Daily Divination From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable - Chapter 482

Chapter 482 Rescuing Zi Xi and Unveiling Her True Colors (Please Subscribe)

“How could Tianming have disappeared?”

Li Chang’an looked at the message in his hand, somewhat puzzled.

This news came from within the Nether Soul Sect, told to him by a core disciple.

The truth of the matter had not yet been confirmed, but rumors were already circulating within the Nether Soul Sect, and many were discussing it in secret.

In the recent sect meetings, True Monarch Tianming had not appeared even once.

Even when the Nether Soul Sect faced oppression from other Nascent Soul forces, True Monarch Tianming had not shown his face, as if he had vanished into thin air.

It was rumored that

he possessed a fortuitous opportunity, was targeted by a Nascent Soul Heavenly Monarch of the Nether Prison Sect, and died tragically at the hands of a Nascent Soul cultivator, even his soul was refined into the Soul Banner, never to reappear.

There were also rumors that he was not killed and was still hiding somewhere.

In short, his fate was now unknown, and his chances of survival were slim.

After reading these messages…

Li Chang’an couldn’t help but sigh, “Tianming and Fusheng are both exceptionally talented individuals. Fusheng has gained the favor of the Wanzhen Sect and has already embarked on the path to Nascent Soul, while Tianming has ended up like this.”

He knew very well that most of the rumors were true.

The Nascent Soul Heavenly Lords of the Netherworld Sect were all ruthless and greedy as wolves, and would never allow juniors to obtain opportunities.

Even if True Lord Tianming hadn’t died, he wouldn’t be in a good situation now.

In comparison,

the other eight immortal sects were relatively normal.

At least, they all kept their promises upon returning, did not allow their disciples to indiscriminately slaughter mortals, and the sect leaders did not openly seize opportunities from lower-level disciples, appearing somewhat like the righteous path.

The Netherworld Sect was completely different.

The entire sect, from top to bottom, disregarded promises.

The methods of the Netherworld cultivators were still no different from those of the demonic path, wantonly reaping the mortals.

Along Li Chang’an’s journey, all he saw was bloodshed and slaughter.

“These mortal lives are worse than before the cataclysmic changes.”

Before the return of the nine immortal sects, the mortal kingdoms of the demonic realm could avoid slaughter by offering a certain number of mortals every so often.

But now,

that rule is meaningless.

Demonic cultivators act with impunity, treating the mortal world as a playground, slaughtering people from time to time.

The order of the mortal kingdoms has almost collapsed from the carnage. The surviving mortals are all emaciated, ragged, and their faces show only numbness or pain, nothing else.

Li Chang’an walked among the mortals, hearing only sighs, pain, and wails all around him.

“If I could change the order and let these mortals of the Netherworld live the life of mortals in the Fire Cloud Secret Realm, I should be able to gain a massive amount of faith, and perhaps even reach the pseudo-god level. But this is simply impossible.”

As he pondered, he took out a pancake and casually handed it to a emaciated mortal on the street.

The man’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took the pancake.

“Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master!”

He repeatedly knelt and kowtowed, tears streaming down his face, his forehead bleeding from the pounding on the bluestone slab.

“Please, young master, take me as your slave! I am willing to risk my life for you, to go through fire and water!”

His face was covered in blood, and he clutched the dry bread tightly, as if grasping at a sliver of life, begging Li Chang’an to take him away.

Li Chang’an sensed a very bright wisp of faith emanating from the man and entering his body.

This wisp of faith was actually stronger than more than ten wisps of mortal faith from the Fire Cloud Secret Realm.

“Faith that has experienced suffering seems to be even more powerful,”

Li Chang’an pondered.

The beings of the Fire Cloud Secret Realm no longer lacked food and clothing, and most had forgotten what suffering was, their faith in him becoming perfunctory.

Because of this, although the number of mortals in the Fire Cloud Secret Realm continued to increase, his strength had not improved much.

To verify this idea,

he took out some more food and distributed it to the many mortals in the area.

