Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 53: Swallow!

Chapter 53: Swallow!

Xu Disheng followed along the clear creek. The terrain of the valley became increasingly rugged, and he was now truly in the territory of Floating Moon Valley.

He was scanning both sides of the creek, but there were no signs of any Beauty’s Demise Herb. All he saw were the occasional wild flowers and fruits, giving off a dim light. They could barely be considered low-grade Spirit Fruits, so Xu Disheng didn’t go to pick them.

The first reason was because these low-grade Spirit Fruits were limited in value, so it wasn’t worth the time and effort required to pick them. The second reason was that they were simply way too common in this valley. He could see several of them every few steps, so there was no way they could be anything that precious. At best, they were similar to those Red Spirit Fruits that were grown in Reed Village.

He continued to follow the creek downstream, and he had now already reached the depths of Floating Moon Valley. And at last, among several of those wild fruits, Xu Disheng found a small herb that was giving off fluorescent halo of green light, swaying lightly in the wind. It was Beauty’s Demise Herb, the plant he needed for the mission!

Xu Disheng stepped forward, profound qi revolving in his palm. When he scooped up the Beauty’s Demise Herb, there was a dark green jade attached to its roots. The Beauty’s Demise Herb used this jade stone to absorb spiritual energy, which it used to grow.

Just as he put away the Beauty’s Demise Herb, he heard an angry howl resound in his ears, and the ground beneath his feet began to shake.

Xu Disheng raised an eyebrow. That howl just now sounded a lot like a wolf’s howl. His luck wasn’t good. That ghost said that it had been over ten years since any traces of the wolf monster were seen, so how could he run into it immediately upon coming here?

However, he didn’t look that nervous. When he heard that howl, it was still several li away. Although the wolf monster’s body was large, he could just take out the Spirit Cloud and fly up into the air within several breath’s time.

He proceeded further into the depths. He spotted several more Beauty’s Demise Herb, which he harvested and wrapped in a black cloth.

In a short time, the wolf’s howls got increasingly closer. Xu Disheng’s face became increasingly solemn, and his steps hastened as he quickened the pace that he was picking the herbs.

In a short time, the dozen or so Beauty’s Demise Herb in this part of the valley had been picked clean by Xu Disheng and put away safely. However, the mission objective required 20 Beauty’s Demise Herb, and if he wanted to continue gathering them, he had to keep going deeper into the valley.

Just as he began to ponder about whether or not he wanted to go deeper in, the wolf’s howl suddenly roared deafeningly in his ears. Xu Disheng didn’t think further and immediately took out the Spirit Cloud and hopped on, ascending rapidly towards the sky.

Boom!

In the spot where he was standing moments before, a massive crater about 3 meters wide had appeared, giving off smoke.

From within the thicket, a demon with the head of a wolf and the body of a human rushed out. Its muscular, well-built body towered at about 7 meters in height. It slowly closed its mouth, which had been giving off the ominous glow of yao power from within.

Xu Disheng was inwardly fearful. This demon’s Yao Spells were the type that were shot out of its mouth. If he had reacted even a moment too late just now, it would have been really bad for him.

(TL: : or yaoguai in Chinese, is a term that refers to monsters or other supernatural creatures. As for this novel, yao also refers to natural objects (like plants, animals, rocks, etc.) that have gained sentience/spiritual awareness, which allows them to cultivate, gain human-like forms, etc.)

As Xu Disheng stood there in the sky, his heart calmed down a bit, and was thinking about whether to stay or leave. A provoking look appeared in the demon’s expression, and it said in human tongue, “I was wondering which clan of monsters dared to come into my domain and steal my things. Looks like it was just a little junior of the Mingxin Mountain Range. Put the things down and I’ll let you leave.”

Xu Disheng understood very little about demons, but seeing as he was high in the air where he could leave wherever he wanted, he felt some contempt for the wolf monster. Xu Disheng responded, “I only came to pluck a few pieces of grass. I’ll return them to you next time I come by.”

The wolf monster scoffed in anger. “Life and death in the Eight Mountain Ranges is decided by natural selection. That is the rule of the Shangqing Sacred Sect. You came to my domain to pick Spirit Fruits. It would have been one thing to hide them, but you took them so openly and brazenly, and even provoked me. Even if I killed you right here, no one would come to give me trouble for it.”

When it finished speaking, it opened its mouth and aimed it at Xu Disheng, a vortex of power swirling within.

Even though Xu Disheng was standing on top of the Spirit Cloud, he felt a mortal sense of danger. Xu Disheng immediately summoned both a protective barrier of profound qi using the Shangqing Incantation and a water barrier using the Amassing Water form, while also controlling the Spirit Cloud to go higher into the sky.

A ball of yellow profound qi formed in the wolf monster’s mouth, and as soon as it shot out, it quickly condensed into an earthy yellow orb. In a flash, it was directly in front of Xu Disheng’s face, where it exploded.

Yao Spell: Aggregating Earth!

The barrier of profound qi made from the Shangqing Incantation was extremely weak, and it immediately shattered. After all, Xu Disheng was currently only at the Cleansed Meridian stage, so the quality of his profound qi couldn’t block this rank of Yao Spell.

The water barrier made from the Amassing Water form lasted for a bit, but it also shattered, slightly dampening the radiance and power coming from the earthy yellow orb in the process. It exploded directly on Xu Disheng’s body!

Bang!

The taste of blood filled Xu Disheng’s mouth. He was blasted off of the Spirit Cloud by the orb, where he fell into the trees nearly a hundred meters away.

