Read Cultivation! My Augmented Statuses Have Unlimited Duration Chapter 141 - Double Reward online for free - AllNovelFull
Chapter 141: Double Reward
Gazing in the direction of the first ring, Jiang Li stared intently.
By this time, the dust had already dissipated and more elders had arrived. They had not expected this to happen.
As for the disciple of the Heaven and Earth Hall, he stood there indifferently, as if waiting for the expected cheers and praises.
However, the cheers did not come, there was only the stern reprimand of a few elders.
Jiang Li's hearing was far better than his vision, so he could still hear the voices over there clearly.
The content of the conversation was not difficult to guess. They were basically blaming the other party for how he could be so heavy-handed towards his fellow disciple. He should quickly put away his artifact and so on.
From the words of the elders, Jiang Li learned the name of that disciple from the Heaven and Earth Hall.
The surname was too long, but the given name should be "Karla".
This kind of name that was more like syllables should be the style of the variant humans.
He did not expect that the disciple who occupied the first ring of the Foundation Establishment realm was actually from a variant race.
The cultivation world was vast and flourishing with humans. There were all kinds of strange-looking and eccentric variant races, and they were not rare to begin with. Jiang Li had seen quite a few of them in the Immortal Ascension Pavilion's team, but the bulk of the people were undoubtedly still human.
However, the various races with fewer numbers and less developed culture did not live well among the humans in the Great Mountain Region.
This was especially true in the eyes of many countries. The variant races were not classified in detail for them. There were still many uncivilized tribes among the variant races.
This was also why most humans believed that the variant humans were savage and unreasonable existences. Naturally, they looked down on them from the bottom of their hearts.
Even when they entered the cultivation world, they would often suffer some bias.
In the Great Mountain Region, some sects were actually unwilling to accept outsiders as disciples. Even if they did, these disciples would most likely be pushed aside.
However, this variant race disciple, Karla, was able to enter the Heaven and Earth Hall, so it could be seen that his talent was extraordinary.
A dark look flashed across Karla's face, but he did not flare up. His rationality told him not to act rashly at this time.
He formed hand seals and struck the mountain peak. Immediately, it floated up and slowly shrank before finally landing in his hand.
On the arena that was smashed by the mountain peak, a flat and huge hole appeared.
The surrounding disciples could not help but suck in a cold breath. They were all secretly thinking if they could escape from such an attack.
In the hole, a metal artifact that looked like the body of a frying pan was stuck to the ground.
However, it was almost impossible to see its original appearance.
At this moment, the nearby disciples cried out in surprise. From the gap between the "frying pan" and the stage, a stream of blood suddenly flowed out.
The two elders stepped forward and pulled away the metal. There was a small pit below, and a disciple whose flesh no longer had any semblance of a human was squeezed inside.
"He's still alive! Someone come quickly!"
A group of Rejuvenation Hall disciples swarmed up, and two elders quickly made their move.
Instantly, the water and wood spell techniques erupted with vitality and rose up to a height of at least 30 feet in the air.
Jiang Li swallowed his saliva and stared blankly.
Ignoring the rules of the battle, he flew out of the arena and rushed over.
Unfortunately, his flying speed was still too slow. By the time he arrived, the soaring vitality had already dissipated.
Jiang Li who had just arrived at the edge of the arena sighed with regret for a long time, feeling endless regret.
So close. He was so close.
A few disciples that were maintaining order at the side originally wanted to make Jiang Li leave, but when they saw Jiang Li being so sorrowful, they thought that he knew that injured disciple well, so they couldn't bear to drive Jiang Li away and instead went up to comfort him in a friendly manner.
"Junior Brother, don't be so sad. He's still alive. With the help of the elders of the Rejuvenation Hall, he should still be able to be saved."
Jiang Li did not hear what that disciple said clearly, and he only nodded subconsciously before walking past them to the side of the injured disciple to watch.
He wanted to see if there was a chance to gain some buffs.
However, the first wave of high-intensity spell techniques was for the sake of saving the other party's life.
The injured person was squeezed by a huge external force, and all parts of his body were intertwined and deformed. If they continued to use spell techniques to accelerate his recovery, it would only make the abnormal tissues grow together. The future healing process would only be more troublesome.
Thus, after waiting for a long time, Jiang Li still did not see the Rejuvenation Hall unleash their spell techniques.
What the cultivators of the Rejuvenation Hall had to do now was protect the other party's core meridians with all their might. As long as he did not die, they could bring him back to the Rejuvenation Hall for treatment. He could definitely be saved.
They were busy surrounding the injured, and it was not good for Jiang Li to go up and disturb them.
He circled around the sunken area. While he was surprised by the terrifying might of the mountain peak's magic artifact, he also sighed with emotion at how ruthless the other party was.
Jiang Li picked up the artifact that had been completely deformed and destroyed.
He studied it carefully and utilized the limits of his imagination. Only then did he barely guess the original appearance of the artifact.
This thing that was turned into scrap metal should have been a huge bell.
Judging from the material, Jiang Li roughly determined the grade of this thing when it was intact. It should be low-grade Profound-rank.
However, such a treasure had been deformed to such an extent by the strange mountain.
He looked at the traces on the stage.
When that disciple faced the mountain peak, his actions were very decisive. While using the artifact given by his master to defend, he also decisively dug a hole.
Only then did he leave some room for himself before the final collision.
"Senior Sister Qi Yu, how are his injuries?"
A few minutes later, the disciples of the Rejuvenation Hall used their spiritual qi to carry the injured and were about to leave.
Jiang Li hurriedly grabbed Senior Sister Qi Yu and asked her about the situation.
"His life is saved. It's fine if his body is injured, but his Dao Foundation has been severely damaged. It's hard to say if he can still cultivate in the future."
With that, she followed the elder back to the Rejuvenation Hall.
With that kind of injury, they would have to reconnect his body like building blocks. It would naturally require a lot of manpower and effort.
That injured disciple dared to challenge the first ring of the Foundation Establishment realm, so he was naturally extremely confident in his strength.
In terms of overall strength, he should be ranked in the top three or four among the eleven people. This time, his Dao Foundation had been ruined. If he could not continue to cultivate in the future, it would be a pity.
Jiang Li glanced at Karla. The other party was still forcing a smile, but the viciousness and eerie darkness under his expression could almost freeze one's heart.
Because no one died in the end, Karla was not punished and could continue to participate in the martial arts competition.
But in his mind, if he won, everyone should cheer and scream for him.
That did not happen.
He did not think that his methods were ruthless, but he felt that it was all because of the other people's prejudices against him! It was all because he was a variant human!
Soon, the crowd dispersed. Under the work of several elders, the first arena was also repaired. The martial competition that had been paused for nearly an hour continued.
With the help of his Senior Brother from the Law Enforcement Hall, Qing Lie, Jiang Li had already proven his strength to the others. After two hours, he did not receive another challenge.
He himself flew to the second ring of the Foundation Establishment realm, wanting to advance further and challenge this higher ranking.
However, the dark horse Jiang Li finally encountered an insurmountable enemy here.
This senior brother looked ordinary and harmless, but his chain array formation was exquisite and profound. He advanced step by step in an intricate manner.
Due to the convenience of defending the ring, the other party had already begun setting up array formations after stepping onto the stage. After several rounds of fights, the entire ring had practically become his backyard.
Fighting him under such circumstances was simply a disadvantage to the extreme.
Although Jiang Li had talent in runes and array formations, after borrowing the array formation manual from Elder Lin Fengying, he had only looked at the cover and catalog. He had not even memorized it yet.
Therefore, he knew nothing about these strange arrangements in the ring. He brandished his iron fists and rampaged through the array formation. However, in the eyes of the outsiders watching the battle, he was just spinning in place.
That senior brother did not even cast a single spell technique. He had only relied on the might of the formation to torment Jiang Li.
On the other hand, a brilliant array formation did not even need to be set up on the ground. Jiang Li's intention to smash open the stage and forcefully break the formation was also foiled.
After failing several times in the end, Jiang Li could only obediently guard his third ring until the end of the martial competition.
It was worth mentioning that Shen Ruoshi, who was defeated by Jiang Li, went back to the arena in an injured state at the last moment.
However, because the fight with Jiang Li had exhausted too much of her turbid air heavy earth, or perhaps because she was afraid that she could not suppress the body cultivator with the Beast Blood Diagram, she did not choose to challenge Senior Brother Liu Bai again.
Instead, she challenged and defeated another disciple, taking the fifth place of the Foundation Establishment realm's competition.
Thus, after several rounds of intense battles.
The top six in the Foundation Establishment realm were finally decided.
On the first ring, the Heaven and Earth Hall's disciple, Karla.
On the second ring, the Talisman Formation Hall's disciple, Qiao Langxing.
On the third ring, the Demon Vanquishing Hall's disciple, Jiang Li.
On the fourth ring, the Demon Vanquishing Hall's disciple, Liu Bai.
On the fifth ring, the Heaven and Earth Hall's disciple, Shen Ruoshi.
On the sixth ring, the Alchemy Hall's disciple, Xin Wuguo.
The overall winner was the disciple of the Heaven and Earth Hall, Karla, who had won first place with the strange mountain artifact.
However, the focus of everyone's attention was not him, but Jiang Li, who had gotten third place in the Foundation Establishment realm's stage and first place in the Qi Refinement realm's stage with his Qi Refinement cultivation.
With his Qi Refinement cultivation, fighting to this extent meant that he was definitely way beyond someone who was first in the Foundation Establishment realm.
When Jiang Li's cultivation reached the Foundation Establishment realm, what level would his strength reach?
How powerful would the Foundation Establishment realm Jiang Li be? This topic was very popular in the outer sect.
Some people said that he would be invincible in the Foundation Establishment realm.
Some people said that Jiang Li could continue to battle those at a higher cultivation level and challenge the Core Formation realm!
After the martial arts competition ended, five Foundation Establishment cultivators, ten Qi Refinement cultivators, and fifteen disciples who were basically all injured boarded a spiritual crane raised by the sect.
They circled the venue in an extremely flashy manner before floating up to the floating Long Clear Hall.
Next was the reward after the hard work. All the winning disciples would receive the rewards personally given by the Valley Master under the observation of the elders.
Jiang Li stood on the back of the immortal crane and tried his best to assume a floating posture to complement the graceful aura of the immortal crane.
However, with his burly figure, it was difficult to look cool.
This kind of immortal crane was not a normal mount. After all, with the size of a spirit crane, it was too crowded to sit cross-legged on it. Most of the time, they could only stand on it and ride it. It was really not very practical.
Generally speaking, it would only be used as a venue for sect rituals.
After jumping down from the spirit crane, all the disciples quietly walked into the Long Clear Hall. The fifteen people stood in two rows. After bowing, they obediently stared at the ground in front of them, not caring about what they were looking at.
Then, they went up according to their rankings.
The reward for first place in the Foundation Establishment realm was a Scripture Hall token, an artifact, and a bag of spirit stones.
The reward for second place in the Foundation Establishment realm was a Scripture Hall token and an artifact.
Jiang Li was ranked third, and it was soon his turn to stand in front of the Valley Master and the elders.
He cupped his hands and bowed as usual. Compared to the last time he entered the inner sect, he was much calmer now.
"Little Jiang Li, oh Little Jiang Li. The last time I saw you was when you entered the inner sect, right? It's only been a few months. I didn't expect to see you again in the Long Clear Hall so soon."
Daoist Wushe smiled at Jiang Li, causing him to feel a little embarrassed.
"It is this disciple's greatest honor to be able to stand in the Long Clear Hall again to greet the Valley Master and the elders."
On such occasions, Jiang Li had always been rather polite. After all, even if those in power asked you to relax, you could not act out of line.
"There's no need to be so reserved. You performed extremely well in this martial arts competition. It seems that I was right to make you acknowledge Junior Brother He as your master."
Behind them, the iron-towered Elder He pretended to nod reservedly, but everyone could see the smug smile on his face.
In this sect martial competition, the first place was still taken by the disciple of the Heaven and Earth Hall.
However, because of Karla's excessive action in the last match, although he was not punished, the elders were still a little unhappy.
Coupled with Jiang Li, a freak at the Qi Refinement realm, and Senior Brother Liu Bai occupying the third and fourth positions, the greatest winner was naturally the Demon Vanquishing Hall.
"Master, I owe this to your teachings, my debt to you is as heavy as a mountain. I, Jiang Li, will always be grateful."
As he spoke, Jiang Li and Elder He glanced at each other. The other party's gaze was obviously saying that there were extra benefits after returning to the sect.
The Valley Master, Daoist Wushe, nodded with a smile. Having taught him an important technique like the Beast Blood Diagram, it was a huge debt indeed.
"This is your reward. Just like your master said, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
The Valley Master took a tray from a disciple beside him, and then he personally handed it to Jiang Li.
"Hehe, thank you Valley Master, thank you Master, thank you elders."
Jiang Li took the tray and there were three items on it.
A token, a pair of boots, and a porcelain bottle.
He turned around and walked back to the line of disciples, only to see everyone looking at him with envious expressions.
This was because Jiang Li's reward for third place seemed to be even more generous than the reward of the first place Karla.
Next, Liu Bai and the others' rewards were only one Scripture Hall token.
After the Foundation Establishment reward ended, they retreated to the side and nine Qi Refinement realm disciples stepped forward.
"Senior Brother Liu Bai, help me hold this."
Jiang Li handed the tray in his hand to Senior Brother Liu Bai, and then under their stunned gazes, he ran to the front of the group of Qi Refinement cultivators.
Not only was Jiang Li third in the Foundation Establishment realm, but he was also first in the Qi Refinement realm. Naturally, he could receive another reward.
Everyone looked at him speechlessly and enviously.
Jiang Li stepped forward and received another tray from Daoist Wushe.
This time, there was a token and a bronze-colored Heart Protection Mirror on the tray.
"You can't slack off in your cultivation in the future. The sect hopes that you can reach Foundation Establishment soon."
Daoist Wushe faced Jiang Li who walked up again. This time, even the Valley Master could only say a few words.
After the rewards were given out, the sect would even hang their names on the list for ten days in the inner and outer sect. These fifteen people could be considered to have gained a great reputation in the sect.
When he left the Long Clear Hall, Jiang Li did not immediately leave with Elder He and Senior Brother Liu Bai.
Instead, he chased after the several disciples that he had defeated.
The close range sword cultivator Mu Luo, Ma Donggui who had a lightning spiritual root, Qing Lie who was a disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall, and Shen Ruoshi who was a disciple of the Heaven and Earth Hall.
Jiang Li used the social etiquette of an adult in his previous life to express his 'sincere' apologies to them. At the same time, he also sent them a bottle of decent healing pills.
Jiang Li's attitude made the four disciples who had lost to him feel overwhelmed by favor.
Even towards the most overbearing law-enforcement disciple, Qing Lie, Jiang Li showed him sufficient kindness.
Not only did he not mention the fact that he wanted to take advantage of the injured earlier, he even explained to the other disciples of the Law Enforcement Hall that Senior Brother Qing Lie had actually been lenient in the arena and thus lost by accident.
With a few words, he alleviated the embarrassing situation for the other party.
The other party had already been beaten into submission by Jiang Li. At this moment, Jiang Li knew from his faintly grateful gaze that this guy who might have been his enemy had turned into his friend.
After some pleasantries, the results were indeed impressive.
With Jiang Li's current reputation as a genius and his enthusiastic attitude, very few people would choose to reject his friendship.
In the end, the four of them all expressed their gratitude and invited Jiang Li to their hall in the future.
As such, other than the closest Demon Vanquishing Hall and Rejuvenation Hall…
There were Senior Sister Little Four of the Alchemy Hall, Senior Sister Shen Ruoshi of the Heaven and Earth Hall, Qing Lie of the Law Enforcement Hall, Ma Donggui of the Foreign Affairs Hall, and Mu Luo of the Internal Affairs Hall.
Among the twelve halls of the sect, Jiang Li already had friends in more than half of them.
There was also Elder Weng Sanqi from the Mystic Gate Hall. Furthermore, because Jiang Li had learned how to draw runes in the Weapon Refinement Hall, he had some ties there as well.
If he had any needs in the sect in the future, Jiang Li could ask someone to help. This was the benefit of building one's social relationships.
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Chapter 142: Stepping On Air, Flying Among the Clouds
After the martial arts competition ended, Elder He let the two disciples return to rest and recuperate their injuries.
This was especially true for Jiang Li's 'leg injury'. Elder He instructed him to exercise more these few days and pay a visit three days later.
Jiang Li dragged his 'injured leg' back to his small courtyard.
As soon as he returned to his quiet room, he immediately took out the five items rewarded by the sect's martial arts competition.
Firstly, it was the token that was almost standard for the fifteen disciples.
According to the rankings, the usage duration of each token was different.
Jiang Li had two in his hands. One was as long as 24 hours, and the other was as long as 16 hours.
However, it was a pity that the sect did not allow them to split up the allocated time in each token for separate uses. To Jiang Li, these two tokens were actually of no difference in value.
Coupled with the token that Jiang Li obtained when he entered the inner sect earlier, which was only two hours long, he already had three Scripture Hall tokens in his possession.
Due to the characteristics of the Scripture Imparting Hall, before the completion of a single scripture transmission, if one entered the room with the same character again, they would automatically be reconnected to the previous scripture until it was completed.
For Jiang Li himself, the 'Spirit' Scripture Hall was already meaningless to him.
At the very least, he no longer had to enter this hall until the 'Great Carefree Bodhisattva Heart Sutra' was completed.
As for the length of the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra, Jiang Li roughly calculated that it would take 30,000 days which was nearly a century to complete the sutra without sleep and rest.
Even if Jiang Li's Enlightenment and Mind attributes obtained a considerable increase later on, and the speed at which he comprehended the scripture increased greatly, it would still take many years.
Thus, considering the four rooms of 'Spirit', 'Dharma', 'Body', and 'Technique', the three tokens in his possession were already sufficient for Jiang Li to gather the remaining scriptures he needed.
Spirit refinement cultivation method, qi cultivation method, body cultivation method, and Dao spell technique.
Jiang Li currently possessed the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra and the Beast Blood Diagram, two top-notch inheritances.
If he could obtain a few more cultivation methods that were not inferior to the Earth Dust Scripture and Square Heaven Seal, he would make a killing.
However, it would be a waste to use the 24 hours and 16 hours tokens directly.
It would be best if he could exchange it with other disciples and see if he could exchange the extra time for some other benefits.
After putting away the three tokens, Jiang Li looked at the other three items.
First of all, the Heart Protection Mirror was a typical defensive artifact. However, the special thing was that this artifact did not require cultivators to take the initiative to use it. Instead, it would automatically activate according to the aura of the wearer.
At the critical moment, such as an assassination attempt, the wearer might be saved.
However, this thing's grade was not very high. It was only high-grade Yellow-rank, and its defense was still quite limited. It could only be used for insurance and emergencies, and was not suitable for direct combat.
This Heart Protection Mirror was divided into two parts. After Jiang Li activated it, he stuck it to his chest and back.
Jiang Li picked up the porcelain bottle again. One could tell that it was a very high-grade porcelain bottle just by touching it.
He carefully opened the porcelain bottle and took a sniff. What came out was the smell of blood.
Since Jiang Li stepped into the cultivation world, he had experienced various battles. He had seen many mortals, cultivators, demon beasts, Yin Corpses, and various types of blood. He believed that he could not be wrong.
However, the liquid inside did not have any stench. Instead, it had a slight fragrance of plants.
This smell…
Jiang Li licked his lips as a slight flush appeared on his face.
For some reason, the liquid in the bottle made Jiang Li feel as if his blood was surging and stirring.
He closed the bottle cap again. After a long time, the flush on Jiang Li's face finally slowly faded.
Before parting with the other members of the Demon Vanquishing Hall, Elder He had specially instructed them not to use the things in the bottle recklessly and to wait for his instructions.
Presumably, this was the reward that Elder He had specially obtained for Jiang Li.
Using appraisal, he only knew that this thing was called [Blood Essence, but as for how it was used and what use it had, he did not know.
However, with Elder He's understanding of Jiang Li, this thing should be more suitable for his current situation. There was no need for him to worry about it.
He temporarily put away the porcelain bottle, leaving only the pair of boots.
He looked at a wooden sign hanging on the boots.
Cloud-Treading Boots
Hmm? Wasn't this an artifact that could help him walk on air?
Jiang Li was instantly slightly disappointed by this. Merely stepping on air was not rare in the cultivation world.
Even the wood pieces that Jiang Li had casually carved could allow him to achieve such a feat to a certain extent.
Previously, he had asked Yan Hong to help him purchase similar items. The pair of shoes previously were called air-stepping boots, a medium-grade Yellow-rank item.
He had originally wanted to use this kind of artifact to replace the rune wood pieces, in case he had to throw out wood pieces to barely step on air during aerial combat.
However, he later discovered that although that kind of artifact could indeed fly, the weight it could withstand was too small.
Jiang Li had tried it before. It was indeed possible to walk in the air, but the weight of a cultivator could not even exceed 200 kilograms, otherwise, they would not be able to withstand the slow decline.
This was very unfriendly to fat cultivators, but even more so to Jiang Li. This bit of air-treading ability was simply not enough to support him in flying.
Wait.
Jiang Li suddenly noticed the additional words at the bottom of the wooden sign.
Grade, low-grade Profound-rank!
A low-grade Profound-rank artifact was more than a hundred times more valuable than a medium-grade Yellow-rank artifact.
How could a pair of Cloud-Treading Boots have such a grade?
Jiang Li was a little puzzled, but the sect could not be so stingy.
Could it be… that this thing could help him step on air?
As Jiang Li thought about it, he felt a little excited.
He immediately took off his pair of leather boots reinforced with steel plates and put on the Cloud-Treading Boots.
Under the effect of the Armored Horse Divine Travel, his legs, which were already extremely light, seemed to become weightless.
Jiang Li walked out of the cultivation chamber and looked at the spacious courtyard. It felt a little small.
He directly opened the spirit array and gently sent spiritual qi to his feet. Immediately, a solid feeling was felt.
In front of Jiang Li, it was as if an invisible staircase appeared, and he walked up into the sky step by step.
Jiang Li took a step forward and continuously adjusted the output of his spiritual qi to sense the feedback of the Cloud-Treading Boots.
Due to the fact that Jiang Li's Mind attribute was several times stronger than before and his Parallel Mind was active in his body, his control over artifacts and all aspects was much stronger than before. His adaptation to new things was also faster.
When he rose to a height of 20 meters, Jiang Li had already grasped the initial method to control this artifact.
Disciples were not allowed to fly openly in the sect. Jiang Li could only maintain a height of around twenty meters so that he would not be seen by the disciples outside the Demon Vanquishing Hall.
Then, he raised his foot and kicked hard behind him.
Bang!
Behind Jiang Li, a large area of the air seemed to have been struck by a large hammer, and it emitted a strange muffled sound.
He was clearly stepping on air, but Jiang Li felt as if he had stepped on a stone wall.
A huge reaction force was felt, causing Jiang Li to be like an arrow that left the bow, instantly shooting forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
As he flew forward, Jiang Li was still trampling on the air, and the air behind him emitted muffled sounds repeatedly.
As the strength of his feet increased, his flying speed increased, and the muffled sounds behind him gradually became explosive sounds.
This commotion caused many of the disciples below to look up.
But when they looked up, they saw nothing.
The series of explosions grew farther and farther away.
As he ran to the training ground, the pitch-black Dragon Imprisoning Lock suddenly shot out and wrapped around a human-shaped iron target below, instantly pulling it into the air.
Jiang Li suddenly stepped to the side, his figure abruptly changing direction.
Moving in all directions, he walked in the air was like walking on flat ground.
In the air, one could barely see a white shadow. One turned into two, two into four, four into eight, eight into sixteen.
Afterimages tore through the air as they let out sharp cries. In just a few breaths, they had already swept past the solid iron target hundreds of times.
The heavy iron target was sent flying in the air, but it did not land on the ground after a long time. Iron fists landed on it one after another, and fist imprints floated on the surface.
After receiving continuous attacks, the iron target could not land. The huge impact could not reach the ground, and it collided with the target. More and more cracks appeared on the surface, but in the end, it could not endure it and exploded into pieces.
The iron targets used by the disciples of the Demon Vanquishing Hall were extremely sturdy, but under Jiang Li's iron fists, they could only end up like this.
The figure in the air slowly slowed down. Jiang Li took a few more steps before slowly landing on the ground.
Just as Elder He had said, he was very satisfied with these Cloud-Treading Boots.
Jiang Li's legs were augmented by the Armored Horse Divine Travel buff that he had obtained from the ancient talisman so his speed had always been shockingly swift.
Even Senior Sister Liu Mulan, who specialized in agility and speed, could only watch him from behind.
If he was on flat and hard ground, his running speed would always be faster than flying.
However, due to the complicated terrain and the fact that the soft soil could not withstand his feet, it was more convenient for him to fly with his artifact most of the time.
But with these boots, things were different.
If someone bullied Jiang Li for not being good at flying next time, they would probably die an ugly death.
The next day, at the location of the Scripture Storage Valley's Foreign Affairs Hall.
Jiang Li brought a nervous Yan Hong to visit.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Jiang Li!"
At the entrance of the Foreign Affairs Hall, an outer sect disciple who was guarding the door was first stunned when he saw Jiang Li, and then he immediately recognized the superstar. Immediately, he bowed, cupped his hands, and greeted respectfully.
"Senior Brother Jiang Li, why have you come to the Foreign Affairs Hall?"
The Foreign Affairs Hall was in charge of external matters, and its scope of influence was very wide.
Apart from purchasing artifacts, medicinal pills, and selling the products of the sect and other basic duties, all external operations were under their jurisdiction.
Even for the extermination of demons by the Demon Vanquishing Hall, they would often require their assistance in building a stronghold for supplies.
"Junior Brother, there's no need to stand on ceremony. We're here to visit Senior Brother Ma Donggui. We need Junior Brother's help to guide the way!"
Jiang Li's enthusiastic intention to deliberately make friends yesterday was naturally not to find something to do out of boredom.
It was because Jiang Li really needed them.
Under the guidance of that registered disciple, the two of them walked into the region of the Foreign Affairs Hall.
This was completely different from the training facilities in the Demon Vanquishing Hall.
At least half of the buildings in the Foreign Affairs Hall were warehouses. There were even many things placed on both sides of the road.
Yan Hong followed beside Jiang Li. His eyes lit up when he saw the goods by the roadside.
Jiang Li did not know many of these things, but Yan Hong, who had been in the trading area for a long time, knew them well.
Typically, with just a glance, he could tell the location and quality of the goods and quickly determine the price range of this thing on the market.
Buying as much as he could at the price and earning as much as possible, exposing the fake goods of unscrupulous businessmen, and being careful in all transactions.
It could be seen that Yan Hong had indeed learned a lot during the past half a year in the trading area.
In any case, even if he had three heads, Jiang Li would not be able to do such a thing.
"Senior Brother Jiang Li, this is the place. I still have to guard the door, so I'll take my leave first."
The disciple took his leave, and Jiang Li went up to knock on the door.
"Who is it? Didn't I tell you that I won't be seeing anyone these few days!"
Ma Donggui's native accent sounded from the door. From his tone, it could be seen that this guy's status in the Foreign Affairs Hall was not low.
Jiang Li had previously learned about Ma Donggui's background. He was not recruited through the Immortal Ascension Pavilion's Assembly.
He was an orphan who was brought back from a rural area when the Head Elder of the Foreign Affairs Hall was out traveling to gather a rare spiritual material.
Afterwards, after being tested for a rare mutated lightning spiritual root, he was directly taken under the tutelage of the Head Elder.
Under normal circumstances, such a talented disciple would not be accepted by the Foreign Affairs Hall. However, he had actually encountered one.
Due to their affinity, the Head Elder of the Foreign Affairs Hall adored Ma Donggui very much. He was not stingy with the investment of various cultivation resources.
Ma Donggui did not need to learn or handle the matters of the Foreign Affairs Hall and only needed to cultivate in peace.
His status in the Foreign Affairs Hall was only that of a disciple, but no matter which elder it was, they had to consider it carefully before offending him.
"Junior Brother Jiang Li? Why have you come?"
Ma Donggui did not wear a shirt and was still wrapped in some bandages. It seemed that the injuries from Jiang Li's talisman explosion had not completely recovered.
His physique was worlds apart from that man who possessed a cheat.
"I said yesterday that I would pay you a visit. Don't tell me I'm not welcomed?"
After Jiang Li handed over a beautifully wrapped gift with a smile, he was enthusiastically invited in.
Ma Donggui came from a rural area. Such a person could only rely on himself all along, be it begging for food or working for others.
Don't be fooled by his simple and honest appearance. He was much more knowledgeable about the status between people than ordinary people.
If not for the fact that Jiang Li had a genius aptitude and was also the disciple of the Head Elder of the Demon Vanquishing Hall, he would not have given him so much respect.
One had to know that a lightning spiritual root cultivator was even more violent and rash than a fire spiritual root cultivator.
After a round of chatting, after Ma Donggui poured a cup of tea for Jiang Li, he got straight to the point and asked about Jiang Li's purpose for coming.