Soon, wisps of bright faith power surged forth, converging into a gentle stream that flowed into his body.

Each wisp of faith power was equivalent to more than ten streams of faith from the Fiery Cloud Secret Realm.

Li Chang’an casually asked one of them,

“If I provide you with food and clothing, are you truly willing to go through fire and water for me?”

“Young master, as long as you give me a full meal, my life is yours!”

The man’s voice was hoarse as he patted his withered chest in assurance.

Li Chang’an asked again, “How long has it been since you had a full meal?”

“It’s been like this ever since those immortals returned.”

The crowd chattered, recounting the days since the immortal sects returned.

Due to the immortals’ frenzied slaughter, the imperial power of their mortal kingdom had collapsed, and the entire kingdom was in chaos.

To get a full meal, they wandered from place to place, struggling to survive.

“Some kind-hearted wealthy families will give out thin porridge.”

“But the world is too chaotic, even the wealthy families can’t survive for long.”

“Occasionally, edible offerings will appear before some graves and tombstones. I once found a piece of braised beef in a mass grave outside the city…”

They each spoke of their ways of survival.

Listening to these words, Li Chang’an pondered silently.

“This is the territory of the Netherworld Sect. I cannot spread faith here, but I can modify the Fire Cloud Secret Realm.”

“To make the inhabitants of the secret realm feel a sense of crisis, it would be best to create several major upheavals, and then I would step in to resolve them. Their faith should be more devout…”

After pondering for a moment,

Li Chang’an waved his hand, dismissing the group of mortals.

Then, he used his clone left in Changqing Mountain to enter the Fire Cloud Secret Realm and commanded the many God Emperors within to take action.

Having done all this,

he gathered his thoughts and headed north, constantly approaching the location of the Purple Dawn he had deduced.

Before long, a dark red palace appeared in his perception.

“Red Puppet Palace.”

The Red Puppet Palace was indeed the Daoist temple of True Lord Red Puppet.

Li Chang’an slowed his pace, concealing his aura and figure, and silently approached the Red

Puppet Palace. After getting close, he performed another deduction, confirming that Zi Xi was inside the Red Puppet Palace.

He planned to first control a disciple of the Red Puppet Palace, quietly enter the palace, and then search for Zi Xi’s whereabouts.

But he soon discovered

that everyone in the Red Puppet Palace, whether patrolling outside or entering and leaving the palace, possessed puppet-like abilities.

In other words,

these disciples had all been refined into flesh and blood puppets.

The Red Puppet Palace seemed to have countless disciples, but in reality, there was only one!

“Fine, I have to attack head-on.”

Li Chang’an’s figure blurred, transforming into afterimages as he inscribed array patterns and arranged treasures around the Red Puppet Palace, quickly setting up a Void Forbidden Array.

This array would isolate the aura, ensuring that the battle within would not be detected by the outside world.

Just then, midnight arrived.

A golden light appeared before his eyes as usual.

[The hexagram has been updated]

[Today’s hexagram – Auspicious]

[You broke into the Red Puppet Palace, suppressed the Red Puppet True Monarch, successfully rescued Zi Xi, and obtained the Seven Emotions Fire ignition treasure “Ming Ai Flower” and the fourth-tier low-grade puppet inheritance]

“Auspicious hexagram, not bad.”

Li Chang’an repeatedly looked at the contents of the hexagram and felt relieved.

Subsequently, he also performed several divinations himself, and the hexagrams he obtained were also auspicious.

“The previous divination was neutral, but now it’s auspicious. Could it be because my actions were timely?”

Li Chang’an wondered to himself.

If he had arrived a moment later, he might not have been able to save Zi Xi or obtain the treasure.

Perhaps, after killing Zi Xi, True Monarch Hong Kui would leave Hong Kui Palace and return to the Blissful Heaven Sect, leaving him with nothing.

“Fortunately, I didn’t hesitate before.”

Li Chang’an’s figure flickered, and he began to set up several more layers of fourth-grade mid-level arrays.

…

At the same time.

