Chapter 167: The Mysterious Orb of Light

"Ding! Slayer of Taiyi Zhenren, obtained 6,000 Tyrant Points! Current Tyrant Points: 8,732!"

The sudden, massive surge of Tyrant Points made Jiang Yuan feel somewhat unreal.

He had never possessed this many Tyrant Points before!

Since the system had already issued the notification, it proved that Taiyi Zhenren was truly dead.

However, this was not the time for Jiang Yuan to celebrate, as he had no idea whether Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy might suddenly appear here.

Jiang Yuan could not afford to dwell on it; if Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy truly intended to trouble him, he would likely have appeared by now.

Caught red-handed—what a prime opportunity that would have been.

The first thing Jiang Yuan did after Taiyi Zhenren's death was rather baffling.

Instead of remaining on guard against the saint Taiyi Zhenren, he bent down right beside Taiyi Zhenren's corpse and picked up the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield.

He truly was a child who had suffered too much poverty.

"Damn system, how many Tyrant Points is this Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield worth?" Jiang Yuan asked proactively.

"The Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield is an offensive divine treasure, redeemable for 888 Tyrant Points!" the system replied.

This came as quite a surprise to Jiang Yuan. He recalled that the Gods-Conferring Board, a Chaos-grade spiritual treasure, was also worth only 888 Tyrant Points.

Could it be that different types of treasures yielded different amounts of Tyrant Points upon exchange?

Or perhaps the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield was not far off from being a Chaos-grade spiritual treasure.

More likely, it was because the Gods-Conferring Board lacked any practical utility, resulting in a lower redemption value.

"Forget it then."

Jiang Yuan felt it wasn't quite worth it to exchange the item with the damn system for Tyrant Points, especially since he currently lacked magical treasures himself.

Besides, he wasn't short on Tyrant Points right now anyway!

"Senior Bai Ze, let's go. Nezha probably cannot be saved, though he shouldn't face any danger within the Chan Sect."

"Killing Taiyi Zhenren can at least be considered venting Nezha's anger," Jiang Yuan said with a smile toward Bai Ze.

"Has the Human Sovereign ever considered that Nezha might harbor hatred toward us because of this matter?" Bai Ze asked.

"Why would he hate us? Wasn't I just venting Nezha's anger for him?" Jiang Yuan asked with a puzzled expression.

Bai Ze smiled and replied, "The Human Sovereign's judgment is clouded by his closeness to the situation. Could the Human Sovereign have forgotten that the fact Taiyi Zhenren is Nezha's master is an unchangeable truth?"

"Furthermore, Taiyi Zhenren has treated Nezha quite well in the past and resolved many troubles for him. Even if he did not necessarily do so out of pure sincerity, Nezha will certainly remember these sentiments."

After Bai Ze's analysis, Jiang Yuan realized that Nezha would likely harbor resentment toward him for some time to come.

However, it didn't matter. Once Nezha matured, he would probably realize that the Chan Sect was merely utilizing him.

Besides, it was uncertain when he would even see Nezha again.

"There's no need to worry about that for now. Whether I can meet Nezha again anytime soon is a question in itself," Jiang Yuan said dismissively with a wave of his hand.

In truth, his inner feelings were rather complicated.

Since Nezha had been taken away by Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy, it was definitely not a good sign.

Jiang Yuan harbored a lingering worry that the next time he met Nezha, the two of them might already be enemies.

"The Human Sovereign knows what he is doing," Bai Ze said with a faint smile.

It was as if he had seen right through Jiang Yuan's inner thoughts, yet he chose not to expose them.

"Let's return to Chaoge. It appears Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy has no intention of troubling us," Jiang Yuan said with a smile.

This trip out had not been in vain; he had effortlessly netted several thousand Tyrant Points.

And he had even killed Taiyi Zhenren.

Hearing this, Bai Ze flicked his large sleeve, and the three of them instantly vanished from the spot.

Not long after they departed, an aged figure appeared outside Mount Qianyuan.

This figure radiated immense majesty; strands of black and white hair were intermingled, flowing in disarray across his shoulders.

It was none other than Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy!

Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy cupped a ball of white light in his left hand as he slowly walked over to the corpse of Taiyi Zhenren.

He formed hand seals with his right hand, and a somewhat illusory figure rose from Taiyi Zhenren's remains.

