"That's right, but it's not absolute. Look closely at this stone tablet, can you sense anything different?"
Han Laomo scanned the stone tablet before him with some surprise. But no matter how he looked at it, it was just an ordinary stone tablet. It had only acquired a trace of sentience over time.
"Is there anything special about this stone tablet?"
Lu Xiu didn't speak, but instead summoned a strange spirit beast. Upon seeing the creature, Old Demon Han's expression changed slightly.
"This is... a Tuanamiosaurus?"
The Earth Armored Dragon is an extremely rare spirit beast. This doesn't mean it possesses exceptional combat power. Rather, it's because it has a very special ability: it can sense the presence of rare and precious spiritual treasures. Simply put, it's a spirit beast of good fortune. Although it lacks combat power, it is a top-tier spirit beast coveted by cultivators throughout the world.
This creature can use earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique for escaping through the earth), and it possesses extremely high spiritual intelligence. Its ability to protect itself is first-rate. Ordinary cultivators wouldn't be able to catch it even if they encountered it. However, Lu Xuan's Hidden Immortal Sect has a specialized method for controlling beasts. Therefore, they acquired one a long time ago. They have only recently trained it and it is now quite usable.
In truth, Lu Xuan couldn't discern anything wrong with the stone tablet. He simply remembered it as an extremely important item. Coupled with the Earth Armor Dragon's hint, he was certain that something was amiss.
He activated his storage bag, preparing to collect the entire stone tablet. However, as the storage bag emitted a burst of light, the tablet only trembled slightly and was not lifted. Lu Xuan gently raised his right hand, adding a bit of force. The stone tablet was forcibly lifted by the light. But the next second, the tablet fell to the ground again.
"What's going on?" Han Li, standing to the side, was also startled. He knew his sect leader's cultivation level well. Among the cultivators in the mortal realm, apart from those reclusive Nascent Soul cultivators, probably no one could contend with him. But now, Lu Xuan couldn't even lift this seemingly ordinary stone tablet!
Lu Xuan frowned slightly, and the force in his hand suddenly increased several times. Under his immense magical power, the stone tablet crumbled inch by inch, revealing a wisp of blue light.
"This is... a spirit stone?"
“No, definitely not. No one would directly use spirit stones to forge magical artifacts. Although it looks very similar to water-attribute spirit stones, it doesn't contain water-attribute spiritual energy.” Lu Xuan said, directly breaking open all the stone tablets, completely exposing the blue light beneath.
It was a small stone tablet, a deep blue color and made of a material resembling a sacred stone.
A blue, luminous hand appeared out of thin air in front of the stone tablet. Lu Xuan extended his five fingers like hooks, grabbed the top of the crystal, and pulled it upwards with force.
The crystal stele was indeed incredibly heavy, but Lu Xuan, who was prepared, used his powerful magic to forcefully pull the crystal out of the stele.
A bluish crystal tablet appeared before Han Li and Lu Xuan, its surface shimmering with runes and a faint blue light.
The two carefully examined the inscription. It turned out to be a spell for controlling the stone tablet.
Lu Xuan followed the prescribed incantation and successfully acquired the stone tablet. This object was not merely a stone tablet, but the core of the entire Kunwu Mountain's protective barrier. However, to use it, one had to go to the Kunwu Palace at the top of Kunwu Mountain.
Just as the two set off, a beastly roar suddenly echoed from afar. Looking up, they saw a patch of purple mist that had appeared not far away.
The two were on high alert, but not particularly tense. Together, they were a formidable force in the entire cultivation world, with few capable of posing a threat. Therefore, they simply waited patiently.
In the blink of an eye, the purple mist flew nearby, only a hundred feet away from the two of them.
Lu Xuan and Han Li could already see a dark, shadowy creature lurking in the mist, its fist-sized, crimson demonic eyes staring at them with bloodlust and rage. Clearly, it was no benevolent being.
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Chapter 550 A Glimmer of Hope
Lu Xuan knew that there were several guardian beasts on Kunwu Mountain. However, due to the disappearance of those ancient cultivators, these beasts no longer wanted to fulfill their duties and were constantly thinking about how to escape.
They are all extremely rare demonic beasts with long lifespans. As long as they can leave Kunwu Mountain, with their late-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, they will naturally have free rein to roam.
Unfortunately, the life-bound tokens of those demonic beasts were all locked inside the Kunwu Palace. Unable to enter, they could only watch anxiously from the outside.
