Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 163: The Teng Snake is lurking, and the Tai Sui Star is coming! ( updates in hours, please subscribe)
"Junior Brother Lu, I wonder what your plans are next?"

After dealing with Situ Hua's matter, Mie Hongzi asked Lu Cheng this.

"Just follow the orders of Uncle Master."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you to take these disciples of mine back to the earth. If I, as your uncle, can survive and return, I won't let you, a young man, make this trip in vain."

When Yan said this, Mie Hongzi said to two of his disciples: "Feng Ping, Shi Man, you two will stay with me, and the rest of you will follow your Senior Brother Lu and return to the ground."

"Master, how can a disciple return and let you go through danger yourself?"

The female Taoist priest in white and the graceful female cultivator in light-colored dress walked out together and stood on the left and right sides of Mie Hongzi.

However, Mie Hongzi's other disciples reacted violently, half-knelt down and refused to leave.

Just when Mie Hongzi frowned slightly and was about to get angry.

Lu Cheng interjected:

"Third Uncle, in fact, I am more willing to go deep underground and seize the Chongyuan Cleansing Blood Flower for our elders. This thing can cleanse the blood of magic power and repair the foundation of Taoism. In addition, I found that the Lin family in Ranmu Mountain seems to have set up an ancient evil formation. I don't know what their plan is."

Lu Cheng was already somewhat reluctant to leave just like that, and now he met his third uncle Mie Hongzi. Although this uncle's magical powers seemed to be far inferior to those of Master Huang Longzi and Teacher Chi Shenzi, as a sword-wielding elder in Cangjian Palace for many years, he must be someone who is easily defeated and has a lot of background.

Coupled with his own Golden Dragon External Elixir magic weapon, he is able to cope with most situations in southern Xinjiang as long as he does not encounter the Yinshan Patriarch.

"...It's rare that you have such filial piety. Well, then you will go with me to hunt down Xiao Chongzi." Mie Hongzi replied after pondering for a moment.

"Uncle Master, the monks from Burning Wood Mountain are setting up a large formation deep in the Yellow Spring Valley. Should we go first?"

"Junior Brother Lu, before I set out on this trip, the Immortal Qingxuan of the Eight Views came to visit the palace. I asked him for advice on my fortune and he said, 'The Teng Snake is lurking, and the Tai Sui star is coming.' He said that as long as I follow my heart, I will be able to achieve my wish."

Before Lu Cheng finished speaking, he heard such a divine thought.

Lu Cheng stopped talking immediately. Rationally speaking, he should immediately head to the depths of Huangquan Valley and attack Ranmu Mountain.

However, the master of the Eight Views Temple, Qingxuan Zhenren, has practiced the "Book of Changes" in depth. His master Huang Longzi once said that the Eight Views' small fatalism and great destiny techniques are among the most unfathomable Taoist methods in the world. His comments are enough to be used directly as evidence to influence the decision.

Rationally speaking, one should go to Huangquan Valley immediately, but perhaps this would ruin the opportunity. Instead, one would get better results by following the will of heaven.

Divination like this should not be told to outsiders. Third Uncle Mie Hongzi has already given him enough face. Lu Cheng immediately stopped talking and began to rest, preparing to hunt down Xiao Chongzi.

Xiao Chongzi had just escaped using the Blood Escape Technique, so it would be impossible to catch up with him in a short period of time. A protracted battle was inevitable. Lu Cheng did not need to leave, so all of Mie Hongzi's disciples stayed and surrounded Taoist Mie Hongzi, meditating and resting.

Some of the female disciples also pointed and talked about Lu Cheng's reputation, talking about the Five Elements Sword Lu Cheng, and marveled at the swordsmanship and magic power displayed by this senior brother Lu.

"Master, why did you create this karma by helping that Situ Hua? He is old and his power is not pure. I'm afraid Senior Brother Lu will have a hard time in the future."

Qi Fengping and Fang Shiman were the two disciples most favored by Mie Hongzi because of their talent and comprehension. At this moment, Fang Shiman spoke out, which made no sense.

"Of course it's for those precious medicines and spiritual objects."

Mie Hongzi sat cross-legged on the cushion and spoke directly without opening his eyes.

Fang Shiman was stunned for a moment when she heard this. She knew clearly that her master was not a cultivator who attached much importance to external things.

After years of austere practice, he gave most of the offerings he received from the Cangjian Palace to his disciples, except for necessary expenses, so that they could concentrate on their practice.

