Chapter 128: Using Oneself as Bait

Chen Xiao advanced with unstoppable momentum. Caught off guard, he unleashed the combined spiritual spell “Heavenly River Starfall,” defeating Hai Yi in one strike.
The waters of the Heavenly River continued their unstoppable flow, sweeping away most of the arena before rushing toward the other eight challengers below. Chen Xiao’s control was impeccable; he did not affect the other members of the Chinese Soul faction watching on.
“Hmph! How arrogant!”
The eight challengers were filled with anger. They were all outstanding talents, blessed with immense favor, able to stand here and challenge Chen Xiao, even bringing treasures worth as much as a Heavenly Group Token. Now, seeing Chen Xiao attack them all after defeating Hai Yi, they felt humiliated.
Almost simultaneously, the eight of them launched their attacks. Various colored energies quickly formed a massive light barrier, shattering Chen Xiao’s Heavenly River waters.
“The arena has been destroyed by Chen Xiao. Now, the entire hall is a battlefield. If you eight can defeat him, I, the Great Immortal, will allow you all to enter the Netherworld Space and grant each of you a Heavenly Group Token!”
At this sight, the Great Immortal’s eyes lit up as he shouted loudly.
The eight challengers’ eyes gleamed. Though proud by nature, they were not arrogant—they were sensible people. Having seen Chen Xiao easily defeat Qingye Lige and Hai Yi, they knew they were no match for him. Many already wanted to back down.
They were elites from various supernatural and ancient martial families, here to hone their skills within the Chinese Soul faction. Usually very low-key, they rarely showed off. Had it not been for the generous terms offered by the Great Immortal, using the Netherworld Space as a lure, they likely wouldn’t have challenged Chen Xiao at all.
To put it plainly, their real goal was to enter the Netherworld Space to train and obtain Heavenly Group Tokens.
Now, hearing that even if they united to defeat Chen Xiao, they would still get the reward, only a fool would agree. Glory as geniuses and power meant nothing compared to tangible benefits.
Without hesitation, the eight challengers unleashed their most powerful attacks, aiming to defeat Chen Xiao in one strike.
Eight attacks of vastly different natures and attributes rapidly converged in the air, forming a five-meter-wide colored energy sphere. With immense force, it rushed toward Chen Xiao atop the arena.
Such brutal power could even shatter a true sixth-tier warrior. These eight came from elite families and now used their ultimate moves—truly earth-shattering.
Faced with this chaotic, almost mixed-attribute terrifying energy, Chen Xiao remained unafraid. With a mental command, twelve water elemental giants instantly transformed into twelve waves, using the technique of overlapping waves to strike at the terrifying energy sphere.
In his hand, Chen Xiao held the Star and Moon Staff. After his mental power reached the fifth tier, part of the staff’sseal was lifted, amplifying its power immensely compared to before.

The Star and Moon Staff tapped rapidly through the air, each tap creating a bizarre spiritual spell. In barely the time it took to take a breath, the staff tapped 49 times in total.
A combined spell formed from 49 spiritual spells!
As soon as the Great Immortal saw the combined spell crafted by Chen Xiao, his face instantly changed color. He roared, “Chen Xiao, are you insane? You dare use a combined spell of 49 spiritual spells? Do you want to destroy this place?!”
The Great Immortal gestured wildly and shouted, “Return to the origin of heaven and earth! Activate the Tianyuan Formation for this Great Immortal!”
He pointed skyward, activating the Tianyuan Formation, which protected the headquarters of China’s Soul. This terrifying formation was only activated in times of catastrophic threat to the headquarters.
Clearly, the Great Immortal believed that Chen Xiao’s combined spell of 49 spiritual spells could collapse this underground world.
The presence of the twelve water element giants bought Chen Xiao some time to craft the spells, though it was only the time it took to breathe. By then, all twelve fifth-tier water element giants had been destroyed, while the terrifying energy ball slowed down slightly but lost none of its power.
By now, Chen Xiao’s 49 spiritual spells had converged in the air, forming a massive spiritual talisman three meters in diameter. The power of the Supreme God within Chen Xiao was continuously drawn into the spells with almost no loss.
It was only Chen Xiao who could do this; otherwise, even a seventh-tier spellcaster attempting to cast such a combined spell would have their life force drained completely. Chen Xiao’s source of energy was the Supreme Godhood, an endless supply of power.
Boom!
After absorbing enough power from the Supreme Godhood, the terrifying massive spiritual spell exploded instantly, turning into a bizarre blue vortex. The vortex was ten meters in diameter, with one end facing the rapidly approaching energy ball, while the other end seemed to lead somewhere unknown, like a passage.
The chaotic energy ball was instantly swallowed by the vortex the moment it came into contact, disappearing without a trace.
The vortex did not vanish but continued to absorb surrounding energies. The bodies of the eight challengers, with almost no ability to resist, were devoured by the vortex.
Then, with a single gesture from Chen Xiao, the terrifying vortex exploded. Instantly, the eight challengers, along with Hai Yi’s body from before, were flung aside and fell to the ground, motionless.
With another wave of the Star and Moon Staff, the energy generated by the vortex’s explosion vanished entirely, causing no damage to the surroundings.
Combined with the Star and Moon Staff, Chen Xiao’s control over water-based powers had reached an unparalleled level. If he didn’t want it, the energy released by the vortex’s explosion could not affect anyone else.
Now, Chen Xiao still stood in the same place, his position unchanged. Among the onlookers, fear filled their eyes as they stared at him, even those members of the Xuan Group who remained there were no exception.
At this moment, Chen Xiao appeared invincible!

