Cultivating To Immortality

Chapter 739: Name Of The Sword Ancestor

A moment later, within the Great Night Covering Heaven Realm.

The handsome Demonic Cultivator was now completely charred, his face distorted, his body struggling, walking with extreme difficulty.

Song Yan’s gaze fell upon the Fat Daoist.

He hadn’t expected these two to be in the same place; there was no need to search for them individually, which saved him some effort.

The Fat Daoist was looking at the three of them in terror.

The third one had died almost instantly.

That meant the same for him.

He continuously retreated, but the darkness behind him seemed endless, and the three opponents maintained the same distance from him.

"A Formation?"

The Fat Daoist was somewhat surprised: "Impossible..."

The two of them had been pulled into this strange night almost in an instant.

"Xin Shan, you colluded with a Righteous Path Cultivator to kill your own brothers, aren’t you afraid..."

"Who are your own brothers?"

Sheng Nian glanced at him, his eyes filled with disgust, as if looking at something filthy.

"Would my own brothers disguise themselves as Loose Cultivators to kill me?"

He gave a look to the Corpse Puppet A Yuan.

A Yuan understood and stepped forward.

"What are you going to do? Lei Ning will be back soon. If you leave now, I’ll let bygones be bygones."

The Corpse Puppet A Yuan seemed to be reminded of something by him.

He took out the remains of the tall, thin Cultivator from his qiankun bag and piled them with the corpse of the handsome Demonic Cultivator.

"..."

Seeing the vaguely discernible corpse of the tall, thin Cultivator, the Fat Daoist’s breathing almost stopped instantly.

Only at this moment did his fear become undisguised.

"Spare..." He squeezed out a plea for mercy from his throat, his corpulent body desperately shrinking backward: "Spare me..."

The Corpse Puppet A Yuan had already reached him and calmly grabbed his head.

Driven by the desire to survive, the Fat Daoist instinctively tried to stand up and escape backward.

But before he could stand, he was slammed to the ground by the Corpse Puppet A Yuan.

He fell in front of Song Yan.

The Fat Daoist was trembling all over, not just from pain but also from fear.

He slightly raised his head, looked at their cold eyes, and knew in his heart that he probably wouldn’t survive this time.

Seeing the playful tone and expression of the few people, the Fat Daoist’s eyes turned red, his fat face trembling with rage, and he roared: "Since you won’t give me a way out, I’ll drag you down with me!"

He suddenly bit his tongue, spat out a mouthful of vital blood, and as he formed hand seals, a dark green mist rapidly surged around him.

Three streaks of dark green spiritual light condensed above his head, transforming into three sword lights in the shape of Flying Swords.

At the same time, the Fat Daoist’s appearance instantly withered a bit, and his corpulent body also shriveled considerably.

Song Yan’s gaze narrowed. This Spell reminded him of the one Elder Xu Ziqing had cast in Changping.

However, compared to this one, Elder Xu’s technique was clearer and displayed even more terrifying power.

"Three Flowers on the Corpse." Sheng Nian sneered: "Heh heh, an imitation."

The Fat Daoist was somewhat surprised. This secret technique was obtained from a certain Demonic Cultivator’s ruins, and he didn’t even know its origin or history.

How did this Xin Shan know so much about it?

He was about to attack, but he noticed the Corpse Puppet behind him had already moved forward.

At the same time, Sheng Nian’s horizontal saber was also pushed out, a single strike cutting through.

It shattered the Spiritual Qi protecting the Fat Daoist’s body.

The force was controlled just right.

The Corpse Puppet A Yuan had already reached behind him, grabbing his wrist and instantly applying pressure.

"Ah--"

The Fat Daoist was covered in tears and snot, his corpulent body struggling and twisting wildly.

The three dark green sword lights instantly became unstable.

Just then, a gigantic, pitch-black hand stretched out from the darkness, grabbed the three dark green ghostly lights, and refined them in an instant.

"How is that possible?!"

The Fat Daoist cried out in alarm, but before he could express his surprise, he heard a crack.

A Yuan, expressionless, crushed his wrist bone with his large hand.

"Ah--"

A scream.

Sheng Nian finally spoke: "I ask, you answer."

The Fat Daoist struggled painfully, but was held by the Corpse Puppet A Yuan, forcing him to listen to the Young Lord’s questions.

"How do you all travel between the Demon Ruins and the Human Realm now?"

The Fat Daoist was drenched in sweat from the pain, his mind already blurred, and the night of this Realm was also devouring his will to resist: "Below the Foundation Establishment Realm, one can pass through... through a Teleportation Formation. Other methods, I don’t know."

"Teleportation Formation... where is it?"

"Guang... Guangling Prefecture."

"..." Sheng Nian pondered for a moment: "The one in Guangling Huishan?"

The Fat Daoist was stunned, thinking, ’Don’t you already know this?’

He figured Hermit Xin Shan must have told his disciple.

