141: Azure Thunder Demon Cultivator Reappears

A quarter of an hour later, several streaks of sword light pierced the sky as the four great Sword Cultivators returned one after another.

In Nangong Yan's hand, Bai Yifan's bloody head was clearly visible.

Only Ye Linfeng's figure was nowhere to be found.

The sword lights converged in mid-air and instantly descended near the resource point. The four of them originally wore smiles of guaranteed victory, but as their Divine Sense swept the area, their expressions instantly turned as dark as a freezing pool.

"What on earth happened here?!"

Nangong Yan abruptly flicked his hand, and Bai Yifan's head hit the ground with a dull thud.

He reached out and grabbed a Peak Core Formation Cultivator Disciple of the Qingming Sword Sect, pulling him close, his voice full of severity.

Before they left, the situation here was clearly in their favor.

Hundreds of thousands of Wandering Souls were frantically tearing at the Cultivators of the Bitao Faction. Not only did their side have over three thousand Core Formation Cultivators in perfect condition to support them, but they also had the Body-Refining Nascent Soul, Black Rock, presiding over the scene.

Even if they couldn't completely annihilate the opposing two thousand people, there certainly shouldn't have been such heavy losses.

But the scene before them completely overturned their predictions.

Over a thousand corpses from the Qingming Faction lay scattered across the ground, and even the Nascent Soul Cultivator Black Rock lay dead on the spot!

In contrast, looking at the remnants of the Bitao Faction, only half of them had fallen here.

"Senior Brother Nangong..."

That Disciple swallowed hard, his voice strained. "Not long after the five of you left, an extremely powerful Core Formation Cultivator suddenly appeared. He controlled the beast soul of a Rank 4 Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider and brought a large number of Wandering Souls... Black Rock died at his hands."

"A Rank 4 Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider?!"

"A Core Formation Cultivator?!"

"That's impossible!"

The four of them cried out in unison, their faces filled with disbelief.

They had prepared for this operation for over half a year, and they had already thoroughly investigated the Nascent Soul Cultivators and the top-tier Peak Core Formation Cultivators of the Bitao Faction.

There was absolutely no Core Formation Cultivator who relied on soul control for combat!

Let alone the remnant souls of a Rank 4 Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider.

This kind of demonic spider was only produced in the Wuwang Bone Forest. In the entire region, there was only one Rank 4 existence, and it had been trapped at the bottom of the mine by Bai Yifan and others using a Formation.

They had scouted all these details clearly long ago.

If there really were a Core Formation Cultivator capable of controlling it, they should have struck when Nangong Yan and Black Rock first arrived.

Why would they wait until Yan Wushuang, Ye Linfeng, and Xiao Hanque arrived as reinforcements one after another, only to fall at their hands?

Just then, a dark green figure shot like a bolt of lightning from the distant horizon.

Qiu Xuetong spun a ring-shaped ice-type Magic Treasure on her fingertip. Seeing the four of them with terrifyingly grim faces, she asked curiously, "What happened?"

"Fellow Daoist Qiu will know once she sees."

Nangong Yan shook his head, his tone full of sighs.

"Hmm?"

Qiu Xuetong was stunned. Following his gaze, her pupils suddenly constricted. "Black Rock... is dead?!"

Nangong Yan nodded and quickly recounted the events.

The more Qiu Xuetong listened, the tighter her brow furrowed.

Controlling a Rank 4 Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider remnant soul with a Core Formation cultivation—even she couldn't have done that when she was at the Peak Core Formation Stage.

But soon, the shock of defeat was replaced by another emotion; curiosity and greed gradually surfaced in her eyes.

That was a Soul Refining secret technique even stronger than her own soul control arts.

Once this thought emerged, it could no longer be suppressed, filling her mind.

"Let's go. We'll head into the depths of the mine to take a look."

One of the four great Sword Cultivators, Xie Guohong, spoke. His voice was flat but carried an air that brooked no argument.

Before his voice finished, he had already transformed into a streak of sword light, shooting toward the mine.

The other three exchanged glances and followed closely with that Core Formation Disciple.

A flash of severity crossed Qiu Xuetong's eyes. She casually put away her ice-ring Magic Treasure and commanded her Nascent Soul-level remnant souls to let all the surrounding Wandering Souls retreat underground.

Only after finishing this did she activate her movement technique and fly toward the mine entrance.

A moment later, the five of them gathered in the deepest part of the mine.

The soul crystals occasionally exposed around them were originally one of the strategic objectives of this operation.

But now, they held no attraction for them.

The gazes of all five were locked firmly on the black pool in the center of the Formation.

