Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 252: Soul Refining Technique (Today is my birthday, I hope you readers will be happy!)

A large number of low-level cultivators entered the secret realm. Even though Lu Cheng was in seclusion practicing, he could still sense them with his powerful and sharp spiritual sense.

The invisible and tangible spiritual consciousness spread out, like the sight of heaven and the hearing of earth, collecting all useful information and intelligence in the area.

"This secret realm only opens once every hundred years. We must seize the opportunity to earn spiritual resources!"

“If you can find rare spiritual objects and herbs, you can join the sect, or even become a disciple of an upper-level immortal master.”

"For a cultivator with four spiritual roots like me, the great way can only be achieved through the sword! To enter the secret realm, one only needs to compete with cultivators at the same Qi training level. If one wins, one can obtain high-level spiritual materials. This is the only chance. I won't get a chance without risking my life..."

"Before entering, my uncle gave me a map. I can find a thousand-year-old spiritual herb according to the map. It should be close to maturity."

While sensing this, Lu Cheng did not slow down his internal cultivation at all. Behind him, the image of a golden giant ape roaring at the sun and beating its chest faintly emerged.

However, in that big sun, there was also a huge fire dragon coiled in it, looking down.

As time went by and he received more information, Lu Cheng gradually realized that he had indeed smuggled into the Dingzhang world among the seven worlds: Dingzhang, Tongtian, Liehuo, Xuankong, Jumang, Yuqing, and Yinyang.

Tongtian World is good at swordsmanship and is famous for its sword immortal lineage. Yuqing World is good at refining weapons and longevity. Next is Liehuo World, which is good at fire magic. There was an ascended immortal who was good at fire magic.

The four worlds of Dingzhang, Xuankong, Jumang, and Yinyang are relatively mediocre. However, with the lessons learned from the Chiyang and Qingming worlds, and the Yuanshen ancestors in charge of the seven worlds, the seven worlds are relatively restrained. High-level cultivators interact with each other and share what they have. Even if there are conflicts, they will intentionally suppress the intensity.

Lu Cheng learned all the information about the seven worlds from Jin Ling.

The twenty-four demon gods live in the chaotic star field, and the Tongxuan world is also among them. However, the twenty-four demon gods are all guests of the seven major worlds, and these demon gods have no external relations with each other.

Even if one of them is in a hostile relationship with one or several worlds, it will not affect other demon gods from interacting with him.

The cultivators who have cultivated to the Yuanshen realm are basically pursuing their own ascension and will not easily fight to the death with their peers. The twenty-four demon gods have the blood of ancient times, and even those who are at the sixth-level Yuanying realm are far more terrifying than other sixth-level demon cultivators.

"In three months, the secret realm will be closed. If you want to get out again, you will have to wait a hundred years. Search for spiritual objects quickly and don't waste time."

"… Three months later?"

Taoist Lu Cheng in the Du'e Golden Boat heard the news he wanted, and he focused his mind and began to practice martial arts with all his strength.

As for the area where the Du'e Golden Boat is located, as long as Lu Cheng releases a little bit of his own pressure, it will be enough to make all the monsters and cultivators nearby instinctively fear and not want to get close, so no one will disturb his practice.

Eighty-nine days later, Lu Cheng placed one hand on his heart and the other on his back, performing nine rounds of exercises to complete this round of practice.

Although he did not complete the task, he used the ancient fire dragon method to assist the Sun-Swallowing Divine Ape Transformation and used fire to assist earth, and the task went quite smoothly. However, Lu Cheng felt a slight swelling and filling sensation in his meridians, and the magic power seemed a little too powerful and deep for someone in this realm.

From the general principles of Xuanmen to the Great Five Elements True Spirit Transformation Method, Lu Cheng and his master Huang Longzi had repeatedly deduced and the final conclusion was:

You can’t practice because once you start practicing you can’t stop.

They cannot practice because when the practice reaches its peak, the meridians and body of the cultivator simply cannot bear the load. The final result is an explosion and death.

Although the magic power increases rapidly and is powerful, this is an uncompleted technique. The more you practice, the faster your magic power increases, but the more you hurt yourself.

Originally, Lu Cheng had planned to give up this technique, but over the past decade, after reading and comprehending half of the Yuanshi Tianmo Sutra, he had a feeling that, although he had not really thought about it, Lu Cheng had a vague idea that it was possible to cultivate this technique:

As long as he makes up for his shortcomings in spiritual cultivation, of course, relying solely on Tian Yanzi's spiritual cultivation method and spiritual refining techniques is still far from enough, but it can be alleviated.

