Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 907 The Western Sands (Part 9)

"Trouble? Just because of one word 'trouble'? Do you know how much Xuanqing Mountain and the Hailan School paid to compete for the highest reward offered by the Holy Palace this time? The bounty for completing this job is enough to keep them in the Tower of Babel for the rest of their lives..."

Nangong Ling's voice was several decibels louder than before, clearly indicating her extreme dissatisfaction with Han Yi's attitude.

Especially this attitude of not taking money seriously.

Chi!

Han Yi grew impatient. With a flick of his wrist, the longsword, wreathed in flames, flashed with light, like a ferocious, roaring fire dragon, piercing the air and crashing back into his hand.

"I don't want to say it a third time. Hand over the Soul Crystal." *Sizzle*

The blade flashed and flickered, and from within the burning flames, a fierce and sharp dragon head vaguely appeared, lifelike and menacing.

Nangong Ling's breath hitched, and she was rendered speechless by the pressure.

He was naturally drawn to the wood element, so his choice of spiritual cultivation techniques naturally leaned towards the wood element, and even the spiritual imagery he mastered was of the wood element attribute.

Nature is inherently restrained by things like fire.

Moreover, this is within the Xisha region, a dry and hot desert where wood-type energy is scarce.

Therefore, even though his own realm was clearly a whole level higher than Han Yi's.

They didn't dare to actually start a fight.

"Here you go. This is the outside world; there's no need for us Hundred Veins to fight amongst ourselves." Nangong Ling sighed helplessly, flipped her hand, and took out a Soul Crystal, placing it on the ground. The translucent Soul Crystal, faintly shimmering with an eerie crimson light, was exceptionally dazzling and captivating against the black and gray ground.

"It's precisely because we're outside that I didn't kill him," Han Yi said calmly. "Otherwise, do you think you'd still be standing here talking to me?"

"..."

Nangong Ling remained silent for a moment.

“That’s true. This time… I, Nangong Ling, am inferior in skill and admit defeat. Please make yourself at home, brother… I hope… this is our last meeting in the outside world.”

He gave a bitter laugh and slowly backed away, seemingly disheartened.

Han Yi didn't mind. The other party had already surrendered and put down their things, so it was normal for them to complain a bit. You can't just take the things away and expect them not to have any complaints; that's unrealistic.

His figure blurred, and he was already in the pit.

"Can you do me a favor?" Nangong Ling asked helplessly. "If I encounter anyone from Xuanqing Mountain or Hailan School, could you keep the fact that you have the Soul Crystal a secret?"

Han Yi pondered for a moment.

I think this is only human nature, and it's just a small favor.

After all, Nangong Ling had received the bounties from these two schools of thought, so the fact that he could delay the matter a little longer meant that it wasn't over yet.

Even if you don't succeed in the end, persisting until the last moment before being exposed is a different thing from failing from the beginning.

Even if there is no credit, there is hard work.

In any case, Han Yi didn't plan to have much contact with Xie Guangning and Gongye Yun. This trip to the Xisha Islands was just to make a quick buck.

Getting involved in the open and covert struggles between the Xuanqingshan and Hailan schools of thought is not a wise choice.

"Okay," Han Yi nodded. "Let's pretend we've never met." "Thank you!"

Nangong Ling bowed her head deeply to express her gratitude.

"It's nothing." Han Yi waved his hand and bent down to pick up the soul crystal.

"Stasis!"

Suddenly, a loud shout rang out.

Nangong Ling suddenly raised her head.

Taking a breath, opening his mouth, looking up... the several actions were almost performed in one go, flowing smoothly like water.

In an instant.

Nangong Ling spat out a ball of yellow light, which exploded right next to Han Yi with lightning speed.

The rapidly spreading yellow halo transformed into a barrier-like enclosure, covering an area of ​​several meters in all directions.

Snapped.

Han Yi's hand suddenly stopped. His fingertips had just touched the soul crystal, and he remained stiff and motionless, maintaining his bent-over posture.

"Hmph! Weren't you so arrogant just now?... In the end... you still have to drink my foot bath water, don't you?" Nangong Ling sneered, revealing a satisfied smile. "Without a soul weapon... a mere cultivator who hasn't even reached the Transcendent Realm... dares to steal my things..."

What he held in his hand was a delicate and small hourglass.

It didn't contain sand, but rather wisps of ethereal, dreamlike yellow mist.

The mist, which should have remained rising and swirling, defied the laws of physics and continued to rush from the top to the bottom of the hourglass.

"Hiss..." Nangong Ling glanced at the consumption rate and gasped, "This guy... he hasn't even reached the Profound Realm yet, and hasn't condensed his spiritual image... how can he be so strong... it seems I need to hurry up, the consumption of using the Time-Controlling Hourglass once... if the Hailan School and Xuanqing Mountain don't add extra money..." Time-Controlling Hourglass.

As the name suggests, it possesses the magical effect of controlling time.

of course.

The "control time" here refers to control over a small area, at close range, and for a very short period of time at most.

Moreover, it's not really possible to control time.

It only accelerates its own time flow and slows down the opponent's time flow within the scope controlled by the hourglass.

A simpler explanation.

It's essentially bullet time.

Within the same second.

I can use my demonic power, combined with my divine soul, to unleash dozens of moves for attack, defense, and movement, while my opponent can only use one of them, and may not even be able to defend properly, so naturally they are no match for me.

Relying on this inferior soul weapon, Nangong Ling has avoided countless dangers and completed numerous bounty missions, achieving a terrifying success rate of up to 90%.

