Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 703 - 687: Layers of Charm Shadows, Fire Dragon’s Demise!

A strange atmosphere permeated the scene.

The Divine Sense of the three, including Zhouyang, repeatedly scanned and investigated the remains, while the Spiritual Light attached to their Pupil Technique Divine Techniques flickered incessantly. They focused intently on the remains, not missing even the slightest flaw that might be hidden.

Yet neither the scan by Divine Sense nor the observation through Pupil Techniques revealed any abnormalities on the remains.

This time, however, neither Zhao Yuanpu nor Master Fire Dragon doubted Zhouyang's suspicions.

They both clearly understood that Zhouyang's hypothesis was well-founded and not merely fear-mongering.

In fact, now that they thought about it, they easily comprehended the source of Zhouyang's concerns.

As venerable elders with over two thousand years of cultivation, they had witnessed all kinds of extraordinary and bizarre events in their lifetimes. They would not consider something impossible just because it defied conventional logic.

"If there truly is something here that can elude our Divine Sense and Pupil Technique Divine Techniques, either it excels in the art of illusion, transforming into something in this place that we can't distinguish, or it's using invisibility!"

"I, Zhao, am more inclined to believe that it has transformed into something—perhaps that purple strange flower, or indeed our Sect's Ancestor's remains—these are things we absolutely must acquire, giving it the perfect opportunity to launch a sneak attack!"

"Fellow Daoist Sun does not agree with Zhao's speculation. If it truly masters the art of illusion and can leave us without a hint of flaw, would it not be better to transform into something insignificant, allowing us to overlook it for a sneak attack?"

The Divine Senses of the three intersected as they each expressed their opinions.

In such matters, where they each held their own views, it was difficult to convince the others of their judgment unless someone could substantiate the presence of a potential hidden existence.

"Actually, proving the theories of you two fellow Daoists isn't difficult—we could just send a puppet or a Spirit Pet to retrieve the items; if something indeed happens, it won't harm us in the slightest!"

As Zhouyang spoke, he turned his gaze to Zhao Yuanpu and asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, would you like to handle it yourself, or should I help you retrieve your Sect's Ancestor's remains?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuanpu squinted and replied indifferently, "It would be better for me, Zhao, to personally collect the Ancestor's remains."

After briefly pondering, he waved his hand to extract an earth-yellow Spirit Talisman from his Storage Ring. Upon activation, it conjured a towering Earth Spirit Puppet over a dozen feet high. Then he divided a strand of his Divine Sense to possess the puppet as it approached the remains on the ground.

This kind of object, created through Magic to form a puppet, was decidedly less flexible and useful than a Puppet Spiritual Artifact and could not be reused. However, it was advantageous for its low cost.

The Earth Spirit Puppet, under Zhao Yuanpu's control, walked over to the remains on the ground. Without any superfluous probing, it directly lifted the remains with its giant coarse fingers, akin to granite, and checked the authenticity of the remains.

"The remains are real!"

A dull voice emerged from the Earth Spirit Puppet's mouth. Its fingers, as thick as a human's arm, flexibly yet incongruously removed the Storage Ring from the remains' finger, tossing it directly to Zhao Yuanpu.

"Wait!"

Zhouyang suddenly interjected, glancing at Zhao Yuanpu, who looked puzzled, and asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, don't you find it odd? Even if no one claimed your Sect's Ancestor's relics for some reasons, where are the Artifacts he used during battles while alive? Surely, his Lifebound Spiritual Artifact couldn't have been kept in the Storage Ring the entire time, right?"

His questions, akin to asking why the murderer hadn't collected Chu Zhennan's relics, were difficult to answer.

Zhao Yuanpu could not answer these questions, so he could only smile wryly and say, "I understand your point, Fellow Daoist Zhou, but the Storage Ring can't be faked. Let me first see what's inside. If I can find the materials Ancestor Zhen Nan collected while alive, perhaps it will resolve our doubts."

