Chapter 257 - Primordial Ominous Artifact
Boom!
A horrifyingly baleful aura burst from Mu Chen’s body. His eyes instantly turned bloodshot as an overwhelming bloodlust surged from the depths of his heart and tried to overtake his rational mind.
However, Mu Chen’s will stayed steady and firm. He could still cling to consciousness, even in such a situation. He immediately circulated the Great Pagoda Art, using his Spiritual Energy to keep the invading baleful aura at bay. He knew that if his mind gave in to the baleful aura, then he’d become nothing more than a murderous puppet.
Damn it!
His heart roared angrily as he desperately tried to resist the baleful aura’s invasion.
Su Xuan and the others tried to step in when they noticed Mu Chen’s predicament. However, they stopped in shock when they saw his body begin to shake uncontrollably and his eyes turn scarlet-red.
“Mu Chen, what’s going on?” Su Ling’er anxiously cried.
“What a heavy baleful aura!” Su Xuan’s charming face changed as she continued, “Could this aura have invaded him while he was in the Spirit Treasury?”
“What should we do now?” Guo Xiong urgently asked. This baleful aura was simply too terrifying — even the White Dragon Sovereign’s personally crafted dimension couldn’t contain it. And Mu Chen had been infected. Didn’t this spell disaster for him?
“We should get out of here first.” Su Xuan said through her teeth. Of all times for something to happen, something just had go wrong now. And that something had happened to Mu Chen. Their fighting strength would be down, and the conditions of their present location were extremely discouraging. After all, Mu Chen had managed to steal the white spiritual pearl. If they stayed here, then they’d definitely attract more unwanted attention.
“Yes!”
Li Qing and the other three quickly nodded, then hauled Mu Chen with them as they burst out of the White Dragon Hillock at lightning speed.
Far away on a mountain peak, Bai Xuan materialised. His eyes were dark as he looked in the direction that Mu Chen’s party had disappeared to.
Underneath the surface, Bai Xuan was furious. If that peculiar black demonic pillar had been his objective, then he’d failed his mission. And now that the Spirit Treasury had been shattered, any traces of the black demonic pillar had been lost with it. He didn’t even know how to start searching.
Given the circumstances, Bai Xuan had failed his mission. If he returned empty-handed, then he’d be severely punished. He had to make up for this failure, somehow. Maybe, if he killed Mu Chen and his party, and stole the White Dragon Spiritual Pearl, then he might be able to redeem himself slightly.
At the very least, they’d spare his life. Otherwise, he might find his head separated from his shoulders, even if his father was an Elder of the Demonic Dragon Palace.
“Trying to leave? What a pipe dream!”
He turned into a streak of rainbow light and chased after them.
Inside Mu Chen’s body, the red baleful aura was taking down his defenses, one after another. It charged onwards, devastating anything Mu Chen could throw at it as it invaded his body even further and evaded his will.
Liiiiii!
But just as Mu Chen was about to collapse from the aura’s rampage, a clear screech tore through his body. The young man instantly felt relieved upon hearing the sound — the Nine Netherbird was finally moving.
Boom!
Black flames swept from Mu Chen’s aura sea and surged like tidal waves. They clashed with the scarlet aura and started devouring each other like mad animals.
The fear of being possessed finally lifted a little.
But before Mu Chen could sigh in relief, the Nine Netherbird spoke in a grave voice. “Be careful. This demonic pillar isn’t as simple as you think it is. In my current state, even I cannot withstand it.”
“What?!” Mu Chen’s heart received a jolt. Even the Nine Netherbird couldn’t defeat that strange demonic pillar? Just what was that thing?!
“If I’ve guessed correctly, this demonic pillar is an extremely powerful Primordial Ominous Artifact. Even a Sovereign expert wouldn’t be able to suppress it!” the Nine Netherbird thought to him. There was an unconcealable fear in its voice.
“A Primordial Ominous Artifact?”
Mu Chen had no reaction to the phrase — it was clearly the first time he’d ever heard of it. Not that it mattered. His situation still wasn’t any better.
“Then what do we do?” Mu Chen asked with a bitter smile. If the Nine Netherbird couldn’t even defeat this Primordial Ominous Artifact, then wouldn’t he end up losing control of his body to it?
The Nine Netherbird made a long pause. “Perhaps you can lure this Primordial Ominous Artifact into your aura sea.”
“What?” Mu Chen was startled. That was the entire reason he’d been fighting it so desperately. And now the Nine Netherbird actually wanted him to let it into his aura sea? Once this pillar took over that place, Mu Chen would be resigned to eternal damnation.
“If I was at full strength, I might’ve been able to fight it,” the Nine Netherbird continued. “Besides, isn’t there something else inside your body, aside from myself?”
Mu Chen was confused for a moment before he realised what the Nine Netherbird was talking about. “Are you talking about that mysterious black paper?”
“Yes.”
“What is that black paper?” Mu Chen bitterly smiled. Why did so many unknown things have a tendency of piling up inside of him? He still didn’t know how to use that mysterious piece of black paper.
