The Confucian and Taoist Sages of Mortal Cultivation

After reciting Li Bai's poem "The Knight-Errant," the mantra within his dantian began to hum once more.

Immediately afterwards, a gleaming silver "kill" character condensed beneath the "sword" mantra.

The Mantra of Killing has two effects: first, it doubles the power of a cultivator's attack-type spells, magical artifacts, and talismans; second, it makes the cultivator increasingly powerful in battle, stripping away the opponent's mana with each kill and empowering the cultivator, allowing them to quickly recover their own mana and increase their strength.

A glint of light flashed in Yang Qingyuan's eyes, and he immediately opened his mouth, spitting out a stream of silvery light.

The rosy light condensed into a silvery "Kill" character, which disappeared into Wu Jiuzhi's corpse. In just a few breaths, it reappeared, splitting into three, transforming into three silver rays that disappeared into the blades of the Azure Light Sword and the Rainbow Sword, and into Yang Qingyuan's body, respectively.

The next moment, the spiritual light on the two flying swords surged again, and their power doubled.

Meanwhile, Yang Qingyuan's spiritual pressure began to increase continuously, and in an instant, he reached the eighth level of Qi Refining!

"Forcibly boosting your cultivation level? You, a rogue cultivator, actually possess such a secret technique!" Qingwen Daoist's eyes widened in disbelief.

This method of stimulating potential and forcibly enhancing strength during combat is something that only Foundation Establishment cultivators such as Dharma Protectors and Hall Masters in the Black Fiend Sect are qualified to learn, and it has significant side effects.

Seeing Yang Qingyuan easily use such a secret technique, and seemingly without any side effects, how could Qingwen not be astonished?

"Die!" Yang Qingyuan felt the immense magical power within his meridians and became full of confidence. He immediately activated his two flying swords.

The Rainbow Sword and the Azure Light Sword hummed simultaneously, and with a single strike, they cleaved the Locking Gold Ring away and pierced towards the Azure Patterned Daoist below.

The Qingwen Daoist was filled with horror and hurriedly took out three or four defensive talismans and stuck them on his chest.

Several layers of colorful protective shields covered his body, each layer being no less powerful than the Golden Light Talisman.

But the two flying swords came whistling in, easily piercing through the numerous protective shields and striking the blue-patterned Taoist in the chest, passing right through him.

"No……"

The Green-Patterned Taoist stared wide-eyed, raised his hand to cover the two bleeding wounds on his chest, his eyes filled with despair, and took repeated steps backward.

"How is that possible?"

"How could I, Qingwen, possibly die at the hands of an unknown nobody?"

Yang Qingyuan raised his hand, summoning the two flying swords back into his hands. Holding the swords, he sneered, "Good and evil will eventually be rewarded."

"Qingwen, your good days are over."

Qingwen felt as if all her strength had been drained away, and then with a "thud," she knelt down, lowered her head, and died.

Yang Qingyuan brandished his Long Rainbow Sword, scattering a burst of flames that ignited the corpses of Qingwen and Wu Jiuzhi. He then cast a spell to summon two storage bags, along with magical artifacts such as the Golden Lock Ring and the whisk, to his front.

At the same time, the temporary blessing effect of the "Kill" mantra gradually faded, and Yang Qingyuan's cultivation level also regressed to the sixth level of Qi Refining.

"He survived!" Wan Xiaoshan beamed with joy upon seeing Yang Qingyuan display such power, slaying Qingwen and Wu Jiuzhi. He put the bronze mirror into his robes and said, "I never expected Brother Yang to be so skilled!"

"My ancestors often taught me not to look down on independent cultivators, but my cousins ​​didn't take it seriously in the past."

"Today, I witnessed Brother Yang use his skills to kill two late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, proving that the Ancestor was right!"

"I never imagined that in the world of cultivation, there would be a way to become stronger simply by reciting poetry!"

"Brother Qingyuan is not only highly skilled, but also has outstanding literary talent."

"I, Wan Xiaoshan, am completely convinced!"

Yang Qingyuan explained, "Brother Xiaoshan, you flatter me. I only won by sheer luck."

"Now that these two are dead, let's divide these treasures as soon as possible and return to Tainan Valley."

Upon hearing this, Wan Xiaoshan rubbed his hands together, a shy smile on his face, and replied, "Killing Wu Jiuzhi and Qingwen was entirely Brother Yang's doing. How could I possibly share in Brother Yang's spoils?"

Yang Qingyuan did not keep the treasure for himself. Instead, he explained, "If Brother Xiaoshan hadn't used the bronze mirror magic weapon to block their attacks, I wouldn't have been able to kill them so easily."

"If Brother Xiaoshan feels bad about it, let's split it 70/30, with me taking 70%."

Wan Xiaoshan gave a shy smile and said ingratiatingly, "Eighty-two is fine, I'll take 20%."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan no longer objected and then opened Qingwen and Wu Jiuzhi's storage bags.

The two of them had quite a few items on them, including a total of sixty low-grade spirit stones, of which forty-six were blue-patterned and Wu Jiuzhi only had fourteen.

According to the 80/20 rule, Yang Qingyuan took forty-eight coins.

You should know that he didn't have a single low-grade spirit stone before, so he's become incredibly rich now.

As for various talismans, there were more than ten of them, all of which were basic talismans, with the highest being only intermediate level.

Yang Qingyuan realized that he had no means of defense, so he took away three Vajra Talismans.