"I feel... well, maybe fellow Daoist Zhao is right. Please decide for yourself."

Displaying a demeanor of hesitation, Zhouyang paused, sighed slightly and stopped persuading.

Zhao Yuanpu wasn't stupid. After multiple reminders, he still displayed eagerness to inspect the Storage Ring, obviously indicating something inside might be of great importance to him.

Since that was the case, the more he persuaded, the more it might provoke resentment, intensifying their discord.

Under the unclear circumstances, they clearly needed to unite together to confront the unexpected.

In this regard, Master Fire Dragon was much smarter. From the beginning to the end, he refrained from counseling or questioning Zhao Yuanpu.

Seeing Zhouyang no longer obstruct, Zhao Yuanpu felt a sense of relief and smiled at him before dividing his Divine Sense to inspect the interior of the Storage Ring.

The unexpected change occurred at this moment!

Upon Zhao Yuanpu's inspection of the Storage Ring, repeatedly insisting it couldn't be fake, as soon as he spread his Divine Sense to see inside, it triggered some sort of condition, suddenly erupting with a bizarre red mist that sought to penetrate his head.

But he seemed to be scared stiff, and did not put up any resistance as the red mist seeped into his body.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao!"

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, be careful!"

Zhouyang and Master Fire Dragon were both shocked at this scene, and couldn't help but cry out in alarm.

In the midst of their cries, the two of them each reacted differently.

Zhouyang immediately summoned the Qianyang Golden Tower to suppress the corpse, intending to seal it within the treasure tower regardless of everything else. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Meanwhile, Master Fire Dragon hurriedly moved closer to him, spewing a mouthful of Nascent Soul Essence onto the protective Exotic Treasure, the Fire Dragon Shield, maximizing its power without regard for the cost.

However, things once again exceeded their expectations.

Zhouyang easily contained the corpse within the Golden Treasure Tower, without facing the anticipated resistance.

But Master Fire Dragon, halfway towards him, was suddenly enveloped by a large amount of strange red mist surging from the broken stones on the ground, letting out a shrill scream.

Not even knowing what the enemy was, two of their comrades had already fallen victim to ambushes. Even with Zhouyang's boldness, he couldn't help but feel a chill from the depths of his heart, his face filled with terror.

At this moment, he truly could no longer hide any of his abilities. He shouted loudly, using the "Demon-Suppressing Golden Light" divine technique to activate the defensive divine technique on the Exorcism Treasure Robe. At the same time, he recalled the Golden Treasure Tower over his head, letting it emit a golden spiritual light to envelop and protect him. In his right hand, unbeknownst to him, he was already holding a vermilion feather fan.

Just as he had completed all of this, the strange red mist finally approached him.

As the eerie red mist appeared beside him, Zhouyang's ever-alert divine sense detected nothing unusual until the mist manifested, at which point he sensed an unusual fluctuation of magical power.

Yet, he still couldn't spot the figure of the assailant!

By now, he was well aware that this assailant possessed a highly advanced invisibility divine technique, having stayed hidden and observing the three of them from the shadows.

However, the fact that even Zhao Yuanpu, a late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator, could not detect the slightest sign, even when prepared, was outright terrifying!

While Zhouyang pondered these matters, the eerie red mist had already reached before him.

Like Master Fire Dragon, the Protective Golden Light emanating from the Golden Treasure Tower offered little resistance to the eerie red mist, allowing it to easily penetrate through.

However, when the red mist touched the protective golden light formed by the Exorcism Treasure Robe, it encountered significant resistance. It was noticeably diminished by the golden inscriptions on the light, with only a very thin layer of red mist eventually breaching the defenses to infiltrate Zhouyang's body.

As soon as this red mist entered his body, it headed straight for Zhouyang's Nascent Soul, with a very clear intent.

The terrifying thing was, Zhouyang found himself utterly unable to resist; he could only watch helplessly as it targeted his Nascent Soul.

