Starting with the Corpse-Eating Worm, he worked his way up to become the Left-Winged Immortal Lord.

"Junior Brother Gu... I'm afraid Senior Brother is..."

Ding Xian glanced sideways, a bright smile spreading across his lips, and raised one hand to wave to Gu Qing.

Lu Xingzhi, who was standing to the side, raised his hand and pressed it back down, while his other hand continued to apply medicine to Ding Xian. At the same time, he said unhappily, "What are you afraid of? As long as you can come back, I can save your life. Don't make it seem like we're going to be separated by life and death."

"I was just worried that Junior Brother Gu would be concerned... Master, it hurts..." Ding Xian winced and twitched.

Lu Xingzhi didn't reply. His hand paused, and when he poured the medicine again, his movements were noticeably slower.

However, as the young Taoist slowly peeled back the bloodied and mangled clothes from the abdomen, a gruesome wound the size of a palm came into view, with internal organs vaguely visible. An ordinary person would likely have died long ago.

Gu Qing silently walked to the bedside and said nothing more.

When he glanced to the side, he saw that Li Fu and the others surrounding them were also silent, their faces filled with unspeakable sorrow.

Upon seeing this.

Gu Qing couldn't help but frown.

When Gu Qing's senses probed outwards, his doubts were immediately resolved, but he couldn't help but feel a little helpless.

Ding Xian was seriously injured.

Although his life was saved, his dantian was damaged and his magical power was being lost.

He has now fallen to the third level of Qi Refining, and it will probably take him less than ten days to half a month to fall to the second level of Qi Refining.

Within three months, Ding Xian will be completely reduced to an ordinary mortal.

Just recalling Ding Xian's radiant smile and the image of him about to raise his hand to greet her, Gu Qing couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

Just as Gu Qing was lost in thought, Lu Xingzhi suddenly spoke up to shoo everyone away, "Alright, you've looked around enough, go outside and wait."

"Yes."

Li Fu and others retreated one after another.

Gu Qing followed silently behind.

Every two steps, Li Fu would stop beside Cheng Xiu. "Fellow Daoist Cheng, let's find a place to talk about this."

"OK."

Cheng Xiu nodded.

The other cultivators from the medicine hall immediately followed suit.

Upon returning to the first floor, Li Fu led Cheng Xiu to the backyard of the medicine hall and silently stood beside the spirit pool where the spirit fish were fed.

"What exactly happened? When you sent the message back to the temple seven days ago, didn't you say that Fellow Daoist Ding and the others had escaped safely?" Li Fu initially wanted to scold Cheng Xiu and even punch him, since Cheng Xiu was Chen Ye's man. However, when he thought about how Cheng Xiu had brought Ding Xian back, he could only suppress his anger.

"That's right, Senior Brother Ding said he escaped on the day he was attacked, so how come he was suddenly attacked again?"

Lu Xingzhi, a disciple at the third level of Qi Refining, then spoke up.

Cheng Xiu glanced at the intense gazes of the crowd and hurriedly said, "Fellow Daoist Ding and the others are alright. I only found out after I captured a cultivator from the Heavenly Principle Sect. I originally intended to detour to Dongping Town to check on the situation, but I didn't expect to encounter Fellow Daoist Ding in the mountains."

At that time, Fellow Daoist Ding was being hunted down by cultivators of the Heavenly Principle Sect. I didn't hesitate to help him, saving him at the cost of my own life.

Cheng Xiu didn't dare say that she had been frightened into hiding in the mountains by the Tianli Sect cultivators, nor did she dare say that saving Ding Xian was only out of necessity.

Because if he didn't fight alongside Ding Xian, he would only face certain death.

Fortunately, although his process was completely wrong, the result was correct, and Ding Xian promised himself that he would not tell anyone.

"What about the Tianli Sect cultivators you captured?" Li Fu asked hurriedly.

Ding Xian responded, "The Heavenly Principle Sect's reinforcements arrived very quickly, but he escaped."

Before anyone could ask another question, Ding Xian continued, "By the way, when I interrogated that thief, he also confessed something else. The Heavenly Principle Sect currently needs a large amount of vital energy, and their target is all the orthodox and miscellaneous sects in Changping County."

Upon hearing this...

A mix of anger and worry arose among the crowd.

"How dare they?"

"Are they crazy? Aren't they afraid of Xuanqing Academy?"

"The enemy is in the shadows, while we are in the open. What should we do? We can't just stay hidden in Wufeng Temple forever, can we?"

