Chapter 00178: Trouble from the Beginning
# Trouble from the Beginning
Chapter 178
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 178: Trouble from the Beginning
With Lan Xiaobu's Spirit Refining Technique crossing into the fifth stage, his divine sense surged to a new level, making his Primordial Spirit even clearer.
In this moment, without the help of the Killing Array, he directly locked onto the murderous aura of the halberd, while his divine sense began to refine the halberd's restrictions.
The murderous aura struggled fiercely, attempting to burst into the depths of Lan Xiaobu's sea of consciousness and crush his Primordial Spirit.
However, this effort was in vain.
Even if his Spirit Refining Technique hadn't reached the fifth stage, Lan Xiaobu could still suppress this murderous aura, and now that it had crossed into the fifth stage, it was even more effortless.
The Soul Thorn tore apart the murderous aura, and within a short time, the halberd's restrictions were refined to the third level by Lan Xiaobu.
The murderous aura within the halberd was torn to shreds by him, showing that it could no longer resist Lan Xiaobu's unstoppable refining.
Surprisingly, the murderous aura ceased its struggle and transformed into a vague halberd shape.
This halberd shape conveyed a friendly aura to Lan Xiaobu, as if it was willing to be refined into a spirit under his guidance.
"Is this a spirit of the weapon?" Lan Xiaobu thought.
Although he did not refine weapons, he understood that treasures with spirits were the highest grade of treasures.
Once he controlled it, his strength against opponents would rise several levels.
He reciprocated with a friendly signal, and indeed, the vague halberd shape became increasingly amicable, even revealing itself for Lan Xiaobu to refine.
His divine sense wrapped around the murderous halberd shape, while he gathered dozens of his strongest Soul Thorns and divine sense tearing powers, together with his true fire, and directed them at the halberd shape.
"Refining this murderous halberd shape? You must be overestimating your capabilities," Lan Xiaobu thought.
The halberd had nearly killed him and put Liu Li in a life-or-death situation.
Even if refining the halberd shape would enhance its offensive power, Lan Xiaobu would have no hesitation in eliminating it.
The spirit of his treasure cannot be something that makes him uncomfortable; he simply could not tolerate that.
From the depths of his sea of consciousness came a mournful and angry tearing sound.
The murderous halberd shape obviously did not expect Lan Xiaobu to be so devious.
It had superficially agreed to be refined into a spirit but was unaware he had gathered all his strength to try to destroy it.
Unfortunately, the halberd shape had already lost its advantage at this point.
It was violently ripped apart by his Soul Thorns once again, and under the sweeping force of his divine sense, it had no chance to fight back.
After losing its edge, the murderous halberd shape hissed under Lan Xiaobu’s true fire.
In a brief moment, the halberd shape was thoroughly annihilated by him.
A sigh of relief washed over Lan Xiaobu, who felt much more at ease.
No matter how powerful this murderous aura might be, even if it formed a spirit, he couldn't allow it to linger.
Moreover, he sensed that this murderous halberd shape was a source of misfortune and would inevitably lead to regret if he kept it.
Not only did Lan Xiaobu feel better, but he also noticed that the halberd seemed to feel lighter and more joyful, clearly disliking the murderous aura as well.
This indicated that the halberd's spirit was not innate but rather forcibly cultivated by its former owner.
With the murderous halberd shape gone, Lan Xiaobu refined the halberd in no time.
After half a month, he had fully refined all its restrictions.
Upon refining the halberd, he realized his suspicions were correct.
It did not originally have a spirit; the former owner had simply been too bloodthirsty and intended to cultivate the murderous aura into a spirit.
However, the murderous aura had only begun to take shape before Lan Xiaobu destroyed it.
He was well aware that one day, he might have to face that former owner in battle.
With a thought, the huge halberd shrank to about two meters in size.
Lan Xiaobu stepped forward, casually swung the halberd, and unleashed a striking light.
A violent wave of killing intent tore through space, effortlessly splitting the hard ground in front of him into a hundred-meter chasm.
This was the treasure he sought.
As Lan Xiaobu gripped the halberd, he felt a pang of guilt when he thought of Liu Li vanishing.
It was Liu Li who had shown him the place of this halberd, and now that he claimed it, she had in fact helped him acquire it.
Liu Li had come seeking his help, but it might cost her life in the end.
Sadly, he lacked the ability to tear through the teleportation array and locate the escape point.
Otherwise, he would go and see if he could save Liu Li.
His first encounter with Liu Li was at Mubei Market; the second, at Kunxu Square.
The third time was inside Kunxu itself.
He had modified the Seven Sounds model into a cosmic array before her.
Today, in their fourth possible meeting, perhaps the last, he had gained the halberd.
Raising the halberd in his hand, he slowly proclaimed, "From today onward, you shall be called the Seven Sounds Halberd."
In their fourth meeting, he named the halberd Liu Li had revealed to him the Seven Sounds Halberd.
One day, he intended to use it to unleash the Seven Sounds Kill and eliminate whoever had set this halberd to absorb murderous intent and ravage the Spirit Qi of Yuan Continent.
"Cosmic Model, construct the information of the teleportation array here."
Lan Xiaobu stood firm in the place where Liu Li had departed, tightly gripping the Seven Sounds Halberd as he imparted a message to the Cosmic Model.
