Chapter 439: The True Dragon Manifestation! The Ancient Fierce Beast Taotie! The Second Primordial Spirit Manifestation!

The primordial spirit manifestation before them was none other than one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Bare Body Sect, Heavenly King Sudu!

She seized the ancient, heavy alchemy furnace in her talons and vanished instantly. This was no illusion; it was pure, unimaginable speed, so fast that even the eye of a god could barely follow.

In this place, countless primordial spirit experts had gathered. Many possessed the Daoist Divine Sight or the Buddhist Heaven’s Eye, and numerous heretical monks and demon cultivators had their own unique perception techniques.

Immediately, several streams of divine light surged forth, countless divine powers bombarding a single spot.

And in the next instant, the figure of the Guhuo Bird, carrying the alchemy furnace, was revealed. From within one of those streaks of light came the faint yet unmistakable roar of a dragon, its aura overwhelming and tyrannical. It crashed forward with an irresistible, earth-shattering force, tearing through the air toward the Guhuo Bird!

However, Li Yanchu did not move. He stood calmly at the edge of the chaos, his expression composed and unwavering.

From the very moment the furnace began to stir, the two bronze tokens hidden in his robes had started to heat up faintly, as though something within them was awakening. A mysterious connection was forming between the tokens and that ancient alchemy furnace floating amidst the battlefield.

In the blink of an eye, the true dragon primordial spirit manifestation clashed with the Guhuo Bird dozens of times!

“Long Jiu[1]! Do you really think I won’t kill you!?” The Guhuo Bird’s voice echoed coldly through the air, sharp as a blade.

“Kill me?” The true dragon’s voice resounded like thunder. “Let’s see if you can even get away first!”

Now that the Blood-Qi Pill had been fully refined, the powerful restriction sealing the ancient furnace had finally dissipated. The fact that the Guhuo Bird could lift and carry it away meant that anyone could seize it, if they had the strength.

Boom! Boom!

Several other primordial spirit experts surged forward, their divine lights brilliant enough to shake heaven and earth.

At the same time, the half-bodied Daoist also charged in, swinging his enormous sword. Each strike was so sharp that it sheared through air itself, and wherever his blade fell, arms and legs were severed in an instant. Those streams of purple qi were imbued with an unfathomable power, capable of effortlessly shattering primordial spirit artifacts into dust.

In the blink of an eye, the Guhuo Bird found herself enduring several brushes with death. Even the mysterious Sudu, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, could not withstand the siege of so many primordial spirit experts.

In the end, with no other choice, she flung the ancient alchemy furnace high into the air, then transformed into a streak of divine light and fled the battlefield!

No one went after her. Every pair of eyes turned at once toward the furnace, and hands reached out simultaneously to seize it!

The half-bodied Daoist hurled his massive sword, which turned into a streak of icy brilliance and began to circle protectively around the furnace. That Daoist had long since perished, yet now he had become a strange and terrifying existence: a guardian of the ancient alchemy furnace.

A single primordial spirit expert was struck by a wisp of purple qi, and his spirit was instantly annihilated, body and soul destroyed. Though everyone’s hearts burned with greed, they knew well that unless this Daoist was eliminated, no one would be able to claim the furnace.

“All of you, get out of my way!” a thunderous roar erupted from the heavens!

The Arhat manifestation with the fiery halo behind its head swooped down, its massive golden fist slamming into the half-bodied Daoist!

Boom!

A tremendous shockwave rippled outward, flattening the surrounding terrain!

At some point during this chaos, the mysterious coffin manifestation had been completely devoured by the Arhat, vanishing without a trace! The sight sent chills through everyone present.

Now, the Arhat’s blazing halo grew ever more intense, the very air around it distorting from the heat. Having absorbed the coffin manifestation, its aura surged, climbing higher and higher. It struck again, its colossal fist forming a mighty seal of power, crushing the half-bodied Daoist’s torso inward!

Everyone froze in shock.

At that moment, a leopard-headed, human-bodied primordial spirit suddenly widened its eyes as though recalling something.

“This man... he’s not only cultivated the Arhat manifestation, he also carries the essence of an ancient ferocious beast... Taotie!”

“He possesses a second manifestation!”

The words sent a wave of uproar through the crowd.

A second manifestation!? Taotie!?

Even amidst such peril, everyone felt their scalps prickle and their hearts tremble in awe.

The Arhat manifestation looked slightly startled, frowning as it turned its gaze toward the leopard-headed primordial spirit.

“Who are you!?”