This Vajra Talisman is a low-level, mid-grade defensive talisman of the metal element. At the Tainan Small Gathering, one of these talismans is worth nine low-grade spirit stones.

Next came the magical artifacts, a total of three: the superior-grade flying sword Azure Light Sword, the top-grade magical artifact Locking Gold Ring, and the superior-grade magical artifact whisk.

Yang Qingyuan vaguely remembered that when Qingwen fought Han Li in the Yue Kingdom's palace, he had used a set of top-grade defensive magic artifacts called "Qingmu Zhenzhao" (Azure Wood True Shield), but unfortunately he couldn't find it in his storage bag.

It must have been a treasure found after Qingwen established his foundation.

Yang Qingyuan focused his gaze on the Azure Light Sword and the Golden Lock Ring, and said thoughtfully, "Brother Xiaoshan, those talismans are yours, and the Azure Light Sword and the Golden Lock Ring are mine."

Wan Xiaoshan glanced at the pair of gold-locked rings a few more times, his eyes filled with envy.

After all, top-grade magic artifacts are usually in the hands of Foundation Establishment cultivators, not to mention that the Locking Golden Rings are part of a set.

It should be noted that Han Li spent a full 2,500 low-grade spirit stones to purchase a set of top-grade magic artifacts called "Red Thread Escape Needles" in Yuanwu Kingdom.

Although the set of gold-locking rings in front of me is not as good as the "Red Thread Escape Needle", it is not far behind. Not only is it heavy enough to be thrown out and hit people, but it can also imprison the cultivator's magic power.

However, considering that Yang Qingyuan was the one who killed Qingwen, Wan Xiaoshan had no choice but to nod in agreement. He picked up the whisk, examined it carefully, and chuckled, "This whisk is also a high-grade magic weapon, just right for a cultivator in the mid-stage of Qi Refining."

"This time I've really struck gold!"

The two then divided the treasure up completely.

Among the remaining treasures were some materials for refining weapons, some blank talisman paper, seven spiritual herbs that were over twenty years old, and a large bottle of a cultivator's essence blood.

Yang Qingyuan was a rogue cultivator with limited knowledge and could not recognize the origin of these materials.

On the contrary, Wan Xiaoshan knew all the ingredients like the back of his hand and named them all.

"Brother Yang, the most valuable items are this piece of fire-attribute Crimson Flame Iron and this piece of century-old ironwood." Wan Xiaoshan picked out a fist-sized red iron ingot and an arm-thick piece of black wood and presented them to Yang Qingyuan.

"This Crimson Flame Iron is a top-grade material for refining fire-attribute magic weapons, worth about five hundred spirit stones. Its attribute is perfectly matched with the Rainbow Sword in Brother Yang's hand. If we find a weapon refiner to reforge it, it might be able to be made into a top-grade fire-attribute flying sword."

"This piece of ironwood is estimated to be four or five hundred years old. It is a top-grade material for refining wood-attribute magic weapons and is worth about four hundred spirit stones. If it is used to reforge the Azure Light Sword, it may be possible to obtain a top-grade wood-attribute flying sword."

"I really don't know how many cultivators Qingwen killed to obtain these two materials."

Upon hearing this, Yang Qingyuan gladly accepted the two materials and put them into the storage bag at his waist. At the same time, he prepared to find a weapon refiner to reforge the two flying swords as soon as possible.

Finally, there are some cultivation techniques and common knowledge books on immortal cultivation, including a basic wood-attribute cultivation technique called "Qingmu Gong", a book called "Complete Collection of Low-Level Spells", a book that records various spiritual herbs called "Qiancao Ji", and an evil technique from Qingwen called "Heisha Shura Gong".

Wan Xiaoshan wasn't very interested in these classic texts, so he simply gave them all to Yang Qingyuan.

Yang Qingyuan wanted to broaden his horizons, acquire more knowledge, and cultivate a noble spirit, so he collected all these classic texts.

Wu Jiuzhi's storage bag also contained some gold, silver, and other valuables that ordinary people would use, presumably prepared for his activities in the secular world.

In addition to these gains, Yang Qingyuan was also surprised to find that the upper limit of his righteous energy, which was previously recorded as three zhang three zhi in the True Word Manual, had now become three zhang four zhi.

This is because when he faced Qingwen and others, he chose to stand up for them, punish the strong and help the weak, and save Wan Xiaoshan, which led to an improvement in his righteous spirit.

In addition, he also gained a preliminary understanding of the rate at which his righteous energy was consumed. He used the "Sword" mantra twice and the "Kill" mantra once, and in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he consumed a total of 50% of his righteous energy.

Of course, the consumed righteous energy will not affect the upper limit, and it will gradually recover later, just like magic power.

The difference is that magical power can be restored through meditation and taking elixirs, while righteous energy can only be restored through the cultivation of character by scholars, such as studying classics, calligraphy and painting, drinking tea and playing musical instruments.

Just as the two finished dividing the treasure, Qingwen and Wu Jiuzhi's corpses were burned to ashes.

"Huh? What's this?" Wan Xiaoshan saw a piece of animal hide in the pile of ashes, picked it up, and said in surprise, "Brother Yang's flying sword is at least a mid-grade magic weapon, yet the flames attached to it couldn't burn a piece of animal hide."

"It seems this animal hide scroll has some interesting origins."

Seeing this, Yang Qingyuan also leaned over to look at the animal skin scroll...