Mortal's Purple Sky Cave Heaven

Chapter 467 The Shadow Clan Reappears
The woman dared not be careless. After taking it, she also carefully examined it. Only after seeing that the spiritual herbs were covered with ten-thousand-year-old spiritual patterns did she feel relieved and put it away.

"How is the search for the cores of the sun, moon, and stars progressing, fellow Daoist? Any news?" After putting away the wooden box as well, Nie Zhaonan inquired about the most important purpose of this trip.

"Hehe. If the cores of the sun, moon, and stars were so easy to find, you wouldn't have asked me for help. There's still no trace of the moon and star cores, but I did find some traces of the sun core in the Tomb of the Setting Sun. In twenty or thirty years, we'll have definite news." The woman chuckled, then her voice became serious.

“That’s already quite good. I’ll wait patiently for your good news, fellow Daoist. But may I ask your name?” Nie Zhaonan was satisfied with the woman’s answer, and then suddenly asked with a thought.

"My surname is Yan. Fellow Daoist, there's no need to ask further. Even if you did, I wouldn't tell you. After all, if a senior like you, a Void Refinement stage cultivator with such great abilities, knew all my information, I would live in constant fear. For safety's sake, I might as well end the transaction with you here." The woman spoke in a relaxed tone, smiling, as if she were joking.

"Fellow Daoist Yan?" Nie Zhaonan smiled slightly. "Fellow Daoist is quite cautious."

"I do not possess the same impressive strength as you, fellow Daoist, so I must be more cautious. I have other matters to attend to, so I will not keep you company any longer," the woman said helplessly before taking her leave.

"Fellow Daoist Yan, please proceed!" Nie Zhaonan said calmly.

The woman in the black mist was quite decisive; she immediately turned around and headed towards the entrance to the demon realm opposite.

After the woman left the hall, Nie Zhaonan couldn't help but smile slightly.

Chen Qiaoqian is indeed capable of refining silver tadpole script talismans, but even among the various talismans, the success rate of refining the simplest Taiyi Huaqing talisman is less than 50%. Naturally, the success rate of refining the more difficult Jiugong Tianqian talisman is even lower, only about 20%.

There is a way to increase the success rate of talisman making: just like Nie Zhaonan's alchemy, practice more.

However, most of the materials needed to refine silver tadpole talismans come from a few rare ancient beasts in the wilderness. The price of buying them is extremely high, and even with Nie Zhaonan's wealth, it would be too much to afford to use them for practice.

Of course, this is assuming that the elixir of immortality is not sold.

Now that we have obtained the 'Nine-Star Spirit Herb', we no longer need to worry about the lack of materials for making talismans.

With one thing on his mind finally resolved, Nie Zhaonan felt a sense of relief and leisurely walked out of the hall.

Once outside the Tai Xuan Hall, Nie Zhaonan rode his escape light back to the Treasure Pavilion.

Upon seeing Nie Zhaonan produce a large quantity of ten-thousand-year-old nine-star spiritual herbs, Chen Qiaoqian's body trembled with joy, and she offered him a kiss, seemingly ready to enjoy another round of marital bliss.

Just as Nie Zhaonan was about to skillfully undress, her large hands were firmly grasped. Unable to resist her soft pleas, he let her go to refine the silver tadpole script talisman.

On this day, in one of the most dangerous patrol areas of Tianyuan City, above the Fuli Swamp, a group of cultivators flew slowly forward at low altitude.

The ten cultivators were clad in dark, ominous armor. In the center stood a long-bearded elder, wearing an ancient-looking cyan armor; he was a Nascent Soul level Azure Guard leading the group.

Both the ten Black Iron Guards and the old man leading the group had solemn expressions, holding the Spirit Discs in their hands, and constantly scanning their surroundings, as if something terrifying might pounce out at any moment.

The group of cultivators remained silent, flying cautiously for three hours. Suddenly, a series of buzzing sounds emanated from the magic disc in the hand of one of the Black Iron Guards.

Although the voice wasn't loud, it still caused everyone's expression to change drastically as they looked over.

A burly, imposing man, standing two zhang tall, saw the warning white light flashing from the spirit disc in his companion's hand and could no longer contain himself, bursting into a tirade of curses:
"Another alien race has been discovered! Although the Floating Li Swamp is a level one danger zone, extremely perilous, this is happening far too frequently! What have these alien races been up to for the past hundred years? They're so active, and their scouts are risking their lives to infiltrate our area. Our team only lost three members ten years ago."

