Daoist Master of Qing Xuan

The moon ascended the skies, glowing at the sky like water, very silently.

Shen Lian was sitting in the hall of the newly built Daoist courtyard, accompanied by candlelight.

Ruoxi was playing chess with Shen Lian. Her spiritual strength was not inferior to Shen Lian’s when he first entered Qing Xuan. She also had the ability to remember everything that she saw. With the help of The Synchronized Heart Mantra of Taisu, her spiritual strength had grown immensely, finally reaching the level of Fairy Tianmeng.

In this chess duel, Shen Lian was controlling his mental strength, equal to that of Ruoxi’s. He made his moves with no extra thoughts.

In contrast, Ruoxi had to think before she made every move. The more they played, the longer she took to think, and yet she could withstand his attacks.

This time as Shen Lian laid his chess piece, Ruoxi held her chin and said, “Uncle, I don’t know how to play against this move. I need to think some more.”

Shen Lian looked at the sky and smiled, “It is evening already. Why don’t you do your Qi practice homework first, then we will continue later.”

Then he told Zuo Shaoqing who was guarding them, “Look after Ruoxi. Let her practice for a one-day cycle. I will come back later.”

Zuo Shaoqing asked, “Where are you heading to, Master?”

Shen Lian might have nullified their master-servant contract, but Zuo Shaoqing still recognized Shen Lian as his master.

Shen Lian just smiled with no reply, formed a sword gleam, stepped on the moonlight and disappeared in a flash.

Ruoxi followed up, “Uncle is going to that Five Venoms Order.”

As she finished speaking, she closed her eyes to circulate her Qi, and the Qi of the heaven and earth started to surround her like mists of the heaven. This was because Ruoxi had refined the Qi of heaven and earth into the purest form of Qi, for her body to inhale and exhale, hence such a sight.

With her techniques today, she could practice awakened entrance at will and make mana, but she did not do so as she wanted to improve herself and build the most solid foundation.

The Five Venoms Order was one of the rare big sects in Nanjiang. Even when Qingjiang was at its strongest times, it was difficult for them to conquer the Five Venoms Order. This sect was different with other sects in terms of its cultivation, as their aim was not to live forever but to improve on killing.

They combined the ancient people’s spells with to date’s techniques of cultivation to create various kinds of unusual spells, and finally compiled them into a “Five Venoms Scripture”, recording all the techniques of the five venoms and sickening evil spells. Even though the disciples from other sects had higher mana levels than those in Five Venoms, they would still be careless and get poisoned.

Five Venoms Order was situated six hundred miles from Qingjiang Sword Sect. There was a big lake there, its surface smooth as a mirror, reflecting the bright moonlight.

There were many buildings on top of the lake water; all of them were wooden houses crossing with each other, forming a chain of water village. There were many glowing spots on the houses when watched closely, those there the eyes of the venomous beings, roaming on the wooden houses, such as colorful venomous snakes, the wiggling scorpion tails, and the crawling poison bugs.

The mist of the lake water was seen wrapping around the wooden houses, acting as a natural barrier shield.

If one did not take antidote pills regularly and cultivate the poisonous techniques of the Five Venoms Order, those cultivators from other sects would not be able to come near.

Even the fish and prawns in the lake had evolved to carry poisons in their bodies over time.

Shen Lian descended with his arrow gleam from miles away. He looked upon the Five Venoms Order. Even from miles away, he could smell a sweet but bloody, sipping his flesh and trying to dissolve into his bloodstream to affect his movements.

However he Taixu Strategy was one of the most fearsome techniques in the world, a bit of operation of the Taixu Divine Prowess would convert this poisonous mist into healthy Qi to replenish his own body.

Every inhaling and exhaling nourished his whole body.

He carried his sword and came down from the moon, riding on the water like a classic sword fairy.

Soon enough, a disciple of the Five Venoms Order guarding the water gates was heard yelling, “Who’s there?”

The look of him riding on the water with a sword on his back was actually rather intimidating.

There were many flying techniques in the world, but to find someone like Shen Lian who could step on a calm lake and not make any ripples, such Qi cultivator was a rare sight to these Five Venoms disciples.

They did hear of the cultivators in the world who had entered the realm of Buxu, and could float in the air as if it was flat ground, but out of the three thousand miles region, only the old Doyen of Qingjiang Sword Sect, Meng Xunzhen had the ability to do so.

There were rumors of the leaders of Chiyan Clan and Dark Wind Cave being able to do this too, but no one saw it for real to prove its authenticity.

With Shen Lian’s young age, they naturally would think to that extent and brushed it off as some mysterious spell.

This was the difference in the cultivation of Five Venoms Order with other sects’. They might have some earth-shattering spells, but their actual lifespan was only two to three hundred years, or even those disciples who rushed their cultivation would not live as long as a mortal. Even if they were lucky to live until two to three hundred years, this was also because they took all kinds of poisons to slow their aging.

Comparatively, they would not care about the theory of the how the cultivation field sees a person’s age by their face.

Shen Lian just smiled and took another step, then his body formed a shadow under the moonlight and traveled through the bodies of the guarding disciples.

They only felt a gush of wind passing by, and before they could contact other apprentice mates, they felt a sensation as if they got pricked by a needle, causing their body to freeze and immobile.

Shen Lian never stopped, as he used his spiritual consciousness to scan through the water village, and detected a spot where the spiritual strength was strongest.

That spot was in a serene courtyard, where green ivies grew around its column, and the water flowed steadily like a symphony.

Standing on the water village gave one a calm, out-of-the-world experience.

He walked straight without any obstruction and shortly arrived outside a door.

A voice said, “Who is this honorable guest? Why are you visiting me this late? Are you here to harm me?”

The voice was low and hoarse. Not seeing its owner would guess that it was an old man at a very old age.

The door opened itself, revealing what was inside.

Inside the wide and clean house, there was sky window with tainted glass on time, allowing the moon the shine through and brightened the whole house, so there was no need for candle lights.

A person was seen sitting alone, dressed in black, with a tea set in front of him. One would presume he was drinking tea alone.

He was not like who Shen Lian imagined to be. He looked like he was thirty years old, with no sign of age.

He saw this man tapped on his tea set, and out flew a cup, rotating in the air, but not spilling a drop of water, slowly levitating in front of Shen Lian. There were some bubbles visible in the tea in the cup, looked like it was poisonous.

Shen Lian stuck out two fingers to lightly receive the teacup, and said, “Millennium Heart Decaying Grass, what a rare find.”

The man responded, “This honorable guest is quite knowledgeable.”

“When consumed for a long time, this herb could prolong aging, strengthen one’s body. However long-term consumption will also dilute a person’s emotions, hence the name ‘heart decaying’,” Shen Lian continued.

The man clapped his hands, “Precisely.”

Shen Lian finished up his tea, and suddenly raised his voice, “You are not the leader of Five Venoms Order!”

He remained emotionless, only his black robe shivered, as he sighed, “Shen Zhenren is, in fact, a prodigy of the generation. Greetings to you from Guangfa.”