Reborn with infinite panels

Chapter 223 Cultivation World 12
Si Lingle returned to her cave dwelling and then checked the items given to her by Senior Fu Mo in his storage ring.

There were quite a few spirit stones, including one hundred top-grade spirit stones, as well as many talismans, rune books, and materials for crafting talisman treasures.

The book contains twenty types of runes, including common ones such as the Rejuvenation Rune (which can heal injuries), the Vajra Rune (which releases a golden light shield or strengthens physical defense), and the Gale Rune (which increases speed).

There are two other runes in this rune book that Si Lingle has never seen before.

The Six Ding Heavenly Armor Talisman can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to form an armor with extremely strong defensive power, and can even resist spatial rifts.

Nine-Turn Resurrection Talisman: Recalls the soul when near death, stabilizing the life force; a high-level life-saving talisman.

In addition, there are also tips on crafting talismans.

Talisman Treasure: Crafted by cultivators at the Core Formation stage or above, it combines the characteristics of talismans and magic treasures, with power far exceeding that of ordinary talismans, but its usage is limited.

After tidying up her belongings, Si Lingle began drawing talismans. She spent a month drawing talismans before starting to refine talisman treasures.

Si Lingle used the Nine Netherworld Flame to refine the talisman. This Nine Netherworld Flame was much stronger than the sect's earth fire. Si Lingle's refining went very smoothly. After refining for more than half a month, she successfully refined her first defensive and offensive talisman.

After it was finished being refined, Si Lingle did not rest and continued refining.

After refining for more than half a year, Si Lingle finished refining all the materials given by Senior Fu Mo. After finishing, Si Lingle rested for three days.

Afterwards, Si Lingle went to the management office, re-registered her cultivation level, and received her monthly salary.

Just after receiving the message, Si Lingle received a telepathic message from her senior uncle, and then went to Qianlin Peak.

When I met my senior uncle, I learned that my master had left something with him.

Fearing that his training trip would take too long, his master gave her the Taoist name Yunhua in advance.

They also left her some magical treasures and spirit stones.

Besides giving her what her master had left behind, her senior uncle also gave her a gift—a gift for her advancement to the Golden Core stage.

After leaving Qianlin Peak, Si Lingle went out of the sect to gain experience.

She planned to travel eastward.

After a year of traveling and stopping, Si Lingle entered the territory under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

As the sun was about to set, Si Lingle quickened her pace.

In the direction Si Lingle was heading, there was a village—Li Village.

The village got its name from the many pear trees it had planted.

The once peaceful and tranquil village is now shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

The sky seemed to be covered by a huge black cloth, with dark clouds rolling and faintly revealing an eerie dark red color. The wind howled through the pear trees, making a sharp whistling sound, like the sinister laughter of a demon.

The village was filled with a pungent, bloody stench that made people want to vomit.

The villagers' houses had broken doors and windows, some of which were still emitting thick smoke. The ruins swayed precariously in the strong wind, as if they would collapse at any moment.

The demon was enormous, emanating a dense black demonic aura, like a ghoul from hell.

Its eyes were like burning flames, flashing with cruelty and greed; its gaping maw was full of sharp fangs, and every time it opened and closed, a chilling hiss could be heard.

It waved its thick arms, and wherever it went, the villagers screamed in agony.

Some villagers were slapped into a pulp, their blood splattering all over the surrounding walls and ground; others were grabbed and slammed to the ground, instantly turning to dust.

The village was littered with corpses, a truly horrific sight.

The villagers fled in terror, their faces filled with despair and fear.

The children cried incessantly in their mothers' arms, the women screamed the names of their loved ones, and the men futilely picked up their farm tools, trying to fight against the evil, but their resistance seemed so small and powerless in the face of the evil's overwhelming power.

An elderly man with white hair was cornered by the evil spirit. His hands trembled, and his eyes were filled with fear of death and reluctance to leave life.

The evil spirits drew ever closer, and the old man closed his eyes, awaiting death in despair.

Not far away, a young mother tightly hugged her child, using her own body to shield the child from the demon's attack. The demon's claws tore through her back, and blood stained her clothes, but she still held on to her child tightly until the last moment of her life.

As time went by, the demons' slaughter gradually came to an end.

The once bustling village became deathly silent, with only the pervasive stench of blood and corpses lying haphazardly.

Occasionally a gentle breeze would blow by, stirring the bloodstains on the ground, as if telling the story of the tragedy's devastation.

The village, once filled with laughter and joy, has now become a living hell, leaving only desolation and bleakness.

As Si Lingle was moving forward, she smelled the stench of blood in the air. She released her divine sense and soon saw the tragic scene in Pear Blossom Village, more than 30 kilometers away.

Si Lingle applied a Swift Wind Talisman to accelerate her movement.

