Stellar Transformation-Chapter 180: Episode 9 The Ninth Sword Immortal Mansion - 1 The True Strength of the Primordial Wilderness
The grand and luxurious hall featured a massive divine beast on each side, their presence emanating freely. Yet, even so, the smile of the man in the black robe standing atop the hall gave everyone a feeling of oppression that far surpassed that of the two divine beasts.
"Meow~~" The snow cat lying in the lap of the man in the black robe suddenly let out a soft call.
Instantly, the auras of both the Dragon Rock Lion and the Red Bird were fully retracted, with the Dragon Rock Lion now resembling a small mountain, and the flames on the surface of the Red Bird slowly withdrawing into its body. In contrast, the snow cat’s golden pupils swept across the crowd.
"An expert!"
The expressions of those present changed, as just one glance from the snow cat allowed them to determine that it was an expert, a top-level expert at that. Its tail flicked, and then it closed its eyes to quietly lie on the lap of the man in the black robe.
"Yan Mo?" The Azure Dragon looked at the man in the black robe, his pupils constricting.
The man in the black robe, Yan Mo, smiled and said, "Gentlemen, please don’t be too restrained. I have long been aware of your recent actions in my Primordial Wilderness. Come, take a seat first, we have much to talk about, I have many matters to discuss with you."
At this moment, there was a row of stone chairs on each side below the grand hall.
The Three-eyed Old Demon snorted coldly and was the first to walk to the left side and take a seat at the first chair, followed by Yida who took a deep breath, chuckled lightly, and said, "Interesting, things are getting more and more interesting." With a laugh, Yida also took a seat.
As one after another took their seats, only two remained standing, one was the Azure Dragon and the other was Teng Shan.
The Azure Dragon had a solemn expression, staring at the man in the black robe above, while Teng Shan stood at the Azure Dragon’s side, looking only to the Azure Dragon for guidance. Suddenly, the Azure Dragon spoke, "Yan Mo, using illusion in front of us, isn’t that deceiving yourself?"
The man in the black robe stretched his mouth into a smile, "You have a point."
In an instant, the man in the black robe transformed, his human head turning into a dragon’s head, becoming a being with a dragon head and a human body. This man in the black robe, a dragon in his true form, had not yet faced the Ninety-nine Tribulations and naturally could not fully transform into a human.
Illusion Technique, generally only someone of equal or greater strength could see through it.
"You actually saw through my illusion?" Yan Mo curiously looked at the Azure Dragon.
Yan Mo’s dragon head was black, with even more sharply pointed dragon horns, a more domineering aura than that of the Azure Dragon. Indeed, he was a Black Dragon. Among the Dragon Clan, Black Dragons are also considered to possess extremely high attack power.
The Azure Dragon walked to the first position on the right side and sat down, smiling faintly, "Yan Mo, with your power being so great, I, the Azure Dragon, do not have the ability to see through your illusion, but... I still recognize the true form of that snow cat. It should be the Divine Beast Zhe Chu, right?"
Qin Yu was astonished in his heart. He was naturally aware of the fame of Zhe Chu, having browsed through many cultivation books. Like the Dragon Rock Lion, which was born of the Dragon Clan and the Fire Rock Lion, Zhe Chu also had dragon blood.
"So what if it is, you can tell my illusion just from that?" Yan Mo laughed.
But the Azure Dragon said, "Regardless of whether it is the Dragon Rock Lion, the Red Bird, or Zhe Chu, they are all divine beasts. Moreover, the Primordial Wilderness is a world of demon beasts. If you were not a divine beast, even if your power was great, it would be impossible to have three divine beasts submit to you."
Yan Mo nodded in agreement, "True, divine beasts are arrogant, and other demon beasts generally do not submit to them, no matter how powerful they are, unless the gap is extremely wide."
