Chapter 565 - 489: Xinghu, Battle of the Grotto Heaven

Chapter 565: Chapter 489: Xinghu, Battle of the Grotto Heaven

HUM.

Three figures materialized upon the cloud carpet.

Invisible ripples emanated from their bodies. A boundless aura of Magical Power surged forth, so soul-shaking it could suffocate a low-level cultivator.

Nascent Soul True Monarchs!

Nascent Souls from the Star Casting Hall!

Shishanzi’s gaze shifted, sweeping over the three Nascent Souls to identify them.

The first was a slender youth in a Daoist robe, his gaze cold and sharp. His pupils were faintly gray, and a strange, hazy gray mist seemed to be reflected within his eyes.

He also carried a Spirit Sword on his back.

Yuan Lan of the Star Casting Hall!

He possessed a Yuan Lan Soul Body, was born with a powerful divine soul, and had mastered the law of death. Moreover, he was also a high-level Sword Cultivator, not to be underestimated.

Of course.

This Nascent Soul True Monarch had appeared in the Day Flame Sea Region long ago.

Shishanzi wasn’t surprised. He glanced at Yuan Lan before turning his attention to the other two.

One was an old man with long eyebrows, holding a Glazed Jade Purification Bottle, wearing a kudzu-cloth cap, and draped in a light gray coarse robe. He carried a medicine box on his back and wore a compassionate expression, resembling a physician.

"Nanshan..."

Shishanzi’s heart stirred as information about the man surfaced in his mind.

Nanshan, a Nascent Soul of the Immortal Peak Palace, at the initial stage of his cultivation.

This Nanshan’s combat power wasn’t anything special—rather ordinary, in fact. However, the law he grasped belonged to a secondary domain of life: healing.

Therefore, his life-saving and healing abilities were both astonishingly potent!

This meant that if they went to war with the Star Casting Hall, with Nanshan’s healing, the enemy Nascent Soul True Monarchs could essentially be considered to have two health bars!

He was a massive threat!

Especially...

Shishanzi’s gaze shifted to the leader of the three Nascent Souls.

This was a man in his forties. His figure was lean and straight, draped in a Ten Thousand Stars Robe. His features were quite ordinary, plain and unremarkable, save for a pair of eyes that were dark and profound.

With a turn of his eyes, an occasional glint of divine light would escape, striking a sense of awe and fear into the hearts of all who saw it!

It was as if they were facing a deity who wielded heavenly might and held the power of life and death, or perhaps an eternal star that had overlooked the rise and fall of the mortal world for eons!

"Xinghu!"

’The Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Star Casting Hall who cultivates the Path of Emotionlessness...’

’It’s actually him?!’

Shishanzi’s expression changed slightly, his face tightening.

Li Jinhua’s golden pupils narrowed. His heart clenched as he stared at Xinghu with dread.

’Is the Star Casting Hall insane?’

’How could they send this madman out?’

Even someone as lazy as Qixia furrowed her brow slightly, pouting. "What an annoying guy..."

She finished off the candied haws in her hand with one last, big bite, casually tossing the bamboo skewer aside. Then she took out a pipa, rested it against her shoulder, and stood on guard.

This alone was a testament to Xinghu’s intimidating presence!

The Path of Emotionlessness.

Severing emotions and desires, dedicating one’s entire being to the Dao.

Cultivators like this were feared even at low cultivation levels.

—Who wouldn’t be afraid of such a madman?

And after reaching Nascent Soul, their threat level would skyrocket!

This is because Nascent Soul True Monarchs control the power of laws, which involves the fundamental rules of existence!

Even though the law grasped by a Nascent Soul cultivator doesn’t possess the same intense assimilating power as the Dao Source mastered by a Divinity Transformation Daoist Monarch, the law’s erosion of a cultivator’s humanity still exists.

Therefore, many Nascent Souls do their best to maintain their humanity and avoid losing themselves.

But cultivators on the Path of Emotionlessness do the exact opposite. Their method of cultivation is to preserve heavenly principles and extinguish human desires.

They proactively align and resonate with the law, using an alternative method to preserve their sense of self.

This is a rather taboo method of cultivation.

It requires various profound Secret Techniques and rituals to support the practice. Otherwise, it is pure suicide!

Of course.

Even with Secret Techniques, it wasn’t easy.

Many cultivators on the Path of Emotionlessness failed... They were completely assimilated, driven mad, or died, ultimately leading to their own self-destruction.

But there were successes. And because they proactively aligned and resonated with the law, the strength of these successful cultivators was typically immense!

Moreover, their personalities... were complicated.

Xinghu was a prime example.

Several hundred years ago, a ruin from the Blood Moon Demon Palace surfaced, and an ancient evil broke its seal. The Fallen Radiance it carried with it irradiated an island with a population of nearly ten million.

A portion of the population was twisted into grotesque monsters.

However, several million people still remained who retained their human form and their sanity.

These people could have been saved!

However, Xinghu, who was in charge of dealing with the evil at the time, defeated the main entity and then ordered the island to be sealed. With the power of a Nascent Soul, he utterly annihilated every living being on it!

After he was done,

the entire surface of the island was nothing but vitrified sand. All filth had been wiped away by starlight that descended from the heavens!

This method was indeed a permanent solution, completely erasing the evil’s influence and preventing the contamination from spreading.

But the public outcry from personally slaughtering nearly ten million mortals was more than even the Star Casting Hall could bear. For a time, they were put in a very passive position.

In the end, it cost them a great deal to smooth the matter over.

However, Xinghu’s infamy came to echo throughout the Yaoguang Islands as a result!

Even within the Star Casting Hall, many cultivators were terrified of Xinghu!

For cultivators from other sects, his deterrent effect was even more astounding!

"And..."

A thought flashed through Shishanzi’s mind.

’Just a moment ago, when Fuyunzi sent out a sword strike to test them, this Xinghu shattered Fuyunzi’s Sword Qi with nothing more than a cold snort!’