He has his own innate magical power, Qi sea, and Samadhi True Fire to protect him. The most important thing is that his master Huang Longzi is only at the first level of elixir, but he himself is at the top level of elixir.

Therefore, if the master could not practice the technique, it did not necessarily mean that he could not practice it. Lu Cheng chose to believe in his innate sense and really began to practice the Five Elements Transformation. The worst result was that his body would be broken and his skills would be dispersed. With the protection of the Samadhi True Fire, he could completely repair his body and regain vitality without really dying.

In the deep mountain forest, a swift shadow flew by, and the lush green trees shaded a ray of sword light, which passed through like lightning.

The flying sword made a whistling sound, and the sharp edge of the sword carried a sharp momentum.

The young man in the iron mask in front had a frown on his face. He dodged and fled while quickly forming seals with his hands and muttering something. A small green bell flew up, trying to block the flying sword that was chasing him.

Clang.

The flying sword collided with the magic bell, making a crisp sound of impact. The lingering sound then caused the small green bell to fall back.

Seeing this, a trace of fear and despair flashed in the eyes of the young man in the iron mask. He performed Taoist footwork, leaving deep footprints on the soil. From time to time, he hid in the trees, and from time to time he hid in the earth and rocks. He dodged desperately, and each time he cast a spell, he concentrated all his strength.

However, the flying sword seemed to have its own will and could always find his trace at the last moment.

The birdsong in the forest stopped abruptly, as if silent for this life-and-death duel. The young man shuttled between the trees, and every spell he cast was accompanied by a flash of light, but the flying sword was faster, and its edge seemed to be able to cut through everything, forcing the young man again and again.

Finally, after a desperate resistance, the flying sword penetrated all the defenses set up by the young man, ruthlessly slashed across his chest, and blood splattered.

The eyes beneath the iron mask gradually lost their luster, and his body flew backwards like a kite with a broken string, landing heavily on the ground covered with fallen leaves.

The flying sword hummed and flew back to its origin at the call of its master. The blood on the sword was slowly consumed by the sword body, as if this cruel killing had never happened.

The forest returned to tranquility again, only the fallen leaves stained red with blood seemed to tell what had just happened.

At this time, a young Taoist figure walked out from behind a tree.

Lu Cheng knew that the young man who controlled the flying sword had gone to hunt down other people, so he walked slowly to the young man with the iron mask, bent down and took off the iron mask on his face. He no longer needed it now.

"I will not intervene in the fight between you two. After I use your identity to get out, if your family members come to me for help, I will give them some compensation."

As soon as he finished speaking, a drop of real fire fell, and the next moment the young man was burned to ashes, while the fallen leaves around him were not ignited at all.

The young man's name was Tie Xiao, and he came from a small family of independent cultivators. His purpose of entering the secret realm was to obtain precious herbs and spiritual objects in exchange for advancement and to join a sect to settle down.

This secret realm is open to local cultivators, but they are often unable to compete with the cultivators from other sects whose skills, sword techniques, and magical tools are better than theirs, and they always suffer heavy casualties. However, these cultivators are always present every time the secret realm is opened.

Coming from a low-income family, with poor innate aptitude, yet possessing some talent, these are typical characteristics of this type of cultivator, and the majority of them die as a result.

As the March period approaches, the intensity of fighting in the secret realm increases significantly.

There are some monks who team up in advance and hide at the entrance of the secret realm to intercept and kill the returning monks. These thick-skinned and black-hearted people often make a lot of money.

But there are also times when they encounter extremely difficult characters and are killed in an instant. Even if they are at the same level of Qi training, their magic power and methods may vary greatly.

Lu Cheng drove the Golden Boat of Deliverance and sneaked out from the end of the East China Sea, as a result he suffered severe internal injuries which have not yet fully recovered. At the same time, although he knew some things about the nearby world through the Golden Spirit, he did not know the details, so he chose to hide his form and not show any abnormality, disguising himself as a casual cultivator named Tie Xiao to sneak out of this secret realm.

The time Lu Cheng chose was neither early nor late, neither too early nor too late. When he walked out of the secret realm wearing a mask, there were already cultivators in front of him who were handing over precious medicines and spiritual objects one after another.

