Shengui Changsheng: Start from Zhenwuwei and add some points to cultivate immortality

Almost simultaneously, three dark figures suddenly emerged from the surging waves ahead! The figures moved with ghostly speed, treading the waves and surrounding the Green Leaf Boat in a triangular formation! They wore dark red, tight-fitting water suits, and their faces were covered with hideous fish-face masks. They were surrounded by a faint smell of blood and an eerie aura that shared the same origin as the Blood Shadow Cult, but was even more sinister and unsettling!
"The Blood Shadow Cult's 'Blood Shark Guards'!" Fu Shaoping's heart sank. The Blood Shark Guards were an elite force within the Blood Shadow Cult, skilled in naval warfare, tracking, and assassination. Each member possessed considerable cultivation and was proficient in combined attack techniques. He hadn't expected their pursuit to arrive so swiftly and to have them precisely intercept him in this sea area far from the Great Swamp!
"Mo Chen! Hand over the contract source, and we'll spare your corpse!" The leader of the Blood Shark Guards had a hoarse voice, and his cultivation was clearly at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage! He held a strangely shaped short blade resembling a water-splitting dagger in his hand, its blade dark red, as if blood was flowing within it. The other two were at the early-Foundation Establishment stage.

The three of them subtly connected, forming an invisible triangular formation that blocked all of Fu Shaoping's escape routes. Even the raging wind and waves seemed to be drawn by their energy, becoming even more dangerous.

No nonsense, no probing. The Blood Shadow Cult's pursuit is always direct and deadly.

Fu Shaoping knew that this battle was inevitable and had to be resolved quickly! The longer it dragged on, the more likely it would attract more enemies or lead to a quagmire of storms and sieges.

Without hesitation, he put away the Azure Leaf Boat, stepped into the void, and his pale golden contract essence circulated around him. The "Mysterious Origin Heavy Water Shield" floated in front of him, emitting a heavy, dark blue glow.

"Kill!" the leading Blood Shark Guard shouted, and the three of them moved at the same time!
Their movements were extremely strange, as if they had merged with the waves, sometimes on the crest, sometimes in the trough, their trajectories unpredictable. Three dark red streaks of light, like venomous snakes emerging from their holes, pierced towards Fu Shaoping from three tricky angles! Before the streaks of light even arrived, a chilling, bone-piercing, corrosive, and mind-disturbing evil force had already enveloped him.

Fu Shaoping unleashed his "Shadow Step," his figure moving like a willow catkin in the wind, seemingly fraught with danger, yet always narrowly avoiding the sharp edge of the bloody light. At the same time, his "Spell-Breaking Spiritual Eye" was fully activated, locking onto the key points of the three people's movement techniques and the flow of evil energy.

"Clear the field!" The pale golden invisible force field unfolded once more, covering an area of ​​thirty feet in radius! The raging wind and waves seemed to freeze for a moment within this force field, and the ghostly movements of the three Blood Shark Guards were also briefly slowed, their connection with each other disrupted.

It's now!

Fu Shaoping formed hand seals, and the inheritance of "curse" and "binding" in the "Netherworld Contract Book" in his sea of ​​consciousness merged with the true meaning of the "True Word Contract Lock" contract, transforming into three more solid, dark golden chains with the effects of "slowing", "decaying", and "soul palpitation", which silently wrapped around the three Blood Shark Guards!

The chains are invisible, yet they point directly to the core of the soul and the circulation of true energy!
The two early-stage Foundation Establishment Blood Shark Guards groaned, their movements visibly stiffening, their protective crimson light dimming, and a look of pain flashing in their eyes. The mid-stage Foundation Establishment leader, however, possessed profound cultivation and a stronger divine soul. Though also affected, he roared, forcefully breaking free of his chains. His strangely shaped short blade blazed with crimson light, transforming into a fierce, scarlet beam that slashed directly at Fu Shaoping's face! The blade's ferocity stirred the surrounding moisture, transforming it into countless tiny crimson ice needles that rained down upon him like a storm!