He truly was astonished, as within the Great Xiangguo Temple, only two or three people in total knew of this secret. How could this stranger possibly recognize it, merely from seeing him refine another’s primordial spirit using the fiery halo behind his head?

“Impressive means!” The leopard-headed primordial spirit gave a cold laugh. Even as the words left his mouth earlier, he’d already begun to regret them. Now that he had revealed the secret, there was no doubt this formidable expert would never allow him to live. Without hesitation, he turned and transformed into a streak of divine light, fleeing into the distance.

The Arhat manifestation’s face darkened. After a moment of hesitation, he actually abandoned both the Blood-Qi Pill and the ancient alchemy furnace, instead choosing to chase after the leopard-headed primordial spirit!

This sudden twist caught everyone completely off guard. That Arhat manifestation was clearly the strongest among all the cultivators present; it was domineering in power, merciless in battle. Yet now, he had given up the chance at an immortal fortune? The decision was simply beyond comprehension.

“An ancient beast, Taotie... and a second primordial spirit manifestation?” Li Yanchu murmured under his breath.

He turned to ask Zhang Wei beside him, but Zhang Wei only shook his head, as he had never heard of such a thing.

According to the

Classic of Mountains and Seas

, the Taotie had the body of a sheep and a human face, eyes beneath its armpits, tiger’s fangs and human claws, and its cry sounded like that of an infant. It possessed the divine power of devouring all things, and it was a primordial ferocious beast long extinct from the mortal world.

It wasn’t too strange that someone might use such a creature for a Visualization Method, but to have a second primordial spirit manifestation? That was something Li Yanchu had never heard of.

The battle below raged on. This time, the remaining cultivators chose to join forces to first eliminate the half-bodied Daoist, returning once again to where things had begun.

The half-bodied Daoist couldn’t hold out long; indeed, no one could, against the combined assault of so many primordial spirit manifestations.

Boom!

The half-bodied Daoist was reduced to smoke and ashes, and the corpse of that once-prestigious elder of the Blissful Land had, at last, completely dissolved into nothingness, vanishing between heaven and earth.

At that same moment, the two bronze tokens on Li Yanchu’s person grew so hot they were almost unbearable as they burned like fire. He quickly took them out.

At first, Zhang Wei caught a glimpse of them from the corner of his eye and paid them little mind, as tokens were a common type of Daoist artifact, after all. But when he saw the specific design and markings on those tokens clearly, his expression changed.

“Eh? That's Heaven's Might Token!?”

Zhang Wei’s respect for this “Daoist Master Cao Cao” deepened even further.

“You recognize it?” Li Yanchu asked.

Zhang Wei nodded. “The Heaven's Might Token is something said to have originated from within the Blissful Lands themselves. It contains a trace of immortal qi, and it can enhance the holder’s fortune while inside a Blissful Land.”

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

But then, Zhang Wei frowned slightly in surprise; there were supposed to be only three of these tokens in existence. And yet this Daoist Master Cao Cao held two of them.

Still... this was a man who had been able to summon the manifestation of the Fire Virtue Star Lord to suppress an ancient taboo. Thinking of that, Zhang Wei no longer found it strange.

Just a big shot’s standard operation.

Meanwhile, the battle over the alchemy furnace had reached its boiling point. The true dragon manifestation unleashed a surge of dragon qi, forcefully driving everyone back.

Roarrr

!

A dragon’s roar resounded through the heavens. All the cultivators present felt their primordial spirits tremble, their minds momentarily spinning in dizziness. Taking advantage of that instant, the true dragon manifestation broke free, transformed into divine light, and vanished into the distant horizon.

No one was willing to give up in such a situation. One after another, they unleashed their divine powers to pursue.

But that dragon manifestation was too fast, and in the blink of an eye, it disappeared completely, as though it had never existed at all.

When the primordial spirit masters finally returned to their physical bodies, they couldn’t help but curse furiously.

“Bastard!”

“Son of a bitch!”

“He just took off with the alchemy furnace!”

“That was a great pill refined from a primordial beast!”

They pounded their chests in frustration, faces full of regret and fury.

Zhang Wei had, several times, wanted to make a move and fight for the treasure, but seeing Li Yanchu standing calmly by his side, unmoving, he suppressed the impulse with great effort.

Before long, the great upheaval finally subsided, and the chaos was temporarily stilled. The crowd dispersed, leaving behind only a scattered few cultivators.

But just then, an unexpected change occurred! A blazing alchemy furnace, wreathed in flames, suddenly came soaring back from the distant sky, streaking across like a meteor.

1. 龙 Long means ‘dragon’, 九 Jiu means ‘nine.’ ☜