Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 255: Rare Treasures of Heaven and Earth, Ghost Infant Fruit and Soul-Nourishing Wood
The connection between heaven and man, a sudden impulse, Taoist practitioners attach great importance to this. Although they cannot be sure whether the connection just now was the connection between heaven and man, there will be no loss in accompanying them once, so Lu Cheng quickly made a decision in his heart.

The next day, early morning.

Lu Cheng left the cave, opened the formation restriction, and then rode the light of escape straight to the agreed location.

In the Tongxuan Realm, cultivators in the Qi training realm are unable to fly long distances using flying instruments. However, in the Dingzhang World, due to the development and improvement of the Taoist system, the performance of cultivators in the Qi training realm is much better.

Strictly speaking, the Taoist civilization of the Tongxuan Realm has only been developing for more than a thousand years. Although it has inherited some of the previous eras, it still lacks some foundation in general. The seven nearby worlds of Dingzhang, Tongtian, Liehuo, Xuankong, Jumang, Yuqing, and Yinyang have each developed for tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years.

Although they are all somewhat decayed and dilapidated, they also have their merits.

When he arrived at the agreed meeting place, Lu Cheng found that Xia Bin and two men and one woman, a total of four people, had already arrived.

The female cultivator had a pretty face and fair skin, and she seemed a little impatient because she had been waiting for such a long time.

The other two men beside her were talking non-stop, seemingly trying to make the beauty smile.

The white-skinned female cultivator was named Zeng Xue. The tall young man next to her was named Cui Zihao, and the other shorter and stronger one was named Wu Zhichen.

The three of them were also Lu Cheng's colleagues in the underground mine, but they didn't interact much on weekdays. Now it seemed that Cui and Wu were obviously pursuing Zeng Xue, and Lu Cheng didn't pay much attention to these things on weekdays.

"It seems that Tie is late."

Lu Cheng came according to the time agreed with Xia Bin yesterday, and arrived a little earlier than usual. He didn't expect that all of them had arrived.

"Haha, Junior Brother Tie is really the one who can keep his composure. We made an appointment yesterday but he arrived early today. His ability to remain calm and maintain his energy is far inferior to Junior Brother's."

Xia Bin came in with a smile to smooth things over.

Zeng Xue's appearance can be described as natural beauty. The more powerful the immortal cultivator is, the more he or she will practice strengthening muscles and cleansing marrow, and their physique and appearance will be far better than ordinary people. However, Zeng Xue's appearance is not inferior to that of female immortals in the foundation-building stage, and she has always been the object of pursuit and closeness among her fellow disciples.

When Tie Xiao first arrived at the mining area, Zeng Xue had made several subtle advances to show goodwill to him because he was a registered disciple of Jindan Zhenren. However, Tie Xiao was as cold as iron and was not moved at all, and a grudge was implicitly formed between the two.

Xia Bin is already a middle-aged cultivator in his forties. He has passed the period of youthful admiration. He wants to win over Jindan Zhenren as his registered disciple, and he also wants to make use of Zeng Xue's magical powers and magic tools. As long as it can improve the safety and benefits of this exploration, he doesn't mind wasting his breath.

"Now that we are all here, let's head down. Everyone is familiar with the shallow layers of the ore vein, but there is nothing good in the shallow layers. Let's observe and agree on the exploration area as we go."

"Come to think of it, it just so happens that there is a martial arts competition among the three sects during this period, and many cultivators have gone to participate in this event. Otherwise, how could we, the low-level cultivators in the Qi training realm, get the good stuff?"

The three sects' martial arts competition that Xia Bin mentioned refers to the Xuanmo Sect, Huanyun Valley, and Haoran Academy in the Cangyun Mountains. Each of them sent out their foundation-building disciples to fight with swords.

The Foundation Establishment Realm is a realm that connects the past and the future. The danger of sword fighting is controllable, and one can truly see some of the skills. Therefore, the martial arts competition among the three sects will even affect the division of interests among the three sects in the Cangyun Mountains to a certain extent. In this way, the rewards will naturally be generous.

Those cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage who are confident that they have some means will participate, and most of the cultivators from the three sects will also go to observe and learn.

As a result, the number of cultivators who came down to explore after the earth dragon turned over naturally decreased significantly.