"Water-based Blood Fiend!" Fu Shaoping's heart skipped a beat. The Blood Shark Guard's technique was indeed more deeply integrated with the water environment of the Yunmeng Great Swamp!

Instead of retreating, he advanced. The "Mysterious Origin Heavy Water Shield" shone brightly and blocked in front of him. At the same time, his right hand clenched into a fist, and a wisp of pale golden true essence, condensed to its extreme and carrying the true meaning of "breaking the law" and "sealing evil", was like the sharpest chisel, pointing at the core of the blood-red blade light and the point where the evil power was most concentrated!
"Ding!"

With a crisp sound, the golden and blood-red lights collided and annihilated each other! Fu Shaoping was forced back several steps, his shield flashing wildly, but he also managed to dissipate most of the opponent's sharp blood-red blade light with a single finger!
Taking this opportunity, Fu Shaoping waved his left hand, and several "Yang Lei Talismans" and "Jin Gang Po Xie Talismans" that he had already held in his hand were activated at the same time, turning into several dazzling bolts of lightning and golden beams of light, which blasted towards the two early Foundation Establishment Blood Shark Guards who were slowed down by the "True Word Contract"!

"Watch out!" the Blood Shark Guard leader cried out, but it was too late to come to the rescue.

Boom boom boom!
Lightning and the golden light of exorcism exploded on the two Blood Shark Guards! The pure and fierce power was the nemesis of such evil techniques! The blood-red light protecting the two men shattered instantly, and they let out a shrill scream. Black smoke billowed from their bodies, their auras rapidly weakened, and they fell into the sea, their fate unknown.

"You're courting death!" The leader's eyes were bloodshot with rage; he hadn't expected to lose two of his men in a single exchange. He went completely mad, biting his tongue and spitting a mouthful of blood onto the short blade in his hand! The short blade vibrated and hummed, bursting forth with an even more eerie blood-red light, its aura instantly surging, faintly touching the threshold of the late Foundation Establishment stage!
"Blood Sacrifice Blade, Soul Severing!" The leader's figure merged with the short blade, transforming into a terrifying blood rainbow. With a terrifying power to annihilate the soul, it appeared instantly above Fu Shaoping's head, ignoring spatial distance, and slashed down fiercely!
This strike, imbued with all his essence and evil power, was far more powerful than before!

Fu Shaoping felt an unprecedented sense of impending death! This strike would not only sever the physical body, but also the soul! There was no way to avoid it!

At the critical moment, a resolute glint flashed in his eyes. Without holding back any longer, the "Fragment of the Origin Star Core" in his arms was activated with all its might! A vast, pure, and seemingly primordial power, originating from the very source of the Great Dao of Contracts, surged into his limbs, bones, consciousness, and soul like a river bursting its banks!
The pale golden true essence of the contract instantly became dazzling, and behind him, a phantom image of an ancient wheel composed of countless golden contract runes faintly appeared! The wheel slowly turned, emanating a supreme aura that suppressed and regulated everything!

"Contract... Return to Origin!" Fu Shaoping uttered in a low voice, his hands forming a gesture as if he were holding up the invisible wheel of contracts, slowly pushing it out to meet the descending, earth-shattering crimson rainbow!

There was no loud bang, no explosion.

The moment the blood rainbow made contact with the phantom of the golden wheel, the terrifying bloodthirsty power that was enough to annihilate the soul of a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator melted and disintegrated as quickly as snow meeting the blazing sun! The evil contract (blood sacrifice contract) structure contained within the blood rainbow was so fragile and vulnerable in the face of a higher level of contract origin!
"No...this is impossible! This is...the manifestation of the contract's essence?!" The Blood Shark Guard leader screamed in utter terror, his eyes filled with disbelief and despair. He felt his power rapidly draining away, his blood sacrifice connection with the short blade forcibly severed, and his soul felt as if it were exposed to scorching sunlight, wracked with excruciating pain!

