Chapter 99 – Second Layer of the Spirit-Destroying Divine Art
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Master Shadow
Seeing that Xiao Yun had also started taking the spirit energy, the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow looked incredibly anxious, and hurriedly absorbed the spirit energy as fast as it could. After feeling the Heaven-Devouring Tower’s might, it couldn’t help but frown.
“Lil Yun, stop stealing from me!” the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow yelled. In order to defeat this flame serpent, it had used up much of its strength!!
However, Xiao Yun’s eyes were narrowed and his mind was in a wondrous state. Within his sea of consciousness, Xiao Yun could feel his spirit energy continuously growing, as if it was going to make a breakthrough.
Xiao Yun had long since reached the complete stage of the First Layer of the Spirit-Destroying Divine Art, but had not been able to break through. Now, with the flame serpent’s pure spirit energy, Xiao Yun felt his mind tremble, and his spirit energy became incredibly clear and bright. A feeling that he could see and control everything in the world appeared within his heart.
“The Second Layer of the Spirit-Destroying Divine Art!” Xiao Yun’s eyes suddenly opened, his aura completely changing. Now, anyone who looked into Xiao Yun’s eyes would feel as if they were about to fall into a deep sea of stars.
Xiao Yun’s spirit energy was now at a completely different level and had become many times more powerful. He deeply breathed in and muttered, “The Second Layer of the Spirit-Destroying Divine Art is indeed quite profound; my entire mind has become incredibly clear and refreshed. Many of the things that I was confused before have become apparent to me.”
Xiao Yun could also feel that he could now control the Heaven-Devouring Tower with greater ease. Under his mind’s control, the runes on the Heaven-Devouring Tower flashed, causing the it’ aura to become even stronger.
Whoosh!
The Heaven-Devouring Tower seemed as if it was going to devour everything within the heavens and the earth, and even caused the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow’s vortex to twist and turn.
“What the h.e.l.l?” Seeing that Xiao Yun’s Heaven-Devouring Tower was stealing the flame serpent’s remnant consciousness, the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow almost started to cry and couldn’t help but yell out, “Lil Yun, have some mercy, alright? This Lord spent a great effort in helping you take down this flame serpent; how can you do this to me?”
Seeing how wronged the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow looked, Xiao Yun chuckled, feeling slightly guilty. It was just that this spirit energy was much too useful to him. If he continued to make breakthroughs in the Spirit-Destroying Divine Art, his strength would increase greatly, and he might even be able to undo the seal on the second level of the Heaven-Devouring Tower. Then, he would obtain yet another trump card!
“Lil Yun, hurry and stop. This flame serpent’s remnant consciousness is very important to me. Once I regain my strength, even Essence Core realm cultivators will be nothing to me. If we keep splitting this spirit energy, it won’t bring much benefit to either of us.” The Heaven-Devouring Sparrow’s tone became incredibly anxious as it almost started to plead with Xiao Yun.
Xiao Yun smiled and suddenly said, “Alright, since this spirit energy is useful to you, I’ll let you have it.” Following this, he called back the Heaven-Devouring Tower and did not continue to absorb the spirit energy.
The Heaven-Devouring Sparrow relaxed, and felt a warmth within its heart. “Alright, after this Lord has recovered his strength again, I won’t forget you. We’ll sweep across the lands unhindered, and even the Heavenly Capital Domain will be beneath our feet.” After saying this, it continued controlling its formation to absorb the spirit energy.
This flame serpent was very strong, and was superior to even Essence Core realm cultivators. Even though it had died, the spirit energy it had left behind was still quite shocking. Because it had been sealed in the formation when it had died, its remnant consciousness did not dissipate into the air after exploding.
The Heaven-Devouring Sparrow continuously absorbed the spirit energy, becoming stronger and stronger as its body became more and more corporeal. Soon, the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow’s aura had grown much stronger as well.
Before, it was only comparable to an early stage True Essence realm cultivator. Its strength then rose to that of a middle stage True Essence realm cultivator, then finally to that of a late stage True Essence realm cultivator. This speed caused Xiao Yun to feel deeply shocked.
Finally, after the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow could not absorb any more spirit energy, it started to condense the spirit energy. After being covered with runes, a small, fiery snake the size of a fist floated in the air.
“What’s this?” Xiao Yun felt quite focused, confused as to what the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow was doing.
“This is the flame serpent demonic spirit’s essence,” the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow said. “Even though it has died, its consciousness has not completely dissipated, so I gathered it. This thing is more or less a soul essence, which you can use to refine a Soul Heaven Pill.”
“Soul Heaven Pill?” Xiao Yun asked as he narrowed his eyes. “In that case, we’re only missing Violet Orchid Marrow.”
“Mm,” the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow replied. “As long as you can refine a Soul Heaven Pill, I’ll be able to return to the Essence Core realm in one go.”
“Oh?” Hearing this, Xiao Yun’s eyes lit up. After seeing Qiu Xuan Feng’s strength, he knew that he was far too weak. If the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow could gain Essence Core realm strength, he would no longer be so defenceless against Essence Core realm cultivators. This was an excellent piece of news to him.
“That’s why I was willing to stay behind and go all out against this flame serpent,” the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow said. It was just that it had not expected Qiu Xuan Feng to be so cowardly. The mighty Essence Core realm cultivator did not dare to fight to the death, and had instead chosen to run. Otherwise, they would have both been heavily injured, making them much easier to take down.
Thinking back to the battle before, Xiao Yun couldn’t help but marvel – if it wasn’t for the snow-white little beast, both him and the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow most likely would have died.
