Lingxiao Immortal Clan.

at the same time.

The Heavenly River Realm, the stronghold of the Cangxuan lineage, is the Cangxuan Mountain, a fifth-grade top-quality spiritual land.

Ling Feixiang and Ling Guangming, who were new to the area, quickly got on track.

They first used the powerful cave dwellings allocated to them by their families, along with the benefits they had gained from killing a large number of wild boars, to cultivate diligently and make significant progress in their cultivation.

It wasn't until several years later that they temporarily emerged from seclusion.

"Flying Elephant, my resources are almost exhausted, so I intend to go to the main hall of the General Affairs Hall in the mountains to take on some Nascent Soul level family missions to earn some contribution points."

"At the same time, we can also take this opportunity to fulfill the task that Ancestor Pengyun set for us when he gave us the cave dwelling, which required us to complete a Nascent Soul mission for the family every ten years, so as to protect the cave dwelling in the mountains."

"However, such a mission is quite difficult, and I don't have much confidence in doing it alone. I wonder if you are interested in that mission?"

Ling Guangming sought out his neighbor Ling Feixiang and intended to join forces with him to complete some family tasks, as they had done in the past.

Upon hearing this, the burly Ling Feixiang was immediately tempted.

He doesn't have many resources left.

In addition, the Nascent Soul missions for the family in the Heavenly River Realm are indeed quite difficult.

Moreover, he often teamed up with Ling Guangming in the past, and the two cooperated perfectly in battle. If they were to team up for a mission, it would be extremely convenient.

He immediately agreed to the offer.

"In addition, I can also go to the General Affairs Hall to take on some tasks related to the Way of the Pharmacist, or go out to heal some injured rogue cultivators and earn some extra money."

Ling Feixiang chuckled sheepishly.

Previously, because he had been focusing on his ascetic practice, he had not used the path of the Medicine Master to make a profit.

However, the situation is different now.

He planned to take advantage of this to gain more benefits, so that he could have more resources for cultivation in the future.

“That would certainly be a good idea. Furthermore, with Flying Elephant’s help, we should have a much higher chance of completing our family’s Nascent Soul mission.”

When Ling Guangming saw that Ling Feixiang agreed to join forces on the mission, he was overjoyed. At the same time, he was also somewhat envious of Ling Feixiang's mastery of the fourth-order alchemist's way.

After all, although he cultivated faster, even faster than Ling Feixiang, he was not good at the arts and crafts, so he had fewer ways to make money.

Aside from family support, the only way to earn a living is by working for the family.

It's nowhere near as easy for a multi-talented cultivator like Ling Feixiang to earn profits.

However, compared to ordinary cultivators, he was considered relatively lucky. In addition, he was determined, so he didn't think too much about it. He just secretly planned to do more family tasks, earn more benefits, and fulfill the agreement to reach the Nascent Soul stage in a hundred years as soon as possible.

'No matter what, we must fulfill that promise and obtain the Immortal's tea.'

After chatting for a few more minutes, the two of them went to the Cangxuan General Affairs Hall in Cangxuan Mountain.

This place is a huge, ancient palace, said to have been built with many incredibly sturdy spirit trees.

It even has a special high-level formation set up inside, which can become an excellent place to take refuge when necessary.

Furthermore, this place was jointly established by various forces within the Cangxuan lineage.

Normally, the higher-ups of those forces would handle miscellaneous matters in different areas of the main hall.

However, if they encounter any special troubles, they will immediately gather together to discuss them.

They even frequently collaborated on special missions, requiring the assistance of their subordinate cultivators.

For example, taking care of certain special spiritual plants, or killing some troublemakers, etc.

However, most of those missions were quite difficult, and ordinary cultivators under the Cangxuan lineage dared not touch them.

However, its advantages are also significant.

In fact, some of the tricky tasks for Nascent Soul level cultivators, if completed successfully, can yield at least a hundred fourth-tier Gathering Yuan Pills, enough to supply a Nascent Soul cultivator with the resources needed for decades of cultivation.

It was for this reason that Ling Feixiang and Ling Guangming set their sights on a special Nascent Soul level demon-slaying mission.

Although a hundred or two hundred years ago, the Cangxuan lineage and the Yaoxing Immortal Sect joined forces to annihilate all the demonic sects in the Tianhe Realm.

However, it is inevitable that some demonic legacy will remain during this period.

Many demonic cultivation methods can rapidly enhance cultivation levels and even break through bottlenecks through domineering means such as refining flesh and blood, resulting in bizarre effects.

Therefore, in the last one or two hundred years, many cultivators in the Heavenly River Realm with relatively ordinary aptitude or who have encountered bottlenecks, when they have nowhere else to turn, will deliberately search for such cultivation techniques and switch to cultivating them.

Gradually, many demonic cultivators began to cause trouble again in the Heavenly River Realm.

Like a wildfire that cannot be extinguished, it springs back to life with the spring breeze.

Fortunately, no powerful figures have emerged from this group yet, not even those at the Nascent Soul stage, so the matter is still barely under the control of the Cangxuan lineage and the Yaoxing Immortal Sect.

