Fellow Daoist Entrusts His Child: Immortality Begins with Nurturing a Demoness

Chapter 57 The Qinghe Sect is truly amazing! (4th update)
The shantytown was muddy and filthy.

Despite the pungent smell of sweat and rain lingering around his nose, Luo Fanchen felt a sense of warmth, and Mo Xue beside him quickened her pace.

More than a month after I left, the mansion remained as clean as ever, without a speck of dust in sight.

"Ah Niu? What are you doing at the door? Did Granny Zhang need something from me?"

As Luo Fanchen was puzzled, he saw A Niu standing stiffly at the door, looking like a gatekeeper or someone who was in a daze.

Upon seeing Luo Fanchen, the boy rushed forward, took the heavy object from him, and carefully carried it on his shoulder.

"When Uncle Ling went on a long trip, Grandma was afraid that the house would be targeted by thieves, so she asked me to guard this place."

"Did you clean the mansion?"

"It was me. Sister Xiao Cui asked me to use a dust-cleaning talisman to sweep the dust from the mansion every day. I... I didn't go in without permission, Uncle Ling."

Ah Niu answered honestly in a muffled voice, repeatedly emphasizing that he had never entered the mansion, fearing that Uncle Ling would blame him.

"Thank you for your hard work. Go back now and thank Granny Zhang for me. Also, I plan to host a banquet at my residence tomorrow to welcome you back. You and Granny, please invite Xiao Cui to come and join us."

"Sister Xiao Cui"

Upon hearing this, Ah Niu's expression stiffened slightly, and he fell silent with a droopy face.

"Uncle Ling, could you please help Sister Xiao Cui?"

Luo Fanchen narrowed his eyes slightly, neither agreeing nor refusing.

With Yunmo losing power, Xiaocui will obviously be implicated as well. Without the protection of Jubaoge, Old Man Wang's torment will surely intensify.

But just as often, each act of venting his anger and beatings was a death knell for the old man.

"Let's talk tomorrow."

After much thought, Luo Fanchen also felt that Xiao Cui's situation was partly his fault.

It was his fault that Yunmo temporarily lost power. Although he was able to recover quickly and even surpass his former self, Xiaocui suffered greatly.

At that time, Shou Rufeng can mediate and retrieve Xiao Cui's indenture.

"Please trouble you, Uncle Ling, to take a look. It's all my fault for being useless. If only I had some cultivation..."

Ah Niu muttered for a moment, then immediately fell silent, afraid of offending Uncle Ling.

He knew he was not very talented, and even if Uncle Ling taught him cultivation, it would be difficult for him to improve. For a lowly servant like him, the only way to get ahead was to risk his life.

A Niu politely took his leave, and Luo Fanchen then summoned Qiu Yun and reset the Soul Banner in the central palace.

A chilling wind swept through the courtyard, gradually enveloping it before quickly subsiding. The soul banner's array patterns twisted like ghosts. After the spirit-gathering array appeared, the surrounding spiritual energy became noticeably denser. Once the array stabilized, the soul banner transformed into a locust tree, revealing no trace of its true nature.

"Mo Xue, first comprehend the sword technique and familiarize yourself with the sword technique given to you by Fellow Daoist Xiao Shou. Qiu Yun, come with me."

After Luo Fanchen briefly checked the various parts of the mansion and confirmed that Old Man Wang had not made any further moves, he summoned Qiu Yun and entered the bedroom.

Mo Xue paused at the door, hesitant to speak.

She watched the two figures on the paper window grow ever closer, gripping her sword even tighter. The vague sense of unease in her heart intensified. After a long while, she finally turned back to practice her swordsmanship.

Since things have come to this, let's practice swordsmanship first.
Inside the room, the two were alone. Qiu Yun lowered her eyes and became somewhat reserved.

The girl seemed to have not yet recovered her courage from her previous bold kiss and did not dare to look Uncle Luo in the eye for a moment.

"This is the Jubaoge trade route, and the broken pieces of the illusion array remaining in three villages. I need your help to analyze its structure and use."

"Although the analysis won't be of much use, it'll at least give me peace of mind."

Luo Fanchen did not immediately begin studying the techniques and talismans given to him by Yun Mo. Instead, he first deconstructed the illusion array fragments.

The formation has been broken, and the array plate has lost all its spiritual energy. It is no different from an ordinary stone and is worthless. Analyzing the array patterns would only waste time.

"Okay, I'll help Uncle Luo!"

Qiu Yun didn't ask why, she already completely trusted Uncle Luo. She condensed her soul body, summoned three ghosts, absorbed their soul power to supply Uncle Luo, and together they deconstructed the fragments.

Three hours later, Luo Fanchen was exhausted and nearing his limit.

