Chương 201: Chapter 90: Three Thousand Dao Sect, Heavenly Deity Puppet

Wei Qubing felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his chest, a physical ache that mirrored the sudden hollow feeling in his dantian. The crimson shield hovering before him was the Fiery Cloud Shield. Though its inherent grade barely reached the middle rank of magic treasures, its true value lay in the rare material fused into its core during its refinement—the Fire Cloud Celestial Crystal. This legendary mineral possessed an innate self-repairing attribute.

As long as the shield's core was not utterly obliterated, it could continuously draw upon ambient fire-attribute energy to mend its own cracks and restore its defensive integrity. When deployed alongside the Eight-Treasure Exquisite Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, the synergy between the two artifacts was so profound that their combined defensive power was not inferior to a top-grade defensive magic treasure.

In extreme environments, such as deep within subterranean magma rivers or active volcanic craters where fire-attribute Qi was abundant, the shield's utility was practically limitless. Yet, with Reyn demanding it as tribute, Wei Qubing found himself backed into a corner. He had no choice but to surrender it. Compared to his life-bound Eight-Treasure Exquisite Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, this shield, though incredibly precious, was ultimately something he could afford to lose.

"Very well. This shield is yours," Wei Qubing said, his voice tight as he forced himself to maintain a calm facade.

"Consider it a defensive tool for your journey, and a token of my apology for today's misunderstanding." Once his decision was made, he did not allow himself to hesitate. With a wave of his hand, he summoned the crimson shield back to his palm. He swept his fingers across the warm, metallic surface, ruthlessly severing his spiritual connection to the artifact. A dull pang echoed in his mind as his soul imprint was wiped clean. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the shield toward Reyn.

The crimson artifact cut through the air, leaving a faint trail of red sparks in its wake. Reyn caught the shield with a steady hand. The metal felt warm to the touch, pulsing with the residual heat of the Fire Cloud Celestial Crystal. He immediately unleashed his Divine Sense, letting it sweep over every inch of the crimson shield like a cold, microscopic probe.

He searched for any hidden tracking marks, delayed-activation curses, or residual soul imprints that a cunning cultivator like Wei Qubing might have left behind. Finding nothing but pure, unblemished spiritual energy, a look of satisfaction crossed Reyn's face. He nodded slightly and slipped the shield into his storage bag. He paused for a moment, a cold, calculating gleam flashing in his eyes.

"Now, for the second condition..." Reyn said slowly, his voice carrying a calm weight that seemed to dominate the silent canyon.

"Do not push your luck, Daoist," Wei Qubing interrupted, his voice dropping to a harsh, venomous whisper. The air around him grew noticeably colder as his killing intent began to leak out, frosting the grass at his feet.

"If you demand too much, I cannot guarantee what might happen to you once we leave this place." Reyn did not take offense at the interruption. Instead, he chuckled softly and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. His relaxed, confident posture stood in stark contrast to Wei Qubing's tense, explosive fury.

"Rest assured, Daoist Wei. This second condition is incredibly simple. It will not trouble you in the slightest," Reyn said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, and a public guarantee that the Three Thousand Dao Sect will never seek trouble with me in the future. Agree to this, and our transaction is complete."

"Is that your final demand?" Wei Qubing asked, a quiet sigh of relief escaping his chest. Three hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones was a massive sum for an ordinary rogue cultivator, but for the designated future leader of a great sect, it was entirely within his means. He wanted to conclude this deal immediately, before Reyn could think of any other ways to extort him.

"Of course," Reyn replied, a faint, predatory smile playing on his lips. Wei Qubing stared deeply at Reyn, his eyes dark with suppressed malice.

"I hope you are a man of your word, Daoist Reyn. Otherwise, the consequences will be severe." He left the threat unfinished, but the icy promise of violence was clear. He detached a storage bag from his waist and threw it toward Reyn. At the same time, he channeled his mana, sending his voice echoing across the narrow pass of One-Line Gorge so that every onlooker could hear him.

"I, Wei Qubing, declare before all present that if Daoist Reyn honors our agreement, the Three Thousand Dao Sect will never seek retribution against him!" He turned back to Reyn, his face tight with impatience.

