Chapter 538

Chapter 538: The Power of the Vulture King

Golden light burst from Ye Yun’s eyes, striking the void with crackling sounds as though solid.

Ye Yun rose, hovering above the Spiritual Pond. Though the golden radiance around him had faded, his aura now carried an otherworldly quality, as if he might vanish into the heavens at any moment.

Shu Anshi stared in disbelief. He had witnessed this transcendent aura once before—when Tian Yunzi shattered the void with his powers. Later, when he’d asked Tian Yunzi about it, the answer had been two words: Earth Immortal.

Earth Immortal!

Such an aura only emerged when one reached the pinnacle of the Nascent Soul stage and began ascending to immortality. Yet here it was, emanating from Ye Yun—a junior at the Foundation Establishment stage. The gap between their cultivation levels was unimaginable.

As Shu Anshi struggled to process this, Ye Yun descended back into the Spiritual Pond’s thirteen zhang depth, his face relaxed and smiling.

“Elder Brother, my thanks.”

The ethereal presence had vanished, but Shu Anshi knew what he’d seen. Even fleeting, it revealed Ye Yun’s staggering potential.

“Junior Brother, how does it feel to form your alchemy pill?” Shu Anshi asked, exhaling slowly.

“Like stepping through a door into a new world,” Ye Yun replied. Beyond heightened senses and cultivation, the laws of heaven now felt within reach—a single opportunity away from being grasped.

Zhuge Chong and the others exchanged puzzled glances. Even Kun Huazi and Ding Qian seemed lost. To them, the Golden Core stage marked progress, but not a leap in understanding cosmic laws.

Shu Anshi’s expression tightened. Without warning, he strode forward—one step, then another, until he stood two zhang from the pond’s center.

Fourteen zhang.

At this depth, even Shu Anshi trembled. Sweat beaded on his brow, vaporizing before it could fall. The shorebound disciples gaped. Attempting fourteen zhang as the pond neared closure? Madness—yet he’d succeeded.

Past ten zhang, each step multiplied the spiritual energy and hidden energy’s ferocity. Kuang Wuwei, an Ancestor at the Nascent Soul stage, could barely endure thirteen zhang. What did that make Shu Anshi’s feat?

Kuang Wuwei’s initial shock hardened into solemnity. His gaze lingered on Shu Anshi—pride warring with concern—before shifting to Ye Yun. Tian Yunzi’s inner disciple shouldn’t matter. A Foundation Establishment youth? Yet here he stood, having fused exotic spiritual energies into a flawless alchemy pill. Thunder Spirit Qi. Ice Spirit Qi. Sword intent. The Kong family’s principles. A monster in human skin.

Divine Grace Palace’s future indeed.

“Who *is* this?” growled the Divine Feather Vulture King from eleven zhang. It had barely survived dipping into Ye Yun’s thirteen zhang—a memory of near-disintegration fresh in its mind.

Ye Yun watched Shu Anshi, temptation flickering. Fourteen zhang…

He dismissed the thought. Newly formed alchemy pill or not, thirteen zhang’s energy now flowed smoothly into him, perfect for stabilizing his realm. The pond would close soon. No gains in pushing further.

Sitting cross-legged, Ye Yun closed his eyes. Spiritual energy flooded his veins. Hidden energy pressed, but lightly now—no need to awaken the Heart of Immortals and Demons.

Spiritual energy surged, and true qi transformed into essence.

Time passed, leaving less than an hour before the Spiritual Pond’s closure.

Ye Yun let out a long cry and leaped from the Spiritual Pond, landing on the shore.

“So you’ve formed a Golden Core too. Seems I pushed you hard enough,” the Divine Feather Vulture King remarked, having finished its cultivation half an incense stick’s time earlier.

Ye Yun glanced at it, startled to find the Vulture King’s aura dense and impenetrable.

“Vulture King, what’s your current cultivation level?”

The Divine Feather Vulture King snorted, flapping its wings. “Only you and that big oaf here are worth fighting. The rest? Useless.”

“Feathered pest! Repeat that!” Kun Huazi roared. As Tian Yunzi’s second disciple, he’d tolerate being weaker than Kuang Wuwei and Shu Anshi—but not this insult.

The Vulture King eyed him. “Sixth level of the Golden Core stage. Your true qi’s odd, and your body’s tough enough to spar with the oaf. But in a life-and-death fight? He’d crush you.”

Kun Huazi froze. This beast had seen through his strength completely.

“Ye Yun, who’s the monster in the water? I can’t read him,” the Vulture King whispered, watching Shu Anshi.

“My elder brother—peak Golden Core. Impressed?” Ye Yun grinned.

“Peak Golden Core? Rubbish! I could swat those weaklings with a wing. But fighting him?” The Vulture King hopped nervously. “He’d slap me into next week!”

Ye Yun hid his amusement. The stubborn bird fearing someone? Unthinkable.

“Enough, Vulture King. The Pond closes soon. In Divine Grace Palace, keep quiet—Nascent Soul Ancestors lurk everywhere.”

“Nascent Souls aren’t cabbages! Back in Zhongzhou, most gathered in Lingxiao City’s Immortal Dao Sect. This backwater Great Qin Empire? Probably lacks even an Earth Immortal!”

“You’ve been to Lingxiao City? What’s Zhongzhou?” Ye Yun pressed.

The Vulture King’s eyes glinted. “Not personally. When I became an immortal beast, ancestral memories awoke. A millennium ago, Nascent Souls served me. Golden Cores? Ants.”

Dead silence fell. Every Golden Core cultivator present glared daggers.

“Pluck your feathers! Seventeen! Eighteen!” Kun Huazi lunged.

“Control your pet, Ye Yun,” Ding Qian snapped, frost in her voice.

“Second Brother, let’s roast it later,” Zhuge Chong suggested.

“We’ll help!” Absolute Heart Peak disciples chorused.

Kuang Wuwei merely observed, mildly intrigued.

“You mistake silence for weakness!” The Vulture King erupted golden. A massive Golden-winged Roc void projection blazed behind it—over ten zhang tall, wings crackling with storm energy.

“Void projection?!”

Gasps erupted. Forming such projections required immense spiritual power. Even peak Golden Cores like Shu Anshi would struggle to manifest anything this potent.

Kuang Wuwei stood abruptly. This was no illusion—every feather gleamed real, energy rippling with each wingbeat.

“Enough!” Ye Yun barked.

The Vulture King snorted. “For you.” The projection shrank into its skull.

Pale-faced, the disciples glanced between beast and master. Of course freaks flocked together.

Ye Yun marveled. This void projection could dominate any non-Nascent Soul—except anomalies like Shu Anshi, whose suppressed peak Golden Core rivaled Fourth Level Nascent Souls.

The Golden-winged Roc lineage truly shone. With resources, how high might this bird soar?

His smile faded. Su Ling’s spirit had two years before fading. Post-Pond, Great Qin’s powers would surely retry opening the Immortal Sword Sect’s Saint’s Secret Vault. Spirit-healing pills likely hid there—or maybe the palace. But vault access with Sword Path Ancestor’s help seemed easier than breaching royal stores…

BOOM!

Thunder cracked. Shu Anshi erupted from the Pond, arcing birdlike to land.

“Closing time.”