Chapter 423 - The Wise and Sorrowful King

However, although he wanted to retreat, the swords formed by the cloud person were even faster than lightning, so they quickly approached him.

Zhuque Zi’s eyes were gloomy as his hand created a seal before him. The moment this seal appeared, a powerful aura surrounded Zhuque Zi.

At this moment, the flying swords arrived.

Boom!

A sound that shook the entire continent burst forth.

Zhuque Zi flew back like a meteor and didn’t stop for a while.

The seal before him had collapsed. Although he wasn’t injured, his face was deathly pale and the air of superiority he was emitting had disappeared.

The nine flying swords disappeared and turned back into soul fragments.

Du Tian looked at the scene before him and bitterly said, “The Mysterious Suzaku Seal!”

The Mysterious Suzaku Seal is a spell that only each generation’s Suzaku can learn. It can’t be cultivated and is inherited from the previous Suzaku.

This seal wasn’t created by the first generation Suzaku; it is a spell that was given to them by the Cultivation Union.

This Mysterious Suzaku Seal won’t increase one’s cultivation level, but it is very powerful. There are only two uses for it: attacking and defending.

Its attack can destroy everything and its defense is even stronger than the entire Suzaku formation even when it’s protecting just one person.

No one knows how the Cultivation Union managed to create this spell. On a rank 6 cultivation planet, only one person can know the spell at a time. Unless that person dies, no one else can use it. Even if the previous Suzaku is somehow still alive, when the current Suzaku learns the Mysterious Suzaku Seal, the previous Suzaku loses the power of the seal.

Rumor has it that using the Mysterious Suzaku Seal has some cost, but only the people who have learned the spell know of the cost. The seal Zhuque Zi had just used was that seal.

The cloud person shattered. Du Tian’s face was deathly pale as he stared at Zhuque Zi, then he suddenly started laughing. “My lifespan is almost all gone. To be able to see an old thief like you in this state is pretty satisfying!”

Zhuque Zi’s expression was ugly and he was panting. He wouldn’t have used the Mysterious Suzaku Seal unless he had to, especially if it was to use the seal to attack. He used it because he needed to keep himself in top condition for the battle against the Forsaken Immortal Clan.

“Du Tian, your Soul Refining Sect was once a branch of Suzaku and your ancestors fought alongside the first generation Suzaku against the Forsaken Immortal Clan. Why must you be so stubborn today? If you hand over the soul flag, I will help you rebuild the sect, help you gather disciples, and even help you make the Soul Refining Sect its own country again.”

Du Tian’s eyes lit up and then he let out a mischievous smile. “Old thief Zhuque, I see through you now. You are afraid of getting hurt; otherwise, you wouldn’t have ended up in such an embarrassing position. The war with the Forsaken Immortal Clan has already started; I’m afraid you won’t be able to stay here for long.”

Zhuque Zi frowned and coldly said, “Although the eleven-leaf ancestor of the Forsaken Immortal Clan is strong, I have an ace up my sleeve. Once that is revealed, the Forsaken Immortal Clan will die for sure! Du Tian, I’ll ask you one last time: will you hand over the soul flag?”

Du Tian’s eyes became cold. He took a cold breath and waved his hand. A golden-purple light began to flash on the flag, but it was unstable.

“Old thief Zhuque, I advise you to leave now and not force me to bring out the fourth soul!” Du Tian’s voice was filled with determination.

Zhuque Zi’s expression was ugly, but he sneered inside. He had been waiting for the fourth soul to appear. In fact, what he really wanted all along was the fourth soul.

Every generation of Suzaku has studied the fourth soul in hopes of finding a way to defeat the one-billion-soul soul flag. Zhuque Zi was 80% confident in beating it; that was why he came today.

After pondering a bit, Zhuque Zi slowly said, “I have read about the power of the fourth soul in records, but I haven’t seen it in person. Borrowing this chance, I really want to see just what is so special about this fourth soul!”

Du Tian clenched his teeth and pointed at his forehead with his left hand. He took out a ball of golden light and quickly pressed it onto the soul flag. The golden-purple dot on the soul flag quickly flew out.

“The world is divided into five elements that neutralize each other and create different types of spirit roots. Having one element means you can cultivate, have two means you are smart, having three means you have talent, having four means you have heavenly talent, and having five means you are complete.

“The five elements are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Having two is rare, have three is even more rare, having four is almost unheard of, and no one has even heard of anyone having all five.

“The fourth soul was a rare person who had had three elements, but this talent didn’t manifest when he was alive. He lived like most and died when he was at the Soul Transformation stage, but the Soul Refining Sect refined his soul with a special technique that turned it into something that could threaten even late stage Ascendant cultivators!

“To capture this soul, one requires a lot of determination and they must open the Cultivation Planet Crystal when one’s lifespan is almost up.” This part of the record flashed through Zhuque’s head.

Zhuque Zi said, in a serious tone, “Three Metal Soul!”

Du Tian let out hoarse laugh. His eyes were dim because the last of his lifespan has just been used to activate the fourth soul.

The fourth soul couldn’t be brought out via normal means; one must give up their life force to call it out of the soul flag.

The moment the fourth soul appeared, it released a blinding, golden-purple glow. Inside the glow was only one thing: a thin needle.

This needle wasn’t large; only as long as a thumb. It gave off a very powerful aura, far more powerful than the aura the Suzaku Sword gave off.