The golden roulette wheel trembled slightly, and the blood rainbow completely disintegrated, revealing the leader of the Blood Shark Guards, whose face was deathly pale and whose aura was extremely weak.

Fu Shaoping's face was ashen. Forcibly drawing upon the essence of the star core fragment to manifest a phantom had consumed an immense amount of energy, causing excruciating pain in his sea of ​​consciousness and nearly draining his true essence. But he persevered, taking a step forward and gathering his last strength in his hand. He unleashed a "True Word Contract" mixed with the nascent power of the "Evil Sealing Seal," slamming it hard into the opponent's forehead!
"town!"

The Blood Shark Guard leader froze, his eyes quickly losing their luster. His evil arts were completely sealed, and his soul was severely damaged. He plummeted into the sea like a kite with a broken string. The storm had subsided sometime earlier, and the sea gradually returned to calm. Fu Shaoping barely managed to steady himself, breathing heavily, and quickly swallowed several pills. He glanced at the three (or two and a half) Blood Shark Guard corpses floating on the surface of the sea, showing no pity. He quickly stepped forward, collected their storage bags and the strange short blade, and then unleashed several bursts of true fire, completely incinerating the corpses without leaving a trace.

Having done all this, he dared not linger. He immediately summoned the Azure Leaf Boat, concealed all his aura, and fled at full speed toward the predetermined northwest direction.

Only after flying hundreds of miles and confirming that no one was following him did Fu Shaoping dare to relax a little and sit cross-legged in the boat to regulate his breathing.

Although he won the battle, it weighed heavily on his mind. The Blood Shadow Sect's pursuit was too swift and too precise. He had only been away from the Yunmeng Great Swamp for a few days, yet they were able to intercept him so accurately on this vast sea. Either they had spies within the Water Mansion (which was quite possible), or they possessed some special tracking technique that could pinpoint the approximate location of the "contract source item" (which was more likely).

Moreover, the Blood Shark Guard's strength should not be underestimated. If he hadn't risked triggering the manifestation of the Star Core Fragment's essence at the last moment, he would likely have been in grave danger. However, the Star Core Fragment's essence power is extremely taxing and causes considerable disturbance, so it shouldn't be used frequently.

"We must be faster and more stealthy." Fu Shaoping realized that the road to the vast ancient plains would be a thorny path of escape and survival.

In the days that followed, Fu Shaoping became even more cautious. He no longer relied entirely on the conventional routes on the nautical charts, but instead used his "Spell-Breaking Spiritual Eyes" and his perception of energy flow to navigate through complex and dangerous seas, avoiding all areas where he might encounter cultivators. He even began to experiment with using the star core fragments to control the contract, combining it with the concept of "borrowing spirit from the earth's veins" to establish extremely weak temporary "contracts" with the ocean currents and winds during the voyage, slightly increasing the speed and stealth of the Azure Leaf Boat while reducing energy consumption.

At the same time, he began to study the strangely shaped short blade he had obtained from the leader of the Blood Shark Guard. The blade was made of a special material, resembling both gold and bone, and was engraved with evil blood sacrifice runes. It was a powerful second-tier evil weapon. Fu Shaoping naturally wouldn't use it, but he tried to use the power of the contract to analyze its rune structure, deepen his understanding of the Blood Shadow Cult's evil arts, and attempt to find any possible tracking marks.

A month later, Fu Shaoping finally reached the northernmost coastline of the Zhao Kingdom. The climate here was frigid, with sparse ice floes floating on the sea, and the population was even more sparse. He stowed away his green-leaf boat and stepped onto the solid frozen ground.

According to the map, after passing through a harsh, frigid region called "Icewind Tundra," you will reach the Frostsnow Strait. Beyond the strait lies the outer edge of the vast, ancient plains.

