Immortal Life: Starting with Daily Last Words

About half an hour later, Yu Daoxuan arrived at a turquoise lake.

By this time, seventy or eighty cultivators had gathered by the lake, creating a noisy atmosphere.

His gaze swept quickly across the entire room.

Besides the dozens of fellow cultivators, there were more than a dozen unfamiliar faces, their eyes filled with vigilance and greed, but all of them were at the Qi Refining stage.

He spotted Song Yunshu and Hong Yongning in the crowd.

The former looked worried and anxious, her beautiful eyes darting around.

Yu Daoxuan immediately stepped forward and joined the two.

Seeing that he was safe and sound, Song Yunshu immediately relaxed her brows.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Yu Daoxuan changed the subject, asking, "Yun Shu, what exactly is the situation here? Has the Moon Shell been found?"

Song Yunshu replied, "Just now, several disciples of our sect discovered traces of the Moon Clam in this lake. The Moon Clam was consuming moonlight in the lake when they stumbled upon it."

"But the Moon Shell is extremely alert; it immediately submerged into the lake and disappeared after sensing the movement."

"A fellow disciple also entered the water, but unexpectedly, there was another powerful demonic beast in the lake, which devoured the disciple in an instant."

"Seeing that things were going badly, the remaining fellow disciples immediately activated their communication talismans, which is how we were summoned."

"However, the monster in the lake is very powerful, so no one dares to go into the water rashly. We can only wait here for Uncle He and the others to arrive."

As they spoke, the number of fellow cultivators gathered by the lake increased, but a few more independent cultivators also entered the island.

However, seeing so many Qingyuan Sect cultivators in front of them, these people only dared to stand far away on the periphery.

Not long after, three more powerful auras flew in from the depths of the island, their oppressive force sweeping across the lakeside, making it difficult for the Qi Refining cultivators to breathe.

The light faded away, revealing He Yiming and his two companions.

The group of cultivators who first discovered the Moon Shell's trail quickly stepped forward and explained what had happened.

After hearing what had happened, Han Zhengrong, the man in the blue robe, gave the other cultivators on the periphery a cold look.

Then he turned to He Yiming and the female cultivator with pale blue hair and said, "Senior Brother He, Senior Sister Zhong, we need to get rid of these annoying rogue cultivators first."

He Yiming thought the same thing, so he sent several inner disciples to drive away these cultivators.

Faced with the expulsion of the Qingyuan Sect, the dozen or so Qi Refining rogue cultivators dared not speak out in anger and could only leave the lakeside in a huff.

However, many of them were unwilling to give up and did not go far. They lurked among the trees on some hilltops, thinking of taking advantage of any opportunity to steal something.

Yu Daoxuan took in this scene and secretly became wary.

These rogue cultivators are like a persistent ailment. If He Yiming and his group end up in a mutually destructive situation with the monster in the lake, they will definitely try to seize the Moon Shell. Therefore, we need to pay attention to the movements in the surrounding mountains and forests.

At this moment, only the Qingyuan Sect cultivators remained on the lakeside.

He Yiming, Han Zhengrong, and the female cultivator Zhong Xiaotang of the Qianbi Sect joined forces, each unleashing their spiritual weapons.

Three powerful streams of magical energy simultaneously slammed into the lake, creating towering waves that caused the lake water to surge back dozens of feet.

Before long, a deafening roar came from the lake.

A giant serpent, over ten zhang long and entirely emerald green, burst out of the water, its scales gleaming coldly in the twilight.

"A mid-stage Tier 2 Azure Serpent!"

The cultivators by the lake were both surprised and suspicious when they saw the demonic snake appear in the lake.

What was astonishing was that this snake actually possessed mid-stage second-tier cultivation, with strength comparable to a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The question is that the Azure Water Serpent is of low-grade bloodline, and according to common sense, it can only reach the peak of the first rank at most in its entire life.

But this demonic serpent in front of them not only broke through the shackles of bloodline to reach the second tier, but also reached the mid-stage of the second tier.

This is such a strange thing; it's simply unbelievable.

In the crowd, Yu Daoxuan, who had quietly retreated to the back of the group, also lowered his head and pondered the reason.

In the cultivation world of the Great Li Islands, human cultivators artificially divide the strength of demonic beasts into six ranks, corresponding to the six realms of cultivation.

The strength of a demon beast is closely related to its bloodline, much like the spiritual root in a human being.

Monster bloodlines are divided into six levels: low-grade bloodline, mid-grade bloodline, high-grade bloodline, earth-grade bloodline, heaven-grade bloodline, and true spirit bloodline.

The stronger the bloodline of a demon beast, the greater its potential for future growth.

A low-grade bloodline demon beast's maximum strength growth is that of a first-tier demon beast, with strength equivalent to a human cultivator in the Qi Refining stage.