"Hmph, that's considered good. I heard that the thirteenth squad encountered the Yaksha clan half a year ago. As a result, the entire squad, including the captain, was mostly wiped out, and even their nascent souls were swallowed alive by that Yaksha." Another middle-aged woman coldly interjected, her face equally gloomy.

“Since the alien spirit disk has already issued a warning, we will be severely punished when we return if we don’t investigate. Most alien spies are not very strong in combat. As long as everyone is cautious, we should be able to deal with this spy smoothly.” The old man in blue armor frowned and gave his instructions.

Upon hearing the elder at the Nascent Soul stage speak, the other Black Iron Guards, no matter how unwilling they were, could only remain silent.

Immediately following the old man's series of commands, the group split into several teams, heading in different directions toward the direction of the alarm from the spirit disk.

The group of cultivators changed direction and, after flying for only a few dozen miles, suddenly appeared above a forest.

The woods looked ordinary, but nearby was a swampy area bubbling with purple bubbles.

"It seems this is the place. Don't let him escape." The old man looked at the strange spirit plate in his hand, nodded affirmatively, and waved his hand to give the order.

Immediately, the dozen or so Black Iron Guards who were positioned on all sides remained silent, each summoning their treasures to protect their entire bodies, and then releasing their divine senses to scan downwards.

As a result, after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, all the cultivators, including the old man, had a slight change in expression.

"At such close range, even divine sense couldn't detect it at all, and couldn't find a trace! It seems we have no choice but to go down and search it ourselves, bit by bit. Fellow Daoist Zhou!" The old man took a deep breath and suddenly turned to greet a middle-aged man with narrow eyes.

"Don't worry, Captain, I know what to do," the middle-aged man replied shrewdly, his small eyes darting around.

He then slapped the spirit beast bracelet on his wrist with one hand, and a burst of light flew out.

After the light faded, bees with electric arcs wrapped around their bodies suddenly appeared.

Each one is about the size of a person's thumb, black in color, and emits an eerie buzzing sound when its wings vibrate.

The others remained suspended in the air, while the middle-aged man with narrow eyes slowly sat down cross-legged, made a hand seal, and the hundred or so black bees immediately fell to the ground.

When they were more than ten feet above the ground, they scattered again and shot off in all directions.

In this dangerous Floating Swamp, no one would act rashly before ascertaining the situation of the scouts.

Otherwise, with the various strange methods of the aliens that are difficult to guard against, even if they can successfully kill the other side, they will definitely suffer casualties themselves.

In that case, it would be most appropriate for the spirit insect to go down and investigate.

But just as the black bees dispersed, the spirit discs in everyone's hands suddenly trembled and emitted an unusually high-pitched shriek. Some of the spirit discs even burst out with dazzling spiritual light, which looked extremely astonishing.

"Not good! This alien is approaching us. It's already within a thousand feet and is still getting closer!" The fierce-looking burly man shouted as soon as he saw the strange phenomenon on the magic disc in his hand.

Not only him, but everyone else stirred upon seeing the magic disc in their hands, their eyes widening as they quickly scanned their surroundings. However, within a radius of a thousand feet, all around was empty, without the slightest sign of anything.

Most of them looked panicked, but one woman with a fair complexion remained calm despite her flustered expression, as if she had something to rely on.

"Quick! Cast your spells to break its concealment. It'll be bad once it gets close." The old man's expression changed drastically, and he shouted, causing his men's ears to ring.

Then it flipped its hand over and a mirror suddenly appeared in its hand.

The old man tossed the ancient mirror above his head, and it instantly transformed into a bright, round disc. A flash of light appeared on its surface, and a crimson beam of light the size of a bowl shot out.

As the disc slowly rotated, the beam of light swept out in all directions.

However, no abnormalities were found where the red light passed.

The other cultivators also summoned banners, pearls, and other treasures that could break through concealment, but wherever the spiritual light passed, they found nothing!
However, the buzzing sound emanating from the spirit discs in everyone's hands grew increasingly sharp, indicating that the alien race was almost within reach!
This caused everyone to panic, and even the only Nascent Soul level elder turned slightly pale.

Under such circumstances, the fact that they have not yet been discovered means that the one or more alien spies approaching them must be of higher cultivation than them, and it is highly likely that they are among the most difficult alien races to provoke according to rumors.