The Icewind Tundra stretches as far as the eye can see, covered with thick snow and hardy moss. The wind howls like knives, whipping up snowflakes and reducing visibility to almost nothing. Spiritual energy is scarce here, the environment harsh, and even demonic beasts are rarely seen. However, it is a source of ice-attribute spiritual herbs and rare ores, and occasionally, undeterred cultivators come to gather them.

Fu Shaoping didn't fly, as that would make him too conspicuous. He used his lightness technique to move swiftly across the snowfield, while simultaneously expanding the perception range of his "Spell-Breaking Spiritual Eyes" to its maximum, remaining vigilant for any potential dangers—whether from nature or from pursuers.

After three days of travel, they had ventured deep into the heart of the tundra. That evening, as the wind and snow subsided, Fu Shaoping was about to find a sheltered spot to rest when suddenly, his spiritual sense detected faint fluctuations of magical combat in the distance, along with… a familiar, nauseatingly bloody, malevolent aura!
"The Blood Shadow Cult again?" Fu Shaoping's heart skipped a beat. He immediately concealed his aura and quietly approached.

In a glacial valley ahead, four cultivators dressed in white fur coats, seemingly local herb gatherers (the highest cultivation level being only at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining), were being besieged by three cultivators dressed in blood-red robes with strange tattoos on their faces! These three blood-red robe cultivators were all at the early Foundation Establishment stage, and their cultivation methods differed slightly from those of the Blood Shark Guards, being more insidious and bizarre. With each strike, blood-red light transformed into ice spikes and snow blades, subtly blending into the environment of the icy tundra.

The four herb gatherers were clearly outmatched; two had already been killed, and the remaining two were in grave danger.

"The Blood Shadow Cult's 'Ice Blood Envoys'?" Fu Shaoping vaguely remembered from the records of the Myriad Scrolls Pavilion that the Blood Shadow Cult had a "Ice Blood" lineage specifically adapted to extremely cold environments. He hadn't expected them to extend their hunting network to this frigid land!

Seeing that the two herb gatherers were about to die, Fu Shaoping's eyes turned cold. Although he didn't want to meddle, the Blood Shadow Sect's presence here likely meant they were after him. Moreover, the appearance of these Ice Blood Envoys meant his whereabouts might be exposed again.

Without further hesitation, he emerged from behind the snow hill like a ghost. At the same time, three invisible and intangible "True Word Locks," carrying a strong sense of "shock" and "binding," shot towards the three Ice Blood Envoys before he could!
The Iceblood Envoys were clearly unprepared for a third party lurking in this desolate tundra, and their attack was so bizarre! They felt a tremor in their souls, and their movements involuntarily froze.

Fu Shaoping had already closed in, his longsword (which had been replaced with a better quality second-tier magic weapon) glowing as he unleashed the "Contract Breaking" sword technique, which incorporated his new insights. The sword light was as precise as a butcher dissecting an ox, striking the weakest point where the blood light and extreme cold evil power combined to protect the three people!

Chi Chi Chi!
Three soft sounds rang out, and the blood-red light shattered! Two of them groaned and staggered backward, blood splattering from their chests. The leader, an Ice Blood Envoy, was slightly stronger and barely managed to avoid a fatal blow, but his arm was slashed by the sword light, and blood gushed out. The blood was dark blue and froze into ice upon hitting the ground.

"Who is it?!" The Iceblood Envoy was both shocked and furious.

Fu Shaoping did not answer, his sword strikes continued unabated, and with the interference of the "Clearing Domain" and the occasional "True Word Locks," he firmly suppressed the three. His contract true essence was still effective in restraining the Blood Shadow Evil Art, and with the element of surprise, he quickly gained an absolute advantage.

After several exchanges, Fu Shaoping seized an opening and killed the two wounded Iceblood Envoys one with each sword strike. Seeing this, the leader was terrified and lost all will to fight. He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blue blood mist, which instantly condensed into an ice crystal storm, obscuring his vision. At the same time, he retreated rapidly, using a blood-burning escape technique, transforming into a streak of blood-blue light and fleeing desperately into the depths of the tundra! (End of Chapter)