Chapter 496: First Experience of Being Swallowed

A vague but overwhelming sense of unease rose within Wang Sheng, but it wasn't merely the pressure of facing someone whose realm far surpassed his. It felt more like he had suddenly sensed a natural predator whose strength dwarfed his own, and he had already been nailed down on the butchering slab like captured prey.

The final eruption of Ziyun's Primordial Spirit power had to have drawn the attention of some powerful being within this ancient battlefield.

Wang Sheng forcefully suppressed the fear welling up in his heart. Courage had nothing to do with it; this fear would've still surged no matter how brave one was. If he didn't adjust his own state of mind, he probably wouldn't even be able to move.

He immediately pulled himself back into the Shadowless Shuttle and activated it using spiritual power. He shot toward the direction he had come from, then turned sharply toward another stretch of space.

From afar, he vaguely saw a massive shadow sweep past the remains of a distant star.

The terror in his heart intensified. He had already pushed the Shadowless Shuttle to its absolute limit, yet the pressure closing in on him only grew heavier. It nearly suffocated him.

Yaoyun calmly reported, "

A Heavenly Immortal is rapidly approaching from the direction of the Celestial Wind Sect's territory."

"

What do we do?

"

With a hint of helplessness, she answered, "

Escaping will be difficult. The one chasing us isn't just your average Heavenly Immortal either. It seems to be a fiend cultivator with a special bloodli—watch out!"

The warning made Wang Sheng steer the Shadowless Shuttle sharply to the left almost instantly. Right after, a shadow that was more than ten kilometers across swept past the side and rear of the shuttle.

Upon taking a closer look, he realized it wasn't a living being at all. It was a fragment of a star that he vaguely recognized.

It crashed hundreds of kilometers away into a mountain-like, hundred-kilometer-tall remnant of a celestial body, smashing the latter to pieces. There was no sound, but the sight alone was enough to stun anyone.

Had he failed to dodge in time, he and his shuttle would have been pulverized instantly.

Did Ziyun know that a monster was in that restricted area? Did she deliberately lure me here to die with her?

Wang Sheng had no time to think about it. While desperately trying to fly away, he racked his brain for a way to escape this crisis.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

He didn't even need Yaoyun's reminders to clearly feel the danger closing in.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. To an Ascended Immortal like him, A Heavenly Immortal Realm fiend cultivator with a special bloodline was beyond anything he could handle.

Ziyun, a cultivator at the peak Primordial Immortal Realm, had been so strong that Wang Shen had no other choice but to go all out. Even then, he still had to employ the help of an array to heavily injure her. He also failed to eliminate her celestial insect immediately, forcing him to spend over twenty years chasing her down before finally eradicating her.

Now, a Heavenly Immortal had started hunting him out of nowhere. It was as though the heavenly might that had warned him twice before was intentionally targeting him. However, he wasn't Ziwei's reincarnation. There was no way he could endure trials of this level.

"

What do we do?

" Yaoyun asked.

Wang Sheng gritted his teeth. "

Try to survive.

"

Pushing the shuttle to its limits, he unleashed immortal light to cover his true intentions. He then quietly put Spiritless into the Qiankun Ring, took out Flying Haze's sword core, placed the ring in it, and then embedded the sword core into his chest.

Flying Haze had already fused with his flesh and blood. The ring would be safe unless someone outright killed him.

"

We might as well fight together,

"

Yaoyun said.

"

At worst, we die. What are you so afraid of?

"

"

I'm not afraid. If it tries to search my soul, the consequences will be unimaginable.

" Wang Sheng inhaled deeply. "

Yaoyun, if that thing tries to search my soul, you have to destroy my Primordial Spirit immediately.

"

Yaoyun just stayed silent. A moment later, she still hadn't answered.

The shuttle changed directions again, rushing toward the nearest star.

Wang Sheng had already formulated a plan. Since he likely wouldn't be able to shake off the Heavenly Immortal behind him any time soon, he decided to simply focus on keeping Earth hidden at all costs.

He hid Spiritless for three reasons: to shield Yaoyun, to serve as a backup plan, and to guard against soul-searching techniques. After all, he knew far too many secrets. If the other party used soul-searching techniques on him, the consequences would be far worse than simply having another immortal descend on Earth in search of some Grand Dao Golden Immortal's dwelling.

Wang Sheng could sense the approaching danger pressing straight onto his back, as if a shadow had already appeared behind him. Inside the shuttle, he drew a Light Edge Sword from his pendant and turned around sharply, only to see empty space behind him.

His pupils contracted as he caught a glimpse of a shadow sliding past the edge of a distant star remnant, which a star's radiance illuminated. It looked like the tail of a giant python, but it was large enough to cover entire mountain ranges.

What kind of monster is that?! A fiend at the Heavenly Immortal Realm is this terrifying?!

When talking about powerful cultivators, they normally just mentioned the Heavenly Court's Grand Dao or Taiyi Golden Immortals. Only now did Wang Sheng realize that, as an Ascended Immortal, the Heavenly Immortal Realm was a summit still far beyond his reach.

