This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

[Consume 10 million Demon Extermination Points to exchange for 10,000 days of cultivation time for the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique]

The moment Zhong Bai consumed ten million Demon Extermination Points, the already abundant spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged in like a tide.

In the sky, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered and hung down in the void above Zhong Bai's head, like the Milky Way in the heavens. Not to mention that others had never seen such a scene, even Zhong Bai was slightly surprised. However, it was normal, as the result of abundant spiritual energy of heaven and earth was simply wonderful.

After viscous spiritual energy from heaven and earth surged into Zhong Bai's dantian, it was refined into pure true essence and injected into his nascent soul. The nascent soul was like a bottomless space, constantly devouring the surging true essence.

While absorbing true essence, the nascent soul, which was originally only the size of an infant, began to grow rapidly. Gradually, the nascent soul's body grew larger and larger, soon approaching Zhong Bai's current body size. However, the nascent soul's facial expression still appeared somewhat dull. This was unavoidable. If one wanted the nascent soul to have a rich expression like a real person and even have a physical touch, then one would need to transform into a deity!
As for transforming into a deity, Zhong Bai still has a long way to go.

The spiritual energy of heaven and earth increased, and more than ten miles away from Zhong Bai, a woman in a purple dress was smiling as she walked towards Zhong Bai's direction.

The man had delicate features, flowing long hair, and a glint of wisdom in his eyes. He held a long sword that gleamed with a ghostly light in his hand. Although it was not yet drawn, the aura emanating from the sword was still quite unsettling.

"Hmph, my elder brother won't let me come to the mortal realm. He says that demons roam freely there and cultivators indiscriminately slaughter living beings. He's trying to scare me with such words. Don't even think about it!"

As she spoke, the sight of Zhong Bai cultivating in the distance came into her view.

"Hiss! The spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathers into a river and falls down. I wonder what kind of powerful being possesses such a terrifying cultivation scene. Could it be that I will need to ask my elder brother for help as soon as I leave the underworld?"

As she spoke, the woman in the purple dress used her mid-stage Nascent Soul spiritual sense to probe in the direction where Zhong Bai was.

Soon, her pretty face was filled with shock.

"Heavens above, is this even human?"

The woman in the purple dress was truly shocked. Her divine sense detected that Zhong Bai's cultivation level was only at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, even lower than hers. Yet, such a scene of cultivation was something even her elder brother, a Nascent Soul Demon Saint, would find difficult to achieve.

Suddenly, the woman in the purple dress became interested in Zhong Bai.

At the mountaintop, Zhong Bai also sensed the fluctuations in the purple-skirted woman's aura the moment her divine sense probed towards him.

"The mid-stage Nascent Soul realm..."

Zhong Bai was stunned, not because he was worried about a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator appearing during his cultivation, but because the situation he detected with his divine sense was somewhat strange.

His divine sense detected that the woman in the purple dress in the distance possessed not only a trace of demonic aura but also a trace of human presence.

Zhong Bai had never seen anything so bizarre before.

Therefore, he was unable to immediately determine whether they were friend or foe. However, Zhong Bai did not sense any malice in the divine sense just now, so he simply ignored the other party and continued his breakthrough.

Within his body, streams of pure true essence were continuously being devoured by the nascent soul, and the ten million demon-slaying points were quickly exhausted.

Without hesitation, another ten million demon-slaying points were poured in, and the previously somewhat exhausted river of spiritual energy surged forth once more.

Time passes little by little.

The woman in the purple dress was clearly interested in Zhong Bai. She stood there watching him cultivate until Zhong Bai's aura suddenly surged, and the aura of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator emanated from him. Only then did the woman in the purple dress open her mouth in amazement.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this is truly unexpected. To be able to advance from the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm to the middle stage in just a few hours, such speed..."

I can't believe it!

Zhong Bai finished his breakthrough, spending a full 30 million Demon Extermination Points over several hours. Now, his Demon Extermination Panel only has a pitiful 10 million left.

Taking a deep breath, Zhong Bai stopped worrying. It was just a matter of demon-slaying points; given the opportunity, he could easily acquire them quickly if he wanted them!
Looking towards the woman in the purple dress from afar, Zhong Bai drew his spirit sword and rode it, arriving in front of her in a flash.

The two looked each other over, both somewhat surprised by the other's confidence.

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

The woman in the purple dress spoke first, her words full of mockery. Normally, the Nascent Soul Ghost Emperors and Demon Emperors of the Underworld would tremble with fear when they saw her, and even some Nascent Soul Ghost Emperors and Demon Emperors had to treat her with utmost care.

However, Zhong Bai in front of her showed no fear whatsoever. In fact, his indifferent gaze held a sense of looking down on an ant, which made the woman in the purple dress feel slightly uneasy.

"Fellow Daoist is joking. Why should I be afraid? We are both at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. I believe that it is very difficult to encounter an opponent at this level, especially since you have not shown any killing intent."

Upon hearing Zhong Bai's words, the woman in the purple dress couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"You're quite interesting, calling me a fellow Daoist..."

My name is Mo Ling, what's yours?

Zhong Bai was somewhat taken aback. His calm demeanor just now stemmed from the fact that although the other party was at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, the spiritual sword in his hand gave Zhong Bai a sense of crisis.

And now...

"This humble Taoist is Zhong Bai!"

“Zhong Bai, what a fine name. May I ask which sect or school Fellow Daoist Zhong Bai comes from?”

"The cultivation scene just now was something I've never heard of or seen before. I truly don't know what kind of top-tier sect could cultivate a disciple like you!"