When she arrived, she scanned the village with her divine sense and found that there was no one alive; they were all dead.

Si Lingle sensed the presence of evil energy and demonic power.

This village was destroyed by evil spirits.

Moreover, the hearts of these dead villagers were missing; it was unknown whether they had been eaten by evil spirits or collected.

If they were collected, Si Lingle guessed that they were probably intended for use in some kind of evil formation, or as sacrifices; in any case, it wasn't a good thing.

These corpses are still warm; perhaps the evil spirits haven't gone far.

Si Lingle took out a tracking talisman, made a hand seal, and the talisman circled the village before stopping at a spot on the ground.

The demon escaped underground.

Just as Si Lingle was preparing to investigate further, someone arrived.

The attacker came at Si Lingle, who blocked the attack with her Qingchu Sword.

"Junior brother, stop! These are fellow Daoists from the Heavenly Dao Sect." A clear, cold female voice rang out.

Wenxue flew over on her sword and stopped in front of the two of them.

"Fellow Daoist, I'm sorry. My junior brother acted impulsively upon seeing the village in such a terrible state," Wenxue apologized. "My Daoist name is Wenxue, and I am a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect. This is my junior brother's reconciliation."

“Yunhua of the Heavenly Dao Sect,” Si Lingle replied.

"Fellow Daoist Yunhua, when did you arrive? Do you know what happened here?"

"I haven't been here long, but I've discovered the presence of demons and demonic energy. The hearts of these dead people have all disappeared," Si Lingle said, revealing her findings.

Upon hearing that the hearts had disappeared, Wenxue said, "Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but in the past month, many villages under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Sword Sect have been attacked by demons, and the hearts of the villagers in the attacked villages have disappeared."

“The sect sent people to investigate, and they only know that it was done by evil spirits, but they haven’t found any other clues.” Wenxue continued, “On the way back to the sect with my junior brother, we smelled a strong stench of blood in the wind, so we came here.”

"I never imagined that the villagers in this village had already been murdered."

"Senior sister, we should hurry up and chase after the demons; they might not have gone far."

"After I arrived, I used a tracking talisman to track it, but the evil creature had already escaped underground," Si Lingle said. "So, fellow Daoist, you don't need to chase after it."

"I wonder what this evil thing looks like. None of the villages that were attacked survived," Wenxue said.

"Don't you have any methods to summon the soul?" Cultivators can use auxiliary magical artifacts (soul-summoning banners, soul lamps, etc.) in conjunction with talismans or incantations to forcibly draw in wandering souls.

Some high-level cultivators can even communicate directly with the Netherworld using their divine sense, without the need for external aids.

"We have no idea." Although Wenxue knew that some evil creature had killed people in several villages, the people sent by the sect to investigate were not them, so they did not know how the investigation was progressing.

Because the sect had not informed them. She and her junior brother were pure sword cultivators and had no knowledge of the art of summoning souls.

Moreover, they did not possess any magical artifacts or treasures for summoning.

"Fellow Daoists, I will summon the soul. Through the memories of the deceased, I will examine the appearance of the evil creature." After summoning the soul, she will perform a ritual to guide it to the afterlife, lest the village become an extremely yin place, where the large amount of resentment would nurture some evil beings.

Si Lingle took out the soul-summoning bell, then took out the offering table and placed the offerings on it.

With the incantation in hand, Si Lingle began to summon the soul.

These villagers had only been dead for a short time, so in theory, summoning their souls should have been easy. However, after waiting for a while, they only managed to summon one soul.

This soul was somewhat incomplete, suggesting that the souls of the deceased had been devoured by evil spirits, and this particular soul was one that had escaped.

However, it felt like this soul wouldn't last much longer before it dissipated.

Si Lingle quickly checked the soul's memories, and after checking, Si Lingle knew what the evil creature looked like.

We also saw how this evil creature slaughtered the villagers. The heart wasn't dug out by the evil creature, but by a person (demon) wearing a strange mask and a black cloak.

Si Lingle took out paper and pen, drew the mask of the man in the black cloak, and handed it to Wenxue: "This is the mask worn by the person who dug out the heart of the villager."

"Hopefully this will be helpful to your investigation."

"Thank you, fellow Daoist." Wenxue carefully put away the picture.

As for the villagers' bodies, they were burned by Yan He, their ashes were buried, a tomb was built, and a monument was erected.

After everything was done, Si Lingyue followed the two into Chengle Mansion.

Upon entering Chengle Mansion, Wenxue and the other person took the teleportation array back to their sect.

Si Lingle found an inn in Chengle Mansion to stay temporarily.

*
"How are the preparations for the blood sacrifice going?"

"Reporting to Lord Xuanming, we will be able to gather all the offerings in three more days."

"The blood sacrifice was successful, and there will be a great reward."