The Azure Dragon continued, "Therefore, I concluded you are a divine beast, and moreover, you said you control the outer bounds of the Primordial Wilderness. However, being merely at the edge, I think... you have not yet undergone the Ninety-nine Tribulations. If even an outer bound controller had overcome the Ninety-nine Tribulations, I can hardly imagine the strength of the inner circle experts."
"Clever, indeed I have not undergone the Ninety-nine Tribulations," said Yan Mo with a smile on his face.
"Since you are a Divine Beast and have not undergone the Ninety-nine Tribulations, of course you have the body of a man and the head of a beast, so I deduced you are using an Illusion Technique," the Azure Dragon stated confidently.
"Clap, clap!" Yan Mo smiled and clapped his hands, "Not bad, not bad, I didn’t expect you, Azure Dragon, to have quite the brain. Alright, seeing the expressions and looks on everyone’s faces, I’m sure there are many questions you want to ask. Feel free to ask."
With that, Yan Mo’s gaze swept across everyone.
The head of the Black Dragon was more ferocious than that of the Azure Dragon. Although Yan Mo was smiling with the corners of his mouth raised, it still somewhat alarmed the crowd. The Black Dragon was a Divine Beast, even stronger in attack power than the Azure Dragon, and this Black Dragon, Yan Mo, was even more powerful...
"Actually, my power isn’t that high, merely at the Middle Kongming Stage, still some distance from the Transcendence Tribulation Stage," Yan Mo said lightly, while gently stroking the Snow Cat, smiling as he spoke.
Middle Kongming Stage, and that’s not high?
Qin Yu and the others were momentarily speechless. A Divine Beast at the Middle Kongming Stage, Yan Mo was indeed one step above the Azure Dragon, who was at the Early Kongming Stage, and although the Black Dragon Yan Mo was at the Middle Kongming Stage, the actual difference wasn’t too vast. If everyone joined forces, they still had some confidence in being able to suppress him.
"Brother Yan Mo, I would like to ask you something," Yida said with a smile.
Yan Mo nodded and responded, "Purple-haired Prison King Yida, please ask."
Upon hearing this, everyone’s hearts trembled. Clearly, this controller of the periphery of the Primordial Wilderness, this mysterious Yan Mo, was very clear about the affairs of the Overseas Cultivation World. Even if he had never seen everyone before, he easily recognized them.
It was troubling when the enemy knew everything about oneself, while one’s own side knew absolutely nothing about the enemy.
Yida continued, "Just now, Brother Yan Mo said that you are the owner of the Ninth Jade Sword. Could it be that the Jade Sword in Brother Yan Mo’s hand is the Ninth Jade Sword? However, how does Brother Yan Mo know about the Nine Sword Immortal Mansion?"
Yida didn’t understand. Even if Yan Mo knew information about the Overseas Cultivation World, the Nine Sword Immortal Mansion was a secret only known to the leaders and high-ranking members of the Overseas Cultivation World. How could Yan Mo be aware of it?
Yan Mo answered with a laugh, "This matter is indeed very dangerous. Tens of thousands of miles from here lies my Black Dragon City. When I learned that you all had come to the Primordial Wilderness, as a controller of the periphery, I naturally had to host you all. Therefore, I ordered all the Demon Cultivators who had reached the Golden Core Stage to gather around Black Dragon City—within the Black Dragon Territory."
At this point, everyone finally understood.
Why all those formidable Demon Beasts had vanished—it turned out they were all under the command of Yan Mo, gathered in the Black Dragon Territory.
"Of course, later there was a little misunderstanding. Recently, a group of people, despite being warned, still wanted to enter the Black Dragon Territory. Ah, my subordinate Long Yan has a bit of a hot temper; he actually went ahead and killed those people. Although not heeding the warning was wrong, to kill like that was a bit too bloody, wasn’t it?" Yan Mo said, looking towards the Azure Dragon.
"My lord, I was brash," a deep voice resounded in the hall; everyone turned towards the source of the sound, the Dragon Rock Lion, which was as large as a small mountain.
