Chapter 125: Baiting the Deity Transformation

Once the various experts had returned to the Asura Mansion, Mansion Master Xiu Binggan nearly coughed up blood. Beyond the losses sustained by the high-level officials outside the mansion, he had not expected that over two hundred of his own outstanding disciples, all ranked on the Earth Ranking, had also perished innocently. While the intended effect of intimidating the world had been achieved through this display of force, the Asura Mansion had simultaneously lost all face. Aside from the late-stage Transformation God expert Xiu Gang being forced to self-destruct, only seventy percent of the three thousand Golden Core stage and five hundred Nascent Soul stage cultivators sent to battle had returned. The Asura Mansion’s combat power could effectively be considered to have lost one-tenth of its strength. Consequently, the entire Asura Mansion was united in their deep-seated hatred for the Puppet Sect. As for the likes of Xiu Ji, Xiu Sihai, and Xiu Haobo, who had been forced to instigate the conflict, they trembled in their rooms, not daring to show their faces, all mentally elevating Fat Gu to the status of a peerless arch-demon.

Meanwhile, within the headquarters of the Puppet Sect in the eastern region of the Central Domain, Sect Master Taishi Zheng and his senior officials gathered in deep sorrow around the corpse of Helian Tu. Having lost a grand expert at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, the Puppet Sect’s strength had been slashed by a quarter. This did not even account for the losses of their Southern Domain contingents on two separate occasions—nearly twenty thousand elders and disciples of various levels. The Puppet Sect, which had dominated the various regions of the continent for over a thousand years, had truly suffered a blow to its foundations. At the same time, their fury burned with a desire for revenge. This was especially true after they received intelligence from the few surviving members of their Dark Division in the Southern Domain, claiming that the entire cause was the soul-snatching and death of Xiu Zheng-hu, the direct disciple of the Asura Mansion’s Mansion Master and the current head disciple of the faction. Without much thought, they all tacitly agreed: it must have been one of their Southern Domain units, seeking to maintain their covert foothold within the Asura Mansion, that had forcibly seized Xiu Zheng-hu’s soul.

Most coincidentally, the arrogant high-level officials of the Asura Mansion reached the exact same conclusion, believing the false information to be absolute fact. Because both sides were among the most powerful forces on the continent, they never even considered that someone might be calculating and provoking them; naturally, they did not believe anyone would truly dare to defy the world in such a manner.

As the crisis dissipated, the various factions of the Southern Domain re-emerged, buzzing with discussion. The Supreme Grand Elder Nangong Hongbo finally breathed a sigh of relief, though his gaze became strange when he swept his divine sense toward Fat Gu. Feeling lingering fear, Nangong Hongbo felt that he would eventually be killed by this brat. Thinking about how long Fat Gu had been out training, it had been less than a year in total. First, in the imperial capital of the Zijin Royal Court, he killed Murong Ying and helped the royal family win over the Murong clan; then, at the Grand Ceremony, he defeated three hundred opponents single-handedly and was decreed a prince consort; subsequently, he entered the Endless Forest, carried out a frenzied looting spree, emptied countless beast dens, and later incited a beast tide to surround the imperial capital, thereby lifting the siege on the Zijin border army; then, at the Hundred Sects Disciple Competition, he became famous across the Southern Domain, earned the recognition of one hundred Earth Stele fragments, and cleverly seized private territory through silver-tongued tactics; later, he subdued a group of assassins and cleansed the Puppet Sect’s high-level members across the South; finally, he daringly provoked the direct confrontation between the Asura Mansion and the Puppet Sect, leading to the demise of countless experts; and he had even brazenly gone out again for another massive sweep... Although Nangong Hongbo was unaware of some of these events, the ones he had witnessed personally completely overturned his impression of Fat Gu as a cute, naughty, and shameless boy within the sect. This kid was simply too much trouble; following him might lead to a short life. This was the profound, newfound realization of Nangong Hongbo, who had suddenly accepted his fate.

At this moment, the Ethereal Sect was also liberated from its lockdown. Inside the main hall of the main peak, the senior officials were filled with lingering apprehension. Of course, among these officials, only Nangong Kang knew the full details of this world-shaking event from Supreme Grand Elder Nangong Hongbo. Now, whenever Nangong Kang remembered that he had just conferred the title of Young Sect Master upon that kid, his head throbbed incessantly. But he could only keep the truth to himself, afraid of scaring the old fogies around him into a shock-induced collapse, and also fearing that he might set fire to his own small, fragile Ethereal Sect.

The entire Southern Domain, and even other regions, wondered why these two forces, which had lived in peace for a thousand years, had suddenly engaged in such a fierce clash. How many years had it been since a late-stage Transformation God or even a Tribulation Transcendence stage expert had fallen in the entire Wind God Continent? It had been at least a millennium. For the fellow cultivators who had suffered innocently in this war, everyone could only express sympathy. At the same time, they were incredibly grateful that the war had not taken place above their own territories. Otherwise... alas, it was terrifying. In the gathering grounds of the Endless Forest, within the Beast Woods, the high-level beasts that had long since taken human form had only just gathered their talented youngsters when such a world-shaking event occurred among the humans. They all sighed, saying that humans were humans—after ten thousand years, they were still the same, fighting amongst themselves. At a time like this, on the eve of the mysterious millennial catastrophe, they were still engaging in such infighting, wasting high-level combat strength.

