He didn't know how long had passed. Qingxuan slowly opened his eyes, and exhaled gently. His eyes were free from their blindfolds and stared right into the dark skies above the ruins. He was still seated behind the stone sculpture cross legged in deep meditation.
The Yin Shadow Cloak had switched into stealth mode. His aura, presence and energy had been hidden so carefully, looking from a mile away, he sat there like a shadow.
'How long has it been?' He whispered inwardly, and rubbed his eyes. His body had healed, but his mind was not. The constant surveillance with his eyes for this long period had left him mentally exhausted. But.. his lips curled up in a smile. He had gained something truly extraordinary from the Divine Warlock Symbol this time around.
The ancient Warlock Symbol spoke of an Imperishable Warlock Soul, a soul-cultivation technique in essence that forges the soul using corrosive demonic qi, extreme Yin energy, and soul pressure.
It did not strengthen the body or Yuan power directly, instead, it reforges the soul itself, making it resistant to corruption, collapse, and annihilation. This technique was straight up divine because it boasted of immortality through soul tempering and cultivation, something Qingxuan could barely begin to understand.
"The flesh may rot, Yuan may disperse, but a soul tempered through annihilation shall never perish."
This technique once infamous because 90% of cultivators who attempted it perished, either from soul corrosion, madness, or irreversible fragmentation. It was forbidden by ancient Sects and labelled devilish due to the extreme requirements needed to cultivate the technique.
Qingxuan laughed. He really needed to go back and give the old man a big hug. This was tailor made for him. To embark on the soul Dao, he himself needed to be immune to soul techniques, and this Imperishable Warlock Soul would provide him that avenue.
The only problem was, Qingxuan had only unlocked the first stage of the technique. Soul Tempering. Even then, his heart shook when he tried to remember the requirements needed to cultivate Soul Tempering. To begin with, he needed to have reached the Earthly Yuan Realm or at least 1st Seal Symbol Master stage to even think of attempting to cultivate Soul Tempering. This was because, without the vitality of the Earthly Yuan Realm, or the Seal Symbol protection, his soul would disintegrate.
"let the soul rot so that it may learn to endure.. " To begin Soul Tempering, he had to draw Demonic Corrosive Energy or extreme Yin resources into his soul sea to viciously temper the soul and then use mental energy or Yuan vitality to prevent his soul from collapsing. Qingxuan rubbed his temples. This was pain on a level he could not imagine. If Suffering a fleshy wound itself brought a heart wrenching pain, he could imagine what such a vicious technique would do to him.
He could now understand why those who cultivated the technique were simply labelled as devils. Because to cultivate such a vicious technique, one would have to undergo extreme psychological pain that would break them mentally. Some even lost their humanity in the pursuit of that level of strength.
Qingxuan sighed. He didn't wanna lose himself. He didn't want to become some mindless devil. No matter what, he had to survive.
He arose to his feet. Gaining the Imperishable Warlock Soul had only increased his desire to complete the Soul Symbol and step into 1st Seal Symbol Master stage. Meaning, he now only had one clear goal in mind, within this ruins; To find the Sacred Qi dwelling.
With renewed focus, he put fixed his robes strapped the hat and dashed into the opening. This whole place felt like some sort of maze that needed cracking. But, he needed information, Lots of information, if he wanted to truly accomplish his goals.
Another stringed dagger appeared in his hand.
He twirled the dagger in between his fingers and kicked it right into the middle of the stone sculpture behind him.
The string pulled him up with great elastic force. He landed on the tip of the stone sculpture and just stared into the distance.
Using this stone sculpture as a starting point, he was going to map out coordinates in his mind. He looked North, looked West, looked South and then he paused.
"Interesting.." His lips curled into a small smile. He swung downwards and pulled out his dagger.
Tying the string around his arm, he looked South and simply dashed toward the cardinal. He had discovered something.
*
After more than 30 minutes of relentless running, he finally paused and stared into the distance. There he saw something very interesting. Rather than the metallic surface of the ground that was present in most areas, the area in front of him was covered with a dark brown sand, like a desert. Qingxuan squinted his eyes to stare into the sand, but he found nothing below, or to put it in simple terms, the darkness formed by the Demonic Corrosive Qi was obstructing his vision.
The presence of the demonic Qi simply meant that something unholy was hiding beneath the sand. He kept his guard up, but he couldn't help but beyond the desert. There, he saw the half collapsed structure of an ancient one floored Pagoda. "Finally.." He nodded. The Western and Eastern areas of the Pagoda was covered in thick black thunderclouds and darkness, managing to get it to, there was only one way in, that was through the desert.
Qingxuan steeled his resolve and took a step into the desert. His right hand extended out of the Yin Shadow Cloak, wrapped in a metallic string and holding onto the dagger firmly.
Step.
Step.
Three steps in, his body shook. His divine eyes caught subtle movements below the sand and he backflipped into a crouch. A long javelin tore out of the sand where he previously stood.
