Chapter 8: The Mantis Stalks the Cicada
Early Core Formation?
No, it was already the False Nascent Soul stage, half a step away from Nascent Soul.
Feng Yu Die watched the demonic cultivator before her warily, cold sweat still trickling down her forehead.
She had no time to ponder why a demonic cultivator of such cultivation and status would appear in this sacred land.
The Gu Sect was one of the five great demonic sects of the Eastern Domain, and its Grand Tutor held an extraordinary identity.
This person was utterly beyond her current ability to resist.
“Yu Die, don’t stand there dumbfounded, run!!”
Xiao Tian urged her anxiously to flee.
But Feng Yu Die knew that escaping was impossible.
While her movement speed was indeed fast, even ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn’t catch up, this was a False Nascent Soul stage demonic cultivator.
Furthermore, if she were to flee, she would inevitably turn her back to him, putting her in an even more passive position.
What to do?
Feng Yu Die rack her brain for a way to escape, but in the next moment, she suddenly felt a piercing pain emanate from her chest. She couldn’t help but clutch her throat and stagger a few steps before kneeling.
“Cough, cough—”
“Ah?!” Seeing her reaction, Xiao Tian immediately floated over. “Yu Die, what’s wrong?”
The man curved his lips, walked up to Feng Yu Die, gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and said softly, “Girl, don’t get agitated. The more you struggle, the more restless the蛊 (gu) worm in your body will become, and the more pain you will feel.”
“Gu… Gu worm?” Feng Yu Die clutched her throat, struggling to look up at him. “What… when?”
Scalding hot blood uncontrollably poured from her mouth.
Seeing her suffering, the man’s smile widened. “Listen, just relax. Don’t resist, just fall asleep peacefully.”
At this moment, as the man’s voice reached Feng Yu Die’s ears, it transformed into an ethereal and sacred sound.
She felt as if her consciousness was being eroded by the man’s voice, but she had no time to contemplate what would happen next.
“Yu Die!! Yu Die!! Wake up, the gu worm is devouring your spiritual sense, just hold on a little longer! Almost… it will be over soon!!”
Xiao Tian’s voice echoed in her ears, but she could no longer comprehend it.
Her eyelids slowly closed.
Feng Yu Die lost all strength and fell forward.
The man squatting before her quickly reached out and caught her.
“I thought the Great Perfection of Qi Refining person from a few days ago was my biggest gain this time, but I never expected to find such a high-quality cauldron with heavenly spiritual roots in this desolate place. What good luck.”
He chuckled, then casually slung Feng Yu Die over his waist like a bundle. He then summoned his flying sword, preparing to leave.
However, just as he stepped onto his flying sword to take off.
Suddenly, the man’s spiritual sense detected something within the gu worm he had sent into Feng Yu Die’s body – it was dying.
“What?”
He looked down at Feng Yu Die, who was slung over his waist, in confusion.
His gu worms were so potent that even a Nascent Soul stage cultivator might not be able to easily remove them.
How could this female cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage possibly counter his gu worm?
After a moment of thought, the man immediately took a small dagger from his Storage Bag, preparing to sever Feng Yu Die’s meridians first.
However, just as the tip of the dagger was about to touch Feng Yu Die’s back, a golden light erupted from her chest.
Boom—
Before the man could react, he was blown away by the golden light.
A golden dragon suddenly appeared around Feng Yu Die, gently holding her with its tail and glaring at the man with its bared teeth.
“Insignificant scoundrel.”
Seeing the golden dragon, the man’s pupils widened.
“Could this little girl be a descendant of the Immortal Family’s Saint Emperor?”
A look of astonishment flickered in his eyes, but his expression quickly turned more excited.
His purpose for coming here was precisely to find young cultivators with excellent spiritual roots to bring back and cultivate as cauldrons.
He had already felt that the trip was worthwhile when he met that young girl at Great Perfection of Qi Refining at a wedding banquet. If he could capture that girl and refine her into a cauldron, he might even be able to break through and reach the Nascent Soul stage.
He was even more delighted when he encountered the girl with heavenly spiritual roots before him.
And now, knowing that this girl with heavenly spiritual roots was also a descendant of the Immortal Family’s Saint Emperor, this was no longer just a worthwhile trip, it was a great fortune.