As for Fat Gu, who had quietly returned to his private residence with Bai Ling'er, he decisively activated the spiritual energy isolation formation the moment he arrived. In a side room, the two sat cross-legged on the bed, facing each other. Between them lay over a hundred storage bags of various sizes. There was a dazzling array of high-grade items: herbs, spiritual pills, and materials, most of which were fifth-grade, with a small handful even reaching the sixth grade. Fat Gu, grinning from ear to ear, waited until all the items were neatly categorized, then, to Bai Ling'er’s shock, produced two exquisite storage rings.

"Sister Ling'er, these are the biggest harvest I made this time."
"Sister Ling'er? Don't lose focus, let's keep counting."
"Oh, right."
Bai Ling'er, having regained her composure, gave Fat Gu a deep look with her bright, watery eyes and joined in the counting. As expected of strong individuals at the Transformation God and faction-master level, the massive amount of resources in the two storage rings were all fifth-grade or higher; although there were no eighth-grade items, there were quite a few sixth- and even seventh-grade treasures. Among them, Fat Gu found six Spirit Souls—exactly what he desperately needed. There were three Water Spirit Souls, two Earth Spirit Souls, and one Gale Spirit Soul. Now, he was only missing the Fire Spirit Soul to complete the Five Elements. Fat Gu couldn't help but marvel at his constant good fortune. Even Old Man Qin, watching from within the stone pendant, was widening his old eyes, sighing repeatedly at the lucky brat. If these resources were not counted, these two storage rings alone were worth a fortune.

"Sister Ling'er, take whatever you like."
"Your little brother is a rich man now, hahahaha!"
Looking at the incredibly smug Fat Gu, Bai Ling'er did not stand on ceremony. She took one Water Spirit Soul, ten sixth-grade barrier-breaking pills, and several pieces of flexible material. Before rising, she took the empty storage ring Fat Gu tossed over, lingered for two breaths, then turned and headed to her own room.

"Master, do you think Sister Ling'er was moved by me? Hmm, she must have been!"
"You didn't see the look in her eyes just now, it was so affectionate..."
"Enough, you brat, she’s already gone back to her room, stop showing off."
"Rest up, then go train in other regions or along the edge of the Endless Sea. Consider it avoiding the limelight, and while you're at it, collect the last missing Fire Spirit Soul. If you can find a Lightning Soul, that would be even better."

"Compared to these external riches, focusing on improving your cultivation is what matters."
"Sigh, fine. Look at this busy life of mine."
Old Man Qin rolled his eyes at Fat Gu, flicked his forehead hard twice, and returned to the primitive stone pendant.

After a night of cultivation, Bai Ling'er, having refined the Water Spirit Soul, increased her cultivation by another stage, reaching the peak of the mid-Golden Core stage. With her ability to fight two stages above her own, she could now contend with a late-stage Golden Core expert without losing even without using secret techniques. If she used her secret techniques, she could hold her own against a typical late-stage Nascent Soul expert for a long time. Fat Gu, meanwhile, remained at the False Core stage; his meridians were constantly widening, and the newly refined spiritual energy was continuously being compressed, causing the multi-colored crystalline energy within him to grow even larger. Within his private territory, five giant statue artifacts stood tall, glowing dimly. Since the Asura Mansion experts had gone all out and a Tribulation Transcendence expert had been slain, the security in the area was excellent; even the discouraged Asura Mansion elders and disciples did not dare to cause trouble for a long time. Although they were only five statues, to the people in the private territory of the Southern Domain’s central region, it felt as if they were truly sheltered under the wings of the Asura Mansion’s Mansion Master. It was safe and reassuring.

Fat Gu, not paying much attention to the outside world, called Bai Ling'er and set off again, not even notifying the disciples guarding his courtyard. High above, Supreme Grand Elder Nangong Hongbo followed. Meanwhile, the members of the Heavenly Mansion, who had been ordered to remain dormant, all emerged. Stimulated by their leader’s earth-shattering actions, they began challenging the Earth Ranking once more, fighting even more desperately than before. Vice Mansion Master Sun Tian also waved his hand, clearing out the remaining pills Fat Gu had sent, distributing them to everyone, hoping for the fastest and most comprehensive cultivation progress—they absolutely could not fall too far behind their leader. At the same time, the early-stage Transformation God assassin from the Central Domain, who had been delayed for two days by the assassins under Fat Gu’s command, officially set out.

Fat Gu and his companion headed southeast through the Endless Forest toward the edge of the sea. With her cultivation improved, Bai Ling'er’s celestial divination gave her a vague sense that Fat Gu would obtain the Fire Spirit Soul in the near future. Thus, Fat Gu was full of energy. Along the way, wherever there were fire-attribute beasts or anomalies in fire energy, Fat Gu would stop to investigate thoroughly. As for the Transformation God assassin tracking them from outside the Endless Forest? Not only had Nangong Hongbo discovered him immediately, but Fat Gu himself was well aware—because this was the fish he was intentionally trying to catch. The two of them traveled leisurely through the interior of the Endless Forest, never stepping out, just keeping the assassin in tow. At this very moment, perhaps influenced by the clash between the two great forces, the disciple competitions among various factions in other regions were finally beginning one after another.