Qingxuan's brows furrowed. Right on cue, a large skeletal arm tore out of the sand. Another tore out, and another and another. Dozens of skeletal figures crawled out of the sand, like demons crawling out of the pits of Hell.
"Undead army?" He was surprised. Most importantly, all of them were robed in a similar way and bore a crest that resembled the moon itself. They were armed with swords, others spears, and others javelins. Qingxuan counted about 12 of them.
He stared straight at them, and then he noticed something. There seemed to be a swirling ball of light seated within their skulls.
"I see. That should be the core of their being."He nodded to himself and then dashed towards them without hesitation.
The skeletal army wasted no time and responded in same manner. Swords, spears, even hammers smashed towards him unreasonably.
The dagger in his hand was like a deathly whisper. With one throw, it ripped into the skull of one of the skeletons, tearing right through the bony flesh. As he pulled on the string, the dagger pulled along the body of the undead soldier towards him.
The hammer in its hand smashed towards Qingxuan's head intelligently, but he simply sidestepped, grabbed the dagger and plunged it deep into its head. Its body dissolved into sand that flowed right back into the desert.
Qingxuan stared down at the large crater in the sand where the hammer had struck.
"It seems their strength has been optimised to the Earthly Yuan Realm to take down my intrusion. Interesting.." Qingxuan thought for a moment and twirled the dagger in his hand.
They were as strong as Earthly Yuan Realm experts, averagely fast, and were skilled with weapons. Their undead status meant they were immune to mental energy. Any other body tempering realm cultivator in his shoes would die after the first exchanges, but, they were fighting him.
Azure Dragon's Seven Soaring Steps activated. He dashed forward in a blur of purple and black shadows, crouched low like a dragon ready to strike.
He slipped past the incoming soldier, spun, and coiled his figure around it, tackling it to the ground like a human dragon and…
RIIP!
The dagger cracked into the skull. Its body dissolved into sand. Qingxuan barely had any time to breathe. He rolled the side, dodging the tip an incoming spear. Then he windmilled on the sand into a handstand, dagger clutched in between his teeth.
He bounced to his feet, sidestepped a spear, corkscrewed over a sword and simply shot out the dagger like a snake.
It tore into the skull of the next soldier, turning it into sand immediately. Qingxuan's perception was sped up so much, the world felt like slow motion.
He stepped onto an incoming blade, flipped over the shoulders of one of the soldiers and twirled the dagger, before letting it rip into its skull. Before it could dissolve into sand, he hopped off its shoulders, vaulted over a spear that should've ripped into his chest and landed on another's shoulder.
RIPP!
Its body dissolved into sand before it could fight back. Qingxuan flipped over another soldier, used the string to tie its feet and toppled it over, then finished it off. His eyes widened and then he vaulted over an incoming flying hammer, used the string to catch it several meters away in mid air and sent it flying back to the origin.
The moment he landed, he sidestepped a slash from a long blade, ran atop the side of the blade and vaulted over the soldier's shoulder. Qingxuan was like an agile tiger. His agility and dexterity were simply unmatched.
He hopped off one shoulder after the other, flipped and pounced onto the last soldier and simply finished it off immediately. He took a deep breath as he arose from the ground slowly.
In less than a minute, more than half of the dozen were gone. Qingxuan turned to them. He felt a slight tremor in his hand that held the dagger but he grabbed it and forced it steady. He had yet to use any Yuan power because he simply had no idea how many murderous arrays had been set up ahead. He had to be ready at all times.
'It wouldn't have been so easy fighting against actual Earthly Yuan Realm experts with combat techniques and actual battle experience..' He whispered to himself and slowly pulled out the katana at his back.
He had to finish this quickly. He descended back into their midst, wielding his blade and his dagger.
He moved like a ghost, untouchable. His blade was beyond sharp, like the sickle of the God of Death. Every slash finished off a soldier, every move claimed one life, until only he remained standing.
Qingxuan removed his blade from the skull of the last soldier and watched it wither away and then he rose to his feet breathing hard.
He sheathed the blade onto his lower back, and turned around to leave. However, his heart skipped a beat causing him to pause.
Without even turning, he saw the sand begin to churn, like the waves of an ocean. His senses screamed to him all of a sudden when a long reptilian neck shot out of the swirling sand, with a mouth so large, it could swallow a man whole. Qingxuan had already moved. The creature only slammed into his afterimage that dissolved into mist.
Qingxuan himself backflipped into a crouch and properly observed the creature. A massive python like creature no facial features, just a wide mouth filled with sharp jagged teeth that could probably tear iron apart.
SCREEECH!
A loud screech caused his heart to skip a beat. This was a bonafide Grade 4 creature.
One that could even battle and overpower bonafide Earthly Yuan Realm experts in the middle stage. Qingxuan froze instantly. He was fucked.