Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

Pale blue specks of light filled the surroundings, shrouding Xiaochi Village in a thick fog. The Tianxie cultists, who were talking animatedly, were completely unaware of anything amiss and continued their conversation.

"That's right! If you ask me, the elders just want to hoard it all. If we really want to get more human pills, we have to rely on ourselves. There's a war going on in the north right now, and there are tons of refugees everywhere. Staying here guarding the main altar is just a waste of our lives!"

"The rebellion in northern Jiangzhou is that serious?" The voice sounded somewhat surprised.

"Never mind, that's not important. You've been talking about the Human Pill for so long, but what exactly is this Human Pill?"

"Young man, what's wrong with you? You don't even know about the Human Elixir? You must not have been listening to the sect's teachings properly, right?"

The Heavenly Evil Cult member who was speaking glanced at Mu An. Even though there was another person in front of him, he still didn't notice anything amiss and instead joined in the吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for complaining/criticizing).

"If you ask me, it's better not to listen. What kind of nonsense are they spouting? Forget it, the elders are heartless. Let me tell you about the Human Elixir instead."

Mu An narrowed his eyes, already condemning the entire Heavenly Evil Cult to death in his heart.

At this moment, he was contemplating whether to cut them down one by one, or to wipe the entire Xiaochi Village off the map, or perhaps to go through the slightly more trouble and build a Jingguan (a mound of corpses) here to deter other cults.

The cultists continued, "This Human Pill, as the name suggests, is a pill made from people we capture. We have to bleed and break their bones while they are still alive to extract their essence and blood, refine their bone marrow, and then use a high temperature of a thousand degrees to extract all the essence of the person."

It takes about three people to refine one pill. After consuming it, one's cultivation level will increase rapidly...

The pills refined by the elderly tend to be weak, the pills refined by the middle-aged have the most abundant qi and blood, and the pills refined by children have the most authentic flavor...

hum-

The longsword hummed softly, and a flash of sword light appeared at the entrance of Xiaochi Village.

what! ! !

You're not one of us! Who are you?

After a piercing scream, the Heavenly Evil Cultist, whose hands had been severed, stared at Mu An with bloodshot eyes.

Another member of the Heavenly Evil Cult also reacted, immediately reaching for his waist where his hidden weapon was located.

Mu An remained silent, but simply stomped the person to the ground, piling the two together and pinning them down with his left foot.

He used the Flowing Cloud to first cut off the two men's limbs, and then broke all the bones in their bodies at a speed that could be observed throughout.

Instead of killing the two cultists, he made them experience everything the person being refined into a human pill had gone through, just as the cultists had said.

He didn't even try to shut the cultists up, letting them scream loudly and attracting all the cultists in Xiaochi Village.

There were roughly two thousand people in total, the weakest of whom were at least second-rate in the martial arts world. There were twelve innate grandmasters, one of whom was on the verge of breaking through and was filled with bloodthirsty aura.

This is a scholar dressed in a white robe, looking refined and cultured. In a small town, he could easily win the hearts of countless young women.

With just one glance, Mu An knew that this person was extremely wicked, having devoured at least nearly ten thousand lives.

Looking at him through the art of observing qi, the bloodthirsty aura surrounding this person was almost tangible, like a demon emerging from the deepest hell.

As the leader of the Heavenly Evil Cult, Chen Ling had seen many storms. Even though Mu An had come knocking on his door and trampled two of his followers underfoot, he still maintained a humble tone.

"My sir, our sect has always been kind and courteous, and we believe in talking things out. It's better to resolve conflicts than to let them fester. Tell me what we've done to offend you, and we can discuss it calmly. Why resort to violence?"

Mu An glanced at the man who appeared to be the leader of the Heavenly Evil Cult, but he didn't speak, nor did he have any intention of arguing with the cult members.

He used his divine sense to cover the entire Xiaochi Village and continued to expand it towards Qingquan Mountain behind the village.

Only after finding the stronghold where the Heavenly Evil Cult was hiding the people did Mu An straighten up. He looked up at the sky shrouded in thick fog and murmured to himself.

"Thinking about it, we've already made quite a few mounds of skulls, so why not do something different this time..."

The leader of the Heavenly Evil Cult looked up at the sky, mimicking Mu An's posture. Everything within his sight was covered by thick fog.

"Where did this madman come from? There's nothing but fog in the sky, what's so interesting about it?"

Mu An's voice did not stop; instead, it took on a unique ethereal quality.

"For the past few years, I've been thinking about a question."

What exactly is a terrestrial deity?

Does one's spirit reside in heaven and earth, merging with them?

Controlling primordial energy and spiritual energy, stirring up the world and nature?

To truly understand the Great Dao within oneself, to unite with the Dao, and to embark on the true path of seeking the Dao?

No, none of these are true, or rather, not entirely. These are merely manifestations of terrestrial deities.

It converses with the sun, moon, and stars; it coexists with mountains, rivers, plants, and trees; it communicates with birds, beasts, insects, and fish; and it meets with all the spirits of heaven and earth.

Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, Heaven and Earth, nature—everything exists within the Dao.

Land immortals are beings who can communicate with the Dao. They call upon the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth respond to them.

This is the essence of terrestrial deities, and the reason for their immense power.

The sound stopped abruptly.

Under the horrified gaze of the Heavenly Evil Cult leader, Mu An pointed to the sky.

"Look, it's dawn."

As soon as he finished speaking, a five-colored halo pierced through the thick fog and illuminated the earth.

Endless brilliance dyed the thick clouds into colorful clouds, and a five-colored halo that blotted out the sun shone brightly in the sky.

The halo was a thousand feet in diameter, its radiance illuminating heaven and earth, coloring the entire world with the five colors of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth.

The air grew increasingly stagnant, and even breathing became a luxury at this moment.

On Qingquan Mountain, thousands of birds and beasts lay prostrate on the ground, and everything in the world seemed to freeze at that moment.

The vital energy within a radius of dozens of miles surged wildly, merging with the spiritual energy as the five-colored light wheel rotated, becoming indistinguishable from each other.

It wasn't spiritual energy that leveraged primordial energy, nor primordial energy that propelled spiritual energy; rather, the two forces were completely fused together, jointly forging this earth-shattering strike.

"boom----"

The light shield was inverted on the earth, and the power of the five elements washed over everything in the world.

The mountains and rivers shook, the earth trembled, and the thick clouds in the sky were dissolved by the surging energy.

After the light shield formed by the power of the five elements disappeared, a huge pit several miles wide and hundreds of meters deep appeared where Xiaochi Village should have been.

The entire village, along with everything that existed there, vanished in that single strike.

Only the still, undulating Qingquan Mountain witnessed everything that happened here.

At the edge of the pit, Mu An stood for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.

"A terrifying power, but unfortunately, it ultimately requires external assistance, and the preparation time is too long."

Deep within his consciousness, the ancient book, which had existed since time immemorial, trembled slightly, its surface shimmering with a silvery-white halo.

In the outside world, the clouds soared through the pit, rising and falling as if rejoicing over the power of their master.

Ten miles away, the soldiers dispatched by the governor of Jiangzhou fell off their restless horses and witnessed this astonishing scene.

They forgot to get up, forgot to think, and didn't even dare to utter a sound.

Nobody told them that they were traveling with gods this time!

Oops! It seems like I accepted a bribe not long ago. Could I have been sent to hell by the gods?

Only when Mu An appeared before them did they hurriedly kneel down, bowing with the utmost sincerity.

"What are you all standing there for? Go up the mountain and rescue the people!"

"Yes! I will certainly live up to the expectations of the divine being!"