Killing eight fifth-tier powerhouses in one move is probably beyond even an ordinary seventh-tier abuser. Could it be that Chen Xiao has been pretending to be weak while actually hiding his true strength?
The Great Immortal fell silent upon seeing Chen Xiao’s performance; it seemed he had seen through Chen Xiao’s thoughts.
He silently shut down the Tianyuan Great Formation and sighed slightly. “This kid is really cautious, using such a method to test me. Going from fifth-tier to unleashing seventh-tier power in an instant—there must be some secret to him. But if someone from the Heavenly Group were to investigate him or covet his secrets, I’m afraid he’d leave right away.”
The Great Immortal curled his lips. In fact, his thoughts were roughly similar to Chen Xiao’s plans.
Chen Xiao faintly sensed the attitude of the Great Immortal and others toward him, but out of caution, he didn’t fully trust the Heavenly Group. So he decided to use some tactics to test them. If they tried to recruit him for his secrets, Chen Xiao would simply return to the Thousand Souls Domain through the Main God’s Space and continue as a free hunter.
Anyway, his true trump card wasn’t here.
If the Great Immortal and the others truly wanted to nurture him, staying here might be a good choice.
“Alright, I hereby declare that Chen Xiao has won this competition. Does anyone have any objections?”
The Great Immortal descended and stood beside Chen Xiao, speaking to the members of the Chinese Souls group below.
Hearing the Great Immortal’s words, the crowd fell silent. Who would dare object? With Chen Xiao’s strength as evident, they had no choice but to accept it.
……
“Great Immortalsenior……”
“Enough, you don’t need to say anything more,” the Great Immortal said with a smirk. “Don’t worry—your secrets are yours. I won’t interfere. You still can’t understand the purpose of the Chinese Souls, which is why you resort to such foolish tests. But it’s normal; even I would do the same.”
“Uh……”
Hearing the Great Immortal reveal his thoughts so bluntly, Chen Xiao felt embarrassed. Yet from his words, Chen Xiao seemed to grasp another meaning—the purpose of the Chinese Souls.
Wasn’t it to protect China?
And could anyone truly be selfless enough not to be tempted by treasures?
No matter what, Chen Xiao would never believe it. But since the Great Immortal had made it clear, speaking directly to him like this, there could be no deception. The Great Immortal wanted to take action immediately.
“Hehe, well now you have to deal with the mess you’ve created. Your cultivation speed, though unmatched, is still extremely terrifying. And with your fifth-tier strength, you’ve unleashed forty-nine combined spirit spells in just one breath. I’m sure those abuser clans from other worlds will be interested in you.”
The Great Immortal’s face showed a lecherous expression. “Of course, your affairs are your own. The Chinese Souls won’t interfere.”
“The Heavenly Dragon Secret is about to be unearthed now. The real great clans are all eyeing it. Only those lowly small clans are really interested in me—a mere nobody. What do I need to fear them?”

Chen Xiao curled her lips, her tone filled with disdain. Her identity information was now protected as an SSS-level secret of China’s Soul, far more secure than before—so much so that even Yu Ye Xiao Chen didn’t have the right to investigate it. Moreover, Chen Xiao had an even grander plan she hadn’t revealed yet. All those major forces were focused on the Tianlong Secret Treasures about to be unearthed, while only those small families without the authority to get involved would pay attention to Chen Xiao. So, Chen Xiao intended to use herself as bait to lure the fish in, then swallow them all at once to expand her sphere of influence. Currently, with Black Tiger Gate under her control and figures like Sou Hen and the other divine disciples who could wield eighth-tier powers, she already possessed a massive force—strong not only in terms of foundation, territory, and manpower but also in terms of top-tier fighters.