Chapter 1838: The Rebellious Meridian Spirits

"Second Elder, let’s strike together!"

Although the Emperor Palace’s Great Elder Liu Zheng looked furious, he did not underestimate in the slightest this most-wanted criminal pursued by the Emperor Palace Headquarters. As he shouted, his Meridian Qi was already surging; a massive black shadow swept across the sky, carrying immense might.

"That’s the Great Elder’s Meridian Spirit: the Flying Demon Eagle!"

One of the watching Emperor Palace Elders stared at that huge black silhouette with flickering eyes and could not help exclaiming in admiration. It seemed he had seen that colossal creature more than once before.

As for this Meridian Spirit Liu Zheng had refined, it was clearly an avian Meridian Spirit. Just from its name, Flying Demon Eagle, one could tell it had reached the Heavenly Rank Advanced level; its Attack Power was by no means ordinary.

"Black Nightmare Wolf!"

At the same time, the Emperor Palace’s Second Elder Cai Yong followed suit and summoned his own Meridian Spirit. It too was a black Meridian Spirit, yet in the eyes of the crowd, it gave off a distinctly strange feeling.

The Black Nightmare Wolf was no ordinary Heavenly Rank Advanced Vein Demon. It was said that once a Black Nightmare Wolf cultivated to this level, a special power called Black Nightmare would be born within its body, a power that specifically targeted the Souls of human cultivators.

Once a person carelessly inhaled this Black Nightmare Aura, that human cultivator would instantly fall into a bizarre nightmare. Without external help, waking from that nightmare was absolutely impossible.

Whether it was Liu Zheng or Cai Yong, both had great confidence in their own Meridian Spirits. They in no way belittled Yun Xiao; on their very first move, they brought out their most powerful means.

"Two Heavenly Rank Advanced Meridian Spirits?"

Seeing the two black shadows attacking from his left and right, a faint gleam flashed through Yun Xiao’s eyes. Immediately after, an extremely peculiar aura erupted from his body.

No one knew what kind of aura this was, but the moment that so?called Flying Demon Eagle sensed it, its figure suddenly stiffened, and it actually began to uncontrollably turn back.

"Fei Hong, what’s wrong with you?"

Even though it was a Meridian Spirit whose Spiritual Wisdom had already been wiped clean, Liu Zheng treated it as though it were an old friend. This cry of alarm from his mouth left all the onlookers utterly dumbfounded.

That was a Heavenly Rank Advanced Meridian Spirit, the Flying Demon Eagle—how could it, without any warning, suddenly seem to lose all strength and completely fall out of Liu Zheng’s control?

In fact, that wisp of aura that had just burst forth from Yun Xiao’s body came from the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Red Feather. This being carried the bloodline of the Sky Dominator; how could its aura possibly be something a mere Flying Demon Eagle could withstand?

Even if that Flying Demon Eagle’s Spiritual Wisdom had been erased, it still fell under the category of an avian Vein Demon. The deterrence imprinted deep within its bloodline was innate; this might very well be even more compelling than directly controlling it with Meridian Qi.

"Bite him for me!"

The next instant, such a command suddenly rang out from Yun Xiao’s mouth, making the many Emperor Palace Elders who heard it, as well as Fan Yulin standing to the side, all show strange expressions.

That was a Meridian Spirit already refined by Liu Zheng. From the moment it was refined, it could only obey the orders of its master, Liu Zheng. This was common knowledge, an ironclad truth ingrained in everyone’s mind.

How could a Meridian Spirit that had already been refined possibly obey an outsider and instead turn to bite its own master? This clearly defied common sense; in the eyes of the crowd, it was simply a fantasy. Had that coarse?clothed brat lost his mind?

Whoosh...

Yet the scene that left everyone utterly shocked unfolded in the very next moment. The Flying Demon Eagle, which had only just twisted its head slightly, suddenly reversed its eagle head completely and shot toward Liu Zheng at high speed.

Seeing this, everyone’s gazes went blank with stupor. What on earth could cause a Meridian Spirit that had already been refined to turn its fangs against its master? That coarse?clothed youth was simply too bizarre.

After using the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Aura to drive the Flying Demon Eagle to attack Liu Zheng, Yun Xiao no longer spared the Emperor Palace’s Great Elder a glance, instead turning his gaze in another direction.

There, a giant wolf covered in black fur was pouncing fiercely toward Yun Xiao. In its wolf eyes, which glimmered with ghostly black light, there was also a hint of strange radiance.

To be frank, when Cai Yong first saw that Flying Demon Eagle actually attacking its own master, he was truly startled, even a bit afraid that his Black Nightmare Wolf might undergo the same change.

But now, it seemed that such a disastrous situation had not occurred. When Cai Yong saw the Black Nightmare Wolf close to within a few feet of Yun Xiao, the excitement in his eyes grew even more intense.

Because Yun Xiao was a wanted criminal of the Emperor Palace Headquarters, before receiving Fan Yulin’s explicit approval, he definitely did not dare to take Yun Xiao’s life—even if he might not be able to in the first place.

Thus Cai Yong had summoned the Black Nightmare Wolf at the very first moment. If that youth was controlled by the Black Nightmare Wolf, all would be perfect; for a period of time afterward, he would be completely at Cai Yong’s mercy.

