Early Stage Nascent Soul?

No, he had only reached the pseudo-Early Nascent Soul stage.

Feng Yudie watched the demonic cultivator before her with vigilance, cold sweat still forming on her forehead.

At the moment, she had no time to think about why a demonic cultivator with such high cultivation level and identity would appear in the region managed by the righteous Sect cultivator.

The Poison Gu Sect was one of the five demonic sects of the Eastern Region, and the status of its Grand Elder was extraordinary.

For her current state, there was no way she could defend against him.

『Yudie, don’t just stand there! Run!!』

Xiaotian urged her urgently.

However, Feng Yudie knew that she had no chance of escaping.

Her flight speed was indeed fast, and ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t be able to catch up. But what stood before her was a pseudo-early Nascent Soul stage demonic cultivator.

And if she were to escape, she would inevitably have her back turned to him, making her even more vulnerable.

What should she do?

Feng Yudie racked her brains for an escape plan. However, in the next moment, she suddenly felt a piercing pain in her chest, causing her to stagger a few steps and kneel down.

“Cough… cough—”

『Ah?!』 Xiaotian saw her reaction and quickly floated over. 『Yudie, what’s wrong with you?』

The man smiled as he approached Feng Yudie. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder and softly said, “Young lady, don’t get agitated. The angrier you become, the more restless the Gu worms inside your body will be, and the more pain you’ll feel.”

“Gu… Gu worms?” Feng Yudie clutched her throat and struggled to raise her head to look at him. “When… when did this happen?”

Hot blood surged uncontrollably from her mouth.

But the man’s smile grew even wider as he saw her distress. He comforted her, “Listen to me, relax, and the pain will subside. Don’t resist, just let yourself fall asleep peacefully.”

At this moment, the man’s voice sounded ethereal and holy in Feng Yudie’s ears.

She felt her consciousness being eroded by the man’s voice, but she was too preoccupied to contemplate what might happen next.

『Yudie!! Yudie!! Stay awake! The Gu worms are devouring your consciousness. Hold on a little longer! It’ll be alright soon!!』

Xiaotian’s voice echoed in her ears, but she was starting to struggle to understand it.

Her eyelids slowly closed.

Feng Yudie’s entire body slumped forward, losing all strength.

The man crouched down in front of her and quickly reached out to steady her.

“I thought the Qi Refining peak cultivator from a few days ago would be my biggest gain, but I didn’t expect to encounter a rare talent with Heavenly Spiritual Roots in this remote area. What great luck.”

Chuckling lightly, the man effortlessly picked up Feng Yudie as if she were a bundle and squeezed her against his waist. He then summoned his flying sword, preparing to leave.

However, just as he was about to step onto the flying sword and take off…

Suddenly, the man’s spiritual sense detected that the Gu worms he had infused into Feng Yudie seemed to have encountered something and were dying.

“What?”

Perplexed, he looked at Feng Yudie still clinging to his waist.

His Gu worms were something even early Core Formation cultivators might find difficult to eliminate. How could this Qi Refining stage girl possibly counteract his Gu worms?

After a moment of contemplation, the man swiftly retrieved a small dagger from his storage pouch, preparing to sever Feng Yudie’s meridians first.

However, just as the tip of the dagger was about to touch Feng Yudie’s back, a blinding golden light erupted from her chest.

Boom—

Before the man could react, he was sent flying by the burst of golden light.

A golden dragon suddenly appeared around Feng Yudie, using its tail to gently hold her in place, while glaring at the man with fierce eyes.

『You insignificant being』

Seeing the golden dragon, the man’s pupils slightly dilated.

‘Could this young girl actually be related to the Immortal Emperor?’

His eyes showed surprise, followed by a growing excitement.

His purpose in coming here was originally to find a young cultivator with exceptional spiritual roots and take them back to nurture as a human cauldron.

During a previous wedding banquet, when he met the young girl who had already reached the Qi Refining Peak at such a young age, he already felt that his journey was not in vain. Having traveled thousands of miles, as long as he could capture that girl and refine her as a human cauldron, he might be able to break through and become a Nascent Soul demonic cultivator.

When he encountered the girl with a Heavenly Spiritual Root in front of him, his joy was even greater.

And now that he knew this Heavenly Spiritual Roots girl was the descendant of an Immortal Emperor, this journey could no longer be considered in vain. It could even be said to be a great opportunity.