“That black paper contains ancient ripples of energy. It seems to be the Primordial God Scripture, though an incomplete copy,” the Nine Netherbird explained.
“What’s the Primordial God Scripture?” Mu Chen was blankly asked.
“It’s something similar to a Deity Tier Spiritual Art, except far more powerful. Ancient records describe its divine abilities as heaven-defying. Whenever a Primordial God Scripture appeared, forget ordinary Sovereigns, even Earth and Heavenly Sovereigns would flock to it. The Primordial God Scripture could help them take an even bigger step in their path of cultivation.”
Mu Chen was stunned. So even Sovereign experts were attracted? He never imagined that this mysterious piece of black paper would have such a rich history. Pity that it was incomplete.
“Remember the mandala flower in your aura sea? That’s the Divine Seal Array. If you lure the Primordial Ominous Artifact into your aura sea, you can use that flower to suppress it.”
Mu Chen turned his thoughts towards his aura sea, towards the dark purple mandala flower quietly floating above a sheet of black. He couldn’t feel any shocking ripples being given off from it.
But Mu Chen wasn’t fooled; he’d already experienced how powerful the mandala flower could be. Back when the Nine Netherbird tried to take over his body, it’d been suppressed and sealed by this very same flower.
“Then let's give it a try.”
Mu Chen wasn’t an indecisive kind of person. The Primordial Ominous Artifact was so strong that even the Nine Netherbird couldn’t contend against it, so he had no choice but to rely on his hidden trump card. True, there were some risks involved, but it was still better than idly sitting by and waiting for death to come.
“Huuuuu.”
Now that Mu Chen had decided on his course of action, he cut off all thoughts of hesitation. He turned his mind and all of his Spiritual Energy — including the efforts he’d been spending to keep the baleful aura at bay — back into his aura sea. The Nine Netherbird’s majestic black flames also rapidly receded.
Boom!
The moment he and his bird backed off, the baleful aura frantically invaded. The black demonic pillar buzzed as it hovered at the heart of the baleful aura. Then, as Mu Chen nervously watched, it turned into a streak of black light and charged into his aura sea, leaving a gust of baleful wind in its wake.
Shhhhuuuu!
The wind was blowing out in the real world. Su Xuan and the others were moving as fast as they could while Guo Xiong and Li Qing carried the seemingly-unconscious Mu Chen. His entire body was flushed red and his muscles were tightly wound.
“Hurry! We can brainstorm ways to expel the baleful aura from him, after we leave the White Dragon Hillocks,” Su Xuan urged as she kept looking over her shoulder. She couldn’t see anyone chasing after them, but she still felt uneasy for some reason.
Did Bai Xuan really let them off, just like that?
A thought flashed through her mind and her face drastically changed. “Careful!”
Boom!
A scarlet lightning burst from the top of a mountain in front, and shot towards Su Ling’er.
Su Xuan raised her jade hands and an azure wall of water surged from the Dense Water Spiritual Pearl.
Bang!
The scarlet blow smashed into the wave and dispersed powerful ripples of Spiritual Energy and water. Steam rose from the energy of the impact.
The party drew to a halt as they turned towards the mountain with ugly expressions on their faces. A fiendish, god-like figure stood upon that peak, holding a scarlet spear, and staring down at them with annoyance.
“It’s Bai Xuan!” Guo Xiong cried. So he’d chased after them. As expected.
“I said it already. None of you brats are escaping today.” Bai Xuan announced as he looked down on Su Xuan’s party. Their heartbeats sped up as they saw the raw bloodlust in his eyes.
“Big Sister, what do we do now?” Su Ling’er anxiously asked. Bai Xuan was too powerful for them to handle. On top of that, one of their main fighters was in a coma. They were completely at a disadvantage.
Li Qing’s beautiful eyes coldly glared back at Bai Xuan. “Ling’er, you take Mu Chen to a safe location. Guo Xiong and I will aid your sister.”
There was no way Su Xuan could win against Bai Xuan. But Li Qing and Guo Xiong might be able to take some of the pressure off her shoulders.
Su Ling’er’s charming face was filled with anxiety. She knew that they couldn’t change their situation, even if the three of them worked together.
Su Xuan sighed in a low voice. “We’ll do our best to delay Bai Xuan. If you can, you should take Mu Chen with you and escape ahead of us.”
“Big Sister!” Su Ling’er was startled.
“Stop. We don’t have any other options.” Su Xuan’s sweet-tempered expression turned cold. It was one expression she almost never made.
Su Ling’er bit her rosy lips and nodded, even though her eyes were brimming with tears. Finally, she held onto Mu Chen and retreated, though she briefly landed on a faraway mountain and nervously looked back at the confrontation.
Bai Xuan simply watched her go. Then, he raised his blood-red spear and stomped a foot. The entire mountain shook.
At last, he spoke in a voice that seemed to contain all the bloodlust between heaven and earth. “Prepare your last words. Then, prepare to die!”