Upon contact with the red mist, a searing pain as if even his soul was aflame arose from Zhouyang's Nascent Soul. He could clearly perceive his Nascent Soul's essence being eroded and damaged by this strange red mist, threatening to undermine his cultivation foundation!

"Ah, die!"

Zhouyang let out a shout and a roar of fury as golden flames ignited from his Nascent Soul, desperately refining the invasive red mist within him.

For reasons unknown, the previously indestructible red mist, after infiltrating Zhouyang's Nascent Soul, seemed to lose its power. In the face of the opposing Qianyang True Flame, it was completely refined and eradicated.

Nonetheless, afflicted by the red mist, Zhouyang's Nascent Soul suffered considerable loss of Primordial Qi, setting his cultivation back several years.

This method of harming one's cultivation was among the most vile and detestable within the Cultivation Realm.

Having been unjustly depleted of several years' cultivation, the fury in Zhouyang's heart was beyond expressible in words.

His face contorted in anger as he shouted, waving his sleeve to summon an artifact he had never used in magical combat before—the Tier Six Spiritual Artifact, the Profound Light Shadow Mirror.

The Profound Light Shadow Mirror, since it stored many precious teachings left behind by Master Donglai, was used by Zhouyang as a sort of player.

But it also possessed a special divine technique, "Shadow Illuminating Profound Light," capable of piercing through all sorts of invisibility techniques, unveiling the transformational techniques of Demon Kings, and revealing hidden array restrictions.

In the past, none of the enemies Zhouyang faced required him to use this artifact, coupled with his concern over potential damage to it, hence he never employed it in magical combat.

But now, facing a powerful enemy hidden in the shadows, Zhouyang couldn't afford to worry about all this.

"Profound Light Shadow Illuminating, reveal all forms!"

The treasure mirror hovered in the air, emitting white light that spread like ripples, swiftly illuminating the entire rock area within a hundred feet radius.

Under the illumination of the "Shadow Illuminating Profound Light," a very faint red silhouette suddenly appeared twenty or thirty feet behind Zhouyang.

"Ah! It's the Fire Charm!"

Not only Zhouyang saw the red silhouette, but also Zhao Yuanpu, who had somehow escaped the strange red mist's invasion.

At this moment, Zhao Yuanpu's face was pale without a hint of blood, his aura weak and unsteady, clearly showing signs of severe Primordial Qi damage.

And he seemed to recognize the origin of that red silhouette at a glance, and with a face full of panic, directly blurted out its origin.

Fire Charm?

Zhouyang was first slightly taken aback after hearing Zhao Yuanpu's words, seemingly having never heard of such an existence.

But when he carefully recalled the name in his mind, his face changed immediately.

The so-called "Charm" is actually a special monster formed when a cultivator dies and their divine soul undergoes mutation under special circumstances.

It resembles ghosts, but unlike ghosts that can only absorb Yin Sha Qi to survive, and lacks the obvious weakness to fire and thunder that ghosts fear. It can even control these powers.

The Fire Charm is a type of charm that can manipulate the power of flame.

And any type of "Charm" is naturally adept at illusion techniques and invisibility divine techniques, having unparalleled mastery in these two arts.

Because it is a special monster formed from a cultivator's divine soul under accidental circumstances, the "Charm," while not retaining most memories and wisdom from life like the Corpse Demon Zhouyang encountered before, is similarly inherently crafty, sinister, and treacherous, particularly enjoying torturing cultivators and devouring their divine souls to enhance its spiritual cultivation.

Legend has it that as long as the "Charm" can keep devouring cultivators' divine souls, it can live indefinitely, unbound by lifespan constraints.

Moreover, once a "Charm" devours a cultivator's divine soul, it can transform into the appearance of that cultivator, mimicking even the divine soul's aura, making it difficult for even the closest people to detect anything amiss.