"The martial arts competition has just ended. Junior Brother Jiang Li is injured and is probably not here to drink tea."
"I'm a boorish person and don't know too much. If Junior Brother Jiang Li needs anything, I definitely won't refuse."
He said that about himself, but how could he be more boorish-looking than the current Jiang Li?
"I'm ashamed to say this. I have a favor to ask of you despite coming to visit for the first time."
"Senior Brother Ma, let me introduce you. This is my good friend from the same hometown called Yan Hong. He's quick-witted and is quite proficient in doing business."
"Junior Brother, I came here today to ask for a registered disciple position for him."
Jiang Li had already thought about this matter for a long time. No matter if it was him or Yan Hong, it was greatly beneficial to both of them. Now that the time was ripe, he naturally had to deal with it.
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Chapter 143: Transaction and Objective
"Registered disciple?"
Ma Donggui was stunned. He looked Yan Hong up and down, as if he was thinking for a moment, then quickly nodded.
"Alright, no problem. Since Junior Brother Jiang Li has spoken, I'll agree on behalf of my master. This is just a registered disciple position after all."
He did not know who Yan Hong was, but since Jiang Li had come to visit, he had to give him face.
Looking back at the past, Jiang Li had barely obtained the status of a registered disciple after three months of testing pills and constantly being at the risk of "death". Now, with his status, he could get it with a few words.
The difference in status was so great that it made people feel helpless.
Of course, this was also because he had found the right person.
With Ma Donggui's influence in the Foreign Affairs Hall, he could even arrange for one or two people to be supervisors in the sect's spirit stone mine. That was a top-notch job in the Foreign Affairs Hall.
Helping him become a registered disciple was naturally a simple task.
"Senior Brother Ma is so kind. I'm truly grateful."
Jiang Li thanked him repeatedly, but after a pause, he put on an expression that showed he had something to say but was hesitant.
"However, this thick-skinned Junior Brother has one more favor to ask."
"This matter is quite troublesome and might make Senior Brother feel troubled. I'll apologize in advance."
"Perhaps Senior Brother Ma can take a look at this first."
Jiang Li smiled as he spoke, explaining that he had something to ask of the other party. After that, he pressed a metal token on the table and pushed it towards the other party.
Jiang Li had spent a lot of effort to throw Yan Hong into the Foreign Affairs Hall, but it was not just to make him a registered disciple to run errands.
What Jiang Li needed was for Yan Hong to make use of the name of the sect and protect him when doing business outside.
But to grasp his own benefits, freedom and power were essential.
The best situation was to let them open another store in one of the large trading centers in the Great Mountain Region and let Yan Hong manage it.
In regards to this, the price Jiang Li offered was fourteen hours of scripture imparting time.
Jiang Li indicated that he was willing to use the token awarded to the first place in the Qi Refinement realm to exchange for a token that was only two hours long.
When Ma Donggui heard that Jiang Li still had something to ask of him, he was originally a little unhappy.
However, his eyes immediately widened when he saw the token Jiang Li pushed over.
When he saw this gaze, the smile on Jiang Li's face became even more brilliant. He knew that the other party was already moved.
Jiang Li immediately stated his needs.
A store that completely conformed to the rules of the Scripture Storage Valley and was under the name of the Foreign Affairs Hall. It would be protected by the sect but was independently managed.
Hearing this request, even Ma Donggui showed hesitation.
This was no longer a request that he could make his own call. Even the other elders of the Foreign Affairs Hall did not have the authority to approve it. It had to be approved by his master, the Head Elder of the Foreign Affairs Hall, personally.
Jiang Li's request was really not small.
Ma Donggui looked down at the token, weighing the pros and cons in his heart.
First, it was certain that he could handle this matter.
Or rather, besides him, it would be difficult for Jiang Li to find anyone in the Foreign Affairs Hall. Those ordinary elders did not have the authority to make such a decision.
However, given how much the Head Elder of the Foreign Affairs Hall doted on him, as long as he put in a good word, it was very likely to succeed. If he was unlucky and failed, he could at most beg for it.
In addition, he did not intend to reject this deal.
One had to know that cultivators with dual-attribute spiritual roots were already relatively rare among cultivators.
Cultivators with mutated spiritual roots were even rarer than that. In the entire Scripture Storage Valley, if all the inner and outer sect disciples were to gather together, the number of mutated spiritual roots would be less than five.
In contrast to their precious and powerful abilities, relevant inheritances were hard to find.
Even if the cultivators with dual-attribute spiritual roots, including Jiang Li, could not find cultivation methods and Dao techniques that completely matched their attributes, they could still cultivate and use a single-attribute inheritance.
However, it was different for mutated spiritual root cultivators.
Ma Donggui, who was sitting in front of Jiang Li, might have been a disciple of the sect for seven or eight years, but it was very likely that he had grasped fewer spell techniques than Jiang Li.
When he was fighting in the sect, he used the Five Heart Lightning over and over. It was not that he did not want to use other spell techniques, but it was very likely that he did not know other moves.
With his status, it was naturally impossible for him to not obtain the lightning attribute inheritance in the Scripture Storage Pavilion.
However, it was precisely because mutated lightning spiritual roots were rare that there were not many such predecessors in the Scripture Storage Valley.
Therefore, the Scripture Storage Valley's Scripture Imparting Hall became his final hope.
Amongst the many disciples of the Scripture Storage Valley, everyone wanted to obtain the inheritance token.
In the Scripture Imparting Hall, if one was lucky, there was a chance that a peerless cultivation method would be passed down.
If he was unlucky, it could guarantee that he would be able to obtain an ancient high-grade inheritance and reach a higher level of enlightenment at least.
As for the Scripture Imparting Hall, to the lightning spiritual root disciple, Ma Donggui, it was not as simple as just icing on the cake. His requirements were the most rigid. He could not avoid it unless he stopped cultivating.
"Your request is acceptable! However, I want that 24-hour Scripture token!"
Ma Donggui licked his lips. His gaze moved away from the token and he looked into Jiang Li's eyes as he spoke.
Presumably, he had learned the content of Jiang Li's reward from the Head Elder of the Foreign Affairs Hall.
The Scripture Hall token could be exchanged for with the contributions of all the inner sect disciples, but the price was extremely high. Even he, the disciple of the Foreign Affairs Hall's Head Elder, could not easily afford it.
The truth was that the fourteen hours of scripture imparting that Jiang Li quoted was already enough.
However, the 24 hour token could allow him to listen to the scripture for an entire day and night. It was something that he had never attempted in all these years.
He had to fight for it no matter what.
Of course, Ma Donggui was not going overboard. Jiang Li's status was not inferior to his, and his talent in body cultivation was so exaggerated. There was no benefit in offending Jiang Li.
So before Jiang Li could speak, he continued.
"Junior Brother, don't be angry. I'm not a greedy person. Let me explain first. If you're not satisfied, then we can continue with your earlier suggestion."
Jiang Li smiled and nodded, waiting very calmly for the other party to throw out his side of the bargain.
"Junior Brother Yan Hong is proficient in the ways of merchants. You should understand that wanting to run a store is definitely not something that can be done with just a safety net."
"Whether the transportation is safe or not, whether the speed is fast or slow, whether the goods are complete or not, whether the quality is good or bad, whether there are stable and cheap supply channels, the finished processing after the purchase of materials, and many other aspects."
"If you want to run a successful store, you need a lot of other support."
Although Ma Donggui had never really learned these things in the Foreign Affairs Hall, he had been exposed to these things for many years and knew quite a bit of basic common knowledge.
Jiang Li glanced at Yan Hong, and his expression was filled with extreme excitement and worry.
He was excited because the price the other party was talking about was simply something he dreamed of. If these things were gathered together, it was equivalent to getting a hen that could lay spirit stones everyday.
For a shop with such conditions, even a fool would find it hard to lose spirit stones.
On the other hand, he was worried about how precious the things that Jiang Li had sacrificed would be if he was able to obtain such generous conditions.
"Senior Brother Ma, what do you mean?" Jiang Li asked the obvious.
"If Junior Brother Jiang Li is willing, you can give me a 24-hour Scripture Hall token."
"In return, Junior Brother's store will receive the same treatment as the sect's own branch stores. The goods in the Foreign Affairs Hall will be bought by you at their original price."
"Due to the fact that this store will manage its own spirit stones, if Junior Brother Jiang Li doesn't have enough spirit stones to fill up the stock, the Foreign Affairs Hall can still lend another batch of goods first to make your shop look bustling."
Jiang Li smiled and was very satisfied with this. He took back the 16-hour token and pressed the 24-hour token on the table.
"In that case, I'll have to trouble Senior Brother Ma."
Ma Donggui was overjoyed, and he also handed a token that was only two hours long to Jiang Li.
As expected of the disciple of the Head Elder of the Foreign Affairs Hall, he was straightforward.
Jiang Li originally only wanted to set up a safe store and get Yan Hong to help him collect some things he needed outside.
However, he did not expect the other party to directly agree to give him a fully equipped logistics store with a good supply chain.
One had to know that it was not difficult for such a store to support a medium-sized cultivation clan. From now on, it would not be an exaggeration to say that their wealth would increase greatly.
After the matter was settled, both sides chatted merrily.
Evidently, both sides were very satisfied with this transaction.
To Jiang Li, as long as the status appeared when he was comprehending the scripture, he could keep the buff forever.
Not to mention the length of two hours, even a minute was more than enough.
The extra time was just sitting in the preaching room and wasting resources. It did not benefit him at all.
To Ma Donggui, there was actually no need for him to pay anything. All he had to do was speak and massage his master's shoulders and make tea. This matter would be completed easily.
He could use his authority to obtain the scripture token he needed, why not?
After coming out of Ma Donggui's courtyard, he brought Jiang Li and Yan Hong to settle the procedures for becoming a registered disciple.
In order to express his sincerity, Yan Hong's registered disciple status was directly registered under the name of the Head Elder. Although it was only a slight difference in name, it was enough to provide Yan Hong with considerable help in his future actions.
After settling the matter, they walked around the Foreign Affairs Hall under Ma Donggui's lead before bidding farewell and leaving.
Ma Donggui directly promised that he would come to the Foreign Affairs Hall to choose a location for the shops in three days. Jiang Li did not doubt it and left with Yan Hong.
If Jiang Li's status was low and he had no one to rely on, then not to mention directly handing over the token, he would utterly not have any intention of making a deal.
However, he had the backing of Elder He now. At the very least, no one in the sect would dare to directly take his things without fulfilling their promise.
"Jiang Li, what exactly is the Scripture Hall token you mentioned? It should be an extremely precious treasure, right?"
Yan Hong was still brooding over the "huge" price that Jiang Li had paid.
As an outer sect disciple, he did not have any way to know about the Scripture Imparting Hall.
However, this token could be exchanged for such treatment from the Foreign Affairs Hall. Even if he was beaten to death, he would not believe that it was something ordinary.
Not only did Jiang Li use his connections to make him become a registered disciple of the Foreign Affairs Hall, but he even paid such a price in exchange for such a store to be managed by him.
Yan Hong only felt that he owed this good friend more and more things. If he did not repay this favor, he would not have the face to address Jiang Li as a good brother in the future.
"The Scripture Hall token is a tool used to enter the sect's mystic realm. It's my reward from the last sect martial competition."
"Its value is naturally not small, but don't feel too pressured. If that store is run properly, it can earn back the amount in five to ten years."
Jiang Li gave an ideal estimate. Ordinary inner sect disciples would have to work themselves to death for a long time to exchange contribution points for two hours of scripture preaching.
24 hours was a long period of time. If he wanted to use the shops to earn back equivalent spirit stones, he would have to run the shop very well.
Furthermore, sect contribution points could be exchanged for spirit stones, but spirit stones could not be exchanged for sect contribution points.
The Scripture Hall token could not be exchanged for spirit stones, so the difference had to be slightly reduced.
"Also, do you still remember the fifteen ghostwood tree wooden stakes?"
"For different cultivators, the value of resources is not absolute."
"The token is of average value to me. Instead, it's the things you collect for me outside that are truly useful. I'm helping you, but you're helping me too, understand?"
"Right, have the channels outside been opened? How many demons are willing to work for us?"
Jiang Li noticed that his persuasion was of no use, so he simply changed the topic and started discussing serious matters.
This was also the reason why he wanted Yan Hong to open a store outside the sect other than earning spirit stones.
"I've asked my subordinates to run around and contact quite a number of places. Those small demons are quite tactful and basically didn't refuse."
"However, other than the fox demons, the rat demons, and the yellow-skinned demons, most of the other demons are not interested in gold and silver."
"They want something beneficial to their cultivation, but the value of medicinal pills and spirit stones is too different from the value of what they provide. We can't really give it to them."
"The flesh and blood of demon beasts can be used. Jiang Li, you can get thousands of kilograms of meat by killing a demon. It should be more than enough to provide them half a month each time."
"In addition, there are a few places that the sect has discovered where evil beings are gathering. The ghosts there have already become quite powerful. Those small demons don't dare to approach them. This will cause a lot of interference in future work."
Yan Hong explained the situation outside to Jiang Li. He had already done most of the preparation work, but there were still a few difficulties that had not been resolved.
"Heh, even those little demons want to cultivate to become immortals? They still want things to aid in cultivation, how ignorant."
Jiang Li was slightly displeased that he could not use the worthless mortal wealth to gain something of value.
"The flesh and blood of demon beasts are not easy to preserve. Moreover, I can't steadily supply large-scale demon beast corpses. This method is not a long-term solution."
"How about this? Next time, I'll talk to Ma Donggui and get him to give us all the cornerstone materials at the spirit stone mine. As long as we fork out some shipping fees, we can get as many as we want."
"I believe the demons will be happy to receive the scrap materials."
"As for the gathering place of the ghosts, I'm a disciple of the Demon Vanquishing Hall after all. When the time comes, I'll personally go there."
Jiang Li was also a quick-witted person. Especially in terms of being stingy, he was very talented. Soon, he really came up with a solution.
It was just like how the gold mines were mostly excavating stones.
Even in the spirit stone mines, there were no spirit stones everywhere. It also depended on manpower to dig.
Accompanying the production of spirit stones was a large amount of ordinary stones and jade materials that piled up into a mountain.
However, they were not completely ordinary.
These stone and jade materials were buried around the spirit stone mine all year round. After being soaked in spiritual qi, they more or less still carried a bit of spiritual qi.
Among them, large chunks of stone would be used as construction materials to build a cultivator's sect mansion.
As for the small scraps that were cut and broken, they became complete trash that no one cared about.
It was most suitable to use these things as payment to the weak demons.
As for what he wanted these little demons to do, it was naturally Jiang Li's usual method.
It was still those low-grade ghost spirits that ordinary cultivators looked down on.
After witnessing Shen Ruoshi's Earth Dust Scripture, he was shocked by the power of the five earth spikes when they were unleashed.
Breaking through the battle arena was something that would not happen a second time in a normal sect martial competition.
This was the power that she had accumulated for a long time.
Although Jiang Li did not have such a cultivation method, he had the Yin Burial Coffin and his infinite amount of spiritual qi.
It was a waste for ordinary cultivators to spend spirit stones and resources to nurture low-grade ghosts. However, Jiang Li did indeed need more of these ghosts.
As long as he was given a certain amount of time, he could use a large amount of spiritual qi to raise an extremely terrifying army of ghosts.
The other was the coffin.
Under the situation of Jiang Li's spiritual qi nourishment and a large amount of Yin qi ghosts filling it up, not only did this artifact completely recover its peak state, its grade was infinitely close to the upper limit of a Profound-rank artifact.
Moreover, Jiang Li could sense that the coffin was slowly undergoing a transformation. Perhaps so long as he accumulated enough, it would be able to surmount a realm and advance a step further!
Earth-rank artifact!
In the entire cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region, it was one of the rarest and most precious treasures. Even if Jiang Li became an inner sect disciple, he knew very little about magic treasures of this level.
If the coffin could really advance to an Earth-rank artifact, then he would profit greatly.
Jiang Li had checked later on, and the number of ghosts in the coffin was over 345,000.
As the number of ghosts increased, the concentration of spiritual qi and yin qi in the coffin also increased. The space inside the coffin was several times larger than when it was in Cloud Stream City. With the current size of the space, it would not be a problem to organize a stadium for soccer matches.
This meant that continuously throwing ghosts in was beneficial to the Yin Burial Coffin's transformation.
Regardless of whether this coffin required 500,000 ghosts, 1,000,000 ghosts, or more to evolve, this was only a matter of accumulation. Jiang Li was determined to achieve it!
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Chapter 144: Spirit Moxibustion
Now, the situation inside the coffin had changed drastically. There was no more water on the ground, and instead, a thin layer of dirt covered it.
Because of the increase in space, the Ghost Lantern Fish could no longer provide sufficient illumination.
Jiang Li placed a large amount of glowing plants here that enjoyed the yin attribute spiritual qi.
From the moss, flowers, and vines, the entire coffin space was covered in a dreamlike fluorescent light.
To increase the coffin space's "vitality", Jiang Li even threw in quite a number of animal corpses, using the effects of the Yin Burial Coffin to turn them into zombies.
Together with the corpses of the cultivators who had been thrown in the coffin, they were currently wandering aimlessly in the coffin space.
If one did not look carefully, this space really looked like a paradise.
The yin qi inside was so dense that it could kill someone in less than a second, and the dead body would turn into a zombie and join the big family here.
In such an environment, the few Ghost Lantern Fish were still living freely inside.
Last time, in order to capture the Dragon Tortoise, Jiang Li poured out all the Yin Corpse blood in the Yin Burial Coffin.
Later on, he wanted to put in some lake water and continue raising them.
However, after entering, he discovered that all of the Ghost Lantern Fish were floating in the air.
It was still moving about in a leisurely manner as it swam in the dense spiritual qi and yin qi.
Jiang Li was shocked at that time, thinking that they had become spirits.
Later on, he discovered that they could only swim in the water after arriving in the outside world. It was just that they could swim in places with sufficiently dense yin qi and spiritual qi.
To be able to use spiritual qi and yin qi to move about, these Ghost Lantern Fish were indeed worthy of being an ancient species. They were indeed a little magical.
Moreover, those ghosts that had advanced once and could easily slaughter mortals were unable to resist these Ghost Lantern Fish.
They could easily devour an evil spirit.
Even if Jiang Li used the Ghost Wood Art to capture ghosts, he could only restrain more than thirty at the same time.
However, these Ghost Lantern Fish ate them like candy. It was extremely easy to control them.
"I wonder what this ghost-eating fish tastes like when stewed."
The Ghost Lantern Fish, which had been living comfortably recently and looked a little plump, seemed to have noticed Jiang Li's unfriendly gaze. They swayed their tails and swam farther away from him.
Two days later, in Elder He's courtyard, the main seat of the Demon Vanquishing Hall.
Jiang Li knocked twice before pushing the door open and entering.
Inside, Elder He had been waiting for a long time. Beside him sat a beautiful and elegant woman.
Jiang Li had seen that woman before. She was an elder from the neighboring Rejuvenation Hall.
"Master, Elder Yao."
After Jiang Li greeted them, he entered the quiet room with the two elders as usual.
Without even needing to ask, Jiang Li had already guessed that Elder Yao had definitely come because of the blood essence.
"Do you know what this is?"
Elder He took the porcelain bottle from Jiang Li's hand, opened the bottle, sniffed it, and casually put it aside.
On the other hand, Elder Yao of the Rejuvenation Hall opened a cloth roll as soon as he entered. A row of long needles of varying length were revealed.
"I know this is blood essence, but I have no idea what it does."
Elder He looked at Jiang Li with slight surprise. He never expected that Jiang Li would actually be able to recognize such a high-grade item.
"This blood essence has many uses. It can be used to refine pills, hatch spiritual eggs, and nourish the bloodline. The last option is especially valuable."
The fact that it was expensive could be seen from the porcelain bottle containing the blood essence. The material was of a quality that Jiang Li had never seen before.
"Elevating the bloodline, could it be… I can use it for dragon blood?"
Jiang Li was stunned as he recalled this matter.
The existence of the Dragon Tortoise Blood Tattoo could allow Jiang Li to create a drop of dragon blood every hundred days.
At first, Jiang Li was excited for a period of time. However, later on, he realized that the duration of a hundred days was still too long for him.
Perhaps when he reached the Foundation Establishment realm, he would not even be able to produce a drop of this dragon blood. It would be better to go somewhere and obtain a few more buffs instead. After that, he gradually forgot about this matter.
However, he did not expect that although he was not anxious, Elder He had always taken his matters to heart and helped him obtain this bottle of blood essence during the rewards of the sect martial competition.
"Yes, you'll use it for dragon blood."
"The bloodline of dragon descendants has gotten too thin now. It's too difficult for a Dragon Tortoise to possess dragon blood even if it's only a drop."
As he spoke, Elder He suddenly approached Jiang Li, and then the flood dragon tattoo on his thick left arm slowly lit up.
Immediately, Jiang Li felt as if he had been targeted by a peerless ferocious beast, and his body involuntarily trembled.
As for his blood, it became abnormally excited. The flow speed increased and the temperature rose. Soon, the feeling of being suppressed was eliminated, and it even brought a certain degree of attribute enhancement to Jiang Li.
"This is?"
Jiang Li was slightly surprised. When had such a force been hidden within his body?
Although it was not very strong, in terms of quality, it seemed to be very high-end.
At the very least, there was no other power in Jiang Li's body that could be used to break through the pressure.
"This is the dragon blood."
"There's no need to doubt it. There is indeed a bit of dragon blood in your body now. I noticed it a few days ago."
Elder He did not wait for Jiang Li to ask further and directly spoke.
At the same time, he pointed at the flood dragon tattoo on his left arm.
There was more than one beast mark on Elder He's body. This flood dragon tattoo was only one of them.
"So Master, you also have dragon blood."
Jiang Li was slightly surprised. He had originally thought that he was extremely special, but he understood how the other party had sensed this trace of dragon blood that even Jiang Li did not notice.
"What? Do you think you can surpass your master with a Dragon Tortoise?"
"When I, your master, was all-powerful, you were still nowhere to be found."
Elder He specially lowered his voice. Several terrifying demonic beasts roared in his throat non-stop. In modern society, he would be considered a super vocalist.
"Yes, yes, yes. Master is mighty. I will definitely go to the Scripture Storage Pavilion to borrow Master's life biographies and study hard."
Elder He smiled confidently after Jiang Li praised him. Elder Yao, who was still preparing by the side, rolled her eyes speechlessly in her heart when she heard this.
"Although you already have a bit of dragon blood, don't celebrate too soon. At that time, the bloodline of the Dragon Tortoise was thin. Although the dragon blood in your body was refined, the speed at which it was nurtured was too slow."
"If you still can't nurture a complete drop of dragon blood when the Dragon Tortoise Blood Tattoo disappears, then the dragon blood will also dissipate on its own. At that time, all of your efforts will be for naught."
"That's why I helped you get this from the sect's treasure vault."
When Jiang Li heard this, he recalled the initial notification of the status [Dragon Tortoise Blood Tattoo].
He could only produce a drop of dragon blood after a hundred days, but the original blood tattoo could only last for 90 days.
This meant that Elder He's calculations were really accurate. If he did not have a cheat or Elder He's help to remedy the situation, then he would really have missed the opportunity to obtain the dragon blood.
Jiang Li looked at the blood essence. Elder Yao was soaking the silver needles one after another.
It seemed like she was going to use acupuncture to guide the blood essence into his body.
"Alright, take off your clothes."
A moment later, Elder Yao finished her preparations.
Jiang Li: "…"
"What are you doing? Gender does not matter for medical practitioners. Hurry up."
Alright, there was no gender in front of the medical practitioner. Jiang Li looked at the other party's calm and indifferent expression, and only then did he brace himself to remove his clothes and remove the Heart Protection Mirror on his chest.
Previously, in front of Senior Sister Little Four, Jiang Li had taken off his clothes for the medicinal bath.
When facing the beautiful young lady in front of him, he took the initiative, so he naturally did not feel anything. However, when facing the beautiful hundred-year-old woman, he was apprehensive.
There was a huge gap between them.
"Don't resist or move at all."
Jiang Li relaxed as instructed, and then he was lifted up into the air by a strand of spiritual qi.
There were a total of 720 acupuncture points in the body that medical practitioners used for their acupuncture. Regardless of whether they were standing or lying down, they would definitely have their own limitations. They would not be able to stab the acupuncture points very well. Only by floating would they be able to perform acupuncture more easily.
Of course, today's session was only to maximize the effects of the blood essence. There was no need to stab all 720 acupuncture points at once.
However, his skin was tough and he had the Anti-Demon Golden Skin buff. Ordinary weapons could not harm him at all. Hopefully, this would not affect his acupuncture.
Of course, Jiang Li was thinking too much. After all, the other party was a Core Formation elder and was quite experienced in treating body cultivators. Unless he reached Elder He's level, it was very difficult for her to be troubled.
Elder Yao went forward and touched Jiang Li's skin. She was slightly surprised by the strength of Jiang Li's body, but she did not say anything.
Pew!
In the next moment, Jiang Li's eyes widened as he watched in shock. A thick silver needle that was more than a foot long pierced through his chest and into his heart.
Jiang Li was so frightened that his body shook.
If not for his trust in Elder He and the fact that he did not feel much discomfort in his heart, Jiang Li would have probably resisted violently.
"Calm your mind. Don't move."
Jiang Li looked at the long needle that had pierced deeply into his heart and forced himself to calm down.
But soon, he felt a warmth flowing through the needle and into his heart.
The heat flowed through his veins and into his entire body. Wherever it passed, the dragon blood in his body would boil excitedly.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Elder Yao's hands drew out afterimages as if they were flying. She took out silver needles of different lengths from the porcelain bottle and chased them down along the direction where the blood essence flowed in his blood vessels.
Jiang Li felt the blood flow faster and faster. Even the Dragon Tortoise Blood Tattoo on his body emitted a faint red glow under the effect of the blood essence.
About three minutes later, Jiang Li's body had already been pierced with more than 200 silver needles. The blood essence in the porcelain bottle had also been completely used up.
[Spirit Moxibustion Technique has infused blood essence into the body. Added Status: Blood Essence.]
[Blood Essence: Increases the bloodline nourishing speed by 1000%, increases the blood essence condensation speed by 1000%. Duration: 10 days] ( )
Sure enough, another status appeared. Jiang Li did not care about anything else and first changed it to infinite duration.
After that, he looked at the effect and was shocked.
1000% meant ten times the increase.
Jiang Li had only seen such an exaggerated amplification effect from the Armored Horse Divine Travel buff. The help that it brought him was still endless even now.
No matter what the increase was, ten times the speed was shocking enough.
The speed of bloodline nourishing increased by ten times, so it was naturally effective on dragon blood.
In other words, if he did not change the buff duration, within the duration of the effects of the blood essence, ten days was equivalent to a hundred days. He could directly condense a drop of dragon blood from this.
It could be said that using a bottle of blood essence to exchange for a drop of dragon blood was truly an expensive trade-off.
However, to Jiang Li, every ten days from now, a drop of dragon blood would appear in his body. He could still look forward to this gain.
In addition, increasing the speed of condensing blood essence by ten times was also a very practical enhancement.
It was common knowledge that cultivators liked to spray blood essence on talismans and artifacts. Many a time, they had to use blood essence to draw array formations while refining artifacts too.
Under such circumstances, it was naturally a good thing that his blood essence could recover faster.
For a body cultivator like Jiang Li, he also had a great move that could complement the beast blood tattoo which was to burn his blood essence. It was said that its might was no small matter, and it could at least increase his strength by one or two levels.
However, Jiang Li had yet to use it.
That was because the principles behind that ultimate move was using the beast blood tattoo as the furnace. By pouring his own essence blood into it, it would greatly increase the power of the Beast Blood Diagram.
However, the problem was that Jiang Li's cultivation time was still shallow. He had not cultivated more than a few drops of blood essence in his body, but there were more and more beast blood tattoos on his body. Currently, he already had four, and it was simply not even enough even if he burned his blood essence to its limit.
Now that the speed at which he condensed his blood essence had increased, perhaps he could increase the effects of these beast blood tattoos before he reached the Foundation Establishment realm.
A moment later, more than 200 long needles were pulled out of Jiang Li's body. After an instant of pain, Jiang Li fell to the ground. The large number of needle holes on his body had already disappeared without a trace.
"Thank you, Master. Thank you, Elder Yao."
Jiang Li cupped his hands in thanks. Elder He only instructed him to cultivate well before letting him leave.
In order to decide the distribution of rights for the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm, the Great Mountain Cultivator Competition would be officially held a month later.
What was worth mentioning was that on the side of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak, the sword cultivator clone had relied on the advantage of endless spiritual qi and the initial awakening of his Sword Heart to specially learn many sword moves that consumed a lot of spiritual qi. In a short period of time, his strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, and he had also obtained the qualifications to participate in this cultivation gathering.
Unfortunately, his main body was at the Qi Refinement realm while his clone was at the Foundation Establishment realm. The two of them were not at the same level. Otherwise, if they were to compete on the same stage, they would be able to put up a good show.
In addition, from the information channels of the sword cultivator clone, he learned that they seemed to have discovered another incredible treasure during the discussion process of the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm. The competition would probably be quite intense this time.