"I have met all your demands. Now, withdraw your magic treasure." Reyn caught the storage bag, swept his Divine Sense inside to verify the mountain of glittering spirit stones, and hung it at his waist.

"Naturally," Reyn said, his smile widening into a cold, mocking grin. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers, looking up at the massive, brick-like Heaven-Turning Seal hovering in the air.

"Little guy, I have bought you enough time. Stop playing around and finish your meal." The moment his voice fell, the slow-moving vortex on the Heaven-Turning Seal suddenly accelerated. It spun with terrifying speed, unleashing a suction force three times stronger than before. The air shattered with a loud crack as a vacuum formed, drawing in the surrounding wind. The phantom beast trapped within the vortex let out a panicked, screeching wail.

It struggled wildly, its wings of condensed spiritual energy tearing apart under the immense gravitational pull. Within a heartbeat, the vortex swallowed the beast whole, dragging it down into the depths of the seal. The black-red energy of the phantom beast was shredded into countless tiny filaments, which were then violently pulled into the center of the earth-yellow vortex.

The beast's desperate cries echoed off the steep stone walls of One-Line Gorge, sending shivers down the spines of the weaker cultivators watching from afar. A deep, resonant hum vibrated through the air, shaking the very walls of One-Line Gorge. As the phantom beast vanished, the vortex on the Heaven-Turning Seal slowly dissipated. In its place, brilliant bands of black-red and earth-yellow light erupted from the seal, clashing and twisting as they attempted to assimilate each other.

However, within the earth-attribute core of the Heaven-Turning Seal, the earth-yellow light held the absolute advantage of the terrain. It rapidly devoured the black-red energy, growing denser and heavier by the second, radiating a mountain-like pressure that made the surrounding space tremble. The Heaven-Turning Seal itself seemed to expand slightly, its surface rippling like molten gold before solidifying once more.

The heavy, earthen aura it released grew even more oppressive, forcing the surrounding air to ripple with visible heatwaves. It was clear that by devouring the phantom beast, the seal had not only recovered its spent energy but had also refined its own spiritual core, becoming even more formidable.

"Reyn! You dared to deceive me!" Wei Qubing's eyes turned bloodshot in an instant. His roar sounded like a demon rising from the deepest depths of the Underworld, cold, harsh, and dripping with absolute hatred. His face settled into a terrifying, unnatural calm, but his heavy, ragged breathing and the frost rapidly condensing into sharp ice needles around him revealed the depth of his fury.

He had sacrificed his precious Fiery Cloud Shield and handed over three hundred thousand spirit stones, all under the assumption that Reyn would release his life-bound treasure. To find that he had been played like a fool, his intelligence insulted in front of hundreds of fellow cultivators, was a humiliation worse than death. The sheer embarrassment and rage threatened to rupture his meridians.

"Today, I will tear you to pieces!" Staring at Reyn with crimson eyes, Wei Qubing unleashed his full power. His black hair whipped wildly in the sudden gale, his robes snapping against his skin. A suffocating pressure erupted from his body, carrying a heavy, murderous aura that swept across the canyon. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Beyond the cliffs of One-Line Gorge, the watching cultivators stared in absolute silence, their eyes wide with shock and fear.

Though Yin Wuyu, Wei Qubing, and Reyn were all in the Foundation Establishment stage, the destructive power they displayed was comparable to Golden Core sovereigns. The clash of their top-grade magic treasures had left the onlookers thoroughly shaken, their hearts trembling at the sheer scale of the battle.

"What kind of monstrous inheritance did this Reyn find? His cultivation, his techniques, and his magic treasures are all terrifyingly powerful!"

"Yin Wuyu of the Supreme Demon Sect and Wei Qubing of the Three Thousand Dao Sect... these two were considered the twin geniuses of the Zhao Kingdom's cultivation world, standing far above the rest of us. Yet today, Reyn has dismantled them both, one by one!"

"Whether in raw power or ruthless calculation, Reyn has held the absolute upper hand. If he survives today, his future achievements will be limitless."