Upon careful observation at this moment, Zhouyang indeed found that the appearance of the red silhouette was extremely similar to the corpse he had stored in the Qianyang Golden Tower, presumably the Nascent Soul of the Grand Elder Chu Zhennan of the Divine Fire Palace, which ultimately fell into the hands of this Fire Charm and was devoured by it.

Zhao Yuanpu's panic was likely due to this discovery!

The "Fire Charm" clearly did not expect its form to be revealed by its "prey," and it showed an obvious expression of surprise when the light from the mirror exposed it.

However, as Zhao Yuanpu's exclamation sounded, its expression of surprise instantly vanished, replacing it with a sinister smile directed at Zhouyang, who had uncovered its whereabouts, and suddenly opened its mouth for a silent scream.

Instantly, a shrill scream specially targeting the divine sense of cultivators erupted directly from the depths of Zhouyang's divine soul. His normally proud powerful divine sense was completely overwhelmed by the opponent's divine sense attack.

"Ah!"

He emitted a painful scream that he couldn't bear, with blood lines oozing from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, indicating injury from this divine sense attack.

In fact, not only him, but also Zhao Yuanpu, an authentic late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, was similarly impacted by the sharp scream, causing him to cry out in pain, completely unable to fight back.

And the "Fire Charm" seemed not to have expected the weakest cultivator, Zhouyang, to possess the strongest divine sense, forcing it to suffer unanticipated backlash damage when simultaneously launching a divine sense attack against the two, almost causing its form to explode.

But it ultimately endured and, while Zhouyang and Zhao Yuanpu were preoccupied with resisting its divine sense attack, turned its target to the third person.

If anyone among the three was most suppressed by the "Fire Charm," it would surely be Master Fire Dragon.

Only possessing a Nascent Soul, Master Fire Dragon appeared like a defenseless porcupine easily devoured at any time in front of the formidable "Fire Charm."

Thus, the "Fire Charm" had previously not chosen him as a priority for sneak attacks but rather Zhao Yuanpu, the strongest in cultivation.

If Zhao Yuanpu's Nascent Soul could be devoured first, Zhouyang and Master Fire Dragon would be like lambs waiting to be slaughtered in the eyes of the "Fire Charm," ready to eat.

But now, as plans went awry, the "Fire Charm" had to change course and settle for devouring the food within reach first.

The red mist unleashed by the "Fire Charm" is actually a combination of Earth Fire Poisonous Qi and its own Soul Power, specifically designed to harm a cultivator's Divine Soul Nascent Soul.

With just one Nascent Soul left, Master Fire Dragon, engulfed by this red mist, found it almost impossible to refine and dispel it quickly like Zhouyang and Zhao Yuanpu did.

Therefore, when the "Fire Charm" shifted its target to him, his fate was already sealed.

The "Fire Charm" moved in a flash, transforming into a red light that darted right in front of Master Fire Dragon. Suddenly, it became ethereal and penetrated the Fire Dragon Shield's defense like the eerie red mist, appearing inside the protective shield.

Afterward, Zhouyang and Zhao Yuanpu only heard a scream filled with terror and despair from Master Fire Dragon, losing this companion forever.

Ha ha ha!

The sinister and creepy laughter echoed from all around, and the "Fire Charm" that devoured Master Fire Dragon's Nascent Soul not only recovered from the previous Divine Techniques backlash but also regained much of its strength that had gradually declined over the long years without devouring cultivators' Divine Souls.

Zhouyang had already swept the rocky area underfoot with the mirror light of the Profound Light Shadow Mirror, yet he still couldn't reveal the "Fire Charm" hidden within the eerie laughter.

He knew it wasn't that the "Fire Charm's" invisibility ability had surpassed the limits of this artifact, but rather that the foe was indeed not nearby anymore.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, if it really doesn't work, let's retreat first. We can come back for Fellow Daoist Sun's revenge once we've prepared the tools to deal with this ghostly creature!"

Zhao Yuanpu, pale-faced, looked at Zhouyang and spoke words of retreat, the look of panic yet fully dissipated from his eyes.