A hideous and terrifying demonic spider corpse was floating quietly in the pool water.

Another Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator, Xiao Jinyu, flicked his finger. A streak of sword light shot out, booming against the Formation's light barrier.

The light barrier rippled in layers and finally dissipated slowly.

He frowned slightly and looked at the group. "This Formation... even if I wanted to break it, it would take at least half an hour..."

"It must be what Bai Yifan used to trap the Rank 4 Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider."

Nangong Yan nodded, but his face was full of confusion. "But the demonic spider clearly couldn't escape, so how did that person control its Divine Soul?"

"To master a Soul Refining secret technique, his Divine Soul strength must far exceed his peers."

Qiu Xuetong stepped forward and analyzed slowly. "This demonic spider focuses on Divine Soul attacks, yet its movements were locked by the Formation... It's not impossible for it to be slowly worn down to death by a Peak Core Formation Cultivator."

"Senior Brothers..."

The Core Formation Disciple on the side flushed slightly and interrupted in a small voice, "That person's strength was only at the Core Formation Mid-stage."

"Core Formation Mid-stage?!"

"How is that possible!"

"He Chen, are you joking with us?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the five were stunned once more.

Even if they had seen many favored children of heaven, they had never heard of a Core Formation Mid-stage Cultivator being able to control a Rank 4 beast soul.

He Chen had a bitter face and hurriedly explained, "How would I dare to deceive you, Senior Brothers! That person has a banner-type Magic Treasure that can summon dozens of Rank 3 remnant souls. Combined with the Soul-Devouring Demonic Spider, they emit a Soul-Shaking Demonic Sound. He can also use soul threads to imprison the Divine Soul. Wherever he goes, no one can withstand him! Furthermore, his thunder techniques are incredibly fierce... Once the Soul-Shaking Demonic Sound comes out, those below the Peak Core Formation Stage don't even have a chance to react before being slain."

"thunder techniques?!"

The four great Sword Cultivators were all taken aback.

Soul control arts and fierce thunder techniques—these two completely different abilities concentrated in one person felt strange no matter how one looked at it.

However, Qiu Xuetong's eyes flashed as she slowly uttered four words: "Azure Thunder Demonic Cultivator."

"Azure Thunder Demonic Cultivator?"

Nangong Yan turned to look at her, his tone full of probing. "Fellow Daoist Qiu, do you know this person?"

"I wouldn't say I know him."

Qiu Xuetong shook her head. "But I have indeed heard that the Bitao Faction has such a figure."

"Oh? Tell us quickly."

The five from the Qingming Sword Sect instantly crowded around, their eyes full of curiosity.

"Ten years ago when the National War first began, his first appearance was in the border region of the Yangquan, Five Aggregates, and Bitao Factions."

Qiu Xuetong curled her lips and said slowly, "Not long after, the Bitao squad he was in was crippled by a joint trap from several squads of Yangquan and Five Aggregates. But in the end, several Peak Core Formation Cultivators from those two factions died at his hands!"

"And then?"

Jiang Wushe couldn't help but press for more.

"Later, he moved to the intersection of the Five Aggregates and the Wuji Sect. In over half a year, he single-handedly killed over a hundred Cultivators from those two sects."

Qiu Xuetong gently smoothed a strand of hair, her tone meaningful. "With a ten thousand souls banner to summon remnant souls and incredibly sharp thunder techniques, the two factions gradually began to call him the 'Azure Thunder Demonic Cultivator'... What's even more exaggerated is that at that time, he was only at the Early Core Formation Stage."

*Hiss...*

Jiang Wushe and the others sucked in a breath of cold air.

Nangong Yan had reached the Nascent Soul stage after one year in the Nether Prison Plane, belonging to the first batch of those who ascended.

Xie Guohong, Xiao Jinyu, and Qiu Xuetong were slightly later, ascending around the third year, making them the second batch.

Jiang Wushe was even later, having just reached the Nascent Soul stage two years ago.

He Chen was still at the Peak Core Formation Stage to this day; following the standard path, he would still need over a decade of accumulation before it would be possible to attempt the Nascent Soul stage.

Even though the Qingming Sword Sect had always been known for its slaughter, the five of them asked themselves in their hearts:

When they were at the Early Core Formation Stage, they absolutely could not have achieved such a feat.

Let alone using the strength of the Core Formation Mid-stage to forcefully slay a Nascent Soul Early Stage Loose Cultivator.

Even if Black Rock was heavily injured at the time and his strength was greatly discounted.

He was, after all, a genuine Body-Refining Nascent Soul; how could he be killed just like that?