The Daoist Robe that Xu Disheng had refined into a Soul Vessel had absorbed the majority of the impact. Without it, Xu Disheng might have been directly blown to smithereens from this one strike!

How could a sect mission be easy to complete? In the hundreds of Peaks in the Mingxin Mountain Range, there were several tens of thousands of Sea of Qi stage disciples, but a large majority of them still regarded the sect missions as incredibly dangerous. They only went to do them when they had absolutely no choice but to do them, and that was with good reason. Not to mention, Xu Disheng wasn’t even in the Sea of Qi stage yet.

He laid there in the forest, his hair a mess, his entire body powerless, feeling like his bones had turned into powder. In these ten or so years, this was his first time being in such a sorry shape.

When he perceived the wolf monster slowly approaching him, the corners of Xu Disheng’s mouth actually curved up into a smile. He muttered, “What a joke. It’s only in times like this that I can truly feel that I’m alive.”

The wolf monster’s body was too massive, so as it walked over, it uprooted the trees around him like weeds, tossing them aside.

The wolf monster walked up to Xu Disheng. Seeing Xu Disheng lying on the ground, a cold look flashed through its lupine eyes. “Not bad. You managed to take one of my Yao Spells and live.”

When it finished talking, it lifted up its palm and swung it down.

In Xu Disheng’s eyes, he saw the demon with the wolf head and human body towering over him, palm extended overhead before it sent it smashing downwards towards him.

It was an extremely quick movement, but it became extremely slow in his eyes.

The palace hall with the white jade tiles.

The purple and gold hem of a grand robe.

The meaning behind Daoist Lord Qingxin’s actions when he tossed the Azure Ocean jade slip to him.

The endearing, yet somewhat helpless expression of his mother, Jin Yu.

The sword dance beneath the moonlight.

The Three Realms of the Golden Crow, the Human Realm.

I haven’t found out the truth… I haven’t solved the riddle of my past… How can I just stay here lying on the ground?

How?

Xu Disheng’s eyes suddenly erupted with a resplendent black radiance as he uttered, “Passing Soul.”

Even though he was lying on the ground, black wind appeared around his body.

The gale rose, instantly condensing into the skull of an evil spirit which rushed into the wolf monster’s head.

The wolf monster only paused for a moment, a look of confusion flashing through its cold lupine eyes. In just a moment, it recovered and continued to bring its palm down.

The difference in cultivation realm was too great, so even with the might of the Passing Soul Mantra, it only caused the wolf monster to falter for a moment. But this was enough.

The Muddy Heart Jade flew out from his body to block the wolf monster’s hand, but it instantly exploded. Even though the Muddy Heart Jade was only a top-grade Martial Treasure, it was the reward usually given by the Sacred Sect to disciples who reached the Sea of Qi stage. This one was given to him by Daoist Lord Qingyu as a greeting gift, but it only managed to block the wolf monster’s palm for a moment before shattering to pieces.

But this reduced the power of the wolf monster’s palm strike by 30%.

A barrier of water formed by the Amassing Water form appeared around his body in a flash, reducing the palm’s power yet again.

The palm cut ruthlessly towards Xu Disheng’s chest. A black light shone as the Daoist Robe Soul Vessel worked desperately. A faint black light flew out from it, blocking the palm directly. In a flash, the soul dissipated into black gas, dispelling into the atmosphere.

Xu Disheng was smashed into the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood. He was laying there motionlessly, but he wasn’t dead. The Daoist Robe Soul Vessel played a big role at the end there. The only soul inside of it flew out and took some of the impact for him.

Xu Disheng’s ribs were broken and blood was trickling out of his ears, but his eyes were glowing with an unprecedented light.

The handsome youth’s long hair had long since come loose, and as he lay there on the ground, his bright eyes suddenly turned pure black. The whites of his eyes faded away completely as the jade flute in his sea of consciousness revolved crazily with Soul Force. “It’s my turn.”

A look of astonishment flashed through the wolf monster’s cold eyes. This youngster took a palm strike and somehow didn’t die. Although it didn’t use a Yao Spell, that palm strike wasn’t something that a person who had just begun cultivating would be able to resist.

Just as it was about to open its mouth to say something, it suddenly felt all of its hair stand on end, scalp tingling. The moment it looked down, it saw the whites of the youth’s eyes disappear, replaced by a pure blackness. The wolf monster’s heart began to thump wildly, and it jumped up, looking all around frantically as if it was searching for the source of this feeling of danger.

It had no idea that the danger wasn’t coming from around him, but below him.

“Swallowing Soul.”

With Xu Disheng’s quiet utterance, a wind rose.

The phantom image of the skull of an evil spirit coalesced into existence beside Xu Disheng. With its eyes tightly closed, the skull opened its bloody maw wide and ferociously sucked in towards the wolf monster!

The wolf monster was still in the middle of trying to sense its surroundings. It suddenly froze, and without a sound, a concentrated black ray of light floated out from its body and was sucked into the evil spirit skull’s mouth.

Its gigantic body collapsed to the ground, crushing several trees in the process.

After the evil spirit skull sucked in the black ray of light, the light scattered into Xu Disheng’s sea of consciousness.

Originally, the Soul Force Flute in Xu Disheng’s sea of consciousness was pure black and extremely resplendent. But at this moment in time, it had become practically transparent, the Soul Force within nearly exhausted. All that remained in his sea of consciousness was a dimly glowing phantom image of a black flute.

Xu Disheng was lying there, bleeding out of all of his orifices. The moment he risked his life to use the Swallowing Soul Mantra, he had already lost consciousness due to the backlash from the Soul Force.

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