Great Red Immortal Sect

Chapter 601 Dragon Evil
Beyond Qingchen Reef, a long river flows past an island.

The sunlight was much clearer than usual, and the desolate land was filled with a sense of energy. However, green trees still grew near the southeast of the island, and demons seemed to be stirring in the shadows of the dark palace in the center.

In the palace.

A man dressed in a dark black robe sat quietly. He was thin and had yellow eyes like lamps. Large parts of his body were shrouded in shadow. If an outsider were to enter, he would only think that some kind of demon was lurking in the hall.

"What's the situation at the cave?"

He had learned about this grotto from his senior brother long ago, and when he asked a question, a gust of wind swirled up below.

Kong Kong'er appeared dressed in a white robe. His noble face was incongruous with a pair of thieving eyes. He had no aura at all, as if he had merged with the underworld.

【Jie You Cheng】is a journey through the underworld, a means to capture souls and spirits, and to eliminate vital energy. It is based on the deeds of ancient underworld generals who traveled the world to capture souls. However, in Kong Kong'er's hands, it has become a method for performing thieving tricks.

"It's a mess, and I can't tell anything about it. But this cave should not be related to the earth element. It contains more wood and fire elements."

Kong Kong'er spoke leisurely, and a dark red fire jade appeared in his hand. The Ding fire energy flowed around it, causing people who looked at it to feel hot, have tinnitus, feel thirsty and have headaches. The two blurry characters engraved on it were "[Constant Illness]".

This thing was carved from a wisp of purple essence, not refined. It was merely a token, yet the faint aura it emitted was enough to make people feel uncomfortable.

Ding (丁) governs changes in temperature, burns life force, shortens lifespan, causes blood to flow recklessly, and avoids the light of the sun and moon. If a person touches it, even a little bit will cause their life force to burn.

The three calamities are listed in the order of thunder, fire, and wind, which is naturally based on evidence. In today's world where thunder is not prominent, fire is the most malevolent calamity, and cultivators must avoid it.

Moreover, this path, once revealed to the world, possesses extraordinary power, even surpassing the power of Bing Fire.

"An item made of Ding Fire. Qingye Kongtian actually possesses such a thing?"

Xu Fayan's tone became slightly somber. It was no wonder he was sensitive to matters of this path; the malice from Fu Chen was simply too great. His own master had almost been burned to death back then.

"Perhaps it's just a coincidence. Bing fire burns metal, and Ding fire burns wood. Since Tianye is the leader of the ancient wood element, he may also have the intention to study this path, but he is just looking for a way to deal with it."

Kongkong'er remained as nonchalant as ever, leaning against a black stone pillar as he tossed the fire jade in his hand to the other party.

"Remember to give me credit with the sect leader, and I'll keep an eye on things over there."

After speaking, the protector immediately transformed into a gust of wind and left without a sound. It was unclear whether it was due to his profound cultivation or the unique function of his immortal foundation. In terms of mobility, Xu Fayan had hardly ever seen anyone more capable than Kongkong'er.

'Wen You... actually counters my cultivation of the Earth element.'

He stood up and silently pondered his own affairs. He had completed the Foundation Establishment stage and possessed all the spiritual objects; all that was missing was a cultivation technique. However, it seemed unlikely that Qingye Kongtian could obtain such a technique.

'The surrender of Rang'an from Qingwu Dao could be a breakthrough, but since Master is currently in seclusion in Nandu, it's not appropriate to ask him directly. I should first write a letter and send it ahead of time.'

Xu Fayan had his own plans. If it was an openly known earth-nurturing technique, it would only be the one from Qingwu Dao, but that still depended on his master's methods.

'Without supernatural powers, one cannot accomplish anything great!'

He waved his sleeve, and a brocade snake crawled out from his wrist. The snake's head nodded slightly and looked over. Its eyes seemed to have intelligence, yet it also seemed like a simple beast.

“The Dharma Words”.

A call interrupted his thoughts, and the void before him shattered, from which emerged a man in a dark robe adorned with crimson clouds—it was none other than Liu Xiaowen. At that moment, the brocade snake slithered back into his sleeve.

"I've seen the real person."

Xu Fayan bowed, then raised his head and said:
"What brings you here, Senior Brother? Is there news of another grotto-heaven in Shangxiao?"

As the daylight shone brightly, illuminating the four walls, the two took their seats.

Liu Xiaowen shook his head and said only:
"The Qingyuan True Man of Shangxiao is easy to talk to. He has already made preparations regarding the cave heaven. He has been cultivating his second supernatural power these days and has not seen me yet. I say that the people of the immortal sects are extraordinary. Their cultivation speed is terrifying. In just a few years, he has almost completed his second supernatural power."