However, during this following month, Jiang Li could cultivate in peace for a period of time.
When he passed by a small puddle by the side of the road, Jiang Li stopped for a moment before leaving.
In the puddle, the larva of a mosquito swam even more energetically in the water, beginning its short life.
During this time, he threw the second Parallel Mind into some short-lived insects and used them to cultivate the Great Carefree Bodhisattva Heart Sutra to quickly increase his Mind and Enlightenment attributes.
Jiang Li needed to complete this in a short period of time, after which this Parallel Mind would become his second clone.
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Chapter 145: Seven Roads Ghost City
A week later, a burly figure stepped out of the air in front of a dilapidated and uninhabited town beside an abandoned farmland.
The air behind him produced a muffled sound. Soon, the burly figure slowed down and landed gently in front of the town.
Seven Roads Town was an important place for transportation. It was the intersection of seven main roads. There was an endless stream of traffic and merchants. In the past, this place was bustling and was a rich place that many people envied.
The fertile farmland outside the town was huge, and the large households in the town had huge gated mansions. Although it was already dilapidated, one could still see the former prosperity of this place.
As for why the Seven Roads Town had become like this, the robust young man with an innocent and youthful appearance looked at the two skeletons hanging on the signboard at the entrance of the town.
The evening breeze blew over, and the two skeletons swayed in the wind. The sound of dried bones colliding together was like a hoarse wind chime that carried an aged feeling.
What destroyed this town's peaceful life was war, a mortal war that had yet to end.
The figure that stood at the entrance of the small town under the setting sun was naturally Jiang Li who had accepted the sect's mission to subdue demons.
Jiang Li tapped his finger lightly, and two strands of spiritual qi shot out. He put down the corpse that was hanging on the signboard, and then he waved his hand to dig two holes in the ground beside him before burying the dried up corpses inside.
After pressing the soil of the grave firmly and planting two more stalks of grass, he nodded in satisfaction and walked into the ghastly Seven Roads Town.
Originally, Qi Refinement realm disciples were not allowed to carry out demon extermination missions alone. However, Jiang Li had proven himself to have the strength to stand on his own during the sect martial competition. Coupled with Elder He's approval, he had come here alone.
The town was in ruins. Wild grass grew on the side of the road, and bones could be seen everywhere. Traces of the tragic aftermath of the soldiers' fights were everywhere.
It was said that the struggles in the cultivation world were cruel. But in this mortal world, it was so cruel that one could not even have the chance to fight back.
Jiang Li did not bother burying the corpses anymore. He only used the yin attribute spiritual qi to cover his eyes and search for the ghosts in the small town.
"It seems that the demons didn't lie to me. I can't see anything here before the sun sets."
Jiang Li looked around and did not find any ghosts showing themselves in the city. Therefore, he did not waste his effort and walked to a well on the other side of the town to sit down, quietly waiting for night to fall.
Sitting by the well, Jiang Li took out a map and looked at it. On the map, there was a total of five locations marked with a red circle. Three of them had already been struck off, and the Seven Roads Town he was currently in was the fourth marked location.
Jiang Li was indeed here on a mission to subdue demons.
However, this demon suppression mission was originally issued by Jiang Li himself after it was verified.
A week ago, Jiang Li and Yan Hong had gone to the Foreign Affairs Hall to choose the location of the store. It was in a place called Nightless City that was established by the cooperation of many sects and powers.
The reason why he chose this place was firstly because it was prosperous, secondly because it was safe, and thirdly because the average lifespan of mortals in the surrounding countries was less than 25 years.
There were dozens of nomadic tribes, four kingdoms that hated each other, and from time to time, civilian convicts who wanted to start a rebellion.
Due to the complicated hostilities, the people here had almost forgotten about peace after years of war.
However, the land in this region was abnormally fertile. The climate was warm and there was plenty of rain. As long as they farmed a little, the crops would be full every year.
This caused the people in this region to never be afraid of hunger. With the encouragement of the kingdom, the birth rate of the population was extremely exaggerated. It was normal for a couple to have eight or nine children.
Finally, the mortals here continued to live and die. After decades, the population did not decrease much.
Jiang Li had come for the souls of the dead, so this area naturally became his first choice.
After getting Yan Hong to contact the weak demons nearby, he still had two issues to resolve.
The first was the issue of cheap remuneration. This point was quickly resolved after discussing it with Ma Donggui.
Ma Donggui gave Jiang Li some samples of the spirit mine. There was indeed a very slight spiritual qi inside. This was useless to cultivators, but it was good in the eyes of the low-level demons.
Ma Donggui had said that a flying ship from the sect would pass through Nightless City in a few days and bring him a huge amount of spiritual ore materials.
The second problem was the few ghost creatures gathered in this region. The souls in a large area would be attracted by these yin lands. This should be more convenient to capture them together.
However, in some places, the dense Yin qi often entrenched powerful ghosts. Those small demons who had barely gained sentience and even had to take detours when they saw human hunters did not dare to come and collect souls.
Therefore, in order to smoothly expand the soul acquisition business in the future, Jiang Li could only personally make a trip to subjugate the nearby demons.
However, since he was a member of the Demon Vanquishing Hall, why not take an additional reward from the sect?
Therefore, after he reported the situation to the higher-ups, he accepted the mission himself.
Of course, if it was anyone else, they would definitely not be able to do this. However, Jiang Li was the disciple of the Head Elder of the Demon Vanquishing Hall, so such a small action could not be considered a violation.
Jiang Li was praising himself for his wit when a wave of the clamoring of wheels sounded out from the end of the distant road.
Jiang Li looked towards the voice and was surprised to see a group of merchants slowly walking over.
There were indeed many people who were not afraid of death for money. Even in such a chaotic situation, there were actually merchants who came here.
"Little brother, little brother, I would like to ask something."
This group was neither big nor small. There were five carriages and more than ten ordinary horses. There were more than 30 people in total. It was naturally incomparable to the group from the Immortal Ascension Pavilion, but it was still considered a medium-sized caravan.
At the front, a middle-aged man leading a horse trotted two steps forward and arrived in front of Jiang Li. The stench of sweat assaulted his face.
Jiang Li did not wear the uniform of a sect disciple this time, and he only wore rough clothes that were worn by ordinary commoners.
After all, it was impressive to wear the disciple uniform outside, but the consequence was to expose oneself completely. This was a lesson learned during the mission of the Southern Seal Kingdom. Jiang Li still planned to keep a low profile this time.
Therefore, the other party only thought that Jiang Li was a commoner nearby and did not pay much attention to him.
"Little brother, you're a local, right? Do you know which direction the Seven Roads Town is in?"
Jiang Li looked at the small town behind him, and then he looked at the middle aged man before him. He never expected that he would actually ask such a question. This person did not seem to be blind.
"You're looking for the Seven Roads Town? What do you want from it?" Jiang Li thought that the other party had misspoken, so he asked again.
"Little brother, this place is desolate and uninhabited. The sky is about to turn dark. We're tired from the journey, so we naturally want to find the Seven Roads Town to rest."
The middle-aged man smiled and looked honest. The caravan behind him gradually stopped.
"You are quite lucky. Behind me is the Seven Roads Town."
Jiang Li still sat by the well and pointed at the huge Seven Roads Town behind him.
"Little brother, don't joke with me. How can this be the Seven Roads Town? Not long ago, I came here before the new year. How can the Seven Roads Town fall to this state in a year?"
The middle-aged man did not believe it. He said with certainty that he had come here not long ago and even described it as bustling and lively. He insisted that this was definitely not the Seven Roads Town.
Jiang Li carefully looked at his expression, not seeming to be lying.
However, from the intelligence, this town had been abandoned for more than twenty years.
Jiang Li turned to look at the town behind him, his eyes flickering with wariness and curiosity.
"Little brother, don't lie to us. If you know where the Seven Roads Town is, we'll give you some money in exchange."
When the middle aged man saw Jiang Li ignore him, his mood that was poor from the dry and hot weather turned slightly agitated, and his tone became unpleasant.
"Uncle An, what's wrong?"
Seeing that there was no result from the middle-aged man's questioning, a young woman in a blue dress got out of the carriage and asked this direction.
On the woman's waist was an exquisite longsword. It looked expensive and heroic. However, if one looked closely at her palm, one would see that it was smooth and soft without any calluses. It did not look like a hand that had held a sword.
When the middle-aged man surnamed An heard this, he did not ask Jiang Li anymore. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and ran back.
"Miss, that kid is spouting nonsense. He says this is the Seven Roads Town and refuses to give us directions. What should we do?"
The woman in the blue dress looked at Jiang Li, and then she looked at the line of sunlight that was only left on the horizon. Obviously, it was already unsuitable for them to continue on their journey.
"It's already late, it's not good to continue walking. Let's go into the house in this Desolate Town to rest for a night. Tomorrow morning, we'll rush to the Seven Roads Town."
The workers and guards in the convoy heaved a sigh of relief when they heard her words. Then, the convoy slowly drove into the town again.
"Young master, can you give me and my granddaughter a sip of well water? The heat is harsh and this old man is really thirsty."
When the convoy entered the city, Jiang Li saw that there was a grandfather, granddaughter, and a donkey following behind the convoy.
The old man led the donkey forward to ask for water. His granddaughter sat quietly on the donkey.
Jiang Li glanced at him with an expressionless face and ignored his request. He got up and walked towards the town.
The old man looked at Jiang Li's back and seemed to have a pitying expression.
Then, he walked to the side of the well and turned the wooden pulley on the well. He pulled up the rope underneath the well bit by bit.
In the dim well, what was pulled up by the rope was not a water bucket, but a skeleton that had also turned to bones.
At this moment, the last rays of sunlight disappeared from the world.
The moment the skeleton that was tied to the neck was revealed, it transformed into a long-haired ghost with tattered clothes and bite marks all over her body.
The female ghost suddenly opened her eyes. Dark tears flowed down her face as she prepared to pounce on the pair.
However, in the next moment, the old man grabbed the ghost by the throat and slapped her until she turned to ash.
The old man threw the corpse that had turned back into a skeleton as if he was only throwing trash, then he led the donkey towards the town.
"I'm so thirsty. I didn't get any water. I'm so thirsty."
On the other hand, Jiang Li entered the town and saw the caravan of merchants ahead.
As night fell, they suddenly heard the clamor in front of them as they walked in the city. Looking along the street, they saw that there were lights and heads moving.
After rushing forward for a moment, they saw a bustling street market.
There was a continuous stream of peddlers and pedestrians on the streets. How was this a dilapidated and empty town? Wasn't this the prosperous Seven Roads Town?
"Miss, it's here, it's here!"
"Master and I exchanged for those jade accessories and silk satins here before the new year!"
"The prices here are very cheap. As long as we go back and sell them, we can get ten times the profit! This time, the An family is saved! This time, the An family is saved!"
The woman in the blue dress came out of the carriage and was extremely excited to see the bustling scene before her.
The An family was a merchant family in a nearby kingdom. Although their family was not very big, they were still considered rich.
The year before, her father and elder brother had gone out to do business together. Just like today, they had entered Seven Roads Town by mistake. After that, they bought many high-quality jade and satin. After they went back to sell them, they had made a huge windfall.
However, good times did not last long. After that, his father and elder brother died from serious illnesses. Without the support of a pillar in their family, they were quickly targeted by other families.
Their family's business plummeted and competitors deliberately set fire to their warehouse. They lost a batch of important goods and suffered heavy losses.
In less than a year, the An family would fall apart.
At this moment, the housekeeper who had been given the surname An suddenly suggested that if they could go to Seven Roads Town, they might be able to save the entire An family.
At that time, he had only stayed in the town for a moment before being assigned to guard the horses. However, the prosperity of this place was still deeply etched in his mind.
"Alright, there's an inn ahead. Uncle An, bring someone to check into a few guest rooms and carriage spaces. I'll go ask for the price."
At this moment, Jiang Li walked over from behind.
He looked at the excited scene of the convoy and then at the ghosts around him.
He did not expect that a ghost market would appear in such a place.
When buying things in the ghost market, what was spent was yang qi and vitality, not mortal silver or gold. How could it not be "cheap"?
"Hey, little brother, I'm sorry. We blamed you wrongly just now. Thank you for pointing the way for us!"
When the woman in the blue dress noticed Jiang Li walking over from behind, she actually took the initiative to apologize.
Jiang Li glanced at her and was slightly surprised. He showed a rare kindness and took out a small bag of jade from his pocket before throwing it over.
"If you want to buy things here, use this. Don't be greedy. Once you're done, leave."
After saying that, he ignored him and walked along the ghost market.
"This is a broken jade piece? It has such purity."
The blue-dressed woman opened the cloth bag in puzzlement. Inside were pieces of jade that had been cut off.
Although the jade stones produced in the spirit stone mine were not much different from rocks and weeds in the cultivation world, in the mortal countries, they were top-notch talents and jade. Just a small bag was enough to exchange for a fourth-tier residence.
She hurriedly raised her head to look for Jiang Li, and a thought arose in her heart. He was able to casually give her such a thing, and it seemed like it wouldn't be a bad thing if she were to marry him.
However, in just a short while, Jiang Li had already disappeared from her sight.
At this moment, Jiang Li was walking in the ghost market, and he similarly held a large bag of spirit mine jade fragments in his hand.
It was obvious that he was bullying these ghosts for being ignorant. He directly used the useless jade fragments as spirit stones and bought whatever he liked.
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Chapter 146: The Ghost City Lord Is In Love With Me?
An unscrupulous peddler would sell rocks as jewels. He did not expect such unscrupulous merchants to exist in the ghost market too.
Jiang Li held a bracelet in his hand. It was something he had bought from a one-eyed ghost with a few pieces of jade.
If one looked at it with the naked eye, this bracelet was neither gold nor wood and was as warm as jade. At a glance, it was a treasure with quite a bit of spirituality.
However, after the spiritual qi entered his eyes, the prayer beads on the bracelet did not have any spirituality left.
These were thirteen human eyeballs that were still moving and looking around!
In fact, judging from the color of the irises, one of them was the eyeball of the one-eyed ghost.
The things bought here were indeed a little sinister.
In any case, this thing only required a little refinement and could be refined into an artifact, so he had barely managed to make a small profit this time.
However, even a cultivator with a yin attribute spiritual root like Jiang Li could not stand the disgusting nature of this place…
Jiang Li looked at this group of ghosts who dared to sell anything and was really speechless.
However, these guys were so enthusiastic about buying and selling. With a little training, they might be quite good employees. It would be a pity to kill them casually.
Jiang Li walked to an empty alley beside the Ghost City's street and was taking out a stack of talismans from his bosom, intending to use the talisman formation he had learned to completely envelop this area.
"Help! Help! Can someone save me?!"
However, at this moment, a few beautiful cries for help sounded. From the voice, one could tell that this person was definitely a peerless beauty, making one's imagination run wild.
Soon, a few figures appeared at the entrance of the alley.
Behind them were three burly men who were obviously not good people. In front of them was a cold, elegant, and scantily clad young lady stumbling.
A sound of cloth tearing sounded. The dress of the young girl was pulled by the burly man behind her, and a large piece of the thin veil dress was torn apart.
The young woman immediately let out a crisp cry. Only a pitiful piece of cloth remained on her body, revealing a large portion of her icy skin and brow bone. Under the moonlight, it reflected a soul-stirring luster, and then her entire body fell before Jiang Li's feet.
"Young Master! Young Master, save me!"
Gulp~
Jiang Li looked at the scene before him and could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. The young woman before him was truly breathtakingly beautiful.
Looking at Jiang Li's expression, an expression of "as expected, men are all the same" flashed past the girl's eyes, and then she became even more pitiful looking.
"Kid! Mind your own business! Give me that girl quickly! Otherwise, you'll suffer!"
The burly man at the entrance of the alley also squeezed in. At some point, a thick blade used by the butcher had appeared in his hand, and he was still working hard to act fierce.
"Young Master! Don't worry about me! Run!"
The young woman by his side could still be so considerate when she was being pursued by others. If it were an ordinary young master who was inexperienced in the world, how could he not take the 'kind' her as the love of his life?
Jiang Li withdrew his Qi Refinement cultivation and deliberately revealed the aura of an internal force martial artist, making it harder for others to see his true strength. This was probably why the other party would come looking for him.
Although he clearly knew that the situation was not right, Jiang Li still did not choose to act directly. It was not easy to trigger a 'plot' event, and this finally made him feel like a transmigrator.
Although it was very likely that it would still be a "scam" later on, with Jiang Li's cultivation and strength, how could he be afraid of these ghosts stirring up trouble?
"If one sees injustice, they should lend a helping hand. Miss, don't worry. Just stand behind me."
Jiang Li helped her up, then removed the pair of gloves on his hands and stood in front of her.
This pair of gloves was made from the skin on the Dragon Tortoise's claws. It was abnormally tough. Jiang Li had worn this when he was shopping in the ghost market to avoid accidentally burning those ghosts to death.
"Kid! You want to spoil my fun! You're courting death!"
The burly man stepped forward and slashed down with the Bone Beheading Blade.
The thick Bone Beheading Blade could even cut open a pig's head or a bull's head. If an ordinary person touched it, their skull would be split into two.
However, that was only for mortals. The bone saber that still carried wisps of Yin qi silently stopped above Jiang Li.
Jiang Li's right hand looked like it was only gently placed on it, but no matter how much strength the burly man used, he was unable to make the bone blade sway in the slightest.
Ssss!
Strands of white smoke rose. This bone blade was obviously made of an yin-attribute item. After it came into contact with Jiang Li's Anti-Demon Golden Skin, it immediately burned and revealed deep finger marks.
"Get lost!"
Jiang Li kicked them out of the alley and into the house opposite.
In the house, the illusion of the three burly men faded away, transforming into three blackened skeletons.
"Miss, are you all right?"
Jiang Li put on the pair of gloves again before helping the other party up from the ground.
The girl was sobbing on the ground. After being helped up by Jiang Li, she looked up at him with her bright eyes.
"I was originally out on the streets with my maidservant, but I was harassed by that villain Zhang Tu. That villain usually runs wild in the countryside, and today, he wants to forcefully marry me. I'll be his thirteenth concubine! Sob sob!"
"I was fortunate to be saved by Young Master and was able to escape calamity. I am unable to repay Young Master's kindness. Tonight, my parents are out and there is no one at home. Young Master, please enter the residence to rest for a while and let me repay you!"
This young woman was shy and timid, so how could Jiang Li bear to refuse her? He directly agreed.
He picked up the two rags from the ground and put them on her before walking out of the alley under her guidance.
Jiang Li walked behind them. Rich spiritual qi gathered in his eyes as he looked at the pink skeleton in front of him.
He thought that if this ghost's illusion was too disgusting after seeing her true form, he would slap her to death on the spot.
However, to his surprise, although there was dense purple and black qi lingering on the other party's body, her skin was not fake. Not only did it not rot or have insects flying around as he imagined, he even saw a beauty on the line between life and death.
Jiang Li was at a loss. He did not know if he had not seen through the other party's disguise or if there was another reason.
However, he was now quite interested in this Seven Roads Ghost City and could not alert the enemy for the time being.
Ghost markets had always been famous for appearing and disappearing mysteriously. If they were startled and everyone ran away in an instant, even if a Core Formation cultivator came, they would be caught unaware.
Jiang Li fell a few steps behind. He took out a small coffin from his bosom and threw it into the darkness behind him.
"Young master, what's wrong?"
The woman walked to the alley and noticed that Jiang Li did not follow her, so she turned around and called out softly.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking… Miss is so beautiful, may I know your name?"
"My name is Qin Shuman…"
As the two of them chatted about their life experiences, they walked along the ghost market. There were hundreds of ghosts on the road, as if they could not see them at all. Or rather, no ghost dared to look at the two of them walking side by side.
Jiang Li was a strong and healthy person with strong Yang qi, and there was a peerless beauty whose clothes were exposed by the side. Even a ghost would not be able to resist taking a few more glances.
But no ghost did.
Jiang Li looked at the person beside him and his curiosity increased.
Soon, they reached the end of the ghost market. In front of them was a luxurious large courtyard with luxurious decor. There were two large red lanterns hanging at the entrance, but the red light did not give anyone any warmth.
"Young master, please follow me into the residence to rest."
After bowing, Qin Shuman, who could either be human or ghost, stepped forward and pushed open the door. In the fog, one could vaguely see pavilions and gardens. This was indeed a wealthy family.
Although it was a trick, it was too tempting to resist.
Jiang Li was sizing up the mansion that was covered in illusion. He had to admit that Qin Shuman's design concept was really not bad to be able to transform a dilapidated temple into such a state. If she was not a ghost, she could really enter the renovation industry.
"That is but a pink skeleton. This little brother has already stepped into the gates of hell and still doesn't know it. Cough, cough. If you give me a bowl of blood to quench my thirst, I might be able to help you live."
At this moment, in the shadows not far away, an old man walked over slowly while holding a donkey. On the back of the donkey, a string of bright red candied fruits appeared in the little girl's hand, and she was shaking her head happily.
"Young master, ignore him. He's a famous lunatic. He often swindles others!"
"Men! Beat him to death!"
It was as if Qin Shuman knew the other party. At this moment, she seemed to have become a different person. She no longer acted shy.
After shouting, dozens of ghosts dressed as servants rushed out of the Qin Residence towards the old donkey.
With this situation, how could that butcher from earlier dare to kidnap a civilian girl like her?
"Demon! How dare you be so insolent! It's your fate to have met me today!"
The old man removed a wooden stick from the donkey and pointed it forward, easily blowing up dozens of servants.
The girl on the donkey clapped and cheered as if she had seen an interesting scene.
Immediately, the old man took out a stack of pitch-black talismans and stuck them on the staff. Dense black talismans hung on the wooden staff, forming an artifact that resembled a stick as it struck towards Qin Shuman.
Jiang Li could clearly see that his aura was clearly at the Foundation Establishment realm. Although it looked far less powerful than his fellow sect disciples, how could ordinary ghosts be a match for Foundation Establishment cultivators?
When Qin Shuman saw that the situation was not right, she did not bother to continue disguising herself. The cloth that barely covered her body suddenly lengthened, and she controlled these white threads to face the other party.
More servants and ghost soldiers swarmed the mansion.
However, ghosts were ghosts. They were extremely foul and did not have a body as the host. They were too easily restrained.
The 200 ghost soldiers that rushed over did not last long. Under the scattering of the black talisman paper, they perished without a trace. The white silk that was flying in the air was also torn into pieces.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator of unknown origins was fighting intensely with the demoness female ghost in the Seven Roads Ghost City.
On the other hand, the seemingly harmless Jiang Li was ignored by everyone.
From the conversation between the man and ghost, they should have known each other.
In fact, this old man on a donkey had long set his sights on this Seven Roads Ghost Market. He wanted to capture hundreds of ghosts in this town to refine artifacts and talismans.
However, after attacking the ghost market many times, he had either alerted the ghosts and caused them to instantly escape without a trace, or had encountered this beautiful female ghost and was attacked by the ghost soldiers.
He had laid low for many years and finally refined a thousand black talismans with great difficulty before coming to catch ghosts again.
However, for some reason, there seemed to be a problem with the original 3,000 ghost soldiers in the Seven Roads Ghost City. No matter how large of a disadvantage the other party was in, there were only 200 ghost soldiers.
It could only be said that the heavens were helping him! The old man was overjoyed. He held the black talisman stick in his hand and attacked repeatedly.
"Young Master! Young Master, save me!"
Qin Shuman had suffered from the black talisman before and was naturally very fearful of the power of the stick. Under the attack of the black talismans, she could only retreat repeatedly.
Despite how she looked and her hobby of pretending to be a weak girl getting kidnapped, she was the true owner of the Seven Roads Ghost City.
After all, it was only a small ghost town. This kind of ghost creature that could contend with Foundation Establishment cultivators was already rare and powerful.
If Jiang Li was only an ordinary Qi Refinement cultivator, he would really shiver in fear under this battle.
The Ghost City Lord, Qin Shuman, also found something very strange tonight. Her ghost soldiers were clearly in the town, but no matter how she called, they did not come to help.
But she could not care less at this moment.
She hurriedly hid behind Jiang Li, the "mortal". A long, pitch-black claw appeared in her hand, and she intended to use him as a shield. As long as the old man stopped attacking, she would rush forward to dig out the other party's heart.
However, what was the life of a "mortal"? When the old man saw Jiang Li standing in front of the female ghost, he did not hesitate at all.
"Kid, you're too stubborn. Don't blame me for being ruthless."
The wooden stick with the black talisman paper did not stop in the slightest as it struck towards Qin Shuman who was behind Jiang Li. Before that, it would definitely hit Jiang Li who was in front of her.
The pitiful "mortal martial artist" was about to be smashed into pieces by the stick in the next moment.
However, Jiang Li was still calm and unhurried. He only took off his glove before throwing a punch.
Bang! Crack!
Jiang Li threw a punch at the wooden stick which was wrapped in spiritual qi and could exert a thousand kilograms of force, breaking it into two pieces.
The old man's expression changed drastically, his face filled with shock and disbelief.
"Miss Qin, I've protected you. It's not good for you to do this."
Jiang Li did not reprimand the old man. Instead, he turned to look at the owner of the Ghost Market.
Behind Jiang Li, a pitch-black claw grabbed his back from behind, but it was blocked by the Heart Protection Mirror, and it was unable to advance any further.
The female ghost was indignant that her sneak attack had failed. However, she did not know that the Heart Protection Mirror was not protecting Jiang Li, but her.
Swoosh!
The Dragon Imprisoning Lock on his waist flew out automatically, binding the female ghost tightly and making her unable to move.
Jiang Li clenched his fists and walked towards the grandfather and granddaughter.
"I'm stubborn, you say?"
Bang!
"Don't blame you for being ruthless, huh?"
Bang!
Jiang Li appeared before the old man as if he had teleported, and he smashed his fist into the old man's eye socket, causing him to be blasted flying by dozens of meters.
Before the other party could land, he chased after him like a shadow and punched the other side of the eye socket, accurately sending him back to his original position. The head was deformed, and the eye socket was sunken. It was obvious that he could not survive this.
However, what was strange was that there was no blood flowing out.
It had to be said that the gap between ordinary rogue cultivators and sect disciples was extraordinarily large.
Any random Foundation Establishment cultivator in the Scripture Storage Valley could defeat two or three people like him.
Jiang Li's two punches were the retaliation towards his opponent's ruthless attack.
He then looked at the little girl sitting on the donkey. She finally could not show a cheerful expression anymore.
"Why aren't you laughing? Why aren't you clapping? It's just a zombie; who do you want to hide it from?"
The little girl still looked confused, but the panic in her eyes exposed the truth.
"I'll give you three seconds to revert to your original state, or else I'll personally beat you back to your original state."
Jiang Li raised his foot and stamped it down. The ground beneath his feet surged like tidewater, causing the donkey to be unable to stand steadily and directly fall to the ground.
"Senior, please spare me! Senior, please spare me!"
As expected, the little girl no longer acted dumb. She stood up from the ground, but the voice that came out of her mouth was clearly a male voice.
After repeatedly begging for mercy, her body began to swell. The child's clothes burst open, and he quickly returned to being a short, middle-aged man with a revolting appearance.
This cultivator's Zombie Puppet Technique was not very brilliant. Jiang Li was too used to this technique, he had already noticed some clues at first glance. Therefore, he could not be bothered to pay attention to them when he was outside the town.
"Tell me what your black talisman is. Hand over the refinement method and I can spare your life."
The middle-aged man seemed to have inadvertently glanced towards the donkey so Jiang Li also followed his gaze.
However, in the blink of an eye, the middle-aged cultivator suddenly attacked. He held two talismans and attacked Jiang Li's chest.
However, his talisman only passed through an afterimage. In the next moment, Jiang Li's leg swept over from behind, and it directly kicked his head away.
"What a pity. I originally wanted to give you a chance to draw talismans for me so that you could live, but if you don't treasure it, there's no other choice."
Jiang Li shook his head. His second Parallel Mind was still comprehending an insect's life. It was not in his body, and he still could not control the violent power that well.
In the cultivation world, methods that could effectively control Foundation Establishment cultivators were too difficult and expensive. This guy simply did not have such value. Since he was not honest, he might as well kick him to death.
He went to the donkey and rummaged through the bag, finding nothing but some clothes and food.
This made him feel a little strange. Typically, rogue cultivators did not have the ability to set up defensive array formations for their homes. Under situations where they did not feel safe, they would usually carry important things with them. Could it be that this fellow was really so clean? Apart from a few talismans, there was nothing else?
Jiang Li did not believe it. He looked at the donkey in front of him and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
A cultivator could walk faster than a galloping horse. What reason did he have to keep sitting on this donkey?
Could it be?
Jiang Li carefully observed it and actually discovered a long and narrow knife wound that was sewn together with a long and thin rope on the donkey's stomach.
He tore open the sides of the knife. The hemp rope broke, and a large amount of blood and internal organs poured out. The donkey fell to the ground and could not get up. What fell out was a cloth bag that was waterproof.
Without a storage artifact, the cultivators had to come up with all sorts of storage methods.
Jiang Li took out two books from the cloth bag. One was the Body Transformation Technique and the other was the ghost talisman book. They were his two trump cards.
