Chapter 525: Struck by Lightning! The Middle-Aged Daoist in the Golden Crown! Jia Chuanfang of Mount Zhongnan!

Even in death, the mysterious corpse could not understand why the opponent would unleash such an overwhelming lightning technique, risking mutual destruction just to strike it.

Boom! Boom!

Outside the valley, Master Huizhen and the others were engulfed in a blinding white light, their divine souls scorching with unbearable heat. As their consciousness slowly returned, their minds felt dazed and muddled. They had been shocked in the soul by lightning!

Normally, when one performed an out-of-body technique in the wild and encountered a sudden lightning strike, the soul could be shaken. Because lightning was the purest yang of heaven and earth, it caused extreme harm to the divine soul.

Yet these were accomplished second-realm cultivators. How could they have been so thoroughly shaken by lightning from such a distance, merely while in their physical forms?

When Master Huizhen gradually regained his senses, waves of shock surged in his heart.

“What on earth happened inside that valley?!” He stared at the valley in disbelief.

Meanwhile, within the valley, the mysterious robed corpse had already been reduced to ashes. Perhaps even it had never anticipated this outcome.

Having evaded countless schemes and laid down earth-shattering traps, the mysterious robed corpse was, in the end, struck down by a young Daoist with lightning. It hadn’t even had the chance to make a move, to scheme for itself in this chaotic era of contention, and so it exited the stage of the mortal world so prematurely.

At this moment, a figure slowly rose in the valley. His upper body was bare, revealing solid muscles brimming with explosive strength. By now, his entire body had been charred black by the lightning, and those powerful, masculine muscles were carbonized. Even the slightest movement sent fragments falling with soft, cracking sounds. The sight was utterly chilling.

He leaned on the Jiaoslayer, his gaze calm but tinged with madness. “Damn it... let’s see who’s tougher!”

Then he laughed. At first it was just a smile, but it quickly turned into an unrestrained, wild laughter.

+ 100,000 merit points!

This signaled that the mysterious robed corpse had been completely annihilated. After all, the voice of the Dao never lied.

Then, he pulled out a large jujube from Mount Jinting, popped it into his mouth, and immediately felt the life essence within it nourishing his body. The Universe Pouch hadn’t been destroyed by the lightning calamity, so he still had plenty of pills at his disposal.

The Mount Jinting jujube didn’t instantly restore his body but continuously nourished his internal organs and meridians.

Li Yanchu realized that this mysterious robed corpse had been a complete existence. Unlike the ancient forbidden being in the Mount Taoyuan Blissful Land, which was just a fragment and left no merit points upon death.

Naturally, he was extremely curious about the corpse’s origin, but playing mind games with such a mysterious opponent was risky. He would do whatever it took to survive!

As time passed, his breathing gradually stabilized, and his carbonized body slowly returned to normal.

At this time, Li Yanchu was delighted to discover that his divine soul had become extraordinarily refined. Compared to his previous peak as a second-realm cultivator, it had condensed ten times over, if not more. Even without manifesting a divine form, his raw divine soul alone was now extremely formidable, undaunted by wind or fire!

Moreover, the pure yang qi within his soul had become even more robust. Once fully restored, the charred body transformed back into a young, handsome Daoist with sharp features no different from before.

However, after putting on his clothes from the Universe Pouch, his aura had sharpened even further, and lightning faintly flickered in his eyes. Having just been struck by lightning, his affinity for lightning had greatly increased.

Fortunately, most of the danger had been mitigated by his talismanic armor and divine soul defenses, with only a small portion affecting him directly.

“This robed corpse... what level of power did it really have? Was it at the intermediate third-realm, or advanced third-realm?”

Li Yanchu had never clearly understood the subdivisions of third-realm strength. This mysterious robed corpse had a body both insanely strong and wielding Five Elements Dao techniques, which was extremely difficult to deal with.

It was the first being he had ever encountered that could withstand the Jiaoslayer.

Unbelievable!

He struck it, and it didn’t even break the skin.

Checking his Five-Lightning Talisman worth twenty-thousand merit points, he saw that its spiritual resonance had been almost completely exhausted.

“It’s a devastating weapon... but the cost is just too high!” Li Yanchu frowned.

Still, he had witnessed firsthand the sheer power and dominance of the Five-Lightning Talisman. Even a being like the mysterious robed corpse could be reduced to ashes in a single strike!

Suddenly, Li Yanchu’s eyes caught a gleam of light; it was the golden crown that the robed corpse had worn earlier. Now that the corpse’s soul had dissipated, he no longer worried about any hidden tricks, so he picked it up and examined it carefully.

The crown was simple and elegant in design; aside from its air of nobility, it seemed to carry no other aura. He pressed on it with some force and noticed that his fingers left faint impressions.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

“Eh?!” Li Yanchu widened his eyes. Could this really be just an ordinary golden crown?

He was puzzled. If that were the case, it probably wouldn’t have survived the previous lightning calamity of such overwhelming power. He examined the crown more closely and tried channeling his internal Daoist energy into it.

Suddenly, the crown radiated a brilliant multicolored light, with surging violet energy emanating from it, forming a majestic, almost sacred spectacle.

The next moment, a middle-aged Daoist with phoenix-like eyes and a three-chi-long beard appeared out of nowhere, slowly placing the golden crown upon his head.

Seeing this, Li Yanchu fell speechless as he felt an overwhelming disappointment, as if he had spent immense effort defeating a boss, only for it to respawn instantly, and his ultimate attack had already been used and was on cooldown.

Li Yanchu eyed the middle-aged Daoist warily. Could this be the true form of the robed corpse from earlier?

“Greetings, Daoist.”

To his surprise, the middle-aged Daoist spoke kindly, with a voice both ancient and dignified, the sort of presence that commanded respect without anger.

Li Yanchu said nothing, merely keeping a cold gaze on him.

“You have encountered me because you have slain my former body. I apologize for the trouble it caused you,” the Daoist said.

“Former body...?” Li Yanchu frowned. “Who exactly are you?”

“I am Jia Chuanfang, of the Quanzhen Sect on Mount Zhongnan,” the middle-aged Daoist replied.

Li Yanchu had never heard the name. He glanced at him and asked, “So the robed corpse earlier was your former body?”

“Correct,” the phoenix-eyed Daoist nodded. “For certain reasons, after I severed my former body, this Daoist was unable to destroy it completely, so this Daoist had to seal it. But consciousness arose within the old body, forming an independent existence. It fed on living beings to grow stronger. The more death it caused, the heavier my own sins became. No amount of merit points could counteract the consumption caused by that former body.”

Li Yanchu’s mind stirred. “What kind of official are you?”

The tone of this middle-aged Daoist was completely different from the robed corpse’s earlier self.

One liked to call himself “this official,” while the other referred to himself humbly as “this Daoist.”

“I cultivate merit, perform good deeds, and upon entering the underworld, I was decreed the City God of Mount Yan,” the middle-aged Daoist explained.