Chapter 1823: Witch Soul Master Gu Sheng

On the Master Teacher Continent, everything operates by strict rules. The Spirit Tribe, however, is a place where rules are disregarded. Many appraisers speak carelessly, leading to wildly inconsistent and chaotic item prices.

The Ancient Sage elder shook his head, seemingly disapproving of such practices.

Among the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, the law of the jungle prevails. The profession of appraiser relies on keen eyesight and reputation for their livelihood, yet their actual strength is only ordinary. While they might speak the truth when appraising common treasures, they become insincere when encountering powerful individuals.

No one knows if they might be killed by a powerful individual in a fit of rage.

There were many instances where individuals, having bought fake goods due to poor discernment, sought out an appraiser for verification, only for the appraiser to be brutally executed for speaking the truth.

Therefore, an appraiser's words are seventy percent false and thirty percent true.

Yet, this profession must still exist; otherwise, the market would become even more chaotic.

“When you assigned them tasks,” the Ancient Sage elder asked, “did you explicitly demand accurate data, rather than exaggerations?”

“I specifically instructed them,” the middle-aged man said. “However, some still wrote exorbitant prices.”

“Drag out those who wrote exorbitant prices and kill a few of them,” the Ancient Sage elder snorted. “That will surely make them honest and prevent them from writing nonsense.”

He snorted, and killing intent emanated from the Ancient Sage elder. The surroundings instantly seemed to plunge into a world of frost. The large tree where Zhang Xuan was hiding was affected, its leaves turning yellow and withered.

An Ancient Sage expert is incredibly powerful; even a slight leakage of their power is unbearable.

“This aura…”

A thought stirred in Zhang Xuan’s mind.

The aura emanating from the other party appeared to be frosty, but in reality, it carried a chilling, sinister sensation, giving one the feeling of plummeting into hell.

Only one type of being can emit such power: a Soul Oracle.

Could it be that this elder is an Ancient Sage among Soul Oracles?

“Hmm?”

Just as he sensed something amiss with the other party, the elder seemed to also notice the presence of a soul oracle within the tree and furrowed his brow.

“Mo Ling Ancient Sage, what’s wrong?”

Seeing his unusual expression, the middle-aged man looked over with a puzzled gaze.

“Nothing.”

Waving his hand, Mo Ling Ancient Sage instructed, “You go back first. Do as I said: kill a few, and make sure others see it. They’ll probably straighten up quickly.”

“Yes!” The middle-aged man nodded, saying nothing more. He turned and walked back, disappearing from view shortly after.

After he left, the elder neither advanced nor left. Instead, he stood still in place.

“Could I have been discovered?”

Zhang Xuan, hiding within the large tree, couldn’t help but twitch his lips.

His concealment art, while not the best in the world, with his Mind of Heart Realm breaking through 300, made it very difficult for an Ancient Sage to detect him.

Though his soul power had fluctuated slightly when he was puzzled just now, it had been immediately suppressed. Under normal circumstances, even a Spirit Emperor personally present would find it difficult to discover him. How did this elder detect him?

“Go!”

Seeing the elder standing motionless, his senses seemingly locked onto him, and knowing that if he didn't escape now, he would have no chance, Zhang Xuan immediately acted without hesitation. His soul oracle flickered and burrowed straight into the ground.

“Can’t you hold back anymore?”

Seeing him move, Mo Ling Ancient Sage smiled faintly. His eyes suddenly opened, flashing with a dazzling light, like the dawn sun. Immediately, he stomped his foot hard on the ground.

The ground instantly trembled as an energy ripple spread outwards from his foot, like ripples on water.

Zhang Xuan’s soul oracle had just touched the ground, and it should have been able to burrow in easily. But this time, it felt like it had hit a steel plate, blocked by the energy ripple, and stumbled to the ground.

“This is bad!”

Seeing the other party block his path with a casual stomp, Zhang Xuan’s expression turned grim.

He was currently just a pure soul oracle, without his Demonic Fathom Sword, the Vicious, or the Dragon Bone Divine Spear. If he were truly trapped here by this Ancient Sage, he would surely die!

Knowing that the ground was sealed, making escape almost impossible, Zhang Xuan’s soul oracle leaped and surged towards the sky.

“If I let you escape, then I might as well not be an Ancient Sage!”

He raised an eyebrow, and his wrist lifted into the air.

A chilling aura enveloped the area around the tree. Before Zhang Xuan even reached the sky, he stiffened again, as if plunging into a swamp.

“Break!”

He extended a finger and lightly tapped.

The surrounding space rippled, and cracks appeared.

Previously, he needed the Dragon Bone Divine Spear to break space and form a passage. Now that his cultivation had reached the Grand Perfection of Immortal Realm, he could easily accomplish it with a casual flick of his finger, making it very simple.

“Hmph!”

As if he had anticipated this move, Mo Ling Ancient Sage’s lips curled into a smile, and he brought his palms together.

The torn spatial cracks immediately healed. The space that he could just tear open became as hard as iron in the blink of an eye; even with Zhang Xuan’s current strength, he couldn’t tear it apart.

The Ancient Sage level was truly too powerful. Without trump cards like the Vicious or the Demonic Fathom Sword, Zhang Xuan’s current strength was simply no match.

“Flaw!”

Knowing that being trapped here could truly mean his demise, Zhang Xuan no longer dared to hold back his trump cards. His mind raced.

The Library of Heaven’s Path vibrated, and a book appeared in his mind.

He hurriedly tapped his finger, and the book's content immediately flowed into his mind.

In the blink of an eye, all the flaws in the currently sealed space appeared in his memory.

“So that’s how it is!”

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.

The other party had sealed the space using their soul oracle. Although it looked sturdy, in reality, it had many loopholes.

His soul oracle retreated slightly, and he lightly tapped his foot.

He precisely tapped on a flaw, and the recently stabilized space once again showed cracks.

“Hmm?”

Unexpectedly, a mere Immortal Realm soul oracle had easily broken his seal. Mo Ling Ancient Sage’s brow furrowed. No longer bothering about his status, he made a grabbing motion in the air.

Instantly discerning the seven or eight flaws in the other party’s palm strike, Zhang Xuan didn't dodge but charged forward fiercely.

His figure had already entered the crack, ready to traverse space and depart at any moment.

“Stay!”

Seeing this fellow dare to tear space and leave in the face of his attack, Mo Ling Ancient Sage’s expression turned grim as he swept his hands wide.

Under the pressure of his power, the crack began to close again. If it couldn’t hold, it would instantly be pulverized.

Not panicking, Zhang Xuan exhaled a murky breath. His soul oracle’s arm instantly extended to over ten zhang in length, and he thrust it fiercely at a specific point.

Mo Ling Ancient Sage’s power immediately ceased, and he involuntarily retreated two steps.

“Whoosh!”

No longer able to hold back, his soul oracle leaped out from between his brows.

In an instant, a chilling wind swept through the entire courtyard, and an eerie aura enveloped heaven and earth.

“Farewell!”

As his soul oracle had just left his body, a faint voice echoed in his ear. Immediately after, the crack before his eyes vanished with a whoosh, and the soul oracle from earlier had already disappeared without a trace.