Amidst the discussions, Cheng Xiu added, "It seems Xuanqing Academy has no intention of interfering at all. I heard that Chen Ci, the deputy abbot of Sanyin Temple in Kang Le County, has died at the hands of the Tianli Sect. However, I don't know if it's true or not; it's all said by those Tianli Sect cultivators."

"What?"

"It can't be true."

"It must have been the intimidating words of that Confucian monk."

"Master Chen Ci is at the late stage of Qi Refining, how could he possibly die at the hands of a member of the Heavenly Principle Sect?"

Everyone expressed skepticism.

But Gu Qing, listening from the side, felt that it was very likely true.

The sudden resurgence of the Heavenly Principle Sect was definitely not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"If that's true, then it confirms that Xuanqing Academy has no intention of getting involved in this matter... Why is that?"

Gu Qing frowned deeply.

Moreover, judging from Cheng Xiu's words, the Heavenly Principle Sect's target this time is not only Changping County, but also other places.

What do they need so much blood and energy for?

Cultivation?

But what kind of realm requires such a massive amount of vital energy?

"Should I aim for the Qi Refining Perfection stage or the Foundation Establishment stage?" The thought made Gu Qing feel a little uneasy.

It seems we need to quickly cultivate the Hollow Stag Beetle and the Forbidden Word Beetle, otherwise, if another unexpected event occurs, how will he cope?

Thinking of this, Gu Qing's parents also flashed through her mind.

……

After listening to Cheng Xiu's story, Gu Qing immediately headed straight for Changping County.

As soon as he left Qishan, Gu Qing used his concealment ability to hide his presence as much as possible and entered Changping County at top speed.

When they found their parents' residence, Mr. and Mrs. Gu were entertaining friends from various unorthodox schools of thought.

Those people came to gather information.

In this regard.

Gu Qing was not surprised.

If the Heavenly Principles Church attacked the cultivators of the Five Abundance Temple, how could it possibly let go of the more easily manipulated miscellaneous and unorthodox sects?

Gu Qing appeared only after they left.

"Father, Mother."

After quietly scaling the wall, Gu Qing quickly walked into the house.

When Gu's parents saw this, they were both surprised and delighted. But when they saw that their son had climbed over the wall to get home, they quickly followed him into the house.

After entering the house and closing the door, Gu Qing quickly took out a storage bag.

It contained the things he had looted from the ghost market, as well as the belongings of Li Huo and the others.

When Gu Qing arrived, he selected four first-tier magic artifacts, several top-tier first-tier attack talismans, and a few second-tier defense talismans.

In addition, Gu Qing also put in 10,000 taels of silver notes, as well as five catties of Five Elements Divine Sand obtained from Li Huo and the others.

of course.

The inheritance of first-tier rune masters is also included.

When Gu's mother took a look, she was so surprised that she could hardly speak, "How come there are so many things?"

The magical artifacts and talismans alone are worth over ten kilograms of Five Elements Divine Sand. Adding in other items, the total value is already approaching fifty.

This is a number they never dared to dream of.

"Keep it, keep it. You need these things more than we do. We can earn them ourselves," Gu's mother quickly said, stepping back.

Upon seeing this, Gu's father curiously used his senses to investigate, but he was too frightened to speak.

His expression changed drastically when he saw the inheritance of that first-level talisman master.

However, just as Gu's father was about to decline, Gu Qing hurriedly said, "I don't lack these things now. These are for your self-defense. The situation in Changping County is very troublesome right now, so you should also improve your cultivation as soon as possible. You should also try to cultivate the path of a talisman master, so that we can use them when we leave Changping County in the future."

Upon hearing this...

Gu's mother wanted to speak, but Gu's father stopped her.

Because their son had just become the manager's close disciple and had gained real power, even the black market manager was trying to curry favor with them.

The fact that her own son now says he wants to leave Changping County shows just how badly the situation there has deteriorated.

I'm afraid even Wufeng Temple is struggling to survive.

"Don't worry, your mother and I won't go anywhere," Gu's father immediately assured him.

Seeing this, Gu's mother nodded repeatedly.

"I'm going back to the temple now." Gu Qing smiled with satisfaction, raised her hand in a bow, and then quickly left her parents' residence.

Now all he wants is to get back to Wufeng Temple as soon as possible, go to the shady spot behind the mountain, and hear about the Heavenly Principle Sect's flying zombie in the coffin.

The Heavenly Principle Sect's sudden need for such a massive amount of vital energy suggests that the other party must know something about it.