Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

The golden rings on Tianxu Zhenjun's other arm suddenly flew out, turning into beams of golden light that tightly bound Yuan Guangzi's body.

Yuan Guangzi's expression changed drastically. He immediately used his supernatural powers, and the spiritual power in his dantian surged wildly, trying to break free from the binding of these golden rings. However, those golden rings seemed to contain an extremely powerful binding force, and no matter how he struggled and cast spells, he could not completely break free for a while.

Jin Lingzi, the only one unharmed at the scene, was stunned by the two sudden changes before her eyes and stood there dumbfounded. Her mind went blank, and she had no idea what was going on.

Why would Huanglong and Tianxu, both Nascent Soul cultivators from the Chu Kingdom, suddenly launch a sneak attack on Bingxuanzi and Yuanguangzi?

He couldn't figure it out for a moment, but as a Nascent Soul cultivator who had advanced for many years, his sense of danger was already ingrained in his bones.

Regardless of the reasons, staying where I am now would be extremely dangerous.

Jin Lingzi regained his senses in just a moment. Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately withdrew the "Yi Ding Tian Qi Si" divine power, and his figure transformed into a dazzling golden light, rushing away into the distance.

At this moment, Bing Xuanzi, who had been ambushed and was seriously injured, clutched his chest, struggled to raise his head, stared fiercely at Huang Long, and said in a voice filled with coldness and hatred:

"Huang Long, why are you like this?! Even if you ambushed me, even if you killed me and Yuan Guangzi, do you think you and this brat Tianxu can monopolize the cultivation world of Chu? Huang Long, don't forget that the sects in the neighboring worlds of the Nine Provinces Alliance and the Ten Directions Alliance have long coveted this land of Chu. Once something happens to the three of us, the two major alliances will definitely take the opportunity to invade. At that time, you and Tianxu will not be able to defend Chu at all."

"Hahahaha... Bing Xuanzi, you don't need to worry about that."

As Huang Long spoke, a sinister smile appeared on his face, and he said with absolute certainty:

"Fellow Daoist Tianxu and I have our own ways of dealing with the two major alliances."

After saying that, he shouted loudly to the surroundings.

"Everyone, why don't you show yourselves? Even though Bing Xuanzi and Yuan Guangzi are seriously injured right now, they are not people we can keep alone. If they escape, don't blame me for being incompetent."

Upon hearing this, Bing Xuanzi's expression changed drastically, and Yuan Guangzi, who was struggling to break free of his restraints, also felt a sinking feeling in his heart. The two of them simultaneously unleashed their full divine senses, scanning their surroundings.

In the distance, six streaks of light sped toward them at incredible speed.

Three of them chased after Jin Lingzi in the direction he had fled, while the other three flew towards the two of them. All of them possessed extremely powerful auras and were at the Nascent Soul stage.

Bing Xuanzi knew in his heart that if he were to be entangled with them today, it would surely be a dead end.

Without further hesitation, he gritted his teeth, channeled his spiritual power, and unleashed his most powerful secret technique. In an instant, his figure transformed into a streak of icy blue light, fleeing into the distance without regard for anything else.

Huang Long's eyes turned cold, and he immediately followed closely behind, continuously casting spells in his hands, trying to block Bing Xuanzi's path.

On the other side, seeing that there was no hope of breaking free from the strange golden ring, Yuan Guangzi's eyes flashed with a ruthless glint, and he immediately made a resolute decision.

He suddenly activated his nascent soul, causing his dantian to tremble. The nascent soul emerged from between his eyebrows, transforming into a dazzling beam of light, and flew recklessly towards the horizon opposite to Bing Xuanzi's.

The nascent soul, having abandoned its physical body, experienced a surge in speed, even surpassing Bing Xuanzi, who had escaped earlier, and vanished into the horizon in an instant.

Tianxu Zhenjun stared in shock at Yuan Guangzi's decisive abandonment of his physical body and his escape, and was stunned for a moment.

He hadn't expected Yuan Guangzi to be so resolute.

But he quickly came to his senses, snorted coldly, and moved in a flash, transforming into a streak of light as he chased after the direction in which Yuan Guangzi's nascent soul had fled.

The three streaks of light that were chasing after Jin Lingzi had now caught up with the golden light.

Jin Lingzi's expression was extremely solemn. He sped along while continuously casting several spells to fend off the pursuers behind him.

However, the three masters of those escape lights were all no weaker than him in cultivation, and the three of them joined forces to launch a fierce attack. Before long, Jin Lingzi was forced to retreat step by step, and several wounds were added to his body.

