Chapter 530: Reverse Immortality Technique

As Zhou Shengqing’s Nascent Soul phantom dissipated, the Core Formation cultivators, who had previously been hesitant, burst into laughter. They immediately brought out their magical artifacts and activated various spells, beginning to besiege the Myriad Trees Grand Array. Perhaps today they could eradicate the Divine Wood Sect.

The rogue Core Formation cultivator, who had been hidden in the shadows observing, finally made his move. He revealed his disguise: a slender, handsome middle-aged man. He brandished a flying sword that emitted a blue light and joined Xuan Shu and the others in attacking the Myriad Trees Grand Array!

With a total of six Core Formation cultivators attacking, the Myriad Trees Grand Array could still hold, but over time, its spirit stones would inevitably run out, and it would collapse. Inside the Divine Wood Sect, some cultivators who witnessed this scene had already gathered all their belongings and were running towards the teleportation array, preparing to escape Giantwood Ridge before the sect’s grand array was breached. However, many more cultivators, led by stalwart figures like Chu Zuoshu, continued to maintain the grand array, resisting the barrage of spells and artifact attacks falling from the sky.

“Senior Brother Zhou!” Chen Mobai and the other two also transformed into streaks of light and rushed towards the Longevity Tree, where Zhou Shengqing was in secluded cultivation. Zhou Shengqing struggled to lift his head to look at them, then nodded and gave a slight smile. He propped his right hand on the branch of the Longevity Tree beneath his feet, seemingly trying to stand. Mo Douguang immediately went to support him. The two had supported each other since their time in the Five Elements Sect, closer than even brothers.

“Junior Brother Mo, do you still remember what Master said before he passed away?” Zhou Shengqing suddenly asked.Mo Douguang replied, “Master said so much before he passed away. Which sentence are you referring to, Senior Brother?”Zhou Shengqing said, “The words that hurt us the most.”

Upon hearing this, Mo Douguang’s expression showed understanding, but then he frowned slightly, seemingly unwilling to recall those words.

Zhou Shengqing continued, “Master said that among us, only our youngest junior brother had the potential to form a Nascent Soul. If we tried to force the Nascent Soul formation, it would merely be a waste of resources. It would be better to supply our own original spiritual energy to our youngest junior brother, helping him to cultivate the Primal Chaos Dao Fruit. That way, even if he passed away, the Five Elements Sect would soon have a new Nascent Soul cultivator to oversee it, preventing us from being annexed or devoured by surrounding major sects.”

At that time, Zhou Shengqing and the others, having never attempted it, would hardly believe they couldn’t form a Nascent Soul. Naturally, they resisted this arrangement inwardly.

Mo Douguang asked, “Senior Brother, why are you bringing up those words now?”Zhou Shengqing replied, “It’s just that after this failure, I’ve come to understand Master a little more…”

After a sigh, Zhou Shengqing looked up at the six Core Formation cultivators, who were unleashing various spiritual energies to bombard the Myriad Trees Grand Array’s protective shield. His originally dim eyes suddenly gleamed with a sharp light.

“Before I die, I’ll do one last sweep for the sect.”

After saying this, Zhou Shengqing looked at Chen Mobai, beckoning to him. Chen Mobai immediately walked over respectfully. “I recall Junior Brother Chen, you have a Soul Guiding Lamp. Could you bestow it upon me?”

“Please, Senior Brother!” If Zhou Shengqing hadn’t mentioned it, Chen Mobai would have almost forgotten he possessed this ghostly artifact.

“Senior Brother, are you going to transform into a ghost cultivator?” Fu Zongjue, standing nearby, asked with some concern. Ghost cultivators and corpse cultivators abandon their chance at reincarnation, transforming into evil beings to forcibly continue their cultivation. Cultivators in the Sky River Realm all believe in reincarnation. Thus, many cultivators, upon death, believe they will reincarnate in their next life, potentially gaining better spiritual roots and aptitudes. While there is sadness, for those at the bottom, it can also be a form of release. Only a very small number, unwilling to die, forcibly remain as ghost or corpse cultivators. However, if Zhou Shengqing truly took this step, Fu Zongjue wouldn’t stop him.

“No, not at all. It’s just that when I perform the Reverse Longevity Art, my spiritual sense will be impacted by the vast spiritual consciousness of the Longevity Tree. I need this artifact to protect my mind.”

The Reverse Longevity Art! What kind of art is that? Not to mention Chen Mobai, even Fu Zongjue and Mo Douguang were unfamiliar with it. The three of them exchanged confused glances.

“Master passed this on to me just before he died. He said it was left behind by True Monarch Yiyuan. I never thought I’d have to use it in my lifetime…”

As he spoke, Zhou Shengqing grasped the Soul Guiding Lamp. He then rose into the air, taking one last look at Giantwood Ridge. Subsequently, two streams of light, one azure and one green, emerged from his Dantian Qi Sea and Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness. They converged and merged within the Soul Guiding Lamp in his palm, transforming into a dark green spiritual light that heavily plunged into the Longevity Tree below.