It wasn't that he was cowardly, but the "Fire Charm's" abilities were so strange, constraining him greatly.

His Fire Element Divine Techniques and Spiritual Artifacts posed little threat to the "Fire Charm," but whether it was its hard-to-detect invisibility, powerful Divine Sense Attack Divine Techniques, or the vicious ability of the bizarre red mist that could reduce one's cultivation, they completely constrained him.

Especially, when he thought of Ancestor Zhen Nan, the most talented in his sect's history, who perished at the "Fire Charm's" hands, his heart boiled with anger and fear.

He knew himself well enough to realize that his strength was far inferior to Ancestor Zhen Nan's, and if he lingered here, he might follow the same fate.

As for Zhouyang, he conceded Zhouyang's exceptional skill, always astonishing with his abilities, like this time pulling out a Tier Six Spiritual Artifact to break the "Fire Charm's" invisibility.

But to say Zhouyang could defeat the "Fire Charm," Zhao Yuanpu absolutely did not believe it.

He even doubted whether even those Ninth-Layer Nascent Soul "Half-Step True Immortals" could do anything against this "Fire Charm" if they came.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, how could I not understand your meaning? But now, I'm afraid it isn't up to us if we want to retreat. This ghostly creature has been here for thousands of years and is surely starving. Now that we've come, how could it possibly be willing to let us go?"

Zhouyang shook his head subtly, mercilessly shattering the bit of luck in Zhao Yuanpu's heart.

He, too, felt heavy-hearted. Although the "Fire Charm" was a monster spawned by the mutation of a cultivator's Divine Soul, it bore no Yin Qi or Demonic Qi, unrestrained by his Qianyang True Flame and resistant to the attacks from most of his artifacts.

Having caught the attention of such an adversary, although he always prided himself on being highly skilled and courageous, he felt apprehensive from deep within.

Fortunately, unlike Zhao Yuanpu, he at least had the Profound Light Shadow Mirror to reveal the "Fire Charm's" movements, with the Exorcism Treasure Robe capable of blocking and weakening that strange red mist attack, granting him some power to resist.

"Then what should we do? Are we just going to keep it in a stalemate? It just devoured Fellow Daoist Sun's Nascent Soul, probably busy digesting now. If it finishes digesting and its strength greatly increases, we stand even less chance against it!"

Zhao Yuanpu, his heart already terrified, thinking only of escaping, did not lose his ability to think, and immediately voiced his concerns faintly.

He knew more about the dangers of a "Charm" than Zhouyang did. This kind of monster, for some cultivators, was like a hawk to a fox, inherently restraining them—it should never have existed in the Cultivation Realm!

Whenever such monsters were discovered in the Cultivation Realm, even if it came at a great cost, cultivators would strive to eliminate them.

Otherwise, once such creatures, which enhanced their powers and extended lifespans by devouring the Divine Soul of cultivators, were allowed to grow, they would be more troublesome than Demonic Cultivators.

Yet Zhouyang, after listening to his words, suddenly asked, seemingly unrelated: "Fellow Daoist Zhao, have you ever wondered why this 'Fire Charm' has been trapped here for thousands or tens of thousands of years? In theory, with its power, it should have broken out of the array outside, or it should have perished in the fiery sea of magma!"

"Hmm, Fellow Daoist Zhou means..."

Zhao Yuanpu first showed a confused expression, then seemed to understand something, his eyes brightening as he looked at Zhouyang and exclaimed, "That's it, it must be so! This 'Fire Charm' has actually become an Earth-bound Spirit of this place, unable to leave!"

"More precisely, it should have become the Earth-bound Spirit of that purple mystical flower, or perhaps it actually turned into the Flower Spirit of that purple mystical flower!"

Zhouyang's face showed a strange expression as he corrected Zhao Yuanpu's words, then coldly looked at the purple mystical flower in the fire pool and said, "So, what does Your Excellency think of what I've said?"