Even though he was a Level-6 Array Master, ready to break into the ranks of Level-7 Array Grandmasters, he still had no clues about this teleportation array.
The Cosmic Model quickly constructed a new model, revealing that this teleportation array was of extremely high level.
It could only create a blurry outline before slowing down.
Lan Xiaobu understood that this wouldn't be a quick task, but he couldn't stay there waiting.
He needed to find a moment to search for the cosmic wall.
At this moment, Lan Xiaobu's objective was clear: first, find the cosmic wall so that he could return to the universe he came from.
Then he intended to do things he had always wanted to try on Earth, and perhaps check in on Ke’er and Hou Yi.
Only after accomplishing these can he feel at ease to pursue the Great Desolate Universe.
But before that, he wanted to visit the Tool Immortal Manor.
He indeed had obtained a high-grade spirit ship from Nine Provinces Mountain, and to return to Earth faster, he decided to borrow a low-grade flying spirit vessel, the Starry Sky Boat, from the Tool Immortal Manor.
Lan Xiaobu felt a bit of misplaced anger, remembering how a disciple from the Tool Immortal Manor had chased down Han Yue in search of Liu Li.
Now, asking to borrow a flying spirit tool should not be too much, right? The Old Master was not someone who would not return the favor.
...
The Tool Immortal Manor was a Four-Star Sect.
Being a Four-Star Sect didn't just rely on power; their ability to refine tools was unmatched across Yuan Continent.
When Lan Xiaobu appeared outside the Tool Immortal Manor, he was quite surprised.
Who dared to attack a Four-Star Sect apart from him in Yuan Continent?
Indeed, the Tool Immortal Manor was under attack, but their guard array was robust, and the force of the attack was still insufficient.
Soon enough, Lan Xiaobu saw who was attacking the Tool Immortal Manor; it was Shangguan Xiaoyi.
She hadn't even fully recovered her abilities yet she dared to attack the Tool Immortal Manor?
Compared to the moment he had just rescued her, Shangguan Xiaoyi had evidently recovered significantly.
Though she looked almost indistinguishable from normal cultivators, her true strength was still merely at the initial stage of Spirit Realm.
Lan Xiaobu wondered why Shangguan Xiaoyi was attacking the Tool Immortal Manor and did not step out.
Whether the manor was destroyed or not did not concern him.
Despite Shangguan Xiaoyi attacking the sect's protective array, the people inside the Tool Immortal Manor were completely unfazed.
In the main hall, Sect Master Qu Miao said淡淡, "The distress signal has gone out, right?"
An elder at the Core Formation stage rose, bowed respectfully, and said, "Yes, it's been sent out. Other than Gu Xing Mountain not responding, all the sects like Nine Provinces Mountain, Eastern Feather Immortal Sect, Fog Sea Immortal Sect, Western Kunlun, and Three Saints Immortal Sect have replied. Strong practitioners will soon come to assist and restrain this mad woman."
A woman beside Qu Miao commented, "She’s just at the Spirit Realm; we can easily deal with her in the Tool Immortal Manor."
Qu Miao chuckled lightly, "Shangguan Xiaoyi is no ordinary Spirit Realm cultivator. It's been rumored that long ago she was on the brink of becoming a Human Immortal. She’s been missing for years; who knows where she went? Moreover, our Tool Immortal Manor has worked hard for Yuan Continent for years. Now that we need help from other sects, they should naturally lend a hand. Otherwise, others might mistakenly think us easy to bully."
At this point, everyone understood the meaning behind Sect Master Qu Miao's words.
It wasn't that the Tool Immortal Manor couldn't handle Shangguan Xiaoyi; it was a matter of showing others not to provoke them lightly, as there were plenty of Five-Star and Four-Star sects eager to teach any aggressor a lesson.
Shangguan Xiaoyi frowned, not having anticipated the defensive array of the Tool Immortal Manor to be so strong.
Back in the day, although the Tool Immortal Manor had produced a Human Immortal, its strength was not that formidable—still a Three-Star Sect.
Now that they had moved up to a Four-Star Sect, their strongest member, Sect Master Qu Miao, had not crossed into Spirit Realm yet.
Shangguan Xiaoyi could easily crush Qu Miao.
The reason the Tool Immortal Manor had become a Four-Star Sect was due to their artifact refining capabilities.
To think a sect like this could possess a Level-7 defensive array was truly unexpected!
From a distance, Lan Xiaobu had no idea why Shangguan Xiaoyi was attacking the Tool Immortal Manor.
He had always disdained the manor and now seeing her struggling, he recklessly sent a few Soul Thorns crashing into the heart of the array.
Unlike Shangguan Xiaoyi, who charged in with brute force without knowledge of arrays, Lan Xiaobu was on the verge of becoming a Level-7 Array Master.
He attacked with perfect timing and strength.
Almost at the same instant Shangguan Xiaoyi struck the Level-7 array with her force, his Soul Thorns struck at the array's core, sustaining the barrage against the protection.
Shangguan Xiaoyi was first astonished, only to feel that her prior attack had gained several times its power thanks to Lan Xiaobu's assistance.
With her giant axe raised, Shangguan Xiaoyi intensified her attack at the very spot.
With Lan Xiaobu assisting her continuously, it took merely half a stick of incense before the protective array of the Tool Immortal Manor cracked with a loud snap, fully exposing it before Shangguan Xiaoyi.
(End of Chapter)