"Shiman, you are just like me back then. You think that practicing Taoism is all about mind, skills, and understanding. But if it is really that simple, why are wealth, Dharma, companionship, and land the four essentials for practicing Taoism? People who practice Taoism place too much emphasis on wealth are falling into delusion. People who place too much emphasis on mind and then talk about mind in vain are entering another kind of delusion."

"But, Master, accepting disciples is a major event for inheritance. Cultivation and inheritance are both of utmost importance. How can we take it lightly?"

Fang Shiman was still confused and continued to ask. Qi Fengping was listening beside her. Although she didn't say a word, she was obviously paying attention.

"Among all my disciples, except for your eldest sister, only you and Feng Ping are most likely to inherit my Taoism. From the perspective of cultivation and inheritance, I shouldn't accept so many disciples. But in fact, as long as they have a decent character and can be disciplined, I have accepted many of these children. Now I can rely on them to some extent on a daily basis."

Today, after meeting his old friend's disciple, Mie Hongzi was quite talkative and told the secret of the matter:

"I will not accept Situ Hua. Just like what you said, he is too old and his magical powers are mixed. He is not fit to be trained. But it is okay for Junior Brother Lu to accept him as a nominal disciple, especially with those spiritual objects as a gift."

By this time, Qi Fengping and Fang Shiman had already understood something.

When accepting disciples, one cannot just look at the disciple's strengths and weaknesses, as everyone has strengths and weaknesses. One must also consider the benefits and harm he can bring to the teacher and the sect.

A disciple who is extremely talented and can inherit the Taoist tradition, but has an enemy behind him who can destroy the sect, then for most sects, this disciple will do more harm than good and should not be accepted. If accepted, he may become a disaster that destroys the sect.

On the contrary, if a disciple with dull talent brings a lot of wealth to join the sect, even if he is not enough to become a vessel of the Tao in the future, as long as the sect teaches him carefully and gives him protection, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Having an extra disciple with dull talent but loyal to the sect is not necessarily a bad thing. If he does something bad in the future, it is the responsibility of the headmaster for not putting him in the right place.

"We are a famous and righteous sect in the Hidden Sword Palace. We cannot accept such a disciple. If we do, it will do more harm than good. Although the reputation of the Demon Sect's Northern Sect has improved somewhat under the management of your uncle, it is still a demon sect after all. If Situ Hua is a man with wolfish ambitions, do you think your uncle Huang Longzi will not kill people?"

During the period of recuperation, Lu Cheng explained the significance of the matter to Situ Hua, Guo Lingbao, Madam Shi, and Shangguan Xue, but the four were still willing to continue following, and Lu Cheng didn't have much to say.

After the repair, everyone stood up. The female cultivator named Fang Shiman took out a sachet and a gray mouse, and then let the mouse smell the fragrance of the sachet from time to time to guide everyone forward.

But it is a treasure-hunting rat. This kind of spirit rat is best at identifying spiritual energy and can often find some spiritual objects hidden in the dark. Therefore, it is very popular among low-level cultivators. However, it is not easy to raise. It requires very careful cultivators to raise it. It is not the kind of monster that can be thrown into a spirit beast bag and left alone for years.

In fact, the higher the level of the monster, the more it desires freedom. Even though the beast taming method of the Ten Thousand Beasts Incarnation Palace is unique in the world, there are often tragic cases in the sect where monks work hard to cultivate high-level monsters, but end up with the high-level monsters dying together with their masters in pursuit of freedom.

The fact that Lu Cheng can raise a hundred poisonous golden silkworm Gu and a fourth-rank demon dog and use them at will is not because of how highly he has practiced the Wanshou Dao, but because the Jiuli Cauldron is a place where infinite worlds are evolved from one Qi. Lu Cheng's a hundred poisonous golden silkworm Gu and the fourth-rank demon dog are simply thrown into the same world to roam free, and the relationship between the two sides is similar to that between the Zhou emperor and his feudal lords. The demon beasts only need to help Lu Cheng from time to time and can call on Lu Cheng for help when needed. It is certainly not easy for them to rebel under such an environment, and there is no difference between the world outside and the inside when they come out of the Jiuli Cauldron. This is a condition that other Wanshou Sect disciples simply cannot have.

"Junior Sister Fang is a perfume maker?"

Lu Cheng followed with his sword and asked Qi Fengping, a female Taoist priest in white, this question. It was not that he specifically picked beautiful ones, but there were only two people with equal status among Mie Hongzi's disciples.

Qi Fengping was not embarrassed when talking to Lu Cheng.

"Well, the reason why Master wants to hunt down Xiao Chongzi is because Xiao Chongzi killed a female disciple of Cangjian Palace by collecting essence. He also attacked Junior Sister Fang before, but Senior Sister was also in the sect that time, so Xiao Chongzi failed to succeed. However, he has the scent powder that Junior Sister prepared herself on him, so even if we are thousands of miles away, he will find it difficult to escape our pursuit."