"I've heard that the Azure Path of the Upper Heaven is undoubtedly peaceful. Both of these True Immortals are known for their rapid cultivation, but this Qingyuan is subtly even better."

Xu Fayan nodded slightly and continued to ask:
"I wonder, Senior Brother, which supernatural power do you intend to cultivate?"

“Naturally, it is [Kunwu Stove].” Liu Xiaowen said directly. He had already planned his cultivation of supernatural powers. He would first cultivate the more stable supernatural powers, and then choose the few supernatural powers with the most changes, such as [Ji Guangwu] and [Yinghuo Gao].

For him, the Kunwu Stove was even more useful. Even without refining weapons, its ability to refine one's own life essence was enough to tempt him. The earlier he started cultivating it, the more benefits he would gain.

However, his current cultivation of the [Flame Immortal] is still a long way from perfection, probably less than ten years, which is quite worrying.

"I've come to see you today to discuss the matter of Bai Cang."

Liu Xiaowen's gaze darkened, and he continued:

"With the establishment of the Changwu Ancient City, things are relatively peaceful within the sect. We can now send more people over to completely rebuild Bai Cang."

“I once explored this place with that fellow Daoist Qingyuan. We found that it produces two kinds of Purple Mansion Spirit Essence, namely Han Shui and Jia Mu. Although most of the cultivators in our sect don’t need them, they are still very good for trading. It’s a pity that the lives of those two demons that perished and were entangled were devoured by the dragons. Otherwise, there should have been Purple Mansion Spirit Essence among them.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Fayan immediately agreed.

“I have rarely returned to the mountain in recent years, so this is a good opportunity to go back, settle this matter, and also take another look at the sect.”

"Alright, I need to keep an eye on Yu Hai right now, so I can't send you away. I'll borrow Shangxiao's flying boat instead."

After Liu Xiaowen made the arrangements, he saw Xu Fayan walk out of the main hall, instantly turning into yellow sand and leaving the place, quickly disappearing without a trace.

'If Fayan had broken through earlier, he might already have achieved the second supernatural power.'

He felt a pang of regret. Among the disciples in the sect, the two most talented were his junior brother and Liu Shuhan, both of whom possessed the potential to steadily reach the Purple Mansion realm.

Shu Han's path to enlightenment is very smooth; he can simply follow the steps of cultivation. However, the future of his junior brother is uncertain.

As a person with supernatural powers, Liu Xiaowen had also consulted the Daoist Canon over the years and gained a better understanding of the Yun Tu (a type of spiritual cultivation). He increasingly felt that this lineage was extremely difficult to cultivate and even had a bleak future.

"Speaking of which, there is a 'Poor Earth Bodhisattva' in Northern Liao, who comes from Shu (Sichuan) and seems to have a fate of being buried in a grave."

Once he thought of this, he felt a sense of unease. It was quite a coincidence, especially since the person who defected to Liao, Ji Huo, was surnamed Wei.

He was one of the few people who truly knew his junior brother's identity. After achieving the Purple Mansion realm, he realized how flawed his previous disguise was. If other masters paid attention to Fayan, they would definitely notice something was wrong.

The most unusual thing should be Kongkong'er, who was with Fayan.

Besides being said to follow Xu Xuan, this paper figure is most associated with Fa Yan. Even with Liu Xiaowen's current perspective, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

'Paper dolls of the blessed land of Ji Earth'

His thoughts gradually settled as he stepped into the void, temporarily putting all these plans behind him. At this moment, he looked at the distant Yu Hai, where the dragon tree was constantly shaking the entire cave heaven. Under such great power, [Azure Leaf Sky] was on the verge of collapse.

In a daze, he seemed to see a green dragon soaring into the sky and rushing into the cave, but when he came to his senses, it was still that dragon-patterned green tree supporting the sky.

Above Yu Hai, a crimson light suddenly rose into the sky, illuminating all directions. Spiritual lightning bolts shot out like thousands of chains, and the surrounding supernatural powers reacted to this strange phenomenon.

"A Spirit Thunder Dragon?"

That crimson light undoubtedly possessed the power of a Purple Mansion level cultivator, and also contained a faint dragon aura, so it was undoubtedly a Spirit Thunder Dragon.

Liu Xiaowen strained to look, only to see the object pierce straight into the green wood and immediately explode.

A thing resembling a coiled dragon or snake, flesh and blood intertwined, could be faintly seen climbing up the green wood, then disappearing in an instant.

"This is?"

A chill ran through him, and he stopped looking.

This ugly and evil thing was something he had never seen before in his life, and the dragon's actions were not concealed at all, acting openly under the influence of many supernatural powers.

"Donghan and Nanming, I wonder what they're plotting. Anyway, anything related to these dragons never turns out well."

(End of this chapter)