s lifespan should have ended long ago, at least several hundred years, even over a thousand years ago.But Wei Tu knew that, after reaching the Nascent Soul stage, a Nascent Soul cultivator’s lifespan could not simply be measured by their realm.
Every Nascent Soul cultivator had several secret techniques for extending life.
For example, he himself had mastered the “Divine Tree Longevity Technique” from the “Divine Wood Origin Technique” manual.
Thanks to this technique, his lifespan could extend well beyond the theoretical “Golden Core 800 years.”
With further opportunities, living to one thousand years was not an impossible feat.
Moreover, in the immortal world, longevity pills and life-extending spiritual items, though rare, could be easily acquired by Nascent Soul cultivators.
...
Several months ago, upon sensing the spiritual nature of the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” in the Blood Mirage Cave, Wei Tu and Bao Siyan began to worry whether Master Shentu was still alive.
However, due to the close pursuit of Gui Luo and his group, they had no choice but to follow the scroll, seeking a path to survival.
Now, seeing Master Shentu's skeleton… Wei Tu could not be sure if Master Shentu was still alive, but being cautious, he would not hold back from dealing with the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll,” a sentient object.
—If the scroll was truly alive, there were two possibilities: either the artifact was of a high enough grade to develop intelligence, or it contained a portion of Master Shentu’s soul, granting it life.
But—
Wei Tu did not dare to take chances, nor did he want to.
He wasn’t a miser hoarding treasure.
Without this high-level artifact, his path forward would not be blocked.
...
On the road to the inner realms of the Great Void.
Wei Tu had begun to refine the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” in a rudimentary manner.
Therefore, when he decided to destroy the scroll, he first controlled the scroll with his divine sense to make it self-destruct, then followed up with a thunderous attack to obliterate it.
The strange turn of events occurred very quickly.
Before the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” could react, it was destroyed into a tattered remnant, its spiritual light dimming, and its intelligence severely damaged.
The next moment.
A gray light mass escaped from the shattered scroll. The speed of the gray mass was astounding, and it quickly flew toward the skeleton on the jade bed.
However, several talismans suddenly shot out from the ground and shot toward the gray light mass.
At the same time, a piercing cry sounded from the Sky Splitting Roc, which lunged at the gray light mass and exhaled the Profound Nether Yin Fire to block its path.
The Profound Nether Yin Fire, a ghostly blue flame, was extremely cold and deserved its reputation as a demonic spiritual flame. When it made contact with the gray light mass, the mass slowed considerably.
At this point, the flying talismans were also nearing the gray mass.
However, the gray light mass was not without a countermeasure. It swiftly split apart, shedding the portion contaminated by the Profound Nether Yin Fire, “molting” to escape.
After the molt, the gray light mass was reduced by nearly half in size.
But at this moment, Wei Tu showed no sign of panic. He made a hand gesture, and several colorful rays of light erupted from the ground, enveloping the gray light mass.
These colorful rays of light were Wei Tu’s signature move from his Foundation Establishment stage—the Yuan Gravity Law Seal .
Once the gray light mass was surrounded by the colorful rays, its movements came to a halt, and it struggled to move.
Just as Wei Tu thought the situation was under control, the skeleton of Master Shentu, lying on the jade bed a hundred steps away, suddenly came to life. It quickly moved toward the gray light mass, seemingly trying to seize it from Wei Tu’s hands.
“Fast!” Wei Tu saw the situation and made up his mind. He drew out two Ice Jiao swords, exhaled a mouthful of Yuan Pill, and fully activated the swords, slashing at the gray light mass trapped by the Yuan Gravity Law Seal .
Swish! Swish!
Two cold sword lights sped through the air, cutting through it and almost instantly arriving.
However, at that moment, the “Master Shentu” in motion seemed to complete some technique. His left hand's bone claw detached from his arm and rapidly reached toward the gray light mass.
The bone claw swelled in the wind and, just as Wei Tu’s two Ice Jiao swords reached it, it firmly shielded the gray light mass.