"Jin Lingzi, surrender!"

A cold voice came from behind him, and one of the cultivators conjured a dark green needle in his hand, aiming it at the back of Jin Lingzi, who was flying ahead.

......

"What happened?"

Wu Fan watched as Master Ma was suddenly struck by a Golden Core elder from the Myriad Beasts Sect, falling to the ground some distance away.

This sudden turn of events left him completely bewildered.

Suddenly, countless fluctuations of spiritual energy emanated from afar.

Immediately afterwards, black figures appeared from all sides of the valley, forming circles of hundreds of people.

Immediately afterwards, black figures appeared from all sides of the valley, forming circles of hundreds of people.

Although these people are fewer than the number of cultivators from the four sects and Zhongtianxu City combined, each of them is at the Foundation Establishment stage.

At the very front of this group of men in black, twelve black-robed cultivators exuded completely different auras, their bodies radiating immense spiritual power at the Core Formation stage.

To mobilize such a large number of highly skilled and powerful individuals, even the four major sects would need almost all of their resources to have such a number of people.

But here, it appeared directly and plainly before everyone's eyes.

At this point, even the slowest person would realize that the visitor meant trouble.

In an instant, the cultivators from the four sects and Zhongtianxu City, who were still fighting the demonic beasts, all slowly stopped their attacks.

The surrounding demonic beasts were initially trapped in the valley by the cultivators, and were restrained by the pressure of the high-level demonic beasts, which forced them to fight to the death against the humans.

Now that they suddenly sensed the presence of so many high-level cultivators, even the third-tier eight-faced spiders took the opportunity to slip away. The remaining low-level demonic beasts dared not linger in battle and scattered and fled during this opening.

Although the cultivators present had all stopped fighting, none of them left the battlefield at will. Instead, they all looked up at the Golden Core elders of their respective sects.

Of course, the disciples of Falling Star Valley are now in a rather awkward and angry position.

After all, Elder Ma, a Golden Core cultivator who had just joined Falling Star Valley, had been ambushed by a Golden Core elder from the Myriad Beasts Sect. At the moment, he was in a sorry state, using his magic weapon to warily look around.

Meanwhile, Wu Fan, having already moved to the edge of the battlefield to avoid the "Nascent Soul cultivator" within Zheng Yue's body, was just one step away from escaping the battlefield.

However, he would naturally not flee the battlefield at this time.

Firstly, since there was no order from the sect to retreat at this time, leaving the battlefield on one's own could be considered treason.

Secondly, the cultivator who first did this would undoubtedly become the target of public criticism.

Just as Wu Fan was filled with doubt and speculation, Uncle Ma's already pale face turned even paler, and he directly activated his spiritual power to send out a voice:

"Disciples of Falling Star Valley, this is an enemy cultivator! Flee this place immediately and break out in all directions. Do not linger in battle!!!"

Before he could finish speaking, Uncle Ma transformed into a streak of light and fled to a place with fewer men in black.

Then several Golden Core cultivators transmitted their spiritual energy, all ordering their disciples to break through the encirclement.

At this moment, the numerous cultivators in the valley unleashed their life-saving abilities and began to break out in all directions.

Instantly, the entire valley went from quiet to noisy again.

The moment Wu Fan heard the spiritual transmission from Master Ma, he immediately used the Explosive Step combined with Earth Escape Technique to escape.

Since Wu Fan was initially positioned to the east, while the group of men in black mostly surrounded him from the southwest, the direction from which he fled was the easiest to break through, which was also the choice made by many cultivators.

As Wu Fan fled into the distance, he could vaguely hear the spiritual transmissions of the men in black, saying that they were only going to surround and kill the disciples of Falling Star Valley, Spirit Mirror Sect, and Imperial Spirit Sect.

Isn't it obvious from these words that the Myriad Beasts Sect and Zhongtian Ruins City are also the masterminds behind this operation?

No wonder the Golden Core cultivator from the Myriad Beasts Sect suddenly launched a sneak attack on Uncle Ma; now it all makes sense.

As Wu Fan fled at top speed, he sensed two auras of mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators closing in on him from behind, which actually made him feel a little relieved.

After all, cultivators of the same level, without any special escape techniques or supernatural abilities, would find it very difficult to catch up with him.

Immediately, he increased the injection of earth elemental essence, and the earth escape technique became even faster.

A quarter of an hour later, he had completely shaken off the two people behind him.