With all spiritual energy and divine sense drained from his physical body, Zhou Shengqing’s form in mid-air instantly withered beyond recognition, plummeting towards the ground. Mo Douguang immediately flew up to catch him.

At that moment, the Soul Guiding Lamp had already landed on the branch of the Longevity Tree where Zhou Shengqing had previously undergone secluded cultivation for Nascent Soul formation. The dark green spiritual light flowed into the branch like water, then spread and diluted throughout the entire Longevity Tree, much like rivers flowing into the sea. Yet, it caused almost no change to the tree’s bark or leaves. But Chen Mobai and the other two knew that all of Zhou Shengqing’s essence had been integrated into it!

*Rumble!*

In the sky, Xuan Shu and the other six Core Formation cultivators continued to wield their artifacts, attacking the Myriad Trees Grand Array. They had blocked all six directions, ensuring no one from the Divine Wood Sect could escape. As long as they were willing to spend time, they would eventually breach the grand array. This might happen faster than they anticipated, as many disciples within the Divine Wood Sect were already in a state of panic. Even with Chu Zuoshu personally leading the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Three Halls and Twelve Departments to maintain order, three Foundation Establishment cultivators had already rushed to the teleportation array and escaped. Many Qi Condensation cultivators also wished to flee, but apart from a few individuals, the rest were intercepted by Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Hall of Punishment, who arrived in time. Under the suppression of the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Three Halls and Twelve Departments, the Divine Wood Sect could at least maintain the complete operation of its grand array. However, more and more disciples were already contemplating how to flee.

Just then, a clear light rose from the Longevity Tree at the very center of Giantwood Ridge. In a flash, it transformed into a gigantic phantom figure, its head reaching the sky, its body merged with the divine wood. The phantom’s face was remarkably lifelike, precisely that of Zhou Shengqing! His eyes were like stars, his hair like lightning. With an open mouth, he exhaled, and a patch of azure sky descended, heavily crashing onto the heads of the three aggregated ghost cultivators.

*Bang, bang, bang!*

Like exploding watermelons, the three ghost cultivators, along with their artifacts and bodies, instantly disintegrated into scattered chunks of flesh. Only a single ghastly white bone bead cracked slightly, emitting a pale jade-colored radiance, forcing its way out of the falling azure sky. But the phantom of Zhou Shengqing pointed his right index finger at the bone bead, and a wisp of profound green airflow burst forth like a flash of lightning. In the blink of an eye, it traversed the vast void and struck the bone bead.

*Crack!*

The bone bead, along with the spiritual consciousness of the Underworld Official within it, transformed into a cloud of white powder amid screams, completely vanishing into thin air.

“This is bad…”

Although Xuan Shu and the others didn’t understand what was happening, they didn’t hesitate for a moment. They immediately fled in different directions. However, Zhou Shengqing, using his finger as a brush, spiritual energy as ink, and the sky as paper, flawlessly etched a Breeze Talisman in the void! In an instant, all the air above Giantwood Ridge transformed into countless dense, azure wind blades, numbering in the tens of thousands, under the influence of this single talisman. Under the flick of Zhou Shengqing’s fingertips, the wind blades transformed into three enormous, wave-like streams of light, engulfing Xuan Shu and the other two, who had already fled far away using blood escape techniques.

Amidst a *thud*, the unnamed slender rogue cultivator’s dozen or so talismans and a defensive artifact were all sliced open by the wind blades. Desperately, he swallowed one pill after another, emptying everything from his storage bag, trying to survive. However, after only blocking 137 wind blades, he was shredded into countless bloody threads, staining a small portion of the sky red.

“You, hurry and go…”

On the other side, Zhao Xuankang, knowing he couldn’t escape today, instead risked his life. After swallowing a pitch-black pill, his spiritual energy surged dramatically. He braved the ferocious wind blades, rushing towards Xuan Shu, intending to use his life to help the latter escape.

However, Zhou Shengqing, after performing the Reverse Longevity Art, could temporarily borrow the power of the Fourth-Rank Longevity Tree. This allowed him to break through his bottleneck and reach the highest realm of the Longevity Scripture. The twentieth layer of the Longevity Scripture was equivalent to the Mid Nascent Soul stage. Zhou Shengqing even glimpsed the twenty-first layer, a realm he had theorized, but unfortunately, his time was running out, otherwise, he could certainly have completed it.

A simple Breeze Talisman, in Zhou Shengqing’s hands, displayed an unstoppable might! Even though Zhao Xuankang fought with all his might and exhausted all his artifacts and talismans, he couldn’t reach Xuan Shu. With all his defenses shattered by the wind blades, Zhao Xuankang watched the azure light blade fall before his eyes with a pale face, then closed his eyes, awaiting death.

On the other side, Xuan Shu revealed his true capabilities. After spitting out his Fourth-Rank Gold Jade Pearl, he surprisingly produced a deep blue talisman. The moment it was activated, a vast ocean descended from the void, settling above Giantwood Ridge. The blue ocean collided with the azure wind blades, unleashing terrifying and vast spiritual energy fluctuations. Seizing this moment, Xuan Shu took out a silver talisman and slapped it onto his body.

“Heaven Escape Talisman!”

Seeing this, Zhou Shengqing’s brow furrowed slightly. He once again etched a talisman in the void. Streaks of green lightning illuminated around Xuan Shu, continuously striking his Gold Jade Pearl. After three or four rounds of bombardment, they finally forced open the golden gale. But by this time, a silver radiance had enveloped Xuan Shu’s entire body. Even Zhou Shengqing couldn’t instantly break through the power of the Fourth-Rank Heaven Escape Talisman. A wisp of dark green lightning, just as Xuan Shu finally vanished, pierced through the silver radiance, creating a bloody hole in his shoulder. Ultimately, however, he failed to keep this major enemy of the Profound Sky Dao Palace.

“What a pity.” It was also Zhou Shengqing’s first time entering such a realm, and he found it difficult to control this immense power. Moreover, he felt his spiritual consciousness growing increasingly hazy, realizing it was a sign he was about to be completely assimilated by the Longevity Tree. The effects of the Reverse Longevity Art were nearing their end!

He sighed, then turned his head to look at Zhao Xuankang, who was still drawing his last breath. To counter Xuan Shu’s Fourth-Rank blue talisman, he had just diverted all the power of his Breeze Talisman, which was why Zhao Xuankang’s body remained intact.

“You… formed a Nascent Soul…” Zhao Xuankang’s blood-soaked body was drawn towards Zhou Shengqing. He stared with wide, disbelieving eyes at the gigantic phantom figure standing in mid-air.

“I have a few questions for you.” As he spoke, Zhou Shengqing’s massive phantom suddenly shrank to normal human size, though only his upper body appeared normal, while his lower body resembled a wisp of green smoke connected to the Soul Guiding Lamp. However, this ghostly artifact now had a deep crack, almost splitting it in two, and smaller cracks were constantly appearing as time passed. Everyone knew that when the Soul Guiding Lamp completely shattered, it would be the moment of Zhou Shengqing’s death. Chen Mobai couldn’t help but feel a pang of grief.

At that moment, Zhou Shengqing had finished conversing with Zhao Xuankang. It was unclear what they discussed, but afterward, he called Mo Douguang over, likely regarding Patriarch Hunyuan or matters concerning the Five Elements Sect.

“We’ve contended for so many years, and now you die by my hand. Do you have any last words?” After asking, Zhou Shengqing’s phantom smiled as he questioned Zhao Xuankang.

At this, Zhao Xuankang turned his head to look at Chen Mobai, then uttered words that caused Chen Mobai’s expression to change drastically. “Your little disciple went missing, didn’t she? Do you want to know who abducted her?”

“It was you!” Fury flared between Chen Mobai’s eyebrows. In the Eastern Wilderness, he had always acted discreetly, usually either cultivating in the sect or farming. Only the remnants of Trembling Mountain Peak and the Southern Profound Sect would have a motive to do such a thing.

“Heh heh, it wasn’t me, but it’s someone even our Profound Sky Dao Palace doesn’t want to provoke. If you wish to know, you can visit Cloud Dream Lake sometime and look for a demonic cultivator named Tu Daohua…”

After saying this, Zhao Xuankang raised his finger, and a flash of golden light severed his own neck.

“Damn it, he didn’t even finish! Cloud Dream Lake is huge…” Chen Mobai rushed over and grabbed Zhao Xuankang, but the latter had already died with a grim smile.

“Junior Brother, at least now we have a clue. It’s better than having no leads at all,” Fu Zongjue comforted him. He had also been helping to investigate Luo Yixuan’s whereabouts.

“Junior Brothers, come over. I have a few last things to tell you.” At that moment, Zhou Shengqing spoke to them. Chen Mobai immediately put down Zhao Xuankang’s corpse and walked with Fu Zongjue to stand before the Soul Guiding Lamp.

“These are my insights on forming a Nascent Soul. Make sure to remember them…”

In the Sky River Realm, cultivators of the previous generation typically passed on such knowledge before their deaths. However, many might not have had enough time, only able to take it to the underworld. Fortunately, Zhou Shengqing’s time estimation was fairly accurate; he managed to convey most of his knowledge before the Soul Guiding Lamp completely shattered.

“And the Reverse Longevity Art…”