Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

Jiang Shi felt a sense of unease, but outwardly remained calm and composed.

"Of course I have an identity jade token. I'll take it out and show it to you right now."

Jiang Shi reached into his robes, pretending to retrieve his identity jade token, but in reality, he was preparing to use a talisman to ambush his opponent.

At this moment, even if the opponent's cultivation level is much higher than his, he still has to give it his all!

"Huh? Aren't you Lin Yanyi's junior brother from the Qingyun Sect?"

Just as Jiang Shi was about to make a move, the leading cultivator spoke up.

Jiang Shi then remembered that the two of them had indeed met several months ago. The other person was the late-stage Qi Refining cultivator from Biluo Valley who had been at the entrance of the Happy Courtyard.

I never expected to see you again today.

"It's me, Senior Brother, you have a good memory." Jiang Shi put away the talisman in his hand and said respectfully.

"It's been several months, but you still look as dashing as ever, Senior Brother."

"Haha, so you're one of us. Lin Yanyi's junior brother is my junior brother. You can just call me Senior Brother Xu."

Senior Brother Xu leaned closer, put his arm around Jiang Shi's shoulder, and whispered, "Has your Senior Sister Lin arrived yet?"

"Hey, Senior Brother Xu, this kind of patrol work is done by us menial disciples. Why would Senior Sister Lin come?" Jiang Shi sighed.

Upon hearing that Lin Yanyi hadn't come, Senior Brother Xu's enthusiasm vanished instantly, and his smile turned cold.

Jiang Shi could tell at a glance what this person was thinking; he was definitely plotting something against Lin Yanyi.

His eyes lit up, and an idea came to him.

"Senior Brother Xu, if you want to see Senior Sister Lin, when you're free sometime, I'll find an excuse to ask her out..." Jiang Shi said, then chuckled at Senior Brother Xu.

Senior Brother Xu immediately understood Jiang Shi's meaning and laughed along.

"Junior brother, you're quite perceptive. I admire you." Senior Brother Xu nodded in satisfaction, then said to Jiang Shi.

"It's a pity you're not from our Biluo Valley. But that's alright, I'll recommend Senior Sister Chen to you later. She really likes clever cultivators like you."

"Senior Sister Chen is a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining; she won't mistreat you."

Jiang Shi was speechless, but could only nod in agreement and keep thanking him.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Xu. I will certainly not let you down."

Upon hearing Jiang Shi's words, the cultivators brought by Senior Brother Xu couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at? What? Do you also want to go and accompany Senior Sister Chen?" Senior Brother Xu's expression changed, and his aura as a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator became imposing. The disciples dared not laugh anymore and all lowered their heads in silence.

"Senior Brother Xu, what brings you to my Qingyun Sect today?" Jiang Shi quickly changed the subject upon seeing this.

"I should be asking you that! What exactly happened to your Qingyun Sect? We were ordered to patrol your Qingyun Mountain."

"Senior Brother Xu, don't you know what happened?" Jiang Shi asked in surprise.

Senior Brother Xu was full of doubts. Normally, the three major sects did not interact with each other except during the joint competition. This was the first time he had heard of such an order.

"It seems that Senior Brother Xu has offended someone in Biluo Valley as well," Jiang Shi said with a shake of his head and a sigh.

"What exactly happened? Explain yourself!"

"Qingyun Sect has been afflicted by demonic forces! Over a hundred of our outer sect disciples have died," Jiang Shi said in a deep voice.

Senior Brother Xu was greatly surprised when he heard this!

"How is this possible?!"

Not only Senior Brother Xu, but the other disciples of Biluo Valley also couldn't believe it and started discussing it amongst themselves.

"People of the demonic path? We've only heard of them in stories and biographies. Do they really exist in this world?" a disciple of Biluo Valley asked.

"Are you crazy? If there's a righteous path, then there must be a demonic path! I heard that a few years ago, a sect was afflicted by demons, and the entire sect was slaughtered!"

Senior Brother Xu's face grew increasingly gloomy. Various signs within the sect indicated that Jiang Shi's words might be true.

"No wonder they transferred me out of Canglin City, it must be my nemesis's doing!" Senior Brother Xu became angrier the more he thought about it, wishing he could return to the sect as soon as possible, but he had to complete the sect mission, otherwise he would be punished.

"Junior brother, what exactly is the situation with this demonic affliction? Tell your senior brother about it."

I happened to run into a disciple of the Qingyun Sect. If I talk to him, I might be able to find a glimmer of hope in this crisis.

"Senior Brother Xu, I haven't seen the specifics myself, but I've heard that it's a giant bird that's tens of meters long, with strength comparable to a late Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining disciple. It can kill more than ten people with a single claw."

The more the cultivators of Biluo Valley listened, the more horrified they became.

"Senior brother, to be honest, I was scared, so I ran away to hide for a while."

"Those kinds of monsters are so powerful that even if we all joined together, we wouldn't be able to withstand a single claw from them. I think we should just slack off and be lazy."

Let's go somewhere else to lay low for a few days, then go back and say we didn't run into them. We probably won't be punished too badly.

Jiang Shi feigned sincerity to reassure Senior Brother Xu and prevent him from going to Qingyun Mountain.

There are still more than twenty corpses there; he can't be discovered.

"Junior brother is absolutely right. If the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up. Why should we Qi Refining stage cultivators risk our lives?"

"There happens to be a market town for independent cultivators nearby. Let's go there and stay for a few days."

Senior Brother Xu was very familiar with the area, so he immediately decided to go to the Sanxiu Market.

With Senior Brother Xu, a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator, leading the way, the group quickly arrived at the market for rogue cultivators.

The market town for independent cultivators is filled with small stalls set up by individuals.

After entering the market, Jiang Shi made an excuse to part ways with the enthusiastic Senior Brother Xu.

I strolled through the market alone.

Most of the people here are independent cultivators setting up stalls, selling all sorts of things.

Jiang Shi also needed to buy some things, so he started browsing.

Unfortunately, most of these things are not what he needs right now.

After browsing for a while, a martial arts manual on a stall suddenly caught his attention.

The Hundred Illusions and Thousand Faces Technique

This is a technique that can change one's appearance, making one undetectable to others.

"How much is this?" Jiang Shi asked.

The stall owner could tell at a glance that Jiang Shi was a complete novice with no experience whatsoever.

Then he held up five fingers and waved them in front of Jiang Shi.

"Five spirit crystals?" Jiang Shi knew this person would definitely ask for an exorbitant price, so he quoted the lowest possible price.

"What?! Five spirit crystals?! Are you here to cause trouble? This is a high-grade Earth-level cultivation technique, have you ever seen one before?" Upon hearing Jiang Shi's words, the stall owner immediately started cursing.

"Then how much do you want?"

"How much? At least five spirit stones!" the stall owner said arrogantly.

"Five spirit stones? Farewell!" Jiang Shi turned and left.

Five spirit stones is indeed a very low amount for a high-grade Earth-level cultivation technique.

However, he simply didn't have that many spirit stones, and trading with a top-grade first-rank spirit talisman would definitely attract attention.

Therefore, even if this item is a necessity for him, he has to resist the urge to buy it.