The Azure Dragon said with a light smile, "Brother Yan Mo need not be too harsh on Long Yan. The fault indeed lies with my subordinates; they killed, and they killed. I, Azure Dragon, have no complaints." Though he said this, no one really believed it.
"Don’t change the subject," Yida said with a frown.
Yan Mo nodded, "Long ago, my men discovered the peculiarity of this place, the Deep Cave you entered. Did you think there was only one?"
The crowd was startled.
Could it be that there were more than one Deep Cave?
"Not one, but eight. The entire Ninth Jade Sword hiding place is laid out in a very mysterious formation. I initially led my men in through another Deep Cave and eventually arrived at an empty chamber, faced with the choice of nine paths. I decided to ’throw a stone to ask the way,’ and of the surviving men I sent nine, eight died, one lived. I then entered that Life Channel and afterward arrived here, obtaining the Ninth Jade Sword," Yan Mo said.
Yan Mo smiled and pointed behind everyone, "Gentlemen, look behind you, there happen to be eight Life Channels."
Eight Deep Caves naturally have eight chambers, seventy-two channels, including eight Life Channels.
"Oh? ’Throw a stone to ask the way,’ eight died, one lived?" Di Long spoke up, "Brother Yan Mo, you say one of your men survived. But... we also threw stones to ask the way, yet everyone who entered the nine channels died. Why is that?"
Yan Mo’s face broke into a smile, heavy with meaning.
"Entering the Life Channel, in theory, one should live, but that Cultivator died because... the Cultivator in that Life Channel was killed by my man," Yan Mo responded.
The expressions on everyone’s faces stiffened. At this moment, they finally understood why all who entered the nine channels died—it was Yan Mo who killed them. However, Yan Mo might have gone a bit too far, killing the one who entered the Life Channel. Wasn’t he pushing everyone towards a deadly path?
If it weren’t for the Jade Sword exploration method, they might have been forced to choose a channel to enter, which would have surely resulted in significant loss of their forces.
The Three-eyed Ancestor sneered a few times, "Yan Mo, aren’t you going too far? This is like using the Death Channel to kill us all. I can’t believe you’d dare say this out loud, let alone meet with us directly. Aren’t you afraid we’ll join forces against you?"
Azure Dragon, Yida, True Master Yan Xu, and others all turned their gaze towards Yan Mo.
Including other first-level powerhouses like Hou Fei, and the slightly weaker Qin Yu, Hei Yu, Di Long, Di Jian, Situ Xue, Jiao Jiu, True Master Huo Tian, and True Master Di Feng, all of these experts had attack power at the Kongming Stage level.
At this time, those from the Overseas Cultivation World were unquestionably standing together.
"Haha... So, thinking of making a move?" Yan Mo laughed heartily into the sky, without a hint of worry, "Correct, if you joined forces, indeed you could suppress me. But have you all lost your minds? Sitting here, do you really think I, Yan Mo, don’t have some method of dealing with you?"
Everyone’s pupils constricted.
"Gaga, Yan Mo, I’ve been puzzled. You killed the person who entered the Life Channel, leaving us in the dark about which one it is. If our people really die in the Death Channel, the obtained Jade Swords will naturally be left in the Death Channel. You have the Ninth Jade Sword, but do you really want to watch the other Jade Swords stay in the Death Channel? Can you bear to part with the Nine Sword Immortal Mansion?" Hou Fei questioned, his query rhetorical yet revealing the implication to all.
Obviously, Yan Mo must have a method to enter the Death Channel.
Yan Mo’s eyes shone with admiration as he looked at Hou Fei, "You monkey are quite clever, indeed... When I obtained the Ninth Jade Sword, I also gained control of this great formation. All the Life Channels and Death Channels are naturally under my command. Others can’t enter the Death Channel, but I can."
"Control the formation?"
