Chongming Xianzong

Chapter 501 Old Enemies Retreat, Different Deaths
"Heh, it's you who needs to form your core, not me." Cui Wuyang's tone was full of displeasure, causing the pot-bellied youth in the blood pool to freeze for a moment, but only for a few breaths before he spoke again with a pleasant expression:
"Senior has treated me with the greatest kindness, and in my heart you are like a teacher and a father. So why should you stand on ceremony or distinguish between us?"

Cui Wuyang laughed upon hearing this, and said jokingly, "I dare not accept such praise. You secretly switched to the Blood Sea Path, and you killed your own parents, master, grandmaster, and even your mortal blood relatives. I did not expect to suffer the same fate."

Since Cui Wuyang had already said all that, the pot-bellied youth stopped being polite and said seriously, "Senior is laughing at me for being heartless and ruthless, with hands full of filth."
"It's true that you were incredibly righteous when you were out there, but you were blind to the danger when you were helping those in need, and ended up offending powerful figures, ending up like me, a demonic cultivator. Now you're forced to play the fool, joining forces with me to fight for your life!"

As soon as the pot-bellied young man finished speaking, Cui Wuyang's face turned ashen, and the smile that had just appeared on his face vanished.

Seeing this, the former showed no sign of smugness. After arguing with Cui Wuyang for a while, he knew when to stop and turned to the upside-down cultivator who was bound by heavy spiritual restraints, saying in a calm voice:
"This one seems to be from the Fei family's Shuishui Hall, and can be considered one of the few Golden Core seeds in the Fei family of Yingzhou. He was found by several fellow cultivators who were patrolling the mountain the day before yesterday, and a fierce battle ensued."

Before I arrived, this fellow had fought and retreated, having already taken the lives of at least ten of his comrades. In the end, I had to use seven or eight more lives to finally capture him.

After the pot-bellied young man finished speaking, before Cui Wuyang could react, he tossed a storage bag full of Rejuvenation Pills into the latter's hand. While Cui Wuyang was delighted, he also felt a pang of regret.

If these spirit-restoring pills had arrived a few days earlier, he might have been able to save the old cultivator with the braided hair before Kang Dabao and the other two surrounded him, and bring him to Cishan to increase his strength.

The pot-bellied youth could not empathize with Cui Wuyang's regret. He simply took out the purple jade bowl and released more than ten souls of various ranks from it. Instantly, a chill seemed to rise in the quiet room.

"What Senior Cui said is indeed true. The cultivators outside are probably watching this hunt. As for us prisoners, we are the prey of this hunt."

The pot-bellied young man's earlier affable smile vanished as he spoke; instead, he made a gesture of gritted teeth and clenching his fist, which stirred a sense of shared indignation in Cui Wuyang opposite him. However, being a man of considerable experience, he remained unaffected by this vexation and simply said in a calm voice:
"Young friend Suo, let's not waste time with idle talk. Things have come to this point, and we must take some countermeasures. We can't just wait to be surrounded by the Golden Core seed cultivators from various families, have our souls taken, and have our futures ruined, as those high-ranking cultivators outside think."

Upon hearing the important matter, the pot-bellied youth immediately stood up from the blood pool where he had been sitting cross-legged. Thick blood ointment slid down his body, forming beads that resembled bright and beautiful red agates. He captured the souls that had just been scattered throughout the area one by one, and with a slight pinch of his short, thick fingers, he held them all in his hands.

Ignoring the chill emanating from his palm, he threw it into the blood pool, making the color even more intense.

Afterwards, the three incantations of Dao, Demon, and Shi on the pot-bellied youth's face twisted simultaneously, then he transformed into a ray of light and leaped in front of Cui Wuyang, saying solemnly:
"Yesterday, I had someone carefully record the numbers, and 120 people have gathered in the mountains. This means that at least 90% of the comrades still alive in Cell C6 have arrived in our mountains."

"One hundred and twenty men," Cui Wuyang murmured for a moment, then closed his eyes and counted on his fingers before shaking his head. "That's a bit too few. Our armor is incomplete, and our drums and bugles are unclear. We'll definitely need to cut some during the formation drills."

The pot-bellied youth spoke up, "Senior, no one else can come. There are at least seven or eight Golden Core seed cultivators outside who want to kill us. It's already a pleasant surprise that we were able to recruit so many people."