There were six Jindan Grandmasters standing there. The pressure from them alone made the Qi-Lianping juniors present terrified and uneasy. What's more, they were accompanied by one or two spirit beasts that were good at smelling spirits, or detective magic weapons. As long as the spirit creature was of a slightly higher rank, it would not be able to hide in front of them, and an ordinary Qiankun bag could not conceal it at all.

Over the years, most monks have become obedient and voluntarily hand over their spiritual objects and receive profits according to the rules.

If there was a brave person who was caught, he would be beaten to death on the spot. Even if he was a monk from the sect, he would be executed on the spot for treason.

Today, there was an ordinary-looking cultivator whose Qiankun bag could even deceive those spirit beasts that were good at smelling spirits. However, just as he was about to walk among the crowd, he was blocked by a fat, white, blue-clothed Jindan Grandmaster.

The master didn't say much. He just reached out and pulled a layer of cloth off his Qiankun bag.

The next moment, those spirit-sniffing beasts screamed one after another, and the ordinary-looking young monk knelt on the ground with a pale face.

"Alas, why take such a risk at such a young age?"

As he spoke, the plump blue-robed master pressed down with his palm, and bright red blood suddenly gushed out from the five senses and seven orifices of the young cultivator, who fell dead on the spot.

This massacre made the scene even quieter, and also suppressed the excitement of the young monks who had walked out of the secret realm.

When it was Lu Cheng's turn, Lu Cheng stepped forward and handed over five spiritual herbs, then stepped aside to be sniffed by the little beasts, and was able to escape.

Standing among the crowd, it was only at this time that Lu Cheng secretly spread his spiritual sense and scanned the six Jindan masters present.

This investigation revealed obvious differences.

"Everyone's Dan Qi flows quite smoothly. Surprisingly, every one of them has achieved a third or fourth grade Dan. There is not even a fifth grade cultivator, let alone a lower grade Dan."

Bringing the sect's Qi training realm disciples to explore the secret realm is obviously not something the sect's core cultivators would do. At least in the Tongxuan Realm, such trivial matters are mostly done by the sect's cultivators of the middle to lower levels of alchemy.

And in this Dingzhang world, at least Lu Cheng has not seen a cultivator who has achieved the lower level of elixir. Could it be that the level of Taoism in the Dingzhang world is much higher than that in the Tongxuan world?
“I haven’t seen this kind of sign in those Qi training disciples. Although their Daoism is more mature and complete than that of the Tongxuan Realm disciples, it shouldn’t have changed to this extent. Moreover, the Dan Qi of these people flows smoothly, but the Dan Qi is much weaker…”

As he was injured and did not know the specific level of Taoist practice in this world, Lu Cheng chose to impersonate Tie Xiao and fly back to the mountain gate with the two Jindan masters of the sect to temporarily find a place full of spiritual energy to stay.

These two Jindan Grandmasters were one male and one female. The male cultivator was just an old man with a gaunt face and flowing white beard.

The female cultivator was a woman in Taoist robes with skin as white as jade, beautiful features and curvy figure. She looked to be about 27 or 28 years old. Although her face was expressionless, she had a unique cool charm.

The gaunt old man offered up a green leaf, which grew taller in the wind and turned into a long boat, carrying the younger monks who had walked out of the secret realm alive, back to the mountain together.

"Uncle Lin, it is said that she has already reached the Jindan realm in less than 160 years of cultivation, and she surpassed the Zifu realm in one go after a hundred years of hard practice. She is truly a genius in cultivation. If I could become her disciple..."

"Don't even think about it. Senior Uncle Lin is currently in the period of making great progress. She won't consider accepting a disciple in the short term."

The two were inner sect disciples of Huanyun Valley. Although they had a sect, they did not have a senior master. This time, since they had made great contributions, they wanted to take the opportunity to become a disciple of a senior master and receive his protection and instruction.

There is a rule in Huanyun Valley that for any disciple who returns alive from the secret forbidden area and has a clear master-disciple relationship, the master has the right to take half of the contribution submitted by the disciple as a thank-you gift.

This is to encourage cultivators at higher levels to accept disciples and pass on their Taoist traditions. Of course, it is impossible for a Qi training cultivator to accept a Qi training cultivator as a disciple. At least, it should be a Foundation Building or even Purple Mansion cultivator who accepts disciples. In this way, the sect, the immortal master, and the disciples all benefit.

Of course, only once.

Many cultivators survived this secret realm trial. After all, all the ferocious monsters nearby had been killed one by one by Lu Cheng, so this was also a hot topic on the Green Boat.

