Chapter 338: The Divine Artifact – The Jinx Crow
Seeing the sect leader remain silent, seemingly troubled, Yan Gu became extremely anxious and hurriedly reminded him, “Sect leader, Junior Yan Lin is still in their hands. We can drop other matters for now, but we must rescue him!”
The Sect Leader of Youming nodded slightly and said to Tai Wu, “Friend Tai Wu, it’s better to resolve conflicts rather than deepen them. Please release our junior, Yan Lin. From now on, our Youming Sect sincerely invites the three of you to visit Muran Star…”
Although he knew Su Che was the leader of those three, he still felt embarrassed at the idea of the Sect Leader of Youming speaking nicely to a junior at the Golden Core stage.
Tai Wu remained silent, but Su Che replied through telepathy, “We can release Yan Lin, but only after we leave this star system and ensure there’s no danger anymore. Until then, he must serve as a hostage.”
This was pure lies—how could someone captured in the Immortal Prison possibly be released?
“What hostage?”
Yan Gu roared, “Who do you think you are, treating a Yuan Ying cultivator as a hostage?”
“I have the ability, and I’ve already captured him,” Su Che replied coldly, looking at him with disdain. “You’re already a defeated foe who fled once—how dare you shout here? Here are four words for you: get lost now!”
“You…”
Furious to the point of nearly spitting blood, Yan Gu had never been spoken to like this in the cultivation world of Muran Star over hundreds of years. Losing control, his vital energy surged, and his aura exploded as he prepared to attack…
Bang!
With a sound of a bell, all five of them, including Yan Gu, were pushed back dozens of feet.
Whether they were at the middle or late stage of Yuan Ying, under the vibration of the Heavenly Sound Bell, they could only retreat—never advance!
“A top-tier offensive Dao artifact!”
The Sect Leader of Youming and the Patriarch of Immortal Sect were shocked by the power of the bronze bell, and a strong desire to possess it arose in their hearts.
Seeing something in person is better than hearing about it—seeing such a top-tier Dao artifact in front of them instantly washed away all doubts. With such a treasure right before them, it was better to seize it first!
Su Che and Tian Yin had expected that verbal negotiations would be useless and that violence would eventually follow. In that case, it was better to take action first…
“Let’s go!”
At Su Che’s command, Tai Wu immediately activated the Star Emperor Compass and continued heading toward the direction of Witch Yellow Star. Under his control, the compass flew several times faster than Su Che, so the remaining distance could be covered in less than three days. As for the few Yuan Ying cultivators chasing from behind, Su Che and Tian Yin coordinated to deal with them.
The Leader of Netherworld reacted extremely quickly. Before the second strike of Tian Yin Bell rang, he waved his hand, and the middle-grade Dao artifact, “Netherworld Demon Dragon Banner,” appeared in his palm. With a whoosh, a black hole formed in the space around a hundred zhang, and a giant black dragon head, emitting a terrifying aura capable of destroying all living things, emerged from the black hole and spat out a thick column of gray-black gas at Su Che and his companions.
Boom!
The Great Wealth radiated golden light, its defensive barrier remaining intact. Driven by this powerful force, the Star Emperor Compass instead accelerated even further, soaring thousands of zhang in an instant.
“Senior brother, that’s a top-tier defensive artifact. Such attacks will only push it further away.”
Yan Gu, who had experienced the Great Wealth’s formidable defenses firsthand, shouted loudly, “We can’t attack it. We need to find a way to stop them.”
“One offense, one defense—two top-grade Dao artifacts…”
Having personally witnessed the immense power of top-grade Dao artifacts, the Leader of Netherworld and the Patriarch of Immortal Sect became utterly enraged.
“Chase!”
Five figures, each wielding their own magical artifacts, pursued at high speed.
Dong! Dong! Dong…
Tian Yin Bell began to resound throughout the starry sky.
After more than a dozen strikes, the five Yuan Ying cultivators from Muran Star truly understood the power of Tian Yin Bell. Every time they closed in to a distance of a thousand zhang, they were repelled by the bell’s sound.
Moreover, the Leader of Netherworld and the Patriarch of Immortal Sect, despite possessing two middle-grade Dao artifacts, found them utterly useless. Using these artifacts to launch attacks would only push Su Che and his companions further away, as they couldn’t break through the Great Wealth’s defenses. They couldn’t use interception techniques either, as they couldn’t get close enough. Thus, they experienced once again the same treatment that the Three Leaders of Void Realm had endured two years ago in the cultivation world of Qiyuan Star.
Being repelled again and again by the bell’s sound was truly frustrating…
Under Tai Wu’s control, the Star Emperor Compass flew faster and faster, gradually showing miraculous effects that had never appeared before. Vaguely, it seemed as though indistinct streams of star energy were converging from the void and flowing into the compass, causing its speed to soar continuously, seemingly breaking through one limit after another.
Although the Star Emperor Compass is merely a top-grade spiritual treasure, it was crafted by a great figure from ancient times as a magical device specifically for traveling through the starry skies. Its true essence lies in harnessing the power of the stars, which are omnipresent in the void. It can be said that its true function is fully manifested in its ability to fly through the stars at speeds far exceeding those of most Dao artifacts. However, Su Che’s cultivation level is too low—still below the Yuan Ying stage—he is unable to unleash the compass’s true potential. Now, under Tai Wu’s control, its wonders have finally been discovered.
