Nameless Zone Arc Chapter 57: Control (Part Four)

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"Brother Zhou, there's no need to sacrifice a little insect. My sister and I can easily defeat him. Even if he takes that pill, he still won't be our match."

A bloodthirsty insect flew out from his hair, transmitting a thought, "You don't understand. This fellow has just enough time to swallow the Berserker Pill. Even if you two can overcome him, cultivators always unleash greater power in desperate situations—injuries are inevitable. If he focuses solely on escaping, breaks through this second-grade trapping formation, and uses the treasure his master gave him, you'll waste a lot of time. Wouldn't you two rather play freely?"

Kong Xiaori scratched his head. "Alright then. Now that everyone from the Yin Corpse Sect is dead, can we finally go have some fun?"

"Of course. The beasts killed this time were only from a small area of the miniature world. I won't give you a map—the unknown is far more interesting."

Kong Xiaori grinned. "Great! Contact us if there's anything. Sister, let's go play!"

Kong Xiaoyue also smiled. Training with her brother alone was always the most enjoyable—carefree and relaxed.

The bloodthirsty insect on Kong Xiaoyue’s body flew out as well, letting the siblings roam freely. Now, Zhou Xuanhong’s plan was just beginning.

...

Elsewhere, Mao Yishan and Gu Yufeng chased Bian Luxing for hundreds of kilometers, drawing ever closer. Bian Luxing had exhausted all his escape tricks, and as he was about to be caught, he reluctantly produced a strange talisman.

This talisman’s grade was indiscernible, with two little ghosts engraved front and back. At its top, a ghost appeared to be climbing over the boundary between both sides, as if scaling a wall—half its body already across.

"Hmm? Strange. What kind of talisman is this? There’s a subtle power emanating from it."

Gu Yufeng, less experienced, didn’t recognize it, but Mao Yishan, a seasoned spell cultivator, instantly realized the danger and accelerated.

"Deadly move! This talisman seals a supernatural art—Five Ghosts Transit. It carries the aura of a Nascent Soul. He’s trying to escape through the boundary of the miniature world!"

Gu Yufeng hadn’t heard of the spell, but knew that if they didn’t act now, their enemy might escape.

"Throwing Sword!"

"Tailwind!"

A streak of sword light shot from Gu Yufeng’s spiritual palace, swift and sharp, targeting Bian Luxing’s skull.

Mao Yishan, an old hand, knew his own attack wouldn’t reach before Bian Luxing triggered the Five Ghosts Transit, so he cast an acceleration spell on Gu Yufeng’s sword light, hoping to kill Bian Luxing first.

The sword light sped across the distance, arriving within a hundred meters of Bian Luxing in a blink. Yet, their cultivation was still too low—once outside their spiritual perception, the sword light began to fade.

By the time the sword light reached Bian Luxing, the Five Ghosts Transit had been activated. Five little ghosts dragged his body, disappearing instantly.

The sword light missed, but not without effect—a fierce sword intent struck Bian Luxing, not fatal but troublesome enough to require effort to expel.

"Damn, he actually had such a treasure. Their goal must be the core of the miniature world, but we’ve disrupted it. Brother Mao, where do you plan to go next?"

Mao Yishan sighed. "I’ll head to the grassland. My Forming Sect suffered heavy losses—I need to harvest resources from these corpses to make up for it."

Gu Yufeng withdrew the sword light into his spiritual palace, slinging an arm over Mao Yishan’s shoulder. "Don’t be so stingy, brother. The miniature world belongs to your sect—resources are yours for the taking. Besides, these are low-grade resources, otherwise the Netherpolar Corpse Sect wouldn’t hand them over. Only through battle can one improve. Want to explore that mountain range with me? Heard from a disciple of Five Spirit Pill Valley that there are late Foundation Establishment beasts lurking there—the treasures might be useful."

Mao Yishan shook his head. "I need resources."

Indeed, Mao Yishan didn’t personally need these low-grade materials, but he had a junior brother. Now that the second elder was dead, he had to ensure his own cultivation and guide his little brother, preparing for any future Forming Sect wars.

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Unlike Gu Yufeng, who relied on the Songshan Sword Pavilion and didn’t need to worry about such things—his only focus was improving his combat prowess.

"Alright then, I’ll be off. Pass a message to my junior brothers for me: let them find places to train on their own."

With that, Gu Yufeng departed. This was the nature of sword cultivators—solitary, unrestrained, detesting limitations. Were it not for vengeance, they’d never have gathered together.

...

On the battlefield, as the sword cultivators cleaned up, hundreds of bloodthirsty insects, each the size of a bean, silently infiltrated the corpses, swiftly devouring their blood essence.

Apart from the corpses, some insects flew directly into rivers of blood, greedily absorbing the essence. Their bodies swelled several times over, glowing crimson, their aura rising rapidly, but always stopping at the peak of mid-stage Qi Refining, unable to break through to late-stage.

The sword cultivators soon finished tidying up—mainly collecting anything that looked valuable. Of course, not a single storage pouch or treasure from the dead of the Yin Corpse Sect and Five Spirit Pill Valley was missed. They might not recognize beast parts, but they certainly knew storage pouches and magical tools.

"Alright, Brother Gu hasn’t returned yet—probably left on his own. Brothers, I’m off as well, my storage pouch is full."

"These pill cultivators probably won’t come out for a while. I’m leaving too. Farewell!"

