Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 254: Preaching Ancient and Modern Decisions, Underground Exploration (Please collect and subscribe!!)

One morning, a glow of morning light just appeared in the east, auspicious clouds surged, and the red sun rose slowly, emitting golden light and wisps of purple air that fell on the earth along with the brilliance of the sun and stars.

In the Cangyun Mountains, Jiuxia Peak, where Master Lin Qinghan was in seclusion, Lu Cheng controlled the escape light and climbed up the steps to visit his mentor.

There are restrictions on Jiuxia Peak and one cannot fly high. This is also a sign of respect for the sect's masters, so the Taoist went up along the mountain path. Suddenly, he heard the sound of gurgling water. A crystal clear stream poured down from a high mountain stream, splashing water like scattered pearls.

Wildflowers bloomed in all colors beside the stream, attracting butterflies to dance. Under the sunlight, the stream water shone with silver light, like pearls scattered on the ground.

Looking at such beautiful mountain scenery, Lu Cheng was in a good mood.

"Brother Tie!"

At this time, someone called from behind.

Lu Cheng stopped his flight, and not long after, a fat monk in blue came over and saluted first, saying:
"Brother, you are here very early. I live in the sect, but I am not here as early as Brother Tie."

This man's surname is Lan and his given name is Daoan. Maybe because of his surname, he also likes to wear blue Taoist robes. He is a second-generation direct descendant of the sect, and also a registered disciple of Master Lin Qinghan.

Speaking of which, Lu Cheng, this cheap master, is really interesting.

Master Lin Qinghan himself was born into a family of immortal cultivators. Because of his outstanding aptitude for cultivation, his family used all their resources and connections to send him to Huanyun Valley for training.

Because of his excellent aptitude for Taoism and the support of the sect and the family behind him, Lin Qinghan devoted himself to Taoism and did not bother to practice any of the other arts of immortal cultivation.

With such utmost precision and concentration, coupled with good aptitude and good comprehension, the improvement of his magical power level was of course fast. Therefore, Lin Qinghan broke through the foundation-building and purple mansion levels at a young age and became the Golden Core ancestor, the backer support of the Lin family.

The investment back then has now paid off handsomely.

However, this person has no skills in cultivating immortals and relies entirely on the sect's offerings. He only takes on one or two tasks from the sect occasionally. Even the resources to maintain his own practice are barely self-sufficient, and sometimes he even needs additional support from his family.

The Foundation Establishment and Purple Mansion realms were okay, but in order to support Lin Qinghan's cultivation of the Golden Elixir and purchase various resources to assist in the breakthrough, the Lin family had been completely emptied out. In addition to that, they also owed a lot of foreign debts to teachers and fellow disciples in the sect.

Of course, Master Lin Qinghan succeeded in refining the golden elixir at a young age, so this investment was a huge profit no matter what. However, Lin Qinghan's embarrassment in the past few decades was somewhat inevitable, and his net worth was far less than that of some experienced Purple Mansion cultivators.

Lin Qinghan had no skills in cultivating immortals, and after he was promoted to the Golden Elixir realm, he needed a large amount of spirit stones to purchase magical instruments to assist in his practice.

So in the past few years, she has successively accepted several registered disciples, a total of seven including Lu Cheng, without asking for anything else, just to raise spirit stones.

There are outer disciples, inner disciples, registered disciples, and true disciples. Huanyun Valley only has registered disciples, and true disciples have independent courtyards, while outer and inner disciples sleep on the same bunk bed.

Don't underestimate the importance of having a separate courtyard. Just having a private cave and medicine garden is enough to make the inner and outer disciples drool with envy.

In a large sect where spiritual energy is abundant, planting some spiritual herbs can bring in a considerable source of income after a hundred years even if you don't take care of them.

What's more, this true disciple often does not need to manage the garden personally. The outer disciples are also called menial disciples, and being able to help their senior brothers take care of the medicine garden is a job they are scrambling for.

By taking care of the medicine garden, I can practice in the better spiritual veins of my senior brother's cave, which will cost me a lot of spirit stones over the years.

Not to mention that after having a master, the inheritance of skills and techniques is very different from that of disciples who can only listen to public lectures.

