Chapter 50: The Wondrous Use of Death Qi (Requesting monthly tickets! Requesting follow-up subscriptions!)

In the two months since Shao Heng had tempered her body with dragon blood, she had spent roughly half her time executing missions and the other half in meditative cultivation; to this day, she possessed only four hundred and twenty-six cauldrons of dharmic power.

In contrast, this female cultivator, having reached the perfection of the First Realm, possessed over nine hundred cauldrons of dharmic power—far beyond what Shao Heng could face head-on.

Upon seeing Shao Heng's disguised face, the woman's expression remained unchanged, suggesting they were strangers.

The woman threw down a fierce challenge: "I am an inner disciple of the Zhenyi Sect, the personal disciple of True Monarch Tianbai, Jiang Yunjiang! If you dare touch me, just wait until my master destroys you!"

Though Shao Heng's words were sharp and fierce, she immediately activated [Three Thousand Miles of Moonlight]. Her true body suddenly split into three illusory moonlight avatars, her speed surging as she dodged the powerful palm of dharmic power and fled rapidly.

The female cultivator raised an eyebrow and clenched her right hand.

"How arrogant. But this Mysterious Moon Secret Realm is centered around a fragment of the Great Yin Star; it naturally interferes with astral patterns and shields heavenly secrets. No matter how formidable True Monarch Tianbai is, he cannot divine what happens within this realm. What makes you so presumptuous?"

As she clenched her hand, white lotuses sprouted and bloomed out of thin air. The petals suddenly withered and dispersed, triggering an explosion of dharmic ripples. Any of Shao Heng's avatars swept by these ripples were instantly shattered.

In just two breaths, the ripples completely destroyed Shao Heng's avatars, forcing her true body out.

Thirty-six Jade Bee Needles shot out like a torrential rain of pear blossoms, but they were all blocked by Lu Yao as she waved her sleeve. Instead, Shao Heng lost control of her magical tool, and the needles all ricocheted back toward her.

*Bang!*

The Jade Bee Needles pierced her body. As Shao Heng's clothing tore, a set of crimson, skin-tight soft armor was revealed. It was the First-Grade Crimson Jade Armor she had painstakingly acquired, featuring twenty-nine layers of Dao-mark restrictions, making it a top-tier item of its grade.

As Shao Heng spun, she performed a Wind-Blowing Technique, using clever force to retrieve all the Jade Bee Needles.

After several exchanges, she became even more certain that this woman was an impossible foe. She took two deep-yellow talismans from her storage ring and immediately ignited them with her dharmic power.

First-Grade High-Tier Talisman: Blazing Flame. First-Grade High-Tier Talisman: Water Light.

The two forces of the talismans shot toward the woman. Due to the elemental clash, they unleashed even greater power, and the interaction between water and fire caused a massive amount of water vapor to diffuse, enough to obscure vision.

Lu Yao shook her head inwardly, her right hand forming a seal as she chanted an incantation.

A hurricane raged, and cyan wind beams immediately countered the talisman power, quickly blowing away the diffusing water vapor.

*Zheng!*

A black-green bell appeared in Shao Heng's right hand. It had a unique design engraved with obscure and profound sacrificial script. When it rang, it produced only a very faint sound, yet to Lu Yao, it felt as if her head had been struck by a heavy hammer.

Shao Heng wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. This object was called the "Soul-Snaring Bell," a Second-Grade magical tool with eighty-nine layers of Dao-mark restrictions, which she had spent nearly nine hundred spirit stones to acquire recently.

It was not that a First-Realm cultivator could not refine a Second-Grade magical tool, but it caused immense depletion to the cultivator's spiritual sense. Furthermore, due to insufficient dharmic power, the refinement time would far exceed that required for a First-Grade tool.

Shao Heng had relied on moonlight and sunlight to accelerate this refinement process, but to this day, she had only refined thirty-one layers of restrictions. She could barely use it, and it still caused some backlash.

As the bell rang, Lu Yao's consciousness grew dazed, and her Niwan Palace throbbed with a faint pain. The hurricane technique she had just cast fell into chaos due to her loss of control.