The nightmare created by the Black Nightmare Wolf was an extremely special kind of power. Cai Yong believed that even a Half-step Holy Rank expert, if struck by that Black Nightmare Power unprepared, would likely lose Spiritual Wisdom for at least an instant.

The clash between experts is decided in an instant, so at this moment Cai Yong’s eyes were locked firmly on that coarse-clothed youth. He had to strike at Yun Xiao at the most perfect timing, and ensure a hit with a single blow.

"Nightmare Erosion!"

Seeing the timing ripen, a low shout came from Cai Yong’s mouth. Immediately after, from the eyes of the gigantic Black Nightmare Wolf less than a foot away from Yun Xiao, a stream of black mist suddenly spewed out, looking extremely eerie.

"Tsk tsk, a Black Nightmare Wolf—haven’t seen one of these in years!"

With Yun Xiao’s experience, he had naturally already recognized this as a Black Nightmare Wolf. Such a Vein Demon was absolutely unique on both the Hidden Dragon Continent and the Tenglong Continent, just like the Fire Cloud Rat, all of them products exclusive to the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud.

As for what special methods the Black Nightmare Wolf possessed, Yun Xiao was certainly well aware. The fact that he allowed the Black Nightmare Wolf to get so close without making a move clearly meant he was fully confident.

"Let me see whether your Black Nightmare is stronger, or my two Soul Ancestor Veins are more domineering."

Just as this thought rose in Yun Xiao’s heart, those two streams of black nightmare mist had already descended upon his body. Seeing this scene, Cai Yong not far away was undoubtedly wild with delight.

Perhaps even Cai Yong himself hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly. That youth didn’t look easy to deal with; if he had chosen to sidestep and evade, the Black Nightmare Aura of the Black Nightmare Wolf might not have been able to accurately spray onto his body.

Who knew that youth would neither dodge nor avoid. In that case, Cai Yong figured that even if he had other methods, from this moment on they would all become useless. He was extremely confident in the Black Nightmare Power of his Black Nightmare Wolf.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Yet in the very next instant, just as Cai Yong was feeling triumphant and preparing to control the Black Nightmare Power to plunge Yun Xiao into the dreamscape he had crafted, he saw that in the eyes of that coarse-clothed youth, two streams of black mist likewise burst forth.

Those two streams of black mist erupting from Yun Xiao’s eyes were exactly the same as the black mist the Black Nightmare Wolf had just spat out, but in Cai Yong’s eyes, they carried a faintly different feeling.

The two streams of black mist were incredibly fast. The Black Nightmare Wolf, which was extremely close, had almost no time to react before being struck by both streams of black mist, which in the blink of an eye merged into its wolf body.

"Awoo!"

A wolf howl that sounded somewhat strange rang out. The Second Elder of the Emperor Palace, Cai Yong, suddenly discovered that the Meridian Spirit Black Nightmare Wolf he had refined was actually starting to slip out of his control.

In the next moment, the onlookers saw a somewhat familiar scene. That Black Nightmare Wolf, which had long since been refined by Cai Yong into a Meridian Spirit, suddenly turned around and pounced fiercely at its former master.

Including Cai Yong, no one knew what was going on. How could the Flying Demon Eagle and the Black Nightmare Wolf both suddenly turn from friend to foe? It was simply too bizarre, too beyond comprehension.

"Could it be that coarse-clothed youth is actually a Beast Vein Master?"

One of the Emperor Palace Elders thought a bit too much and blurted this out. As soon as he spoke, several Elders beside him cast him a mocking look, leaving him rather baffled.

"Nonsense. No matter how formidable a Beast Vein Master is, he can only target ordinary Vein Demons. How could he possibly make an already-refined Meridian Spirit turn its coat?"

The Third Elder of the Emperor Palace snorted coldly, finally dispelling the man’s doubts. He secretly thought that this was indeed the case; in the end he had simply overthought it.

Just as the Third Elder had said, although the methods of Beast Vein Masters were brilliant, a Vein Demon whose Spiritual Wisdom had already been wiped out could no longer be considered a true Vein Demon. Even a Beast Vein Master at Holy Rank Peak could not make it serve another master.

In that case, the methods of that coarse-clothed youth called Yun Xiao became even more strange and unfathomable. He could so easily make a Meridian Spirit refined by someone else backfire on its own master—such methods were truly terrifying.

"Be careful!"

While everyone, including Fan Yulin, was racking their brains to no avail, that coarse-clothed youth suddenly let out this shout. Then they saw his figure sway slightly, and in a flash he appeared behind the Great Elder Liu Zheng.

Whoosh...

A palm carrying a powerful aura slammed fiercely toward Liu Zheng’s back, making his heart clench; he instinctively dodged to the left.

"Not good!"

Yet even as he avoided that palm, Liu Zheng’s mood did not improve in the slightest. Instead, his heart jolted, because in that very spot, a sharp eagle beak was lunging fiercely toward his right eye.

It turned out that Yun Xiao’s seemingly casual palm was not a random strike, but long since calculated to make Liu Zheng dodge in that particular direction—and in that very direction, a Heavenly Rank Advanced Flying Demon Eagle was waiting.

This was also due to the habitual thinking in Liu Zheng’s heart. He subconsciously did not guard much against his own Meridian Spirit, and in the end he suffered a tragedy under Yun Xiao’s deliberate setup.