Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 377: Fire falls from the sky, turns into a disaster; Black Water Spirit Bird, the Way of Life (Please subscribe!)
In the void of the universe, the flames of a planet's Tiangang atmosphere were rolling, constantly devouring the surrounding spiritual energy.

The color of the flames in the Tiangang atmosphere changes over time, sometimes appearing dazzling orange-red, and sometimes turning into dark blue-purple.

There is no sun in the Fiery Realm. All light comes from the Tiangang Fiery Fire. The Tiangang Fiery Fire is strong during the day and dims at night. The Tiangang Fiery Fire comes from the swarm of gold-gnawing fire ants living in it.

Therefore, an invisible blade of disaster has been hanging in the sky of this world since ancient times.

Every few hundred years or less, the flames in the Tiangang atmosphere suddenly become violent, and the red ants surge like a raging sea, pouring down from the depths of the sky and turning the earth into purgatory.

This catastrophe is called "fire falling from the sky, turning into catastrophe". It is a natural disaster caused by the gold-gnawing fire ants that devoured the spiritual energy to the extreme.

It was just like the beast tide in southern Xinjiang and the locust plague in the east that occurred in Ju Mang's world.

At first, only the color of the Tiangang fire in the sky became strange and unpredictable.

During the day, the orange-red flames were like lava pouring down into the sky, burning the clouds and causing them to crack into pieces; after nightfall, the flames not only did not extinguish, but turned into a dark purple undercurrent, spreading silently in the dome.

In Haiyuan City, an old monk in the Observatory was looking up at the stars one day. Soon his face turned pale:
"The sky is about to burst... It's a disaster of sky fire!"

The alarms in the city rang out, but no one could stop this long-brewing catastrophe.

In the Fiery Realm, there is a mortal city where all living beings work and monks stay to practice. Although everyone has their own desires that are difficult to satisfy, their lives are solid and stable.

Suddenly one day, there was a rumble like thunder in the sky.

Everyone in the city looked up in the direction of the sound, and saw countless red points of light peeling off from the Tiangang atmosphere. At first, they were like twinkling stars, and then they gathered into a fire cloud that covered the sky and the sun.

Upon closer inspection, the layers of fire clouds were actually billions of gold-gnawing fire ants flapping their wings and flying!
The smaller ones are as big as millet, and the larger ones are as big as cows.

They piled up layer by layer, turning into a red torrent that spanned a thousand miles, like flaming spears thrown by angry gods, whistling towards the city below.

His body is covered with red armor and he spews real fire from his mouth.

Disaster clouds are looming over the city, and fire ants are causing a disaster.

In a city inhabited by ordinary people, people were busy as usual. The streets were filled with the smell of fireworks, vendors were hawking their wares, and children were laughing and playing on the streets.

However, when the first flaming meteor streaked across the sky, everything was instantly shattered.

The meteor, with a long flaming tail, rushed straight towards the city with an unstoppable momentum.

The moment it touched the ground, a huge explosion sounded and flames spread all around like a surging tide.

The house was instantly set on fire, and the wooden structure groaned in pain in the flames before collapsing into ruins.

"The fire is coming! The fire is coming!"

"That is the fire from heaven, the fire from heaven descending to the world..."

The people were running around in panic, their faces full of despair and helplessness. The women were hugging their children tightly, and the men were trying to find a place to hide.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

One meteor after another fell and hit the city.

It was a meteorite formed by the true fire of tens of thousands of fire ants. The moment it touched the ground, gold and iron melted into red pulp, and buildings turned into ashes.

The common people in the city turned into charred bones before they could even wail; the half piece of rice cake that the child was tightly holding in his palm was turned into powder in an instant.

The flames rushed into the streets like poisonous snakes, quickly devouring the fleeing creatures. A mother pushed her baby into a well, but was entangled by a swarm of fire ants. In a moment, her flesh and blood "crackled" in the flames, leaving only broken bones falling to the ground.

The green land outside the city was instantly reduced to a sea of ​​fire. The ancient trees twisted and burst into flames in the true fire, like thousands of torches.

Birds and beasts turned into balls of fire, wailing as they fell into the scorched earth. A giant green-scaled python struggled to get into the cave, but the ants got into the cracks like a thorn in its side, burning it to ashes.

The streams were steaming, the lakes were boiling, and even the water monsters were turning over their pale bellies in the scalding soup.

On the top of a sacred mountain, a family elder shouted angrily and formed a battle formation. Hundreds of monks behind him offered up their magic weapons, and in an instant, a rain of frost swords and a mysterious water barrier faced the ant colony.