"Thank you, Lord Xuanming."

After the person on the throne disappeared, the cloaked figure wearing a mask also vanished from the spot.

Then the masked, cloaked figure appeared in a cave containing a pool of blood filled with human hearts.

The masked, cloaked figure gazed at the pool of blood, a sinister glint in his eyes. When the blood sacrifice was to be performed, it would be his turn…

*
Wenxue and Yanhe returned to the Heavenly Sword Sect and reported the massacre of Pear Village to the sect.

After the report was submitted, Wenxue and Yanhe returned to Jianlan Peak.

The two were disciples of Daoist Jin You (early stage of Nascent Soul stage).

"Greetings, Master," Wenxue and the other said in unison.

"I heard that when you returned, you encountered a village that had been massacred."

"Yes, Master, it was Li Village under the jurisdiction of Chengle Prefecture. The villagers died tragically, their hearts were gone." Wenxue said, "This evil creature is so audacious that it has slaughtered several villages in the territory of the Sword Sect."

Yan He: "This demonic object is controlled by someone, and the person behind it is truly hateful!"

Because their hearts were all taken out by the cloaked men.

"We must find out who's behind this person, otherwise such tragedies will happen again." Yan He wished she could investigate herself.

"The sect will send someone to investigate this matter; you don't need to worry about it." Daoist Jin You said, "Go into seclusion and cultivate. Wei You's youngest disciple has already reached the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm."

Wei You Daojun and Jin You Daojun are mortal enemies. When Jin You Daojun was young, he always competed with Wei You Daojun in cultivation and swordsmanship.

Unfortunately, despite competing for over a thousand years, Jin You Daojun could not surpass Wei You Daojun in either cultivation or swordsmanship.

Unable to compete, he then competed in recruiting disciples.

Wei You Daojun accepted five disciples, and Jin You Daojun also accepted five disciples.

Wenxue was ranked fourth, and Yanhe was ranked fifth.

Of the five disciples that Daoist Jinyou took in, only his eldest disciple was stronger than Daoist Weiyou's eldest disciple, while the remaining four disciples were all weaker than Daoist Weiyou's four disciples.

Therefore, Daoist Jin You had exceptionally strict requirements for Wen Xue and the others' cultivation.

"Yes, Master," Yan He said, bowing.

"Alright, you should all go back and cultivate in seclusion," said Daoist Jin You.

"Yes, Master." Wenxue and Yanhe left.

Not long after the two left, someone appeared at Jin Youdaojun's cave.

"Who are you!" Jin You Daojun's natal sword was already in his right hand.

"Daoist Jin You, don't you want to defeat Daoist Wei You? I have something here that can help you defeat Daoist Wei You..."

Before the cloaked man could speak, Jin You Daojun's sword intent had already killed him.

After being killed by the sword intent, the cloaked figure turned into a wisp of black mist.

Jin You Daojun swung his sword, and the sharp sword energy directly dispersed the black energy.

He, Jin You, must defeat Wei You fair and square, not by taking the crooked and evil path!
This demon is actually able to evade the sect's great array and its Sword Storm Peak's protective array; it has some skill!

Could it be that he infiltrated the sect, including Sword Storm Peak, with his two disciples?!

Jin You Daojun left Jianlan Peak to go find the sect leader.

After a while, cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage from the Heavenly Sword Sect began to conduct a search within the sect.

This investigation actually uncovered a problem.

Six of the disciples who had previously visited the village that had been massacred by the demons were bewitched by the demons and began practicing the heretical techniques given to them by the demons.

These six disciples had their spiritual roots stripped and were expelled from the sect.

*
Si Lingle stayed in Chengle Prefecture for two days to replenish her supplies. After replenishing them, Si Lingle continued eastward.

But she never expected to encounter a demon massacring the village.

The howls of the demons pierced the sky, like the wailing of ten thousand ghosts, while the cries of the villagers echoed incessantly.

Si Lingle stood in mid-air, the Qingchu Sword in her hand humming. With a flash, she rushed towards the demon like lightning, while releasing the Great King and his companions to protect the villagers as they left.

To prevent her from fighting the demons and harming the living villagers.

Si Lingle's sword intent materialized, transforming into hundreds of bolts of lightning that crashed towards the demon, causing the demon's protective black armor to crack inch by inch.

The demon's form shifted between reality and illusion, its flesh and blood transforming into a river of blood as it evaded Si Lingle's sword intent.

Si Lingle moved like a dragon, her moves unpredictable and difficult to discern, making it hard to predict her trajectory and attack direction. Sometimes she would leap high into the air, unleashing fierce sword techniques, and other times she would swoop down and attack from beneath the demon's feet.

While attacking, Si Lingle also quickly set up an array.

The demon let out an angry roar, and black mist instantly spread out, enveloping everything around it.