Free Web NovelChapter 360: Chapter 360: Removing the Nether Heart Seed
The woman knew Ye Xuan had truly recognized her. She was utterly horrified, her gaze filled with shock and fear.
To avoid Ye Xuan, she had tried everything she could think of. In such a short time, she had not only changed her clothes and taken a bath, but also washed her body with a unique Body Cleansing Liquid, not even neglecting private areas like her hair.
In her eyes, it should have been next to impossible for Ye Xuan to find her. She never expected him to locate her so easily after just a short while.
"By the way, didn’t Slaughter Venerable leave with you? Where is he?" the woman asked in shock, having suddenly remembered something.
"I killed him. I don’t have much time to waste. Hand over the Essence Soul Stone," Ye Xuan said coldly.
The woman was stunned. Her expression froze, then she grit her teeth and reluctantly took out a jade box. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Ye Xuan hurriedly opened the jade box. Inside lay a bright yellow crystal radiating a brilliant light. This time, it was the real Essence Soul Stone.
Ye Xuan’s heart leaped with joy. After so much effort, he had finally found the Essence Soul Stone. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
After putting away the Essence Soul Stone, Ye Xuan left without another word.
Leaving the woman staring after him in astonishment...
Half an hour later, Ye Xuan had already appeared in a luxurious inn at the center of the Imperial Capital.
Now that he had the Essence Soul Stone, there was no need to return to the Celestial Breath Tower. Besides, he knew that once word of Slaughter Venerable’s death got out, his own identity would undoubtedly attract a lot of attention.
A place like the underground black market offered good concealment, but it was also a place with no rules. As long as someone had the right connections, finding his room would be child’s play. Ye Xuan couldn’t possibly take that risk.
After instructing the attendant not to disturb him, Ye Xuan quickly entered secluded cultivation.
He first carved several array patterns in his surroundings and set up a few Array Discs. After sealing off the room’s aura, he immediately summoned the Endless Molten Flame to refine the Essence Soul Stone.
The Essence Soul Stone was incredibly hard. Refining it would normally require all sorts of methods and materials, but with the Celestial Fire, everything became much simpler.
Half an hour later, the Essence Soul Stone had been melted into a mass of crystalline liquid, emitting a very unique aura.
Ye Xuan swiftly integrated the essence of the Essence Soul Stone into his body. Under his control, threads of its unique power entered his mind and made contact with the aura of the sealed Nether Heart Seed.
The moment the two powers touched, they began to annihilate each other. By the time the power of the Essence Soul Stone was completely depleted, the lingering aura of the Nether Heart Seed in Ye Xuan’s mind had also finally vanished without a trace.
Feeling the Nether Heart Seed’s aura completely gone from his mind, Ye Xuan let out a long sigh. A relieved smile finally appeared on his face. In that instant, he felt as if he had been reborn, so much lighter.
With the Nether Heart Seed removed, he no longer had to run from place to place as before. He was absolutely fed up with the life of being hunted.
And just as Ye Xuan was removing the Nether Heart Seed, back in the mountain forest where he had previously cultivated in seclusion, an old man was hovering in midair, staring furiously at the woods below.
’There is indeed a faint residual aura of the Nether Heart Seed here, but that brat is gone again. Dammit!’
This person was none other than the Crazy Battle Elder, who had been tracking Ye Xuan all along. During a chase that had lasted over three months, he had missed Ye Xuan by a hair’s breadth every single time. The aura of the Nether Heart Seed would clearly appear in a location, but by the time he arrived, there would be no one in sight.
The repeated failed pursuits had completely worn out his patience.
BOOM!
He slammed a palm downward, and countless trees exploded, sending up a thick cloud of dust. His pupils were as red as fire.
"Hm?" Suddenly, as if sensing something, Crazy Battle abruptly took out a milky-white stone. One look at it, and his expression changed drastically.
This milky-white stone was a Nether-detection Stone, capable of sensing the distance and direction of a person implanted with a Nether Heart Seed. He had been using this Nether-detection Stone to track Ye Xuan all this time. Even when Ye Xuan suppressed the Nether Heart Seed, the stone could still vaguely sense his general location.
But now, the milky-white Nether-detection Stone had gone completely silent. This clearly meant it could no longer sense the aura of the target’s Nether Heart Seed at all.
’This is impossible.’
Crazy Battle was instantly shocked. According to his knowledge, it was impossible for the Nether-detection Stone to completely lose the scent of the Nether Heart Seed. If it did, there was only one possibility: the target had removed the Nether Heart Seed.
But to Crazy Battle, this possibility was even more unbelievable. The Nether Heart Seed was created by a reclusive Seventh Grade, Lord Level Soul Refiner ancestor from the Profound Mystery Sect. According to that ancestor, once a Nether Heart Seed was implanted, aside from a few special methods, only a Seventh Grade, Lord Level Soul Refiner could remove it.
’Could it be that the person who killed my son, Gale, is backed by a Lord Level Soul Refiner?’
’Bastard!’ he cursed inwardly, quickly opening a map of the nearby area.
His gaze immediately fell upon the Imperial Capital of the Sky Empire, which was not far from his current location.