Ding… ding… ding…
The tuning frequency of the Heavenly Sound Bell grows longer and longer, as the pursuers behind gradually fall behind the Star Emperor Compass. Even when they exert all their strength to catch up, a single strike of the bell sends them falling tens of thousands of feet back. Eventually, even tens of thousands of feet becomes insignificant.
Yan Gu and the other two, who are in the middle stage of Yuan Ying, can’t keep up at all. They were already taken into the magical space carried by the Master of the Netherworld and the Patriarch of the Immortal Sect. Now, only the two in the late stage of Yuan Ying continue to pursue.
Yet as the Star Emperor Compass absorbs more and more star power, its speed keeps soaring. No one knows what its ultimate speed limit is.
In this way, after two periods of time, the figures of the Master of the Netherworld and his companion are no longer visible in the starry skies—they have been left far behind, by at least a thousand miles.
Su Che shook his head and sighed, “Only now do I realize that under my control, the Star Emperor Compass has always hidden its true potential.”
“The Star Emperor Compass…” Tian Yin repeated the name silently before nodding. “The purpose of this magical artifact is this vast universe of stars.”
“Yes,” Su Che said. “When the founding master gave me the compass, he said that if it were driven by someone at the Huàshén stage, it could approach the speed of light. Back then, I thought that was an extreme exaggeration. Now, I realize I was just an ignorant fool.”
“If it weren’t for this compass, our situation today would indeed be quite troublesome,” Tian Yin said softly.
Indeed. Even with endless life energy to keep striking the Heavenly Sound Bell, there is still a limit. A few hundred strikes? Or a thousand?
But if they can’t get rid of the people from the Netherworld, what’s the use of striking the bell a thousand times? The journey is long, and Tian Yin will eventually run out of strength. Sooner or later, they will catch up and intercept her.
Despite her formidable defenses, it’s still quite troublesome.
“Troublesome?” Su Che shook his head and smiled. “I feel the real troubles are still ahead. We haven’t encountered them yet.”
“Jinx!” Tian Yin glared at him.
As the relationship between the two grew closer, Tianyin would occasionally show the little caprices and temper typical of a woman. Of course, most of the time, she remained as gentle and serene as ever.
To Su Che and Tianyin’s surprise, the powerful effect of the “jinx” turned out to be even stronger than that of top-tier Dao artifacts, and it quickly came to fruition.
Boom!
With a loud noise, the Star Emperor Compass came to a sudden halt, as if it had hit an indestructible invisible wall.
Colliding at a speed of hundreds of thousands of miles per hour against such a wall, the immense inertia and terrifying force of impact were unimaginable—even more terrifying than a full-power strike from someone in the later stages of the Yuan Ying realm.
Fortunately, the defense barrier created by Jufu could not only withstand external impacts but also eliminate various negative effects within the barrier. Su Che and the others only experienced a slight shock before everything was fine.
“What did we hit?”
Su Che and the others sent out their spiritual senses but found nothing ahead—there was no invisible wall at all.
What was going on?
“Did they really think Mublan Star was deserted and they could just leave whenever they wanted?”
Suddenly, a faint voice sounded, and a figure gradually appeared a thousand feet ahead.
A woman.
Only then did Su Che and Tianyin realize that they hadn’t hit a wall earlier; instead, the other party had used invisibility magic to block their path and then employed some kind of intangible attack to force the Star Emperor Compass to stop.
“From her tone, she must also be from Mublan Star,” the three of them thought to themselves.
The woman across from them wore a snow-white dress and had a rather beautiful, delicate face, looking like she was in her twenties. She was at the later stages of the Yuan Ying realm, but she exuded a terrifyingly cold aura, as if capable of freezing everything in the world, even the infinite void.
Buzz…
The clocks of Jufu and Tianyin simultaneously emitted strange buzzing sounds.
“She also possesses a top-tier Dao artifact; that’s why Jufu and Tianyin reacted like this,” Tianyin whispered in Su Che’s ear.
“A top-tier Dao artifact too?”
Su Che was momentarily stunned before realizing that there were three top-tier Dao artifacts in the cultivation world of Qiyuan Star. So, it wasn’t surprising that Mublan Star’s cultivation world would also have such artifacts.
The key question was: How could this woman who could become invisible have intercepted them in advance? Did she possess foresight?
Whoosh!
The woman wasn’t polite at all—without any explanation, she attacked right away.
A pale blue octagonal ice crystal shot toward them so fast that Su Che and Tianyin couldn’t even see her attack move.
Snap!
The pointed octagonal ice crystal struck the wealthy man’s defensive barrier. Such a simple strike caused the barrier to emit a blinding golden light, and it took some time for it to stabilize after intense vibrations.
“Such fierce!” Su Che exclaimed in amazement.
The brighter the golden light when the wealthy man’s defensive barrier was attacked, the more severe the attack. The force of that ice crystal strike was comparable to the combined attack of the three leaders of the Void Sect.
What was even more terrifying was that the opponent seemed to have only tried a light attack and hadn’t used their full strength.
“A true jinx!” Tian Yin whispered in Su Che’s ear, giving him a formal compliment.