The sect encourages high-level cultivators to accept disciples and pass on the Taoist tradition to a certain extent, so there is support in terms of sect resources, but there are also limits on the number of disciples each Jindan Zhenren can accept. Zhenren Lin Qinghan has already accepted seven registered disciples, and if he wants to increase the number, he can only do so by making great contributions to the sect or increasing the number of years of service to the sect, in order to add one or two more places.

Otherwise, if more registered disciples are accepted, there will be no support from the sect's resources. Then it will be up to the master to support the disciples himself.

Lu Cheng used a fifth-grade thousand-year-old Rehmannia glutinosa ginseng as a thank-you gift to his teacher. His second junior brother Lan Daoan's parents were deacons of Huanyun Valley, and they spent a large amount of spirit stones to allow their only son to become a disciple of Jindan Zhenren, and then taught him privately. In this way, he could combine the strengths of both families and have a larger and deeper network of contacts in the sect.

The future path of cultivation will be much easier than that of others.

It is just like parents who love their children, so they plan for them in the long run.

Lu Cheng and Lan Daoan traveled together and came to a cave in the mountains.

This cave on Jiuxia Peak was newly built by Master Lin Qinghan. It is not as large as those caves of cultivators that have been in operation for many years, but it exudes ingenuity and unique atmosphere everywhere.

Sensing two beams of light flying towards them from afar, Lin Qinghan released the restrictions on the cave. A beam of white light flew out from it and gently wrapped around the two of them, and a gentle force was exerted to lift them up and let them escape into the cave.

"You have come quite early. I still need to sit in seclusion for another hour before I can finish. If you are bored, you can go to the cave and look at my collection of books."

As he spoke, a talisman began to emit a gentle light in front of Lu Cheng and Lan Daoan, guiding the two forward.

Lin Qinghan's Taoist collection of books is of course quite rich. Although it does not involve the sect's core inheritance, Lu Cheng and the others also read it with great interest.

An hour later, the voice of Master Lin Qinghan came in, calling the two of them out. At this time, the other five registered disciples had also arrived and were waiting in the hall:
Tie Xiao, Lan Daoan, Peng Jingyi, Yan Yingqiu, Lei Zhenhao, Sikong Bo, and Xing Haoxuan, a total of seven people, are all registered disciples of Lin Qinghan in recent years.

Compared with other real people, Lin Qinghan had just mastered the art of alchemy not long ago and still had a lot of things to do in his own cultivation, so he rarely gave lectures. As a result, the seven of them were even a little unfamiliar with each other, and were not as familiar and close as other brothers.

After Lu Cheng sat down at the long table, a pretty woman in blue clothes poured him some tea, and Lu Cheng thanked her softly.

Although she looks like just a maid, the female cultivators living in this cave are actually all members of Lin Qinghan's clan and are closer to him than any of them.

"Before I teach today, I want to say a few more words. Boss, you are very good. You have done your job conscientiously over the years. The mine you manage has seen a significant increase in production over the years, and the number of accidents has far decreased compared to previous years. You have done a good job. I will propose to the sect that you have more room for development."

The cave is deep and the lights are dim.

The beautiful nun behind the long table was reflected. She was wearing a wide Taoist robe, with a graceful figure. The hem of her robe swayed gently with her breathing, like a lotus leaf swaying in the wind. The nun's face was delicate and exquisite, and there was a trace of aloofness between her eyebrows, as if she had nothing to do with the troubles of the world.

At this moment, when praising Lu Cheng, his words were calm.

"Thank you, Master."

Lu Cheng nodded in response, having already heard the unfinished meaning in Master Lin's words.

"But there are some who do well like your eldest brother, and some who do not do well. There are some who use my name to stir up trouble outside..."

When she said this, the nun's eyes swept across the room, first landing on Lan Daoan, pausing for a moment, and then moving away to another person.

"Old Five, do you want to speak up yourself or should I speak for you?"

Following the nun's words, the fifth disciple Lei Zhenhao walked out from behind the long table with a thin layer of sweat on his face. His originally handsome face now looked pale and distorted due to fear.

"Master, my family runs a market, and there are many people in the clan, so it is inevitable that there are good and bad people. Please let me know what kind of mistakes I have made, and I will punish them severely after I return."

As he spoke, Lei Zhenhao knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

"You pushed it cleanly."

Lin Qinghan clapped her hands gently, and a maid from the cave led the grandfather and grandson out.

When the white-haired old man and his granddaughter saw Lei Zhenhao kneeling there, deep hatred was revealed in their eyes.