"See you in eight days!"

One by one, the sword cultivators departed, leaving the blood-soaked battlefield quiet, with only the Five Spirit Pill Valley group protected inside the cauldron.

"Sister, the sword cultivators have left. Should we go out and collect the beast corpses? It might offset our losses."

"Yes, and retrieve our comrades’ bodies."

The veiled woman, Wei Cui, hovered above the cauldron, restoring her spiritual energy, and shook her head. "Let’s wait a bit longer. The four powerful cultivators haven’t returned yet—it’s unwise to venture out."

Sure enough, two figures soon appeared—Kong Xiaori and Kong Xiaoyue—browsing the beast corpses like shoppers at a market.

"This Mao Xiang Ox should taste great, and we can extract seasoning from it."

"Brother, this big fire chicken looks good—let’s roast it!"

"No, no. Let me tell you, fire chicken meat is terrible—dry and tough, like chewing wood. Look at this Wood Bark Spirit—though it looks awful, its meat is full of flavor. Perfect for charcoal grilling, sizzling and aromatic. The shell containing its innate divine power can be ground into powder and added to soup—greatly enhancing the broth’s freshness. Take it."

"Oh, okay!"

"And this one..."

Inside the cauldron, the Five Spirit Pill Valley disciples were speechless at the siblings’ comments, but their mouths watered uncontrollably. After a battle, exhaustion and relaxation set in, and Kong Xiaori’s words made them hungry.

Soon, Kong Xiaori selected over fifty beast corpses, storing them in his pouch, and left the battlefield with Kong Xiaoyue, flying off in a random direction.

Coincidentally, their path led toward the Azure-scaled Eagle controlled by Gu Zhen, who was currently hiding in a beast’s nest, waiting for everyone to leave before absorbing blood essence to boost his strength.

Though his plan had changed—he hadn’t defeated the human cultivators—the amount of blood essence was enough for him to use secret arts to enhance his power.

Unfortunately, Kong Xiaori and Kong Xiaoyue happened to pass by, and spotted the nest.

Even more coincidentally, they had previously tasted Azure-scaled Eagle with Zhou Xuanhong, noting its delicious meat, leading to an awkward scene for Gu Zhen.

Kong Xiaori flew to the treetop, grabbed the eagle by the neck, and lifted it. Despite its mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation, the eagle couldn’t escape.

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"What luck, an Azure-scaled Eagle! Its bloodline is quite pure, much better than the one we ate before. Sister, want to keep it as a pet?"

Kong Xiaoyue shook her head. "I don’t like birds—they’re prickly. How about catching me a cat instead?"

Kong Xiaori sighed. "Alright then."

And so, because it was prickly, Kong Xiaori twisted the eagle’s neck, ending its life, along with Gu Zhen’s soul inhabiting it.

In his final moment, Gu Zhen abandoned any attempt against the siblings. He knew their identities were unusual, and most importantly, he lacked absolute certainty of defeating them.

Gu Zhen would not truly die—his soul simply lost its vessel and returned to his main body.

Yet nothing was so coincidental; all was within Kong Xiaori’s calculations. He had kept an eye on Gu Zhen using bloodthirsty insects, and through those on the battlefield, passed messages to Kong Xiaori, prompting him to collect extra beast corpses for a feast. Killing Gu Zhen’s eagle was merely incidental.

"Heh, Young Lord Gu Zhen, your plan has failed. I look forward to our next encounter. Thanks to you, my bloodthirsty insects advanced faster than ever.

Time’s almost up—these insects need to enter the formation. According to the books, anything native to the miniature world will be transported out when time runs out. We must hurry."

Over five hundred bloodthirsty insects flew toward the cave where Xu Biao had been, preparing to merge with the formation and avoid the teleportation array’s sweep in eight days.

...

In the nameless district of the main world’s Leisure City, the Beast Pavilion operated as normal. In the loft, Gu Zhen, unconscious for over twenty days, suddenly opened his eyes, his brows furrowing from a sharp pain in his mind.

"Young lord, are you alright?" The fox-like girl turned pale with fright.

Gu Zhen opened his eyes and smiled. "Don’t worry, I’m fine. My soul was a bit unsettled, but it’s recovered now."

The girl sighed in relief, asking anxiously, "Was there an accident in the miniature world? Did the Azure-scaled Eagle die?"

Gu Zhen shook his head and coughed lightly. "Enough, Xiang’er. Don’t ask further. It seems that if I wish to seize the entire miniature world, I’ll need to rely on that young man, Zhou Xuanhong."

He certainly wouldn’t admit to being slaughtered like livestock—too humiliating.

The fox-like girl responded, "Yes!"

Gu Zhen sat up, sipped tea, and asked, "Has anyone visited me these days?"

She replied, "Only Old Daoist Black Ghost came once."

Gu Zhen’s eyes showed doubt. "Old Daoist Black Ghost? Could it be him? Who’s orchestrating everything in the miniature world? The rules only allow Qi Refining beings to enter—even Foundation Establishment cultivators must break through inside, so no powerful figures should be present.

If so, it’s just a Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment nobody playing games with me. I have unparalleled advantages, yet lost so miserably. Could it be him?"

He quickly shook his head. "Impossible. He’s only first-level Foundation Establishment; he can’t enter the miniature world. Even if he could use soul secret arts like me, could his method be more mysterious, his soul stronger than mine?"