Chapter 443: Shamanism (1/2)

When Qing Han had run into the little girl, someone was chasing after her.

Lu Yun’s hunt of the other geniuses had garnered plenty of attention, and many began pursuing anyone related to him in turn. Qing Han, the little daoist nun, Silverblaze the Wolfking, and Yuan Tong the silverback gorilla… all of them were on the list.

Qing Han was just as strong as Lu Yun, and her intervention had easily put down the little girl’s attacker.

Although the little girl was perceived void realm as well, her showing in the arena wasn’t particularly eye-catching. Since the void realm was a relatively new thing, no one outside of the first wave baptized by the Dao Flower had the methods for it. They had no way of cultivating their way through.

However, cultivators in the arena didn’t need methods to progress through their realms. The power of immortal dao naturally bolstered them past various realm thresholds. In other words, the real purpose of the Sovereign Ranking was to water the world’s void realm sprouts. The realm needed nourishment if it was to take root and grow within the populace.

……

Boom!

A resounding noise sent Yuan Tong’s huge body flying and spitting out a mouthful of blood. Its opponent was a black turtle with a dragon’s head and a long, spiked tail.

“I know you!” Yuan Tong roared. “You’re Admiral Turtle of the old North Sea Palace! You severed your cultivation to participate in the gathering?!”

Admiral Turtle!

After the North Sea faction disbanded and the center of power pivoted to Levitating Island’s sacred land, it’d disappeared into the background. Everyone thought it was dead, so it was a real surprise for it to turn up here.

Once upon a time, it’d been a peerless immortal. Now, it fought as a returned void cultivator.  Black radiance flashed through the air as the turtle transformed into a stout, hunched over, middle-aged man. He was dressed in a tunic the same color as his shell.

“I didn’t expect you would recognize me.” A ruthless look came over Admiral Turtle’s face. “The North Sea Palace is no more, and the emperor has turned into the dog of another… the name ‘Admiral Turtle’ is a thing of the past.” His skin began petrifying. “My name is Ding Lei, the greatest genius of the stone turtles!”

Fwoosh!

One of his arms transformed into a large turtle’s foot, slamming down upon Yuan Tong.

“Raoooough!” the gorilla roared and raised its own arms to meet it.

Alas, Ding Lei was already mid-returned void. As a mere peak perceived void cultivator, the difference between the two was uncrossable.

Boom!

The silverback’s body was sent airborne once more. Its arms fell limply down; every bone in its body shattered into bits.

“It seems the Scarlet Ape’s bloodline isn’t all that noble, after all.” Ding Lei returned to monster spirit form: an enormous turtle thirty meters tall. It moved ponderously toward Yuan Tong, a sinister grin plastered over its face.

However, it suddenly retracted its head back into its shell, just before a beam of silvery moonlight descended from the sky and forcefully blasted against its carapace.

Even when attacking, Silverblaze remained in girlish form. Cangyin had explained things very clearly then: the monster spirit form had many flaws. Only in human form would one truly see the world, its laws, and relationships for what they were. It was best to cultivate as a human.

Three streaks of light danced by her side; a closer look resolved them to be three glittering crescents of silver.

“Are you alright?” she asked of her old friend. They shared a strong friendship, and Yuan Tong had been bullied by its kin all its life. It was only with her help that it was alive today.

“Leave, Wolfking! You can’t defeat it!” the gorilla gasped in apprehension, seeing its friend approach. Despite experiencing ancestral reversion and activating its Scarlet Ape bloodline, it had lost with a single blow from Ding Lei. Although Silverblaze was stronger than the gorilla, she certainly wasn’t capable of the same.

“Leave me here. Hurry up and go!” Yuan Tong grew anxious, seeing its friend still standing by its side. Why wasn’t Silverblaze going anywhere?

“A girl, eh? I was just feeling bored in this arena. Let’s have some fun, girlie,” Ding Lei cackled. Maw yawning open, it sent out a huge soundwave toward the wolf-girl. This was a stone turtle’s natural ability.

“Away with you!” Silverblaze chided. With a flick of her fingers, she expanded the three crescent moons into immense arcs of light and sent them spinning forward to intercept the sonic attack.

They shattered against the blast of sound in the next moment. The Wolfking grunted, blood trickling out of her orifices.

With another roar, Ding Lei sent a front claw toward Silverblaze.

Schwing!

A sword aura descended unexpectedly, slicing deeply into the turtle’s foot.

“Aiiiiiie!” Ding Lei shrieked with anguish. Its appendage had been neatly severed by the cut.

Three figures descended from the sky.

“How can this be!” Admiral Turtle gawked at the swords in their hands.

In the Sovereign Arena, contestants were supposedly barred from using weapons and treasures. Even setting up formations and scribing talismans was banned. Flying swords like these were absolutely forbidden, yet each member of the trio before it held a flying sword. Its front foot had just been cut off by the sword qi from one of them!

“Milady!”