Moreover, it seems that they not only have no intention of escaping, but also intend to go forward and kill them.

"Quickly set up the Five Elements Azure Spirit Array! Ordinary defenses can't withstand them!" The old man in blue armor roared, his voice almost squeezed out of his throat.

He then ignored the bronze mirror above his head, flipped his hand, and suddenly produced a bluish-green token-shaped treasure. He tossed it into the air, and it instantly turned into a ball of red light, flickering erratically.

The other Black Iron Guards, reminded by the old man, also realized what was going on and took out similar magical artifacts from their bodies, wanting to summon them into the air as well.

But by taking action now, it's already too late.

Several loud bangs rang out as the spirit discs in the hands of the three Black Iron Guards simultaneously shattered.

Then, several faint, shadowy figures suddenly appeared out of thin air beneath the three of them.

As soon as these shadows appeared, they swayed and their bodies stretched out strangely as they pounced on the three Black Iron Guards.

"what!"

The three Black Iron Guards, caught off guard by the sudden attack, finally noticed the gray figures and cried out in alarm. However, their protective magic treasures and spiritual light were completely ineffective in blocking them, and the gray figures immediately invaded their bodies.

The three of them immediately let out a painful howl, clutching their heads and curling their bodies into shrimp-like shapes as they plummeted toward the ground.

"Shadow puppets! They're Shadow Clan members! Quickly unleash your lightning-attribute magic weapons and divine abilities!" Upon seeing the several gray shadows, the old man's expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted.

Then he immediately opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of purple flying swords.

The moment the sword was uttered, it transformed into a purple arc of electricity, protecting the old man within it.

Almost simultaneously, a gray shadow appeared strangely behind the old man, baring its fangs and claws as it pounced forward. However, after a clap of thunder, it was immediately repelled several feet away by an arc of electricity, unable to get close at all.

The other unharmed cultivators were naturally quite familiar with the Shadow Clan. However, apart from the four who also released lightning-attribute treasures, the others felt a chill run down their spines and secretly groaned in despair.

Lightning attribute is the most powerful and rarest of all the attributes of treasures; it's impossible for everyone to possess a treasure with this attribute.

In that brief moment of hesitation, identical gray shadows appeared beneath the feet of these individuals.

The Black Iron Guards exchanged horrified glances, then suddenly shouted and transformed into streaks of light, shooting out in all directions as they tried to shake off the gray shadow beneath their feet.

Those gray shadows seemed to have truly become their shadows, transforming into streaks of gray light that followed them relentlessly without pause.

In the blink of an eye, the escape lights of several cultivators, along with those gray shadows, disappeared more than a hundred feet away.

Only the old man in blue armor and four other Black Iron Guards who were avatars of lightning-attribute treasures remained on the spot.

However, at this moment, other gray shadows began to appear in front of the old man and the others, more than ten in total, constantly rushing towards the five of them, but all of them were blocked by the lightning-attribute treasures amidst the thunder.

But these gray shadows felt no pain and continued to repeat the action without stopping.

The old man in blue armor took a deep breath, disregarding the lives of his other subordinates for the moment. Instead, a flash of blue light appeared in his palm, and suddenly a stack of radiant talismans appeared, clearly not ordinary items.

"Beast, courting death!"

A gray shadow pounced again. The old man glared at it fiercely, a stern look flashing across his face. With a few soft popping sounds, a talisman in his hand instantly transformed into more than a dozen blue arcs of electricity, enveloping the gray shadow.

A deafening roar of thunder erupted, and all the electric arcs exploded. The gray shadow let out a painful groan as its body began to disintegrate and vaporize layer by layer under the bombardment of the electric arcs.

The old man was overjoyed upon seeing this. It seemed that the thunder talismans he had spent a lot of money to prepare were indeed effective.

He immediately urged it on, and the remaining talismans in his hand transformed into countless lightning arcs that struck out wildly.

Just as these arcs of electricity were about to strike the nearby gray shadows and annihilate them as before, a cold snort suddenly rang out from all directions at the same time.

At the same moment this sound appeared, a large green hand suddenly appeared in front of the gray figure. With just a slight sway of its five fingers, it somehow managed to grab all the countless arcs of electricity.

After a muffled clap of thunder, the arcs of electricity vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed.

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(End of this chapter)