However, the fire ants would catch fire when encountering magic, and the ice would vaporize before it even came close to the ants' bodies, turning the thin mist into a high-temperature diffuse substance.

A foundation-building monk was accidentally approached by a swarm of fire ants, and the protective magic light on his body dissipated like thin paper, and instantly turned into a human-shaped torch.

He roared and crushed the life-saving jade talisman, then turned into a beam of light and rushed forward, but he saw layers of fire ants covering and biting him, and even the beam of light was burned out!

The fire-proof runes engraved on the mountain wall broke into pieces, and the mountain protection formation that had been in place for hundreds of years shattered like glass.

When the catastrophe of heavenly fire comes, even for immortal cultivators, whether they can survive such a catastrophe often depends on their fate.

Although it is true that forces with profound magical powers and strong strength can easily survive, unless there is a sect-level force, it will be difficult to resist this catastrophe.

Of course, there were also small Foundation Establishment and Purple Mansion Immortal Cultivation families that managed to survive by chance, and there were even mortal villages that were never affected by the heavenly fire because of their good fortune. There were also Golden Core sects that were completely wiped out because they encountered large-scale insect swarms.

It can only be said that luck is also a manifestation of strength, and even one of the strongest kinds of strength.

Under such a natural fire disaster, Haiyuan City remained unmoved, and even the large swarms of gold-gnawing fire ants consciously avoided this place.

Even though the ancestor of the Golden Fire Ant colony is a seventh-level spiritual insect and is very terrifying, even if it personally descends from the Tiangang atmosphere to the lower world, it will only be known whether it can break through Haiyuan City after a fight.

The combined strength of the five sects in Haiyuan City, namely Huangji, Fuhai, Raolong, Chiyan, and Feiling, is enough to compete with the seventh-level Yuanshen realm spirit insects.

Not to mention, behind the huge profits of Haiyuan City is the support of the ancestors of the human race in this world. However, Haiyuan City radiates over thousands of miles, and the sacred mountains and blessed places in all directions will still suffer losses during the catastrophe.

The ancestor of the seventh-level gold-gnawing fire ant did not dare to descend to this world, and the cultivators from the five sects of Haiyuan City did not have the courage to enter the Tiangang aura to compete with it.

In the Monster Hunting Pavilion of Haiyuan City, the task of eliminating and resolving the Heavenly Fire Disaster of the Gold-Gnawing Fire Ants is high up, and it is the highest level task. The merits of monster hunting are increasing every day, but few Yuanying Zhenjun dare to take on this task.

Because some of these True Lords had even experienced the last heavenly fire disaster, and they knew that there really were cultivators in the middle Nascent Soul stage who died in this fire disaster.

Those gold-gnawing fire ants entrenched in the Tiangang atmosphere are seventh-order insect ancestors, and are not just ordinary spiritual insects.

On the other hand, in the Jinguan Cave of Canglong Mountain, Lu Cheng has been practicing Taoism for decades to increase his magic power, while also spending resources to cultivate the Dongji locust spirit insect.

In just a short period of time of a few decades, the large number of Dongji locusts raised by Lu Cheng in the Jiuli Cauldron had become endless and covered the sky as if they could devour everything.

Although there were originally only tens of thousands of mature locusts in that piece of immortal finger bone, they were all at the fifth or sixth level. As long as they were given time and resources to recover their vitality, they could easily recover into a swarm of millions. After a period of time, even Lu Cheng felt that this kind of locust was really difficult to control.

As a result, not long after, when the number of Eastern Locusts in this world reached a level that Lu Cheng was satisfied with and caused him to have some hidden worries, that in the Jiuli world.

A group of black ducks appeared out of nowhere.

They come in groups, and once they spot a swarm of Eastern Locusts, their eyes flash with excitement, and they pounce on them with flapping wings.

This group of black water ducks shuttled through the swarm of East Pole locusts with light and agile movements.

Their flat mouths opened and closed quickly, and each bite accurately caught a fat locust.

These Eastern Arctic locusts also tried to resist. They bit the black teal with their sharp mouthparts and kicked with their strong hind legs, but in front of the black duck, these resistances seemed futile.

The beaks of these black ducks are like an inescapable trap. Once the Eastern Arctic locust is bitten, there is no chance of breaking free.

The realm of the Eastern Locust Swarm is higher, just like water can put out a fire, but when the fire is too big, the term "a drop in the bucket" will also appear.

But these ducks are very good at diving. Whenever a high-level Eastern Locust appears, they will quickly dive into the water. The Eastern Locust devours everything, but it has not been seen to swallow up the rivers.