"No matter how this battle ends, his name will spread across the entire Zhao Kingdom, whispered in awe by every young cultivator." In his battle against Yin Wuyu, Reyn had used a single divine ability to first shatter the Bone-Dissolving Palm, then crush the opponent's protective treasure, and finally, in a direct clash of Primordial Souls, he had delivered a devastating blow that left Yin Wuyu severely wounded! Against Wei Qubing, the mysterious Brick had made its grand debut.

Who could possibly hope to contend against its peerless, crushing weight? It had directly collided with and withstood the devastating power of the top-grade Magic Treasure, the Eight-Treasure Exquisite Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, without yielding a single inch. With a mind as deep and unfathomable as an ancient abyss, Reyn had laid a subtle, inescapable trap, instantly reversing the entire flow of the battle and seizing the absolute upper hand!

The terrifyingly robust cultivation and the razor-sharp, calculating intellect that Reyn had displayed in such a brief span of time were more than enough to send a cold shiver running down the spines of every cultivator present. They trembled inwardly, realizing the sheer gap between themselves and this monstrous genius. Ge Yucheng, the disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, stared blankly.

The shock in his eyes was like a tempestuous sea, waves of sheer disbelief crashing against his consciousness in endless succession. His gaze drifted upward, tracking the chaotic clash in the sky where the dark crimson and earthen-yellow energies violently tore at and devoured one another in a savage, swirling vortex of raw power. When his eyes finally fell back upon Reyn, his expression became incredibly complex. There was profound shock, deep-seated dread, and involuntary admiration...

but beneath all of those emotions, buried in the deepest recesses of his eyes, lay a faint, heavily concealed trace of sorrowful pity.

"This man's intellect and divine abilities are of the absolute highest tier," Ge Yucheng muttered to himself, his voice barely a whisper against the howling wind.

"He must also be blessed with immense, heaven-defying providence. Otherwise, it would be utterly impossible for someone of his age to achieve such terrifying heights!"

"A figure of such peerless brilliance and unmatched talent... why did you have to come to the Mu Family? With your monstrous aptitude, the vast and boundless Mitian Continent lies open before you. There is nowhere you could not roam, no heights you could not scale! Why... oh why... did you choose to step into the Mu Family's domain? The demon... destruction..." His voice grew fainter and fainter, dissolving into an incoherent murmur that none of the surrounding cultivators could decipher.

Yet, the profound sense of pity and regret swirling within his pupils only grew denser, like a gathering storm cloud. Nearby, Xing Tianxie's eyes locked onto the figure clad in the simple azure robes. Even now, amidst the earth-shattering shockwaves of this high-level battle, he could sense that Reyn's aura remained as calm and undisturbed as a tranquil mountain lake. He could not help but feel a deep, genuine sense of submission and respect rising in his chest.

Xing Tianxie had always been an exceptionally proud and arrogant individual; in the entire Zhao Kingdom, only a select few geniuses of his generation had ever been worthy of his attention. But at this moment, he could only offer a bitter, silent laugh in his heart. He finally understood that compared to monsters like Reyn, he was lagging behind by more than just a single step! However, this harsh realization did not break his spirit; instead, it firmly solidified the resolve in his heart.

"If I can forge a close friendship with Reyn," Xing Tianxie thought, his eyes flashing with determination, "it will undoubtedly bring immeasurable, endless benefits to my Pomie Sect in the future!" Jun Wuqing, the leading young genius of the Luoyang Sect, stood frozen, his face pale with utter astonishment. His body was completely rigid as he stared up at the solitary figure suspended in the air. For a long time, he remained speechless, unable to find any words to describe the storm raging in his mind.

A terrifying thought suddenly sprouted in his heart: "If my two martial brothers and I eventually manage to condense our Golden Cores together, what unfathomable height will this man's cultivation have reached by then?" Reyn's battle against Yin Wuyu and Wei Qubing had been like a hot knife through butter. By seizing the absolute upper hand with such overwhelming dominance, he had firmly established an invincible, terrifying image in the minds of the cultivators from the various provincial sects.

Once these people departed from this trial, his legendary reputation would inevitably spread like wildfire across the land. When that happened, those cowardly rats hiding in the shadows, harboring jealousy and malice toward him, would not dare to make a single reckless move! As long as he successfully crossed the threshold of Foundation Establishment, his path of cultivation would become a smooth, unobstructed highway. Condensing a Golden Core would merely be a matter of time.