Zhong Bai didn't try to hide anything, since it was difficult to verify whether it was true or false anyway.

"This humble Taoist priest comes from Maoshan!"

"From Maoshan? Tsk, no wonder..." Mo Ling's "I understand" look left Zhong Bai somewhat helpless. It turns out everyone thinks Maoshan is awesome in this world, but he himself is completely unaware of it and still uses the name of a Maoshan disciple.

In fact, Zhong Bai understood that having the name of Maoshan had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that ordinary cultivators would be hesitant to act against him and would not dare to have any bad intentions towards him.

However, the drawbacks are also obvious. As Zhong Bai's cultivation level grows stronger, he will inevitably encounter a true Maoshan disciple one day, and at that time, his fate will be hard to predict.

Of course, Zhong Bai was very confident that he could get along well with Maoshan in this world, otherwise he wouldn't have been known as a Maoshan disciple.

"May I ask which sect Fellow Daoist Mo Ling belongs to?"

Zhong Bai sized up Mo Ling in front of him. Although her aura was a bit strange, it did not affect the noble air about her at all. It was difficult for ordinary small sects to have this kind of noble air.

Just as Mo Ling had no doubt about Zhong Bai's claim that he was a disciple of Maoshan.

Hearing Zhong Bai's question, Mo Ling looked at Zhong Bai with some doubt and said, "In this Great Qian Kingdom, there are actually people who don't recognize me?"

"Fellow Daoist Zhong Bai, are you truly unaware of my identity, or are you feigning ignorance?"

Mo Ling's scrutinizing gaze startled Zhong Bai. Should he know?

"To be honest, fellow Daoist, I truly do not know."

Upon hearing Zhong Bai's words, Mo Ling immediately understood that Zhong Bai genuinely did not know her identity.

"I see... It seems Fellow Daoist Zhong Bai has just come down from the mountain, but Fellow Daoist Zhong Bai must know about the Feathered Immortal Abode!"
"This young lady comes from the Immortal Abode of Ascension!"

Hmm, a new term: Immortal Abode of Ascension.

This is Zhong Bai's true thought at this moment.

"Fellow Daoist Mo Ling, even if I were to mention the Feathered Immortal Abode, I would not know of it..."

"impossible!"

Mo Ling straightened up and shook her head.

"Who in the world doesn't know about the Feathered Immortal Abode? The Feathered Immortal Abode has a power that possesses a Primordial Spirit Demon Saint. Even if it can't compare to your Maoshan Sect, it is still a top power in the entire world. If you say you don't know, aren't you deliberately deceiving me?"

With that, Mo Ling decided she didn't want to dwell on the issue any longer.

"Fine, do as you please. Whether you know or not, we were just passing acquaintances..."

After saying that, Mo Ling covered a thousand meters in one step and disappeared in front of Zhong Bai.

Seeing Mo Ling leave, Zhong Bai's slightly tense nerves finally relaxed.

Admittedly, Mo Ling's cultivation level was the same as his own, at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, but Zhong Bai felt that the spirit sword in Mo Ling's hand was even no weaker than the Kui Niu Drum.

Most importantly, Zhong Bai currently has no powerful backers and can't find anyone to help him, but the other side is a different story.

Shaking his head, Zhong Bai looked at his demon-slaying panel. He only had ten million demon-slaying points left. Zhong Bai decided to try his luck and see if he could draw some treasures.

[Spend 10 million Demon Extermination Points to obtain one Intermediate Lottery Draw]

[I've won a bottle of Nascent Soul level demon beast essence blood!]

Looking at the text on the Demon Extermination Panel, Zhong Bai was somewhat surprised. One million could be used for a basic lottery draw, but the items from the basic lottery were useless to Zhong Bai at the moment. However, now, using ten million for a mid-level lottery draw could actually obtain a bottle of essence blood from a Nascent Soul demon beast. Zhong Bai was surprised and delighted at the same time.

In the void, a bottle of demonic beast blood appeared out of thin air in Zhong Bai's palm. Instead of dwelling on the wonders of the demon-slaying panel, Zhong Bai held the jade bottle to his nose and sniffed it lightly.

"Not bad, it really is the essence blood of a Nascent Soul beast. Fifty thousand drops, that's a decent amount."

Zhong Bai exhaled a breath of turbid air. If he could extract 50,000 drops of essence blood from Nascent Soul demon beasts each time, Zhong Bai felt that his Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique could be rapidly upgraded to the fifth level.

The fifth level of the Shangqing Dragon Elephant Technique can unleash the divine power of "manipulating heaven and earth," which ordinary Nascent Soul, Ghost Emperor, and Demon Emperor can only avoid.

Of course, to cultivate to the fifth level, Zhong Bai estimated that he would need at least a million drops of the essence blood of a Nascent Soul demon beast.

Looking into the distance, Zhong Bai took a deep breath. The world is vast, and Zhong Bai doesn't yet know where he is headed. So he might as well just go with the flow and choose a direction to move in!

Riding his sword, Zhong Bai left this place.

Daqian, Songjiang County.

The Great Qian Dynasty is now declining day by day. As dynasties approach their end, it is almost impossible for them to escape the rampant evil spirits and demons.

Meanwhile, at the city gate of Songjiang County, a man in a plain Taoist robe, who had landed while riding a sword, looked up.

"Interesting. I didn't expect there to be people practicing martial arts in this world."

After Zhong Bai used his divine sense to survey the entire Songjiang County in front of him, he sighed softly.

In the entire Songjiang Prefecture, apart from that martial artist whose cultivation was comparable to the Golden Core realm, there wasn't a single cultivator.

(End of this chapter)