But when these high-level Eastern Locusts leave, these ducks come out again and continue to eat the locusts' descendants and great-grandchildren.

After this happened several times, the fifth and sixth level Dongji locusts became tired of flying, and might even be bitten by these black water ducks, dragged into the water, and then have a feast.

These Eastern Pole locusts are a great tonic for them. After swallowing them and digesting them for a few years, their magic power will increase quickly. For these ducks, it does not need to be raised to a very high level. Once it is raised to the fourth or fifth level, they can swallow the fifth or sixth level Eastern Pole locusts.

Taoist Lu Cheng spent decades standing in the void and watching the performance of the laws of nature, and he had a vague understanding in his heart:

If no one intervenes, this group of spirit ducks will continue to multiply and grow, and with time, they will be able to devour the Eastern Locust, one of the ten most dangerous insects.

"No wonder the Taoist transformation and ascension technique requires the practice of multiple transformations. Even if it is a True Spirit Phoenix, the universe is so vast that there may be no one who can restrain it."

Inside the Jiuli Cauldron, the world’s creation and destruction are endless.

On the top of the mountain, there is a cloud of mist and water vapor.

Lu Cheng was sitting cross-legged beside a flat boulder, and next to him was a beautiful, tall and outstanding female Taoist priest.

Her eyes sparkled like night stars, her eyebrows and eyes were full of heroic and lively charm, and her outstanding figure could not be concealed even in a golden robe.

On the other side of the golden-robed Taoist priestess sat an old woman in white. Time had left deep marks on her face, but her eyes were filled with a calm and profound light.

Lu Cheng's disciple, Taoist Youming, stood respectfully aside, ready to receive instructions from his master at any time.

The bonfire between the four people was burning brightly, and the flames jumped happily, licking the pot on it:
There was an extremely fat duck cooking in the pot. The duck meat gradually became soft and rotten under the effects of boiling water and spices, exuding an enticing aroma.

The wine jug next to it was also placed by the fire to be warmed, and the wine in the jug was shaking slightly, making a slight sound.

Smelling the aroma, Lu Cheng had a satisfied smile on his face. He reached out and took out a piece of perfectly cooked duck meat from the pot, blew it gently beside his mouth, and then put it into his mouth and chewed it slowly. The rich meat aroma spread in his mouth, making him nod slightly. Seeing this, the female Taoist next to him also rolled up her sleeves gently, stretched out her chopsticks and picked up a piece of duck meat from the pot. Her movements were extremely graceful, as if she was not eating, but performing an elegant ceremony.

The old woman in white picked up the wine pot slowly and poured herself a glass of wine. The wine slowly flowed into the glass, exuding a mellow aroma.

She took a sip of her drink before tasting the duck.

The purple-robed Netherworld Taoist priest looked at his master and the golden-robed female cultivator enjoying delicious food together, his heart filled with awe.

Lu Cheng noticed his nervousness, smiled and waved, saying: "Come here, this black water duck is delicious, you must try it."

Upon hearing this, the Taoist of the Netherworld first bowed respectfully and then walked over cautiously and sat aside.

"The poisonous golden silkworm Gu, the gnawing gold fire ant, the Eastern Locust, are you planning to gather two more five-element spirit insects, turn evil into good, and use them to fight against Sheng Yang and Taoist Kong Ji?"

After drinking another glass of wine, Jin Ling finally couldn't control his temper anymore and asked.

"It seems that you think I have some influence, otherwise you wouldn't have said anything given your temperament."

"If you can cultivate to the Yuanshen realm within a thousand years and truly master the Five Elements Insect Technique, then you do have a chance of fighting against one of Sheng Yang and Kong Ji. I mean, you can temporarily force them back. Kong Ji is fine, but Sheng Yang is fierce and overbearing. He may burn you and the entire Tongxuan Realm to ashes even if he gets hurt.

You have such a magical weapon, your path will be smooth, and your luck will be prosperous, so why do you have to return to Tongxuan Realm? It is better to practice diligently and wait for Shengyang and Kongji to ascend in the future. With your magical power, it should not be difficult to seize Tongxuan Realm by then."

Jin Ling is the incarnation of the Golden-winged Roc and has an extremely proud personality. If today's food and wine had not been to her taste, she would not have said so much.

"Fellow Daoist Jin Ling, sometimes the right calamity can actually accelerate our cultivation. If I didn't have this intention, how could this treasure be chosen for me among countless people?"

Taoist Lu Cheng pointed to the sky. What he was pointing at at this moment was certainly not the world of this world, but the Jiuli Cauldron, which could evolve infinite worlds from within it.