If he brought this girl back to the Gu Sect and handed her over to the Sect Master, he would no longer have to worry about Pills or spiritual herbs. Moreover, with this girl, the Gu Sect might be able to conquer all the Immortal Family sects in the Eastern Domain.
“Heh heh…”
The man let out a cold laugh and stopped playing. He waved his hand, summoning the three high-grade Magical Artifacts he possessed.
“Come, Saint Emperor’s dragon form, let Wu Mou measure your strength.”
Above the bamboo forest, golden lightning crackled, and flames raged continuously.
Wu You unleashed all the gu worms he had cultivated over the decades.
However, the spiritual energy of the golden dragon seemed to be the perfect counter to his gu worms.
The moment the gu worms touched the dragon’s body, they were instantly ignited by a powerful yang flame and turned to ashes.
Wu You could see that the golden dragon was merely an afterimage. He had expected to handle it with his cultivation, but he had underestimated the power of the Saint Emperor’s bloodline.
“Cough—”
A golden lightning bolt descended from the sky, striking directly at Wu You.
The evil spiritual energy he had condensed around himself was as fragile as paper before this golden lightning, easily pierced by the light.
The golden lightning struck his body.
In an instant, he felt his meridians shatter. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Tsk!”
Wu You gritted his teeth, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, controlled his breathing, and looked at Feng Yu Die, who was now coiled by the golden dragon’s tail.
“No, I can’t keep this up.”
He felt that if he continued to clash with the golden dragon, he might perish on the spot.
This golden dragon was currently manifesting through the body of a Qi Refining stage cultivator, and a Qi Refining stage cultivator could not sustain the dragon’s manifestation for long.
“It will return soon, for now…”
“Insolent wretch!! Die!!”
The golden dragon glared at him, opening its massive maw.
Boom—
It spewed out dragon flames directly at Wu You.
However, Wu You merely glanced at it, quickly retracted his Magical Artifacts into his Storage Bag, cupped his right hand into a sword finger, and willed it slightly. He then cast an escape spell, and his figure instantly vanished from his original spot.
Seeing him escape with his遁术 (escape technique), the golden dragon immediately wanted to pursue. However, at this moment, Xiao Tian, who was beside Feng Yu Die, flew in front of the golden dragon and waved her small hands at it.
“Don’t chase!! Yu Die can’t take you anymore. If you don’t go back, her spiritual roots will shatter!!”
The golden dragon’s eyes rolled as it looked at Feng Yu Die, held within its tail. Its brow furrowed.
“That person will definitely return later. If he isn’t dealt with, I won’t be able to help you again.”
“Yu Die is only at the Qi Refining Stage now, how can she withstand you! Go back quickly!!”
Xiao Tian was frantic, desperately tugging at the golden dragon’s whiskers.
“Go back quickly! I’ll figure out the rest!”
The golden dragon’s whiskers trembled slightly, and its figure instantly transformed into a golden light, diving into Feng Yu Die’s body and disappearing from the scene.
Deprived of its tail’s support, Feng Yu Die fell from mid-air to the ground with a plop.
Meanwhile.
Wu You continued with his escape technique for ten miles before dispelling it.
However, the moment his feet touched the ground, he staggered, clutched his chest, and knelt down, spitting out a mouthful of blackish blood.
“This Saint Emperor’s bloodline is truly formidable. Just a mere touch has cost me nearly fifty percent of my cultivation.”
He wiped the blood from his lips, immediately sat cross-legged on the spot, and began circulating the energy within his meridians to heal his injuries.
But as he was healing, he discovered that his meridians had already been ravaged by the Saint Emperor’s yang flame.
If he were to rely on Qi Cultivation and Pills to recover, it would take at least several decades, or even a century.
“Too slow.”
Wu You frowned slightly and immediately thought of the two Qi Refining Stage cultivators he had encountered at the wedding banquet – one at the third level of Qi Refining and the other at Great Perfection of Qi Refining.
He had originally intended to cultivate the one at Great Perfection of Qi Refining into a cauldron.
But now that he had encountered a girl with the Saint Emperor’s bloodline, that person was no longer as important.
He decided to use the spiritual roots and blood of those two to heal his injuries, and then he would go back to capture the girl with the Saint Emperor’s bloodline.
Wu You took a deep breath, took out a pill from his Storage Bag, and swallowed it. He then began to sense the location of the gu worms he had placed in those two individuals.
To his surprise, he sensed that the two were currently less than a hundred feet away from him.
“Hmm? So close?”