While listening to his companions' whispered conversation, Lu Cheng discovered another difference between this world and the Tongxuan world:

Innate, Qi training, foundation building, condensing evil, refining Gang, golden elixir, this is the realm division of Tongxuan Realm.

Innate, Qi training, foundation building, purple mansion, golden elixir, and Nascent Soul, this is the realm division of the Ding Zhang world.

It turns out that the cultivators in this world, after they have mastered the ninth level of profound skills, do not absorb and condense the Earthly Evils and Heavenly Gang, but continue to accumulate magic power and practice for hundreds of years. Then, with the help of spiritual objects or relying purely on their own magic power, they open up the Purple Mansion and use this realm to replace the condensed Earthly Evils and Heavenly Gang.

Without absorbing the true breath of heaven and earth to accumulate magic power, relying purely on one's own practice, the magic power will naturally be pure and circulate smoothly. In this way, Lu Cheng understood why most of the cultivators in this world have achieved middle to upper-level elixirs. The time they spend practicing in this realm is usually much longer than that of the cultivators in the Tongxuan realm.

In this way, there would naturally be no forty-nine heavenly tribulations, and the consumption of heaven and earth would be greatly reduced, but it would also reduce the difficulty of achieving the profound skills in the foundation-building stage and the subsequent breaking of the pill to form an infant.

In order to be able to carry the Earthly Evils and Heavenly Gang, the Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Tongxuan Realm must practice and comprehend the techniques they practice in the Foundation Establishment Realm to achieve the unity of man and technique. Only then can they bear the counterattack of the magic power of the Earthly Evils and Heavenly Gang, and then use this as a fulcrum to temper their true form.

After refining the golden elixir, one must go through forty-nine tribulations, each one more severe than the last. A cultivator who is able to cultivate from the past will integrate the accumulation of past cultivation with his own Taoism and magic power. The foundation of his magic power is many times deeper than that of the cultivators in this world.

But this is not very useful, because no matter how deep the magical power is, the magical power that can be exerted is limited by the realm, physical body, and magical instruments. Moreover, it is hard to say that it is worth it to exchange such an advantage at the cost of no one in the Tongxuan Realm to cultivate the Nascent Soul for a thousand years.

“Condensing the Earthly Evils and Heavenly Gangs may seem quick, but if you take a wrong step, your path to the Tao will be ruined. In addition, the forty-nine heavenly tribulations are too severe, and only one in ten people can survive them. In this sense, the Taoist system of this world is more conducive to longevity and cultivation.

No, the other six worlds should also have similar Taoist systems, and they communicate with each other. They are not as isolated as the Tongxuan Realm, where one can only search for fragments of Taoist scriptures and study and comprehend on their own."

Carried by that spiritual boat, the cultivators from the three sects who survived the secret realm returned to their respective mountain gates.

The Cangyun Mountains are located in the southern part of Qinzhou. They stretch for thousands of miles like a giant dragon lying across the sky. There are three immortal cultivation sects entrenched here:

Xuanmo Sect, Huanyun Valley, and Haoran Courtyard.

The Tie Xiao that Lu Cheng transformed into wanted to join was Huanyun Valley. Compared with the Xuanmo Sect which leaned towards the devil, and the Haoran Academy which leaned towards Confucianism, each of them had unique requirements for the qualifications of disciples. Huanyun Valley, as a Taoist lineage, relatively speaking, did not have so many restrictive requirements.

In the Dingzhang world, various schools of cultivation, including good and evil, Buddhism, Taoism, magic and Confucianism, coexist in the world. Although the three sects in the Cangyun Mountains have their own tendencies, they are generally neutral.

Being able to remain relatively neutral in such a chaotic world, one can imagine that the strength of the three sects in the Cangyun Mountains must be extraordinary.

"Tie Xiao, don't you want to become my disciple? The Rehmannia ginseng you picked is quite to my liking. From today on, you will become my disciple."

After arriving at the Cangyun Mountains, suddenly, Lin Qinghan, one of the two Jindan masters in front, turned around, said something to Lu Cheng, and then flew away.

Lu Cheng was slightly stunned when he heard this. He also knew that the Rehmannia glutinosa he took out was of neutral quality and good appearance, but his Qiankun bag was full of the Golden Boat for Deliverance and other spiritual objects and there was really nothing worse. He did not expect that it would attract the attention of this female fairy.

(End of this chapter)