Transmigration To Magus World-Chapter 161 - 165: A Stronger Enemy

Chapter 165: A Stronger Enemy

Mist swirled in the air as the underground river coursed through numerous hidden tunnels, its currents turbulent and fierce. Over time, the water level steadily rose, eventually submerging Aizen’s waist as he stood in a recessed corner of the rocky terrain.

Oblivious to his surroundings, Aizen immersed himself entirely in the system’s interface, preparing to unlock his most precious asset—a high-tier Wisdom treasure chest.

This chest contained what he desperately sought: the Nine Moon Nine Sun Art. If he couldn’t draw this coveted skill, his only hope would lie in waiting for the activity shop to refresh, praying for the appearance of another internal cultivation manual. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Stuck at the bottleneck of pre-innate level, Aizen could make no further breakthroughs unless the 35 years’ worth of internal energy he cultivated could completely harmonize and purify. However, achieving this would take years—possibly a decade or more.

Without attaining a state of pure internal energy, he couldn’t unblock his Spiritual meridians to convert his energy into true Aura, the essential step to the innate stage.

Aizen inhaled deeply and activated the high-tier Wisdom chest.

The chest trembled, and 14 items within began spinning rapidly. Even with his usual composure, Aizen couldn’t suppress his anxiety. This divine art would determine the trajectory of his future growth. His heart pounded as the spinning slowed, and a single item became visible in the chest’s transparent slot, about to solidify.

It was a Bone-Scraping Knife, a fourth-grade spiritual weapon with extraordinary sharpness. But Aizen had no use for such a thing in his current predicament.

"Ah..." He sighed in disappointment.

"Click!" The chest abruptly opened, and a book tumbled into his hands.

"Hmm?" Aizen froze in surprise. Then his gaze landed on the four gilded characters embossed on the book’s cover. His heart skipped a beat.

"Nine Moon Nine Sun Art?"

It dawned on Aizen that fortune had smiled upon him. The Bone-Scraping Knife had almost emerged as his prize, yet it had spun just past it, delivering the Nine Moon Nine Sun Art instead. It felt as if heaven itself had intervened to help him.

"Nine Moon Nine Sun..." Aizen murmured, running his fingers over the raised gilded lettering on the cover. He didn’t open the book to start learning immediately.

Combining multiple internal cultivation methods was highly dangerous, with the exception of those with complementary nature or unique circulation patterns. Otherwise, it could lead to severe deviation in cultivation, or even death.

"Now I just need the Great Rejuvenation Pill to appear in the activity shop..." Aizen thought as he sat calmly in the recess, unmoved by the rushing currents around him.

He sat like an immovable statue carved into the rock wall, embodying the stability of a mountain—a stance resembling the Earth Thunder Stance.

For now, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave. The faint sense of impending danger warned him that Lother had likely set an inescapable trap just outside the underground river.

As long as he stayed hidden, Lother and his men wouldn’t dare venture into the complex network of tunnels to drag him out. But the moment he revealed himself, he would be discovered, and another fight with Lother would spell certain death.

"Only by reaching the innate stage can I escape this crisis," Aizen resolved, continuing to wait patiently.

Little did he know that someone had already entered the underground river, actively searching for him.

The intruder was Logan, the third leader of the Nine Cloud Mountain Bandits, a fierce man with short hair and a mink coat.

Following the spot where Aizen had fallen into the river, Logan methodically searched downstream, relying on his formidable spiritual perception to locate Aizen’s position.

With his ability to sense souls within a ten-mile radius, Logan’s search was relentless. Though he wasn’t particularly familiar with Aizen’s aura, making his efforts less effective, his tracking skill was still extraordinary.

Aizen’s heart sank further as time wore on.

The Wisdom shop’s latest refresh failed to include the Great Rejuvenation Pill. This meant he would have to wait longer. Without the pill, if he dispersed his internal energy to start cultivating the Nine Moon Nine Sun Art, he wouldn’t be able to rebuild enough strength in the short term to unblock his Spiritual meridians and advance to the innate stage.

Grinding his teeth, Aizen made a decision. To increase the chances of the pill appearing in the next refresh, he spent 2,000 task Wisdom points to unlock the shop’s sixth item slot. The next refresh would present six items instead of five, giving him a glimmer of additional hope.

"This place is no longer safe," Aizen muttered, leaping into the water.

A terrifying sense of impending danger was closing in, more intense than when he faced Lother. Back then, Aizen had confidence in escaping Lother’s grasp, leveraging his devastating Wrath Lotus technique. But now, an unspeakable fear gripped him, as though a demon from hell had its sights set on him, inching closer to claim his life.

"Could it be one of the other leaders from the Nine Cloud Mountain Bandits?"

A shiver ran through Aizen’s body. No one, no matter how fearless, could remain unaffected by the shadow of death looming overhead. But despite the cold sweat forming on his back, Aizen managed to stay calm.

The situation had grown far more precarious than he initially anticipated. He thought Lother was his only opponent, but now it was evident that someone even more formidable was pursuing him.

Despair weighed heavily on him. Even if he broke through to the innate stage, Aizen wasn’t confident he could escape someone stronger than Lother. If the gap in power was too vast, no amount of skill or strategy could bridge it.

The sound of rushing water filled the cavern as Aizen swam swiftly, moving toward what he hoped was safety. His only chance now was to stall for time, praying he could hold out until the shop refreshed again in five hours. Yet five hours felt like an eternity, and he wasn’t sure he could survive that long.

Meanwhile, Logan, the third leader of the Nine Cloud Mountain Bandits, moved through the water like a giant fish. Not only was his body streamlined and powerful, but his limbs acted like fins, propelling him through the river with astonishing speed and grace.

His bones had compressed into a flattened structure, and his arms and legs seemed to mimic a fish’s tail, reducing water resistance to nearly nothing. This transformation was a skill unique to Diamond Stagewarriors, who could manipulate their bodies at will, akin to the concept of the Seventy-Two Transformations.

Though not as exaggerated as mythical stories that spoke of turning into birds, turtles, or houses, these warriors could make significant adjustments to their form. In Logan’s current state, he still resembled a human but moved through water as effortlessly as a fish.

"I can sense you... Your scent is in this water..." Logan muttered with a cold glint in his eyes.

A thin membrane covered his pupils, allowing him to see clearly underwater, just like a fish. He could vaguely sense Aizen fleeing through the river, though he hadn’t pinpointed his exact location. This innate ability, akin to divination, gave Logan a predictive edge, making his pursuit even more terrifying.

"This must be someone in the later stages of the Diamond," Aizen thought grimly as he continued to flee. "Among the Nine Cloud Mountain Bandits, there are only three with this level of power."

His body tensed as if sharp needles were pressing against his back. No matter how he altered his course, a dreadful feeling of doom loomed over him.

He felt like a bird in flight, constantly under the gaze of a hunter’s bow. No matter where he flew, he couldn’t shake the chilling sense that an arrow was aimed at his chest, ready to pierce his heart at any moment.