This was precisely the remnant soul left behind after Taiyi Zhenren's death.

Logically speaking, since Taiyi Zhenren's head had been severed by the Xuanyuan Sword, his soul should have been completely scattered into nothingness.

Presumably, only a saint of Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy's caliber possessed such a capability.

The ascending remnant soul of Taiyi Zhenren first wore a look of confusion, but upon catching sight of Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy, it was overcome with immense joy.

He completely forgot the towering resentment he had held toward his master right before his death.

"Master, you've finally come? Your disciple knew Master would never abandon him!" a faint voice issued from Taiyi Zhenren's remnant soul.

Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy merely offered a faint smile. "Did I not tell you that you would face a tribulation recently? Why did you not heed my warning?"

"This... this disciple never expected this tribulation to take place within the Golden Light Cave," Taiyi Zhenren said hesitatingly.

He truly had not anticipated that anyone would be arrogant enough to slay one of the Twelve Golden Immortals right within the territory of the Chan Sect!

"When a tribulation arrives, one should face it with caution," Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy said indifferently.

"Master's teaching is correct," Taiyi Zhenren said respectfully.

Naturally, he had to agree with whatever Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy said.

"Master, given this current state of your disciple..." Taiyi Zhenren asked with lingering hesitation.

Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy glanced at Taiyi Zhenren, his expression entirely devoid of ripples.

"You are already a dead man now. The most your master can do is gather these meager fragments of your remnant soul."

"You underestimated the power of the Xuanyuan Sword."

These words caused Taiyi Zhenren's expression to change drastically, and he cried out in panic, "I beg Master to save this disciple!"

"As I said just a moment ago, I cannot save you," Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy's voice remained utterly calm.

To him, Taiyi Zhenren's death brought neither sorrow nor joy.

"Then why did Master not step forward to save this disciple earlier? This disciple refuses to believe Master was unaware of everything happening here," Taiyi Zhenren said, unwilling to accept his fate.

Deep within his heart, his resentment toward this master soared to the heavens.

"This was your own tribulation; why should your master intervene? Besides, it is not as though I failed to warn you," Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy said slowly.

"Why didn't Master speak more plainly back then?" Taiyi Zhenren cast aside any pretense of concealing his inner anger.

"If everything required your master to spell it out explicitly, then you would not be worthy of being my disciple, nor would you be worthy of being one of the Twelve Golden Immortals of our Chan Sect," Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy said, watching the flailing and raging Taiyi Zhenren.

His expression remained exceptionally calm.

"Could it be that all the things this disciple has done for Master over the years cannot even outweigh Master's willingness to block a single tribulation for me?" Taiyi Zhenren laughed desolately.

Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy maintained a silent composure. "Since you have already met your tribulation, death is your final destination, and the remnant soul left in the wake of your death should also find another destination."

Without waiting for Taiyi Zhenren to voice the confusion in his heart, Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy tossed out the ball of light in his hand.

The ball of light drifted toward Taiyi Zhenren's remnant soul and abruptly began devouring the soul fragments that had just been gathered!

"No!! No! Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy, may you die a wretched death! To think you would personally frame your own disciple!"

"After all these years of toiling for you, I am reduced in the end to nothing more than a tool to be discarded at a whim!"

"I am not resigned to this!!!!"

Taiyi Zhenren roared, his features utterly distorted, his hatred for Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy reaching its absolute zenith.

Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy remained unmoved. Before his soul dissipated entirely, Taiyi Zhenren looked toward that ball of light and seemed to catch a glimpse of a faint human figure shifting within it!

The realization struck Taiyi Zhenren, causing his expression to undergo a violent transformation!

"So it was you!"

Taiyi Zhenren's tone grew increasingly desolate, never imagining that his end would culminate in such a result.

Once the ball of light had completely devoured Taiyi Zhenren's remnant soul, Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy finally recalled the glowing orb.

"This should be enough to sustain your digestion for a while, shouldn't it? Since this deity has nurtured you for so long, I hope you will be able to produce the exact outcome I desire when the time comes."

Watching the dormant ball of light, Primordial Beginning Celestial Worthy finally wore a trace of a faint smile on his previously expressionless face.

One could only wonder what exactly resided within that ball of light to have caused the dying Taiyi Zhenren such utter astonishment.