"In that case, the odds of winning are still not high." Cui Wuyang frowned again, but then heard the pot-bellied youth on the other end speak up to comfort him: "Hey, Senior Cui, why worry?! Do you think these Golden Core seeds are here just to take our worthless lives?!"

Upon hearing this, Cui Wuyang's eyes lit up with understanding. "You mean?"

The pot-bellied youth slowly sat back down in the blood pool, feeling a warm and comfortable sensation spread throughout his body. He then laughed and said:
"They'll have to fight each other a few times eventually. Let's see if they can break down on their own. Senior Cui can also focus on reorganizing the troops and save some energy to properly welcome these foreign guests."

As soon as the pot-bellied youth finished speaking, the blood pool, which had returned to calm, began to boil again. The rising blood vapor made Cui Wuyang feel nauseous, so he left the meditation room without thinking and went to practice.

Just after he left, the pot-bellied youth who had been meditating with his eyes closed slowly raised his eyelids and murmured with a laugh in the direction Cui Wuyang had left: "To cultivate with righteousness, how naive! Did you really think that just because you took a piece of my soul, I would be at your mercy? Haha, just wait until I form my golden core."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Master Kang and the Fei family uncle and nephew were completely unaware that Fei Nanxin had been captured by villains. After the three of them had defeated the old man with braids and rested for half a day, they began to travel to various places to search for living souls.

The three sent out several messages during this period, but most of the time there was no response. On one occasion, however, they managed to summon Han Chengfeng. This member of the Han family had recently fought against the Wenshan Taoist priest.

In a straightforward battle, Han Chengfeng had a slight advantage, but he couldn't gain much of an edge and could only watch as his opponent was wounded and left.

After a brief conversation with Han Chengfeng, who still showed no intention of traveling together, the two groups split up again. In the past few days, Kang Dabao had placed the remains of the Black Bone and the Braided Old Cultivator together.

As expected, the remains of the old cultivator with the braided hair naturally became the sustenance for this black bone. The third immortal seal had already lit up to the point that it wouldn't be difficult for Sect Leader Kang to understand its profound meaning by carefully studying the jade pendant for a while.

However, he was under the watchful eye of a group of cultivators and dared not make a move.

After all, if this bone is truly a spiritual treasure, to so openly reveal it to these high-level cultivators would not only make it difficult for Master Kang to unravel its secrets, but might also bring about his own demise.

At that time, let alone whether the elders of the Fei family wanted to save them or not, even if they did, the Fei family of Yingzhou, which was already in dire straits, would not be able to withstand the wolves and tigers surrounding them.

Several more days passed, and they made little progress. The three of them intended to rest early, but when Master Kang used his divine sense to probe out, he discovered something unusual.

"The constellation Jinggui indicates a struggle in the southwest."

Over the past few days, Fei Nanyi and Fei Wanqing had come to know that Kang Dabao possessed extraordinary spiritual insight, and naturally trusted him completely. The former, in a moment of inspiration, conjured a falcon formed from lightning, which, without anyone speaking, knew to carefully scout ahead of the three of them.

The three moved quickly, and Fei Nanyi soon saw the scene through Lei Jun's eyes and identified the people fighting.

"It is Wenshan Daozi Gongtong who is fighting against a fake Dan. He seemed to have been seriously injured by Fellow Daoist Qin before, and is currently at a disadvantage. However, it is impossible to tell whether he is hiding other methods. If not, it may be dangerous."

"Is it really such a coincidence?" The Grand Master Kang's expression was much calmer than Fei Nanying's. He and Fei Nanying each used a layer of concealment techniques to hide outside the battlefield.

Such methods are actually very difficult to avoid being discovered, but at this moment, people in the room are too busy to notice that someone is hiding beside them.

Master Kang, hiding outside the battlefield, could see clearly that Gong Butong was seriously injured, but the fake Dan cultivator opposite him was also having a hard time gaining the upper hand, and the battle between the two was extremely intense.

Judging from the current situation, if both sides continue fighting to the death, the only outcome will be mutual destruction. However, if they simply sit back and relax, they might as well consider the possibility of the fisherman reaping the benefits.

However, Kang Dabao never believed that he would stumble upon such a wonderful opportunity. Instead of being happy, he became more cautious.

The situation in the arena was becoming increasingly dire, but Master Kang still did not make a move. Instead, he used his divine eyes to examine the two people in the arena for a long time before secretly communicating with the Fei family uncle and nephew.

Not long afterward, the situation between the two combatants finally changed somewhat.