"As far as I know, the Teleportation Formation to and from the Demon Ruins is one-way. This one is for coming. What about the one for going to the Demon Ruins?"

The Fat Daoist was a bit confused. Did Hermit Xin Shan only tell him half of it, leaving out the rest?

"In Xin’an Prefecture."

Xin’an Prefecture?

Song Yan and Sheng Nian exchanged glances.

Chu Capital.

Sheng Nian asked again: "Now that the Mo Xu Cultivators are so rampant, could it be that a Demonic Cultivator Senior has broken through again and is preparing to venture into the Human Realm?"

"This... I don’t know."

"Where is Zhao Ziyang now?"

"I don’t know."

"Which Sects do the Demonic Cultivators in Chu country generally belong to? How many people are there in total, and what are their cultivation levels?"

The primary area of the Demon Ruins’ infiltration into the Human Realm was undoubtedly the Central Region.

However, unlike the strict defenses of the Central Region, small countries like the Nine Border Countries had very few defensive forces and methods, making them easier to infiltrate.

Therefore, a considerable portion of the Demon Ruins’ forces was also present in the nine small countries located along this "Tianshan Corridor."

It was just unknown how many Demonic Cultivators were in Chu country and what their overall strength was.

"I... I only know there are the Seed Demon Path and the Yellow Springs Path." The Fat Cultivator: "The others, I don’t know."

Sheng Nian pursed his lips, losing interest in questioning him.

The Soul Searching secret technique was difficult to use again in a short time, and besides, this person’s Level 8 Qi Refining Realm was not low, so he didn’t dare to cast the Spell casually.

Song Yan was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked: "Are the people of the Demon Ruins colluding with the Southern Chu Qin Family?"

Sheng Nian was stunned, not understanding why he suddenly asked that.

The Fat Daoist also didn’t understand why, but still answered honestly: "Never heard of it."

Song Yan and Sheng Nian exchanged glances, then Song Yan flicked his finger.

A Sword Qi pierced through the Fat Daoist’s Dantian, but it wasn’t fatal; it only caused his spiritual power to dissipate, making him unable to cast any Spells.

"Ah--"

The Fat Daoist bounced up like a fat fish that had been stabbed, then fell heavily back to the ground.

Sheng Nian looked at him strangely: "Aren’t you going to let him refine more for you?"

"No need. The Dharma Body needs to refine this Devilish Qi. Too much won’t be used for a while, so there’s no need to waste effort."

Song Yan glanced at the Corpse Puppet A Yuan.

"He enjoys toying with Mortals so much, why not let him taste the feeling of being toyed to death?"

A Yuan completely agreed.

His stiff neck nodded heavily, then he grabbed the other arm of the Fat Daoist and slowly applied force.

Crack! Crack!

His bones were crushed inch by inch, each crisp sound accompanied by heart-wrenching screams.

The Fat Daoist’s pupils suddenly constricted, and the color drained from his fat face.

He shook his head frantically, his fat slapping with "pa pa" sounds: "Please... just kill me directly..."

"How can we do that?"

Song Yan said indifferently, "You were clearly very happy when you tormented those Mortals..."

"Why aren’t you laughing now?"

The Fat Daoist’s screams were no longer human.

The Corpse Puppet A Yuan would appropriately pause for a moment, allowing the Fat Daoist to fully experience the current pain.

Then continued.

His corpulent body rolled frantically on the ground, and fine beads of blood began to seep from his skin, merging into the darkness.

His voice was already hoarse, no longer sounding human, and it gradually grew softer.

The Corpse Puppet A Yuan glanced at Sheng Nian and Song Yan, then grabbed the Fat Daoist’s body and smashed his head with a punch.

The Fat Daoist’s body twitched violently a few times, then finally fell still... A moment later, the endless night completely enveloped the entire Qingsong Temple.

Song Yan and Sheng Nian stood at the highest point of the main hall’s roof, looking down at the scene within the temple.

The smell of blood permeated the air, and dozens of corpses lay haphazardly on the open ground of the temple.

The Corpse Puppet A Yuan was busy moving around the temple, and at this moment, he cleanly twisted the neck of a Demonic Cultivator.

"There are three or five left, it will be quick." A Yuan said to himself.

Looking at the Demonic Cultivator corpses covering the ground.

Their painful, distorted expressions and miserable, terrified wails before death... Had these Demonic Cultivators also seen such sights when they slaughtered the ordinary Cultivators of Qingsong Temple?

Now, it was their turn.

A Nian said that Qingsong Temple was originally a thriving small Taoist temple, and its master had a cultivation of Qi Refining Perfection.

However, simply because these Mo Xu Cultivators needed a place to stay, the entire Sect was wiped out overnight.

He didn’t want to comment on the actions of these Demonic Cultivators, but at this moment, it was merely a re-enactment of the cycle of the strong preying on the weak.

Song Yan looked at the endless night above Qingsong Temple.