When Lei Zhenhao saw the old man and the young, his face turned pale, knowing that today's incident would probably not end well.

But he was a shrewd man after all, and he quickly suppressed his worries and acted as if he didn't know these two people.

But he didn't understand why Jindan Zhenren's mind was as fast as lightning. The change in his expression just now was enough for Jindan Zhenren to make a decisive judgment.

"You two, please explain the whole story clearly. Don't worry, although this person is my disciple, I will never tolerate evil."

At this point, the white-haired old man and his granddaughter had already given up, but the young girl in green spoke first:
"My grandfather accidentally found a Soul-Falling Vine in the deep valley. After obtaining it with untold hardships, he wanted to sell it in exchange for some spirit stones. Hearing that the Lei family market was fair, he took the treasure with him. Unexpectedly, they were tempted by the money and first bought our Soul-Falling Vine, but secretly planted marks on us. Afterwards, they led a crowd to attack and kill us. My entire family of more than 20 people, except for my grandfather and me, were slaughtered by the beasts of the Lei family!"

When she finished speaking, the blue-clothed girl's eyes were bloodshot, and it was obvious that she was filled with hatred to the extreme.

When the green-clothed girl was halfway through her words, Lei Zhenhao wanted to stand up and interrupt her, but he was restrained by an unknown force. It was not until this moment that he jumped up.

"Nonsense! My Lei family has been running the business for generations and has a good reputation. How can you slander us with just a few words?

Master, this must be someone sent by a rival family, or they may be framing me, or it may be the work of a robbery cultivator. In any case, my Lei family would never do such a thing!"

Lei Zhenhao said various possibilities but refused to admit them. Without crucial evidence, the Lei family had strong connections in Huanyun Valley and they could not be brought down by the accusations of just the two of them.

Except for Lin Qinghan and Lu Cheng, no one else present could see the panic and fear that Lei Zhenhao had felt before.

The Soul-Falling Vine is a fourth-tier top-level spiritual object. It is an ordinary vine that accidentally entangles and devours the soul of the dead. It takes a hundred years to form. It can be used to assist cultivators in opening up the Purple Palace. Even if the practice goes wrong and the breakthrough fails, it can protect the cultivator's internal organs and prevent the body from being seriously damaged and the path to enlightenment is cut off. A small family in the Qi training period accidentally obtained such a treasure, which should have been an opportunity for the family to prosper, but unexpectedly, it became the reason for the destruction of the entire family.

A child carrying gold through the market will be guilty of carrying a jade.

"Zhenhao, are you saying that you haven't come into contact with the Soul-Falling Vine during this period? What these two people said is completely false and has nothing to do with your Lei family?"

"Exactly."

Lei Zhenhao had made up his mind at this point and refused to admit it. He believed that he had done a clean job and did not leave any evidence.

At this moment, the maid who had just poured tea for Lu Cheng suddenly walked over with a brocade box and opened it.

Inside the brocade box was a purple gem.

The electric light on it was faintly spreading, and when the light shone on Lei Zhenhao's body, it produced an induction, reflecting the gray-white ghostly aura entangled with Lei Zhenhao's body.

Upon seeing this, everyone present reacted.

The Soul-Falling Vine eats ghosts and grows, and the Yin energy gathers deeply. This Yin energy is different from ordinary Yin energy and will attach to the human body for a long time.

In other words, if Lei Zhenhao did not do what the girl in blue instructed him to do, why did he lie?
"Master, I..."

Lei Zhenhao wanted to continue quibbling, but what greeted him was a sword light as bright as thunder.

With a flash of sword light, Lei Zhenhao's head was chopped off.

However, Lin Qinghan didn't want to talk to him any more, so he drew his sword and cut off his head.

"I have recorded everything that happened here today with the Shadow Stone and will report it to the sect immediately. You have all seen what happened to Lei Zhenhao. The entire Lei family will also pay a heavy price for this. A century of accumulation will be destroyed in an instant."

The grandfather and grandson took Lei Zhenhao's head and some spiritual stones and left with many thanks. Finally, a high-level cultivator was willing to reason and stand up for the low-level cultivator.

Lin Qinghan, along with Lu Cheng and others, personally sent the grandparents and grandchildren away from Jiuxia Peak.

"If you can't even maintain the most basic justice, what's the difference between Taoism and demons?"

Then the seven people returned to the mountain. At this time, the blood on the ground in the cave had been washed away.