Three Metal Soul was a heavenly treasure that could penetrate all substances and its soul force could even harm origin souls.

Du Tian’s eyes lit up and he said, “Fourth soul, kill!”

The golden-purple needle flashed and disappeared.

Zhuque Zi’s expression changed as he quickly backed up. At the same time, he waved his hand, causing the Suzaku Sword to block before him. With a ding, a needle-sized hole appeared on the Suzaku Sword.

At the same time, Zhuque Zi let out a roar as he pointed to the air with his index finger. Celestial spiritual energy surged through his body and he pressed down with his index finger.

With a bang, Zhuque Zi backed up three steps. The golden-purple light had disappeared without a trace once more, but Zhuque Zi knew that the fourth soul was still around.

His expression was cold as he said, “The fourth soul is indeed strong! But Du Tian, if you were at the early stage of Ascendant and had used celestial spiritual energy beyond what a Soul Transformation cultivator can, you would be able to make it even faster and more powerful. I would have to run today if that were the case. However, if you want to kill me, the fourth soul isn’t fast enough!”

Zhuque Zi’s words had a purpose. The fourth soul he wanted to capture wasn’t what it was now. He wanted the fourth soul in a much more powerful state. The only way for it to achieve a more powerful state was for it to devour a large amount of soul fragments and primary souls.

It has to be said that in terms of scheming, Du Tian couldn’t match Zhuque Zi!

Du Tian stared at Zhuque Zi as he pointed to the air and the soul fragments collapsed.

The way they collapsed was very strange. Every time there was a purple flash of light, a soul fragment would collapse. This happened very quickly and soon a portion of the soul fragments had collapsed.

The purple light became faster and faster until one could only see a purple line.

Countless soul fragments were absorbed by the fourth soul. Du Tian wasn’t in a position to worry about the soul fragments.

Zhuque Zi’s eyes lit up. He was about to move up when he suddenly stepped back. A needle-sized hole suddenly appeared in his hand and fresh blood dripped out from the wound.

At this moment, more souls collapsed. Because ten primary souls were devoured by the fourth soul, its speed had reached an unimaginable speed.

Du Tian’s heart ached because ? of the one-billion-soul soul flag was devoured by the fourth soul in an instant along with ten primary souls. The one-billion-soul soul flag hadn’t suffered this kind of loss in a long time. Du Tian took a deep breath and shouted, “Fourth soul, stop!”

The golden-purple light paused as it hummed and then charged toward Zhuque Zhi.

Zhuque Zi sighed. He wanted to wait until the fourth soul had devoured all of the souls before using the method the previous Suzakus had thought of to capture it. Unfortunately, Du Tian had stopped it from devouring. Zhuque Zi couldn’t say anymore or his purpose would be exposed.

Zhuque Zi continued to back up while he kept pointing at the air before him. A series of shattering sounds could be heard, causing Zhuque Zi to back up even faster. Many wounds the size of a needle appeared on him and blood flowed out of them.

Every time a hole appeared, his expression become more ugly and his aura weakened.

However, his blood began to cover the the fourth soul.

Zhueque Zi’s eyes became cold as he slapped his bag of holding and took out a small, red gourd. His hand formed a seal and he said, “Refine!”

With one word, a thread of white flame came out from the small gourd. The surrounding 1,000 feet immediately became a sea of fire. This fire was even stronger than the Holy Suzaku Flame!

“Let’s see if your Three Metal Soul is stronger than the Celestial Flame Gourd! I’m going to refine this fourth soul!”

Inside the sea of flames, the golden-purple needle appeared and turned red. Although it didn’t melt, Zhuque Zi’s blood slowly fused with the fourth soul during this refining.

At this moment, the fourth soul quickly began to spin, causing a gust of wind that blew an opening in the sea of fire.

“Soul, escape!” Du Tian shouted. The golden-purple needle disappeared and flew toward Zhuque Zi.

Zhuque Zi’s eyes lit up. A look of joy appeared in his face and he laughed. “Du Tian, since you don’t want to hand over the soul flag, I won’t insist on taking it, but I’ll be taking this fourth soul!”

Zhuque Zi slapped his bag of holding and took out a small chunk of black mud. He spat some blood on the black mud and then a strand of black gas came out from it.

Zhuque Zi’s hand guided the strand of black gas a few times to form a strange symbol.

“This old man uses his status as the current Suzaku and gives 90% of my remaining lifespan to open the Cultivation Cultivation Planet Crystal. I want to use the ‘stop’ domain that the Cultivation Union gifted to us!” His right hand pointed at the symbol and then it quickly flew out and disappeared three feet before Zhuque Zi.

At this moment, everything within 1000 feet paused.

The moment the symbol disappeared, there was a flash of golden-purple light and then the golden-purple needle appeared.

Zhuque Zi reached out and caught the fourth soul. At this moment, time began to move again.

Zhuque Zi stepped forward. His face revealed a fierce expression and he reached toward Du Tian.

Du Tian let out a sigh. He turned around to look at the cave that had been destroyed by the flame and closed his eyes.

But just as Zhuque Zi reached out, a dark laugh came from where the cave that Wang Lin was in was.

“Scram for this old man!”

Zhuque Zi’s expression changed. He felt pain from his origin soul and felt fear that he had never felt after he became the Suzaku.