To upgrade one's strength to a second-tier demon beast, one needs to break free from the shackles of bloodline.

However, breaking free from the shackles of bloodline is as difficult as ascending to heaven, requiring an extraordinary stroke of luck and the acquisition of rare and precious materials.

Yu Daoxuan thus began to speculate that there might be a spiritual object in the lake that could purify bloodlines, which allowed the demonic snake before him to break through its shackles.

Moreover, the Moon Shell usually cultivates in this lake, which suggests that this lake may hold some kind of opportunity.

He Yiming was an experienced man, and seeing that the Azure Water Serpent was far stronger than its kind, he immediately guessed that the serpent must have encountered some kind of fortuitous opportunity.

Thinking of this, a hint of greed flashed in the eyes of all three.

They all intensified their attacks, intending to kill it and then thoroughly search its body or lair.

In an instant, magical power and demonic power collided violently, and the roar reverberated throughout the surrounding area.

The lake water was churned and surged, with huge waves crashing against the shore, forcing the group of Qi Refining cultivators to retreat repeatedly.

However, despite its ferocity and extremely strong scales, the Azure Water Serpent was ultimately no match for the combined attack of three Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After a long struggle, it was covered in wounds, with a huge gash at its seven-inch mark, its blood staining the lake water red.

Knowing he was no match for the enemy, he let out a mournful roar and, covered in wounds, fled to the bottom of the lake.

Seeing the Azure Water Serpent escape, He Yiming remained calm and methodical, setting up an array along the lakeside.

Then he handed the control array flag to his sister He Zhixia, instructing her to lead the fellow disciples on the shore to wait there and not allow other cultivators to approach. He and Han Zhengrong then leaped into the lake to search for traces of the Azure Water Serpent and the Moon Shell.

Upon hearing this, the cultivators of Qingyuan Sect all summoned their magical artifacts to be on guard around them.

However, not long after He Yiming and his two companions entered the lake, two large streaks of light rushed towards them from the distant horizon, the sound of them tearing through the air growing louder as they approached, and in an instant they landed on both sides of the lake.

"Why are people from Pingsha Island and the Wei family from Heishui here?"

Yu Daoxuan looked at the person who came in with a wary gaze.

This group consisted of more than thirty cultivators, divided into two camps.

One of them, dressed in plain white with embroidered sand patterns, was a disciple of Pingsha Island.

The other person, dressed in a black robe with dark silver patterns, was a member of the Wei family of the Blackwater.

Pingsha Island and the Wei family of Heishui both belong to the six major Zifu forces in Nanming Continent. Pingsha Island ranks second, with its overall strength second only to Qingyuan Sect. The two factions often have conflicts.

The atmosphere by the lake instantly became tense. The disciples of Qingyuan Sect gripped their magical artifacts tightly and looked warily at the two new groups of people.

At the head of the Pingsha Island group was a round-faced cultivator with a cultivation level of the ninth level of Qi Refining.

He seemed to recognize He Zhixia, a half-smile playing on his lips, and spoke first: "Fellow Daoist He, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

"No need for Fellow Daoist Tu to trouble yourself, I am perfectly fine."

He Zhixia's expression was indifferent, and her tone was neither warm nor cold.

The round-faced cultivator chuckled lightly, then abruptly changed the subject, pointing directly to the crux of the matter.

"On the way here, I heard that the Qingyuan Sect, in order to monopolize the rare and precious Moon Shell, forcibly drove away all fellow cultivators entering the mountain. Isn't your sect's behavior far too barbaric and domineering?"

He Zhixia frowned slightly and retorted coldly, "This item was first discovered by our Qingyuan Sect, and our fellow disciples perished in the jaws of demonic beasts because of it. Naturally, it belongs to our sect. Your arrival at the lakeside with your men suggests you intend to seize it by force?"

Upon hearing this, the leading cultivator of the Blackwater Wei family scoffed and stepped forward to chime in, "You can't be so absolute. The treasures of heaven and earth belong to the virtuous. Whoever encounters them first gets them. There's no such logic in the world. Since an opportunity has appeared, my Blackwater Wei family naturally has a right to participate."

"Hmph, then I'll see if your Blackwater Wei family has the guts."

He Zhixia stood firm, her tone sharp and unyielding.

As soon as she finished speaking, she subtly made a hand gesture behind her.

The surrounding Qingyuan Sect disciples understood immediately, secretly forming hand seals and concentrating their minds, their magical artifacts shimmering with spiritual light, ready to strike at any moment.

The round-faced Tu cultivator and the leader of the Blackwater Wei family exchanged a glance, both realizing that the Qingyuan Sect was ready to take action. At this point, further verbal arguing was pointless, so they stopped their provocations.

Instead, they instructed their respective disciples to act as allies, secretly guarding against a sudden attack from the Qingyuan Sect.

Suddenly, undercurrents surged on the lakeshore, ready to erupt at any moment.