Chapter 599: The Fifth Decay

Somewhere in the True Immortal Realm.

There was a silver palace hovering in mid-air within a certain golden space, and four or five figures were seated on a raised platform in the palace, seemingly discussing something.

All of them were enshrouded in layers of spiritual light in different colors that concealed their facial features.

"Fellow Daoist Xiong, it's already been some time since you came to our Immortal Prison. How are you finding things here?" a figure enshrouded in a layer of white light asked.

The one that the question had been directed at was enshrouded in a layer of golden light, and his features were rather indistinct, but it seemed that he was a young man.

"Everything has been great," the young man replied with a smile.

"Your clan and mine have always been extremely close, and you just made a breakthrough to the late-Golden Immortal Stage, so if you need time to consolidate your cultivation base and wish to be exempt from carrying out any missions during this time, feel free to tell me, and I'll put in a word for you with our higher-ups," the man enshrouded in white light said.

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Xuan. My cultivation base has already been consolidated, so no special arrangements need to be made for me," the man enshrouded in golden light replied.

"As expected of a prodigious swordsman like yourself, Fellow Daoist Xiong. Back when you first joined our Immortal Prison, you were able to slay mid-Golden Immortal Stage Reincarnation Palace cultivators on your own, even though you were only at the early-Golden Immortal Stage at the time. With the rapid progress that you've since made in your cultivation base, I'm sure you're destined for great things," another figure that was enshrouded in red light praised.

"You're far too kind, Fellow Daoist Di. I was very fortunate to have succeeded on that occasion. By the way, why isn't Fellow Daoist Gongshu here?"

The figure enshrouded in golden light didn't want the topic of discussion to linger on himself any longer, so he changed the subject.

"One of Gongshu Tian's close clansmen perished in the Northern Glacial Immortal Region some years ago, and he's always wanted to go after the culprit, but our higher-ups have never given him permission to do so.

“Not long ago, our Supervisory Heavenly Mirror detected that someone in the primordial land between the Northern Glacial Immortal Region and the Black Mountain Immortal Region seemed to have mastered the fourth level of the Spirit Refinement Technique, and Gongshu Tian volunteered to go and investigate this matter," the figure enshrouded in red light replied.

"When did this happen? I haven't heard anything about this at all. It's not all that rare to find someone who's cultivated the first three levels of the Spirit Refinement Technique, but someone who's mastered the fourth level has to be a core member of the Reincarnation Palace," the figure enshrouded in white light said in a grim voice.

"It happened not long ago. All of you were out on missions, and I was the only one here at the time," the figure enshrouded in red light explained.

"The primordial land is a very complex and sensitive place. Those primordial races are extremely resentful to us human cultivators, and even more so to cultivators of our Heavenly Court, so it most likely won't be easy to carry out an investigation there," the figure enshrouded in golden light said.

"Indeed. I presume Gongshu Tian will only be returning in futility," the figure enshrouded in red light said in an indifferent manner, while a contemplative look appeared in the eyes of the man enshrouded in golden light.

......

Close to a year flew by in the blink of an eye.

A streak of green light flashed through the sky above a certain barren region of the primordial land, vanishing into the distance in an instant.

The streak of green light contained a green flying carriage, atop which sat Han Li, who was cultivating in silence, while a white cloud was hovering in front of him.

Some time later, the golden light around his body slowly faded, and he opened his eyes.

Following this period of cultivation, all of his injuries had been healed, and his spiritual sense had also made a full recovery.

He cast his gaze toward the white cloud up ahead, and there were still no signs to suggest that Jin Tong was going to emerge from the golden ball anytime soon.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, only to quickly unfurrow again.

Having just devoured a late-High Zenith Stage Gold Devouring Immortal, it made sense that Jin Tong would go into an extended slumber, and with the map provided by the patriarch of the Heavenly Fox Race, the going had been quite smooth, so there was nothing for him to be concerned about.

With that in mind, he turned his gaze to Mo Guang and Xiao Bai, the latter of which was laying on the ground in a corner of the carriage, sleeping peacefully.

As for Mo Guang, he was seated with his legs crossed with a layer of black light around him, holding that black spirit beast pouch in his arms, and wisps of baleful qi were constantly flowing out of the pouch and into his body.

All of a sudden, a curious look appeared in Han Li's eyes at the sight of the black light around Mo Guang's body.

Even though Mo Guang was currently using baleful qi to cultivate, the baleful qi fluctuations emanating from his body were very faint.

Now that he had possessed the body of a powerful Gray Immortal, he was essentially no different from a normal Gray Immortal, so the baleful qi fluctuations emanating from his body should've been far more pronounced.

Mo Guang seemed to have detected Han Li's scrutiny, and he paused in his cultivation and opened his eyes as he asked, "What's wrong, Fellow Daoist Han?"

Han Li took a glance at Mo Guang's eyes to discover that their pupils are far closer in color to the black pupils of a human rather than the gray ones of a Gray Immortal, and he asked, "How are your baleful qi fluctuations so faint? Have you used some type of secret technique to conceal your aura?"

He had previously been pondering how he was going to conceal the immense baleful qi in Mo Guang's body so that they could enter the Black Mountain Immortal Region without attracting attention, but it seemed like this wasn't an issue.

