Chapter 109: The Hidden Danger of the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal

“You have one as well?”

Watching the shadowy figure pull the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal from within his body, Shen Yan finally let go of all pretense and asked directly.

All along, the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal had been Shen Yan’s greatest secret. But now, upon seeing the shadowy figure produce the same seal, he suddenly realized that perhaps he was not some predestined chosen one, but merely lucky by chance.

The shadowy figure regarded Shen Yan, and on his face dark as ink, an exaggerated expression appeared:

“Just like you, when I first obtained the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal, I thought fate had chosen me. And in truth, it seemed so. While still a mortal, I joined the Azure Lotus Sword Sect—one day to reach Qi Refinement, one year to Foundation Establishment, and three to five years to form a Core. As the bearer of the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal, you must understand: with sufficient resources, breaking through realms is no challenge at all.”

Shen Yan nodded silently. What the other said was true; relying solely on himself, he had become a Foundation Establishment cultivator in just three years. If, like the shadowy figure, he’d had a Core Formation sect supporting him, he too could have advanced at such speed.

Yet, a faint sense of foreboding crept into his heart—this man, in the late Core Formation stage, had clearly met some strange fate while attempting to break through to Nascent Soul, or he wouldn’t have ended up like this.

“I understand about the speed of cultivation. But, senior, what caused you to meet such an end?”

Shen Yan voiced the question that most troubled him.

Compared to himself, this man’s cultivation progress was surely faster—forming a Core in five years was nearly unheard of in the cultivation world.

“After I formed my Core, the entire Azure Lotus Sword Sect was thrown into madness. The Supreme Elder personally sought out Nascent Soul spiritual treasures for me, and the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement disciples found great honor in my success, volunteering to search for clues and opportunities to help me break through.”

“But with the addition of a new Core Formation cultivator, the sect’s spiritual veins were insufficient, so the Azure Lotus Sword Sect began to expand. For a time, all the forces along the Central Lands’ border were thrown into war.”

“As the bearer of the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal, you know this too—even though I had just broken through to Core Formation, once I established my Blessed Land, no other Core Formation cultivator could rival me.”

At this, his tone grew complicated.

“So the Azure Lotus Sword Sect set its sights on the Nascent Soul sects.”

“You actually dared to challenge a Nascent Soul cultivator?” Shen Yan looked at the shadowy figure in astonishment. This person was far bolder than he—Core Formation against Nascent Soul, it was unthinkable.

Even with the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal and a Blessed Land, without heaven-defying means, it should have been impossible.

“You’re overthinking it.” The shadowy figure sneered, returning the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal to his chest. “It was merely a sect that relied on a special spiritual treasure to grant Core Formation cultivators Nascent Soul-level power. They possessed a fourth-rank spiritual vein, and our Azure Lotus Sword Sect’s expansion put them directly in our path.”

In the cultivation world, there are countless treasures. Naturally, there exist items that can grant Core Formation cultivators Nascent Soul-level strength, though these invariably come at a cost—once used, one can never truly become a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Yet despite this, countless Core Formation cultivators still pursued them; after all, how many truly had the confidence to become Nascent Soul cultivators by their own merit?

“So, did you end up like this in the battle against them?” Shen Yan asked curiously.

To defeat a cultivator with the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal, only a Nascent Soul cultivator could possibly have done so.

“No.” The shadowy figure shook his head at once and continued, “Just a few Core Formation cultivators with Nascent Soul strength—though formidable, they were no match for me.”

His tone brimmed with pride:

“At that time, I possessed more than ten magical treasures, was imbued with the innate purple qi of the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal, and had the blessings of my Five Elements Blessed Land. In open battle, they were not my equals.”

“After defeating them, the Azure Lotus Sword Sect naturally took over their sect, and I gained a fourth-rank spiritual vein.”

“Forty-seven years later, I was finally preparing to form a Nascent Soul. But the very news that drove all the cultivators of Azure Lotus Sword Sect into a frenzy also led to the sect’s destruction.”

The shadowy figure’s voice was tinged with sorrow, clearly unable to let go of the demise of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect.

“What happened? Was it an attack by another Nascent Soul force, or something strange that doomed the Azure Lotus Sword Sect?”

In Xu Daoqing’s memories, the fall of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect was shrouded in mystery. He didn’t know exactly what had happened, and by the time he went to the Eastern Sea to seek help, those memories were already lost to him.

“I remember the events clearly. To form my Nascent Soul, every disciple returned to the sect, and the grand formation was fully activated. Not to mention a single Nascent Soul cultivator—even three or five together could not have broken through quickly, not after I’d personally reconfigured the formation.”

“But what I never expected was that the true culprit behind my current state was not an enemy from without, but the very thing I had always relied upon most.”

As the shadowy figure spoke, Shen Yan’s expression changed dramatically.

“The Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal?” he asked.

Seeing that Shen Yan understood, the shadowy figure nodded slightly. “Exactly. While receiving the boons of the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal, the hidden price had already been paid.”

He sighed.

“You must have suffered the same fate as I did—after obtaining the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal, you were afflicted with the cold poison, were you not?”

Shen Yan’s face clouded, but he nodded silently; the cold poison had nearly claimed his life back then.

“The price for obtaining the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal is the utter annihilation of all one’s kin. And to gain its recognition, one must offer a wisp of innate purple qi.”

“But at that time, you and I were mere mortals—how could we possess such a treasure as innate purple qi? So the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal drew from our soul’s very essence as a substitute.”

“Soul’s essence? What is that?” Shen Yan asked, curiosity piqued. He had never heard of such a thing.

“Humans have three souls and seven spirits. Upon successful Foundation Establishment, the three souls coalesce into the Divine Soul—that is the cultivator’s soul essence. The seven spirits, meanwhile, merge with the body and become the foundation of the Dao. Yet, the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal had already extracted our soul essence while we were still mortals, so our divine souls are but illusory projections within the seal itself.”

“My ability to establish a Blessed Land during Core Formation was precisely because my soul had fused with the Celestial Emperor’s Divine Seal. But upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage, things were no longer so simple.”

A faint tremor ran through the shadowy figure’s otherwise indifferent tone, as if he were recalling the events of his attempted Nascent Soul formation.