Still in the same hall, Lin Qinghan explained Taoism to the remaining six registered disciples.

In fact, except for Tie Xiao, the rest of the registered disciples behaved more or less arrogantly after becoming his disciples.

They were already family members, and now they had a master who was at the Jindan Zhenren realm. They felt they had a backer, but now Lin Qinghan had killed all the evil spirits in one fell swoop to serve as a warning to others.

"The ancients did not go against the times, and the present is no different. In the last era of the immortal cultivation world, there was no such realm as the Condensed Yuan Purple Mansion Realm.

In that era, there were some cultivators with extraordinary talent who could achieve Nascent Soul stage at the age of two or three hundred, which was much faster than we are now.

But at that time, the life span of a Qi training cultivator was 100 years, that of a foundation building cultivator was 200 years, that of a Jindan cultivator was 500 years, and that of a Yuanying cultivator was 1,000 years...

Nowadays, the lifespan of a cultivator in the late stage of Qi training is 120 years, that of a cultivator in the foundation building stage is 240 years, that of a cultivator in the Purple Mansion stage is 400 years, that of a cultivator in the Golden Core stage is 800 years, and that of a cultivator in the Nascent Soul stage is 2,000 years. If one succeeds in turning the calamity into another, he can stay in the world for 4,000 years.

Not only that, in the last era, Yuanshen cultivators were almost extinct in the world, and Yuanying Zhenjun was already the highest realm in the eyes of the world. Now, there will be one or two Yuanshen cultivators in the top sects.

Moreover, the influence of this kind of Taoism foundation will inevitably have far-reaching impacts. Even if the Yuanshen cultivator has an infinite life span, can he live a carefree life after ascending to the upper realm?"

According to the deduction of Taoism, the lifespan of a Yuanshen cultivator should be infinite, but the human world is not big enough to support such an immortal god, so if one cultivates to the Yuanshen realm and still stays in the human world for a long time, his lifespan will only be one thousand years longer than that of a Yuanying cultivator. If he succeeds in transcending the calamity, his lifespan will be six thousand years.

But this is only the theoretical lifespan. In reality, most of the Yuanshen cultivators have already experienced one tribulation when they were in the Yuanying stage, and cultivators cannot possess another body to experience two tribulations. This is a limitation of the Heavenly Dao. Although it is said that there are supreme spiritual objects that can eliminate the Heavenly limitations, what kind of spiritual objects are these? People in the world have never even heard of them.

Taoist Priest Lin Qinghan explained to his disciples the mysteries of the Ningyuan Zifu Realm and the significance of its cultivation, in order to compare the differences between the Taoist cultivation systems of the two eras.

Lu Cheng was also listening very attentively, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the three Taoist systems: the Tongxuan Realm absorbing the true energy of heaven and earth, the Dingzhang World opening up the Ningyuan Zifu Realm, and the direct cultivation of the Golden Elixir in the previous era.

"If I were to choose again, I would still choose to practice the Taoism of the Tongxuan Realm. Although the 49th Heavenly Tribulation is extremely severe, I can still advance courageously and diligently on the great path. Although the practice of the Ningyuan Purple Mansion Realm can greatly improve the purity of my magic power, it is far behind the Taoism of the Tongxuan Realm in terms of accumulation. This will inevitably affect my subsequent practice. Skipping a major realm and directly practicing the Golden Elixir is the most suitable practice method for genius cultivators. Although I am confident that I can still make a first-grade elixir, I may not be able to practice and verify the current 'Eight-Nine Caves True Dao Treasure Pill'.

Just like what Fairy Lin said, does it mean that after the Yuanshen cultivators ascend to the upper realm, they no longer need to practice? Impossible."

By explaining the similarities and differences between ancient and modern Taoist systems, he explained to his disciples the purpose and significance of cultivating the Purple Mansion Realm.

Although the purpose was to collect spirit stones and the number of classes was relatively small, Master Lin Qinghan still taught his disciples with all his heart and did not just go through the motions. Even Lu Cheng felt that he gained a lot after listening to them.

This time, the lectures and sermons lasted for three days.

There are spiritual teas and fruits available in the caves at Jiuxia Peak. If you have something to do, you can go down the mountain first, but Master will not explain it to you again.