With the help of this magical item, Lu Cheng can cultivate the five elements spirit insects to a number that is unimaginable for ordinary insect-raising monks. Therefore, even with Jin Ling's arrogant temperament, he has to admit that after mastering this insect technique, even Sheng Yang and Kong Ji will find it difficult to deal with the trillions of magic soldiers.

"God will not always favor one person. You have this opportunity. Three thousand years later, you should be able to compete with Sheng Yang and Kong Ji. However, less than a thousand years is too short. If you fight them hastily, you will most likely end up ruining your path and dying in disaster."

At this moment, Lu Cheng tilted his ear to listen.

He faintly heard a voice calling him outside the Golden Cave.

"Forget it. It's up to you whether you want to listen or not. I'm done with my fun today, so I'm leaving now."

Taoist Jin Ling also knew that someone must be calling Lu Cheng, so he stood up, and after he finished speaking, he instantly turned into a golden rainbow and disappeared.

Between heaven and earth, a golden thread flashed. Such magical power and speed of escape made the Taoist of the Netherworld feel his scalp tingling.

If you become their enemy, you will neither be able to defeat them nor escape from them, and you will definitely die.

The Master's association with such a god-like and devil-like figure is truly unfathomable.

Jinguan Cave in Canglong Mountain.

On the altar, a ball of red light flew out from the chest of a Taoist priest who was meditating. After spinning several times in the air, it fell back onto Lu Cheng's head and returned to its physical body.

Then, Lu Cheng opened his eyes and flew out, and saw his second disciple Miao Chuyun and fourth disciple Shi Sheng were both kneeling outside the cave.

It was their call just now that interrupted the banquet.

However, Lu Cheng also knew that his two disciples would not come to disturb his retreat unless there was something urgent.

"Chu Yun, Shi Sheng, what happened?"

"Disciple, pay homage to Master."

Miao Chuyun and Shi Sheng saluted again. They just bowed politely, so they did not see Lu Cheng flying out.

"Master, 'fire fell from the sky and turned into a disaster'. In a short period of time, it has killed countless lives. Master is a scholar of heaven and earth and has studied the Taoism of spiritual insects in depth. So I come here to beg you to come out of seclusion, tame the fire disaster, protect the world from peace, and accumulate merits for practicing Taoism." The fourth disciple Shi Sheng said.

"Second brother, what about you?"

Lu Cheng listened quietly to the words of the fourth disciple Shi Sheng, and then asked the iron crown girl beside him.

"Master, in the Demon Hunting Pavilion of Haiyuan City, there is a task to resolve the Heavenly Fire Disaster, which is of great merit. At the same time, the eighth insect scripture has appeared. I know that Master is studying the spiritual insect method, so I want to inform Master of this matter. Please make the decision."

The same thing, told by two disciples from different perspectives, revealed the differences in their Taoism and mentalities.

Shi Sheng was a kind-hearted person. He saw that many people were saved from the fire disaster, so he couldn't bear it and came to ask his master for help.

In his opinion, doing such a good deed is inherently meritorious, but helping Master accumulate merit is incidental.

Back then, Miao Chuyun was also an extremely kind child, but after following Lu Cheng in cultivating the Dao for hundreds of years, he gradually realized that many things in this world cannot be distinguished by good and evil:
For example, there may be an ancient figure who did a mixture of good and evil in his life, or even did more evil. However, people in later generations, for various reasons, glorified him layer by layer, and finally made him a sacred person revered by everyone in later generations.

His deeds have inspired generation after generation to sacrifice their lives for their country.

Is this good or evil?

Distorting facts and confusing right and wrong is certainly evil, but it is a great merit because future generations will benefit countless people from it.

The wheel of fate keeps turning endlessly. According to the Buddhist theory of cause and effect, some people have extremely bad and lowly destinies because they did evil in their previous lives and suffered retribution in their next lives.

If he had been killed earlier, he would have paid for his karma earlier. Good and evil will be rewarded, and the law of nature is clear.

However, in Taoism, some people have extremely bad fate and weak luck. It is very likely that there is a problem with the ancestral tombs, and they can just move the tombs to another location.

This is the way of following nature, being objective and real, so as to seek to verify the truth.

Shi Sheng's blind pursuit of good deeds and merits may sometimes lead him into a situation where he makes more mistakes and suffers more and more losses.

It's just that Lu Cheng couldn't point this out to him directly:

Merit is not a good deed, but if one is unable to maintain a correct view of the Tao, then this is already the best choice. On the contrary, if one realizes that merit is not a good deed, and then continues to do evil, then one has fallen into the evil path.