After hearing this, Lu Cheng finally understood why Mie Hongzi had called out only his two disciples, and it was not entirely out of favoritism.

Perfume making is also one of the hundred arts of cultivating immortals. The best spiritual incense can purify the mind, ward off evil spirits, assist in spiritual practice, and is also a good help for cultivating the Tao. Of course, mixing exotic fragrances and chasing for thousands of miles is also one of the uses of spiritual incense.

After seven days of pursuit, one day, the little gray mouse landed on a rock and suddenly froze. It looked around and sniffed, but could not point out the path directly like before.

Although a direction was given in the end, its owner Fang Shiman had already noticed something unusual.

"Master, Xiao Zhongzi may have already noticed the way we tracked him. Although Xiao Hui gave the direction, the direction it gives next time may not be accurate. After all, monsters at this level do not have human wisdom and can be easily deceived by Xiao Zhongzi."

"Well, Shiman, you don't have to feel stressed. It's already a credit to you that you've been able to trace it this far. Just do your best. If you're really unsure, tell me and we can search separately."

"Disciple, obey."

Just at this moment, Lu Cheng stepped forward.

After bowing, he said:
"Uncle Master, Junior Sister Fang, I should be able to help with this matter."

Mie Hongzi glanced at Lu Cheng after hearing this, and immediately clapped his hands and said with a smile: "Yes, how could I forget that you are the true disciple of the Ten Thousand Beasts Palace."

Lu Cheng smiled when he heard that, and then with a wave of his sleeve, he summoned a sky full of dark golden light and a short-haired, white, thin-waisted dog.

This guy was a little confused when he was first summoned. When he saw the fat gray mouse, he pounced on it and started biting it.

"what!"

Fang Shiman was so scared that she screamed and quickly took back her little gray dog.

The fourth-level dog demon didn't really pounce on it. Lu Cheng grabbed the back of its neck and threw it to the ground, scolding:

"I asked you to come out to track down and locate the location, not to bite anyone you catch."

The short-haired, slender-waisted dog whimpered when it heard this, as if it was a little aggrieved. There was nothing it could do. Whenever Lu Cheng called it out, it was mostly for fighting. Over time, it got used to it.

"Junior Sister Fang, this guy didn't scare Xiao Hui, did he?" "...No, no, Senior Brother Lu's spirit beast is really lively." Fang Shiman's face turned a little pale, but she was unwilling to let Xiao Hui go easily.

After a while, he released the spirit beast again after being reprimanded by his master.

Now, with two spirit beasts tracking and locating the location, the speed of pursuit increased again.

Although Lu Cheng was not very clear about the details, the sense of smell of the two spirit beasts was different and actually quite complementary, making it even more difficult for Xiao Chongzi to hide.

It's the twenty-fourth day of the hunt for Xiao Chongzi. Even Lu Cheng can clearly feel that the dog demon and Xiao Hui are tracking him faster and faster, which clearly shows that Xiao Chongzi is at the end of his rope.

It was really his bad luck. If he had come to the ghost cave in the Yellow Springs of southern Xinjiang at other times, there would be many evil cultivators from the Burning Wood Mountain lurking here. Even if Uncle Master Mie Hongzi chased him down, he would not be able to escape unharmed.

However, the time when Xiao Chongzi came down was when the ancestor of Ranmu Mountain was setting up a formation, trying to open the road to the underworld and lure the Nine Netherworld Devouring World. All the evil cultivators of Ranmu Mountain gathered in the depths of the Yellow Spring Valley. No matter how Xiao Chongzi escaped and called for help, he could not find anyone from the Lin family.

On the other hand, while chasing Xiao Chongzi, Lu Cheng was also pondering the comments made by Master Qingxuan to destroy Master Hongzi.

"The Teng Snake is lurking, and the Tai Sui star is coming? Although I don't know much about the Yijing, the Teng Snake and Tai Sui seem to be the stars that represent conquest. Then why does Qing Xuan Zhenren think that it is a good omen that can help my uncle fulfill his wish?"

However, Lu Cheng didn't know that the Lin family's ancestor and the Eight Landscapes Master Qingxuan had both made in-depth studies on the principles of heaven and the Book of Changes.

However, in terms of realm, the former is limited by inheritance, and the method that was pieced together can ultimately not compare to the mystery of the "Book of Changes".

