Chapter 1177: The Second Nascent Soul and the Sovereign Devil Corpse
"I've already placed a restriction on you, so don't even think about using your magic power. You're now no different from a mortal." A lazy voice suddenly sounded, drawing the horrified gaze of Song Yu.
In the corner of a cave, there was a tall and broad shadowy figure sitting with his legs crossed. Due to the fact that he had been sitting completely still, Song Yu had failed to notice him initially.
Almost at the exact same moment, she discovered that she was indeed unable to draw upon any of her magic power. It appeared that a powerful restriction really had been placed upon her, and her heart sank upon making this discovery.
"Who are you? And why have you captured us?" Song Yu looked around to discover Mu Peiling and Liu Yu lying next to her. Even though they were both unconscious, they appeared to be largely unscathed, and she was very relieved to see this.
"Hehe, I didn't think that I would encounter the three of you in the inner valley. You can only blame your terrible luck for running into me, and doing so right at a juncture when the three of you could prove to be useful to me. Martial Niece Song, if the three of you stay here without trying to pull any shenanigans, I won't hurt any of you. However, if you try to escape, then don't blame me for hurting you," the humanoid figure threatened in a cold voice.
Song Yu faltered slightly upon hearing this. "Martial niece? I don't recall having a senior like you in our sect. You must have the wrong person, Senior."
"It's no surprise that you don't recognize me. All you have to know is that you're my martial niece. How's that little brat, Violet Spirit?" the humanoid figure asked.
"You know Violet Spirit?! Who are you?" Song Yu yelled with alarm.
"It's simple for me to show you who I am," the shadowy figure murmured before suddenly rising to his feet and making his way toward Song Yu.
After just a few steps, the humanoid figure had emerged from the darkness and revealed himself to Song Yu.
He wore a set of long black robes with a skeletal head on his shoulders. There was also a pair of large tusks protruding from his mouth, creating an extremely terrifying sight to behold. Furthermore, the man had an arm exposed, and that arm appeared to have been constructed from shimmering metal, which was also very unsettling.
Song Yu repressed the horror and disgust in her heart as she asked, "Who are you? I definitely haven't met you before."
"Really? In my current state, it's no surprise that you don't recognize me," the black-robed figure mused calmly. However, a peculiar look suddenly appeared in his eyes as he turned toward Song Yu.
As their eyes met, Song Yu was abruptly struck by a sense of familiarity, and a thought suddenly occurred to her.
"You... You're... That's impossible!" Song Yu exclaimed.
"You've finally recognized me. Don't be so alarmed; the current me isn't that man yet. However, it won't be long before I'll become him." The black-robed figure chuckled eerily before his body swayed, and he sat down in his original spot with his legs folded, no longer paying any heed to Song Yu.
Song Yu's eyes were filled with incredulity and waves of shock were surging through her heart. The figure of a youth appeared in her mind, combining with this black-robed figure, then separating into two again.
Could it be that this man really was Martial Uncle Han? But he clearly didn't look like this in the past. Could it be that something happened to him during his journey, so he had been forced to resurrect himself through possession? But that couldn't be the case, either. Even though this martial uncle of hers was only at the mid-Nascent Soul Stage, his combat prowess was not inferior to that of late-Nascent Soul cultivators, so how could he have been reduced to such a pitiful state? Furthermore, even if his body really had been destroyed and his Nascent Soul was forced to possess a new vessel, why didn't he return to the sect to rest and recover? Why would he hide in this Devilfall Valley instead, and why would he attack the three of them? "What do you mean by that?" Song Yu was an extremely intelligent woman, but even her brain was unable to keep up with what was happening.
The black-robed man suddenly opened his eyes, and harrumphed, "Hmph, you two are clearly already awake, so why do you continue to pretend to be unconscious."
Song Yu faltered slightly upon hearing this, and before she had a chance to look beside her with elation, Mu Peiling's voice sounded from behind her.
"You're not my Lord, you're his second Nascent Soul! How were you able to escape from my Lord's control and attain a sentient will of your own? Where is my Lord right now?"
Her words were extremely peculiar, and from the tone of her voice was filled with concern and horror.
"You're right, Junior Martial Sister Mu; this man is indeed the second avatar that Master refined!" Liu Yu suddenly chimed in in a startled voice. She also wore an incredulous look on her face.
Song Yu turned to discover that both of the women beside her had sat up, and Liu Yu had her hand pressed over her face, leaving only her astonished eyes visible.
Mu Peiling stared intently at the shadowy figure as she said, "I don't know the specifics, but I've heard that my Lord cultivated an extremely rare secret technique in our human world that can allow him to materialize a second Nascent Soul. However, this is an extremely perilous endeavor, and the one using this technique could easily suffer backslash from this second Nascent Soul after it attains sentient will of its own."
Song Yu and Liu Yu both looked at one another upon hearing this.
"I'm surprised you were able to recognize me. Oh, I remember now; you're the girl that Silvermoon once mentioned to me. In any case, I don't plan on hiding anything. I was indeed once that man's second Nascent Soul, but after I engulf his soul, he will be me, and I will be him. The three of you had better stay here and not try to escape. If everything goes smoothly, then I'll release all of you. This is an extremely obscure location in the inner valley and even if that man were to search for you in person, there's no way that he would be able to find this place," the black-robed man willingly admitted.
He was none other than Han Li's second Nascent Soul, which had gone missing during his battle with the Illustrious Grand Immortal of the Soaring Tribe.
