Chapter 4440: Cultivating Taoist Arts

At the northwest corner of Haotian Island, in a colossal valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, a massive cluster of nine-colored immortal lightning hovered overhead. Lightning flashed and thunder roared as thick bolts of nine-colored immortal lightning struck downwards.

Immortal Lord Lieyang and Ning Qingshu stood atop a high peak, their faces filled with disbelief.

They had asked Xuanjizi to deduce Shen Ting's whereabouts, but this resulted in a lightning tribulation that specifically targeted Xuanjizi.

Soon after, the nine-colored thunderclouds dissipated. The colossal valley was flattened, the ground scorched black, and Xuanjizi was nowhere to be seen.

"He was struck dead instantly!"

Ning Qingshu's face was filled with shock; the scene before him was beyond his comprehension. He had never witnessed anything like it.

"Last time it was merely shielded, but this time he was obliterated. This person is likely not a Grand Luo Golden Immortal; they must possess some extraordinary treasure. At the very least, it's a top-grade immortal artifact refined with a Primordial Spirit Treasure. Ordinary immortal artifacts can only provide shielding at best and cannot trigger a lightning tribulation to obliterate a diviner."

Immortal Lord Lieyang said with a grim expression.

A Dao Ancestor could also achieve this, but he didn't believe Shen Ting had been obliterated by one. If a Dao Ancestor's disciple had killed Shen Ting, it wouldn't have directly implicated the Dao Ancestor, making a lightning tribulation unlikely, especially since Xuanjizi was merely deducing Shen Ting's whereabouts.

"A top-grade immortal artifact refined with a Primordial Spirit Treasure?"

Ning Qingshu asked in surprise.

"It's hard to say. If it were a Grand Luo Golden Immortal who had mastered the Law of Destiny, perhaps they could also achieve this. It's a shame about young friend Chen; if he had mastered the Law of Destiny, he wouldn't have met such a fate."

Immortal Lord Lieyang sighed.

"It appears, then, that the one who killed Qin Xin and Senior Brother Shen is the same person? And this individual is right here in the Barren Immortal Realm!"

Ning Qingshu stated.

To call it a coincidence would be too much of one.

"Qin Xin disappeared after going to the North Sea Immortal Realm. The culprit very likely originated from there. Send people to discreetly investigate any Grand Unity Golden Immortals from the North Sea Immortal Realm. If you find anyone suspicious, do not alert them; notify me immediately, and I will personally intervene."

Immortal Lord Lieyang instructed.

The treasure possessed by the culprit was extraordinarily powerful, stirring a murderous intent in Immortal Lord Lieyang.

Haotian Palace currently had three Grand Luo Golden Immortals, yet none of them possessed a top-grade immortal artifact, still relying on sets of high-grade ones. To think this individual actually owned a top-grade immortal artifact refined with a Primordial Spirit Treasure!

"Yes, Martial Uncle Liu."

Ning Qingshu assented. Truth be told, such an investigation was virtually impossible. Over the years, numerous Grand Unity Golden Immortals from the North Sea Immortal Realm had traveled to the Barren Immortal Realm. If they chose not to disclose their origins, it would be extremely difficult to trace them, and Haotian Palace simply lacked the resources to investigate everyone.

Since Immortal Lord Lieyang had spoken, Ning Qingshu naturally dared not object.

"Oh, and one more thing: find another diviner at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage. Do not inform them of Xuanjizi's fate, and offer a hefty sum to have them deduce Junior Nephew Shen's whereabouts."

Immortal Lord Lieyang commanded.

"Martial Uncle Liu, Fellow Daoist Chen's attempt to deduce Senior Brother Shen's whereabouts resulted in his demise. Asking another diviner for help will likely yield the same outcome!"

Ning Qingshu said.

"Assuming young friend Chen's two deductions both involved the same person, why was it merely shielded last time? And this time, a lightning tribulation was drawn to strike him dead? Either this person lacks sufficient strength, and operating this treasure consumes rare cultivation resources, or the treasure itself is damaged, and triggering a lightning tribulation would severely affect it. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been better to simply draw a lightning tribulation to kill young friend Chen directly last time?"

Immortal Lord Lieyang analyzed.

"Martial Uncle Liu is truly wise; your disciple is impressed."

Ning Qingshu flattered.

Immortal Lord Lieyang gave a few more instructions before dismissing Ning Qingshu.

"Could it be a Dao artifact?"