Aside from resenting his fate for encountering such an overwhelming foe too early, being too weak, and having too little time, all he could do was imagine the fate that awaited him once he fell into the fiend's hands.

The shuttle glowed brilliantly as the enemy's aura pressed in from every direction. Wang Sheng felt as if he had fallen into the enemy's grand array, but there wasn't any. The thin primal qi around him did not ripple in the slightest. His spiritual perception, stretched to its full range, sensed only an endless shadow pressing toward him from all sides.

What on earth is that?

Wang Sheng suddenly slowed the shuttle to a quiet hover. Opening the shuttle, he unhesitatingly stood up, leaned out of the top, and scanned his surroundings. He saw it again: the projection of the monster on a distant star remnant. It flashed by just as swiftly as before, as if all the shadows were the Heavenly Immortal fiend cultivator itself.

He lifted the Light Edge sword high and loosened his left hand. Right after, he put both hands together, repeatedly bowed toward his surroundings to show respect, and pulled off the pendant he used for storage, letting it float quietly at his side.

All his useful treasures and celestial pills were naturally all in the Qiankun Ring.

The oppressive force vanished. Further observing the area, Wang Sheng realized that the shadows seemed to have disappeared. He couldn't find traces of them even at the edge of his spiritual perception.

His inner spiritual sense soon calmed.

It left just like that? Is it because I showed respect and admitted my mistake quickly?

Wang Sheng found it absurd. However, at that moment, he caught a glimmer that his Light Edge's blade reflected. He stood straight on the shuttle and turned sharply, his eyes widening.

A colossal dragon head hung right before him. It was so enormous that he couldn't get a complete look at it.

Wang Sheng's heart clenched as the dragon's mouth curved into what seemed like a simple, cheerful smile. It had not even the slightest trace of mockery.

Is it related to the Heavenly Court? Did it recognize the Shadowless Shuttle?

Wang Sheng clasped his fists immediately. Without knowing if the other could hear him, he said in an ancient dialect, "Esteemed—"

The giant dragon suddenly jutted forward. Its mouth opened a little, and the space before Wang Sheng turned into an abyss.

Hum!

There was no resisting, no dodging.

He had been instinctively preparing to leap back, but when the dragon opened its jaws, his immortal power stopped responding to him. He and the shuttle were swallowed whole in one bite.

The dragon, which spanned more than a thousand

li

, swayed lightly as it glided through space. Humming a cheerful tune, it avoided the sun's radiance and slipped into the layered darkness that the clustered star remnants had formed.

***

Rear mountain of the Pure Yang Sword Faction.

Qing Yanzi sat in a small pavilion, watching two of his young disciples spar using the Pure Yang Sword Song.

Calling them young was no longer accurate. They had already grown into elegant cultivators, their sword arts worthy of being called exquisite. Moreover, they had made solid progress in their cultivation.

Qing Yanzi suddenly recalled that aside from the first few years of the primal qi's resurgence, he had always been at Wang Sheng's and Mu Wanxuan's side. But afterward, he traveled constantly for the Special Investigation Unit and neglected the martial siblings.

Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan had since grown into pillars of the cultivation world—they had become far more powerful than he had once hoped.

In his younger years, he had thought that he would protect his two disciples all their lives. Now, all he could do was hide behind his second disciple's sword, teach his younger disciples, comprehend the Dao, and cultivate in peace and leisure.

He took a sip of fragrant tea, stretched lazily, and gazed at the private pavilion of his first and second disciples. Wrapped in spinning yin and yang qi, no one could see through it.

Qing Yanzi found himself wanting to ask about Wang Sheng's soul lamp every now and then, but as long as Mu Wanxuan hadn't rushed over in a panic, he knew Wang Sheng was fine.

"Master!" Mu Wanxuan shouted frantically.

Qing Yanzi choked on his tea. Before he could swallow it, his first disciple had appeared before him, holding the soul lamp. Its wick glowed faintly and trembled nonstop, as if it would extinguish at any moment.

Qing Yanzi's heart thumped faster. "Little Sheng's in trouble?"

The two disciples who had been sparring immediately stopped and looked his way. Meanwhile, Mu Wanxuan bit her lip, seeking help from him.

He gestured for her to set the soul lamp down, rose to his feet, and cast some enchanted power to shield the pavilion. However, he then remembered that no wind in the world could blow out the fire of such a lamp.

He had to make Mu Wanxuan calm down for now.

They were on Earth and had no idea where Wang Sheng was or what situation he faced. There was nothing he could do about it.

"Don't panic, Little Xuan. Maybe the lamp ran out of oil—oh? It's brighter now!" Qing Yanzi's tone had shifted three times before he pointed at the wick, which blazed once more. "It's burning again. It's just a false alarm."

Mu Wanxuan breathed a long sigh of relief, though her stare at the lamp remained filled with worry. Unfortunately, no matter how much they fretted, worried, and speculated, they could never imagine what Wang Sheng was facing at this very moment.