“Yiya!”
The snow-white little beast looked embarra.s.sed, narrowing its eyes, as if it was shy from being looked at like this.
“I wonder if there are any other secrets hidden here,” Xiao Yun muttered as he stroked the little beast.
The little snow-white beast’s eyes lit up and it rushed off. In just a breath’s time, the little beast reached the altar ahead of them.
“What’s it doing?” Xiao Yun wondered.
“This fellow’s not ordinary at all!” The Heaven-Devouring Sparrow exclaimed with a curious expression. “Could it really be related to that flame serpent somehow?” Thinking back to the flame serpent’s words, it couldn’t help but wonder.
Buzz!
By now, the little snow-white beast had arrived at the altar. It stared with hazy eyes, looking up at the gigantic cauldron at the top of the altar. As it waved its little paws, the gigantic cauldron flashed with runes of light, then turned into a small cauldron and floated down.
“Could it really have been this fellow that controlled the flame serpent?” Xiao Yun wondered alone in shock. This little beast was simply too extraordinary – it could easily control that gigantic cauldron, despite there being restrictions on it!
“This little fellow’s situation is quite strange,” the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow said. “I suspect that it went through nirvana rebirth and forgot its past. That’s why it’s so confused about everything – otherwise, how could that flame serpent have had an opportunity to attack?”
“Nirvana rebirth?” Xiao Yun asked, feeling quite confused.
“There are different types of nirvana rebirth,” the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow explained. “Some experts go through nirvana rebirth to become stronger. For example, if a member of the legendary Phoenix Clan goes through nirvana rebirth, they’ll become a sovereign of the heavens and earth. There are others who, because they injured their foundations and cannot advance, decide to start again. This sort of nirvana rebirth will cause their memories to be sealed and forgotten. This little fellow should be the latter.”
Xiao Yun nodded, feeling that what the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow said made sense. The flame serpent’s words and actions evidenced this.
“Yiya!”
At this moment, the little snow-white beast ran over, holding the cauldron.
This cauldron was very small, and was only about 3 fingers long. In fact, it looked more like a wine goblet, but it gave off extremely mysterious ripples. What’s more, those ripples were as boundless as a sea and gave off a holy aura.
“This is a supreme treasure!” The Heaven-Devouring Sparrow’s eyes lit up as it stared at the little cauldron. Upon inspection, Xiao Yun found that there were all sorts of inscriptions and runes on the little cauldron, as well as a b.e.s.t.i.a.l carving. The beast had a qilin’s body, a pair of wings on its back, a head of a dragon, as well as a single horn. There were 5-coloured scales on its body, as well as a 5-coloured tail, which gave off a resplendent light.
What was even more shocking was that under that beast’s feet was a 5-coloured cloud, making it look like a divine beast with an inviolable aura. The powerful aura that came out from it caused Xiao Yun’s spirit to tremble.
Buzz!
Xiao Yun’s mind almost collapsed and he hurriedly withdrew his spirit energy.
“Could it be a legendary Cloud Beast?” the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow muttered with a serious look. “From the looks of it, it seems to be a king among Cloud Beasts. The carvings on this cauldron are not ordinary at all.” After talking to itself, it looked at the snow-white little beast in confusion.
“Yiya!”
The snow-white little beast waved its paws at the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow as it called out. From the looks of it, it was saying that this cauldron belonged to it. The little beast then tightly hugged the cauldron, looking as if it was trying to protect it from a thief. Seeing the snow-white little beast’s charmingly naïve actions, Xiao Yun couldn’t help but smile.
Xiao Yun looked around and said, “We’ll rest and recuperate for a bit before leaving. How does that sound?”
“Although there are Fire Veins here, it’s a pity that most of the Fire Essence Qi was absorbed by the formation. There’s not much point staying here anymore,” the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow said and nodded. Even though it required Fire Essence Qi to create True Essence, normal Fire Essence Qi wasn’t much use to it – only Fire vital essence would be useful.
Following this, Xiao Yun and the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow started to heal their injuries. As Xiao Yun did this, he also absorbed Fire Essence Qi. As of now, his Martial Spirit needed this sort of Essence Qi, so he did his best to absorb as much as possible.
Beside them, the snow-white little beast would occasionally take out the little cauldron, open the cover and start to drink out of it. There seemed to be some sort of liquid inside of it which made the little fellow seem incredibly intoxicated.
“There’s Fire vital essence inside.” After recuperating for a bit, the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow suddenly realised what was inside the cauldron.
Who knew just how much Fire vital essence was gathered in that cauldron? In fact, almost all of the Fire vital essence from the surrounding Fire Veins was gathered in there.
“Yiya!” The snow-white little beast looked at the Heaven-Devouring Sparrow warily, and hurriedly hugged the cauldron.
“What a stingy little fellow.” The Heaven-Devouring Sparrow felt quite speechless. Why was this little fellow always on its guard against it as if it was a thief? Am I really that bad?
Xiao Yun also felt quite surprised. However, upon seeing how the snow-white little beast was acting, he did not think about taking the cauldron.
This little fellow had helped him quite a few times and had a loyal personality. If he tried to take its things, he would be far too shameless.
If he did not treat it sincerely, how could he expect it to treat him sincerely?
“Let’s go,” Xiao Yun said as he smiled.
Swish!
Hearing this, the snow-white little beast’s body came over to Xiao Yun in a flash.
“Yiya!”
It held the cauldron up, gesturing with its paws, as if it wanted Xiao Yun to taste the Fire vital essence within it.