The Stars Beyond

Chapter 267: Slaying An Immortal

The Huang family, with their vast business empire, owned a sizeable estate where the ancestral temple was located in a secluded area, surrounded by numerous ancient trees. Now, a flying craft approached, with Wang Xuan sitting inside, coldly overlooking this land endowed with a “Celestial Destiny,” ready to hunt a celestial being.

He didn’t need to be this close; even from a distance, the craft could easily destroy the Huang family’s ancestral temple. His main concern was the possibility of fragmented souls escaping. While physical attacks were feasible, spiritual incarnations fleeing would evade detection by modern weaponry, necessitating Wang Xuan's personal supervision.

Having turned hostile, he was now unrestrained. Even if it meant standing against beings from behind the great curtain and erupting in intense conflict with the transcendent beings, he was ready to strike back. Others wanted to use him as a "pathway" for their return, stepping over his corpse; what more was there to care about? He was prepared for a fierce counterattack.

Should the transcendent beings cross over and seek vengeance, he was ready to fight to the death, to see who would unleash greater havoc.

...

At Jinding Mountain, the vast curtain shrouded the area in obscurity. The transcendent beings were silent, exuding dense celestial matter, fixing their gaze on the "human channel" in the mortal world. Their long-held wish was about to be fulfilled; they were on the verge of returning to the mortal realm, becoming corporeal immortals in reality.

"There's some problem. I saw the shadow of the inner realm, but it's always impossible to open it. Is it because his inner realm is too special?" A woman’s voice emanated from within Wang Xuan, having attempted several times to no avail.

Inside Wang Xuan, five beings had already crossed over, using his flesh as a vessel, trying to forcibly penetrate the pathway to the inner realm.

"His flesh is fine, but there seems to be something wrong with the inner realm," someone spoke up.

Wang Xuan remained expressionless, calm and unflustered. Yet, he was secretly marvelling at how ancient treasures were truly extraordinary, having deceived even the transcendent beings.

Naturally, this wasn't Wang Xuan's real body, but it was a vivid, exact replica of him, right down to the flowing blood which showed no sign of being anything but real, complete with dissipating supermatter and life force. Shortly after leaving the Huang family's ancestral temple, Wang Xuan's spirit had left his body to inspect himself with his spiritual eye, discovering vague rune marks.

At that time, he already had some ideas but didn't immediately blacklist Huang Kun. Perhaps Huang had been wary of Wang Xuan coveting the thread capable of piercing the higher spiritual realm, so he took precautions. After all, any item that could penetrate the higher spiritual world was exceedingly valuable and not easily lost.

Wang Xuan knew he had to remove the marks, but he didn't want to act too close to the Huang family, fearing it would alert Huang Kun. He then went to Wu Yin's family to extend the lives of Wu Chenglin and others. In the Wu family, he obtained a wooden figure, which, upon close examination, he realized was an extraordinary object, akin to a puppet.

As his research deepened, he discovered it was far more astonishing than a mere puppet, capable of the "Li Dai Tao Jiang" trick. Especially during his last examination at the Wu family, he accidentally activated it, fully revealing the wonder of this "artifact." Another him appeared, a wooden figure come to life, standing beside him, indistinguishable from the real Wang Xuan.

Understanding its true nature, he sighed regretfully. Once activated, this miraculous object could only be used for seven days, with no way to stop it midway. He felt he had unwittingly squandered an opportunity to maximize the artifact's potential, not using it where it mattered most.

It was then that he noticed the secretive rune marks on his real body transferring to the avatar. His spiritual eye saw it all clearly. After the wooden figure was activated, it would only exist for seven days, so Wang Xuan didn't bother removing the marks from it.

"A divine object, a rare treasure, such a pity to use it up like this," Wang Xuan's real body shook his head. However, using it against the transcendent beings wasn't a total loss. At least now, the avatar already hosted five beings, all of whom would be sacrificial villains.

Soon, a sixth being appeared in the wooden figure. They tried again to open the vaguely visible inner realm, but... still failed.

This was absurd. They were beings saturated with the essence of the immortal path, yet unable to open the inner realm of a lower-tier individual – it made no sense. Some considered invading Wang Xuan's spiritual core, a step they initially didn't want to take, but they were out of options.

Would they really need to call upon the supreme beings to intervene?

"Would you just cooperate?!" Huang Kun, unable to bear it anymore, grabbed Wang Xuan's collar, winding up to slap him.

"Degrade me, and I'd rather die!" Wang Xuan declared, his voice calm yet resolute.

Huang Kun's hand froze mid-air, holding Wang Xuan's collar, his other hand drawn back for the slap but hesitating to strike.

Inside Wang Xuan, the six beings sneered. Die? Did he really think he could? They were convinced Wang Xuan had no chance of dying by his own will.

Several of them proceeded to invade his spirit. They were cautious; unless absolutely necessary, they didn't want to do this. Only triggering a profound spiritual sensation could open the inner realm, a space intimately connected with the spiritual domain. If they exerted too much force and damaged the host's spirit, they would sever the connection to this special inner realm.