Gong Butong cultivates the "Tai Xu Yin Yang Jie Yun Jing," a top-tier cultivation technique from the "Wen Shan Zong Lu," making him one of the most outstanding figures among the recent generations of Daoist disciples of the Wen Shan Sect.

The Wenshan Sect emphasizes "using literature to convey the Way and taking mountains and rivers as its veins." Its disciples often boast of "cultivating a noble spirit in one's heart and refining a soul for a thousand autumns through writing." It is considered a rare sect within the Great Weixian Dynasty that externally refers to itself as "upholding righteousness."

However, unlike the current generation of Daozi, Gong Di has lost some of his scholarly air.

The "Tai Xu Yin Yang Jie Yun Jing" is indeed one of the fundamental techniques that the Wen Shan Sect provides to its core disciples. It does not involve using magic weapons or spiritual artifacts, but only uses the "Yin Yang Yao Bian Zhi" technique to fight. Even when injured, it can fight a skilled alchemist to a standstill, which shows that it is indeed quite capable.

He then formed half of the Xun trigram with each hand, summoning a gale that blew the magic weapon thrown by the alchemist opposite him off course, causing it to land in empty space before it could catch its breath.

However, since the task was different, he dared not linger for too long. He formed the Heavenly Seal with his ten fingers and stepped on the Seven Stars position. In an instant, he landed behind the fake pill and extended another finger. This finger, though seemingly ordinary, contained killing intent.

Shu Yuanjiang, son of Shu Zhengde, a member of the Imperial Guard and a member of the Imperial Guard, was a promising young man from a prominent family. However, he was caught off guard and killed by this single finger strike.

Those nearby heard a muffled thud, and looking at the scene, they saw the alchemist's chest suddenly explode, with a large amount of blood and organ powder gushing out, clearly indicating that he had suffered a severe injury.

Gong Butong seemed relieved, but unexpectedly, the alchemist still had the power to fight back. With a turn of his Vajra Pestle, he smashed Gong Butong's robes and spiritual restraints, causing the Wenshan Sect disciple to fly backward as well.

It was at this moment that the three people who had been hiding in the shadows finally made their move.

The Fei family uncle and nephew were the fastest, even surpassing Master Kang by several body lengths, clearly intending to take advantage of the situation. Kang Dabao, of course, had to hurry to catch up, lest someone else steal the credit he was about to gain.

For a moment, the atmosphere among the three became somewhat subtle. Kang Dabao landed in front of the heavily injured fake Dan before the Fei family. The golden light in his eyes could no longer be concealed. Just as he was about to make his move, he felt a burning sensation on the back of his neck, followed by what seemed to be a soft laugh.

"Haha, fellow Daoist, it's been a long time."

Fu Neng, who had suddenly emerged from his hiding place, abruptly stopped smiling. He saw that the Grand Master Kang, who had been moving towards the fake elixir cultivator, suddenly turned around, his eyes flashing with golden light five times in quick succession. It was clear that he had been preparing for this for a long time. How could he have done it without special preparation?!

Seeing that the Buddhist treasure, which should have been taken advantage of the opportunity to leave, not only did not harm anyone, but was instead knocked back by the golden light in the eyes of the Great Master Kang, Fu Neng suddenly shouted a Buddhist chant.

"Om!"

The skin on his forehead split open again, but no blood fell. A golden beam of Buddhist light flowed down, and as the wound on Fu Neng's forehead opened to the size of a finger joint, a white lotus seed emerged from the flesh.

The lotus seed took root and sprouted into a white lotus in no time. The familiar sense of purity stung the eyes of the Grand Master Kang, who could only mutter a light rebuke: "Good bald monk, just by looking at this Dharma form, I can tell you've made considerable progress over the years! You've got some skills!"

Fu Neng, who thought he had lured the snake out of its hole, did not expect that he would fall into the trap set by Master Kang.

With such deliberate planning and preparation, the hastily formed "Pure Lotus Initial Form" hadn't even had time to unfold its petals before being attacked by ten golden rays simultaneously. How could it possibly withstand them?!

Fu Neng's face turned red, and when he let out a muffled groan, it was tinged with blood. When he gritted his teeth and swallowed the blood back into his stomach, his silver teeth were stained bright red.

"Fellow Daoist is truly cautious!" Fu Neng greeted him with his palms together. Even though he hated Sect Leader Kang to the bone, he still maintained his composure when the two were face to face.

"It's not that I, Kang, am being cautious; it's just that you, monk, look down on people. You can't blame others!"