For example, if your thoughts and intentions are good, but they directly lead to a great tragedy, then this will not become a merit just because your thoughts and intentions are good. It is still a sin, but it may be mitigated because your mind and actions are not in line.

By the same token, if your thoughts and actions are good, your merits will increase.

Shi Sheng's trip was in line with the merits, but Lu Cheng could not praise him, otherwise, he would not be able to understand the reason behind it.

"It just so happens that I am ready to take action. I will take this opportunity to collect some more gold-gnawing fire ants."

With this thought in mind, Lu Cheng's figure rose into the sky and headed towards the direction of the Monster Hunting Pavilion in Haiyuan City.

He did not fly the sword or the clouds, but simply walked. Every step he took forward was like crossing space, and his figure flashed as he took a step forward for a hundred miles.

After achieving the eighth level of Xuantian's transformation realm, Lu Cheng's physical cultivation was greatly enhanced, especially in terms of vitality and endurance. Xuantian's Thirteen Changes was based on the Taoist transformation and ascension technique, and it is probably more inclined towards the body than the magic power.

After arriving at the Monster Hunting Pavilion in Haiyuan City, there were naturally not many people in the pavilion where Yuanying Zhenjun was. As soon as Lu Cheng entered, the beautiful Kun Xiu came forward to greet him and asked about what Zhenjun needed for this trip.

"I'm here to take on the mission of 'Transcending the Calamity'. Is there anything I need to be aware of?"

"... Lu Zhenjun, I am a lowly person with little influence, but I still have something to say to you. This Sky Fire Tribulation has always been a difficult task. Although you have been given a lot of merits, in fact, the Sky Fire Tribulation is falling all over the sky, and it is unknown when it will end. I don't know how many times I have to take action for it, and how many dangers I have to go through. All in all, there are not many merits.

If you trust me, don't take this mission. I will find you some good things to do. For example, give lectures in Haiyuan City. Although the rewards for hunting monsters are not much, you can have many students all over the world. If you are good at this, many cultivators are willing to pay a lot of money to learn from you. "

This beautiful female cultivator from the Monster Hunting Pavilion does not have much magical power, only at the Purple Mansion realm, but she speaks neither humbly nor arrogantly, and always considers the True Lord who has come.

At the same time, there are portraits of the Yuanying Zhenjun who reside in Haiyuan City. She probably has to spend a lot of time every day trying to figure out these Zhenjun monks who she might deal with.

The beautiful female cultivator came forward and introduced the mission to Lu Cheng while speaking. At the same time, she turned sideways so that Lu Cheng could see her pink and white neck and her graceful figure.

Lu Cheng had seen many beauties in the world in his life and could feel this deliberate display, but he also knew clearly that there were many female cultivators of lower realms who married True Immortals and True Lords as wives or concubines in this way, so although he was not moved, he did not care.

"No need, I came here specifically for this mission. You just need to hand over the mission to me, that's all."

"Then please forgive me for saying too much, Master. Master is kind-hearted and willing to protect the people of the world. Xi Ze really admires you."

The female cultivator Mei Xize said this, while at the same time subtly letting the other party have an impression of her in their mind.

Then, she quickly took out the jade talisman. The whole process of accepting the task did not require Lu Cheng to move at all. The female cultivator on duty would naturally rush around to handle all the formalities and finally hand it to Lu Cheng.

"This jade talisman is connected to the Demon Appraisal Platform in the city. Every time a True Lord resolves a fire disaster, a record will be made on the Demon Appraisal Platform. The larger the scale of the fire disaster resolved, the more merits he will naturally receive. If the True Lord still has objections afterwards, he can come to the Demon Hunting Pavilion to appeal for a heavier sentence. In short, the True Lord will never suffer a loss in the calculation of merits."

"good."

Upon hearing this, Lu Cheng nodded, put away the jade talisman and flew away.

The beautiful female cultivator watched the Demon Hunting Pavilion for a while before she angrily scolded in a low voice:
"But you dare to accept this kind of mission in the early stage of Yuanying? Are you tired of living and want to die? I'm reminding you with good intentions, but you still don't listen. Then I'll wait here for the news that you have died in the fire catastrophe."

Even a Nascent Soul cultivator cannot directly control the thoughts of lower-level cultivators. Even if they can, few people would do so.

However, with Mei Xize's level of cultivation, he naturally did not notice that at this moment, in the corner of the room, a green locust was lying in the shadow.

Lu Cheng has been practicing the Five Elements Poison during this period and would use it from time to time.

(End of this chapter)