"Azure Seal..." Nangong Ling's eyes suddenly flashed, and a chilling azure light shone forth. Dozens of soft yet resilient thick vines flew out, encircling Han Yi and binding him tightly.

Because of the rules of the Hundred Meridians, he didn't intend to kill the other party; he just wanted to restrain them, retrieve his belongings, and leave.

The dark green vines, with their barbs at the tips, resembled a nimble whip, easily lifting up the soul crystals on the ground with a slight curl.

Sudden.

An anomaly has occurred.

The vines tightly wrapped around the soul crystal were stuck in mid-air, like a rusty measuring tape.

No matter how Nangong Ling urged it, it remained motionless and showed no sign of returning.

"What's going on?" He frowned and suddenly shouted, "Azure Seal Forging God, accept my..." Nangong Ling hadn't finished speaking when he was stunned to find that...

I can't move anymore.

He couldn't speak anymore.

How...how is this possible?!

All that remained in his body was his mind, his thoughts racing wildly, filled with panic, confusion, and bewilderment.

"Soul Vessels... Is this the power of magic...?"

At this moment, Han Yi slowly stood up, took a step, and as if he had appeared in a flash, he suddenly arrived in front of Nangong Ling, gently took the hourglass and examined it.

He can feel it.

As the mist in the hourglass dissipates, a special and subtle feeling of time passing by, like a fleeting moment, arises deep within the heart.

"You... how... how..." Nangong Ling's eyes widened in horror. Even her incredibly fast soul transmission became slow and sluggish under the influence of this power.

By now, he still doesn't understand.

It wasn't that he couldn't move, but rather that his senses were out of control, and everything he perceived became sluggish and slowed down.

Got infected.

It was still because of the effect of the Soul Weapon that I created.

Horcrux backlash?

Do not!

impossible!

Nangong Ling screamed inwardly. He couldn't believe that he, a senior who had cultivated diligently for decades, was inferior to a newcomer whose spiritual image hadn't even been condensed yet.

boom!

Nangong Ling's sea of ​​consciousness trembled violently, and a thick, emerald-green vine instantly appeared, bursting with a brilliant azure light. At this moment, he couldn't care less about anything else, and disregarded the cost of his future potential, forcibly squeezing out the power of his divine soul. *Boom!*

at this time.

A light, airy punch landed on Nangong Ling.

This punch was calm and uneventful, without any hint of fire or smoke. It showed no subtle changes and did not cause any air currents to boil; it was just an ordinary punch.

Then Nangong Ling's face turned deathly pale, snot and tears sprayed all over her face, and her features were distorted beyond recognition.

Even though the nerve response was slowed down by the effect of the Time-Controlling Hourglass, the impact of the enormous force caused the body to instinctively feel pain, which had already begun to produce a spontaneous reaction.

Before Nangong Ling could react, she was suddenly lifted into the air like a leaf.

in a blink.

It quickly flew more than ten meters away.

Once they were completely out of the range of the Hourglass, a deafening scream rang out in mid-air.

The sound was like a ghostly wail, piercing and unpleasant to hear, yet utterly horrific.

After a long while, the screams subsided, as if they were too far away to be heard clearly, and gradually faded away.

Finally, a loud, violent impact and explosion echoed faintly from afar.

No one knows how far Nangong Ling flew or what she crashed into to make such a loud noise.

Tap tap…

Han Yi stepped forward and caught the soul crystal that fell from the sky.

However, his mind and attention were not on the soul crystal at all.

"This thing..."

He stared intently at the hourglass in his hand, a strange light slowly gleaming in his eyes. That seemingly light punch...

In fact, he unleashed over a hundred punches in an instant.

In that inexplicable, magical state, the brain works at lightning speed, with all sorts of thoughts flashing through the mind, and the blood and energy in the body are extremely excited and active, as if they were one's own limbs.

He was like a wind-up toy, surging with power, his heart pounding, and his senses incredibly sharp. It seemed as if the entire world was slowing down in his eyes.

Han Yi even had a misconception.

It seems that if he were just a little faster, he could clearly perceive or even directly touch even the abstract concept of "time".

Therefore, in Han Yi's eyes, Nangong Ling's resistance just now was like that of a helpless old man.

Despite his anxious expression and urgent state of mind, his frail, aging body suffered from stagnant blood and qi, resulting in slow movements and an inability to react effectively. He was willing but unable to.

"Time-Controlling Hourglass, a minor soul artifact... Spell: Stasis. Creates a time-delayed control field within a certain range, indiscriminately controlling friend and foe. It amplifies perception, accelerates the user's own time flow, slows down the enemy's perception, and weakens their strength... Can be used a maximum of three times a day, each lasting a maximum of three breaths..."

Han Yi's divine sense revealed the information on the hourglass.

"Remember, your total demonic power must be more than twice that of your opponent; otherwise, the field will fail, causing a backlash and reversing the roles of host and guest..."

Upon seeing this, Han Yi suddenly understood.

"Time acceleration... heightened perception... no wonder the other person suddenly froze on the spot..."

He roughly understood the reason at this point.

It is estimated that Nangong Ling misjudged his strength and took the initiative to use the Time-Controlling Hourglass.

This caused the Soul Weapon to backfire and turn the tables. The Hourglass of Time, a Soul Weapon with seemingly heaven-defying control magic, why was it only rated as a second-rate Soul Weapon?

It is not due to its enormous consumption, limited number of uses, or limited duration of operation.

It's because of this thing...

It can only be used by people weaker than yourself.