Seizing this opportunity, Shao Heng immediately activated [Three Thousand Miles of Moonlight] once more. Her yellow-bud dharmic power surged forth, and her figure vanished from the spot. Utilizing the moonlight within this small world, she escaped nearly a hundred miles away.

By the time seventy to eighty percent of her dharmic power was exhausted, Shao Heng stumbled and fell to the ground.

Gasping for breath, she quickly swallowed a Spring-Returning Pill and a Yuan-Returning Pill. The [Azure Emperor] runes drew in the surrounding worldly spiritual energy, triggering 'Blessing of the Four Directions' to help heal the backlash caused by using the Soul-Snaring Bell.

In the next instant, dark green vines emerged from the large tree where she had stopped. Thick as pythons, they climbed down from the branches above her head and shot toward Shao Heng.

Possessing an outstanding spiritual sense, she lunged backward as the vines struck, pulling a black iron short knife—capable of cutting through iron like mud—from her storage ring and swinging it at them.

*Clack.*

The black iron knife struck the vine as if hitting a piece of gold or stone, even producing sparks from the friction, before the blade was snapped in half.

In the moment of crisis, the dragon patterns on her right arm flashed. A slender white dragon immediately flew out, its long tail acting like a whip, clashing violently with the vines. The impact shook the entire tree, yet over a dozen more dark green vines emerged from the thicket.

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Shao Heng. A wisp of black death energy emerged from her fingertip and touched the vine.

The vines, which had been charging aggressively, suddenly recoiled the moment the death energy appeared, as if they had encountered something terrifying.

"The [Azure Emperor] inherently belongs to the Wood element. Now that it has undergone a second transformation, death energy under the frost is a highly sharp means of slaughter. Especially for these spiritual plants and tree demons, it should be an existence akin to a natural enemy."

"As expected."

Shao Heng's pressure was greatly reduced. Ao Chuan also flew back to wrap around her arm, transmitting his thoughts through their blood pact.

"These vines are strange; they can actually fight me to a draw."

Ao Chuan's words were quite boastful, but Shao Heng glanced at him with a strange look in her eyes.

As one of the most perfect Dao-bodies in heaven and earth, the True Dragon received the favor of worldly spiritual energy, truly embodying what it meant to "grow stronger just by breathing."

According to Ao Chuan, the True Dragon clan faced no bottlenecks in the first three realms; as long as they had sufficient resources, they could advance simply by accumulating dharmic power and tempering their bones and sinews.

Ao Chuan had been born only two months ago, yet he had already reached the middle stage of the First Realm, and was not far from the late stage.

Shao Heng's cultivation speed could be considered among the elite of the human race, but on the surface, she was still somewhat inferior. Thinking about it was truly disheartening.

After using death energy to repel the vines, Shao Heng did not flee.

She had consumed too much dharmic power and sustained minor injuries. Since death energy could restrain the vine demons and keep them from attacking, she might as well rest here. If other cultivators arrived, she could use the vine demons as protection.

Thus, Shao Heng released more death energy, wrapping it around her clothes, and then sat shamelessly under the tree to meditate and regulate her breathing.

*Swish!*

A streak of sword light cleared a path, destroying all the trees in its way.

Shao Heng had only been regulating her breath for about fifteen minutes when she saw a pale yellow figure approaching on a flying sword. She thought to herself, "She's pursuing quite closely."

"Indeed. Having offended the personal disciple of a True Monarch, if one doesn't take the opportunity to slay her within the Mysterious Moon Secret Realm, must one let her leave after the realm closes and invite unnecessary trouble later?"

Just as Shao Heng suspected, Lu Yao had seen the girl use three magical tools in succession, indicating significant wealth. Furthermore, judging by the power of that last bell, it must be a Second-Grade tool, which gave Lu Yao some certainty regarding her identity as a True Monarch's disciple.

Since an offense had been made, it had to be dealt with immediately. Lu Yao had used a tracking tool to pursue her all the way.

At this moment, she saw the young girl beneath the tree and was about to strike, only to see over a dozen thick vines burst out from the thicket!

(End of Chapter)