Deep within Hong Kui Palace, Nascent Soul power surged.

Two figures were fighting.

One of them was draped in red gauze, with a seductive figure and countless blood-red threads dancing around her. It was none other than True Monarch Guiyi’s Daoist partner, True Monarch Hong Kui!

The other was naturally Zi Xi.

Both were in the early stage of Nascent Soul, and their strengths were almost equal, but this was Hong Kui Palace.

True Monarch Hong Kui used the power of the array to suppress Zi Xi.

She sneered, “Zi Xi, I never imagined you were so foolish, daring to enter the Red Puppet Palace alone. Today, I will refine you into a puppet!”

As she spoke, thousands upon thousands of flying needles rained down like a storm, each threaded with a thin red line, all aimed at Zi Xi.

Zi Xi remained calm and silent, instantly transforming into a wisp of purple smoke and dissipating.

The countless needles pierced her previous position, yet caused her no harm.

The next instant,

she appeared in another part of the palace.

The Red Puppet True Lord stared at her with cold eyes, saying, “Cloudy Spirit Body, indeed remarkable. If we were outside, I wouldn’t be able to do anything to you, but you’re already trapped. I’ll see how long you can hold out!”

With that, countless needles attacked Zi Xi again, along with the power of the array.

The two had been fighting for a long time.

Zi Xi’s treasures were exhausted, and her magic power was depleted, forcing her to rely on the “Smoke Transformation” talent granted by her spirit body to dodge attacks time and again.

But the power of the spirit body ultimately has its limits.

Just like Gu Yunqi’s “Undying Sand Body” and Cui Baihong’s “White Tiger Vajra Body,” they could only preserve life temporarily, not for long.

If things continued like this, Zi Xi would surely die!

She knew this clearly and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, taking out a communication item from her storage bag.

This item was for contacting Li Chang’an.

Actually, she had already heard Li Chang’an’s words and had planned to reply after escaping.

But now it seemed she had no hope of escape.

After a moment’s hesitation,

she gripped the communication item tightly and replied to Li Chang’an.

“Fellow Daoist Li, I am trapped deep within the secret realm, and it may be a long time before we meet again. There’s no need to worry.”

She spoke with regret, still wanting to say so much, but it was too late.

Faced with the relentless advance of True Monarch Red Puppet, she didn’t even have a chance to utter a second word, only able to dodge.

Finally,

her spiritual power was exhausted.

When another flying needle struck, she couldn’t dodge it by transforming into smoke, and it pierced her arm.

Immediately afterward, one flying needle after another, trailing blood, flew in, piercing her limbs and bones, even tearing the pale purple veil she always wore.

True Monarch Red Puppet’s magic power flowed wildly into her body along the red threads, intending to refine her into a flesh puppet on the spot.

She walked up to Zi Xi, looking down at her.

“Zi Xi, who is that ‘Fellow Daoist Li’? Is she your Daoist partner?”

To this question, Zi Xi remained silent, not uttering a word.

The Crimson Puppet True Monarch spoke again: “It’s alright if you don’t speak. Once I’ve refined you into a puppet, I’ll control you to return to the righteous realm. Presumably, that ‘Fellow Daoist Li’ you speak of will come looking for you. Then I’ll know who he is, and perhaps I can even help you two become a pair of doomed lovers!”

“You…”

Zi Xi’s face showed anger, her heart filled with rage, yet she was powerless to resist.

The Crimson Puppet True Monarch sneered: “Well, will you speak or not? Who exactly is that ‘Fellow Daoist Li’?”

“It’s me.”

Li Chang’an’s voice suddenly rang out.

Immediately afterward, a deafening roar was heard, and the entire Crimson Puppet Palace formation instantly collapsed.

He descended from the sky, his aura powerful, sword energy swirling around him, like a peerless sword immortal descending to the mortal realm, instantly shattering all the blood threads.

“Who are you?”

The Crimson Puppet True Monarch’s expression changed drastically, and he hastily retreated, staring intently at her.

