Immortality and Cultivation: I Have Too Many Talents

Chapter 252 Turning the Tide

Chapter 252 Turning the Tide (Seeking Subscriptions)

"Junior Brother Shen, what is your explanation?"

Zhou Haoyu asked in a cold voice.

Shen Xuan looked puzzled.

"Explanation? Killing demonic cultivators and exchanging their heads for sect merits, does that even need an explanation?"

The two exchanged a glance, both with displeasure in their eyes.

Inside the central tent, several sect disciples fell silent and all looked at Zhou Haoyu.

Zhou Haoyu is a direct disciple of Master Lingxiao.

Among the Daoist cultivators of Qingyang Prefecture, he was second only to the emperor and above ten thousand others.

Before this.

They had never seen anyone dare to contradict Zhou Haoyu to his face.

No one would have imagined that the one who broke this record would be Shen Xuan, the talisman master, right in front of them.

These disciples of the sect were all Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Last time, the bet between Shen Xuan and Lei Yaoyang caused quite a stir.

They had heard of Shen Xuan's great name.

He's not someone to mess with.

Even Lei Feng's personal disciple dared to devise a scheme to slap him in the face.

Faced with such people, they naturally dared not easily express their opinions or take sides.

Zhou Haoyu remained silent for more than ten breaths.

“Junior Brother Shen, this Crimson-Haired Demon Lord once fought me on the battlefield.”

"It took me a lot of effort to severely injure him."

"He was caught off guard and escaped into the enemy camp."

"However, the Crimson-Haired Demon Lord is doomed to die after being struck by my Demon-Slaying Golden Light Slash."

Shen Xuan nodded with a smile.

"Senior Brother Zhou is awesome!"

Zhou Haoyu stared at Shen Xuan with a complicated expression.

Shen Xuan smiled, his expression calm and composed.

Is this the kind of person who is deep-seated, cunning, and treacherous?
This reminds me of Lei Yaoyang's experience.

Zhou Haoyu softened his tone: "The Crimson-Haired Demon Lord is violent and once used the lives of ten thousand people as a blood sacrifice to summon demons."

"I deeply hate this demon. Junior Brother Shen, could you tell me how you slew it?"

Zhou Haoyu did not intentionally make things difficult for Shen Xuan.

However, this matter is too strange.

He had just severely injured the Crimson-Haired Demon Lord.

Shen Xuan then brought his head to claim the reward.

Then I thought about the rumors from before.

Some demonic cultivators also activated the [Evil-Breaking Divine Thunder Talisman] to clash with them.

This made Zhou Haoyu wonder whether Shen Xuan's stance was firm.

Perhaps Shen Xuan is secretly colluding with demonic cultivators, playing both sides?
Shen Xuan's expression remained unchanged as he smiled and said, "Senior Brother Zhou, I'm sorry, this is a confidential matter for me and I cannot disclose it."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Haoyu's expression turned even more unpleasant.

"Senior brother, I have other matters to attend to. I would like to trouble you to count the heads and issue the sect merit contracts!"

The sect disciple in charge of issuing merit contracts looked at Zhou Haoyu hesitantly, at a loss for what to do.

Both sides are top-tier figures; he can't afford to offend either of them.

Shen Xuan waited for about ten breaths before becoming somewhat impatient.

"Senior brother, why won't you issue me a sect merit certificate?"

"Could it be that sect merits can be exchanged by fellow disciples, family cultivators, and independent cultivators, but only by someone like me, Shen, cannot exchange them?"

The sect disciple could only ask in a low voice, "Senior Brother Zhou, what do you think?"

There was a pleading look in his eyes.

"Count the heads and issue merit contracts to Junior Brother Shen."

Zhou Haoyu said coldly.

Shen Xuan pretended not to see Zhou Haoyu's expression.

He's not a magic stone; he can't be loved by everyone.

Once the merit token is obtained, the purpose of this trip will be achieved.

After all, you can't afford to offend anyone but the sect's contribution points.

Upon seeing Zhou Haoyu's agreement, the sect disciple quickly counted the heads.

Then, he took out a blank spirit contract, wrote down the contents, and stamped it with the seal of the Enforcement Hall.

"The heads of four mid-stage Demon Foundation cultivators have been counted correctly. Senior Brother Shen, this is 40,000 merit points."