Furthermore, after the demon race and the demonic path in the Heavenly River Realm were destroyed, the Cangxuan lineage and the Yaoxing Immortal Sect became extremely peaceful, and even the cultivators under their command became somewhat complacent.

They simply used those demonic cultivators as whetstones, issuing them as tasks in their respective administrative halls, intending to use those demonic cultivators to hone their disciples.

Secondly, it can also serve to eliminate demons and control the number of demonic cultivators to prevent their numbers from suddenly increasing.

This time, the mission Ling Fei and Xiang Xiang took on was to kill a demon lord named "Shadow Fiend".

It is said that he was extremely skilled in concealing his presence and assassination techniques, appearing and disappearing unpredictably and leaving no trace.

Moreover, he was originally a rogue cultivator who had reached the Golden Core stage. In his early years, he participated in the Demon Extermination Rebellion and had a small opportunity to acquire some profound demonic techniques.

Furthermore, a hundred years ago, he was stuck at the Golden Core stage and could not advance to the Nascent Soul stage. He then harbored evil intentions, switched to cultivating a demonic art, and embarked on the demonic path.

Afterwards, he secretly used countless living beings as resources to cultivate demonic arts.

He was also quite lucky, and thus smoothly entered the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

As time went on, he was only one step away from reaching the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

However, he committed too many serious crimes, and in addition, he often targeted some of the Cangxuan lineage's subordinates in the Tianhe Realm, so the Cangxuan lineage took notice of him.

He then assigned a task based on this and placed it in the General Affairs Hall.

However, given its fearsome reputation, coupled with its extreme rarity and formidable strength, this mission has remained unfinished.

“Two fellow clansmen, that mission is extremely difficult. After all, the Shadow Demon is elusive. Even some of our Cangxuan lineage’s cultivators who are skilled in divination can only deduce his approximate current movements using special methods. Finding him in reality will be extremely difficult.”

"Moreover, its strength is considerable; even a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator might not be able to kill it."

"In my opinion, you two should change your missions. With your qualifications, there's no need for you to do such dangerous things for resources."

At this moment, a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge of affairs in the family's General Affairs Hall, knowing that Ling Feixiang and his companion were core disciples of the family, kindly offered a word of advice.

"Brother, your words are surprising."

"We cultivators are meant to contend with the heavens. Regardless of our aptitude, we fight for that one sliver of opportunity."

"The missions we have been given are difficult, but once completed, the benefits we will reap will be comparable to those of four or five ordinary Nascent Soul missions."

"For a long time to come, we won't have to worry about resources and can focus on our cultivation. On the other hand, if we miss this mission, we'll only be able to waste time doing ordinary Nascent Soul missions if we want to get resources in the future."

"The efficiency can vary drastically."

"Moreover... since we dared to accept the task, we are naturally confident."

Ling Feixiang, a burly and imposing man, was brimming with confidence.

After all, he cultivated both physical and magical arts, and also mastered the skills of a pharmacist. He was incredibly powerful, and had even fought alone against a three-headed Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stages of the Savage Realm, remaining undefeated.

Therefore, he is not afraid of anything, not even a demonic cultivator in the mid-Nascent Soul stage, let alone the Shadow Demon.

In addition, searching for the Shadowfiend is a troublesome matter.

Even Ling Feixiang alone couldn't have accomplished it.

However, he wasn't the only one to take on this mission; Ling Guangming was also there.

Ling Guangming is no ordinary person either.

Not only is he exceptionally talented, but he is also extremely skilled in the auxiliary arts of archery and the arts of eye techniques. In fact, he has comprehended many eye techniques to an extremely high level.

Even some mid-to-late Nascent Soul cultivators, using concealment techniques, would find it difficult to pass his detection.

In addition, the Cangxuan lineage has already located the approximate activity range of the Shadow Demon Lord.

Therefore, Ling Guangming and Ling Feixiang were fully confident that they could use this opportunity to find the demon and kill him.

"What Flying Elephant said makes a lot of sense."

"However, I must thank you for your advice."

Ling Guangming felt a greater sense of goodwill towards the clansman who offered the advice and thanked him.

He then accepted the mission with Ling Feixiang.

During this time, Ling Feixiang also sold some special healing soups and spiritual poisons prepared using the methods of a pharmacist, making a small profit for some cultivators.

Immediately afterwards, they left the General Affairs Hall, bid farewell to their families, and headed towards the approximate location of the Shadow Demon Lord, which the Cangxuan lineage had deduced.

'What those two fellow Daoists said makes sense. I only hope their journey will be successful.'

Meanwhile, inside the General Affairs Hall, the kind-hearted clansman watched Ling Feixiang and Ling Guangming's departing figures with a thoughtful expression, and gave them some instructions.

……

Soon after.

Ling Feixiang and Ling Guangming arrived at the territory of a Golden Core subordinate force called "Xueyuan Palace" under the Cangxuan lineage.

'Unexpectedly, the Snow Origin Palace territory is indeed as rumored, colder than other areas due to its unique ice veins.'

'The spiritual veins between heaven and earth are truly extraordinary.'