Mo Guang faltered slightly upon hearing this, then replied, "I haven't used any aura concealment secret techniques, Fellow Daoist Han."

As soon as his voice trailed off, he also detected the faint baleful qi fluctuations emanating from his own body, upon which a surprised look appeared on his face.

"How could this be?" he murmured to himself, seemingly just as perplexed.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"If you haven't done anything, then why do you appear no different from a normal person?" Han Li asked.

"Now that you mention it, I don't feel any discomfort right now. That wasn't the case back when I first left that ravine. All of this seems to be attributable to a strange vortex that's currently in my dantian, and it took shape after you fed me that pill earlier," Mo Guang explained after taking a moment to inspect his own internal condition.

"You're saying the Origin Void Pill has a baleful qi concealment effect?" Han Li asked.

"That's right. This vortex is able to conceal the aura of baleful qi. It's already been quite some time since I took the pill, but I never noticed that it had such an effect," Mo Guang replied.

A contemplative look appeared in Han Li's eyes upon hearing this, while Mo Guang continued, "I can sense that the vortex formed by the power of the pill isn't permanent. Instead, it's dissipating bit by bit, and it'll probably only be able to last a few years, maybe around a dozen years at most."

Han Li gave a thoughtful nod upon hearing this.

Originally, he had thought that the purpose of the Origin Void Pill was to awaken the soul of a Gray Immortal, but given what he was currently observing in Mo Guang, it seemed that the true effect of the pill was to allow a Gray Immortal to acclimate themselves with the world's origin qi of the True Immortal Realm while also suppressing the baleful qi in their body, thereby allowing them to awaken.

If he and Mo Guang intended to go to other immortal regions, this pill was going to be indispensable.

Thankfully, he had obtained a large quantity of Black Marrow Crystals, which was the main ingredient for refining Origin Void Pills, from the Gray Immortal's storage tool. He was still missing the other ingredients, but they weren't all that rare or precious, so he should be able to purchase them from the Reincarnation Palace.

With that in mind, Han Li summoned his Reincarnation Palace mask, then offered some rewards for those ingredients in the exchange section.

After that, he pulled out a Black Marrow Crystal and began to carefully inspect it.

Inside the crystal were wisps of baleful qi that were pure to the extreme.

These Black Marrow Crystals were of a far superior quality to the ones that Wyrm 3 had given him. When it came to pill refinement, balance was very important, so if he were to use these crystals to refine Origin Void Pills, then he would most likely have to adjust some steps of the process.

Right as these thoughts were running through his mind, the baleful qi in his immortal acupoints suddenly stirred before erupting into a violent frenzy.

Han Li shuddered as bursts of baleful qi that were as viscous as ink shot out of his body, then rapidly expanded outward, instantly filling the entire surrounding area within a radius of several hundred feet.

At the same time, Han Li's eyes began to glow crimson, and it was as if he had transformed into a terrifying baleful deity.

Everyone else on the flying carriage was instantly inundated by the baleful qi that had erupted out of his body, and they were naturally very startled.

The flying carriage instantly drew to a halt, while Han Li abruptly rose to his feet as he warned, "All of you, stay here and don't follow me."

After that, he flew out of the carriage and descended out of the sky.

Down below was an undulating mountain range that was quite abundant with spiritual qi, and there was a massive canyon between two mountains that a river was slowly flowing through.

There were many demon beasts residing in the mountain range, and they immediately fled for their lives upon sensing the terrifying aura that was currently emanating from Han Li's body.

Han Li flew straight into the canyon before throwing an almighty punch, blasting a huge hole into the mountain face up ahead.

He then flew into the makeshift cave that he had just created, then hurriedly set up a layer of restrictions around himself before sitting down with his legs crossed.

A layer of bright golden light emerged to envelop his entire body, but black baleful qi was still surging out incessantly, and it was becoming denser and denser.

"What's happening with Master?" Xiao Bai asked in a stunned manner as it looked down from the flying carriage.

"It looks like Fellow Daoist Han has been befallen by the fifth decay, the baleful decay," Mo Guang said.

Daoist Xie took a glance at Mo Guang, then cast an incantation seal into the flying carriage, upon which it descended into the canyon, but drew to a halt still quite far away from the cave that Han Li was in.

"Master has only just reached the pinnacle of the Golden Immortal Stage, how could the baleful decay have befallen him so quickly?" Xiao Bai asked with a grim expression.

"Fellow Daoist Han was using baleful qi to force his own immortal acupoints open, so an enormous amount of baleful qi has accumulated in his body, thereby leading to the premature onset of baleful decay," Mo Guang explained.

"The baleful decay is the most difficult final hurdle that must be overcome in order to reach the High Zenith Stage. While I was with Gongshu Jiu, I saw countless cultivators fall at this hurdle, ultimately driven insane and killed by baleful qi backlash. Master has only just reached the pinnacle of the Gold Devouring Immortal, and he's completely unprepared..."

Xiao Bai's voice trailed off here, but the implications were very apparent.

Both Mo Guang and Daoist Xie remained silent as they observed the cave from afar.