Azure Dragon and the others exchanged glances, feeling a sense of unease.
Nobody knew what kind of power this grand formation possessed; after all, it was a formation left behind by an Immortal. If the formation contained some unique attacks, and Yan Mo relied on this mysterious formation to strike at them, then the situation could be dire.
"Hmph," Yan Mo’s face suddenly changed, turning cold, "Each of you wants to kill me and snatch the Jade Sword?"
Azure Dragon, True Master Yan Xu, Qin Yu and the others frowned. Moments ago, Yan Mo had been all smiles, but now his attitude had taken a drastic turn.
Yan Mo then broke into a smile again, "Ha-ha, scared you, did I? Let me tell you the truth, this grand hall is safe. Even if I control the formation, I cannot harm you within the hall... But do you really think I would be afraid of you?"
"Even though all of you combined might be able to suppress me, I could easily heavily injure some of you and then escape," Yan Mo said, posing it almost as a question.
A Middle Kongming Stage Divine Beast, fighting fiercely at the risk of grave injury to kill some of them before escaping—this was indeed quite possible. If Yan Mo were to fight desperately, he could even bring everyone down with him.
Yan Mo went on with a smile, "Don’t forget one of my identities. I am merely the Controller of the outer areas of Primordial Wilderness. You should know, within the Primordial Wilderness, aside from the Outer Controllers, there are Inner Controllers and even Core Controllers!"
At this moment, everyone became more cautious.
"The Inner Controllers are Great Success Stage Divine Beasts," Yan Mo’s words made everyone’s complexion change dramatically. Great Success Stage, and Divine Beasts at that? That was even more formidable than a first or second-level Heavenly Immortal, surpassing Fourth and Fifth Tribulation Independent Demons.
Yan Mo continued, "And at the core of Primordial Wilderness, it’s almost entirely Independent Demons. The Core Controller is also the supreme ruler of the entire Primordial Wilderness. Legend has it that... it is a Twelfth Tribulation Independent Demon. Unfortunately, that remains a legend, for with my status, I’ve only ever seen an Inner Controller once."
Everyone was left dumbfounded.
Qin Yu was also extremely shocked. The Chaotic Star Sea had Independent Immortals, Independent Demons, and Independent Magicians, but who could have imagined the core of Primordial Wilderness would also have a great number of Independent Demons, even possibly one as strong as a Twelfth Tribulation Independent Demon? Although it was a legend, even if there weren’t Twelfth Tribulation ones, there must be Tenth or Eighth Tribulation, right?
Just a few Independent Demons emerging from the core could crush everyone as easily as crushing ants.
Yan Mo proceeded, "My friends, it’s better for us to talk calmly. Let’s acquire the Nine Sword Immortal Mansion together. But if you go too far, I won’t have any choice. I, Yan Mo, treat people well; I won’t attack you. I will just present the Ninth Jade Sword and the Jade Scroll from the Black Jade Box to an Inner Controller. I believe a Great Success Stage Divine Beast will be very pleased indeed."
Everyone’s faces changed dramatically.
Negotiating with Yan Mo to open the Immortal Mansion was one thing, but if the Ninth Jade Sword fell into the hands of that Inner Controller—a Great Success Stage Divine Beast—someone of such high mastery would likely not bother negotiating and would simply kill them all to take the other eight Jade Swords. It was clear that Yan Mo was making a threat.
"I, Yan Mo, am known for treating others with sincerity and cordiality. Isn’t that right, Little Xue?" Yan Mo stroked the Snow Cat as he spoke.
"Meow~~" The Snow Cat let out a gentle cry that continued to echo throughout the grand hall.
(End of Chapter one, ah, the ninth volume, Nine Sword Immortal Mansion starts. Four days in a month, roughly taking a break every seven days, I’ll take a day off today... just updating one Chapter...)
(To be continued, for further information, please log in to WWW.CMFU.COM, with more Chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