After receiving the merit contract, Shen Xuan glanced at its contents, confirmed that everything was correct, and then said with a smile, "Thank you for your trouble, Senior Brother!"

"Senior Brother Zhou, fellow disciples, I have other matters to attend to, so I will return to Feiyun Mountain now."

"When you have some free time, you might as well come and sit at Tingyuxuan on Feiyun Mountain."

After bowing respectfully, Shen Xuan turned and left.

After Shen Xuan left.

A figure walked calmly into the central command tent.

"Senior Brother He!"

Those present bowed in greeting.

The person who arrived was He Zhengming.

He gestured for everyone to sit down and not stand on ceremony.

"Senior Brother He, it would have been better if you had come sooner. Just now, that Shen Xuan..."

One of the sect disciples spoke up.

"Shen Xuan is here? He provided us with quite a few thunder talismans!"

He Zhengming interrupted the man with a beaming smile.

"He mastered lightning techniques in a year, is proficient in ice and water magic, and excels at talisman making. Shen Xuan's potential is limitless!"

All the people present are smart people.

Hearing He Zhengming say this, one could tell that he did not want to offend Shen Xuan.

"Junior Brother Zhou, come with me, I have something to discuss with you."

The two men, one after the other, left the central command tent.

After arriving at a secluded spot, He Zhengming cast a spell to shield himself.

Zhou Haoyu said angrily, "Senior brother, why didn't you show yourself sooner and reprimand Shen Xuan!"

"I don't believe he would dare to talk back to you to your face!"

He Zhengming shook his head: "You!"

“Junior Brother Zhou, Master sent you to Qingyang Prefecture to temper your character.”

"Shen Xuan is clearly colluding with demonic cultivators!"

"So what?"

He Zhengming was quite disappointed in him.

"Even if you had evidence, so what?"

"Report it to Master? What will Master do if he finds out?"

Zhou Haoyu retorted, unconvinced, "Naturally, we will follow the sect's rules and enforce the law impartially."

"childish!"

"Do you know that after Shen Xuan returned to the sect, he was personally taught by Master Gufeng?"

"How can you expect Master to face Master Gufeng?"

"Furthermore, Master Yinxiang just set Shen Xuan up as an example for ordinary disciples. How can you expect Master Yinxiang to save face?"

Zhou Haoyu fell silent. "Junior brother, you should talk less and do more!"

"Many things are not as simple as you think."

"In the cultivation world, it's not simply a matter of either the righteous path or the demonic path. There are also many who walk on the edge of the righteous path and the demonic path, as well as Buddhist cultivators, Confucian cultivators, and so on."

"Among the six sects of Liang Kingdom, everyone knows that Tianxiang Pavilion is an outer force of the Hehuan Sect, so why hasn't anyone gone to attack Tianxiang Pavilion?"

"Moreover, Tianxiang Pavilion has branches in various countries, including powerful states such as Jin, Qin, and Zhao."

Zhou Haoyu sighed.

He was just confused in a moment of anger, not stupid.

"Shen Xuan, he is also a true disciple of our Qingyun Sect, how can he be so selfish!"

"Even if they didn't collude with demonic cultivators, these heads must have been obtained through a trade with them."

Zhou Haoyu smiled.

“Shen Xuan is different from us. We come from powerful sects and have been raised by them since childhood.”

"He was originally a rogue cultivator, reached Foundation Establishment at an advanced age, and was brought into the sect through a woman's pity. How good could his character and morals be!"

“He naturally has no sense of belonging to the sect. Otherwise, why would he scheme against Lei Yaoyang?”

Little did he know, he had offended not only Lei Yaoyang, but all the direct disciples of Golden Core cultivators!

"Junior brother, you don't need to think about these things. Focus on your cultivation, hone your foundation, and strive to break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment as soon as possible. That's the important thing."

"As for Shen Xuan, you don't need to do anything. Many people hate him more than you do."

Zhou Haoyu bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, senior brother."

"Why should we act like this?"

He Zhengming's eyes were fixed on the direction of Feiyun Mountain.

"Shen Xuan, I hope you'll stop now and not bring trouble upon yourself!"

He only said these words to himself.