Li Chang’an didn’t reply, but simply took out several fourth-tier pills, dissolved their medicinal power, and infused them into Zi Xi’s body.

Zi Xi’s lips parted slightly, staring blankly at him, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.

“Fellow Daoist Li, you…”

“Don’t speak, first regulate your breathing and absorb the medicinal power.”

“Okay.”

Zi Xi took a deep breath, trying to suppress the shock in her heart, but she couldn’t calm down no matter what.

She had long guessed that Li Chang’an was hiding his cultivation level.

But she never expected that Li Chang’an would actually hide a whole realm!

Originally, she thought that Li Chang’an already had the cultivation level of the mid or late Golden Core stage, and as long as he cultivated for another one or two hundred years, he would have a chance to embark on the path of Nascent Soul formation.

But the aura that Li Chang’an was showing at this moment was much stronger than hers, even surpassing most veteran early Nascent Soul cultivators.

Moreover, Li Chang’an was able to break through the fourth-order mid-grade formation of the Red Puppet Palace, which meant that his formation skills were also stronger than before.

Just then.

The Red Puppet True Monarch suddenly spoke up.

“Li Chang’an? You are Li Chang’an from Changqing Mountain in the Southern Region of Zhao Kingdom?”

“You know me?”

Li Chang’an glanced at her.

His main body had been in Changqing Mountain for many years and had never participated in the war between the righteous and demonic forces, so why would this Red Puppet know him?

Red Puppet True Monarch stared at him and said, “I’m investigating suspected practitioners of the Demon Seed Technique, and you’re one of them.”

“I see.”

Li Chang’an immediately understood.

As Guiyi True Monarch’s Daoist partner, Red Puppet most likely knew about Guiyi True Monarch’s cultivation of the Demon Seed Technique.

Red Puppet coldly asked, “Li Chang’an, you only have a low-grade spiritual root, how could you cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage? Did you obtain the Demon Seed Technique?”

“Why ask about that?”

Li Chang’an asked indifferently.

“Could it be that Guiyi True Monarch’s Demon Seed Technique is incomplete, and you want to complete it for him?”

“You…”

Red Puppet’s face immediately changed.

Her voice became sharp, and she questioned sharply, “How do you know that Guiyi cultivated the Demon Seed Technique? Who told you?”

Li Chang’an didn’t answer, only saying, “Guiyi True Monarch’s actions are not prudent. If it were me, I wouldn’t tell anyone about cultivating the Demon Seed Technique, and the same goes for my Daoist partner. Even if I were to tell her, I would plant a blood seed beforehand.”

He had already examined Red Puppet with his stone eye, and there was no blood seed within her.

This meant…

She knew the secret of True Lord Guiyi, yet she wasn’t controlled by him—

a fatal situation for a practitioner of the Demon Seed Technique.

If True Lord Hongkui were to leak the information, True Lord Guiyi would face endless calamities.

The Demon Seed Technique ignores spiritual root limitations, comparable to the core techniques of the Nine Great Immortal Sects, coveted even by Nascent Soul Heavenly Lords.

Hongkui understood Li Chang’an’s meaning.

She coldly snorted, “My love for Guiyi is as deep as the sea; how could I betray him? Li Chang’an, do you think everyone in the world is as narrow-minded as you?”

“Hard to say,”

Li Chang’an replied indifferently, neither confirming nor denying.

During the conversation, he dissolved several more pills to stabilize Zixi’s injuries.

He threw out a fourth-tier puppet to protect Zixi, his sword aura reappearing, subtly locking onto True Lord Hongkui.

Hongkui wasn’t idle either; taking advantage of the brief conversation, she restored all her health.

“Li Chang’an, tell me, how do you know that Guiyi has cultivated the Demon Seed Technique? If you tell me the truth, I might consider letting you go.”

With that, she waved her hand, and three fourth-tier puppets appeared, each comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stages.

Seeing this, a hint of worry flashed in Zi Xi’s beautiful eyes.

“Fellow Daoist Li, be careful.”

“Don’t worry.”

