As Liu Yunchen spoke, he had already crushed a sound transmission talisman.
Shi Heng was a demonic cultivator at the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
Over the past few years, in preparation for his upcoming Sixth Heavenly Tribulation, he had refined the Soul-Shifting Banner – a demonic artifact that was almost an immortal treasure.
For this demonic artifact to reach perfection, it required ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine souls.
Because of him, a huge storm had swept through the cultivation world.
The last time Liu Yunchen had gone out, he had run into him, and that encounter had also delayed his journey. What should have been a round trip of one month ended up taking him two.
He never expected to see him here.
Shi Heng was used to throwing his weight around in the cultivation world.
Since he was a demonic cultivator with ruthless methods and was at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, there weren’t many in the cultivation world who could stop him. Even if someone could defeat him, it would come at a tremendous cost, and no one who had cultivated to a level above Tribulation Transcendence was willing to do such a thing.
Cultivation itself was defying the heavens. Even the seemingly righteous masters of the three great sects were not soft-hearted people at heart!
To have reached such a level, who among them hadn’t spent several thousand or even over ten thousand years?
One wrong move and you’d risk death. The sect masters wouldn’t be foolish enough to step forward and intervene.
Liu Yunchen wasn’t exactly a kind-hearted person either.
But—
This Shi Heng had already taken the last spiritual herb he had found for Ye Shaohua last time, and now today he was even threatening to massacre an entire city.
Liu Yunchen’s icy voice rang out, and especially with the figure suddenly appearing before him, Shi Heng was stunned for a moment, then his pupils sharply contracted: “It’s you? No, it’s only been a month, and you’ve actually reached Tribulation Transcendence too?!”
Shi Heng was horrified inside. A month ago, when he had encountered Liu Yunchen, the man had barely been at the Spirit Transformation stage, while he himself was at the peak of Tribulation Transcendence.
He had had his eye on the spiritual tool in Liu Yunchen’s hand.
But he never expected that this freak, despite being only at the Spirit Transformation stage, could fight him to a standstill. And if he hadn’t had over ten thousand years of life and some life-saving tricks up his sleeve, he would have definitely been done for.
This guy could not only kill across cultivation levels, but now he had actually reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage—so what was the point in fighting him anymore?!
He could barely hold his own against Shi Heng and even gain a slight upper hand at the Spirit Transformation stage—now that he was at Tribulation Transcendence, Shi Heng was absolutely no match for him!
“What do you want with me? I didn’t take any of your spiritual herbs this time, did I?” Shi Heng looked at Liu Yunchen, carefully observing his expression. “I haven’t offended you anywhere either, have I? These two might be from the Xuan Yue Sect, but I know the Xuan Yue Sect’s master, and he’s nowhere near as strong as you. Even for the sake of this city’s people, do you really have to meddle in this?”
Shi Heng knew very well in his heart that although he was used to being domineering, he still knew how to weigh his options.
Among the three major sects, he would definitely never provoke the Qian Yuan Sect.
Not only did that sect have a monster backing it, but it also had a level-four artifact refiner.
The Xuan Yue Sect was a bit weaker, with only its sect master. That master was also at the Tribulation Transcendence stage, hadn’t reached the peak yet, and could barely fight Shi Heng with an immortal artifact.
And as for Liu Yunchen—he had provoked him once and fled on the spot, and no real grudge had formed between them.
He would never dare to go looking for someone stronger than him.
That was why most of the souls he took for his Soul-Shifting Banner came from ordinary, powerless people.
“The people in this city you were about to kill include my parents,” Liu Yunchen said, glancing at him.
Shi Heng’s face turned pale.
He looked over at Old Man Liu behind Liu Yunchen.
To be honest, he had chosen this city simply because it wasn’t very large, with only a few youngsters below the Golden Core stage. He never imagined there would be anyone here worth worrying about.
“How could you possibly be from here?” Shi Heng started to say, then a fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he prepared to summon his flying sword.
He was at the peak of Tribulation Transcendence, while Liu Yunchen was only at the early stage—there was still the mid, late, and peak stages separating them.
But then Liu Yunchen summoned a circular bracelet, and within it, a massive level-six formation surged to life. Shi Heng didn’t even have a chance to flee.
Just as Liu Yunchen trapped him, the sound of rushing wind came from outside—figures were breaking through the air.
Then a squad of cultivators in purple robes descended directly outside the door.
Seeing this group, Ye Yuan and Xuan Yuanche immediately recognized them. “Senior Brother Shao Yang?”
The leader, Shao Yang, nodded briefly at Ye Yuan and Xuan Yuanche, clearly not recognizing who they were, and walked straight up to Liu Yunchen.
Ye Yuan and Xuan Yuanche didn’t find anything strange about that.
Shao Yang was the son of the Qian Yuan Sect’s master and also one of the sect’s most outstanding disciples of this generation. The two had encountered him before during a mission. Shao Yang wasn’t much older than Xuan Yuanche, and he was already a cultivator at the Divine Separation stage.
Ye Yuan and Xuan Yuanche felt a bit of pride just being able to call him “Senior Brother,” after all, he was the son of the Qian Yuan Sect’s master!
“Shao Yang, take your junior disciples and bring this demonic fiend back to the Qian Yuan Sect. I’ll catch up shortly.” Liu Yunchen didn’t bother with anyone else and gave the order directly, his tone serious.
Shao Yang immediately raised his hand in acknowledgment. “Yes, Senior Brother!”
Just earlier, when Liu Yunchen had spotted Shi Heng, he had already crushed the sound transmission talisman.
As it happened, Shao Yang had been operating in this area for the past few years and arrived quickly.
There were forty thousand souls trapped in Shi Heng’s Soul-Shifting Banner. Liu Yunchen wasn’t sure how to deal with them, so he could only have them taken back to the Qian Yuan Sect for now.
After speaking, Liu Yunchen seemed to be in a hurry. He said a few words to Old Man Liu and left.
Meanwhile, Shao Yang led his junior disciples, took the magical artifact trapping Shi Heng, and after respectfully greeting Old Man Liu, they stepped outside, summoned their flying swords, and rose into the air.
When these immortals—at least at the Foundation Establishment stage, most at the Golden Core stage, and even including one at the Divine Separation stage—called him “Uncle Liu,” Old Man Liu was utterly dumbfounded.
He stood there in a daze, completely unable to process what had just happened.
In fact, from the moment Liu Yunchen had vanished from beside him and reappeared in front of Shi Heng, he had already been in a daze.
Especially when Shi Heng had blurted out, “You’ve reached Tribulation Transcendence.”
His son—the one he was always complaining about for being good-for-nothing and idle—was not only a cultivator but had actually reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage? Just one step away from the Great Vehicle stage and ascending?
Not just him—most of the people in the hall hadn’t snapped out of it either.
A middle-aged man standing next to Old Man Liu finally came to his senses. “Old Liu, did… did that person just say your son is at the Tribulation Transcendence stage?”
As he said this, something suddenly occurred to him, and he turned his head directly to look in the direction of Ye Yuan and the Xuan family.