……

Feiyun Mountain, Tingyu Pavilion.

Inside the secret room.

"Senior Brother Shen, these are the prices for the two magic treasures. We've acquired some spiritual herbs, and the remaining spirit stones are all here."

Lu Zhengying rubbed her hands excitedly, her face beaming.

Senior Brother Shen was right.

After breaking through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, one's status and position will improve.

Besides their increased strength, Shen Xuan and Qin Yuehan's connections played a significant role.

The head elder of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall, Master Tongxuan, specifically sought out him for a talk.

They inquired about his relationship with Shen Xuan and Qin Yuehan.

This time, Lü Zhengying could clearly sense that Master Tongxuan was paying more attention to Shen Xuan.

Upon learning that the three were old friends who had known each other for nearly a hundred years, Master Tongxuan encouraged him to perform his duties well.

However, within a few days.

He then received a notification that his duties at the miscellaneous exhibition had changed.

The procurement of spiritual vegetables has changed to the procurement of talismans.

His status in the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall was immediately elevated.

He became one of the powerful elders.

Lü Zhengying knew that all of this was inextricably linked to Shen Xuan.

"Not bad, the two magic items sold for 70,000 spirit stones."

These two items are only of the second-tier low-grade quality.

The price it fetched exceeded Shen Xuan's expectations.

Lü Zhengying was indeed talented in business.

He then spent over 50,000 spirit stones to acquire most of the spirit herbs on the list.

The White Lotus Fairy can acquire the remaining medicinal herbs from the Zhou family.

"Take these!"

Shen Xuan is always generous when assigning tasks to people.

He casually pointed out three thousand spirit stones and handed them to Lü Zhengying.

"No way! Senior Brother Shen has helped me so much, how can I accept his spirit stones for such a small matter!"

"Stop arguing! Take it! I still have something for you to do!"

Shen Xuan then took out two more magical artifacts and asked him to sell them.

The acquisition of the elixir continued.

This time, there were several special five-hundred-year-old medicinal herbs.

That is the main ingredient of the Pure Foundation Pill.

"If the price isn't outrageous, I'll take as many as I can get."

Li Ruyi told him that the effects of the Pure Foundation Pill were not as strong as he had imagined.

It needs to be taken continuously.

It will definitely improve the quality of the foundation.

To what extent, it varies from person to person.

But in any case, the more Jingjidan the better.

Shen Xuan first acquired the relevant main and auxiliary materials.

When the opportunity arises, I will ask a trusted high-level alchemist to refine it.

He is currently focusing all his efforts on cultivation, creating thunder talismans, and practicing several of the latest skills.

If I really don't have the energy or time, I'll go back to practicing alchemy.

The Pure Foundation Pill is a second-tier top-grade spiritual pill.

It is several times more difficult to refine than the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Without decades of practice with hundreds of materials, even with the help of a mysterious jade talisman, Shen Xuan would still find it difficult to master the method of refining the Foundation Purification Pill.

Besides hiring a high-level alchemist, Shen Xuan had another option.

It was to help Li Ruyi advance, solidify her Netherworld Dao Body, condense her soul, strengthen her soul foundation, and transform the illusory into the real.

This is equivalent to the completion of the foundation building stage.

The next step is to condense the soul foundation into a soul core, just like a Foundation Establishment cultivator, thereby reshaping the spiritual body.

This kind of cultivator who condenses the soul core can continue to live long and attain enlightenment. They are skilled in communicating with the underworld and commanding spirits, capturing and seizing souls, and their strength surpasses that of ordinary Core Formation cultivators.

However, this path is more difficult and has a lower chance of success.

Moreover, there is a hidden danger in Li Ruyi.

All she remembered was that three hundred years had passed since she turned to meditation.

I have no recollection of how she perished three hundred years ago.

I have lost my memory of that period.

"We'll see later. In any case, it's always good to gather enough main and auxiliary materials for the Foundation Purification Pill!"

Shen Xuan thought to himself.

He handed over the merit certificate to Lü Zhengying.

Instruct Lü Zhengying to exchange for sect contribution points and then transfer them to his identity jade pendant.

His master disliked him for causing too much trouble and told him not to return to the sect unless necessary.

Shen Xuan obediently complied.

After seeing Lü Zhengying off.