He nodded, satisfied with this. One could change one's appearance, and the other seemed to be a Yin attribute spirit talisman creation method. Looking back at the quality, he should be able to learn it.
If he really could not, he could obtain a good amount of contribution after handing over the Scripture Storage Valley.
After putting away his loot, Jiang Li walked to Qin Shuman's side.
This Ghost City Lord could already be confirmed to be a ghost without a doubt. She also had a corporeal body, and it was probably because she had borrowed a corpse to hide her soul that her true form was hard to expose.
However, after being completely bound by the Dragon Imprisoning Lock, the other party should be unable to use any more illusion techniques. However, the corpse in front of him was exactly the same as the other party's soul appearance. This was a little strange.
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Chapter 147: Deity of Blessing?
"Miss Qin, you don't have to pretend to be dead anymore, right?"
Jiang Li kept away most of the chain. In order to prevent the other party from escaping, he still left a shackle on her slender ankle.
Under such circumstances, the Dragon Imprisoning Lock's suppression effect should have been very low. The other party should at least be able to possess a body again. It did not have to lie on the ground and pretend to be dead.
Ssss!
Jiang Li flipped over the other party's palm and pressed his index finger on it. The effect was like a hot iron coming into contact with butter. Strands of white smoke immediately rose from the cold and pale palm, and the middle gradually became charred and sunken.
Seeing that the beautiful palm was about to be burned through by Jiang Li, Qin Shuman, who had been pretending to be dead, suddenly opened her eyes and immediately let out a miserable ghost cry.
Sharp howls instantly penetrated the entire Seven Roads Town, and even the distant forest was affected, causing continuous wolf howls.
Jiang Li who was close by was even shaken to the point his eardrums hurt.
As the head that could crush rocks lowered, the soul-stirring howl stopped abruptly.
The Ghost City Lord, Qin Shuman, lay in front of her base with a charred head. She looked at the night sky in a daze. This body was not alive, and there was no sign of swelling or blood. However, the burnt fingerprint still damaged her exquisite face.
Her cry was not because of the pain, but because she had tried to summon her ghost soldiers again.
Up until now, she still did not understand why her 3,000 ghost soldiers were nowhere to be seen.
"Who are you calling? There's no need to shout. When you were beaten up by that old man, your subordinates were already killed by me."
Jiang Li squatted beside the woman and very kindly helped her answer the questions in her heart.
"How is that possible? My Seven Paths Ghost City has 3,000 ghost soldiers. You've always been with me. How can you kill them!"
However, the Ghost City Lord refused to believe it. After all, in her eyes, the 3,000 ghost soldiers were already a very powerful force. She had relied on these ghost soldiers to stand strong here for 20 years. How could they vanish without a trace?
"Hmm? You called me young master just now, but am I not worthy now?"
Jiang Li wanted to hit her forehead again, but seeing her terrified expression, he could only give up.
"You have subordinates, but so do I. Let me teach you how to call reinforcements."
A lump of Yin qi condensed in his palm, and as if it was costless, more and more gathered, soon forming a pitch-black ball in his palm.
Bang!
He crushed the yin ball and pure Yin-attribute spiritual qi spread out wantonly.
The temperature suddenly fell, and a thick layer of white frost formed on the surrounding ground.
However, this was only the beginning. As the yin qi fluctuated, the entire Seven Roads Town began to shake violently.
In the eyes of the man and ghost, the dense Yin qi was like a natural disaster, forming a huge tornado that surrounded the entire Seven Roads Town.
Amidst the spinning storm, 300,000 ghosts were faintly discernible as they converged towards the area where Jiang Li was.
Although the quality of these 300,000 ghosts was relatively ordinary, when gathered together, even a Core Formation cultivator would have a hard time seeing them.
The courtyard behind him turned into a dilapidated temple again. The lights of the Ghost City in the distance were extinguished and the bustling city withered. Under the impact of the ghost tornado, the illusion that enveloped the entire Seven Roads Town easily collapsed, revealing the essence of the dilapidated town.
Before this, Jiang Li threw the coffin into a corner and released the 300,000 ghosts inside.
Of course, he did not let all the evil spirits out. In the previous three instances, he had captured many ghosts, but it had been a short time since he had completely tamed them. Naturally, he had left tens of thousands of evil spirits behind to keep watch.
The 300,000 evil spirits surrounded the ghost market and gradually ate away at it. They gathered in circles and swept away all the ghosts that had fallen into the net.
Although the ghosts in the Ghost City were cunning, they could not escape the encirclement of such a large-scale army of ghosts.
As for those ghost soldiers, although their quality might be slightly higher than Jiang Li's ghosts, their degree was limited. It was impossible for them to cause any waves under the hundred-fold difference in numbers.
It did not take long at all for the entire Seven Roads Ghost City to be taken away by Jiang Li.
Looking at the ghost tornado that surrounded her, the Ghost City Lord who had been so proud of the 3,000 ghost soldiers that she had saved over the years became stunned. She had never seen such a scene before, this tornado that was like a natural disaster shocked her until her mind went blank.
Jiang Li casually waved his hand, and a small coffin flew over from the group of ghosts before being stuffed into his arms.
Looking at the stunned Qin Shuman beside him, he used spell techniques to create a green seed the size of a basketball in his palm and raised it in front of him.
"Miss Qin, didn't you say that you wanted to repay me? Don't resist; now is the time for you to repay me. How about giving yourself to me?"
At the very least, half of the credit for the establishment of this Ghost City was due to the master of this Ghost City's illusion technique.
The other half was also due to her.
The streets of this ghost market were governed in an orderly manner. From the 3,000 captured ghost soldiers, there were even a large number of standard yin attribute saber weapons.
This meant that there was actually a specialized military division in this ghost city. It was really a prototype of a comprehensive force.
If she was given another hundred years, she might really be able to establish a Ghost Domain here.
Although there were many ghosts in Jiang Li's coffin, they were all low-level ghost servants and ghost soldiers. Even if he wanted to promote someone capable, he had no way of doing so.
If he could take this Ghost City Lord, who could be considered an internal political talent, under his wing, wouldn't he have another practical tool?
"How is it, Miss Qin? As long as you are willing to eat this and accept my friendship, I will immediately remove your shackles."
"When the time comes, we will still address each other politely. Not only that, the 300,000 ghost soldiers in the sky will all become your subordinates and serve you!"
When Jiang Li saw that the other party did not answer, he guided her patiently and systematically.
"Young master, humans and ghosts walk different paths. For you to snatch a little girl like this is not the actions of a gentleman."
"Although I am lowly, I will no longer be anyone's servant."
Qin Shuman's refusal was abnormally firm. Even when she spoke of being a servant, her eyes still flashed with hatred.
She had already been bound and tortured by someone for nearly a hundred years. Her entire soul was resistant to becoming another person's servant tool.
Jiang Li was a little disappointed when he heard her answer.
"You still chose to reject it? What a pity. If you cooperate, I actually want you to join me in one piece. But since you rejected it, there's no other choice."
Jiang Li's expression turned cold. He directly pressed the basketball-sized seed towards the other party's head.
Elder Lin Fengying's corpse manipulation lineage specialized in corpse puppets and exorcism.
This seed was a spell technique that was similar to the "Zombie Puppet Technique" and was more targeted at ghosts.
The specially enhanced version of the seed with spiritual qi was pressed on the ghost's head. The ball of light that was the size of a basketball squeezed into the head that was not even half its size.
The female ghost quickly reacted to the sudden attack and struggled violently.
The green ball of light that Jiang Li had pressed down halfway suddenly froze. It actually felt like it was being squeezed out a little.
Seeing this scene, Jiang Li felt a little glad.
Fortunately, he did not use the ghostwood tree roots to pull the other party into his Sea of Consciousness. This ghost that could tangle with a Foundation Establishment cultivator was indeed powerful.
After all, the other party was a ghost that basically existed as a soul.
Even the ghost that could be easily exterminated outside the body could become a monster in the Sea of Consciousness, much less this Ghost City Lord.
If he were to pull her into the Sea of Consciousness, even if Jiang Li's current Mind attribute had increased, and with the help of the ghostwood technique, the ghostwood trees and two other Parallel Minds, he would still be no match for Qin Shuman.
However, at this moment, she was on his chopping block. Although it was slightly difficult, she was still unable to make Jiang Li helpless.
Ssss!
Jiang Li pressed down on the ball of light with one hand, and his other hand reached out to press on the other party's head.
Immediately, thick white smoke rose again. The Dragon Imprisoning Lock also increased its pressure, causing the female ghost's body to become unstable again.
In any case, Jiang Li possessed the Anti-Demon Golden Skin, and it was impossible for him to get intimate with a ghost. Thus, there was not much meaning in her having a physical body anymore.
However, it was still not enough!
Under Jiang Li's command, the large number of ghosts flying in the sky instantly rushed over.
They crazily tore apart the ghost's soul, causing her ghost body to be torn off bit by bit. The pain was incomparable, and this time, she was even more unable to resist Jiang Li.
A few minutes later, the dignified Ghost City Lord's ghost body was already somewhat dim and transparent. Only then did the basketball-sized green ball of light completely squeeze in.
The seed quickly took root and sprouted in the ghost's body. It spread all over before fading away.
After a protracted battle, this Qin Shuman's ghost body was severely injured. However, this was also good. He could place her in the coffin to recuperate. At that time, the more Yin Burial spiritual qi she absorbed, the more she would be unable to resist Jiang Li.
Crack!
Just as Jiang Li was about to throw the injured ghost into the coffin, a cracking sound was heard from the dilapidated temple that had been transformed into the Qin Residence.
Jiang Li looked towards the source of the voice. In the dilapidated temple, the thing that made a sound was a human-sized clay deity statue.
Ever since the extinction of Immortals and Buddhas, there had been many monsters and demons in the mortal world and even the cultivation world.
For some of the worse ones, such as the Scaled Demon Tribe that Jiang Li had previously destroyed, they took the initiative to worship the Spiritual Root Branch. The range of followers was limited to a few hundred ignorant Scaled Demons.
As for those who were doing well, their faith could spread to several mortal kingdoms. There was even a market for them in some low-level cultivators.
When Jiang Li saw the clay deity statue, he naturally treated her as one of these fanatics.
Jiang Li, who had just captured the boss of this area, was naturally not afraid. He carried the injured Qin Shuman and walked in.
"This statue… looks familiar."
Half of the clay statue's head had already shattered. The cracking sound should have come from here.
From the hole, it could be seen that the inside of the clay statue was hollow. Just the outer shell was not thick enough to support the structure.
It was hard to imagine just how stingy the person was to cut corners on a clay statue.
"However, the craftsmanship of this clay statue is not bad. It's lustrous and half of its face can be seen to be elegant and refined… Wait!"
The more Jiang Li looked at the clay statue, the more familiar it looked. He suddenly thought of something and raised Qin Shuman, covering half of the other party's face, to compare. They were practically identical!
He observed the clay statue again and realized that there was a meandering crack in the center of the clay statue, splitting the entire statue into two.
However, this crack was not new. Instead, it looked rather old.
Jiang Li separated the clay statue and placed Qin Shuman's body inside. Then, he closed it tightly again!
He was not a fledgling who had just entered the cultivation world. When he saw this scene, how could he not know what had happened?
This female ghost, Qin Shuman, had been placed here by someone to become a 'Deity of Blessing'!
This so-called 'Deity of Blessing' was a vicious secret unorthodox technique to mold a living person into a clay statue.
The formation of this clay statue was also very meticulous and vicious. It had to be formed before the victim died. There could not be any gaps.
This was to seal the last breath of the victim's body.
This was because when ordinary mortals died, their souls would leave their bodies along with this last breath.
If the person did not release this breath, it was no different than having a fish bone stuck in his throat. Coupled with the ash talisman and vicious secret technique to suppress it, the soul of the dead would be unable to leave the body, and they could only suffer day and night in the clay statue and be unable to be reborn.
There were also unorthodox methods that could set up a Feng Shui shrine and order the locals to burn joss sticks day and night. This could allow this so-called "Deity of Blessing" to bear the misfortune and calamity of the entire town alone.
In contrast, this Seven Roads Town would have better "luck" than other places. This was reflected in the fact that this town would become more prosperous in the following decades.
Until… the clay statue cracked for some reason.
It seemed that the prosperity of Seven Roads Town and its sudden decline were not as simple as Jiang Li had imagined.
This clay statue also explained Jiang Li's other two questions.
First, why did Qin Shuman's soul and body look identical? The reason was that this was not someone else's skin but her own body.
Possessing her own body naturally had a compatibility that other people's bodies could not compare to. Furthermore, because the clay statue was covered in Yin qi and her body had not rotted for decades, she looked like a dead person and a living person at the same time.
In addition, why would such a ghost suddenly appear in a small town that had only declined for twenty years? It was because this woman had died a long time ago before the town perished.
The grievous energy in her chest had been accumulating for decades. After she broke free, she started a massacre. Coupled with the fact that she was nourished by the yin qi of this yin land, it was not difficult to understand why she was able to reach this stage.
Jiang Li curled his lips. He felt that the people of Seven Roads Town deserved to die for doing such a thing.
In addition, it was fortunate that this spell technique was only a weak spell, so it was only useful to mortals. It was not worth cultivating, otherwise, mortals would suffer even more.
To cultivators, the use of this so-called Deity of Blessing was really close to none. Therefore, almost no sect or rogue cultivator would specially do this.
Wasn't it better to pay respects to the founder instead?
After putting away the clay statue and the female ghost, Jiang Li ordered the 300,000 ghosts to dig three feet into the ground in this town. After he took away everything of value, he left the completely ruined Seven Paths Town.
The clay statue had accompanied the ghost for decades and had long since formed a connection akin to an intrinsic artifact. Earlier, when Qin Shuman had been implanted with a seed by Jiang Li, the clay statue had immediately been damaged.
Putting them together might allow her to recover faster.
Looking at the map, Jiang Li flew to the last location where the ghosts were gathered.
There was nothing worth Jiang Li's attention here. He directly released 300,000 ghosts and captured all the wild ghosts there.
Jiang Li had gone out a total of five times to subdue demons, and he had caught 10,000 ghost soldiers and 20,000 small ghosts. This had increased the number of ghosts in the coffin.
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Chapter 148: Cocoon Break
The five Yin land demon subjugation missions were completed.
Due to Ma Donggui's influence, the Foreign Affairs Hall showed them sufficient respect.
A large number of mortal craftsmen worked together. With the help of cultivators with both earth and wood attributes, the construction work was quickly completed.
Moreover, the Nightless City was actually divided into two areas of the inner and outer city. The inner city was the area where cultivators lived and interacted, while the outer city had mortals who existed to serve cultivators.
Under Jiang Li's request, besides the shops in the inner city, a large inn was also built for him near the edge of the outer city.
After hanging up the signboard of the Scripture Storage Valley, no one dared to provoke them.
After all, it was impossible for those weak demons to be allowed to enter the inner city. If they wanted to continuously obtain the souls of the dead, he naturally had to make it more convenient for the movers.
Soon, the preparations were completed. As long as the signboard was hung, these two money trees would start working their effect.
However, who would have thought that the inner city store he spent so much effort to create was actually not the focus? The outer city small business that others looked down on was his true goal.
Yan Hong was watching over the cultivation market. Although everything was not considered orderly, Jiang Li did not have to worry about it.
On the day Jiang Li returned, everything was already prepared. With an announcement from him, the two shops in the inner and outer cities opened for business at the same time.
The two shops had the same name. They were called 'Prosperous Jiang Hong'.
Jiang naturally referred to Jiang Li, and Hong referred to Yan Hong. The word "Prosperous" implied that the shops could fill their pockets with money.
In the beginning, Jiang Li had even complained about Yan Hong's terrible naming, but the fatty had many good reasons to do so. He explained in a logical manner.
"We're running a business, not to drag our customers into the store and slaughter them. It's fine to have a harmonious sounding name. Why the need to make it imposing?"
Yan Hong was a professional in this aspect, so Jiang Li did not pay any better attention and did not probe further.
Although this name had a nice meaning, in this Nightless City, other large and old stores had at least a hundred years of history. Their reputation, popularity, and reputation were all there. How could an ordinary new store compare to them?
The inner city's Prosperous Jiang Hong did not become famous on the first day.
Fortunately, unlike the cold and cheerless opening of the inner city, the outer city's Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn, which could accommodate thousands of people at the same time, was almost full after sun set.
With Yan Hong's promise, the food and drinks on the first day of business were completely free. Naturally, there was an endless stream of little demons who came after hearing the news.
Then, they promoted their main business to all the weak demons. Apart from souls, Jiang Li also bought information, materials, secret techniques, and other valuable things.
In the cultivation world, there were countless low-level demons. They covered a wide range of areas actively. Perhaps there was something good that they would accidentally find.
However, with their cultivation level and almost illiterate knowledge of the cultivation world, good things would be useless in their hands.
It was better to sell it to Jiang Li. If he could really pick up a peerless treasure from the trash, then he would make a killing.
Jiang Li did not cheat them. He had the intention of buying these items properly. If it was really a good item, he would use real spirit stones to purchase it from them at the normal price in the cultivation world. This was a treatment that low-level demons like them would absolutely not be able to enjoy elsewhere.
After staying there for a day, Jiang Li even specially hired a few small demons to put up a show. They brought over a few magic artifacts and spirit herbs that they had obtained by 'accident' but could not use.
The deal was completed in front of thousands of demons.
An ape demon took 20 low-grade spirit stones that could only be found in its dreams and left.
A fox demon even exchanged spirit stones for Qi Nourishing Pills used for cultivation on the spot and a low-grade Yellow-rank artifact with 'boundless might'. Moreover, it directly applied to join the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn to become a shop attendant.
This made countless lesser demons who wanted to play tricks on it no longer dare to act recklessly. In the hearts of the thousands of lesser demons present, there was only endless hope and desire.
With their brains, they could not understand what false advertisements were. This group of demons only knew that the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn would be the place where their dreams began.
Moreover, as word of mouth spread, there would naturally be more and more monsters in this region that would be attracted to the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn and work hard for the same dream.
As such, the reputation of the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn was immediately spread. As long as they did not do something stupid in the later stages, their gains would only keep increasing.
That first night, Jiang Li obtained more than two thousand souls, spirit herbs and spirit mine ores.
Although it seemed that the quantity and speed of the soul harvest was far inferior to that of Cloud Stream City, the situation here was different.
The people of Cloud Stream City were directly massacred. Hundreds of thousands of souls were right in front of him. He just had to reach out and take them. Although the speed was fast, it would only last for a few days.
The Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn was a long-term business. As long as its reputation was spread, it would give the small demons enough motivation. Then, no matter how many people died in this region, Jiang Li would be able to obtain as many souls as he wanted. This was a long-term stable income.
As long as the spiritual qi and Yin qi in the Yin Burial Coffin could keep up, there would be a million ghost soldiers in his ever-expanding army!
Another two weeks later.
Jiang Li had long returned to the sect. At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged in the cultivation room, motionless like a statue.
His consciousness quietly stared at an ordinary corner of the Scripture Storage Valley.
In the sect's Internal Affairs Hall, in a bucket of swill in the large kitchen area, a fly was happily eating the food in front of it.
How bored must one be to pay attention to the actions of a fly? Yet now, in the Scripture Storage Valley, the genius Jiang Li who was said to be the favored son of the heavens and was invincible with his iron fists was doing such a thing. His master would definitely beat him up upon seeing it.
The fly sucked and spat, its huge compound eyes staring warily at everything around it.
However, no one paid much attention to the smelly bucket.
Soon, after eating and drinking its fill, the fly wobbled out of the barrel, intending to find a female fly to chat about life.
Without realizing it, it crashed into an almost transparent web.
The spiderweb was extremely sticky. The poor fly tried to flap its wings, but could not escape. Soon, the struggle attracted the attention of a huge and terrifying predator, a spotted spider!
In the end, the weak body was injected with poison and wrapped in spiderwebs, turning into a drop of insect soup.
The Parallel Mind separated from the fly the moment it died, returning to Jiang Li's body with the memories of the past few days.
Jiang Li's body suddenly shook, and then his mind and body slowly underwent some changes while he was comprehending these gains.
"In my first life, I was reincarnated as an ancient winged mayfly. I lived and died in glory, but in the end, I exhausted my essence and died on the lotus leaf."
"In my second life, I reincarnated into a twin-needle black mosquito, causing Senior Sister Little Four to be unable to sleep for seven consecutive days. In the end, because of my greed, she killed me with one palm strike."
"In my third life, I turned into a multicolored butterfly and danced among flowers, chasing after my kind. In the end, I accidentally fell into the pond and became food for the fish."
"In my fourth life, I became a fly and ran away while eating in the kitchen. I competed in wits and courage with a cultivator who was a chef, and in the end, I accidentally trespassed into a spider's web and was brutally hunted and killed."
Jiang Li sat cross-legged in the quiet room as the second Parallel Mind's experiences flashed through his mind.
Gradually, the white hair on his body thickened.
If one touched it with their hands, they would discover that his skin had become dry and hard, as if it had become a shell, protecting the flesh inside.
A gentle heat radiated from it, causing the temperature in the nearby chamber to rise several degrees. Within the cocoon, there seemed to be a violent change.
Four hours later, Jiang Li's cocoon suddenly started to squirm, and a large hole was torn open from the inside.
Jiang Li, who still had some mucus on his body, crawled out from inside.
It had to be said that his skin was ridiculously tough. When he came out, it took a lot of effort to successfully tear it open.
However, was this the so-called "Cocoon Break"?
Jiang Li was slightly surprised by this. He did not expect that after reincarnating four times in a row, he would actually gain such a technique.
It felt like an innate talent or simple instinct. He could use it naturally.
The specific function was to make slight adjustments to his body during the cocoon transformation. Other than that, he could also achieve dream-like effects such as regrowing limbs, second-stage puberty, and beautification.
But to him, the last one did not seem to be of much use…
Jiang Li looked at himself in the mirror and saw that he had grown a size bigger. He had become taller and his face had become more handsome. He nodded in satisfaction.
Right, the mayfly, mosquito, butterfly, and fly all had wings. Could it be that he had grown a pair as well?
Jiang Li suddenly thought of this, and he turned around to look at his back in the mirror. It was smooth there, and there were no wings or anything like that.
It seemed that this was indeed just a cocoon break and not a complete metamorphosis. He would not grow any strange organs.
Apart from this, Jiang Li looked at the Mind attribute that had once again increased sharply on his attribute panel. Now, he did not need to rely on his second Parallel Mind to control his strength anymore.
Then, it was finally time to subdue his second clone.
Jiang Li shook his hand and threw out the coffin before walking inside as the cover opened automatically.
He looked up at the top of the coffin space, where a strange ancient tree that looked like a statue was planted on the ceiling.
It was the root of the ancient Spiritual Root Branch that he had 'rescued' from the Scaled Demon Tribe.
On the Spiritual Root Branch, there were hundreds of talisman papers stuck on it. It was also bound by runic chains, preventing this thing from stirring trouble in the coffin space.
Right now, Jiang Li's intended clone was this ancient tree that definitely possessed an astonishing background.
Appraisal was unable to analyze it, and Jiang Li did not have the ability to directly refine the tree with just his cultivation level.
Therefore, he might as well make this Spiritual Root Branch a part of him.
With the might of the Great Carefree Bodhisattva Heart Sutra, Jiang Li did not believe that after turning it into a clone, he would not be able to get anything useful.
Moreover, once this Spiritual Root Branch truly became Jiang Li's strength, then wouldn't he be able to use the few spiritual root seeds he obtained earlier?
Especially Elder Duan Shuang's golden core. It was a real treasure. Just thinking about it made Jiang Li so excited that he drooled.
Stepping on the air, Jiang Li walked to the front of the Spiritual Root Branch step by step.
Following that, he silently circulated the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra in his mind and sent the second Parallel Mind into the Spiritual Root Branch.
Jiang Li was already extremely curious about this ancient tree. He immediately communicated with his Parallel Mind and checked the situation over there.
After that, Jiang Li's eyes rolled upwards, and his figure slumped down from a height of over 20 meters.
Fortunately, his body was as strong as steel. He did not feel any pain from falling from such a height.
Jiang Li naturally knew the condition of his body, but a shocking scene was surging towards him through his Parallel Mind. This caused him to feel dizzy and be unable to stand straight for a time.
He knew that he had been careless.
The successes of the previous reincarnations had given him immense self-confidence and courage. He had nearly forgotten the dangers of the confrontation in his spiritual mind.
Among his first five reincarnations, one was a dead person who had died several months ago, and the other four were tiny insects that could not even differentiate north from south. How could they resist Jiang Li at all? That was why his reincarnations had been so smooth.
However, his current goal was a Spiritual Root Branch that was still alive and had existed for hundreds and thousands of years. Moreover, it might be extremely powerful.
Jiang Li's second consciousness was currently in an extremely vast and huge mental world.
In front of him was an ancient deity statue that was more than five meters tall and still floating in the air. Its lush leaves and roots were fluttering in the air, forming a sharp contrast with the palm-sized Parallel Mind that had yet to grow.
However, that was not all. There were hundreds of human-shaped fruits hanging on the ancient tree.
As the branches shook, fruits fell down one after another, and immediately, they transformed into dozens of Scaled Demons with long hair and the appearance of young girls.
It was obvious that this ancient tree had the same magical ability as the ghostwood tree. It could capture ghosts and turn them into slaves.
This situation already made the second Parallel Mind helpless, but this was still not all!
Behind the ancient statue, in the distance of the spiritual world, there was an ancient tree that was huge to the point of reaching the heavens. Its leaves were also rooted to the ground.
In the middle of the tree roots and leaves, there were also statues sitting cross-legged. However, the difference was that there were three statues sitting with their backs facing each other on the tree trunk. Moreover, their images were different.
The Parallel Mind could only peek from one direction and could see the face of one of the statues and the side image of two of them.
One was transcendent, one was dignified, and one was terrifying. They were respectively Immortal, Buddha, and Demon!
Jiang Li's main body saw this scene through his Parallel Mind, which was why his mind was shocked, causing him to fall from the sky.
Right at this moment, a domineering and powerful dragon roar seemed to resound from within Jiang Li's body.
The two drops of dragon blood burned in Jiang Li's heart, instantly pulling him out from his shock.
Jiang Li breathed heavily as a drop of cold sweat slowly rolled down his forehead.
The thing in his coffin was a Spiritual Root Branch. That huge divine tree that was far away from his spiritual world should be the main body of the Spiritual Root Branch.
Just looking at the might from afar through his Parallel Mind made him lose his consciousness. If he faced it directly, wouldn't he be finished on the spot?
Jiang Li looked at the Spiritual Root Branch that still stood on the ceiling as if it was not affected at all and could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
Nonetheless, no matter how powerful it was, Jiang Li still had to fight this spiritual war!
The palm-sized second Parallel Mind rushed left and right in his mental world. From time to time, it would suddenly tear apart the soul body of a Scaled Demon.
It even deliberately rushed in the direction of the spiritual root's main body in order to obtain more information by sacrificing itself.
However, the distance in his mental world seemed to not be determined by space. No matter how it advanced, it could not get close to the other party.
It seemed that this Spiritual Root Branch was only slightly related to the spiritual root's main body and could not affect each other much.
If that was the case, then there was a chance of victory!
Far away in the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak, the clone Tang Yan, who was discussing sword kinesis with his fellow disciples, immediately found an excuse to leave. After returning to his residence, he collapsed to the ground.
The first Parallel Mind had already been transited through Jiang Li. Along with the second Parallel Mind, they invaded the consciousness of the Spiritual Root Branch together.
Swoosh!
The sword cultivator clone attacked with the Sword Heart activated. After the curved sword light tore apart more than ten Scaled Demon souls, it ruthlessly chopped at the divine tree trunk of the spiritual root, leaving a long and narrow cut on it.
An attack amplified by the Sword Heart could only be used once a day, but in the spiritual world, this slash was practically unstoppable.
Then, the roots of the ancient tree swept over. The sword cultivator clone and the second Parallel Mind began to escape together.
Although that move was cool, they were suppressed immediately after that.
Jiang Li was helpless, but his main consciousness still did not dare to intervene.
Activating the Ghost Wood Art with his mind, the ghostwood trees in his consciousness were also sent into the battlefield.
Thump.
The lush ghostwood trees descended from the sky. In the next moment, the 30 ghosts captured by the ghostwood tree's roots were released. Under Jiang Li's command, they roared and rushed towards the Spiritual Root Branch on the opposite side.
The ghostwood tree that had already matured looked even taller and denser than the spiritual root branch on the other side. However, in terms of quality, the ghostwood tree was clearly inferior to the other party.
More than 30 ghosts collided with the Scaled Demon souls. It was difficult to differentiate between the two. Or rather, they were surrounded and beaten up in a group.
The roots of the Spiritual Root Branch were even stronger as they swept towards the ghostwood trees. Not only were the ghostwood trees' counterattacks useless, but they were also entangled immediately.
Jiang Li's main body looked anxious and speechless. He could only order them to retreat.
The sword cultivator clone and the second Parallel Mind exerted all their strength and barely managed to cut off the roots before they were pulled back by Jiang Li's main body.