Seeing that the air around him was extremely cold, and snowflakes were even falling, Ling Feixiang couldn't help but sigh in a simple and honest way.

That's natural.

“I once visited a fifth-tier ice spirit vein treasure land. The place was surrounded by glaciers, like a land of ice and snow, which was extremely spectacular.”

Ling Guangming, who was standing to the side, said with a smile.

Xueyuan Palace excels in ice and snow-related techniques and possesses considerable strength, with several Golden Core cultivators currently serving as its leaders.

It even has one or two extremely special third-order ice spirit veins, as well as many ordinary spirit veins.

They also occupy a considerable amount of territory and have many ordinary people under their command, making them a small force.

In addition, this force was established with the support of the Cangxuan lineage when they came to Tianhe Realm to start their business in the early years.

At that time, the Cangxuan lineage acquired many treasure lands through various opportunities.

It's a pity that the Cangxuan lineage was relatively weak at the time and dared not easily expose the Cangxuan Realm.

In addition, the Cangxuan lineage had a relatively weak foundation in the Tianhe Realm at that time and did not recruit many disciples.

Therefore, the Cangxuan lineage rented out many of the spiritual lands they had acquired to various rogue cultivators in the Tianhe Realm.

The founder of Xueyuan Palace was one of those rogue cultivators.

Furthermore, through various fortuitous encounters and with the intentional support of the Cangxuan lineage, he gradually established the Snow Origin Palace as a Golden Core power, becoming a minor overlord in the region.

Furthermore, there are countless examples of this kind under the Cangxuan lineage.

Even most of the subordinate forces under the Cangxuan lineage today were formed in this way.

This event also made the entire Cangxuan lineage's territory increasingly powerful.

At this moment, in order to prevent the news of the demon's extermination from being leaked, Ling Feixiang and Ling Guangming did not disturb Xueyuan Palace. Instead, they quietly went to various places within the Xueyuan Palace territory to use their pupil techniques to track down the Shadow Demon.

……

Beside a third-tier spiritual vein, in Xueyuan Palace, stands a massive mortal city.

It is inhabited by at least several million ordinary people.

There was even a Golden Core cultivator, a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators, a thousand cultivators, and a third-order formation guarding the area, making it extremely safe.

However, none of the cultivators there noticed that a demon had silently appeared in a desolate mountain in the distance.

And that demon was naturally the Shadow Demon.

He was extremely thin and had an ordinary appearance, but he had a sinister look on his face, and it was clear that he was not a good person.

'There are indeed many mortals in that place. If we could kill them all, we could probably gather at least one-tenth of the materials needed to refine a mid-grade fourth-tier breakthrough demonic pill, the Blood Void Pill.'

'Moreover, the Golden Core cultivator and the other cultivators among them represent considerable treasures.'

The Yin Sha Demon Lord gazed at the massive city from afar, his eyes flashing with a sharp light, but he didn't take the group of cultivators stationed inside seriously.

After all, he is a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Even if there were ten times more cultivators in that city, they would not be his match unless they had special treasures to help them.

In addition, although his path to cultivation became much smoother after he switched to demonic cultivation techniques, as his cultivation level increased, he inevitably encountered some bottlenecks again, just like before.

While it would be difficult for him to resolve this on his own.

But it would be different if there were enough living beings to help.

In addition, the demonic inheritance he acquired in his early years was quite complete, and there were even many methods that made it easier to refine breakthrough demonic pills.

He recently began to intentionally collect a large quantity of living beings' flesh and blood.

The mortal city under the Snow Origin Palace that was far away, where a large number of mortals had gathered and which he could easily deal with, was obviously the best place to strike.

As for the other places in the Heavenly River Realm that have gathered more mortals, there are usually more cultivators stationed there, making it difficult to succeed.

It's time to make a move.

Shadow Demon's expression hardened, and he immediately stealthily crept towards the mortal city in the distance.

However, its ability to conceal itself was quite remarkable, and neither the large number of cultivators stationed in that mortal city nor the third-order formation detected its presence.

He gradually made his way to the vicinity of the city and immediately took action, taking out a special flying shuttle magic weapon called "Yin Sha Flying Shuttle".

Its quality reached the fourth rank, and it was extremely sharp, powerful, and fast.

A whooshing sound rang out.

Before the formation of the mortal city could react, the Yin Sha Shuttle blasted a huge gap in the formation with overwhelming force.

Boom!

Immediately afterwards, the Yin Sha Shuttle rushed into the mortal city and began to slaughter the Golden Core cultivators, other cultivators, and even mortals within the city.

During this time, although the mortals and cultivators within resisted with all their might, they were no match for the Yin Sha Demon Lord.

The entire situation suddenly became one-sided.

Countless screams rang out in succession.

'A Nascent Soul Demon...'

'This is it, we're doomed.'

'...'

Soon enough, all the cultivators and mortals in the city were slaughtered.

In an instant, the city was littered with corpses, resembling a living hell, filled with a thick, pungent stench of blood.

However, this was indeed a good thing for that Yin Sha demon, and he immediately began happily picking up the corpses all over the city.

...(End of chapter)