The interior of Kunwu Mountain has remained untouched for countless years. Before this, some cultivators briefly lingered at its edge, seemingly making some preparations, but they never actually entered.
The demonic beasts understood that once the human cultivators were ready, they would definitely launch a large-scale exploration. That would be the best opportunity for them to escape. However, they hadn't expected that instead of the human group, they would encounter two cultivators who had mistakenly wandered into the area.
The lion-beast, with its fiery temper, decided to strike directly to kill the two unfortunate human cultivators to avoid jeopardizing the overall situation. However, as it leaped out of the purple mist and attacked its opponents, it suddenly noticed a strange problem. The two human cultivators opposite it, while somewhat surprised to see it, showed no fear whatsoever.
On the contrary, there was even an indescribable mocking expression in the other person's eyes.
The lion-beast was startled and immediately tried to stop. But it was too late. Figures appeared in the surrounding void. Before it knew it, more than a dozen cultivators had densely packed around it.
No, they weren't cultivators, they were puppets. And all of them were Nascent Soul level puppets. Two of them possessed a powerful and domineering aura, even instilling a sense of dread in the puppets themselves. They were actually high-level puppets at the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage. Puppets of this level were extremely rare even in ancient times.
The lion-beast's expression changed drastically. Surrounded by purple mist, its entire body transformed into a ball of purple light. It had actually unleashed some kind of innate divine power. It was about to turn and flee.
However, facing two overpowered individuals like Lu Xuan and Han Laomo, its methods were clearly somewhat limited. Suddenly, a golden lightning net appeared in the void, closing in from all directions. The lion-beast staggered, being ejected from the purple light. Clearly, its escape techniques couldn't penetrate the net of the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning. Han Laomo used this move specifically to block Nascent Soul cultivators in the original story, and Lu Xuan naturally used it with consummate skill.
A flash of anger crossed the lion-beast's face, and instead of retreating, it charged forward again, intending to use its physical advantage as a demon beast to directly attack Lu Xuan and Old Demon Han.
Lu Xuan stood rooted to the spot, not moving an inch. Old Demon Han, sensing the danger, roared. Golden scales appeared on his body, and a three-headed, six-armed phantom materialized behind him.
This time, Han Laomo's cultivation of the Brahma Saint True Demon Art is actually different from that in the original work. It was mainly inspired by Lu Xuan. Han Laomo discovered that Lu Xuan would make subtle adjustments to each cultivation technique based on his own attributes, making the technique more suitable for him.
Of course, this modification benefited from the vast resources accumulated by the Hidden Immortal Sect. After Han Laomo became an elder, Lu Xuan did not mistreat him, allowing him to research various cultivation techniques and secret arts. He also improved upon them to create his own unique body-refining technique.
With a loud thud, to the disbelief of the lion-beast, Old Demon Han directly met the lion-beast's attack with his own physical strength. Before the lion-beast could react, two puppets at the late Nascent Soul stage behind him also closed in.
Puppetry has no fatal flaws. The two of them are using top-tier materials. Their melee combat abilities are comparable to those of the most powerful body cultivators.
With the three of them working together, they directly pinned the lion-beast, who had the cultivation level of the late Nascent Soul stage, to the ground.
Although the Lion Beast had been trapped in Kunwu Mountain for many years and had some mental issues, it was still a top-tier demon beast at the late Nascent Soul stage, and it could not tolerate such humiliation.
It was about to self-destruct without a second thought, intending to take the two of them down with it. But at that moment, a gentle consciousness permeated its mind and entered its thoughts.
"A restriction has been placed on its soul. This restriction has caused some damage to its soul, which is why it is so irritable and unwise."
"So, it must be the guardian spirit beast of Kunwu Mountain? A late-stage Nascent Soul demon beast, those ancient cultivators really went all out."
“In ancient times, the spiritual energy in the human world was much richer than it is now. Therefore, it was not uncommon to see demonic beasts at the late Nascent Soul stage. However, the Lion-Beast was a rare top-tier spiritual beast in that era. There should be its natal spirit tablet in this mountain. Once we find that thing, I think it will calm down and talk to us.”
In just a few words, the two had decided the fate of the lion-beast. This late-stage Nascent Soul demon beast, in the outside world, would be a powerful overlord. But in front of these two overpowered beings, it was like a kitten, completely powerless to fight back.
At the same time that the lion-beast was captured, two other figures appeared on Mount Kunwu.