Qiu Yun's talent in formations and seal script far surpasses his. The girl deciphered 50% of the formation, while he could only decipher less than 20%. Fortunately, even combined, they could barely discern the formation's effectiveness.

“Uncle Luo, although this fragment is an illusion array, its core doesn’t resemble one.” Qiu Yun frowned, her pretty face showing confusion, while she covered her lips with her hand, deep in thought.

"Uncle Luo, this method is more like a formation within a formation. When used alone, it has some of the effects of an illusion formation, but when combined, it is more like a demonic killing formation that absorbs essence and vital energy."

"Look at the structure of these two array patterns. They are similar to the bone-devouring and sublimation techniques of the Soul Banner, only much cruder."

"so."

Luo Fanchen was slightly taken aback, and a sense of worry began to creep into his heart.

"Yes, the illusion array is just a facade. This is not a killing illusion array used to delay reinforcements, but a demonic array used for sacrifice."

"etc."

Luo Fanchen swallowed hard, opened the map, and focused his gaze on the marked bandit map.

"The Three Talents of the Central Palace"

The three illusion arrays along the Jubaoge trade route, if viewed in reverse, seem to be located opposite the central palace, defining the three elements within the array. At the same time, if this is taken as the central palace, the numerous bandit dens can form an impenetrable net.

As for the target of the Luo Wang (Net of Heaven), it is not Feiyunfang or Chongxiaofang, but the entire heartland of Qinghe Sect.

"If every bandit stronghold has a similar sacrificial formation..."

Luo Fanchen felt a tremor in his heart, but quickly dismissed the thought.

He didn't notice any extra array patterns in the several bandit dens he destroyed. Similarly, in the battle between cultivators, the sacrificial array was far less useful than the illusion array. The illusion array could delay the Qinghe Sect's support, but how much essence and blood could the sacrificial array absorb?

Unless Master Kumu is willing to sacrifice the disciples of the Yimu Sect, the entire Yimu Sect will be destroyed, and more than half of the disciples of the Qinghe Sect will be lost.

Only through this sacrificial formation can a considerable amount of essence and blood be absorbed.

"Refine the Immortal Longevity Pill? No. He's an ancestor, after all. He wouldn't sacrifice the entire sect just to extend his life by a hundred years."

Luo Fanchen secretly thought he was overthinking things; refining the Immortal Longevity Pill was by no means that easy.

In addition to a large amount of low-level cultivators' essence blood, at least ten Foundation Establishment cultivators are needed to willingly serve as medicinal ingredients in order to have a chance to reforge the body.

"If the Yimu Sect can't do it, it must be the Qinghe Sect's backup plan."

Luo Fanchen quickly found a suitable explanation through the process of elimination.

The Qinghe Sect had long suspected the Yimu Sect's backup plan. Without alerting the enemy, they quietly modified the array patterns of the Central Palace Illusion Array, rendering the array patterns of the entire bandit den ineffective while giving it a simple illusion array function to deceive others.

Thus, when the Yimu Sect launches a major invasion, it will suffer heavy losses, and the Yimu Sect may even be completely annihilated.

The deceased disciples of the Yimu Sect can be refined into pure blood essence through the sacrificial array, which can be used for alchemy and body tempering in the future. It is like killing three birds with one stone.

"As expected of a major sect, it appears weak, but in reality, it is meticulous and calculating. This Yimu Sect is probably doomed."

Luo Fanchen sighed softly, feeling a lingering fear in his heart.

No wonder rogue cultivators can't defeat major sects; how can one person's wisdom compare to that of hundreds or thousands of cultivators?

Once he understood the key point, he felt increasingly at ease.

Since Qinghe Sect is bound to win, Feiyunfang is absolutely safe. In the future, it may even be able to continue to expand. After becoming stronger, it will have more slots to participate in the Ascension Tournament, reducing Moxue's competitive pressure.

"Qinghe Sect, truly impressive! Major sects should not be underestimated."

Luo Fanchen was glad that he had not stood on the opposite side of the Qinghe Sect.

The Qinghe Sect had clearly been planning this for a long time, and even the traitorous incident was intentional, all to turn the tables on them.

And it is only now, several months later, that he has begun to grasp some of the basics; there is still much for him to learn.

"Old Ancestor Kumu, you couldn't possibly have really sacrificed the entire Yimu Sect, could you?"

Luo Fanchen chuckled self-deprecatingly. He didn't believe that an old woman with little time left would still have the energy and perseverance to manage the overall situation.

The success rate of the sacrifice is less than 10%, and the risk is far greater than that of annexing the Qinghe Sect.

With such courage, one could make a name for oneself even among orthodox demonic cultivators.

(End of this chapter)