The absolute darkness that enveloped the surroundings not only obscured the Cultivators’ senses but also seemed to possess the strange characteristic of devouring spiritual power.

Sheng Nian’s "Great Night Covering Heaven" technique, which combined trapping and killing, had a similar effect to a Sword Formation.

Thus, it seemed that Sheng Nian, at his peak, was not weaker than himself.

Song Yan asked: "If you were careful, and with A Yuan, the two of you could have killed all these Mo Xu Cultivators. Why did you still call me?"

Sheng Nian looked a bit sheepish: "Heh heh... this is to guard against Zhao Ziyang, you know."

He and the Corpse Puppet A Yuan could indeed wipe out most of the people here, and even if he faced Zhao Ziyang one-on-one, he was confident of winning.

But if Zhao Ziyang and these three appeared at the same time, it would be more troublesome.

At this moment, one right palm of the Dharma Body behind Song Yan had completely grown dark, fleshy meridians, and faint golden patterns were visible on the skin’s surface.

Aside from the first Demonic Cultivator named Lei Ning, the nourishment provided by the rest of the Demonic Cultivators in the entire Qingsong Temple was somewhat negligible for the Dharma Body.

Just then, A Yuan dragged the last two corpses to the center of the open ground within the temple and tossed them down.

His robes were already stained red and black with blood, and he carried a string of qiankun bags in his hand.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Song Yan casually dispersed the Dharma Body.

The two simply divided the spoils here, also intending to wait for Zhao Ziyang to show up.

According to Sheng Nian, there were many candidates for the Demonic Sect’s Dao Child, but Zhao Ziyang was a special one among them.

Although he hadn’t broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, his strength among the Qi Refining Stage Demonic Cultivators was also outstanding.

Within the Demon Ruins, there were quite a few forces eyeing the Nine Border Countries, but when divided among the nine countries, it didn’t seem like much.

Even the death of a so-called Dao Child candidate would not cause much of a stir.

Unfortunately, Zhao Ziyang didn’t give them this opportunity and never appeared.

Most of the items in the qiankun bags collected this time were not worth paying attention to; only the qiankun bags of the three Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivators had some value.

Song Yan didn’t even bother to take the qiankun bags. He picked out some Spiritual Medicine and Spiritual Plants that he could use, along with half of the Spirit Stones, and then paid no further attention.

As for Spiritual Artifacts and Talismans, if he took them, he would have to find a place to sell them, so it was better to just take Spirit Stones directly.

He left Gou Sheng to deal with these goods himself, as he had henchmen anyway.

"The matter here is settled. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving first."

Song Yan greeted Sheng Nian.

Sheng Nian nodded: "Until we meet again."

He thought that if Sheng Nian hadn’t called him over, he really wouldn’t have expected the Demon Ruins to issue a bounty on a small figure like himself.

He also felt very innocent. In the matter of Changping, he only acted in self-preservation.

If he had to say he offended anyone, it was undoubtedly the Profound Origin Sect.

As for the matter of the painting, wasn’t it those Yellow Springs Path Cultivators who caused it themselves?

Heh heh.

However, whether it was the Profound Origin Sect, the Yellow Springs Path, or even the Qin Family, Yang Wenxuan, or the Corpse Bone Abyss... they wouldn’t spend much effort on a small figure like him, or devise any schemes. At worst, they just wanted him dead.

What he needed to do was simple.

Quickly forge his Dao Foundation and possess enough power to deal with everything!

"..."

Sheng Nian stood in the night, watching Song Yan’s departing figure.

"Tsk tsk..." The demonic voice within him echoed faintly: "This kid has indeed inherited the Legacy of the Sword Sect."

"Sword Sect? How did you figure that out?" Sheng Nian was curious: "Do you recognize the Sword Formation he cast?"

"No, not that. The methods of Sword Formations are ever-changing. How could this Venerable One remember every single one of these low-level Sword Formations?"

Old Demon Xie said: "It’s that Sword Dao pupil technique. If I remember correctly, this should be exclusive to the Sword Sect."

"Zheng Tianqi from back then caused quite a stir."

Sheng Nian heard a very unfamiliar name and couldn’t help but ask: "Zheng Tianqi? Who is that?"

"The founder of the Sword Sect." Old Demon Xie’s voice contained a hint of reminiscence.

"Ascended to the Immortal Realm twenty-four thousand years ago."

"Ascended to the Immortal Realm?!"

Sheng Nian’s mind trembled. Had the founder of the Sword Sect already Ascended and become an Immortal?!

Ascension.

What a distant and unfamiliar term.

After all, in Chu country, Foundation Establishment could already be called a Senior master.

"Of course, among the three lineages of Sword Cultivators, the Sword Sect is the greatest. For such a heaven-defying genius, what difficulty was there in Ascension for him?"

"However, the Sword Sect’s Dao Legacy is vast..." Old Demon Xie’s tone shifted: "It’s unknown how much of it this kid inherited."