Chapter 223: Fleeing to the Land of the Extreme North

Nine Nether fled at top speed. That Deity Transformation clone's flight speed was terrifying; even anchored by a mere wisp of Divine Sense, it crossed hundreds of miles in an instant.

He repeatedly activated the power of the Hundred-Mile Inch Hairpin while secretly drawing on the Heaven and Earth Ring to replenish his mana. Fleeing tens of thousands of miles in a single breath, he meticulously erased every trace of his spiritual energy along the way until he finally shook off the aura hounding him. Yet he still didn't dare rest. A Deity Transformation Cultivator's methods far exceeded his understanding—who knew if the enemy had other ways to track him?

Now that the Three Demonic Path Sects had a Deity Transformation clone overseeing their forces, the Northern Plains' defeat was a foregone conclusion. It wouldn't be long before blood stained this land for thousands of miles. His greatest prize on this excursion was supposed to be the Nascent Soul of a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator, which he needed to cast the Blood Soul Restriction. Instead, a Deity Transformation expert had barged in halfway, shattering all his plans. If he retreated now, his years of meticulous planning and disguise would be entirely in vain.

Just as he was figuring out where to lay low next, his gaze shifted toward the Land of the Extreme North, and a gleam flashed in his eyes.

That Ancient Battlefield.

He still had a few refined early Nascent Souls on hand, leaving him only slightly short of the required soul energy. Moreover, that Ancient Battlefield was a gathering place for millennium-old yin fiend energy. If he paired it with his Soul Gathering Array, he just might be able to harness the power of its malicious spirits to cultivate a truly usable Myriad-Year Ghost Soul Spirit Velvet.

Furthermore, the dense Yin energy there made it the perfect location to cast the Blood Soul Restriction. If he could combine it with the Deity Transformation method from the Daoyang Ten Palaces Art, breaking through that bottleneck in a single stroke wasn't entirely impossible.

The only risk lay in the fact that the Blood Soul Restriction was a forbidden Demonic Path art, whereas the Ten Palaces Art was a fiercely yang and orthodox method. Their attributes were fundamentally opposed. If he forcefully channeled both simultaneously, a violent backlash during his breakthrough was almost guaranteed.

However, he had already accounted for this.

His original plan was to first attempt a breakthrough to Deity Transformation using the Ten Palaces Art and the Heaven and Earth Ring. If that failed, fusing with the Blood Soul Seed would serve as his backup. Layering these two safeguards gave him a fighting chance to carve out a path to survival.

He had calculated his every step for so long, only for a Deity Transformation Cultivator to unexpectedly crash into him and smash all his schemes to pieces.

Damn him. If not for that person, he wouldn't have been forced to return empty-handed. And if the Blood Abyss Sect's Supreme Great Elder hadn't summoned that Deity Transformation clone, he wouldn't be fleeing for his life in such a wretched state...

Nine Nether silently engraved this grudge in his mind. Without slowing down, he shot straight toward the Land of the Extreme North.

"Kid Qing, where are you headed?" Xuan Zhenzi's voice echoed from the Heaven and Earth Ring, laced with confusion. He glanced in the direction Nine Nether was flying, getting the feeling that the boy was brewing some unusual scheme again.

Nine Nether didn't answer directly, countering with a question of his own: "Ancestor Xuan Zhen, your disciple wishes to ask: during a breakthrough, can one use other secret arts to increase the chances of success? For instance... a Demonic Path method?"

The Heaven and Earth Ring fell silent for a moment. When Xuan Zhenzi's voice rang out again, it was lower and far more solemn. "Boy, you couldn't possibly be considering that, could you? No wonder you insisted on wading into the muddy waters of the Northern Plains when you could have found a safe place to go into seclusion and break through. You had ulterior motives all along. I truly can't see through you anymore."

He paused, his tone turning harsh. "Let me warn you: the Ten Palaces Art is fiercely yang and unyielding. It naturally opposes Demonic Path methods. If you try to forcefully cultivate both, you'll be inviting a wolf into the house. When two completely opposite forces clash inside your body, never mind my current remnant soul—even at the peak of my strength, I wouldn't be able to save you. There are countless Great Daos in this world, but there are no shortcuts. Once you choose a path, you must walk it with absolute resolve. If you start dabbling in crooked, unorthodox methods, you'll cross a point of no return."

Xuan Zhenzi spoke earnestly, his words laden with genuine concern.

Nine Nether didn't answer immediately. He only slightly reduced his flight speed, mentally weighing Xuan Zhenzi's words to see if there was anything he had overlooked.

A moment later, he accelerated once more. His voice was steady, sounding as though he had already made up his mind: "What Ancestor says makes sense. But having reached this point, your disciple no longer has many choices left."

He shot through a gap in the clouds, descending toward the Ancient Battlefield.

A streak of golden escape light pierced the cloud cover. The closer he got to the Land of the Extreme North, the fiercer the biting winds became.

The miniature golden figure of Xuan Zhenzi hovered silently beside Nine Nether for a long time. Looking into Nine Nether's eyes and seeing that unshakable resolve, he fell into a daze. It was as if he were looking across a thousand years of time and seeing someone else—none other than himself.

In his youth, his gaze had burned just as brightly, and he too had refused to take even half a step back.

Back then, he hadn't yet become the founding ancestor of the Daoyang Sect. He was just a young man burdened with the high hopes of his sect and family. At every crossroad, he had unhesitatingly chosen the longer, harder path.

But as he grew older—as his cultivation deepened, his methods multiplied, and his worldly experience broadened—he had grown to cherish his life too much. He no longer dared to risk everything as he had in his youth. As a result, his cultivation stagnated. It wasn't until he was approaching the wooden coffin that he finally broke the cooking pots and sank the boats in one final gamble, ultimately becoming the artifact spirit of this Heaven and Earth Ring.

He withdrew his gaze, his tone taking on a blunt decisiveness. "Never mind. Since your mind is made up, I won't waste my breath trying to persuade you. Show me that Demonic Path method you have. I might be able to help you make sense of it—which is better than you fumbling around blindly on your own."

Nine Nether didn't say a word. He slightly slowed his flight speed and handed over a pre-recorded jade plaque, then his figure blurred as he accelerated once more, tearing through the sky.

Xuan Zhenzi took the jade plaque with both hands and sent his Divine Sense into it. After reading for a while, his brows slowly furrowed. His gaze lingered on Nine Nether's back for a moment before he spoke in a complicated tone.

"The Blood Soul Restriction... This cultivation method is far more vicious than any Demonic Path art I saw in my youth. It requires the Nascent Souls of nine Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators as a catalyst just to plant a Blood Soul Seed. If you fail, you'll be reduced to a mindless, bloodthirsty husk."

He paused.

"By walking this path, you are gambling with your life."

His words carried immense weight, yet they held no intention of dissuading him. It sounded more like he was simply confirming a fact.

A moment later, he lowered his head to read the contents of the jade plaque once more. His gaze suddenly froze on a particular line. "This isn't right."

He muttered under his breath, not explaining immediately as his eyes repeatedly scanned the information recorded within the jade plaque.

"There's a flaw in this method."