’That guy must be in the Sky Empire’s Imperial Capital right now.’ Crazy Battle immediately came to a conclusion. Whether his target needed to buy materials to remove the Nether Heart Seed or find a Seventh Grade, Lord Level Soul Refiner, the Sky Empire’s Imperial Capital was his only choice.
Thinking this, Crazy Battle immediately transformed into a streak of light and raced toward the Sky Empire’s Imperial Capital at top speed.
As soon as he arrived, he summoned the director of the Profound Mystery Sect’s branch in the Sky Empire and ordered him to investigate any recent special transactions in the Imperial Capital.
In no time, news of Ye Xuan acquiring an Essence Soul Stone in the underground black market was delivered to him.
He immediately understood. The young man who bought the Essence Soul Stone and Soul Yuan Heart Crystal in the underground black market was very likely the one who had murdered his son, Gale.
Although he didn’t know where the blond young man had gone, and his appearance didn’t completely match the description he’d gathered in Black Stone City...
...Crazy Battle had a gut feeling that this was the person he was looking for.
This belief was further solidified when he learned that Slaughter Venerable, who had been tailing the young man, had also died unexpectedly outside the city.
For the next few days, Crazy Battle searched everywhere in the Imperial Capital for any trace of Ye Xuan.
But no matter how many people he sent to investigate, it was as if the young man had vanished into thin air within the Imperial Capital, leaving no news behind.
While Crazy Battle was frantically searching for Ye Xuan, Ye Xuan himself was leisurely strolling through the Imperial Capital.
Having removed the Nether Heart Seed, he had no worries about being found. He had used a Disguise Skill to change his face and was walking openly on the streets of the Imperial Capital.
His current goal was to find materials to forge a flying Spiritual Treasure. His secondary objective was to find a better weapon, as the Level Four Profound Soldier, the Dragon Pattern Sword, was no longer sufficient for him.
Ye Xuan already had two of the materials needed to forge a flying Spiritual Treasure: a Broken Feather from a Thunder-Lightning Eagle, and the Blue Thunder Crystal he had obtained from the vulture-like Slaughter Venerable.
In addition, Ye Xuan also had the Star Profound Iron he had obtained from Black Stone City.
However, Ye Xuan planned to use the Star Profound Iron to forge a weapon. There wasn’t much of it. While adding some to enhance the strength of a flying Spiritual Treasure would be fine, using it as the main material was another story.
First, Star Profound Iron was too heavy and would affect the flying Spiritual Treasure’s speed. Second, Star Profound Iron wasn’t the best material for forging a flying Spiritual Treasure anyway.
However, after visiting several treasure pavilions in the Imperial Capital, he came away disappointed each time. Although the treasures sold here were a significant step up from those in the Thirteen Nations Alliance and Wukong Ridge, none of them were good enough to catch his eye.
"Young Master Ye!"
Just then, a surprised and delighted voice called out. Ye Xuan turned his head to see Luo Cheng running over with an excited expression.
Beside Luo Cheng were several other young men of the same age. In their midst, like the moon surrounded by stars, was a beautiful young woman in a long white dress.
The young woman was about sixteen, with her jet-black hair in an updo. Her skin was fair and as smooth as mutton-fat jade. Beneath slender, willow-leaf brows, her captivating eyes seemed to speak, sparkling with spiritual light.
Below her eyes was a delicate, upturned nose and a pair of soft, moist cherry lips. Combined with her attire, she gave off an ethereal, fairy-like aura, as if she didn’t belong in the mortal world.
"Young Master Ye, let me make some introductions. This is Miss Murong Yunxiao, the third young miss of the Murong family. These are Liu Xing of the Liu family, Zhou Chengping of the Zhou family, and Xuu Guang of the Xuuu family..."
Luo Cheng introduced them one by one.
"Luo Cheng, who’s this? How come I’ve never seen him in the Imperial Capital before?" the young man named Liu Xing sneered, eyeing Ye Xuan with disdain.
The other young men also watched Ye Xuan with a detached air, looking as if they couldn’t be bothered with him.
It was clear that although they hadn’t said much, their expressions all held a trace of arrogance. They were obviously some of the spoiled young masters from the noble families of the Imperial Capital.
"This is Young Master Ye," Luo Cheng introduced.
"Is there a ’Ye’ family in the Imperial Capital?"
The group sized Ye Xuan up, a hint of suspicion on their faces. "Luo Cheng, you haven’t been fooled, have you?"
Luo Cheng completely ignored them and instead asked Ye Xuan, "Young Master Ye, where are you headed?"
Luo Cheng held Ye Xuan in high esteem and admiration. He had tried his best to recruit Ye Xuan into his own family back then, but unfortunately, Ye Xuan had declined. Seeing him again now, he was naturally ecstatic.
Liu Xing and the others were slightly taken aback when they saw Luo Cheng’s expression. They knew Luo Cheng’s personality well; he wouldn’t bother with anyone who wasn’t to his liking. ’Which family is this young man from? Judging by Luo Cheng’s attitude, he seems incredibly respectful toward him.’
This was something they had rarely seen before. Usually, Luo Cheng only showed such a worshipful expression when he was with Young Master Murong Yunyu.
