Chapter Ten: The Peony Fairy's Fall from Grace

Then the soul of the Nine Nether Immortal emitted another furious roar, its massive figure pressing straight toward Peony Fairy.

The moment Nine Nether Immortal’s body exploded and the golden core shot out, Peony Fairy instinctively summoned her spiritual energy to shield herself. Yet the power of the golden core’s self-detonation was overwhelming; her hastily conjured shield could not withstand it for long, and it shattered under the immense force.

As the shield broke, the giant soul also touched Peony Fairy. Strangely, as soon as the soul of Nine Nether Immortal made contact with her body, it slipped directly inside and vanished without a trace.

At first, Peony Fairy sensed nothing amiss. Soon, however, she felt something foreign—unlike spiritual energy—rampaging within her body. Alarmed, she hurried to seal her own spiritual energy, but it was too late.

She felt a force seal her powers, and her nascent soul within her consciousness began to regress, transforming into a golden core. Worse yet, she realized in horror that her cultivation realm was plummeting.

Late-stage Golden Core...

Late-stage Foundation Establishment...

Tenth level of Qi Refinement...

Sixth level of Qi Refinement...

It finally stopped at the first level of Qi Refinement. Just moments ago, Peony Fairy had been at the early stage of Nascent Soul, and now she had fallen to the meager first layer of Qi Refinement.

Turning the situation over in her mind, Peony Fairy deduced that Nine Nether Immortal had just used the Grand Demonic Dissolution Technique.

This technique was infamous in the cultivation world, a sinister method that harmed others at the cost of oneself, and a secret art of an ancient, long-lost sect. It used the caster’s own soul to forcibly enter the target’s body, employing the power of cosmic laws to seal the victim’s spiritual energy and reduce their cultivation realm.

The higher the caster’s realm, the more levels the victim would lose. Nine Nether Immortal, being at the peak of the Golden Core stage, caused Peony Fairy’s realm to fall directly to the first layer of Qi Refinement.

Yet Peony Fairy did not know that Nine Nether Immortal’s intention was to first use the Grand Demonic Dissolution Technique to reduce her realm, then rely on the explosive power of his own golden core to kill her when her weakened state left her defenseless, so that both would perish together.

Ironically, since it was Nine Nether Immortal’s first attempt at the technique, he could not control its effects as he had anticipated. The final outcome did not unfold as he wished; his soul was obliterated by the golden core’s detonation. The two Envoys of the South and North, who had hidden within his sleeves, were caught in the blast and perished as well.

All three shared the same fate as Elder Jin—obliterated, vanishing together in the ruins.

Due to her fallen realm, Peony Fairy could no longer fly by her own power. She hurriedly drew a flight talisman from her storage ring and affixed it to her foot.

The talisman released a surge of spiritual energy, enveloping her feet. Supported as if by invisible hands, Peony Fairy gently descended from the sky.

Unexpectedly, she landed in a place where the envoys of the Hundred Poisons Sect had scattered a cloud of Bewildering Flower Powder—the pollen still lingered in the air, undispersed.

Carelessly, Peony Fairy inhaled a small amount.

“Damn it!”

Unable to restrain herself, she cursed, quickly retrieving a Purity Pill and placing it between her lips. The Purity Pill was famed in the cultivation world for countering most poisons.

Yet, having expended most of her spiritual energy in her earlier battle against the four members of the Hundred Poisons Sect, coupled with her current weak Qi Refinement stage, even the Purity Pill could barely fend off the effects of the Bewildering Flower Powder.

Knowing the poison would soon take effect, Peony Fairy sighed softly, resigned. She summoned her spiritual energy, and thirty-six luminous pearls flew from the ruins, perfectly intact, nestling into her storage ring.

Though the cave behind the waterfall had been shattered, these pearls, being extraordinary treasures, remained unharmed.

The storage rings of the four members of the Hundred Poisons Sect also flew toward Peony Fairy as spoils of battle, taken from the places where their bodies fell.

After securing these treasures, Peony Fairy sat cross-legged on a patch of grass, gathering her remaining spiritual energy in an attempt to suppress the onset of the poison. Soon, she could not hold it back; her body began to heat up, her cheeks flushing red.

In the vast boundless stretches of the cultivation world, a mountain range extended as far as the eye could see.

Hundreds of mountain clusters, stretching for millions of kilometers, wreathed in mist and clouds. The air was fresh, and among these peaks roamed creatures long extinct in the mortal world—a true paradise hidden from mundane eyes.

Within a valley of one such cluster, the basin spread tens of thousands of square kilometers into a plain, atop which stood a hundred grand halls.

The halls were arranged in neat rows, east to west, north to south, perfectly aligned. At the center stood the largest hall, surrounded by dozens of smaller temples.

Inside the main hall, lights burned brightly, illuminating a space over a thousand square meters. Eight figures stood—four on each side—making the vast hall seem emptier still.

Each of the four wore red robes and expressionless faces; had they not been breathing, a visitor might have mistaken them for statues. Clearly, they were the hall’s guardians.

At the heart of the hall stood a grand altar, upon which dozens of oil lamps burned, their flames entwined with threads of spiritual energy.

On the third row, four lamps stood; suddenly, two extinguished at once, and the four guardians looked to the altar, their faces grave.

Then, the leftmost lamp on the second row went out, and the guardians’ expressions turned incredulous.

When the lamp at the first row went dark, all four were struck with terror, exchanging anxious glances.

On such a cool day, beads of sweat broke out on their foreheads, their faces turned ashen.

“This—!”

The first on the left spoke in panic.

“Do not act rashly. You three remain here; I will report to the Grand Elder.”

The first on the right declared.

The other three looked at the one who would report, silent but reassured.

He finished speaking and strode out of the hall.

Inside, the remaining three resumed their stoic expressions, though each felt in their heart that something significant was about to happen.

Outside the hall, the messenger glanced back in, seeing no sign of alarm.