If Lu Cheng followed his idea and joined forces with his uncle-master Mie Hongzi, they could directly reach the depths of the Yellow Springs Valley and prevent the opening of the Netherworld Road and the arrival of the Nine Netherworld Devouring World. This could indeed eliminate the hidden dangers before they occur.

But without the nourishment of the Nine Netherworld Qi, the seven Chongyuan Purifying Blood Flowers would not bloom.

On the contrary, it is like now, following Mie Hongzi to hunt down the evil cultivator Xiao Chongzi, and after many twists and turns, until the seven Chongyuan Cleansing Blood Flowers bloom, Mie Hongzi will have the opportunity to fulfill his wish and cleanse his own magic bloodline.

From this perspective, the correct judgment is actually wrong, and the wrong choice will lead to better results.

The magic of the Book of Changes is that it makes people look down at their fate as if they were standing on a high place, so that those who practice it can always choose the most correct result.

This is a realm that is difficult to reach for sword cultivators, qigong cultivators, magic cultivators, spirit cultivators, body cultivators, and other lineages.

"careful!"

One day, when everyone was following the two spirit beasts on the road, Mie Hongzi suddenly shouted in a low voice, and stabbed out with his finger like a sword.

Her left hand held a scabbarded sword, but for some reason, the sword was never unsheathed.

Of course, Mie Hongzi himself has a sharp sword intent and profound magic power. Even if he only uses his own sword energy to attack the enemy, the sword energy is still soaring and its momentum is unstoppable.

Lu Cheng drew his sword almost at the same time as Mie Hongzi.

Although he has the help of the Golden Dragon External Elixir magic weapon, his magic power can be improved to the equivalent of the first or second level of the Jindan realm, but his spiritual awareness has not increased. Even if he has a clear sword heart, it is impossible for him to have the spiritual awareness of a Jindan master.

Lu Cheng was just a little slower than Mie Hongzi in drawing his sword, which almost meant that he discovered his opponent first, but his mind was just moving, so it was impossible for him to be as fast as a master.

This was because as the pursuit of Xiao Chongzi got closer, Lu Cheng consciously spread out some of the poisonous golden silkworm Gu to use as his own eyes.

As a servant of the Golden Silkworm Gu for generations, due to the extremely high intimacy between the two parties, Lu Cheng hardly consumes any spiritual consciousness when driving a small amount of the Golden Silkworm Gu normally. However, this time he is driving two spirit beasts in the Jiuli Cauldron at the same time, and the consumption of spiritual consciousness is still astonishing. However, Lu Cheng would rather take pills to replenish his spiritual consciousness than endure the sudden attack of a Jindan master when he is dying.

But the one who took action at this moment was not Xiao Chongzi, but two cultivators, a monk and a layman, with evil auras on their bodies.

The two men crept up closer, intending to launch a sneak attack, but before they could make a move, they were discovered by the middle-aged female monk in gray and their hiding place was exposed.

But even so, the two did not retreat.

The monk, who was dressed like an ordinary man, looked young but had very strong magical powers. He raised his hand and shot out a beam of blood light, which hit the gray-haired rat.

However, it was blocked by the sword light raised by Lu Cheng. The blood light and the sword light collided with each other, and the light suddenly became brighter. At the same time, another sharp sword light flew out from Lu Cheng's flying sword, heading straight for the throat of the young monk.

The sword light did not change much, except for the two words fast and fierce.

"Good swordsmanship!"

The young cultivator exclaimed in praise and waved his sleeves, and a black fog covered the entire area. Lu Cheng's Cang Yan Flying Sword was somewhat unstable when it pierced into it. This black fog could actually greatly weaken the cultivator's consciousness.

At the same time, three Taoist skeletons holding swords and hammers flew out from the fog. One of them waved a bone fork to fix the flying sword that was not moving smoothly. The other two, one wielded a pair of hammers and the other waved a sword and shield, and they smashed and hit the Cang Yan flying sword.

Even though the Cang Yan Flying Sword was of high quality, it was still making a mournful sound from the impact.

"Set, go!"

Lu Cheng frowned slightly, and made a hand gesture. Five-colored spiritual light appeared on the Cang Yan Flying Sword, shining brightly from the sword spine to the sword body. It was the Five Elements Sword Intent.

The Five Elements Sword Intent is not one of the most lethal sword intents, but it is the most stable and has the greatest potential.

With the protection of the Five Elements Sword Intention Master, the Cang Yan Flying Sword regained its spirituality and swam in the air, avoiding the attacks of the three white-skeletal Taoist soldiers in the black fog. It turned around like a fish and flew back to Lu Cheng. At the same time, Lu Cheng also took away the dog demon at the first time. Although the magic power of this demon dog increased greatly after swallowing the ghost dragon, it was now a battle of magic and swords between Jindan masters. If it was not careful, it would still die. There were not many demon beasts in the Jiuli Cauldron, and even fewer that could be used. Lu Cheng did not want it to die here.