Yet, in a split second, they were dumbfounded. Why couldn't they capture that glow of spirit? It felt distant, elusive, like a mirage they couldn't approach.

Meanwhile, Wang Xuan, in defiance, proclaimed, "Better dead than without freedom!"

"You die and show me, then," Huang Kun mocked disdainfully. "You can neither live nor die as you wish!"

However, his expression froze mid-sentence. Wang Xuan's bloodied hand, pressed against the veil and the fishing line, snapped off with a crisp sound and exploded into flames, blood and bone burning away.

......

Huang Kun's face turned ashen, a mix of paleness and fear. How had Wang Xuan managed that?

With the hand severed, the wooden figure, once possessing Wang Xuan's extraordinary flesh, seemed different now. It still retained supernatural attributes but lost the unique traits of a human conduit.

Screams erupted from within the wooden figure as the six beings were corroded by the ancient covenant. The shadow of the inner realm vanished; not only was it inaccessible, but it was also now completely invisible, like a mirage beyond reach.

"You?!" In a frantic attempt to regain control, Huang Kun grabbed Wang Xuan's other arm, pressing it towards the veil. But that arm, too, burst off, spraying blood.

...

In Yu City, at the Huang family ancestral shrine, a terrifying energy beam descended from the sky, piercing through the shrine and striking directly at the so-called 'immortal life' – the true bone.

The weapon Wang Xuan prepared for his celestial hunt was, naturally, immensely powerful, fitting for a warship.

Crack! The celestial bone split open.

Boom! One beam after another struck, not thick but terrifyingly potent. Each strike accurately hit the bone.

The celestial bone shattered, its essence, the so-called 'immortal life,' exploded, releasing a profusion of life-energizing substances that burst forth like a downpour, forming an umbrella-shaped glow, somewhat reminiscent of a mushroom cloud.

A faint shadow rushed out, invisible to ordinary eyes but not to Wang Xuan's spiritual vision. He sat vigilantly in the flying craft, waiting for this moment. And then he struck again.

Boom!

The fragment of the soul hit by the attack exploded into nothingness.

Quickly, the spiritual entity attempted to reform, but the essential super-material within it had been thoroughly scattered by the attack.

Wang Xuan, utterly indifferent, looked down from above, holding a dark red divine lamp. He opened the hatch and unleashed a terrifying red beam from the lamp, striking the fading shadow.

He hadn't needed to use the God-Slaying Banner, for the ancient lamp in his hand was sufficient. Originally capable of targeting the spirit, its potency was further enhanced with a ball of divine fire, extending its effectiveness beyond the spiritual realm.

Already weakened, the shadow was instantly dispersed by the attack. Wang Xuan then fired two more red beams, the crimson arrows piercing through and utterly eradicating the soul fragments.

"Celestial beings, no more than this!" he declared coldly, commanding the flying craft to ascend.

On Gold Peak Mountain, Huang Kun let out a wretched scream, clutching his head as if his life's imprint had been shattered. His celestial life – his very foundation for returning to the mortal world – was destroyed!

"My true bone, my Dao foundation, the traces of my return to the mortal world, all destroyed!" He howled in fury, now like a rootless weed, bereft of any future.

Simultaneously, he felt a terrifying weakness, as if a plant had been severed at the root.

Behind the veil, the previously silent and terrifying figures, akin to innate demons, changed their expressions. They were shocked and unsettled by the abnormal events unfolding outside. Huang Kun, responsible for guiding them back, had his celestial foundation severed.

In front of the veil, the wooden figure, still in the form of Wang Xuan, now showed cracks and no longer bled. Instead, it emanated celestial light.

Inside, six entities struggled against the Old Covenant, emitting roars of despair and anger. The body was no longer special; it was just like any other transcendent being, no longer a humanoid pathway for celestial beings.

This ghastly scene caused the pupils of the celestial beings to constrict and even the suffering Huang Kun to feel a chilling terror. Everything had turned into a deadly trap, a hopeless situation.

Wang Xuan returned to the true warship, leaving Yu City. The metallic ship, with its oppressive presence, swept across the sky.

Behind the veil, the celestial being covered entirely in black-gold armor moved for the first time. He raised his head, staring towards the end of the sky where Wang Xuan had appeared in the cold warship.

At this moment, Wang Xuan's expression was utterly indifferent as he gazed at the obscure veil and the terrifying figures behind it. He did not approach but observed the celestial beings from afar.

"Losing the celestial life yet still living? Open fire!" Wang Xuan commanded coldly.

The middle-aged man from the Greyblood Organization shuddered upon hearing this, his scalp tingling and his body trembling as if electrified. Attack the celestial beings? The thought alone sent shivers down his spine.

Sitting there motionless, Wang Xuan's demeanor was chilling, casting him in the eyes of the middle-aged man as a ruthless demon god.

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