Chapter 154 - 153: Lingyun

Chapter 154: Chapter 153: Lingyun

He stood his ground, and small golden characters floated before his eyes.

This time, he had killed two people and harvested 3949 Immortal Seedlings.

It wasn’t as much as he got from the last two, but it was enough to advance his Cultivation further. Without hesitation, he decided to first use it all to raise his Cultivation.

After burning the bodies, Chen Qingyang returned to the man’s side. The Flying Sword was almost completely destroyed, so he discarded it, taking only the map, Jade Talisman, and Spirit Stones.

He compared them and found that the two Jade Talismans were identical, but the maps were different.

This meant everyone was assigned a different patrol area. To know which places had been covered and which hadn’t, he would have to combine all the maps.

Chen Qingyang immediately gave up on this needle-in-a-haystack approach. Even his desire for the Cyan Nether Sword Embryo became less intense.

’If I can break through to the next realm and reach Perfection in the second volume of the Great Soul Scripture, that will be enough.’

He remembered clearly that the man had gone west. That was where the Tai Xu Sect had ambushed the Yu Xiao Demon Sect. Whether just to watch the show or to gain something more, after disposing of the man’s body, Chen Qingyang sped off in that direction.

He sent the Conscious Fish ahead as usual, following closely behind it. After traveling for an hour, he finally detected some activity up ahead.

The injured person was a Tai Xu Sect Disciple. His Qi Mechanism was unstable, and he was fleeing with all his might toward Nine True Mountain.

Another person was in hot pursuit, his Cultivation incredibly strong. For the moment, Chen Qingyang didn’t dare to act rashly.

First, he couldn’t gauge his opponent’s true strength. Second, he could easily expose himself.

So he followed them stealthily. Both were highly skilled. The Daoist Sect man used a Sword, while the Demon Sect man wielded an Incense Burner. They fought continuously as they traveled, quickly covering a hundred li.

Finally, the Daoist Sect man could hold on no longer and fell to the ground. The Demon Sect man followed close behind, cutting off all his escape routes.

The Daoist Sect member was an old man, while the Demon Sect member was a youth. The two, one old and one young, continued to fight for a while longer, their Magical Artifacts clashing frequently.

Although the youth sustained some injuries, he still managed to strike the old man down. The old man spat out a mouthful of blood, which was tinged with a layer of Purple Qi as it hit the ground.

From this alone, Chen Qingyang judged that the old man’s Cultivation must be in the Essence Condensation Four Realms. The Fourth Realm was known as "The Spirit Platform cultivates Purple Qi, the Jade Pillow opens the Circulation."

This also meant that the Demon Sect youth was in the Essence Condensation Four Realms as well, just stronger than the old man.

"Run! Why aren’t you running anymore? I’ll give you Daoist Dogs this much—you’ve got some guts, daring to ambush us!"

The Demon Sect youth was tall and slender, dressed in a Profound Robe. He raised his left hand, where a black Incense Burner glowed with golden light, spinning rapidly.

The old man glanced at the Magical Artifact, his expression filled with dread. "Don’t waste your breath on bravado. You only won because I was already injured and you have a superior Magical Artifact. Otherwise, it’s hard to say who would be stronger."

"Heh heh..." the youth sneered. "You Daoist Sect members are always so fond of reasoning. In my Holy Sect, life is life, and death is death. There’s no room for all this bullshit."

The old man sat on the ground, his clothes stained red with blood. The Demon Sect youth, looking completely confident in his victory, paced back and forth holding the Incense Burner. "Why am I even bothering to reason with you? In any case, my Magical Artifact has many wonderful uses. Your Divine Soul, your flesh and blood, even the Four Acupoints you worked so hard to cultivate—they can all be mine."

He tossed the Incense Burner with his left hand, and it hovered in the air. He then formed a hand seal and chanted, and the Incense Burner instantly swelled to ten feet wide, about to slam down on the old man’s head.

Unexpectedly, the old man abandoned his Sword and, on the verge of death, unleashed an enormous burst of power. A Golden Radiance Scroll had appeared above his head at some point, its brilliant light actually managing to resist the Incense Burner.

"Heh heh, just the last struggles of a cornered beast."

The Demon Sect man applied more force. A visible layer of golden light began to burn on the old man’s body, and the Golden Radiance Scroll shone even brighter.

The immense pressure was so strong that even the Demon Sect man looked extremely uncomfortable. He freed one hand to clutch his chest.

"The stronger you are, the more I like it! Now, die!"

Just as he was about to exert his full power in one go, he suddenly felt a needle-like prick on his temple, and his mind felt like it was being set on fire.

Compared to the vast True Essence in his body, this attack should have been insignificant. But at this crucial moment, the man’s power faltered. The Profound Wood Incense Burner fell back, and he stumbled back three steps, spitting up blood.

The man was exceptionally sharp. He first glanced around in all directions, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned his suspicion back to the old man before him. "You really are a handful. What kind of trick did you just use to harm me?"

The old man was now far weaker than before. Even his breathing was shallow, exhaling more than he inhaled. His life was hanging by a thread.

"Haha!" Forcing himself to hold on to his last breath, he laughed loudly. "I told you! The Disciples of my Tai Xu Sect have more tricks than you can possibly imagine! If you want to kill me, I’ll drag you down with me!"

He was also quick-witted. Realizing someone had secretly helped him, he shouted loudly, letting the hidden person know his intentions.

This made the youth even more wary. He took a deep breath. "You’re right. Killing you will definitely leave me severely injured. But I’m not willing to just let you go now!"

Then, he bit his left finger and drew a Blood Talisman in the air. He shouted, "Go!" and the Blood Talisman flew to stick onto the Incense Burner.