At the time, the Nascent Soul had been severely wounded by an Illustrious Grand Immortal, and it should've been completely destroyed. However, the second Nascent Soul had cultivated in the Profound Yin Devilish Qi that Han Li had bestowed upon it, which activated the protective ability of the Ghost Sifting Banner, which had been injected with Myriad Depth Devilish Qi. As such, the Nascent Soul was sucked into the banner, where pure devilish Qi had been injected into it as part of emergency treatment.
If Han Li weren't too far away from the Nascent Soul, once the second Nascent Soul awakened, it would automatically return to Han Li's side.
However, Han Li had also been severely wounded at the time and was forced to seal himself in ice before drifting all the way to the Great Jin.
As such, after the second Nascent Soul as completely healed, it was unable to find Han Li, and began to roam the grasslands.
About two or three decades later, it finally developed a hint of sentient will and immediately returned to the Great Jin. It then traveled to the Devilfall Valley nad easily found the Sovereign Devil Corpse, which was stumbling around in the inner valley like a zombie.
Even though the devil corpse had been severely damaged by an ancient devil before, it was able to slowly recover to its former state.
However, it was moving around completely instinctively as it had lost Han Li's guidance. If several centuries were to pass, it wouldn't be impossible for the devil corpse to attain sentient will of its own.
However, after being discovered by the second Nascent Soul, it was able to use the restriction that Han Li had used in the past to easily take over the devil corpse and engulf the tiny hint of essence within.
This was why the second Nascent Soul hadn't possessed any other cultivator, and instead headed straight for the Devilfall Valley.
After all, it would be very difficult to possess a Nascent Soul cultivator's body, and there was a good chance that the roles would be reversed, and the prey would kill the hunter. This devil corpse had the power of a Nascent Soul cultivator, but it just so happened to not have any sentient will, so it was the ideal possession target.
Thus, the second Nascent Soul sought it out without any hesitation.
The Nascent Soul drew upon the residual devilish Qi left behind by the ancient devil's body in the spatial rift, then used the Sovereign Devil Corpse's corpse Qi as a foundation, and recruited the assistance of the Ghost Sifting Banner, allowing it to cultivate most of the Profound Yin Devilish Qi in just a short few decades. As such, it was able to reach the mid-Nascent Soul Stage.
After that, it discovered a few treasures within secret locations in the valley and refined them before preparing to exit the valley, and it just so happened to bump into Mu Peiling's trio.
Initially, he didn't know that it was these three women that he was hunting down. However, due to the fact that it had cultivated the Profound Yin Devilish Qi, then been injected with pure devilish Qi, and finally engulfed the Sovereign Devil Corpse's essence, the Nascent Soul had become completely different from Han Li. It was extremely aggressive and vicious, and it immediately attacked these three Core Formation cultivators. On the one hand, killing them would completely eradicate any possibility of them revealing its location to anyone, and on the other hand, it would be a good way to vent its ferocious tendencies. However, after sifting through Han Li's memories, the second Nascent Soul was able to identify the three women, and after a brief hesitation, it changed its mind. Instead of killing them, it captured the three women and set up a restriction to detain them here.
Mu Peiling was lamenting over her misfortune, but she still mustered up her courage, and asked, "How long do you plan on holding us captive?"
The reason why she was able to immediately recognize this second Nascent Soul was because when Silvermoon had been delivering pills to her, she had also given Mu Peiling a nameless jade pendant, which she had always carried with her since.
At the time, Silvermoon had hidden a wisp of the second Nascent Soul's aura in that jade pendant, thereby allowing the carrier of the pendant to detect the second Nascent Soul's presence at close quarters.
Mu Peiling had always been quite perplexed about why Silvermoon had done that, but she suddenly understood the reason behind this now.
She had most likely anticipated that there was a possibility that the second Nascent Soul would escape from Han Li's control, and she had given her this jade pendant to avoid any potential mishaps. As such, she was able to use this treasure to immediately identify who their captor was.
Upon hearing Mu Peiling's question, the black-robed figure glared coldly at her, and replied, "Of course it's when there's only one Han Li left in this world!"
After making sense of the situation, Song Yu had also recomposed herself, and she asked in a calm voice, "With Martial Uncle's abilities and rate of cultivation, do you really think you have a chance?"
"The current me is indeed no match for him, but I have a good chance of being able to escape with my life. Besides, with the three of you held captive, he's going to be a lot more wary, so that gives me even better chances. As for how I'm going to be able to bring him down, that's not something for you three to worry about," the black-robed figure chuckled, yet didn't reveal anything.
"Then..." Liu Yu was just about to say something, but the black-robed figure suddenly cut her off, "Alright, I know what you three are plotting, but don't even think about it. The only scenarios in which you three will be able to escape from here will be when I engulf that man's soul, or he wipes away my sentient will and reduces me to his second Nascent Soul again. For now, all three of you should just take a long nap."
The black-robed figure suddenly made a hand seal and began to chant something.
Spiritual light of all colors suddenly began to shimmer on the ground around the three women as large swaths of black Qi emerged.
Only then did the three of them discover that they were situated at the center of a massive formation.
The trio was inundated by black Qi, and fell unconscious again.
Only then did the black-robed figure sitting in the corner stop his chanting and undid his hand seal. However, there was a complex and indecisive light shimmering in its eyes as it looked at the black Qi.