As long as he takes this girl back to the Poison Gu Sect and hands her over to the Sect Master, he would no longer have to worry about elixirs and spiritual herbs in the future. Moreover, with this girl, the Poison Gu Sect might even be able to take over the entire Eastern Region from the other 4 demonic Sect.

“Hehe…”

The man sneered, no longer playful, and waved his hand to summon the three High-Class Magical Tool he possessed.

“Let me weigh the Emperor’s dragon body and see how much you’re worth.”

…

Above the bamboo forest, golden thunder roared, and flames continued to blaze.

Wu You mobilized all the bugs and parasites he had cultivated for decades.

However, the spiritual energy of the golden dragon seemed to naturally counter his bugs.

The moment those bugs touched the dragon’s body, they were instantly ignited by a burst of sunlight, turning into ashes.

Wu You could tell that the golden dragon was currently just a remnant image. He thought that with his cultivation, he should be able to handle it, but he underestimated the power of the Emperor’s bloodline.

“Cough—”

A golden lightning bolt descended from the sky, heading straight for Wu You.

The evil aura he had condensed around his body was as fragile as paper in front of this golden thunder, easily pierced by the lightning.

The golden lightning struck him.

In an instant, he felt his Five Elements and Six Meridians shattered, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Tsk!”

Wu You clenched his teeth and wiped away the blood from his mouth, controlling his breath. He glanced at the Feng Yudie that was currently being coiled by the golden dragon’s tail.

“No, I can’t endure this head-on.”

He felt that if he continued to confront the golden dragon head-on, he might perish on the spot.

The golden dragon was currently manifesting through the body of a Qi Refining cultivator. With just a Qi Refining cultivator, it was impossible for the golden dragon to maintain its manifestation for too long.

“I need to stall for ti-”

『Insignificant creature!! Perish!!』

The golden dragon glared at him with anger, opening its blood-red mouth wide.

Boom—

He spewed a torrent of dragon flames straight at Wu You.

However, Wu You only glanced at it, quickly retracted his Magical Tool into his storage bag, and pointed his sword finger with his right hand. He activated a teleportation technique, causing his figure to disappear from the spot.

As Wu You escaped using the teleportation technique, the golden dragon immediately wanted to chase after him. However, Xiaotian, who had returned to hover in front of the dragon, waved its little hand at it.

『Don’t chase after him!! Yudie can’t handle summoning you into the real world anymore. If you don’t go back now, her spiritual roots will shatter!!』

The dragon’s eyes rolled as it looked at Feng Yudie, whom it had wrapped in its tail. It furrowed its brows.

『That person will definitely return soon. If we don’t deal with him now, I won’t be able to help you later.』

『Yudie is only at the Qi Refining stage. How could she possibly withstand you? Go back quickly!!』

Xiaotian was filled with anxiety and desperately grabbed onto the dragon’s whiskers.

『Go back quickly!! I’ll figure out the rest!』

The dragon’s whiskers trembled slightly, and in an instant, its figure turned into a beam of golden light, diving into Feng Yudie’s body and disappearing from the spot.

With the support of the dragon’s tail gone, Feng Yudie fell to the ground with a thud.

… …

Meanwhile.

After traveling ten miles using his teleportation technique, Wu You immediately canceled it.

However, as soon as his feet touched the ground, he staggered and fell to his knees, clutching his chest as he spat out a mouthful of blackened blood.

“The bloodline of the Immortal Emperor is so domineering. I only brushed against it, and it damaged nearly half of my cultivation.”

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, promptly crossed his legs and sat down on the ground. He began circulating his internal energy to heal his injuries.

During the healing process, he realized that his meridians had been ravaged by the Sunfire of the Immortal Emperor, causing significant damage.

If he were to rely on cultivating his spiritual energy and taking medical pills to recover, it would take decades at the very least, and possibly even a century.

“Too slow.”

Wu You furrowed his brows slightly and immediately thought of the two Qi Refining cultivators he had encountered at the wedding banquet. One was at the third level of Qi Refining, and the other had reached the peak.

He had originally planned to cultivate the one at the peak stage to become his human cauldron. However, now that he had encountered a girl with the bloodline of the Immortal Emperor, that person became far less significant.

He intended to use the blood and spiritual roots of those two individuals to heal himself and then return to take away the girl with the Immortal Emperor’s bloodline.

Wu You took a deep breath, retrieved a pill from his storage pouch, and swallowed it. Immediately, he sensed the location of the Gu worms he had placed on those two individuals seven days ago.

Then, he sensed that the two individuals were only a hundred feet away from him.

“Hmm? So close?”