This time, the Incense Burner emitted a bloody glow, its power nearly doubling. When the old man saw this, he knew in his heart that his death was certain.

"Haha! Even if I die, you won’t get away unscathed! I’ll risk everything I have left to take a piece out of you..."

His eyes turned bloodshot, and blood streamed from his seven orifices. The last drop of True Essence in his body was burned up completely as he once again resisted the Profound Wood Incense Burner.

The one holding the Incense Burner felt an unprecedented pressure. He was forced to focus all his attention on the man before him.

Hiding in the shadows, Chen Qingyang now had two choices. One was to strike with all his might. He might be able to kill the man with a single sword strike, but the risk was enormous.

The other choice was to continue harassing him with the Conscious Fish. Although he could scrape off a few Immortal Seedlings, it ultimately wouldn’t be enough to kill him.

’A cultivator in the Essence Condensation Four Realms, and a crippled one at that... the temptation is just too great!’

Just as he was hesitating, a brilliant golden light erupted from between them. The old man had reached the end of his rope. And although the Demon Sect man was exhausted, he only needed to push a little further to crush his opponent.

But at that very moment, the ringing of a sword sounded, and a rosy glow shot into the sky, rushing over with an explosive burst of power.

He could tell the newcomer’s Cultivation level at a glance. Normally, he could crush such a person with one hand, but now... he couldn’t spare a hand at all!

Chen Qingyang’s longsword plunged straight through, piercing the Demon Sect man’s neck. The True Qi within the man’s body was overwhelming for him. The sword trembled, and the Qi Mechanism transmitted through it was so powerful he could barely hold on.

Chen Qingyang placed his left hand over his right, unleashing all his True Essence in a fierce surge, pressing down on the man. The man could no longer hold on, and his body rapidly withered.

He collapsed bonelessly to the ground. The Incense Burner shrank back to the size of a palm and fell with a clatter.

"You... How dare you?"

Those were his last words.

The Demon Qi the man had cultivated raged within Chen Qingyang’s body. He hurriedly suppressed it with his True Essence, but there was a portion that would be difficult to assimilate in the short term.

The gap between realms was just that vast. Even in such a weakened state, his opponent had still managed to injure him considerably.

"Cough cough..."

The old man behind him was coughing. Chen Qingyang simply kept his back to him.

"You’re lucky. The commotion here was quite large; someone will be here to rescue you soon. You’re not going to die."

"Ah!" The old man let out a long sigh, followed by two more coughs. "I’m alive, yes, but my Cultivation is ruined. Recovery will be difficult... May I ask for Junior Brother’s name? To think you would risk so much to save me. I must..."

Chen Qingyang kept his back to him. "Don’t ask who I am, and don’t try to find out. That is the best way to repay me."

After saying this, he began to search the corpse thoroughly, taking everything he found, including the Incense Burner.

The old man watched all this and simply nodded. "I understand."

"By the way, you were supposed to be ambushing the Demon Sect. How did you end up like this?"

"Cough cough..." The old man had to cough every time he spoke, and each time he coughed up more blood.

The once-majestic scroll had now lost its luster and lay limply on his lap. If the junior brother before him were just a little more ruthless, he could easily kill him and take his treasure.

"Junior Brother, you may not know this, but we weren’t actually going to ambush the Demon Sect. News came from the Demon Sect’s side that they had found traces of the Cyan Nether Sword Embryo."

"At the time, Senior Brother Taixu Zhang took the lead from Nine True Temple. We gathered more than seventy people and launched an ambush on the Demon Sect, but..."

"Sigh... Unexpectedly, they reacted extremely quickly, and we were surrounded instead. Now, the dead are dead and the wounded are wounded. If not for you... I would have perished."

’The Senior Brother Taixu Zhang he mentioned must be from the Tai Hao Sword Institute. To be able to lead a group of Inner Sect Disciples, his Cultivation must be very high.’

’I thought it was just a simple revenge mission, but I didn’t expect it to involve the Cyan Nether Sword Embryo.’

"Do you know where the Sword Embryo is now?"

The old man behind him replied, "There was only a sky full of rosy light there. As for what the Sword Embryo looks like, I never saw it. If Junior Brother is thinking of going, I strongly advise against it. It will certainly be perilous."

He could tell the other man’s words were spoken with concern. "Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I am always cautious. Do I just need to head west?"

The man was silent for a moment. "Forget it. You won’t even let me see your face, so you must have your own secrets. You saved my life, so I can’t hide this from you. Head west until you see a white mountain peak called Bailuo. The place where we were ambushed is at the foot of that mountain."

At that very moment, his Conscious Fish was swimming outside, and Chen Qingyang sensed that more Tai Xu Sect Disciples were on their way.

"Someone’s coming. They’ll be able to save you."

"Wait!" Just as he was about to leave, the old man spoke again. "You’re using the Danxia Nourishing Truth Sword Manual. I recognize it. I also practice Sword Cultivation. My name is Qian Yuan. If you have the chance, you can find me at Lingyun Peak."

Chen Qingyang had heard of it. Lingyun Peak was also known as Lingyun Sword Peak. Its disciples all focused on the Sword Dao, just as the disciples of Cyan Bamboo Peak specialized in the Alchemy Dao.

He nodded toward the old man’s back, and his figure vanished in an instant, leaving the Conscious Fish behind.

A moment later, more people arrived. They were senior brothers from the Tai Xu Sect. Seeing Qian Yuan on the ground, they hurriedly helped him circulate his qi, then gave him some acupressure on his back before carrying him off to Nine True Peaks.

The man’s life was saved.