Li Chang’an remained calm, secretly instructing the Fiend Soul.

“Soul Seal.”

“Alright!”

The Fiend Soul hidden in the shadows instantly acted, casting the Soul Seal Technique.

The Crimson Puppet True Monarch trembled, a look of disorientation appearing on her face, and all her magical power dissipated.

The three puppets she controlled collapsed to the ground, becoming mere decorations.

Taking advantage of this opportunity,

Li Chang’an’s sword light flew out, shattering all the protective treasures with a single strike.

“Boom!”

The Crimson Puppet True Monarch’s body, and all the blood threads she controlled, exploded in the second sword light.

Only then did she regain her senses and try to use her treasures to defend herself, but it was too late.

A Nascent Soul Suppressing Nail descended from the sky, piercing straight to her crown chakra!

“Ah—”

Red Puppet screamed, her expression contorted.

The remaining six Nascent Soul Suppressing Nails flew in succession, instantly turning her nascent soul into an ice sculpture.

Li Chang’an took out the Nascent Soul Seal Bottle and sealed her inside.

Seeing this scene, Zi Xi’s expression was almost blank, as if she couldn’t believe it.

To her, True Monarch Red Puppet was a mortal enemy, someone she had to deal with with all her might.

But in front of Li Chang’an, Red Puppet was as weak as an ordinary mortal, without any power to resist.

This performance

reminded her of True Monarch Tianming during the war between the righteous and demonic factions.

In front of True Monarch Tianming, many righteous nascent souls were also this weak, almost exhausting all their means to barely manage to fight his second nascent soul to a draw.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but ask, “Fellow Daoist Li, what is your cultivation level now?”

“Asking that is pointless, Holy Maiden, you should heal your injuries first.”

Li Chang’an smiled, then vanished from his spot in a flash, arriving before the Red Puppet Palace’s treasury.

A dozen breaths later,

he swept all the treasures of the Red Puppet Palace clean, not even sparing the jade supporting the main hall.

“Why are there so few treasures in the Red Puppet Palace? Did they all go to True Monarch Guiyi?”

Li Chang’an quickly inventoried the items and found only a dozen or so top-grade spirit stones.

As for other treasures, even those reaching the fourth rank were few and far between.

Fortunately,

there were three fourth-rank puppets.

Each puppet was quite valuable.

Besides these, there were two fourth-rank inheritances: a low-grade fourth-rank puppet inheritance and a mid-grade fourth-rank spiritual medicine inheritance.

Li Chang’an could use both of these inheritances.

Afterward, he collected all the treasures, erased all traces and aura, and prepared to leave this place with Zi Xi, only to find that Zi Xi couldn’t use her magic power.

Within Zi Xi’s flesh and blood lay tens of thousands of puppet needles.

These needles sealed her magical power, rendering her appearing mortal.

Li Chang’an asked her, “Holy Maiden, I can remove these needles now, or I can take you back to the Zixia Sect and have their medical experts remove them. What do you say?”

He didn’t act directly, leaving the choice to Zi Xi.

Zi Xi didn’t hesitate: “Fellow Daoist Li, please do it.”

“Alright!”

After a brief observation, Li Chang’an slowly removed the pale purple veil that Zi Xi always wore.

He had known Zi Xi for many years but had never seen her true face.

Today, he finally saw it.

Beneath the veil was a face that could be described as perfect. Her jade-like face was

flawless, pure and ethereal, like the first rays of dawn, so beautiful that it seemed otherworldly, as if a celestial being had descended to earth.

Zi Xi gently closed her eyes, seemingly a little nervous, her body trembling slightly.

“Holy Maiden, you might feel a little uncomfortable, please bear with it.”

Li Chang’an withdrew his gaze, concentrating intently as he carefully removed each of the fine needles.

Zi Xi suddenly spoke, her voice ethereal and clear.

“Fellow Daoist Li, can’t you remove the needles without removing the veil?”

“Indeed, but it’s more convenient to remove it. Holy Maiden, I’m doing this for your own good.”

(End of Chapter)