Jiang Li took back the ghostwood trees and sent the sword cultivator clone back to Shu Mountain. He was slightly disappointed by the outcome and was unable to accomplish everything in one go.
However, with the gap between the two sides, if he wanted to produce an outcome in one go, the only result would be Jiang Li's side being completely annihilated.
In other words, the "Great Carefree" trait of the "Great Carefree Bodhisattva Heart Sutra" was indeed powerful. Jiang Li did not win this mental battle, but the Spiritual Root Branch could not trap his Parallel Minds.
However, even though Jiang Li was slightly disappointed, he was not discouraged.
This was because the Spiritual Root Branch was in his hands and was controlled by him. Within the spiritual battlefield, it was alone and helpless.
He did not need to rush this now. Every day, he would send the sword cultivator clone into the spiritual root's consciousness and give it a Sword Heart Slash. He believed that it would not be long before he could completely dominate this Spiritual Root Branch!
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Chapter 149: Spiritual Root Aptitude Upgrade
There was less than a week left until the Great Mountain Spiritual Medicine Mystic Realm Competition.
It was finally time for them to set off.
During this period of time, while Jiang Li was receiving special training from Elder He, he also took the time to go to the Scripture Imparting Hall and entered the rooms of 'body, qi, and spell'.
What he used were naturally three 2-hour tokens.
As for the token given to the first place of the Qi Refinement realm competition, he once again made a deal with Ma Donggui.
He had exchanged a large amount of demon beast blood, yin attribute materials, and some array foundation items for setting up the array formation in the Foreign Affairs Hall.
The things he exchanged for were not high-grade goods that could increase one's combat strength, but common low-grade materials in the cultivation world.
It made Ma Donggui think that Jiang Li was going to build a small sect on his own.
As for the three scripture imparting sessions, it was a pity that there were no more powerful inheritances like the Heart Sutra.
Jiang Li did not get the Square Heaven Seal that he was thinking about either.
However, the three legacies he obtained were not bad. Any one of them could cause a bloodbath outside!
This relatively ordinary legacy had its own benefits too.
Although they were relatively weaker, the difficulty of imparting the scripture was also lower.
He did not need to wait as long as the Heart Sutra. Perhaps he could use it in this competition.
The sun had just risen and the flying ship team of Scripture Storage Valley was already in the air.
This time, there were only fifteen participants from the sect. However, they were one of the four major sects of the Great Mountain Region and wanted to display the prestige of a famous sect. It was impossible for the fifteen of them to bitterly walk over.
There were many people who came along to cheer for them.
After all, this Grand Competition concerned the distribution of resources in the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm. If the forces sent there was not enough, if they could not hold the fort and suffered a loss, that would be bad.
The Valley Master of the Scripture Storage Valley had to guard the sect and naturally could not move out.
The three Head Elders of the Demon Vanquishing Hall, the Rejuvenation Hall, and the Foreign Affairs Hall personally led a large number of people from their respective halls.
One team was responsible for suppressing the situation with force, another was responsible for providing medical support, and another was responsible for accepting the results after the competition.
This time, the sect had even sent out four airships to boost their prestige.
One luxurious ship, two escort warships, and one cargo ship.
This cargo ship indicated the Scripture Storage Valley's absolute confidence in this Martial Competition. At the very least, they were determined to get first place in the Qi Refinement realm. After all, their Scripture Storage Valley had produced a freak who could fight a Foundation Establishment cultivator with just Qi Refinement realm cultivation.
In the rules of the competition, the difference between the first place and rest of the positions in both cultivation levels was immense.
Just getting this first place alone meant that they could obtain 10% of the production in the entire Spiritual Medicine Mystic Realm every year.
Coupled with the hard work of the other disciples, they should not do too badly.
After the competition, they would definitely be able to get a good share. At that time, if they harvested too many medicinal herbs and could not ship them back, what could they do? Therefore, a cargo ship was very necessary.
There were even disciples discussing among themselves. If it were not for the fact that their Eldest Senior Brother Chu Yunxuan had broken through to the Core Formation realm early on and had already surpassed the cultivation restriction of this competition, he would have been able to participate in the competition.
If that was the case, they might even win first place in both the Foundation Establishment realm and the Qi Refinement realm in this competition.
Before they left, the Valley Master gave another speech to the fifteen disciples in the Long Clear Hall.
The benefits represented by this large-scale Medicine Garden Mystic Realm were too great. The impact on the future was also extremely far-reaching. It might even cause the cultivation world forces in the Great Mountain Region to be reshuffled.
For example, the Hundred Tempering Mountain used alchemy and blacksmithing to establish itself in the cultivation world. If they were given a large share, they might even take a step further and leave the other three sects behind.
Therefore, this Grand Competition was not only about winning and losing, but it was also related to the survival of the sect in the future.
These words stirred up the fifteen disciples' emotions, but at the same time, they also felt the heavy responsibilities on their shoulders. They made up their mind and decided to give it their all.
After walking out of Long Clear Hall, they stood on the back of the immortal crane and flew towards the flying ship team that was already floating in the air.
However, unlike the excitement of the others, Jiang Li who was originally the most optimistic and active seemed to be constantly thinking about something in his heart, and he did not respond to the cheers of the others.
This was a little abnormal for Jiang Li who had always been socially active.
Jiang Li stood on the back of the immortal crane. The strong wind blew on his face, making him feel a little cool and comfortable.
In his mind, he was not troubled. He only felt the cold air coming at him, but it seemed that the world he perceived was different from before. The surrounding spiritual qi seemed to have become clearer and more active.
Furthermore, this feeling had not just appeared. Instead, it had already been several days.
A few days ago, Jiang Li had a vague feeling that his body seemed to have become more familiar and sensitive to the surrounding spiritual qi.
While cultivating, the efficiency of refining high-grade spiritual qi had also increased. Usually, this efficiency would only increase when the level of the Ghost Wood Art cultivation method was raised.
However, although he was already on the verge of breaking through, he had yet to do so. This sudden change was still somewhat abnormal.
This feeling was different from the effects of his Mind attribute breakthrough. He could sense that this increase was due to the changes in his body.
After feeling it for a few days, Jiang Li had a bold idea.
Although it was only a guess, he felt that it should be closer to the truth.
As soon as they boarded the ship, Jiang Li casually greeted them a few times before rushing to the cabin assigned to him.
The group of people who knew him well only thought that he was nervous before the battle and went back to cultivate quickly without thinking much about it.
With a bang, he forcefully closed the cabin door. Jiang Li even activated the protective isolation array formation in the cabin. The small space instantly became incomparably quiet.
This time, the 15 disciples participating in the Martial Competition were all extremely important. They received top treatment for all minor matters.
The cabins on the ship were also arranged according to the standard of the elders. This was why there was a cabin with a single protective array formation.
Jiang Li took a deep breath, and then he took out a formation stone tray with a diameter of around two meters and a transparent glass ball the size of a volleyball.
Jiang Li had come into contact with this set of equipment when he was in the Immortal Ascension Pavilion. He had exchanged it from the Foreign Affairs Hall. It was a Spirit Testing Array used to test the grade of the spiritual root.
After half a year, Jiang Li suddenly wanted to test his spiritual root aptitude again.
If not for the fact that no one usually bought things like the Spirit Testing Array and that there was no stock in the Foreign Affairs Hall, Jiang Li would not have waited until he boarded the flying ship to do such a thing.
Sitting cross-legged on the Spirit Testing Array, Jiang Li's emotions were slightly agitated. Then, he picked up the Spirit Testing Bead. Before he could embedded the spirit stone, two black and green lights quickly rose on the Spirit Testing Bead.
Oh right, his body was still filled with high-grade spiritual qi. Of course, the Spirit Testing Bead would have such a reaction.
For this test of spiritual root aptitude, he had to first remove the super talent [Spiritual Qi Infusion].
However, Jiang Li did not hesitate because he had originally planned to replace the 50 points of spiritual qi per second with 100 points of spiritual qi per second in the near future.
As soon as the minus button was pressed for five seconds, the pure spiritual qi that had been surging endlessly in Jiang Li's body stopped abruptly. He had also cut off the spiritual qi flow that was being sent to his clone and artifacts in time. Otherwise, with the loss of spiritual qi, it would not be long before he was completely drained at this speed.
This feeling was really empty.
The spiritual qi that had been swelling in his body all year round suddenly disappeared. Although there were no side effects, it still made Jiang Li feel a little uncomfortable.
It was easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but it was hard to do the opposite of going from extravagant to frugal. It was just like how you, someone used to 5G Internet, suddenly had poor reception on a 2G network. The feeling of taking half a day to load an image was horrible.
After a few minutes, Jiang Li finally recovered. He placed an hourglass upside down and inserted a spirit stone into the stone tray. He then picked up the Spirit Testing Bead and sat there.
Testing the grade of his spiritual root required him to suppress his spiritual qi and cultivation method. It would automatically absorb spiritual qi under the effects of the array formation.
Therefore, Jiang Li could only focus on nothing. He helplessly closed his eyes and sat there.
As for the observation time and the progress of the spirit testing, it was handed to the Parallel Mind that had yet to transform into a second clone.
The second Parallel Mind entered the body of a red-coated rat zombie. It squatted beside the main body and helped to watch the test.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes. The fine sand in the hourglass turned into a thin yellow line. Time passed bit by bit.
The Spirit Testing Bead in Jiang Li's palm was also slowly being filled with dual-colored light.
Finally, the black and green lights flickered as they filled up.
The red-coated rat beside him immediately overturned the hourglass.
Through the second Parallel Mind, Jiang Li had already seen the result. However, when he opened his eyes and saw the hourglass, he could not help but flash a hint of joy.
It took exactly ten minutes for the hourglass to be emptied. However, after Jiang Li filled up the Spirit Testing Bead, there was still sand in the upper half of the hourglass.
Although there was not much sand left, perhaps not even a minute's worth, there was still some. The time it took for him to fill up the Spirit Testing Bead was less than ten minutes.
In other words, the current Jiang Li had a high-grade spiritual root aptitude.
As expected! Just as he had guessed, the grade of his spiritual root had increased!
This was very ridiculous. He had not eaten any heavenly treasures, immortal pills, or divine pills recently. How did the grade of his spiritual root suddenly increase?
Jiang Li hurriedly summoned the two Parallel Minds to recall the scene in his consciousness. When did this change begin?
As the saying went, three heads were better than one. The three minds analyzed the memories together and quickly came to a conclusion.
The change happened after he used his new ability, Cocoon Break!
Could it be that the slight bodily adjustment effect of Cocoon Break could actually be effective on the spiritual root aptitude?
Gasp! Did he just obtain a divine technique for no cost?
As long as he continuously broke out of the cocoon and adjusted his body, he would be able to continuously increase his spiritual root aptitude.
This was too ridiculous. No, he had to give it a try again.
Jiang Li immediately removed his clothes and sat cross-legged. After activating the effect, the cuticle layer on his skin became thicker and thicker. Soon, it started to dry and harden, forming a layer of insect cocoon-like outer shell.
Four hours later, the cocoon began to squirm, and it was quickly torn apart by Jiang Li from the inside.
Without caring about his clothes, he tested the Spirit Testing Array again.
With the sound of falling sand, time passed quickly.
The red-robed rat's eyes were sharp, and it quickly overturned the hourglass the moment the Spirit Testing Bead flashed. However, the outcome was almost the same as before.
From the looks of it, the situation was not that simple. The ability learned from four ordinary insects was indeed unable to achieve the effect of defying heaven and changing fate.
Then why?
The transformation had indeed happened after he broke out of the cocoon last time. How could it be unrelated to this ability?
Jiang Li scratched his head as his three consciousnesses fell into deep thought again.
Perhaps "breaking through the cocoon" alone would not increase his aptitude. However, this was still an important reason for the change in his aptitude.
Combining his own situation, Jiang Li eliminated one possibility after another.
In the end, he focused on the [Spiritual Qi Infusion] that he had just eliminated.
High-grade spiritual qi continuously surged out of his body and constantly transformed into several spiritual qi currents that were distributed to his artifacts and clone.
This sort of bathing method using high-grade spiritual qi was extremely extravagant.
If this amount was converted to high-grade spirit stones, during this period of time, there would probably be more than a thousand high-grade spirit stones' spiritual qi flowing through his body.
The value was equivalent to tens of millions of low-grade spirit stones. Even for a large sect like the Scripture Storage Valley, it was a painful expenditure.
Ordinary people would carefully absorb the pure spiritual qi inside to refine high-grade spirit stones. They would not be willing to waste a single breath.
However, Jiang Li actually let 99% of the high-grade spiritual qi flow out of his body.
It was equivalent to drinking just a mouthful of soup after the entire Imperial Feast was served. It could be said to be a model example of squandering.
However, perhaps it was this kind of spiritual qi cleansing without regard for the cost that slowly changed Jiang Li's body under imperceptible influence, causing his body to gradually transform into a suitable vessel for cultivation.
However, that speed was naturally not obvious enough. Then, Jiang Li happened to obtain the cocoon break ability, and under the effect of this skill, his body could enter a type of transformation state, thus stimulating the changes that had accumulated over the past few months. This was the result of the current increase in spiritual root aptitude.
The combination of these two was the truth behind the heaven-defying change of spiritual root aptitude.
Perhaps in the future, he would really be able to break out of his cocoon and be reborn periodically, slowly improving his spiritual root aptitude.
When Jiang Li thought of this, he could not help but smile and feel happy. The importance of spiritual root aptitude on the path of cultivation was self-evident.
He looked at the other fourteen geniuses outside. Eight out of ten had top-grade spiritual roots, and the remaining few either had mutated spiritual roots or had other special talents.
Which ordinary disciple relied on hard work to advance? There was none at all.
Cultivation was never about fairness.
Even Jiang Li relied on a cheat to get this far. He had unlimited resources and powerful buffs brought about by the cheat to forcefully accumulate his foundation.
However, even so, aptitude was still extremely important to him.
Because most of the time, resources and aptitude played a multiplicative role, not just a simple additive effect.
If Jiang Li had a top-grade spiritual root aptitude, he would have long reached Foundation Establishment.
After feeling regretful for his aptitude, he took out a high-grade spirit stone and a small bottle of Spirit Melting Fluid.
He dripped the Spirit Melting Fluid onto the high-grade spirit stone with practiced ease. The glow of the spirit stone dimmed a little again. After a moment, he placed the two drops of liquid filled with spiritual qi into his mouth.
The crude usage of this Spirit Melting Fluid was like using a charger to charge a power bank.
It was an extremely great waste of high-grade spirit stones. When spiritual qi was infused into the spiritual liquid, it would waste more than half of the spiritual qi. When Jiang Li consumed the spiritual liquid, he would also waste more than half of the spiritual qi. The spiritual qi that really entered his body was less than one tenth of the original amount.
However, even so, it was still an extremely beneficial outcome due to Jiang Li's cheat.
[Consuming a high-grade Spirit Melting Fluid. Added Status: Spiritual Qi Infusion]
[Spiritual Qi Infusion: 100 points of high-grade spiritual qi absorbed per second. Duration: 30 seconds] ( )
After five seconds of pressing the plus button, the buff that Jiang Li had just deleted appeared on his interface again.
Then, Jiang Li did not dare to stay any longer and directly jumped into the coffin.
A large amount of spiritual qi washed through his body at an even faster speed. It was only because Jiang Li's current body strength had increased by several times that he endured it. Otherwise, he really would not have been able to withstand this kind of cleansing.
Before his body exploded from the spiritual qi, he repeatedly used the "Spirit Surging Technique" (an enhanced version of the Yin Refinement Technique) to create a few spiritual qi springs in the coffin. More and more pure spiritual qi surged into the coffin space.
The already frighteningly high concentration of spiritual qi began to slowly rise again. The large number of ghosts floating in the air also began to move excitedly, countless ghosts flickering in the coffin space.
After the previous exorcism mission and the purchase of the Prosperous Jiang Hong Inn, the number of ghosts in the coffin space had increased significantly. It had already broken through the 400,000 mark and reached an exaggerated 430,000.
With these ghosts sharing spiritual qi, not only was it not a waste to Jiang Li, it was a form of help.
This way, he did not have to worry about the coffin exploding from the spiritual qi.
Moreover, under this sort of extravagant investment, Jiang Li really looked forward to this group of ghosts. What kind of level could they reach within the coffin?
"Young master, please forgive me for not welcoming you."
Not far from Jiang Li, this voice sounded from a clay statue with a damaged head.
In the damaged area, half a beautiful and exquisite face was revealed. One of her eyes blinked as she looked at Jiang Li, and the emotions in her eyes were indescribable.
It seemed that the Seven Roads Ghost City Lord had recovered under the nourishment of the dense spiritual qi and Yin qi in the coffin.
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Chapter 150: Troubled Matter
"Miss Qin, I had no choice but to do this to you. Please forgive me for the offense."
Jiang Li symbolically bowed to the other party before waving his hand to separate the clay statue again.
After coming out of the cracked clay statue, the injuries that had been caused by the Anti-Demon Golden Skin had basically recovered. She returned to her cold and charming appearance.
Qin Shuman no longer had the determination she showed when she rejected Jiang Li. She bowed towards Jiang Li, her face revealing a complicated expression of compromise.
She was originally a rich girl and had grown up in a secluded courtyard. Unfortunately, she had loved to read books about love and paintings since she was young and had been completely poisoned by the "noble love" that was fabricated by a poor scholar.
In the end, she was tricked by a fake scholar and ran off with great expectations. She was sold to Seven Roads Town and became that pitiful Deity of Blessing.
She could believe anything except the words of men. Therefore, when he had asked her to join him, Qin Shuman had rejected without hesitation.
Now, she had been planted by Jiang Li's seed and had stayed in the Yin Burial Coffin for such a long time. Everything that she saw in her eyes made her unable to think of any possibility of escape.
From the time she was killed until she was captured by Jiang Li, she had never left Seven Roads Town and had never seen many cultivators. She did not know much about the situation in the cultivation world.
In the beginning, she claimed to be the king of this region and thought that she was already very formidable. Who would have thought that calamity would suddenly descend from nowhere and she would encounter Jiang Li?
He had such overwhelming strength and power, and this space had such a dense amount of yin qi that it made her infatuated.
After two weeks here, she had no idea what to do when she got out. She could not put up any resistance anymore.
Right now, Qin Shuman was thinking that as long as she did not continue to be that cursed Deity of Blessing, she could accept anything else.
"Since things have come to this, I have no other request. I only hope that young master will not let me down in the future."
Through the seed in the other party's body, Jiang Li did not sense any obvious hostility, which surprised him a little. He had prepared several excuses, but they were all useless now.
"Don't worry, I don't have a habit of lying. What I said that time still holds true. These guys above are all yours to manage."
"Really… really?"
After Jiang Li finished speaking, Qin Shuman excitedly covered her mouth. Her heart, which had stopped beating for nearly a hundred years, seemed to tremble at this moment.
Looking at the countless ghosts in the sky, this happiness came too suddenly.
In the past, she only had slightly more than 3,000 subordinates.
This was equivalent to going from a village head to a county head. It was unbelievable.
"Come with me. I'll introduce you."
"There's a batch of craftsmen in your Ghost Market, right? These are all basic yin attribute materials. I need you to expand your manpower and make them into yin attribute weapons."
Of the three thousand ghost soldiers in this ghost city, more than half were equipped with standard weapons. Although they were far inferior to artifacts, they were definitely several times stronger than mortal sabers.
"Then, you can choose and arm the elite ghost soldier army with these yin attribute items. The number can be between 50,000 and 100,000."
Jiang Li pointed at a large pile of ore materials that he had bought from the Foreign Affairs Hall.
"The other ghosts need to be armed as soon as possible. These are the two methods to create Ghost Weapon Talismans and Ghost Armor Talismans respectively. Before you learn them, you can use these two molds to make a copy first."
He handed over two books and two long wooden boxes.
The two manuals were copied from the black talisman booklet of that Foundation Establishment cultivator. They were not of a high grade, but they were still practical and easy to learn.
On the other hand, the two long wooden boxes were talisman paper printouts personally drawn by Jiang Li.
This was also the reason why talisman papers in the cultivation world were so cheap. By using this kind of grinding tool to make a copy, as long as there was enough spiritual qi, it would be produced by assembly lines.
Jiang Li used the Spirit Surging Technique on both of the molds. With this, he did not even need to personally infuse spiritual qi into them. Even mortals could use them.
Although the talisman paper that was copied from tools was definitely not as good as being personally drawn by him, with Jiang Li's level of drawing, the patterns on these two sets of molds were naturally drawn in one stroke. The talisman paper that was copied from this was also stronger than ordinary beginner products.
"The Yellow Grain Paper and Black Corpse Ink have been prepared. You can use the yin qi and spiritual qi in this space as you wish. This is only a basic black talisman. After you finish copying it, you can use a ghost weapon to nurture it. It's very easy to get started, so I'll temporarily set the quantity to one million."
Jiang Li casually set a small goal.
"One million…"
The Ghost City Lord, Qin Shuman, could not help but cry out. In the mortal world, where education was not widespread, very few people had any concept of what a million was.
Although Qin Shuman was once a well-educated young lady, after so many years, she had already forgotten many things.
Hmm… how many zeros were there?
She only knew that it was a very, very large number.
"Also, I've brought back all of your ghost market ghosts. You need to start reconstruction and expansion. Also, you can't engage in small-scale fights like before. You need to put in more effort to train them."
"Follow this list I gave you and let them familiarize themselves with the prices. I'll be able to use them later."
For free labor like this, the more there were, the better.
One had to know that as long as there were 100,000 free laborers, sending them to work at an electronics factory for a month would generate at least 80 million dollars in value.
The fellows flying above Jiang Li were already over 400,000 in number, and they were still increasing. How could he easily give up on their remaining value?
"If there's anything else you need after this, you can tell me. I'll try my best to satisfy you. Also, this is a gift from me."
Jiang Li handed her another jade slip. It was a cultivation method, the 'Illusory Art Life Record', that the sword cultivator clone had secretly learned from the various legacies of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak.
Qin Shuman's talent in illusions was extremely shocking. With her own strength, she could create a bustling town that could pass off as the real thing. Furthermore, it was under the circumstances that she did not rely on any array formations or artifacts.
Later on, Jiang Li specially learned that such a level of illusion technique was quite extraordinary.
As a rogue cultivator, this female ghost did what most Foundation Establishment cultivators could not.
Since the other party was already his subordinate, Jiang Li was naturally willing to nurture and support her.
Qin Shuman clearly did not know what the jade slip was. Under Jiang Li's guidance, she read the contents of the jade slip with a curious expression.
After comprehending the mysterious spell technique that surged into her mind, the female ghost's expression gradually filled with shock again.
"This… this… Young Master, you've done me a great favor! Shuman can't thank you enough. I'll definitely repay your kindness in the future."
How could an inheritance from the Shu Mountain be simple?
Although Qin Shuman did not have the ability to appraise the level of the cultivation method, she could understand the special introduction written in the jade slip. Jiang Li had praised this secret technique as being incomparably powerful.
Coupled with the fact that the cultivation world wanted to treasure everything for themselves and that she had not obtained any inheritance after so many years, she was naturally extremely touched that Jiang Li had suddenly given her such a precious technique.
Jiang Li looked at the Ghost City Lord who bowed down again and wondered if she would still be grateful if he let her know that he not only planted a seed in her soul but also took away a trace of her soul origin while she was unconscious.
As they walked in the space inside the coffin, Jiang Li introduced different functional areas and some useful things to her.
Other people might not understand why an eight-hour scripture token was used to exchange for so many useless things, and most would feel that he had wasted it.
However, to Jiang Li, he could already use such cheap supplies to build a small force.
"Eh? What's in these big barrels over here?"
Qin Shuman walked to a corner and pointed at the hundreds of wooden barrels in the corner.
Beside the wooden barrel, there was a small pool surrounded by oval stones.
"This is also something I want to tell you about."
Jiang Li walked to the side and picked up a wooden barrel from the pile of wooden barrels. The sound of liquid moving could seemingly be heard from within.
He removed the lid of the wooden barrel and flipped it over, pouring out the red liquid inside.
This was blood, demon beast blood.
Some of them were Jiang Li's collection after hunting demon beasts, some were bought from the Outer Sect Hall, and some were free kitchen supplies after slaughtering demon beasts in the sect's kitchen.
The blood of the demon beasts poured into the pool of stones. The bottom of the pool was not covered by soil or moss. The blood directly touched the wooden base of the coffin space.
One had to know that the main material of this coffin was Bloodsucking Wood, which was even more sinister and strange than the ghostwood tree.
When Jiang Li refined the Yin Burial Coffin back then, his blood was almost sucked dry by this thing, so this was naturally still fresh in his mind.
In order to allow an artifact to advance, the basic materials used to construct it could not be ignored.
If it were any other material, Jiang Li would have long given up on the idea.
However, if it was Bloodsucking Wood, it might not be impossible.
This was because the Bloodsucking Wood was an extremely sinister thing. Its vitality was unbelievable. Even if it was made into an artifact, Jiang Li could still be sure that these few wooden planks were still alive.
Because the moment it touched blood, the coffin would suck it dry. Because of its characteristics, it gave the coffin a chance to take another step forward.
As long as it absorbed enough powerful blood, this magical wood would continuously grow.
Jiang Li was temporarily unable to supply the coffin with overly high-grade blood. The few drops of dragon blood in his body were not enough for him, so he was temporarily unwilling to share them with the coffin. Therefore, he planned to succeed by quantity.
"In the future, as long as the blood in this pool dries up, open a bucket and fill it up. I will continue to supply the beast blood, you don't have to worry."
Jiang Li handed this laborious task to Qin Shuman, because only she could do it in this coffin.
One had to know that even an ordinary black dog's blood could scatter ordinary ghosts.
The beast blood originated from either strong or weak demon beasts. Their baneful aura was even more shocking. Just the smell of blood from afar was enough to make those ghosts, spirits, and zombies tumble, let alone move them at close range.
Even Qin Shuman had to carefully control a portion of the beast blood from a Foundation Establishment demon beast.
After doing this, Jiang Li rewarded his Spiritual Root Branch with another Sword Heart Slash as usual before leaving the coffin.
Jiang Li walked out of the room. The flying ship had already accelerated to an extremely fast speed, but there were still many people standing on the deck outside.
To cultivators at the Foundation Establishment realm or above, this bit of wind pressure was nothing.
"Junior Brother Jiang Li, are you alright?"
Jiang Li's abnormal behavior earlier was naturally noticed by many people. As the trump card of the Qi Refinement realm in this competition, he absolutely could not have any problems.
However, when Jiang Li entered the room, he was full of worries. When he came out, he was full of smiles. Many people heaved a sigh of relief.
"Junior Brother Jiang Li, don't slack off. Let's compete again after we return from the competition this time. This time, I'll definitely let you experience the might of Senior Sister's Earth Dust Scripture."
It was Shen Ruoshi who spoke. It was said that after the sect martial arts competition ended, she had been cultivating under the guidance of the Valley Master. Now, it seemed that she had a big breakthrough.
Jiang Li contributed to this matter.
As the saying went, there was no creation without destruction. There was a reason for this saying.
In the past, when Shen Ruoshi was cultivating the Earth Dust Scripture, she had been pursuing the quantity of turbid air heavy earth. As a result, her cultivation of the Earth Dust Scripture had gradually become bloated.
During the battle with Jiang Li earlier, she had lost a large portion of the turbid air heavy earth. This allowed her to calm down and properly comprehend her grasp of the Earth Dust Scripture. Now, she had already made quite good progress.
For example, if she were to condense the earth spike again, Jiang Li would definitely be unable to dodge it as easily as before since her control had been greatly improved.
"Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister and Senior Brothers. I was only troubled by a bottleneck previously. Now that I've broken through, I'm fine."
In that short period of time, the Ghost Wood Art had already reached the limit of the seventh level. Currently, it had already reached the eighth level.
Shen Ruoshi's expression stiffened as she became silent, unable to speak further.
Indeed, the joy of humans could not be interlinked. She suddenly felt that there was no meaning in talking to this junior brother.
He had broken through again just like that? It seemed like Jiang Li had only been at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm when he had participated in the sect competition. After that, he had broken through to the late-stage Qi Refinement realm during the competition. How long had it been since then?
Troubled by a bottleneck? Did he really understand what a "bottleneck" was?
Jiang Li scratched his head in embarrassment.
Moreover, he was vexed about another thing. If the duration of this competition was a little longer, and he succeeded in establishing his foundation, then which competition venue should he go to?
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Read Cultivation! My Augmented Statuses Have Unlimited Duration Chapter 151 - External Reinforcement online for free - AllNovelFull
Chapter 151: External Reinforcement
They stayed on the flying ship for several days.
The group on the flying ship finally arrived at their destination.
The venue of the competition was the Misty Mountain Range, the location of the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm.
Jiang Li stood on the deck of the flying ship and looked down. The mountainous terrain along the way did not change much, but he could see that the mountains below were gradually enveloped by a layer of white miasma. This was the origin of this mountain range's name.
The Great Mountain Region was famous because of the countless dangerous peaks in the mountain range. This place was also shrouded in thick fog all year round.
It was not easy to find a hidden garden among these mountains.
