bookbashuk Chapter 375 Golden Core Crawling
Chapter 375 Golden Core Crawling
As the dust settled, the disheveled figures of five Golden Core cultivators were revealed.
They struggled to get up, only to find that their spiritual energy remained stagnant, like a stone sinking into the sea. No matter how they tried to activate it, their dantian and meridians remained silent. This unprecedented weakness drained the color from their faces, leaving only horror in their eyes.
The Taoist priest with the brownish-yellow dough looked around in terror: "...Who is this senior? I am Qingyang Gu Leixiaozi. If I have offended you, please forgive me!"
Beside him, the woman in red also struggled to sit up, her face devoid of any allure, only deathly paleness and fear. She dared not even look directly at Qi Lan and the others, her gaze darting away, her voice trembling: "Senior, please forgive us...we were blind..."
The other three Golden Core cultivators were even more terrified, not daring to even raise their heads.
Falling from the lofty heights of the clouds to the mortal realm, even reduced to a state worse than that of ordinary people, the fear brought by this contrast was far more devastating to them than death itself. After hundreds of years of cultivation, they had long been accustomed to the feeling of abundant spiritual power and complete control. This state of "spiritual deprivation" was even more despairing than having their tendons and bones ripped out.
Qi Lan wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, a hint of pleasure flashing in her amber vertical pupils. She turned around and looked towards the mountain path.
Footsteps approached at a leisurely pace.
Chen Anran walked down the stone steps one by one. He was still wearing the dark cloth robe of the Yunyin Sect, his short hair was gently swaying in the breeze, and his face was expressionless, as calm as if he were just taking a walk after dinner.
But at this moment, in everyone's eyes, this slowly approaching figure exuded an indescribable majesty.
He walked to the entrance of the resort's main street, stopped a few feet away from the five Golden Core cultivators, and calmly swept his gaze over them.
"Name, origin, and why you came here."
Lei Xiaozi's Adam's apple bobbed as he suppressed the turmoil in his heart. He clasped his hands and bowed deeply. "Junior... Lei Xiaozi, an inner sect elder of Qingyang Valley. These four are Liu Meiniang of the Hehuan Sect, Zhao Kuo of the Zidian Sect, Li Feng of the Xuedao Sect, and the rogue cultivator, the pale-faced scholar Wen Ruyu." He finished his report in one breath, not daring to conceal anything. "We... sensed abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations here, as if some strange entity had appeared, so we agreed to come and investigate. We had absolutely no intention of offending anyone, but... but seeing the peculiar architecture and the mixed aura of the people here, we were overcome by greed. We deserve to die!"
He adopted an extremely humble posture, taking full responsibility on "greed" and making no mention of his earlier arrogance in treating human life as worthless.
Chen Anran remained noncommittal, turning his gaze to Liu Meiniang.
Liu Meiniang trembled and hurriedly said, "Senior, please understand! We were indeed attracted here by the strange spiritual energy! We had no idea that this place was your place of seclusion! If we had known, we wouldn't have dared to disturb you even if we had ten lives!" Her voice was soft and tearful, making her look pitiful, but unfortunately, no one present was fooled by her act.
Chen Anran ignored her performance and asked only, "Tell me about the ownership of this place, the surrounding forces, and the current situation of the Great Qian Dynasty."
Lei Xiaozi and Liu Meiniang exchanged a glance, and Lei Xiaozi continued, "Reporting to Senior, this place is the southeastern border of the Great Qian Dynasty, the foothills of the Cangyun Mountains. It has always been an unclaimed wasteland, with only a few mountain villages that make a living by gathering firewood and herbs. Within a radius of a thousand miles, there are no large sects, only small and medium-sized sects like Qingyang Valley, Zidian Sect, and Hehuan Sect scattered around. Eight hundred miles further west is the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty's 'Tiannan Prefecture'."
He paused, stealing a glance at Chen Anran's expression. Seeing that the other party remained unmoved, he had no choice but to continue: "The Great Qian Dynasty is currently... still a vassal state of the Immortal Alliance. The royal power is weak, and the various prefectures are actually controlled by the local major sects or aristocratic families. The Immortal Alliance is high and mighty, regularly collecting tributes and selecting those with spiritual roots to join... In recent years, the dynasty has not been peaceful. Barbarian tribes are raiding the borders in the north, pirates are invading in the east, and there are also monsters causing trouble and demonic cultivators roaming around in various places... The people are suffering terribly."
His description was somewhat vague, but it roughly outlined a chaotic world where the strong prey on the weak.
Chen Anran was silent for a moment, then asked, "How is Tianjing City?"
"Tianjing?" Lei Xiaozi was taken aback, seemingly not expecting this mysterious senior to ask about the capital of a dynasty. "Tianjing is the capital of the Great Qian Dynasty, and it is naturally extremely prosperous. Envoys from the Immortal Alliance are stationed there, and all the major sects and aristocratic families have their own residences... However, the royal power is restricted, and although the royal family is noble, they still have to rely on the Immortal Alliance." He carefully added, "I am of low rank and only went there once a hundred years ago with an elder from my sect, so my knowledge is limited."
Chen Anran stopped asking questions.
He raised his hand, his five fingers loosely clenched.
In an instant, Lei Xiaozi and his group of five felt a tightness around them, as if they were bound by invisible shackles, making it difficult to even breathe. They looked at Chen Anran in horror, thinking that he was about to kill them.
But Chen Anran simply grabbed at the air.
Five faint lights flew out from their bodies—they were their storage bags, storage rings, and several protective magical artifacts close to their bodies. These items, as if drawn by invisible threads, obediently fell into Chen Anran's hands.
"Use this as collateral," Chen Anran said calmly. "Go back and tell your sect that this area, within a radius of thirty kilometers, is the training ground of my Yunyin Sect. Anyone who enters without permission will have their spiritual power sealed, and their life or death will be in my hands."
As soon as he finished speaking, the invisible force binding the five people vanished. At the same time, they felt that the previously severed spiritual connection had been restored to a trace—just enough for them to use the most basic flying techniques. Fighting or flying away at full speed was absolutely impossible.
Lei Xiaozi and his four companions, as if granted a pardon, scrambled to their feet, not even daring to ask for their confiscated storage artifacts. They repeatedly bowed to Chen Anran, saying, "Thank you so much for sparing our lives, Senior! We will certainly deliver your message! We will never dare to offend you again!"
Having said that, the five dared not linger any longer. They barely managed to activate their pitiful spiritual power, transforming it into five crooked and disheveled streaks of light, and fled hastily in the direction they had come from, at a speed more than ten times slower than when they arrived.
The oppressive atmosphere in front of the resort only eased when the five streaks of light disappeared into the horizon.
With a few "thumps," several disciples from the Feng and Jiang families with lower cultivation levels collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, only then realizing that cold sweat had soaked through their clothes.
Daoist Tianbao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken: "Damn it... five Golden Core cultivators! If it weren't for you, kid Chen..." He looked at Chen Anran with a complex expression, a mixture of relief and deep awe.
What I just witnessed was utterly shocking. With a mere gesture, he stripped five Golden Core cultivators of their spiritual power, causing them to fall like mortals… What kind of skill was this?
Many people recalled what Chen Anran had said to them before they transmigrated—"...I can control the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and I can create or destroy it with a single thought. Even if a Golden Core cultivator or even a Nascent Soul cultivator enters this world, as long as they are within this thirty-kilometer radius, their life, death, honor, and disgrace will be in my hands."
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