At that point, with his peerless power, he would be more than capable of shielding the Xuanxiao Sect and protecting the Reyn Clan from any threats or harm!

"Fellow Daoist, although you have offered me quite a generous compensation, I have suddenly had a change of heart," Reyn said, shaking his head with an air of mock pity, though a cold, mocking sneer flickered deep within his eyes.

"Just as you said, if my Heaven-Turning Seal devours your black-gold Eight-Treasure Exquisite Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, it will likewise stand a chance of evolving into a legendary Dao Artifact. Compared to such a supreme treasure, the price you are willing to pay is simply far too insignificant." The crimson light in Wei Qubing's eyes grew even more intense, burning like fresh blood. Yet, instead of raging, a bizarre, unsettling smile slowly curled at the corners of his lips.

He spoke in a voice that was eerily calm, devoid of any warmth: "Today, you will surely die." As soon as the words left his mouth, he slapped his storage bag. With a flash of light, a white stone slab resembling a chessboard materialized in his palm. Atop this stone chessboard stood a dense array of a hundred miniature stone sculptures, each depicting a warrior clad in golden divine armor, their faces carved with ancient, resolute expressions.

"Heavenly Deity Puppets, manifest your true forms! Kill, kill, kill! Destroy everything!" Wei Qubing roared, his bloodshot eyes bulging. The spiritual mana within his body instantly boiled, surging like a torrential river into the stone chessboard! As his vast mana poured in, the chessboard erupted with a blinding, radiant golden light. Within this brilliant golden glow, the hundred miniature Golden-Armored Sentinels suddenly soared into the air, their bodies expanding at a dizzying speed.

By the time they slammed heavily onto the ground, they had transformed into towering giants, each standing over a zhang tall. Clad in heavy golden armor and wielding massive spears, their faces were stern and ancient. Judging by their fluctuating spiritual auras, every single one of these Golden-Armored Sentinels possessed a cultivation level at the peak of the Early Foundation Establishment Great Circle!

Standing at the center of this formidable legion was a massive commander clad in purple-gold chainmail, wielding a colossal broadsword. His face was rugged and fierce, and the terrifying aura radiating from him was not a single bit weaker than that of a Golden Core stage cultivator!

"Roar!" The Golden-Armored let out a guttural, earth-shaking growl. Instantly, the countless Golden-Armored Sentinels moved in perfect unison, locking into a tight, impenetrable offensive formation. With the commander leading at the very tip, they formed a lethal, arrow-shaped battle array! Clang! Clang! Clang! The heavy golden armor ground and clashed together, producing a rhythmic, metallic din that echoed through the air. The absolute precision of their movements exuded a chilling, heart-stopping pressure!

At the same time, countless strands of murderous, bloodthirsty aura seeped out from their bodies, rising and coalescing in the air above them. Within a few short breaths, a terrifying, tangible momentum of slaughter gathered over the heads of the hundred Golden-Armored Sentinels. Under the oppressive weight of this dense, murderous aura, the surrounding space seemed to warp, as if subjected to an invisible, crushing force.

The watching cultivators felt their chests tighten, their faces turning pale as they struggled to breathe.

"The Heavenly Deity Puppets of the Three Thousand Dao Sect! To think that Wei Qubing actually carries such a legendary treasure on his person!"

"With this treasure in hand, a cultivator can channel their mana to summon ninety-nine Golden-Armored Sentinels of the Foundation Establishment stage, along with a Golden-Armored of the Golden Core stage! They possess an innate slaughter battle array, and their combined might is enough to briefly contend even with a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator!"

"No wonder Wei Qubing dared to claim that Reyn would surely die, even when he was at an absolute disadvantage! It turns out he had this ultimate trump card up his sleeve!"

"The power of this treasure is truly terrifying. It does not even require constant manipulation from the cultivator to unleash a force comparable to a Late-stage Golden Core expert. If Reyn does not hand over the Mu Jade Sword and flee immediately, his life will surely be forfeit!"