"That Medicine Garden Mystic Realm is actually hidden in such a place. It's really fortunate that those two rogue cultivators could find it."
"It's said that this mystic realm used to be the spiritual farm of some immortal sect. This place is even covered by a large-scale maze formation. This fog can't be dispersed because it's gathered by the array formation. If your cultivation level is not high enough, you won't be able to discover the mystic realm even if you pass through this fog head-on."
"To be able to pass through the illusion array by accident, those two people's luck is really good."
"Their luck is good, but their brains aren't that good. They were discovered the first time they sold their gains. This opportunity has turned into bad luck for them."
"That's right. Now, many rogue cultivators believe that as the first to discover the mystic realm, they must have taken the most precious materials from the medicinal garden and hidden them. There are even rumors that those immortal herbs can allow people to easily break through to the immortal realm."
"I heard about it too. Right now, there are quite a few cultivators targeting those two rogue cultivators. There are even a few Core Formation cultivators among them."
"That's terrible."
The speed of the flying ship had already slowed down quite a bit. On the deck, a group of disciples who were well-informed were chatting about various things regarding this mystic realm.
Regarding this kind of major event that affected the cultivation world, as experienced disciples, they naturally carried extremely high enthusiasm.
The four flying ships of the sect gradually descended. Amidst the clamor of the disciples, they slowly drove into the miasma.
As they entered the dense fog of water vapor. Jiang Li's hair was quickly dampened by the moisture, and the clothes on his body became wet and uncomfortable.
In the fog, the flying ship moved steadily along a special flight path. This was a maze path that many high-level cultivators had opened up after a lot of probing. It was said that this route could be sold for a high price in the outer black market.
Jiang Li flicked his hair and used his spiritual qi to isolate the water vapor in the outside world.
However, this situation did not last long. After a few minutes, the white area ahead suddenly opened up.
In the center of the circle of mountains, a vast and flat plain appeared. Jiang Li could already faintly smell the fragrance of herbs, and ahead was the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Li could not help but be surprised. The concentration of spiritual qi here was actually two to three times higher than in the outside world.
It seemed that other than the maze formation, there was also a large-scale spirit gathering formation set up here. Or maybe, there was an unexplored spirit stone mine buried under the ground of this region.
This kind of spiritual qi was so dense that even if a mortal lived here, they could extend their lifespan and live without any illnesses or pain. To Qi Refinement cultivators, it was an excellent cultivation holy land.
If this place was not publicized, with a little modification, it would be the foundation of a large sect.
Towards this, countless people had illusions. If only they were the first to discover this mystic realm, they could definitely use these resources to get stronger and dominate an area.
Even Jiang Li could not help but feel fascinated when he thought about the countless riches that could even change the entire cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region.
Even if he only sold the spirit springs to earn spirit stones, it would still take many years of hard work to match the gains!
Looking down, at the entrance to the mystic realm's ground, a large number of neatly arranged buildings had already been built.
The Medicine Garden Mystic Realm was sealed off by the combined efforts of many sects in the Great Mountain. A large number of cultivators could not enter, but they were unwilling to leave. Therefore, they stopped at the entrance of the mystic realm and spontaneously formed a market that shared everything.
Not to mention that the concentration of spiritual qi here was far higher than the outside world and could greatly accelerate cultivation.
As long as they waited for a period of time, when the Grand Competition ended, the development plan and distribution of the mystic realm would be set. A large amount of spiritual herbs and medicines would definitely flow out.
At that time, this place would naturally be the first-hand market for spiritual medicine transactions. As long as they did transactions, they would earn a huge amount.
Therefore, at the beginning, this place was only a small market. However, after this period of time, more and more rogue cultivators and forces gathered. The small market expanded and connected together, forming the scale of a city.
As long as the mystic realm here continued to exist, this cultivation city would definitely become more and more prosperous. In the future, it was not impossible for it to surpass Nightless City and other places and become a true holy land of cultivators.
At that time, Ma Donggui had even suggested to Jiang Li whether he should open the store here, but he had firmly rejected him. There was no one living within a 500-kilometer radius here, so how could he purchase souls here?
Although spirit stones and spiritual medicines were good, Jiang Li had a limited demand for them. The ghosts that others looked down on were more attractive to him.
The four flying ships of the Scripture Storage Valley were extremely conspicuous in the sky. Once they exited the fog, they were discovered by the cultivators below. Not long after, a few rays of light rose into the sky and flew in front of the flying ships.
"Greetings to the three elders. Disciple Chu Yunxuan has not welcomed you properly. I hope that the three elders will forgive me."
The person in the lead dispersed the spiritual light on his body to reveal his figure and appearance. In the next moment, the cries of the female disciples on the flying ship rose and fell incessantly, and it caused a large amount of goosebumps to appear on Jiang Li's hardened skin.
This Eldest Senior Brother's charm really could not be hidden. Fortunately, he was not of the same age as him.
Otherwise, even if Jiang Li was ten times stronger than him, it would be very difficult for his muscles to compare to the other party's ethereal grace in the hearts of female cultivators.
This senior brother was also very polite as usual. In fact, with his status, he did not need to say these words at all, but he still lowered his attitude very much.
The three elders smiled and went up to take over the matters. They were also very friendly towards this candidate for the Sect Master position. After all, if Daoist Wushe were to retire one day, everyone would have to address him as Sect Master.
There should not be much trouble in the mystic realm. Otherwise, the sect would have known long ago about a communication spirit stone. Therefore, the so-called handing over was just a routine matter.
After they finished speaking, they specially came to the fifteen participants of the competition to encourage and greet them as their Eldest Senior Brother.
The other disciples had entered the sect for a long time and had seen this person before. Only Jiang Li, who had always been out training, had never met him personally ever since he joined the inner sect. Later on, Chu Yunxuan came directly to the mystic realm to guard it, so they never had a chance to meet.
This was the first time that Jiang Li's main body had met this Eldest Senior Brother of the sect who was praised by everyone.
"You're Junior Brother Jiang Li, right? This is the first time we've met. I've known for a long time that Junior Brother has inherited Elder He's iron fists. Now it would seem like what they said was true."
"I'm Chu Yunxuan, just call me Senior Brother. I'll have to rely on Junior Brother Jiang Li for this Martial Competition."
Due to it being their first time meeting, Chu Yunxuan even came up to greet Jiang Li. However, this round of praises made Jiang Li not know how to respond.
"Senior Brother, you're flattering me. I still have a lot to learn with my shallow cultivation level. Please take care of me in the future."
Helpless, Jiang Li could only praise the other party back.
At this moment, a disciple shouted from behind, "Look, there's another flying ship behind us!"
Everyone also turned to look.
In the thick fog, a vague outline became clearer. It was a flying ship breaking through the thick fog.
The other party had obviously noticed them as well. In order to prevent a collision, they slowed down. The distance between the two sides gradually closed, allowing Jiang Li to barely see the other party.
It was an even longer and sleek flying ship. From the looks of it, when it was designed and built, it did not seem to have much consideration for the transportation volume. What mattered was its performance and beauty.
In comparison, it seemed to be of a higher grade than the flying ship of the Scripture Storage Valley.
Although he had not seen the flag clearly, Jiang Li could already confirm the other party's identity. It was the team from the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak.
This was because the sword cultivator clone was currently above. He was leaning against the railing and looking at Jiang Li.
The Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak, the number one sect in the Great Mountain Region, naturally did not only have one flying ship. In fact, they could send out at least two flying ships from each main peak.
However, the population was limited. If each main peak sent out a flying ship, then the participating disciples would probably have to personally steer the ship. That would obviously be inappropriate.
In addition, the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak was probably the least enthusiastic about the production share of this Medicine Garden Mystic Realm.
They only took in elites to begin with. While they were rich and imposing, they did not have many inner sect disciples.
A large number of troublesome matters were all handled by the subsidiary sects. The true disciples of the five peaks were basically all full-time sword cultivators who did not work in production. Only a few would dabble in some cultivation sub-occupations because of their hobbies.
When had they ever lacked ordinary spiritual medicine? Basically never. Only the few precious herbs in the mystic realm could arouse their interest.
The main purpose of participating in this Martial Competition was to display their might and ensure their status as the number one sect of the Great Mountain Region.
After the two flying ships approached, a few sword lights quickly rose from the opposite side and landed on the deck.
As mentioned before, due to the friendly and harmonious environment of the sect, the disciples of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak were generally more righteous and easy to get along with.
Coupled with the fact that there were not many fools in the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region who would deliberately go against them, there were even more people who deliberately befriended them through various methods.
Therefore, during their journey down the mountain, the Shu Mountain disciples would easily make many friends. There were naturally many in the Scripture Storage Valley.
Jiang Li thought for a moment before having his sword cultivator clone fly over in sword light to express his thanks to Chu Yunxuan.
After some pleasantries, the few spaceships had enough of their presence in the air and landed at the temporary spaceport.
There were still three days before the Great Mountain Cultivator Competition. They had to stay at the sect encampment. The fifteen disciples had to seize every minute and second to improve themselves and increase their chances of winning.
Jiang Li also needed to complete the cultivation of the scripture inheritances as soon as possible and convert the three new scriptures he gained into proper combat strength.
How could anyone who had a desire towards greater heights miss such a grand event in the cultivation world? After the news was spread, waves of cultivators surged over from all directions and gathered within this Misty Mountain Range, causing this temporary city to instantly expand by several times.
Moreover, due to certain considerations, the final outcome of the discussion among many sects and factions was that rogue cultivators who met the criteria were allowed to participate in the competition.
However, even if they obtained the top hundred rankings, they would not win a share for any faction.
However, as compensation, other than obtaining the high-grade spiritual medicines produced in the medicine garden as a reward, they could also choose to join any sect other than the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak.
Furthermore, even if they did not win, as long as they performed sufficiently well in the competition, many sects would still extend an invitation to them.
To the sect, this was a good opportunity to recruit new and outstanding disciples from the outside world.
To many rogue cultivators who were cultivating arduously, it was also a rare opportunity to "find a home". Therefore, the rogue cultivators were also filled with enthusiasm for this competition.
In this bustling area, a group of black-robed people walked out through the fog illusion array. They did not even look up and directly entered the bustling market.
They kept a low profile and walked very quickly. They turned and twisted in the complicated streets. While preventing others from following them, their goal seemed to be clear.
The group of black-robed figures left the city and walked all the way to the edge of the gathering place. The leader observed his surroundings for a moment before he seemed to have noticed a secret signal, and he directly pushed open the door and walked into a courtyard.
This was an ordinary courtyard like the other buildings beside it, which had just been built. However, if a cultivator who was proficient in array formation runes were to carefully inspect it, they would discover that the array formation in this courtyard was quite high-grade.
To be able to silently construct such a level array formation in such a short time, the master behind this was definitely not an ordinary person.
The people in the inner room of the courtyard sensed the arrival of the guests through the fluctuation of the array formation. The door immediately opened and a slightly stout figure walked out. He directly bowed to the black-robed figures.
"Greetings, envoys. I am honored."
"Before the start of the competition, in order to cover up our tracks, I can only let the esteemed envoys temporarily stay here. This humble servant is extremely sorry."
The stout cultivator's attitude was extremely respectful as he let the black-robed figures into the house.
The few of them entered the room. After the array formation was activated in layers, they took off their hoods.
Under the black robe was a middle-aged woman and four young cultivators.
The hood and black robe seemed to have the ability to conceal one's aura, and the effects were quite impressive.
When they wore the hood, they looked no different from a mortal. As soon as the hood was removed, several overbearing and fierce auras surged forth, especially the one in the lead. Her cultivation level was unfathomable, causing the fat man's body to tremble a few times.
However, these black-robed figures were not wanted demonic cultivators. Instead, they were unfamiliar faces. In the Great Mountain Region, be it the rogue cultivators or sect cultivators, they had never heard of these people.
"Where's your Pavilion Master?"
The middle-aged female cultivator leading the group asked in an overbearing tone.
The other young cultivators also sized up everything in the room, as if they felt some disdain towards everything.
"The Pavilion Master still has important matters to attend to. He will definitely rush over by midnight to receive the envoys. Please endure for a moment. It is my fault for receiving you poorly."
The stout cultivator did not straighten his back as he repeatedly apologized to them.
Then, he explained the general rules of this Martial Competition and the powerful opponents they might encounter in the competition.
However, the five people on the other side all had disdain on their faces. They did not pay attention to the competition at all, as if it was very easy for them.
After a long time, the stout cultivator realized that the five people were looking down on him. He finished his work and left respectfully.
After walking out of the house, he could not help but sigh, "I hope these people from the headquarters are really that strong…"
The stout cultivator turned around, revealing a similarly plump and broad face.
If Jiang Li was here, he would realize that he knew this suspicious fatty.
This was the deacon of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion, Fu Zhong!
One had to know that the Immortal Ascension Pavilion known by all the cultivators in the cultivation world of this Great Mountain should be called the "Great Mountain Branch of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion".
This was not a secret. Fu Zhong had introduced it to Jiang Li and the others when they first entered the Immortal Ascension Pavilion.
However, to most people, the Immortal Ascension Pavilion's Great Mountain Branch was equivalent to the Immortal Ascension Pavilion. To them, there was no difference, so they subconsciously ignored it.
However, since it was a branch, it meant that there was a headquarters.
Under normal circumstances, due to the need to travel a long distance, not many branches would interact with one another. It was basically autonomous. As long as the Pavilion Master returned every few years to report his work, everything would be fine. It would not affect the other sects in the Great Mountain Region.
However, now that the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm had appeared, it had been decided that this kind of competition would be used to distribute the ownership.
The Immortal Ascension Pavilion that did not have any outstanding combat strength would not give up on this benefit.
Therefore, they asked the headquarters for help.
In fact, it was not only the Immortal Ascension Pavilion that was seeking external help. Many sects, whether big or small, had such actions. In the face of huge benefits, all kinds of secret transactions emerged endlessly.
However, if they invited external help from outside the Great Mountain Region, it was hard to say whether this action was in line with the rules.
After all, no one had thought of this at that time, so there was no special restriction on foreign aid. They only requested that the faction participating had to be a native faction of the Great Mountain.
However, the group of elites from the Immortal Ascension Pavilion knew very well that even if this was not against the rules now, if news of external help was exposed too early and caused the other sects to be dissatisfied, they might change a clause the next day and directly stop them.
Therefore, in order to ensure that the external helpers could participate smoothly, they had to maintain a low profile for the time being.
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Chapter 152: Special Privilege and Survival Tournament
Due to the fact that a large number of rogue cultivators had signed up to participate, the venue of the Qi Refinement Realm Grand Competition was soon filled to the brim.
Because wherever it was, the base population at the bottom of the pyramid was always the largest.
There were ones who could fight against Foundation Establishment cultivators like Jiang Li, and also those who were so weak that they had just cultivated a breath of spiritual qi and could not even use a talisman properly. In essence, they were Qi Refinement realm cultivators of all stages.
As long as the age criteria was met, they would all fit the competition criteria.
Due to the agreement made before the distribution of benefits, each sect could only send out 15 people to participate in the competition, five Foundation Establishment and ten Qi Refinement cultivators.
However, because rogue cultivators did not have the right to participate in the resource allocation of the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm, and it was a different kind of disciple recruitment event, there was no limit to the number of rogue cultivators participating.
In an instant, the number of Qi Refinement realm cultivators registering for the venue surged.
There were both strong and weak people mixed together. There were even some rogue cultivators at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm or even the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm who wanted to try their luck.
This was especially true for those at the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm. They were truly ignorant. This was not a martial arts competition in the sect, so people could die here. Even Jiang Li had not courted death like this when he was still at the initial-stage Qi Refinement realm.
Almost 3,000 people rushed in at once, forcing the competition authorities to stop them.
After some discussion, there were a few temporary registration rules. The cultivators participating in the competition had to pass a few simple tests, such as speed, strength, power, and spell techniques.
In fact, the requirements for passing the test were not high at all, just getting a pass in one of the tests was enough. However, even so, a large number of applicants were still eliminated.
Because of this, a gray industry was created near the registration venue.
Some unscrupulous merchants specialized in selling low-quality talismans that had extremely short duration and poor stability. They were used so that they were just strong enough to meet the registration criteria. After using this method to loot a sum of spirit stones, they still sent a group of cannon fodder into the competition.
The day of the competition arrived not long after.
Due to the number of cultivators participating in the Grand Competition, it was obvious that an ordinary group arena could not accommodate so many cultivators. Therefore, in this Grand Competition, the Qi Refinement realm had temporarily added a cruel survival competition.
Jiang Li left his closed door cultivation and arrived at the venue of the survival competition with his fellow disciples.
As disciples of the Scripture Storage Valley, they had some preferential treatment even in the competition.
For example, the rogue cultivators were all standing and waiting for the competition to begin. However, they could sit. Not only did they sit, but they could also eat tea and snacks.
There were even beautiful girls serving Jiang Li.
"Senior Brother Jiang Li… your shoulders are so stiff…"
The person who came to help Jiang Li massage was a registered disciple of the Rejuvenation Hall. After all, it was the Rejuvenation Hall next door. There were actually quite a number of female cultivators who were interested in him.
This was his exclusive privilege, no one else had such treatment.
However, with Jiang Li's rough skin and thick flesh, the young lady was on the brink of tears during the massage. Even massaging an ox demon was not so strenuous.
Jiang Li had no choice but to thank her and reject the offer. He turned around and observed the venue that he was about to enter like most of the participating cultivators.
Although it was called a venue, the competition actually required many cultivators to set off from the inner circle of the Misty Mountain Range and pass through an area that was like a maze. Finally, they would arrive at their destination near the periphery of the Misty Mountain Range.
Under normal circumstances, for a group of Qi Refinement realm cultivators, crossing a maze of such a level was no different from courting death.
However, the maze was designed to drive away creatures so it did not have much lethality.
It was naturally very difficult to enter, but going outside was far less difficult.
Moreover, the alliance competition authorities formed by many sects had already familiarized themselves with the array formation terrain in this region. They had cleaned up some demon beasts that were too powerful on the mountain and had deliberately suppressed the might of the illusion array on this route.
As long as the participating cultivators did not deliberately take a detour or fly in the sky, the competition would still be within the difficulty range of ordinary Qi Refinement realm cultivators as long as they followed the designated route.
Jiang Li had also seen the road map. It was a mountain that was connected to four other mountains. It could directly penetrate the circular Misty Mountain Range.
Every cultivator who participated in the competition would be assigned a flying talisman. Then, these uncontrollable flying talismans would randomly throw everyone onto the first mountain.
After overcoming the harsh environment, the demon beast attack, and the competition, they would trek all the way to the end point at the foot of the fourth mountain.
During this period, they might encounter some other difficult hurdles. Regardless of whether cultivators were united or fighting, as long as they could reach the end, they would be able to obtain the chance to participate in the next round of the competition.
The competition authorities gave the cultivators an hour to memorize the terrain of the four mountains.
That was because the location would be completely randomized. Under the thick fog in the sky, one could not even use the sun to determine the direction. One could only rely on the terrain to determine their location and direction based on the map they remembered.
Of course, a good memory was not as useful as a pen. Most of the disciples were working hard to copy the map.
In an hour, the Qi Refinement realm cultivators could memorize as much as they could. This might decide whether their journey would be smooth in the next few days.
Soon, the jade wall with the detailed map was removed, which meant that the martial arts competition had begun.
The hundred cultivators took turns to go forward. After being labeled with flying talismans, they turned into a hundred crooked meteors that entered the thick fog and flew into the mountain.
Being covered by the thick fog, even their flight trajectories could not be predicted.
Due to the influence of the formation, it was difficult for spiritual qi to travel far. As such, communication spirit stones were unusable.
It seemed that it was quite difficult to meet up with his fellow disciples after entering the mountain.
"Senior brothers and sisters, this is for you. If you encounter danger, blow this. If I'm nearby, I'll try my best to rush over to help."
Even though Jiang Li called the others senior brothers and sisters, it was obvious that the other nine had tacitly agreed to take him as their leader. After all, the difference in strength was obvious, so there was no need to compete.
Jiang Li handed over nine white metal whistles. He kept one in his hand.
The white whistle was only a short tube the size of a finger. In the middle of the short tube was a piece of carefully crafted mouthpiece.
This thing did not have any spiritual qi fluctuation. Therefore, when the other disciples held it in their hands, they had puzzled expressions.
They were not ignorant enough to not know what a whistle was.
The problem was that there were more than 4,000 cultivators participating in the Grand Competition this round. Their Scripture Storage Valley only had a total of ten people. Under this situation, they could not hope to successfully gather.
At this time, if a signal was sent out, not only would the companions not receive it, a bunch of enemies full of malice would come first.
Jiang Li did not think that they would understand any scientific knowledge. Facts spoke louder than words. He only blew at the whistle in his hand.
The white whistle did not sound at all. Instead, it emitted a slight buzzing sound like a mosquito flapping its wings.
Just as the other nine people thought that Jiang Li's whistle was broken, the whistle in their hands actually also lightly trembled. Moreover, the shaking became more and more obvious, and soon, it actually released the same type of buzzing sound.
"It's… it's ringing. There's actually no spiritual qi fluctuation."
The nine people looked at the thing in their hands in surprise. They could not understand how such an ordinary small thing suddenly shook in their hands.
Jiang Li did not explain to them what resonance was. This thing was actually not very useful outside. Only in places where this kind of spiritual qi fluctuation was disturbed could one use it to send some simple information.
The few inner sect disciples had lived in the cultivation world with spiritual qi as the foundation for everything for too long. It was inevitable that they would find things outside of other cultivation methods novel. However, that was all.
Infrasound waves were vibrations in the air. They did not rely on spiritual qi to spread, nor could they be captured by the ears of ordinary humans. This was their advantage.
However, its range of transmission and content was indeed limited. This kind of small tool could only let them know that there were allies nearby. It could not even point out a direction, so this was just slightly better than nothing.
Unless… one of them had super hearing abilities that surpassed ordinary humans, such as someone who had the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra.
After they had settled on the rough plan of advancement and the whistle signal, it was their turn to set off.
Jiang Li looked at everyone's expressions, and he was more excited than afraid. That whistle was only for insurance. After all, they were disciples of the four great sects of the Great Mountain Region, so it would not be their turn to be afraid.
The other cultivators should be trembling in front of them.
"Everyone, may the Immortal Fate flourish!"
"May the Immortal Fate flourish!"
Then, Jiang Li stuck the flying talisman onto his body. The gravitational force on his body immediately disappeared, and a force pulled him up into the sky.
At first, it was fine, but after entering the fog's range, he felt as if he was spiraling into the sky. The flight trajectory made him feel dizzy.
That was because the effects of the maze were applied to him and the talisman paper, but the directions that were misled were not uniform. After the direction was messed up, this situation happened.
After flying for a distance, Jiang Li could feel that the talisman spiritual qi in his body was exhausted, and the height gradually decreased.
Finally, after descending to a certain height, he left the range of the fog.
The talisman papers on his body automatically turned to ashes, and the last bit of spiritual qi dragged Jiang Li to slowly land on the treetop.
Raising his head by two meters, he saw fog. It was no wonder that they could not fly.
If he were to fly in the fog, it would be fine if he spun around on the spot. However, if he were to accidentally fly to another mountaintop, it would really be up to fate and fortune.
Jiang Li took out the whistle and blew it. After waiting for a moment, he did not receive any response. It seemed that his senior brothers were not within the range of the whistle.
He took out a map from his bosom. That was the map that the staff member had stuffed under the talisman paper when he had given him the flying talisman.
Along with the map was a small bolt of lightning cracker.
For outstanding disciples of large sects like them, there was still a way out if something happened to them. The quality of this kind of lightning cracker was obviously better. It could rise to an extremely high altitude. There would always be flying ships patrolling the sky above the clouds. Once someone gave the signal, they would go down to rescue them.
This was the reason why he had entered the sect back then and not as a rogue cultivator alone.
Since there was privilege and injustice in this world that could not be eliminated, why not become one of those who enjoyed privilege?
Compared to the map, Jiang Li also judged the location and walked towards the end at a moderate pace.
He took out the coffin and it slid open automatically as a wisp of black qi floated out. It landed on the ground and quickly became a beautiful figure.
After Qin Shuman came out, she knelt down in front of Jiang Li.
"Young master, you are looking for me?"
The current Qin Shuman was rather respectful to Jiang Li.
Jiang Li could not guarantee that the female ghost was really loyal to him, but as long as he could ensure that the female ghost could not escape his control and was sufficiently useful, that was enough.
"This place is within a large-scale maze formation. It was built by a cultivator using the natural terrain. Go take a look. This will be very helpful for your comprehension of the Illusory Art Life Record."
Jiang Li pointed at the fog above. He had no intention of letting the other party break through the fog. That was simply a fool's dream!
It had only been a few days since this female ghost obtained the Dao Technique. If she could crack the illusion formation of the mystic realm, how could the other cultivators in the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region still live in this world?
However, it was just as he had said. Under a safe situation, one would not have a chance to observe such a level of illusion array at a close distance. This was quite beneficial to the cultivation of illusion techniques.
Especially when the power of the array formation was deliberately suppressed, the veins would undoubtedly be clearer.
"Yes, young master."
Qin Shuman floated above him and observed carefully under the fog. As Jiang Li moved forward, she slowly followed.
Jiang Li did not walk in a completely straight line. Instead, he was working hard to find a pattern. From time to time, he would dig a hole in the ground.
To him, this grand array was also a top-notch lesson.
In terms of size and borrowing of the power of heaven and earth, even the sect protection formation of the Scripture Storage Valley was far inferior to this place.
As he walked, the path that he was originally barely walking on became even more crooked, running around the mountain like a headless fly.
After a long time, he finally found a place and took out a medium-grade Yellow-rank earth attribute artifact.
It was a shovel used to dig soil.
This thing was amazing. When digging a hole to bury a corpse, as long as it landed on the ground, it would be a two-meter square corpse hole. It was not troublesome at all.
This was an artifact that Jiang Li had specially asked the Weapon Refinement Hall to make. He could easily master it without needing an earth attribute spiritual root.
Although it did not have much attack power, digging pits and excavating soil was extremely convenient.
He dug a few holes into the ground as if he was playing a sandbox game. One soil cube after another was dug out from the ground and placed neatly at the side.
In a few moments, a deep hole more than ten meters deep appeared in front of him.
Ding!
Then, the shovel in his hand suddenly poked something hard. After Jiang Li peeled off a layer of soil, he was slightly happy.
Sure enough, there was a formation node here.
The terrain of this Misty Mountain Range was not as perfect as the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak. If they wanted the array formation to work well, they had to use the foundation of the array to guide the earth vein.
This was the place where Jiang Li had most likely found the array formation node after much calculations.
This stone must be worth a lot of money.
Jiang Li rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment. In the end, he did not choose to dig this thing out. Instead, he took out a pile of materials for setting up array formations from the coffin and set them up around the formation foundation.
It was rare for him to come here. As a Runic Array Master, he naturally had to leave a back door here.
Report chapter
Chapter 153: Two Battlefields
After Jiang Li finished setting up the array formation, he filled the soil cubes back into the hole seamlessly.
In the end, only a few traces were left on the surface of the grass. With the urging of his wood attribute spiritual qi, the vegetation grew densely and soon, no one could see any abnormalities.
However, his actions were seen by several pairs of eyes.
"Little brother, your artifact is not bad. If you give it to me, I will protect you until the end. How about it?"
Jiang Li carried the shovel and stood up. This voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Jiang Li was expressionless and did not show any surprise. The other party had been following him for so long. If he did not discover this, then his cultivation of the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra would have been for nothing.
He had ignored the other party previously because he was certain that the other party would not be able to escape.
Turning around, he saw a woman in red floating on a tree branch. She had a smile on her face as she looked down at him.
Then, rustling sounds could be heard. Two male rogue cultivators who were close to twenty years old surrounded him from two other directions.
"It seems that rogue cultivators are not all fools. They actually reached a cooperation in such a short time. It really surprised me. You guys are not bad."
Jiang Li was surrounded by the three of them, but his expression clearly showed that he was surrounded by the three of them. He was praising them like an elder facing a junior.
"Little brother, your words don't sound nice. Those two big brothers will be very angry. Why don't you take out everything you have and Big Sister will help you plead for leniency?"
The woman narrowed her eyes before she started to threaten Jiang Li. The two people behind him were slowly approaching as well, but they maintained a distance between them. Obviously, they did not really trust each other and were still on guard against their teammates.
"Are you planning to attack me? Have you thought of the consequences of attacking a disciple of the Scripture Storage Valley?"
Jiang Li touched the chain on his waist, as if he was comforting a python, asking it to endure for a while and not kill everyone on the spot.
"Heh, boy, you still want to use the sect to suppress us?"
"This is the venue of the Great Mountain Cultivator Competition. No one will say anything even if I kill you."
"See the fog above? If you die, who will know that we killed you?"
When Jiang Li heard this, he inexplicably admired the other party's courage.
"These large sects are really rotten. They actually let a young master like you join this kind of competition by paying them a sum. Hmph, it's a pity that you met us."
"Hand over everything quickly, or else I'll definitely let you see what horror is!"