The sect leader Kang showed no sign of triumph. He simply flicked his finger, and the body of the fake cultivator who was slumped on the ground and vomiting blood disintegrated and fell back to its original form as the Wheel of Reincarnation.

Fu Neng never expected that the cultivation technique he had painstakingly developed indoors, using his merits and acquiring valuable treasures, would be so quickly broken by Kang Dabao's pupil technique, and he suffered a great loss.

The prayer wheel that was still reciting Buddhist chants was crushed by Kang Dabao's foot, and Fu Neng's face flushed again, causing his qi to become disordered and his eight meridians to be blocked.

"Under these circumstances, how could I possibly defeat the Buddha's enemy? That's just wishful thinking!"

Fu Neng glanced around in different directions and saw that although he was not injured like himself, he was also being held back by a man and a woman from the Fei family. Even though he had a slight advantage, he would not be able to break free in a short time.

The two sides are only united by mutual benefit; there is no affection or sentiment involved whatsoever.

Therefore, in an instant, the abbot of Benying Temple forgot all his grudges and affections with Kang Dabao, stepped barefoot into the heart of the white lotus, and was about to abandon his companions and part ways with Gong Butong, who was still unable to escape.

But how could Master Kang bear to part with this credit? He risked his life and fell with his halberd.

Several deep pits were immediately carved into the white lotus petals. After feeling the force subside, Fu Neng's face showed a hint of amazement again: "Over the years, this fellow's cultivation has improved much more than mine. Is this fellow really just from a minor sect?!"

It's true that Fu Neng was injured, but if he was determined to escape, Master Kang was not quite capable enough to stop him.

Fortunately, the Wenshan missionaries were there to accompany me, so the trip wasn't a complete waste.

Gong Butong was already surprised because his and Fu Neng's plan had been exposed. Just as Fu Neng left, Master Kang returned and landed in front of him, which made him lose all will to fight.

However, this time, Sect Leader Kang was clearly determined. He led the Fei family uncle and nephew to engage the Wenshan Sect disciple in a fierce battle for an unknown amount of time. He only knew that the other three had taken several spirit-restoring pills before he saw a good opportunity and made his move.

He no longer held back his spiritual power, and several rounds of golden light shot out, smashing the protective talisman treasures of different types to pieces. The latter felt a pain on his face and was about to continue to use talisman treasures to block, but he saw that the Grand Master Kang was already close to him.

As black flames erupted from his halberd, streaks of light from his spear rushed towards them. The Seven Fiends Locking Dragon and the Greedy Wolf Devouring the Moon were all exquisite moves, so varied that the opponent was overwhelmed and exhausted.

At this point in the battle, even Sect Leader Kang felt his spiritual power was waning, let alone Gong Butong, who had been besieged for a long time. Their Wenshan Sect was not as wealthy as the Yuezhu Su family, and spiritual objects like the Ten Thousand Year Spiritual Milk were something that Kang Dabao had only heard of but never seen before.

As the Grand Master Kang watched his opponent grow paler and paler, finally, with Fei Nanyi exerting all his strength and unleashing a torrent of dark lightning, the last spiritual barrier on Gong Butong's body was finally broken.

With no further defenses in front of Kang Dabao, a single blow would likely be enough to kill this Nascent Soul cultivator from a major sect. The latter, however, was vomiting blood and shouting threats: "I am a Nascent Soul disciple! How dare you kill me?! How dare you kill me?!"

The Grand Master Kang's reaction to this intimidating statement was indifferent, a reaction that even surprised himself. Logically speaking, given his pragmatic and down-to-earth nature, he should have hesitated somewhat upon hearing such words.

But these different words stirred a surge of anger within him: "Can a Nascent Soul cultivator kill me, but I can't kill a Nascent Soul cultivator?!"

Without pausing, Bahuang Zhenyue's fist energy rammed straight into Gong Butong's chest, which was already wide open and still shouting.

"Ka La"

What more can be said about this scene? Master Kang shook the salty smell off his hands, looking at Gong Butong's tattered robes with a sense of pity. The Fei family uncle and nephew also breathed a sigh of relief; this battle, though simple in appearance, was in fact thrilling and thought-provoking.

However, they were unaware that, along with the death of Gong Tong, the enormous mirage screen inside the Fei family hall was also smashed to pieces by a glass lamp.

A furious roar erupted from inside the hall, its power truly reaching the heavens:

"Fei Yelei!!"

(End of this chapter)