“Master Shentu” soon followed. He flicked his sleeve and directly dissolved the Yuan Gravity Law Seal surrounding the gray light mass, then reached out with his right palm to seize the gray light mass and bring it toward his head.
However, at that moment, an unexpected change occurred.
Three transparent moths suddenly charged toward the gray light mass, each one self-destructing in a desperate manner.
The next moment.
The gray light mass in Master Shentu's hands dimmed completely and dissipated into nothing.
“Good! Good! Good!” Master Shentu said three times, his eyeballs rolling slightly, and he sneered, “What a junior, such decisive methods.”
First, unexpectedly destroying the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” artifact, then without hesitation, self-destructing three second-tier Seven-Colored Phantom Moths.
Ordinary cultivators would not have such a strong resolve and willpower.
Most cultivators cherish such treasures like the scroll and the second-tier Seven-Colored Spirit Moths, not easily destroying them.
“Are you Master Shentu?” Wei Tu asked cautiously, using his defensive artifact while inquiring to gather information.
With his knowledge, it was easy for Wei Tu to deduce that the gray light mass just now was a portion of Master Shentu’s soul that had been stored inside the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll.”
The “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” had followed him for several months, and it was familiar with some of his techniques. To prevent information leakage, Master Shentu had not hesitated to sacrifice three second-tier Seven-Colored Phantom Moths to destroy the “gray light mass.”
—It wasn’t the leak of information itself that was dangerous. What was truly terrifying was when that information fell into the hands of high-level cultivators.
Among cultivators of the same realm, the leak of information could still lead to a fight.
But between different realms, if a high-level cultivator mastered the information of a lower-level cultivator, dealing with them would be as easy as cutting through tofu.
“Master Shentu” was one major realm above him, and even though he was barely hanging on, his strength was almost negligible, Wei Tu still did not dare to let slip any of his information.
“Shentu?” Master Shentu froze when he heard Wei Tu’s words, a faint look of nostalgia flashing in his eyes.
He glanced at Wei Tu and said, “Shentu passed away over seven hundred years ago. However, I can be considered his successor. You can call me Master Shentu.”
Upon hearing this, Wei Tu froze for a moment.
Since Master Shentu had already died, then who was the “Master Shentu” standing before him?
“A corpse infant?” Wei Tu pondered for a moment and considered a possibility.
When a whale falls, all things are reborn.
The lifespan of a Nascent Soul cultivator could last over a thousand years. Every scale and feather of their body is infused with the essence of heaven and earth, possessing immense spiritual power.
And after their death, their Nascent Soul became a treasure of the world.
After a Nascent Soul cultivator’s death, it was possible for spiritual essence to be reborn within their body, forming a terrifying being known as a “corpse infant.”
Although the strength of a corpse infant was far weaker than the original cultivator, it still retained some of the Nascent Soul's powers and was not to be underestimated.
“Wait! If it's a corpse infant, then what about the soul fragments from before?” Wei Tu’s eyebrows furrowed as he carefully observed Master Shentu.
Although corpse infants were powerful, because they were born from the dead Nascent Soul, their souls were naturally weak and lacked the soul-splitting abilities of a cultivator.
Wei Tu speculated that the soul fragments in the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” were more likely to be a remnant of Master Shentu’s “living” soul.
After all, the soul left behind by a living person and the soul of a corpse infant were sworn enemies—they could not coexist so harmoniously or merge together.
However, just as Wei Tu was contemplating what exactly the “Master Shentu” before him was, the “Master Shentu” suddenly spoke.
“Kid, this scroll was left behind in the underground palace to guide my Fire Essence Sect disciples into the secret path of the Great Void Realm.”
“Your methods are so ruthless, and you show no respect toward me… You are definitely not a disciple of the Fire Essence Sect.”
“You broke into the underground palace and took away my inheritance and treasures. This matter, I will not hold against you...”
“Are you saying?” Wei Tu glanced a few times at “Master Shentu,” not understanding what he was plotting.