Behind him, there was a man whose malice was no longer masked. He tore the sleeve on his right arm, revealing a gorgeous tiger claw.
This kind of operation of directly transplanting the organs of demon beasts was actually quite popular among the rogue cultivators. Although it might affect their future development potential, it could increase their combat strength quite a bit in a short period of time.
Jiang Li touched his young face and felt a little helpless.
Ever since his body refinement, his body had grown rapidly, but the immaturity had not completely faded.
His age was really too deceptive. Cultivation required a long period of accumulation. To many people, being young meant being weak.
Even if he wore the uniform of an inner sect disciple of the Scripture Storage Valley, few people would acknowledge his strength.
If one did not know the truth, it was not strange to think this way.
"Forget it, I'm not playing with you guys anymore. Miss Shuman, have you chosen your target yet?"
Jiang Li raised his head and asked before a phantom appeared behind the red clothed woman.
Qin Shuman grabbed her head and covered her eyes with her hands. The woman in red instantly lost all her senses and could not move at all.
This was a sensory deprivation technique. After combining it with the Shu Mountain's illusion technique, its power was already extremely terrifying.
Furthermore, with Qin Shuman's strength, although it was likely for her to lose against a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was not a problem to face a Qi Refinement cultivator.
Then, Qin Shuman forced the other party's head in front of her. Her pale lips opened slightly, and mist-like things poured out from the other party's air hole.
She had used her ghostly innate ability to quickly draw out the other party's spiritual qi and vitality.
"Kid! You're courting death!"
The female cultivator above was instantly subdued. The two cultivators panicked as well. That female ghost looked extremely terrifying. The two of them combined were definitely not her match.
He did not expect that this sect disciple who joined through connections would actually have such a cheat-level protective trump card. No wonder he was so fearless just now.
"To capture thieves, first take down the leader! Attack together!"
The female ghost, Qin Shuman, was treated as a protective trump card given to him by the elders of the sect.
The two rogue cultivators knew that fleeing would only mean death. Their only way out was to capture Jiang Li and use him as a hostage.
They rushed forward together, one tiger claw reaching towards Jiang Li's face, and a sickle aimed at his ankle.
The two of them attacked together, and their cooperation had some tacit understanding.
Bang! Bang!
With a punch from the top, the tiger claw was smashed into a pile of mush. With a kick from the bottom, the iron hook was kicked into a pile of scrap metal.
The attacks that the two of them relied on were easily shattered, showing no effect.
Swoosh!
The Dragon Imprisoning Lock that had been waiting for a long time flew out and wrapped around the two people at lightning speed. Then, it suddenly tightened, and a huge force squeezed inward, instantly tearing the two people into pieces on the ground.
Without any special methods, it was basically impossible for these Qi Refinement realm cultivators to endure an attack from Jiang Li.
"Shuman, let's go."
Jiang Li threw the corpse into the coffin. The master of the Ghost City, Qin Shuman, also floated over with the female cultivator who had already turned into a dried corpse.
After absorbing the vitality of a late-stage Qi Refinement realm cultivator, her pale body now had a hint of redness.
The human and ghost continued to walk towards the finish line as if they were sightseeing.
Similar things were happening in the other areas of the Qi Refinement realm's competition.
There were more rogue cultivators, but other than a few true geniuses who were hidden until now and some children of heaven who had obtained the powerful legacies of their predecessors, the strength of these rogue cultivators was generally inferior to sect cultivators.
From the ranks of cultivation methods, the might of spell techniques, and the grade of magic artifacts, when these differences were overlapped, the difference in combat strength would at least be raised by two levels.
Many rogue cultivators knew their own limits. After encountering each other, they felt that they did not have full confidence in taking down the other party, so they temporarily traveled together and formed groups of three or five in order to fight against stronger sect cultivators.
However, even so, they still lost more than they won.
Apart from… this group of people.
If the fog above the mountain disappeared, the flying ship in the sky might discover that a wave of seemingly unrelated cultivators was gathering in the center of the first mountain from all directions.
There were men and women among them, and there were both strong and weak. The places in the Great Mountain Region were vastly different, and perhaps they could not even call each other's names.
But as if summoned by something, they converged on one target.
After they gathered, they did not have any intention of fighting. They only quietly waited for their companions to arrive.
Before long, more than 30 rogue cultivators had gathered.
After all, the Qi Refinement realm was only the beginning of cultivation. The things that cultivators grasped were still too few. It was quite difficult to fight ten people at once.
As for more than 30 Qi Refinement cultivators, this force was already sufficient to suppress any sect disciple other than Jiang Li.
"Damn it! How… How are they related?"
Not far from the rogue cultivators, a Hundred Tempering Mountain cultivator was quietly lying in the bushes, watching the scene in front of him in shock.
With so many rogue cultivators at such a distance and such a strange scene, he would not believe that there was no plot between them.
"They must have grasped some method to cheat. There's definitely some plot in this competition."
"No, I have to spread this news as soon as possible!"
This disciple of the Hundred Tempering Mountain was called Situ Rui. He was a descendant of one of the two great families of the Hundred Tempering Mountain. While he possessed extraordinary talent, he had also obtained unimaginable resources. It could be said that he was an influential figure in this competition.
However, even he did not have the intention to jump out and fight the rogue cultivators. Instead, he cautiously lay on the ground and retreated bit by bit.
Rustle~
However, footsteps came from behind.
Unfortunately, a rogue cultivator rushed over from behind him.
When the cultivator saw the Hundred Tempering Mountain cultivator hiding behind the bushes, he stopped in his tracks and looked over expressionlessly.
The next moment, the more than thirty cultivators turned their heads over.
The disciple of the Hundred Tempering Mountain cursed his bad luck. He took out a smoke bomb and smashed it on the ground. Immediately, thick black smoke spread out and completely enveloped the nearby area.
Swish!
The Hundred Tempering Mountain disciple, Situ Rui, reacted very quickly and made a very accurate judgment.
There were more than 30 people on the other side, and one of them was just behind him. As long as that person stopped him for a breath of time, the other rogue cultivators would surround him. At that time, not to mention winning, even fleeing would become a dream.
The success rate of directly escaping was too low, so he immediately threw out the smoke bomb to block their line of sight.
Then, he immediately took out the lightning cracker that was used to seek help and pulled down the trigger line.
A bright and blinding red light blossomed on his hand. In just a moment, the distress signal would rise high into the sky and pierce through the clouds, bringing with it reinforcements that could suppress everything.
However, Situ Rui's right hand, which was holding onto the cracker, suddenly sank. One palm pressed against the front end of the tube.
In the next moment, the fragrance of roasted meat filled the air. How could that meat palm withstand the burning of the lightning cracker? It only took a moment before it was completely penetrated.
Ordinary people would definitely be unable to endure such pain and immediately let go.
However, this was not the case for the owner of the hand. Instead of letting go, he grabbed the red light and curled into a ball, enveloping it.
Flesh and blood turned to charcoal, the intestines pierced through the stomach. This cultivator was about to die, but the red light that was shooting through the sky ultimately did not rise successfully.
"How… how is this possible?"
The black smoke slowly dissipated. Situ Rui looked at the half-charred cultivator on the ground in confusion, not understanding why he would do this.
Then, he looked around in despair. More than 30 Qi Refinement cultivators had already surrounded him.
"Damn it! You'll regret this!"
His artifact emitted a bright light. Situ Rui still wanted to make one last gamble. After he threw out the artifact, he wanted to fly into the thick fog to escape.
However, those cultivators were too close to him and did not care about his attacks at all. They directly rushed up without fear of death and pressed him down.
In the end, this Situ Clan disciple of the Hundred Tempering Mountain was still pressed to the ground. Then, the disciple who was on the verge of death was dragged onto his body. The black hair on his head gradually turned white, and his entire body aged immensely. A seed rolled out from his mouth and landed in the mouth of the Hundred Tempering Mountain cultivator.
On the Foundation Establishment stage, the competition was also very intense.
Although the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators who signed up for the competition was not as many as the Qi Refinement stage competition grounds, it had already far exceeded their expectations.
The sect alliance competition authorities had prepared five types of terrain venues: mountain of blades, sea of trees, swamp, volcano, stone forest, and so on.
In each arena, 30 tokens were placed. After the participating cultivators were randomly disrupted, they entered the arena to snatch the 150 tokens.
The competition authorities planned to raise the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators participating to less than 150.
The sword cultivator clone, Tang Yan, was randomly assigned to the stone forest battlefield.
Pillars that were hundreds of meters tall were pointed at the sky. They were densely packed and resembled a forest. There was not a lot of room for maneuver in such complicated terrain. It was quite an advantage for body cultivators and earth-attribute cultivators. If it was his main body, his combat strength would probably be even higher.
However, to a long-range fighter like the clone, having so many obstacles was not good.
Then…
Sword Kinesis Technique!
Giant Sword Technique!
Myriad Sword Technique!
Exploding Flame Fire Sword!
Liquor Heaven Burning Sword!
Yellow Dragon Sword!
There was an enormous sword shadow that had swelled to a hundred feet in length, a dense rain of sword lights that descended from thousands of sword lights, an explosive sword qi that was impossible to guard against, the liquor fire sword qi that could burn the sky and split the ground apart, and an emperor's sword that was coiled by a flaming divine dragon…
The pitiful stone forest battlefield was instantly ravaged by the terrifying sword waves.
It was as if the sword cultivator clone did not know what exhaustion was. When other people released a powerful move, they would take half a day to recover. As for the clone, he attacked everything in the surroundings without regard for the cost.
The dozen or so unlucky cultivators near the clone were instantly stunned.
They had just entered and something had happened? What was that Shu Mountain sword cultivator trying to do? Was he trying to wait for death after expending all his spiritual qi?
More than ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators struggled under the waves of sword qi and sword light.
However, how could the sword techniques of the Shu Mountain sword cultivators be so easily withstood? Even if they covered an area and enveloped more than ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators at the same time, the pressure on everyone would not be much weaker.
The protective light dispersed and the defensive artifacts shattered. One Foundation Establishment Cultivator after another collapsed, but the sword cultivator clone did not show any signs of exhaustion.
In the end, only three cultivators escaped from the sword light waves.
The blinding red light on the flying sword Burning Rainbow slowly dissipated. After spinning in a circle, it returned to the sheath on the back of the clone.
This was the current combat style of the sword cultivator clone. It did not seek the strongest, but the most energy consuming moves.
Be it cost-efficiency, flexibility, or technique, they were all useless to the sword cultivator clone.
After returning to the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak, he did not learn a single Basic Sword Technique. He only studied the sword techniques with the highest expenditure.
Great expenditure usually meant a wide range, strong power, and greater commotion!
The combat style of the sword cultivator clone was becoming simpler. He simply stood on the spot and attacked crazily.
However, being simple did not mean that it was not good. It was so powerful that there was no need to beat around the bush.
The endless use of Spirit Surge Technique caused the sword cultivator clone to go from an ordinary fire sword cultivator to one of the top five Foundation Establishment cultivators under the age of 30 on the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak.
From the pile of rubble, his clone, Tang Yan, took out a burning hot token. Somehow, he had already passed the first round of the competition.
Report chapter
Chapter 154: Nine Nether Dao Scripture
After the sword cultivator clone obtained the token, he did not stay behind to 'farm points' and snatch more tokens.
That kind of action might be able to show off, but in reality, besides offending people, there was no other benefit.
Especially since this was only a clone. At this level, so what if he was in the limelight? It still had no positive effect on his main body.
The clone, Tang Yan, stepped on the flying sword and slowly left the stone forest field. None of the other nearby Foundation Establishment Cultivators dared to stop him and allowed him to take away a token representing his chance to advance.
Many of them suspected that the clone had run out of spiritual qi and could no longer fight. However, what if they guessed wrong?
The flattened stone forest was still vivid in their minds. There were not many brave souls present who wanted to die.
After casually tossing the token to the staff member, Tang Yan was surprised to discover that he was not the first to come out.
On the jade board representing the Foundation Establishment stage, there were already five names.
While he was using his ultimate moves to clear the scene, someone had already successfully obtained the token and came out to complete the task.
Although the sword cultivator clone did not think of rushing for time and only slowly finished everything, it did not take long.
He was not surprised that someone was faster than him. However, there were five of them. This was not an ordinary sight.
Hmm? There was actually a disciple from the Immortal Ascension Pavilion among the five?
The disciples of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion were not considered powerful among the many sects in the Great Mountain Region.
The general impression was that they were all mostly weak and only relied on medicinal pills and artifacts.
However, this person's name was ranked second on the jade board. Since when were the disciples of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion so capable?
After handing over the token, Tang Yan's name was finally placed at the sixth position.
He immediately shook his head and did not care about these trivial matters anymore. He did not intend to stay behind to continue watching the battle and instead rode his flying sword back to the sect's encampment.
Not far away, a group of sword cultivators who were also carrying flying swords on their backs looked at his distant sword light and revealed expressions of praise.
"He won without arrogance. His temperament is not bad."
"This Tang Yan kid suffered a great calamity previously and managed to survive. It's time for good fortune to come."
"After being absorbed by the Golden Core zombie demon, he fell into the dirty Yin Corpse Blood. Under those circumstances, not only was he fine, he even awakened a special talent in spiritual qi. This is a blessing for our Shu Mountain."
The few Shu Mountain elders who were watching the battle outside gathered together. They were not stingy with their praises towards this resurrected disciple Tang Yan.
Tang Yan had forgotten most of the Dao Techniques he had learned in the past. Although he had awakened his Sword Heart, they were originally worried that Tang Yan would not be able to recover from this setback.
Even if he did not, it would take him a long time to learn new spell techniques and recover his strength.
However, he did not expect that not only would Tang Yan not be at a loss, but in a mere few months, he had risen to become one of the five strongest Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak.
"But Little Tang Yan still lost a lot of his memories. He doesn't even recognize me as his master anymore."
A sword cultivator who was holding a wine jar in his hand and had a drunken flush on his face felt a little helpless when speaking about this. He raised the wine jar and took a few more gulps.
"Old Fan, don't be sad. As a cultivator, eternal life is the goal. A mere twenty-something years of memories is nothing. There's still a long way to go."
"However, I heard that when your disciple was under the Mother River, he seemed to have seen something incredible. What's the exact situation?"
An elder beside him asked. However, Jiang Li had already asked his sword cultivator clone to reveal a portion of the information earlier.
He naturally did not say too much in detail. The most important part, the spiritual root, was not mentioned.
This was because after obtaining the Spiritual Root Branch, he already had the possibility of benefiting from the conflict between the two sides.
If he revealed everything about the spiritual root seed in one go, it would first cause others to suspect that he knew of this information. It was very likely that he would put this clone in a disadvantageous situation.
Secondly, if the information was completely leaked, perhaps someone would advocate a large-scale hunt to destroy these spiritual root seeds. However, there was no good way to identify the disciples who had been possessed. It was very easy for people to panic and cause chaos in the entire situation.
It was even possible that someone would target the mystical ability of the spiritual root seed that could change fate and thus collect and use those seeds without permission, resulting in an even greater catastrophe.
After all, greed was human nature. It could not withstand even a little test.
Finally, there was also the point that Jiang Li "did not care" the most. From the appearance of the Spiritual Root Branch, those spiritual root seeds seemed to have an extraordinary meaning to it and were rather important.
That Spiritual Root Branch was about to be made into a second clone by Jiang Li. At that time, these unknown spiritual root seeds would become easily obtainable for him. How could Jiang Li bear to give the benefits to others for free and give up?
Therefore, he only used the memories of his death as an excuse to tell them about the huge monster hidden under the water, hoping that the sect could investigate it.
As for what they could find out, it was not something he could grasp.
"I'm not sure yet, but Elder Zuo Kong and Elder Zuo Luo have already gone to investigate. If there's anything unusual, they should be sending back the news very soon."
In the battle of the Mother River, the people of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak had suffered a huge loss. Originally, they were still holding back their anger.
It was only because the Golden Core zombie demon had been killed that they could not do anything else.
Now, they knew that under the water, the Golden Core zombie demon was not all that was there. There were still existences hiding deeper in the shadows.
As such, how could the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak endure it? They had already restrained themselves by not directly overturning the damned Mother River. How could they really remain unmoved?
They had only sent out two Golden Core sword cultivators to scout the area. If they really attacked, it would be a rapid all-out strike.
Many large and medium-sized sects would easily turn into history under the wrath of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak.
Jiang Li's move was called manipulating a tiger to devour a wolf. He did not believe that a huge tiger like the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak could not beat a tree.
At that time, when the two sides fought, Jiang Li would be able to fish in troubled waters like he did back then. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Not long after Tang Yan obtained the token, another few cultivators walked out from within.
Among them, there was another unfamiliar face. When the name on the jade board appeared, many people discovered in surprise that another person was registered under the Immortal Ascension Pavilion.
Among the ten people who received the tokens first, two were disciples of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion.
This was really abnormal.
Obtaining the token the fastest did not necessarily mean that the cultivator was stronger. However, at the very least, it meant that the cultivator at least had the effect of suppressing the chaotic situation in a certain aspect in order to stand out in a stalemate.
For example, unparalleled speed, artifacts that could not be destroyed, etc.
Logically speaking, it was impossible for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator of such a level to be unknown no matter how low-profile he was. However, none of the two people present knew each other.
It was not difficult to understand the reason behind this. Immediately, many people looked in the direction of the Immortal Ascension Pavilion with unfriendly gazes.
After so many years, they had almost forgotten that the Immortal Ascension Pavilion was actually an external force.
The other party had borrowed the power from the outside of the Great Mountain Region. This meant that once the Immortal Ascension Pavilion's Great Mountain Branch obtained victory, the benefits distributed would definitely be transmitted to the headquarters of the outside world.
It was natural for them to do business within the Great Mountain Region. However, if they were to take away a portion of precious resources and send it to the outside world, it would undoubtedly slow the development of the Great Mountain Region.
Not only that, but the Medicine Garden Mystic Realm would produce many high-grade spiritual herbs. Once they attracted the greedy gazes of the outside world, with wolves surrounding them, the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region would probably have to face a difficult war.
Many factions looked at each other and quickly came to a consensus. They would definitely crush all of the people from the Immortal Ascension Pavilion in the next round!
The clone, Tang Yan, did not see the tacit understanding between the sects. Even if he did, he would not care much.
At this moment, he had already returned to his room and was sitting cross-legged. In the next moment, all the muscles in his body collapsed and his consciousness left his body.
This round of the competition was simply not intense to the extent where he needed to use Sword Heart, so the use of his Sword Heart Slash today was still kept.
In the Misty Mountain Range, Jiang Li had also entered the coffin space. The Yin Burial Coffin then sank into the ground, leaving no traces on the surface.
He used Mayfly's Dream on the ancient statue, and the second Parallel Mind squeezed into the other party's consciousness. Then, he stood in front of the ancient tree together with the first Parallel Mind.
At this moment, the ancient tree was incomparably miserable. The tree roots and leaves seemed to have been eaten by locusts, becoming sparse.
The ghosts of the Scaled Demons hanging on it had long been exhausted.
The ancient tree was covered in ravines as well. Sword strikes covered its entire body, and there were even three overlapping Sword Heart Slashes at the center, and it was almost about to break this thing apart at the trunk.
As for the towering divine tree in the distance, although it was still ridiculously tall, it no longer had such a powerful deterrent force.
The distance between them was much greater than back then.
This was because the connection between the mental world was definitely mutual. It showed that the spiritual root Jiang Li captured was already about to collapse.
"This will be the last strike!"
The sword cultivator clone was filled with confidence and was already very confident about this. During this period of time, he had been executing Sword Heart Slashes every day. His Sword Heart talent, which had not awakened for long, had become more and more proficient. Perhaps he would be able to advance another step soon.
All that remained of the ancient statue was a pitiful vine that waved in the air as it attempted to unleash its final attack.
The ancient tree's vines were more effective against spirit bodies than the ghostwood tree. If a Parallel Mind was caught by the vines, they would suffer even if they were tied together.
However, in the next moment, a blazing sword light that reflected one's state of mind blossomed in front of the sword cultivator clone. It instantly cut the vines that were sweeping over like pythons into several pieces. Then, it did not lose momentum as it ruthlessly slashed at the deepest sword scar in the middle of the ancient tree's consciousness.
Crack!
The ancient statue was finally cut apart in the middle. The two parts of the statue that were sent flying lost all their vitality in the air.
The spiritual root in the distance finally disappeared completely, and the connection was severed. In the end, starting from the breakpoint, the ancient statue tree gradually shattered, scattering into pieces of wood that slowly dissipated.
However, how could a thrifty cultivator like Jiang Li allow such a great opportunity to vanish in vain?
The second Parallel Mind that was the size of a palm immediately went forward and displayed the Soul Observation (Soul Seizing) chapter of the Great Carefree Bodhisattva Heart Sutra.
Immediately, an invisible suction force appeared from his second Parallel Mind. The floating green lights were instantly attracted to it.
Countless green lights surged in, and his palm-sized second Parallel Mind quickly swelled.
It was originally in a humanoid shape. Apart from its size, the second Parallel Mind was identical to Jiang Li's main body. As it grew under the nourishment of the green light, its image gradually became more like a plant and not a human.
On Jiang Li's side, he seemed to be in a rather sorry state in the coffin as he squatted on the ground while holding his head.
A large amount of information flowed through the filtering process and a portion of the most valuable information was selected.
However, even so, this quantity of memories still tortured Jiang Li until he felt like dying.
The senses of plants and animals were different.
The sensory memory of an animal was important. Many of the other details were subconsciously ignored even if their body accepted them.
However, plants were different. Their slow 'nerves' could receive feedback from every leaf and root without any difference.
Perhaps it was just a breeze, a ray of sunlight, and a raindrop, but what this ancient tree remembered might be more than the sum of an animal's life.
Such a huge amount of information was impossible for ordinary plants to bear. If they had memories, the duration of their memories would be less than seven seconds.
However, the one in front of him was a Spiritual Root Branch. How could ordinary plants compare to it? It actually preserved all the information intact.
Moreover, this Spiritual Root Branch had existed for countless years already. The amount of information it accumulated was simply unbelievable.
Therefore, even after experiencing the filtering of the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra, this memory made Jiang Li end up on the brink of tears!
However… even with that said.
While this kind of process was painful, Jiang Li would not be willing to stop.
It was because in these memories, the Spiritual Root Branch's understanding of nature and itself was obtained in every moment.
Most importantly, as Jiang Li had expected, this Spiritual Root Branch was also of the Yin-Wood attribute!
After realizing this, Jiang Li could not help but be overjoyed. It was no wonder he felt that this item was destined to be with him and could be of great help when he saw it in the cave.
Even its attributes were the same as Jiang Li's. There were many benefits that could be brought to him.
If the ghostwood tree was a one-star Yin Wood and the Bloodsucking Wood was a four-star Yin Wood, then the Spiritual Root Branch was at least an eight-star Yin Wood. It was only below the Spiritual Root's main body!
In Jiang Li's eyes, the profundities revealed by every single action of this branch of memories were absolutely much higher than his main cultivation method, Ghost Wood Art.
Under the cleansing of the vast amount of memories, he could feel that his understanding of Yin and Wood attribute spiritual qi was rising rapidly like a rocket. Many of the originally difficult points in the spell techniques were now as simple as eating and drinking. He understood them immediately!
This memory was instilled in him for an entire day. In the mountain range outside, with the cultivators fighting with their lives on the line, Jiang Li lay in the coffin, quietly looking at the ghost flames above with lifeless eyes. He was completely indolent and motionless.
After a long time, Jiang Li shook his head and recovered from his shock.
He stretched his body. He had stayed in the memory of the Spiritual Root Branch for too long. He almost forgot what it felt like to have hands and feet.
This painful and happy feeling could finally end.
Jiang Li stood up and casually plucked a seed from a glowing vine by his side.
He let go of the seed and threw it forward. A dense spiritual qi fluctuation instantly erupted, and the small seed emitted a dark green light. In the next moment, it suddenly swelled into a black wooden dragon more than twenty meters long. In an instant, it entangled a wandering zombie in front and tore it apart!
Jiang Li nodded in satisfaction. Ever since he started cultivating his body, he had basically relied on the methods of body cultivators to fight. The Dao techniques and spell techniques he had learned had basically become supplementary ornaments.
However, after experiencing this Spiritual Root Branch's memories, the power of his spell techniques had also greatly increased, already surpassing most of the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
This was truly dual cultivation. In the future, who would still dare to call him a brute?
However, this benefit was actually just an added bonus.
Jiang Li stepped on the air as if he was walking up the steps, walking to the side of the Spiritual Root Branch.
With a wave of his hand, a large amount of talismans and rune chains that covered it automatically fell off. Evil Yin-Wood spiritual qi fluctuations instantly surged out.
The spiritual qi and Yin qi in the coffin were absorbed at a high speed. It directly formed a continuous spiritual qi vortex with the Spiritual Root Branch as the center.
Under the nourishment of this dense Yin qi and spiritual qi, the Spiritual Root Branch that had already become extremely weak finally recovered a little spiritual qi.
Immediately, dense and mysterious characters slowly appeared on the Spiritual Root Branch. This was a scripture bestowed by the heavens to the Wood-Yin Spiritual Root of Heaven and Earth. Its name was Nine Nether!
Nine Nether Dao Scripture
Chapter 155: Natural Counter
As the saying went, heaven had nine layers, while earth had nine Netherworlds.
This scripture was called Nine Nether, and if it was not false advertisement, then the meaning behind it was truly shocking.
Not long ago, when Jiang Li had just stepped into the cultivation world, he had even complained about why he could not have a cultivation method that could allow him to directly ascend the path to immortality.
Now, such a cultivation method was placed before him.
Even if this Dao Scripture bestowed to the Spiritual Root of Heaven and Earth could not be said to be a straight path to the Great Dao, at the very least, there was no problem in cultivating to become a True Immortal.
The second Parallel Mind, which was his current spiritual root clone, had yet to receive the full legacy of the Spiritual Root Branch.
However, Jiang Li had already found out some information about this ancient tree that looked like a statue.
First of all, his previous guess was not wrong. This thing's actual body was indeed one of the spiritual roots that was born when the world first developed.
It was called the Nine Nether Wood.
It was similar to the Immortal Peach, Ginseng Fruit, Yellow Core Tree, Fusang Wood, Bitter Bamboo, and Calabash Vine… All of them possessed the miraculous power to seize the fortune of heaven and earth.
According to the consciousness of the branch and the inherited memories of the spiritual root that was left behind, the ancient Netherworld Palace seemed to have been built using the Nine Nether Wood as the foundation.
At that time, due to the importance of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, although the Nine Nether Wood was unable to retain its freedom and its intelligence was erased like the others, the Nine Nether Wood had also become a rare of Spiritual Root of Heaven and Earth that did not have "affinity" with the mighty figures.
After the ancient calamity, the Immortal and Buddhist sects vanished while the Netherworld Palace collapsed. While the Nine Nether Wood gained its freedom, it nearly died due to the calamity of thinning spiritual qi.
Fortunately, the Nine Nether was formed from the sinking chaotic turbid qi at the beginning of the world. It was much more condensed and sealed. The speed at which the spiritual qi dried up was not as fast as the Nine Heavenly Palaces.
With the Earth Vein Qi and the countless ghosts left behind by the reincarnation cycle as nutrients, this Spiritual Root of Heaven and Earth was barely able to preserve a chance of survival during the long calamity.
It was not until the spiritual qi between heaven and earth was restored and the flourishing era of the cultivation world arrived that the original body of the Nine Nether Wood slowly recovered under the nourishment of the spirit vein.
However, after the calamity, this world seemed to be filled with malice towards the ancient life forms.
As long as the Spiritual Root's main body left the Nine Nether, the most terrifying calamities such as the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning, Nine Flames True Fire, and Nine Flames Divine Wind would descend without even needing to say a word.
At that time, all the external roots growing outside were destroyed bit by bit.
Even if it was a Spiritual Root of Heaven and Earth, it could not withstand such torture, let alone the current strength of the Nine Nether Wood. Compared to the past, it was less than 10% as powerful.
Therefore, even now, when the cultivation world became more prosperous, there was no sign of the Nine Nether Wood reappearing.
Of course, the Spiritual Roots of Heaven and Earth were still plants. They liked to be quiet and did not like to move. As long as they stayed in a comfortable environment, they might not move their nest even after ten thousand years.
Not to mention that its consciousness had been wiped away, leaving behind only its instinct in the Nine Nether.
Even without the restrictions of those calamities, the Nine Nether Wood's main body would most likely obediently take root underground and not come out at all.
As for those spiritual root branches and spiritual root seeds, they were also split from it. Perhaps because these branches were born after a calamity and were not rejected by the world, they became branches of the Nine Nether Wood that scattered to the new world.
As for its goal, this branch of the Nine Nether Wood that Jiang Li had turned into a clone seemed… to want to… replace the main body?
Jiang Li looked at the branch in front of him. It was only about the height of an ordinary tree that was ten years old. When he thought about the Nine Nether Wood's true form, the difference between them was really extraordinarily huge.
However, after tidying up his memories, he realized that this thought did not seem to be wishful thinking, but rather an instinct.
Because the intelligence of the main body had been erased by a mighty figure, the Nine Nether Wood had power but not its own will.