Although he had shaken off the two pursuers, Wu Fan's situation was now quite precarious.

Although he initially broke through towards the east of the valley, which was the optimal solution at the time, this was actually heading deeper into the Ten Thousand Mountains.

If he continues to fly forward in this direction, he will only go deeper and deeper into the inner region of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

It's not a big problem in the short term, but if it goes on for a long time, you're bound to encounter higher-level monsters, and then you'll easily find yourself in danger.

Returning would also make them vulnerable to the group of men in black behind them, and a fight would be inevitable.

If we can win, that's fine, but what if we can't?

Or perhaps, he was besieged by several people?

Therefore, Wu Fan could not turn back to Falling Star Valley at this moment.

There was only one way forward: to fly to either side of the Ten Thousand Mountains and circle back to Falling Star Valley.

At this point, the east side is obviously not an option.

The reason it is called the Soul-Severing Abyss is that if a cultivator with a cultivation level below the Golden Core stage were to rashly fly over this abyss, their spiritual power would be gradually drained away.

Often, before they can even cross the deep ravine, their dantian is already depleted and their spiritual power is completely lost, causing them to fall straight into the ravine, ending up with their soul scattered and their body left without a trace.

And this Soul-Slaying Ravine is also associated with an extremely bizarre legend.

Legend has it that this ravine was carved out by a terrifying demon in ancient times, which is why it stretches for thousands of miles and is bottomless. The ravine is perpetually filled with a dense, malevolent aura, which even distorts the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, turning it into a forbidden land that specifically absorbs the spiritual energy of cultivators.

Thus, Wu Fan could only fly westward for two months straight, until he reached the territory of the Spirit Mirror Sect, and then return to the territory of Falling Star Valley. Only this route was safer and more reliable.

Thinking this through, he naturally couldn't wait for the group of men in black to react before proceeding with his plan.

So it immediately changed its flight direction and headed west.

......

Several days later.

Wu Fan was currently using his Wood Release technique at full speed to move forward, but the expression on his face was quite unpleasant.

During this period, he was extremely cautious and hardly stopped to rest.

Once his spiritual power drops below 60%, he will summon Zhaofu and ride it to continue his journey.

Logically speaking, they should be quite far from Mount Bamian, but the group of black-clad cultivators still occasionally spot them and chase after them.

Discovering someone once or twice isn't unusual, given the large number of men in black. But to discover them nearly ten times in a row, with the same two men constantly chasing after them, is simply too much of a coincidence.

Wu Fan immediately realized that someone had probably tampered with his body a long time ago, but he didn't know when the divine imprint had been planted.

He immediately activated his divine sense with all his might, repeatedly examining his entire body. He searched several times, not even missing a single hair, but he still couldn't find any trace of his divine sense mark.

Therefore, there are only two possibilities.

Firstly, the cultivator who placed the mark on him was far more powerful than him, with a spiritual sense strength at least at the Golden Core stage. Only with such a strong spiritual sense could such an extremely secretive method be used, which was completely undetectable to him with his current spiritual sense.

Secondly, it wasn't that he himself was marked with a divine consciousness, but rather that something was wrong with an item he was carrying.

If the first possibility wasn't detected, then it's the second one.

After all, he had only met Golden Core cultivators a handful of times in the Eight-Faced Mountain. The last time he saw Core Formation cultivators was in that valley that day, and he "met" so many of them at once.

Thinking of this, Wu Fan immediately began to recall which part of his body might have been tampered with.

After much thought, it seems impossible that the funds were traded with others.

After all, the person trading with him didn't know whether Wu Fan would use these resources immediately after receiving them, or resell them to someone else.

Therefore, the thing that can stay on your body indefinitely and is most likely to tamper with you is that thing!

Wu Fan immediately took out a black token with the character "Chu" engraved on the front from his storage bag. He quickly scanned it with his divine sense but found nothing wrong with it.

"Whether it's this thing or not, we'll find out by trying it! If it really is this thing, we can actually make good use of it."

Thinking of this, Wu Fan's lips curled into a sly smile, and he immediately summoned Zhao Fu.

"Zhao Fu, take this token and head in that direction."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Fu immediately leaped up, caught the black token Wu Fan threw out, and flew away in the direction Wu Fan indicated.

Upon seeing this, Wu Fan turned around and looked behind him. Then, he turned around and used his full earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique in Chinese fantasy novels) to escape underground. He then concealed his aura and fled in a different direction.

This isn't a no-go, it's a recommendation for the treasure book "Cultivating Immortality: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude":