Fire Virtue Immortal Clan

Chapter 214 Murder and Robbery: A Rich Gain
The two female cultivators at the early stage of the Golden Core realm were Pei Chuying and Xie Miaoyun.

Pei Chuying is a rogue cultivator active in the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp. She was abducted to the Miasma Bamboo Island fifteen years ago. Ding Heng successfully broke through to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm after absorbing Pei Chuying's essence.

Xie Miaoyun was not a rogue cultivator; she was a Golden Core cultivator from the Xie Clan within the Medicine Immortal Valley.

The Xie Clan's strength wasn't particularly formidable. Including Xie Miaoyun, they only had four Golden Core cultivators. The clan leader of the Xie Clan was at the mid-Golden Core stage, making him no match for Ding Heng and the other bandit cultivators.

Xie Miaoyun was abducted to Zhangzhu Island nine years ago. Another mid-stage Golden Core cultivator broke through to the mid-stage Golden Core by absorbing Xie Miaoyun's essence.

The Golden Core cultivators on Bamboo Island wanted to abduct more female Golden Core cultivators for sexual exploitation, but there weren't many female Golden Core cultivators in the early to mid-stages of the Ten Thousand Poisons Swamp.

Even fewer people would be willing to take action against Ding Heng and his fellow bandits.

That's why they were so eager to take action after Qiao Dongsheng used the cloud bird to detect Shi Ningyu's presence.

Unfortunately, they underestimated the strength of Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu, and ultimately all of them were killed by Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu.

The bandits on Zhangzhu Island also colluded with the bandits in Green Wave Pool, a thousand miles away. The bandits in Green Wave Pool were even more powerful, and their leader, Cao Kun, was at the late Golden Core stage.

There are quite a few bandit cultivators like Ding Heng and Cao Kun in the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp, the most famous of whom are the bandit cultivators from Ling Shan Island.

The bandit cultivators on Lingshan Island have two cultivators at the Golden Core Perfection stage, and they practice heretical techniques and have intricate connections with the Sacred Heart Sect.

The Swamp of Ten Thousand Poisons was a chaotic area. Even though the Suspended Mirror Sect and the Medicine Immortal Valley knew that the bandits on Ling Shan Island were related to the Sacred Heart Sect, they did not dare to destroy Ling Shan Island at will.

This includes the Thousand Poison True Man of the Poison Swamp Immortal City!
The fact that Master Qiandu was able to evade the pursuit of the two Nascent Soul forces, Medicine Immortal Valley and Suspended Mirror Sect, was not only due to the special environment of Poison Swamp Immortal City, but also largely due to the secret assistance from Sacred Heart Sect.

The struggle between these three Nascent Soul forces created the chaotic Swamp of Ten Thousand Poisons.

Currently, the most powerful cultivator in the Poison Swamp Immortal City is naturally the Thousand Poison True Man, a cultivator at the Golden Core Perfection Realm. Relying on the special location of the Poison Swamp Immortal City, even cultivators at the early Nascent Soul stage cannot do anything to him.

Besides Master Qiandu, there are five other powerful cultivators at the Golden Core Perfection realm in Poison Swamp Immortal City.

These five people are Granny Golden Staff, Hundred-Faced Gentleman, True Man Zhan Kong, True Man Earth Corpse, and True Man Ghost Mother. All five of them are at the Golden Core Perfection stage, and the strongest among them is True Man Zhan Kong.

Besides these five cultivators at the peak of the Golden Core realm, there are numerous other Golden Core cultivators in the Poison Swamp Immortal City.

Some of these Golden Core cultivators had lived in the Poison Swamp Immortal City for a long time, while others, like Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu, entered the Poison Swamp Immortal City to purchase the spiritual items they needed.

Nearly a hundred Golden Core cultivators travel to and from the Poison Swamp Immortal City every day, which is more than the number of Golden Core cultivators in Nascent Soul sects like the Suspended Mirror Sect and the Medicine Immortal Valley.

This is what Pei Chuying and Xie Miaoyun know about the Poison Swamp Immortal City. However, having stayed on the Miasma Bamboo Island for so long, they cannot guarantee whether the situation in the Poison Swamp Immortal City has changed over the years.

After learning this information from Pei Chuying and the other woman, Shi Ningyu told them to go and rest, while she and Lu Cheng'an entered Ding Heng's cave together.

"Fellow Daoist Lu, have you noticed the presence of Heavenly Illusion Qi on Zhu Island?" Shi Ningyu asked immediately after entering Ding Heng's cave.

Heavenly Illusion Qi is a type of gas with hallucinogenic effects. The miasma on Miasma Bamboo Island also has this effect. Combined with the power of the third-tier top-grade spirit array, the Thousand Miasma Illusion Spirit Array, this provides sufficient conditions for the birth of Heavenly Illusion Qi.

There is Heavenly Illusion Qi in the miasma surrounding the outer edge of Zhangzhu Island, but the amount of Heavenly Illusion Qi is very small, and it is mixed in with the miasma.

If Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu want to obtain this Heavenly Illusion Qi, they will need to put in a lot of effort to separate it from the miasma.

However, this was not a difficult task for Lu Cheng'an and his companion; it just required more time.

“I also sensed the presence of the Heavenly Illusion Qi. We will extract the Heavenly Illusion Qi contained in those miasmas later.”

Lu Cheng'an smiled slightly and said, "Before that, let's take stock of the valuables on Ding Heng and his bandit cultivators!"

Ding Heng and his six companions were all cultivators at the Golden Core stage. They had been killing and robbing others, and had accumulated a vast fortune over the years.

These bandits did not store their wealth on Zhuzhu Island; they carried their wealth with them at all times.

Lu Cheng'an and his companion had already looted all the storage artifacts from Ding Heng and the other six, but they hadn't had time to examine what treasures were inside.

After using Jade Soul Immortal Light to suppress and kill those cultivators in the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, Shi Ningyu also collected all the storage artifacts they carried.

When Shi Ningyu heard that Lu Cheng'an wanted to check their spoils, she took out all the storage artifacts.

These storage artifacts all contained the imprints of their owners' consciousness, but they did not affect Lu Cheng'an and his companion.

These divine imprints were like paper to Lu Cheng'an and his companion, posing no obstacle whatsoever.

Lu Cheng'an and his companion moved extremely quickly, taking less than half an hour to clear all the valuables from the bandits.

These bandit cultivators are indeed wealthy, possessing 500,000 spirit stones alone.

In addition, there are twenty-three third-tier magical artifacts, including three high-grade third-tier magical artifacts, six mid-grade third-tier magical artifacts, and fourteen low-grade third-tier magical artifacts.

The quality of these third-tier magic artifacts wasn't particularly good; only four of them were valued by Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu.

These four third-tier magic artifacts are the third-tier high-grade magic artifacts Xuan Yuan Blue Light Flag and Azure Sea Bracelet, and the third-tier mid-grade magic artifacts Myriad Beast Seal and Beast Taming Bell.

Both the Xuan Yuan Blue Light Flag and the Azure Sea Bracelet are water-attribute magical artifacts. Although these two artifacts are of good quality, they are not suitable for Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu.

The Myriad Beast Seal and the Beast Taming Bell were taken from Qiao Dongsheng's storage artifacts. These two artifacts have an extremely strong restraining effect on demonic beasts.

The two magical artifacts, the Myriad Beast Seal and the Beast Taming Bell, can be used together to weaken the strength of a demon beast by 40%.

Qiao Dongsheng was also quite fortunate; he was lucky enough to obtain a portion of the inheritance of the ancient sect, the Beast Taming Immortal Sect.

Unfortunately, he lacks talent, and his cultivation level remains at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

Besides third-tier magical artifacts, there are even more first- and second-tier magical artifacts, many of which are of good quality.

After Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu sorted through the samples, they collected the ones of good quality, intending to take them back to their clan and sect for use by cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Those that didn't catch their eye were all collected into a storage ring, to be disposed of once they entered the Poison Swamp Immortal City.

The Poison Swamp Immortal City has shops that specialize in buying and selling these treasures, and many cultivators go to these shops to sell their stolen goods.

Besides these magical artifacts, there are also many elixirs, spiritual herbs, minerals, and other materials, all of which are equally valuable.

The elixirs, minerals, and talismans were still somewhat useful to Lu Cheng'an and his companion, but they planned to dispose of all the pills. These ingested items required extreme caution; the slightest mistake could lead to being plotted against.

Ding Heng and the other six still possessed quite a few third-tier cultivation techniques. After sorting them out, Lu Cheng'an and his companion obtained a total of twenty-six third-tier cultivation techniques.

Besides the fact that they obtained so many third-tier cultivation techniques through their own fortuitous encounters, most of them were plundered.

Although there are quite a few third-tier cultivation techniques, the number of high-quality third-tier techniques is not large.

The only cultivation techniques that could catch the eye of Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu were those practiced by Ding Heng and Qiao Dongsheng.

The third-tier cultivation technique that Ding Heng cultivates is called the Black Water True Scripture. This technique can be cultivated directly to the Golden Core Perfection realm.

The cultivation technique that Qiao Dongsheng practiced was called the Beast Taming Manual, which was the core inheritance of the Beast Taming Immortal Sect.

The Beast Taming Immortal Sect is an older and more powerful sect than the Burning Flame Sect.

The complete Beast Taming Manual is very likely a fifth-tier technique, or even a higher-tier technique.

However, the Beast Taming Immortal Sect has been destroyed for too long, and the complete Beast Taming Manual has long been lost. It is now virtually impossible for cultivators to obtain the complete cultivation method of the Beast Taming Manual.

The Beast Taming Manual that Qiao Dongsheng obtained was quite complete, and could be cultivated to the Golden Core Perfection realm. It also contained minor supernatural abilities and methods for refining natal magic weapons.

Unfortunately, Qiao Dongsheng's abilities were insufficient, and the time it took him to advance to the Golden Core realm was relatively short.

He failed to successfully cultivate the minor supernatural abilities included in the Beast Taming Manual, and he also failed to refine the natal magic weapon recorded in it.

Although he possessed the skills to control beasts, he was attacked by Shi Ningyu, rendering all his beast-controlling techniques ineffective, and he was suppressed by Shi Ningyu in an instant.

In addition to these cultivation techniques, Lu Cheng'an and his companion also found a secret technique for dual cultivation.

This dual cultivation technique is called the Yin-Yang Co-existence Yuanling Technique!
This is an extremely profound secret technique of dual cultivation. If both men and women cultivate this technique with one heart, they can obtain great benefits from it.

This secret technique can also be used as a method of sexual intercourse, but its effects are far inferior to those of true dual cultivation.

However, it is not an easy thing for men and women to cultivate together using the secret technique of Yin and Yang.

This requires both the man and woman to be of one mind and have extremely deep feelings for each other.

Ding Heng and his fellow bandits could not do this, so they always regarded the Yin-Yang Co-existing Yuanling Technique as a method of sexual cultivation.

When Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu saw this secret technique of dual cultivation, they couldn't help but be tempted.

Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu have been through a lot together and have developed deep feelings for each other, but neither of them has ever confessed their feelings.

This dual cultivation technique, the Yin-Yang Harmony Yuanling Art, might provide such an opportunity for the two of them!
However, the two did not speak directly at the moment. Instead, they each made a copy of the dual cultivation technique and put it away. Then they continued to check the remaining valuables.

Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu were extremely happy after they had cleared out the wealth of the bandits on Zhangzhu Island.

Aside from the 500,000 spirit stones, the value of the magical artifacts, cultivation techniques, and other treasures also exceeded one million spirit stones.

Their gains this time were immense, and they also gained some understanding of why Ding Heng became a bandit cultivator in the Ten Thousand Poison Swamp. Killing and robbing treasures was indeed a superior way to quickly earn cultivation resources.

However, this matter is also extremely dangerous. If you fail to kill and steal the treasure, you will be killed by someone else!

Lu Cheng'an and Lu Cheng'an decided to divide these things equally, and there were no major setbacks in the process.

Although Lu Cheng'an and his companion didn't fancy the lower-grade third-tier magic artifacts, they each kept two for Que Yun and Gui Lao to use.

Queyun is a fire-attribute demon beast. Lu Cheng'an chose a third-tier low-grade fire-attribute magic weapon, the Fire Tongue Sword, and a third-tier mid-grade fire-attribute magic weapon, the Exploding Fire Pearl, for Queyun.

The Turtle Elder's true form is the Five Elements Primordial Turtle. He possesses all five elements and can use any magical artifact with the attributes of the five elements.

Shi Ningyu also selected two mid-grade third-tier magic artifacts for him. These two mid-grade third-tier magic artifacts were the Water Control Seal of the Water Attribute and the Wood Yuan Pearl of the Wood Attribute.

The Yi Wood Yuan Pearl is an auxiliary magical artifact that can be used to accumulate magical power.

If the mana stored in a cultivator's dantian is exhausted, the mana stored in the Yi Wood Yuan Pearl can be released all at once.

However, the amount of mana that the Yi Wood Yuan Pearl can accumulate is not much; at most, it can accumulate a quarter of the cultivator's own mana.

Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu were quite interested in this magical artifact, but unfortunately it was a wood-attribute artifact, which was of no use to them.

Lu Cheng'an carefully studied the Yi Wood Yuan Pearl and was highly certain that it must contain other magical artifacts that accumulate magical power.

Unfortunately, his current weapon-refining skills are not yet up to par, and he cannot deduce the method of refining magical artifacts with other attributes that accumulate magical power based solely on the Yi Wood Yuan Pearl.

After Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu finished distributing the valuables from Ding Heng and the other bandits, they did not waste any time.

They flew into the sky above the miasma-covered Bamboo Island and began to condense Heavenly Illusion Qi within the miasma.

Cultivating the Lesser Transformation Technique requires a spiritual substance called Heavenly Illusion Qi, but the amount of Heavenly Illusion Qi needed is not large.

The miasma surrounding the island of Zhangzhu contains enough celestial energy for Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu to cultivate the Lesser Transformation Technique.

It took Lu Cheng'an and Shi Ningyu nearly half a month to condense enough Heavenly Illusion Qi from the miasma.

These Heavenly Illusionary Qi are the source of the hallucinogenic power of the miasma on Zhuzhu Island. After Lu Cheng'an and his companion condensed so much Heavenly Illusionary Qi, the hallucinogenic power of the miasma was greatly reduced.

However, the Thousand Miasma Illusionary Spirit Array, a top-grade third-tier spirit array, still exists. Even if the hallucinogenic effect of the miasma decreases, the power of the Thousand Miasma Illusionary Spirit Array can still trap cultivators at the Golden Core Perfection stage.

After collecting enough Heavenly Illusion Qi, Lu Cheng'an and his companion entered the cave of Ding Heng and the other bandit cultivators to practice the Minor Transformation Technique, a minor supernatural ability.

Lu Cheng'an and his companion had been studying the Minor Transformation Technique for a long time, but due to a lack of Heavenly Illusion Qi, they had not been able to successfully cultivate it.

Now that they have obtained the Heavenly Illusion Qi, they have successfully mastered this minor supernatural power in less than three days.

However, to cultivate this minor supernatural power to a deeper level, one still needs to rely on the Small Shape-Changing Pill for assistance.

(End of this chapter)