Therefore, for countless years, the Nine Nether Wood could slowly reproduce and create branches. After being thrown out, the branches would develop on their own.
It was as if it hoped that one day, there would be a sufficiently outstanding descendant who could grow to a certain level and return to the Nine Nether to absorb everything from the main body, then replace it and obtain new life.
All of the Nine Nether Wood Branches existed for this purpose.
Their goal was probably to obtain more nutrients to accelerate their growth.
The Nine Nether Wood was naturally different from ordinary plants. It did not like sunlight, and the source of energy it relied on to grow was also somewhat special.
The Nine Nether Wood could grow by absorbing spiritual qi, but that speed was too slow. How long would it take to grow to the same level as the main body?
For this kind of spiritual root, the cultivation, talent, and spiritual root of a cultivator were the best nutrients to facilitate their growth.
Spiritual root seeds were the best way to obtain nutrients.
Seeing this, Jiang Li could not help but frown.
With a cultivator's cultivation, talent, and spiritual root as food, this Nine Nether Wood was actually a plant that ate humans. It was a natural enemy of cultivators.
Jiang Li's clone was too weak earlier and could not tell. However, if a certain Nine Nether Branch was allowed to grow too strong, then the cultivators of the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region would probably suffer a calamity!
At this moment, a fat and ugly Ghost Lantern Fish swam over with its disproportionate tail.
It seemed to have been attracted by the abnormality of the spiritual qi vortex and came to patrol its territory like a boss.
As the only living thing in the coffin, these Ghost Lantern Fish really lived like kings. From ghosts to zombies, none dared act wildly in front of them.
These few Ghost Lantern Fish ate whatever they wanted to eat and bit whoever they wanted to bite. Even Qin Shuman could not tame them.
"Now that I have the spiritual root clone, let's see how arrogant you can still be!"
Jiang Li stretched out his hand and grabbed a Ghost Lantern Fish. This chubby fellow did not resist nor was it afraid. After it rolled its eyes at Jiang Li, it shook the Ghost Lantern that was hanging in front of its head and seemed to be very relaxed.
In the underwater graveyard below the thermocline, this kind of ancient fish lived for thousands of years or even tens of thousands of years.
To other animals, the graveyard was a land of death, but to the Ghost Lantern Fish, it was a beautiful Garden of Eden.
After so many years, these fish had long forgotten the existence of their natural enemies.
The spiritual root clone controlled a vine to grab onto a chubby Ghost Lantern Fish.
Just as he was about to let his clone teach this fat fish a lesson and let the other fish understand the dangers of the world…
The ghost lantern hanging on the front of the fish suddenly swung, lightly hitting the vine of the clone.
A ball the size of a basketball appeared. It was green and had thick black ghost flames. Immediately, a shocking scene happened.
The green-black Ghost Lantern's cold flame only flicked once, and the Nine Nether vine that was as thick as an adult's wrist was instantly ignited.
The vine binding the Ghost Lantern Fish was burned to ash in just a few breaths.
The flames had no intention of stopping as they followed the vine and burned all the way towards the Spiritual Root Branch.
Feeling terror and fear as if he had encountered his natural enemy, Jiang Li's second clone, which was the tree, trembled before the ghost flames of the fat Ghost Lantern Fish.
Slam!
Jiang Li was quick-witted and forcefully tore apart the vines. He hurriedly brought the remaining vines and Ghost Lantern Flames away from the coffin.
He threw the broken vine to the ground.
The flames that burned the Nine Nether Wood vine touched the dead branches and leaves on the ground but showed no signs of igniting.
[Name: Ghost Lantern Cold Flame]
[Type: Talent Spirit Fire]
[Grade: High-Grade Yellow-Rank]
[Source: Burning Lantern of the Ghost Lantern Fish]
[Note: I can burn even hotter.]
Jiang Li and the others were all stunned. They never imagined that a few weak Ghost Lantern Fish would actually have a high-grade Yellow-rank spiritual fire burning on their lanterns.
No, this Ghost Lantern Fish's Ghost Lantern Cold Flame was definitely not this powerful at the beginning. It should have been eating too well in the Yin Burial Coffin day after day, causing the spirit fire to burn brighter and brighter, reaching this level.
However, spirit flames that could grow stronger were even more precious to Jiang Li.
Jiang Li's palm approached the flames on the ground, but he did not feel any warmth. Instead, there was a chill that froze his soul, causing him to involuntarily withdraw his hand.
Jiang Li thought for a moment before he stretched out his hand to pull out a ghost from the coffin, and then he threw it towards the Ghost Lantern Cold Flame.
Like hot oil poured on fire, the green-black flames suddenly rose more than a meter high. The ghost howled at a different frequency, and in just two to three seconds, it was completely incinerated.
Jiang Li slapped his forehead and couldn't help but feel terrified, and his heart skipped a beat.
He had always used this Ghost Lantern as an illumination device!
Only now did he realize that he had been putting more than a dozen detonators and a hundred tons of fuel together.
How densely packed were the ghosts in the coffin? How many were there? If some stupid fish accidentally lit it up, not only would Jiang Li's 400,000 ghosts die in a day, but the coffin might even explode.
This was extremely terrifying, so Jiang Li did not dare allow these Ghost Lantern Fish to move about freely anymore.
He placed his palm on the coffin and isolated an area in the coffin space for them to live in. He would throw in a hundred ghosts every day to ensure that they would not starve to death.
Jiang Li only heaved a sigh of relief after all the vines were burned to ashes and the azure-black flames were extinguished.
When he returned to the coffin space, the vine of the spiritual root clone had already grown back under the nourishment of the spiritual qi. However, Jiang Li could clearly still sense the fear that was instinctively transmitted from the Nine Nether Wood.
Indeed, there was always a natural counter to a specific life form.
He did not expect that a Spiritual Root Branch would be so frightened by such a fat fish.
He recalled the school of Ghost Lantern Fish in the underwater graveyard and the scene where these Ghost Lantern Fish used the spiritual root seed as a ball in the coffin.
This was absurd. Not just Jiang Li's second clone, but even the Spiritual Root Branch in the underwater graveyard had clearly been bullied by them as well.
However, Jiang Li did not immediately boil the fish into soup.
On the one hand, it was because after raising fish for so long, they still had some feelings for each other.
On the other hand, this situation made Jiang Li have some thoughts.
If he could obtain this power of the Ghost Lantern Fish, then the huge guy in the underwater graveyard might not be impossible to deal with.
Moreover, the number of branches of the Nine Nether Wood was actually not small. If Jiang Li was interested in the true form of the Nine Nether Wood in the future, then conflict would be unavoidable.
This kind of Ghost Lantern Cold Flame that originated from ancient times might be useful in the future.
The only problem now was how to obtain such a powerful innate spirit fire.
He was not a cultivator with a fire spiritual root and could not refine it directly. Therefore, he could only let this flame automatically become a talent in his body… How should he do it?
In his mental world, the second Parallel Mind was diligently absorbing everything from the branch. It had already grown to more than three meters tall and was gradually transforming into the consciousness of the spiritual root. However, the portion of the tree trunk resembled Jiang Li.
Jiang Li's main body squatted in the coffin space and studied his second clone and the few Ghost Lantern Fish for a long time. He was filled with interest towards these two ancient races.
There was also the Nine Nether Dao Scripture that was probably not inferior to the Bodhisattva Heart Sutra. Jiang Li nearly sat down on the spot to cultivate Qi Refinement.
Fortunately, the sensible sword cultivator clone reminded Jiang Li that he was still in the competition.
Although he did not have to from the beginning for this cultivation method, it would take at least three to five days to half a month of bitter cultivation.
The Nine Nether Dao Scripture could be said to be a top-grade cultivation method above the Ghost Wood Art. The mere Ghost Wood spiritual qi would only become the nourishment of the Nine Nether Dao Scripture and would not be able to create any obstructions.
However, once he started to re-cultivate, it would not be easy to stop.
By the time he could successfully convert the cultivation method, the others would have already reached the end.
This was not a good time to do that.
Helpless, Jiang Li gave up on the idea of cultivating in seclusion and climbed out of the coffin again.
Looking at the time, he had already stayed where he was for more than a day. If the other Qi Refinement cultivators were not dead, many of them would have already run to the second mountaintop.
Then, it was time to catch up.
Jiang Li put away the Yin Burial Coffin and had just started shooting forward when he was not even 200 meters away.
There was a whistling sound as something seemed to be coming toward him.
Oh goodness! Was this an ambush?
Jiang Li inexplicably became excited. Because this was a punching bag that delivered itself to his door, he would feel less pressure when fighting.
Otherwise, if he went around deliberately provoking or triggering others into attacking, it would appear that he was not very righteous.
Generally speaking, Jiang Li would only choose to do this when no one else saw him.
He took a step forward and suddenly soared into the air, his pitch-black fist facing the falling object.
Jiang Li, who had been pounding the ground all year round, had at some point become extremely addicted to the feeling of colliding head-on with those attacks.
However, the next moment, what fell from the tumbling clouds was not an artifact, but a petite female sword cultivator in white.
When Jiang Li saw a wisp of blood on the other party's body, he immediately reacted to it, and he transformed his fist into a claw to directly catch the other party. Moreover, he saved the other party in an elegant manner.
After landing on the ground, he flipped the person over and placed her on the ground.
"Her body is really flat… cough cough… her injuries are really not light."
"Eh? She's so young. No wonder her body feels so uncomfortable."
Wait a minute.
This sword cultivator was really young.
Jiang Li sized up the other party's face.
The female sword cultivator was still unconscious. There was a pained expression on her chubby face.
He was a little surprised. How could there be such a young cultivator other than him?
"The sword cultivators of Shu Mountain are indeed corrupted."
Jiang Li had completely forgotten that he had been looked down upon by others because of his young age. He had also judged a book by its cover and decided that the other party had used connections to get in through the back door.
He communicated with his sword cultivator clone who had been in Shu Mountain for quite some time. Moreover, they were both participating disciples, so it was impossible for his clone to not know her.
In just an instant, the information was exchanged.
Jiang Li looked at the little girl lying in front of him again, having found out her identity.
He did not expect this lady to really be here due to connections, a huge connection that was.
She was the granddaughter of the current Sword Sect Master of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak, this was truly a magical world.
However, this young lady did not come to participate in the Martial Competition because of her background. Instead, she relied on her true strength just like Jiang Li.
On the left chest of the other party, the symbol of two small swords, one blue and one red, crossed each other. This type of embellishment was unique even among the disciples of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak.
Top-grade water and fire dual-attribute spiritual root!
This was a talent that could scare people to death.
It was not difficult to be the protagonist in another story.
In addition, the other party was talented and smart, and her family background was strong.
Ever since she was young, she had been nourished by all types of spiritual medicines and spiritual pills, receiving one-on-one education from Golden Core cultivators and above. Before she started cultivating, she had laid down a shocking foundation.
She had started Qi Refinement at the age of eight, and her cultivation had since advanced by leaps and bounds.
Although she seemed to be younger than Jiang Li now, under the circumstances of dual cultivating fire and water, she had still reached the peak of the Qi Refinement realm. It was even to the extent that she was already preparing to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm.
One had to know that Shu Mountain was not like the Scripture Storage Valley. There were not as many cultivation methods for her to choose from. If she said that she was going to dual cultivate, then it meant that she was going to cultivate two cultivation methods at the same time. While it would take double the time and effort, she still had to overcome the hurdles of fire and water.
Under such circumstances, her advancement was so fast. She could be said to have a lot of resources, good talent, and a strong will.
In just a while more, when she reached the Foundation Establishment realm, countless cultivators would lose their confidence because of a little girl like her…
However, in the impression of the sword cultivator clone, this junior sister's Fire Water Sword Art was quite extraordinary. It was also a top-notch method among the Qi Refinement realm.
Why was she so injured?
Could it be that there was such an expert in this competition?
It seemed that he should wake her up first.
However, the Spirit Recovery Pill was expensive. She did not need it for her injuries.
Jiang Li looked around and found a bush beside him. After identifying the breed, he immediately had a solution.
He gently caressed it with his right hand and a stream of wood attribute spiritual qi shot out. The short shrub quickly grew. In just a moment, it was as if several months had passed, and fresh fruits with little spots grew on the branches.
He plucked a few astringent fruits and brought them to the Sword Sect Master's granddaughter's mouth.
With a gentle squeeze, green liquid immediately splattered and poured into her opened mouth.
A strong sour taste filled her mouth. This young lady had been eating delicacies from a young age and had never tasted such a flavor.
Her chubby mouth twitched from the sourness. After persisting for a few seconds, she flipped over and woke up from her coma. She leaned over and vomited crazily on the ground.
Report chapter
Chapter 156: Wood Demon Awakening
"Miss, are you all right?"
Jiang Li threw away the residue of the astringent fruit in his hand without a trace and went up to help the other party with concern.
This beautiful sword cultivator had just woken up from her coma and did not understand the situation. She was like a frightened deer and instinctively wanted to push Jiang Li away.
However, with her little strength, she could not resist at all.
As Jiang Li helped her up, a stream of pure wood attribute spiritual qi flowed over.
After this stream of spiritual qi passed, the other party's expression instantly became much better.
They were both cultivators so the condition of the spiritual qi in their bodies was most important. After receiving the nourishment of pure wood attribute spiritual qi, the injuries and pain on their bodies were quickly suppressed.
Only then did she finally have the strength to survey her surroundings.
After she raised her head and saw the word 'Storage' on Jiang Li's shirt, she finally relaxed greatly.
In the past few decades, the relationship between the four major sects of the Great Mountain Region had been getting closer and closer. From time to time, they would work together to facilitate communication.
At the very least, without enough conflicts of interest, they were still rather friendly with each other. Most of the time, the disciples were more willing to be friends and help each other.
For example, the disciples of the Benevolent Travel Temple that Jiang Li had seen before were like Yin Qiu of the Fire Element Peak.
Although they met by accident, they got along quite well. After all, Jiang Li had obtained a little something from him in the end.
"Thank you, Senior Brother… thank you for your help. I am Shenshan[1] Qiuhua of Shu Mountain. Thank you, Senior Brother. May I know your name?"
Shenshan Qiuhua stood up with difficulty. She took out a bottle of pills from her bosom and poured a few into her mouth. Only then did her chaotic aura gradually calm down.
After a slight recovery, she could barely stand on her own.
Jiang Li had never suffered such an injury before and felt a little uncomfortable. In his opinion, no matter how serious a cultivator's injuries were, they could still slap a mortal to death. How could they really not be able to stand steadily?
However, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Of course, the camel would still die from starvation. Therefore, Jiang Li just stood there and watched. Even if he was seriously injured, he would recover in a few minutes.
The sword cultivator girl wiped the sour juice from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve, somewhat puzzled as to where this strange liquid came from.
However, she did not think too much about it. Under the current circumstances, she utterly did not have the time to pay attention to these minor details. After she slightly gathered a mouthful of spiritual qi to recover some strength, she cupped her hands and thanked Jiang Li.
"Junior Sister, there's no need to stand on ceremony. We're fellow disciples of the same faction, so how could I just watch you die? I'm Jiang Li from the Scripture Storage Valley. How did Junior Sister Qiuhua suffer such an injury?"
Junior Sister Qiuhua's surname was 'Shenshan'. It was a famous clan even in the Great Mountain Region.
How many demonic sects had been destroyed by the sword cultivators carrying this surname? How many demonic cultivators gritted their teeth in hatred towards this surname while tossing and turning in bed every night?
Up until now, it was said that there were still a few valleys that were created by the flying swords of the other party's grandfather. There were also many people who built temples there and erected monoliths to worship him.
However, Jiang Li looked at the other party's face and was thinking about the possibility of dual cultivating with her.
Water nourished wood while wood fueled fire. Their spiritual roots seemed to be quite compatible.
However, right at this moment, the plants swayed, and a series of footsteps sounded from all directions. There should be quite a few people currently surrounding this place.
"Oh no! Senior Brother, leave quickly. They're here for me!"
After discovering the abnormality in the outside world, Shenshan Qiuhua immediately became a little anxious.
She made a hand seal, and two flying swords, one blue and one red, that had fallen with her earlier, immediately flew towards her. One landed in her hand, and the other circled around her.
As an elite disciple of the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak, the staff of the competition authority naturally gave her the lightning cracker to ask for help.
But perhaps it was due to some sense of pride. Even if she did not deliberately expose others for cheating, the pride of her surname would not allow her to do it herself.
Therefore, after entering the mountain, she directly threw away the map and lightning cracker.
Regarding this, it could only be said that her family education was too good, or perhaps it was too much.
At her age, she still could not understand many things. In this world, those who could stand at the top were all cheaters in some way. This small matter of cheating was actually nothing.
Without the lightning cracker and being unable to call for help, there was actually no problem. With her strength, it would not be difficult for her to reach the end.
After all, if even these geniuses felt that it was difficult, wouldn't the others be dead?
However, the combined attack of dozens of rogue cultivators and even sect disciples caught her unprepared.
Relying on the fire and water swords to attack and defend, she forcefully endured for a period of time. However, in the end, she was unable to withstand the opponent's numbers and suffered considerable injuries.
She could only control the flying swords to escape through the clouds. When she rose into the sky, she was already quite injured. As expected, she lost her direction in the fog illusion array. After flying for a period of time, she fainted and fell near Jiang Li.
She thought that she had flown far away, but she did not expect to be caught up so quickly. She did not think that the other party would have a way to track her.
"It's too late!"
Jiang Li stood on the spot indifferently, but they did not have much time to escape. Soon, a large net artifact enveloped over and completely covered the top of their heads.
After more than a day of hunting in groups, many sect cultivators had already replaced the members of that group of rogue cultivators.
Their strength and artifacts had also greatly improved, and their overall strength had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Just this huge net, which was made with interlaced threads flowing with spiritual light, was definitely of high quality.
Even though it seemed to be filled with holes, in reality, not even a mosquito could fly through it. Now, even if Jiang Li struck out his lightning cracker, it would probably be useless.
"Senior Brother Jiang Li, I've implicated you. I'll hold them back and create an opportunity for you to escape as quickly as possible."
Jiang Li looked at the domineering declaration of the young lady beside him and was momentarily touched. This was the feeling of being protected by someone.
Shenshan Qiuhua also had her own thoughts. Firstly, this matter had nothing to do with Jiang Li. He had even saved her, so implicating him was not in line with her principles.
On the other hand, since the group of people on the other side was able to catch up to her so quickly, it was obvious that they had not taken a detour and had directly ran here. If she fled with Jiang Li, there might not be a chance at all.
As for why she did not choose to cooperate and dealt with these guys instead, even she did not think about it.
After saying that, Shenshan Qiuhua also let out a muffled groan. She forcefully mobilized her spiritual qi, causing her injuries that were not light to worsen.
However, that was all. The pain from her injuries did not interrupt her sword technique. The two flying swords moved up and down, and the two different types of spiritual qi interweaved together.
The way the water and fire spiritual qi intertwined was simply like creating a bomb on the spot.
However, her Dao technique was truly exquisite. The two types of spiritual qi did not explode. Instead, very quickly, a thin layer of water membrane formed in her hand, perfectly enveloping the fire flying sword and a large amount of fire-attribute spiritual qi.
Floating Water Fire Sword!
It clearly contained a large amount of fire-attribute spiritual qi, so this flying sword was as striking as the sun at this moment.
However, at this moment, the spiritual qi fluctuation of this flying sword was not obvious at all. It could even be said to be quite obscure.
If he did not see it with his own eyes, even Jiang Li would have thought that the two flying swords had vanished.
The flying swords took the initiative to fly through the air. A moment later, they exploded in the jungle dozens of meters away.
Accompanied by three short screams, the breathing and heartbeat of the three cultivators in Jiang Li's ears stopped abruptly.
This sword technique was quite innovative. It used the gentle and stable water attribute spiritual qi to isolate the explosive and scorching fire attribute spiritual qi fluctuations.
By the time they arrived, it was already too late for the enemy to react.
This was originally a sword technique that was jointly executed by both fire and water sword cultivators. The sword cultivator clone and his junior sister had practiced it before, so Jiang Li roughly knew about it.
Shenshan Qiuhua could unleash a combined attack sword technique alone. It could be seen how outstanding her combat strength was.
"There are many of them! Run! Run in that direction!"
Shenshan Qiuhua had used this sword technique in order to break through the encirclement.
After she asked Jiang Li to quickly run, her legs went soft and she was about to collapse again.
If Jiang Li really ran off by himself at this moment, then she would probably die here.
He did not know if the elders of the Shenshan Clan would regret establishing this lady's righteous values.
In the next second, Shenshan Qiuhua, who had forcefully unleashed her sword technique, fell into a weakened state again. She felt a sense of weightlessness that caught her off guard.
With a gasp, she was actually carried by Jiang Li.
Before she could react, a strong wind blew at her face. Her white clothes, which were stained with blood, fluttered in the wind. The huge wind pressure made it difficult for her to breathe, and she could not even open her eyes.
She barely opened her eyes a crack, but the scene in front of her was pulled into strips of light and shadow, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
The little princess of the Shenshan Clan was also pressed firmly against Jiang Li under the exaggerated acceleration.
This… this speed! How was this possible!
She had only experienced this kind of speed when her parents were flying with her. Moreover, in the boundless sky and forest with trees everywhere, the sense of speed was completely different.
Under this state of speeding, the young lady's heart could not help but beat faster and she was extremely nervous.
Jiang Li carried Shenshan Qiuhua who was less than 50 kilograms in weight with the flying sword, so his speed was not affected much. He transformed into an afterimage and instantly flashed out of the so-called encirclement.
Before he left, he even kicked an enemy to death.
"They ran away. Someone's helping her."
At the place where Jiang Li and the girl had stopped, a group of cultivators gathered.
The few people in the lead went forward to observe the traces and quickly came to this conclusion.
One of them raised his hand, and the large net that covered the top of this area quickly began to shrink before transforming into a ball of light that landed in his hand.
However, looking at this person's clothes, there was a red volcano pattern on his chest. He was actually an elite disciple of the Hundred Tempering Mountain, one of the four major sects.
It was not only him. Many people beside him were disciples of various sects. One of them had a bald head with a scar and wore monk robes. Even the disciples of Benevolent Travel Temple were not spared.
If they were to capture Jiang Li and Shenshan Qiuhua, the four major sects would be completely infiltrated.
One had to know that the cultivators who came to participate in the competition here were all genius disciples of various large sects and were the future successors of the sect.
If they could control this group of people, it would be equivalent to controlling the future of the Great Mountain Region. In a few hundred years, the upper echelons would undergo a change in structure. At that time, the entire Great Mountain Region might become a breeding ground for certain spiritual roots.
A cultivator took out a bamboo tube and poured a strange-looking worm into his palm.
The insect had only one tentacle in the middle of its head. It could only dangle in the air.
Soon, the insect seemed to sense something in the air. One of its tentacles pointed in a direction.
"That woman is injured. They can't run far. In that direction, give chase!"
The others silently stood up and intended to pursue Jiang Li and the girl.
However, how could Jiang Li really choose to flee in front of such a group of people?
Before he left, these people had already lost.
"There's no need to chase after them. I think you should all just die here obediently. You'll be happier that way."
This voice suddenly sounded.
The group of parasitic cultivators was instantly shocked. They immediately took up a defensive stance and formed a circle, looking for enemies that existed somewhere.
However, the voice seemed to be everywhere. It echoed in all directions and they did not discover anything.
"Who is it! Still acting mysterious? Come out!"
A cultivator shouted. As soon as he finished speaking, his wish was fulfilled.
A large tree beside him instantly revived, as if it had become a huge centipede. The trunk was a body, and the branches were a hundred feet. It crawled quickly and instantly pounced on him to strangle him.
The other cultivators were shocked and used their methods to rescue their companions.
This was originally an ordinary tree. However, at this moment, the wood became as tough as metal.
Several spell techniques struck down, causing wood chips to fly everywhere. However, they still did not rescue the cultivator who was tied up.
They wanted to continue, but suddenly realized that the atmosphere was not right. They looked around and realized that they no longer had a chance.
The hundred trees around them pulled out their roots from the ground and transformed into beast or human forms, pouncing at them.
The huge body and strange movements caught them unprepared!
This was the latest Dao Technique that Jiang Li had obtained from Scripture Storage Valley's Scripture Imparting Hall.
It was called the Demon Awakening Technique. Or rather, the Wood Demon Awakening Technique.
In ancient times, some great demons who ruled over the mountains loved to use this 'awakening technique'.
It could very quickly create a large number of little demons to control. These demon soldiers were summoned in groups of tens of thousands but could not withstand a single attack.
The Demon Awakening Technique that Jiang Li had obtained was specifically targeted at plants, flowers and fruits. It was useless against animals and other things.
Originally, it was impossible for Jiang Li to learn this spell technique in such a short time.
However, after receiving the memories of his second clone, his understanding of the Yin-Wood attribute had improved greatly.
It just so happened that he had finished imparting the cultivation method. At that time, he naturally learned how to use it.
Over a hundred trees and lesser demons surrounded and attacked more than 30 cultivators at once. For a time, vines danced around and artifacts flew everywhere.
A chaotic battle broke out. The violent spiritual qi fluctuation startled the nearby birds. One could hear the movements far away.
After a long time, the battle finally came to an end.
The results of this group of cultivators were indeed impressive. They had actually killed twice the number of tree demons that surrounded them.
Of course, this mainly relied on the explosion of the powerful artifacts of those sect disciples to produce such a large number of exchanges.
After the battle ended, other than a few unlucky fellows who were killed by their companions' attacks, the remaining 31 cultivators were all captured alive.
Speaking of which, this Demon Awakening Technique was quite suitable for Jiang Li.
Using the endless and high-quality spiritual qi, Jiang Li could awaken a large number of small demons in an extremely short period of time. Moreover, he could strengthen their quality and guide their forms.
For example, the wooden dragon that Jiang Li struck out in the coffin space was the effect of this Dao Technique.
Although with his current Demon Awakening Technique, the success rate of permanently awakening a demon was still very low, this was already quite a practical spell technique.
After the battle was over, an ordinary coffin rose from the ground.
The coffin lid slid open automatically. A large number of tentacles suddenly stretched out from inside, pulling all the captives and corpses on the ground in.
Immediately, the coffin shrunk to the size of a stationary box and chased after Jiang Li.
What Jiang Li did not know was that such a casual action of his actually saved the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region 200 years later.
Jiang Li, who had run far away, slowed down and stopped. Because of the exaggerated speed and unbearable bump, the sword cultivator Shenshan Qiuhua's wound was affected, and she seemed to be in extreme pain.
"Junior Sister Qiuhua, the distance is far enough. I think we can stop and rest."
In just a short while, they had already run to the border between the first and second mountains.
There was a stream flowing down here, which had quite a good view.
"No, there's no need. Those people must have some sort of tracking method. If I stop, they'll catch up to me sooner or later. I can still hold on."
Shu Mountain's education was good, but it seemed that they had made this young lady a little too mature and serious. From the moment they met, she had been keeping a straight face. Her serious and inflexible appearance made Jiang Li feel a little uncomfortable.
Although she felt that she was being pursued, there was no need to force herself like this.
However, what she said made sense. Shenshan Qiuhua had fallen from the fog earlier. According to the effect of the fog, even she could not control her flight path, much less others.
However, those people were able to track her so quickly. It was impossible for there to be no trick involved.
"Junior Sister Qiuhua, in my opinion, this can't go on. The problem should still be with you. They must have planted some tracking method on you. According to my understanding of the Qi Refinement realm, there are the most tracking methods through smell."
"There's a stream here. Why don't you wash yourself first? We'll set off after removing the hidden danger."
Jiang Li waved his hand and released his spiritual qi. The vines on the tree beside him started to grow crazily, creating a green barrier in front of Jiang Li.
"It's best if you don't wear this outfit anymore. After you change out of it, if you don't mind, you can wear mine first."
Jiang Li righteously undid the disciple's uniform on his body, about to remove it and replace it for the other party. His expression was honest and indifferent, not having any improper thoughts.
In fact, he had long seen that this lady's body was smooth and clean. Just now, there were a few mosquitoes that attempted to suck blood. She definitely did not apply any insect repellent powder. Under such circumstances, it would be easier to track her with smell if someone added some special powder.
The small face of Shenshan Qiuhua who had been maintaining a serious and calm expression suddenly turned red. She hurriedly stopped Jiang Li, and then she took out a set of clothes from a small pouch on her waist.
Alright, as expected of one of the top second-generation immortal cultivators in the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region. She already had a spatial artifact at the age of 13 and was only at the Qi Refinement realm.
Shenshan Qiuhua thought for a moment and felt that Jiang Li's words made sense. She took her clothes and walked to the back of the vine barrier.
Then, she blushed again.
Because through the gap between the vines, Jiang Li was staring at her.
"Senior Brother, can you make them grow more leaves?"
Cough cough. Jiang Li looked at the intertwined vine net in front of him. Was it not nice to cover only the majority of the view?
However, since the other party said so, Jiang Li could not pretend that his spiritual qi was exhausted. He could only follow her request and make the vines thicker.
[1] Shenshan is her surname but it can be read as Divine Mountain.
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