"Master is also trying to warn us this time, Big Brother. You may not have noticed that Yan Yingqiu, Sikong Bo and the others turned pale. Fortunately, Old Lan, I didn't make any big mistakes that would make Master want to kill me."

After the sermon, Lan Daoquan still went with Lu Cheng, and the two left Jiuxia Peak together. After talking for a while, they went their separate ways.

……

The earth's dragon has been turning over these days and there is nothing happening at the mine.

Lu Cheng enjoyed his leisure time. In his own cave, he stole the spiritual energy of the sixth-level spiritual veins, studied Taoism, and pondered the art of refining the spirit.

Lu Cheng deduced it over and over again. There should be no problem with this set of exercises itself, but the difficulty of practicing it and the backlash of the inner demons were not normal at all.

It is certain that among ordinary cultivators of the same level, one will die if he practices, and a pair will die if they practice. Among a hundred cultivators practicing, there may be only one who can survive until he goes insane.

What exactly is the reason that causes the inner demon to counterattack so fiercely?

Lu Cheng couldn't think of the reason for a moment. In terms of self-control, Lu Cheng felt that after two hundred years of practicing Taoism, he was probably better than most of the righteous practitioners.

On this day, a fellow monk suddenly paid an unexpected visit.

Lu Cheng was originally meditating and practicing Qi on the altar, when suddenly his expression changed and he opened his eyes, a hint of surprise flashed across his face.

"Iron Steward, may I ask if you are in the mansion?"

This was the voice of a middle-aged man, who was also Lu Cheng's colleague in the underground mine.

Lu Cheng performed the exercises at a leisurely pace, taking in the Qi, and completing the last few cycles of the Qi circulation. Then he pressed his hands downward, and the spiritual energy that was originally overflowing to the extreme in the entire cave was suddenly reduced and suppressed under the influence of the five-line magic array surrounding it.

"Mr. Tie, are you in the mansion? I'm Xia Bin!"

"Brother Xia, I am practicing meditation and I am sorry for the delay. I wonder what Brother Xia wants to talk to me about?"

Communicating with a real cultivator with a deep foundation like Lin Qinghan was somewhat beneficial to Lu Cheng. As for cultivators in the Qi training realm, Lu Cheng's conversation with them was like waiting for them to spit out word by word, and it would be uncomfortable even if he took the initiative to adapt.

"Haha, Junior Brother Tie is in the mansion. I thought Junior Brother Tie was not here. I wonder if Junior Brother Tie would let me in for a chat?"

It seems that this person does have some things to do. A normal cultivator would retreat when he hears that the person is practicing in seclusion. After all, if they have to wait, they will have to wait for several hours, and most of the time they will not be allowed into the mansion.

Upon hearing this, Lu Cheng meditated for another hour, and then sensed that the other party had indeed not left. Finally, he opened the ban and invited him in.

"Suck, wow. Junior Brother Tie's cave has such pure spiritual energy. No wonder Junior Brother is so focused on cultivation that he is almost unwilling to go out easily."

Xia Bin said this after he came in. After a moment, he saw that Tie Xiao was still as silent as usual, so he finally couldn't help but say:
"Haha, this is what happened. Junior Brother Tie knows that the earth dragon has been turning over these days and even the mineral veins have stopped. However, the turning over of the earth dragon is dangerous to mortals and cultivators with low mana, but it is not that dangerous for us. Moreover, every time the earth dragon turns over, it will bring up some spiritual mineral treasures from deep underground. I wonder if Junior Brother is interested?"

It turned out that Xia Bin came this time to invite Lu Cheng to go underground to look for the spiritual mineral treasures brought up by the earth dragon. Although there were some dangers, if they were lucky enough to pick up a few high-level spiritual minerals, it would be more certain for them to exchange them for the sect's foundation-building pills in the future.

In this case, it is no wonder that Xia Bin was able to be patient and repeatedly invite Lu Cheng. As one of the few grandmaster disciples among the managers of underground mines, and taciturn and devoted to cultivation, in the eyes of other mine managers, he must have extraordinary magic power and magic tools. After all, he is a grandmaster disciple.

If we could invite him to join, it would definitely greatly improve the safety and even benefits of this exploration.

Under normal circumstances, Lu Cheng would have no interest in exploring this kind of Qi training realm cultivator, but he had been in trouble in his practice of the Spirit Refining Technique during this period of time. When he heard what Xia Bin said at this moment, he was actually moved in his heart.

(End of this chapter)