A bold conjecture surfaced in Immortal Lord Lieyang's mind, his gaze turning fervent and his face filled with murderous intent.

***

Vermilion Bird Sea, Vermilion Bird Market.

Inside the Golden Cicada Pavilion, the Azure Lotus Creation Cauldron floated above Wang Changsheng's head, casting a large expanse of azure light that enveloped him.

As the azure light dispersed, the Azure Lotus Creation Cauldron descended.

"It's over? He's stopped deducing?"

Wang Changsheng asked.

Qing Xuan gave no response, seemingly having fallen into a deep slumber.

To awaken Qing Xuan, rare artifact-refining materials would be required.

"Since Qing Xuan has intervened, there shouldn't be any problems in the short term."

Wang Ruyan said.

Wang Changsheng directly obliterated Shen Ting's nascent soul. If he hadn't, Shen Ting's golden body on the inheritance list could still have sent a message, or diviners might have been able to deduce his location had the nascent soul been carried along. While Qing Xuan could intervene this time, what about next time? Or the time after that?

Shen Ting's nascent soul had become a ticking time bomb. To neutralize it, Wang Changsheng either needed to advance to the Grand Luo Golden Immortal stage, which would make it difficult for Grand Unity Golden Immortal diviners to deduce his whereabouts, but he was currently stuck at a bottleneck and couldn't achieve this in a short period. His only reliance was Qing Xuan.

Since Qing Xuan had already fallen into slumber, awakening him would require rare artifact-refining materials.

"I should first cultivate the Dao technique, Eight-Armed Vajra! This technique, when combined with the Sky-Treading Steps, can significantly enhance my combat strength."

Wang Changsheng said.

The Eight-Armed Vajra allows the cultivator to temporarily grow six additional arms, making a total of eight. In close combat, this renders ordinary treasures, and even the Qianyu Shield, incapable of blocking attacks, causing severe damage.

Shen Ting's Law of Time was even shattered by the Eight-Armed Vajra, demonstrating the immense power of this Dao technique.

When Wang Changsheng combined the Sky-Treading Steps for close quarters combat with the Eight-Armed Vajra, his strength improved by no small margin.

"I'll have Huanyu and the others study the *Immortal Scripture of Years*, hoping they can cultivate this technique."

Wang Ruyan said.

The *Immortal Scripture of Years* was the cultivation technique practiced by Shen Ting, a high-level temporal cultivation method with twelve layers in total. Haotian Palace had only acquired the first nine layers. If Shen Ting were to advance to Grand Luo Golden Immortal, he would need to find the latter half of the technique.

Both Wang Ruyan and Wang Changsheng had opened nine apertures and mastered nine types of law power. To comprehend the Law of Time, they would first need to open their tenth aperture.

Wang Huanyu, Wang Mengli, and others had only opened eight apertures. Wang Ruyan had refined Jade Aperture Immortal Talismans to help them open their ninth aperture, to see if they could comprehend the Law of Time with the aid of the *Immortal Scripture of Years*. However, the hope was slim.

They had all cultivated the *Heavenly Soul Treasure Scroll* yet failed to comprehend the Law of Soul. If merely possessing a cultivation method guaranteed comprehension of the Law of Time, then Haotian Palace would not have so few Grand Unity Golden Immortals who had mastered it.

Wang Mengli used the Law of Illusion to interrogate Shen Ting's nascent soul, extracting a wealth of useful information.

Over millions of years, Haotian Palace had successively organized hundreds of disciples to study the *Immortal Scripture of Years*, yet only Shen Ting had managed to comprehend the Law of Time.

Wang Changsheng nodded and walked into a secret chamber.

With a flick of his sleeve, the Four Seasons Map flew out and hung on the wall. His body emanated a brilliant blue light as he stepped into the map, appearing inside a magnificent, opulent hall.

He entered a secret room, sat down cross-legged, and placed a golden jade slip against his forehead.

After about a tea's time, Wang Changsheng removed the jade slip, formed hand seals with his ten fingers, continuously recited incantations, and his body erupted in a dazzling golden light.

Outside the Four Seasons Map, Wang Ruyan took out three Jade Aperture Immortal Talismans and handed them to Wang Tun Tian, Wang Meng Li, and Wang Huanyu, saying, "Take these to open your ninth aperture!"

The three of them, Wang Tun Tian, expressed their gratitude, accepted the Jade Aperture Immortal Talismans, and each went into a separate secret chamber.

Wang Ruyan entered a secret chamber and took out materials to refine third-tier immortal talismans.