On the other side, Mie Hongzi had also started fighting with the evil monk. With just his sword energy, Mie Hongzi was able to suppress all the magic of the evil monk, but he couldn't win quickly.

The evil monk ripped off the pearl necklace from his neck and it flew in the air. Human heads swelled up and appeared, emitting sharp devil sounds that disturbed the monks' minds.

However, this demonic sound, which should have affected a wide range of people, was directly cut through by Mie Hongzi's sword energy and did not affect this side.

With Miehongzi and Lu Cheng joining forces to resist, Miehongzi's twelve female disciples and Shangguan Xue also reacted and sacrificed their flying swords to form a sword formation to protect themselves.

The cultivation levels of these female disciples are almost the same as Shangguan Xue and the others, especially Qi Fengping and Fang Shiman, whose magical powers are even more advanced.

In fact, if Lu Cheng did not have the Golden Dragon External Pill magic weapon to enhance his power, his current level of magic power would be inferior to that of the two of them.

Of course, if a sword fight broke out, even if Mie Hongzi's twelve female disciples formed a sword formation, they might not be enough for Lu Cheng to defeat.

This is not because Mie Hongzi does not know how to teach his disciples, but because Lu Cheng has combined his sword skills training from two lifetimes, and in the art of swordsmanship, he is far superior to other cultivators in this world.

It was unknown how many benefits Xiao Chongzi had promised to these two people. It was obvious that the sneak attack had failed, so the young cultivator actually flew up and rushed in to attack.

He has a very powerful black gourd magic weapon, which can spew out black mist that can weaken the spiritual consciousness of monks. There are also three white bone Taoist soldiers hidden in the gourd. When the four magics are used together, they can often destroy the monks' magic weapons when they are unprepared.

When a cultivator is refining a magical weapon, his spiritual consciousness is closely connected to the magical weapon. The more powerful the magical weapon is, the more so. If the magical weapon is destroyed, the cultivator's spiritual consciousness will be affected instantly. With this method, he has killed countless cultivators of the same realm as himself, but he didn't expect to meet a ruthless character like Lu Cheng today.

Seeing the young-looking cultivator flying up to attack, Lu Cheng went forward without hesitation, activating the Cang Yan and Qing Ming swords at the same time.

He used the Sword Qi and Thunder Sound sword technique, and the two swords slashed into the black fog from all angles, slashing at the opponent, slashing through once, and then retracting once, flying and spinning continuously.

There is nothing great about exceeding the speed of sound. A cultivator can easily exceed the speed of sound by using flying needles or other magical instruments. However, the speed and ferocity represented by sword energy and thunder sound far exceeds this level. Above it are the levels of two sounds, four sounds, and even ten times the speed of sound.

The sword energy and thunder sound of a Jindan Grandmaster must start at ten times the speed of sound.

Lu Cheng controlled the two swords, Cang Yan and Qing Ming, and slashed out continuously. His sword skills were sharp, ruthless, and domineering, and the changes were unpredictable. For a time, the evil opponent was frightened.

"Didn't this person use the external elixir method to improve his skills? How can his swordsmanship be so sharp and fierce?"

Even if they used external alchemy tools and their magic power was raised to the level of a Jindan Grandmaster, it was impossible for the low-level cultivators to raise their mental functions to the same level. In addition, Xiao Chongzi promised that after killing this boy, he would not take the external alchemy tools himself, and would recommend him to a powerful elder in the Heavenly Demon Palace. Only then did the two dare to act.

But at this moment, Lu Cheng displayed all his sword skills that he had cultivated for two lifetimes, and made the evil opponent sweat profusely. He felt that the opponent's exquisite and sharp sword moves were endless, as if they would never be exhausted.

There is no way. In this world, if a cultivator can fight a thousand sword battles in his lifetime and retreat unscathed, it can be considered a brilliant record, but most people cannot do it.

In fact, Lu Cheng was amazed that the cultivators in this world could comprehend the artistic conception of various sword techniques after fighting with others for a hundred or so battles. In his previous life, in order to comprehend any kind of sword artistic conception, he had to fight with sword masters for thousands of battles before he could gain some understanding.

"The cultivators in this world only need to fight a few or dozens of sword battles to realize the clarity of sword heart and the power of sword intention. How do they do it?"

Lu Cheng sometimes feels this way too.

(End of this chapter)