He secretly activated his artifacts and talismans, preparing to strike with a thunderous blow and resolve this elder figure once and for all.
The conversation at this point was simply a way to set up his offensive, preparing for a fatal strike.
“I am willing to make a deal with you. As long as you agree, if I am defeated, everything I have will be yours to inherit. It will not be destroyed,” Master Shentu said, his tone indifferent.
Before Wei Tu could ask further, Master Shentu continued, speaking to himself, “The condition is this: After you leave the Great Void Realm, bury my remains in the Dafa Slope of Anyuan City in Jing Dynasty Chongshan County... Dafa Slope is the place where I was born before I cultivated immortality.”
“If you have the time, help take care of my descendants. If they become wealthy and prosperous, no help is needed. If they fall into misfortune, I hope you, fellow cultivator, will lend a hand.”
Master Shentu’s words were somewhat lengthy.
“I agree to this deal,” Wei Tu said without much hesitation, nodding after hearing the words.
Compared to a complete Nascent Soul inheritance, what Master Shentu was saying was nothing. It would only waste a little time after Wei Tu left the Great Void Realm.
However, immediately following these words, Wei Tu’s expression turned cold, and he quickly formed hand seals, summoning several artifacts and launching them toward Master Shentu.
Wei Tu held no mercy for these artifacts. When they neared Master Shentu, he detonated them one by one.
The explosion echoed through the stone chamber.
But Master Shentu’s Nascent Soul body was not an ordinary physical body. Despite the damage to his physical form from the explosions, none of the wounds were fatal.
“In my lifetime, I was considered a righteous cultivator. To have survived this long is already a disruption of the natural order. I wonder if the heavens will grant me... a way out...” Surrounded by the artifacts’ explosions, Master Shentu did not retreat. Instead, he sighed deeply, speaking with a hint of melancholy.
As soon as the words left his mouth.
Master Shentu slapped his forehead, and a black aura emitted from his skull. A dark infant quickly shot out of his top.
This dark infant wore a red jade ring on its finger. Upon seeing the successive explosions of the artifacts around it, it touched the red jade ring, and instantly a set of silver armor appeared on its body.
With the protection of this silver armor, the dark infant was almost completely unharmed by the explosions. It then performed a strange hand seal, and its form immediately disappeared above Master Shentu’s head.
By the time Wei Tu’s consciousness detected this dark infant, it had already appeared in front of him, its hand reaching toward his forehead.
“Seizing the body?” Wei Tu’s heart jolted, and just as he attempted to resist, he realized that he was already powerless.
He gritted his teeth, withdrew the spiritual power he had used to control the artifacts, and sat cross-legged, focusing his mind to guard against Master Shentu’s body-snatching attempt.
When he first entered this stone chamber, he had prepared for Master Shentu’s body-snatching technique.
However, he had never expected that the gap between the Nascent Soul and Golden Core realms would be so vast. Despite using all his methods, he still couldn’t defeat Master Shentu before the body-snatching occurred.
If Wei Tu could choose again, he would still follow the guidance of the “Daoist Sword-Wielding Scroll” into this stone chamber, instead of crossing the “Blood Slaughter Sea” to face Gui Luo and others.
Confronting Gui Luo and the others offered him little chance of victory or survival, whereas facing Master Shentu’s body-snatching, he still had a few countermeasures.
Between two evils, he chose the lesser.
After all, “Master Shentu” had been a Nascent Soul cultivator in his prime. Having remained in this place for nearly a thousand years, he was no longer at his peak.
Additionally, body-snatching was not an easy task.
It came with a certain failure rate.
“Break!” While maintaining his mental defense, Wei Tu gritted his teeth and used all his strength to activate the “True Demonic Refinement Art,” attempting to evolve his body and break through to the third stage.
In an instant, blood surged wildly within Wei Tu’s body, flushing through his limbs and bones.
Even his brain was filled with waves of red blood energy, constantly boiling.