What's more, some information about this matter has been kept secret to a certain extent. Most of the cultivators who know that high-level spiritual objects will appear after each earth dragon turns over are cultivators from the Huanyun Valley mining lineage. They will also consciously reduce the spread of such information to protect their own interests.

Most people will keep their mouth shut about how they make money.

But along with the spiritual objects turning up, there are also many poisonous insects and monsters that originally lived underground. Why is it that every time the earth dragon turns over, the mineral veins have to rest for a period of time?
On the one hand, it would cause damage to large equipment, and on the other hand, it would also give these poisonous insects and monsters time to return underground, thus preventing them from killing a large number of miners.

Xia Bin, Tie Xiao, Zeng Xue, Cui Zihao and Wu Zhichen, these five people are all cultivators in the late stage of Qi training. They are considered to have some skills among the cultivators at this level. Combining their past experience, this time the five of them decided to explore deeper and find more spiritual objects.

Small groups like this would not sign any blood oath contracts with each other, as it was not cost-effective, but because they were all from the same sect, there was some protection.

The five people explored downwards, flying deeper and deeper.

Xia Bin held a seal in front of his forehead, then pointed to the Qiankun bag on his waist, summoned out an antique bronze mirror, and floated it beside him.

This second-level magic mirror is actually a top-grade magic weapon, which has the ability to slightly amplify spiritual consciousness, lock spiritual light, and has certain offensive and defensive functions.

For most of the cultivators in the Qi training stage, they may not own a top-grade magic weapon in their entire life, so Xia Bin stroked the treasure mirror with great care.

"My father spent his entire life to earn me just this one magical weapon, but it saved my life several times."

As he walked forward, Xia Bin spoke with some emotion.

Zeng Xue curled her lips slightly when she heard this. She has always had a high opinion of herself. Not to mention a second-grade top-grade magic weapon, she felt that she would have a third-grade or even a fourth-grade top-grade magic weapon in the future.

"Brother Xia, this mirror is of unique craftsmanship. The materials used and the skill of refining the weapon are both excellent. If used well, it can almost be close to a top-grade magic weapon."

Lu Cheng affirmed from the side that he had put a lot of hard work in refining instruments in order to refine his own flying sword. Although he was mainly refining flying swords, he also had some knowledge of other magical instruments.

"Junior Brother Tie also knows how to refine weapons?"

"Know a thing or two."

Xia Bin cherishes his precious mirror very much. Although he thinks that his precious mirror is much worse than the best magic weapon, it can still be compared with half of the best magic weapon... However, he does not know how difficult it is to use it well as mentioned by Lu Cheng.

Cui Zihao and others just thought that Lu Cheng was talking nonsense to make Senior Brother Xia happy.

Another half hour passed.

"Oh, I found it!"

Suddenly, Xia Bin said this, and then flew over with his sword, and used the sword light to slash several times, cutting off a piece of stone.

Using magic power to brush away the dirt and lime on the surface, a faint lapis lazuli luster appeared inside the stone.

"It's a third-level spiritual ore, lapis lazuli. Congratulations, Senior Brother Xia."

Lu Cheng smiled slightly and congratulated Xia Bin.

"Ah, haha, alas, Junior Brother Tie, please forgive me for making a fool of myself."

Such a large piece of lapis lazuli is worth at least a thousand spirit stones. No wonder Xia Bin was so happy. According to the previous agreement, whoever finds the spiritual object can get half of it, and the other half will be divided equally among the other four. If there are special contributions, compensation will be given afterwards.

At this moment, Lu Cheng suddenly looked behind Xia Bin.

His sudden change in expression made Xia Bin stunned, but he then reacted quickly.

boom!
The rocks suddenly exploded, and a huge shadow as big as a bear jumped out from it. The foul-smelling gale immediately enveloped Xia Bin.

hum.

The bronze mirror floating beside Xia Bin suddenly emitted a spiritual light, covering Xia Bin's figure, and the next moment he was knocked away.

"retreat."

Lu Cheng raised his hand and shot out a yellow light, forcibly repelling the shadow, trapping it on the stone wall for a while. Only then did everyone see clearly that it was a giant rat as big as a tiger or leopard.

There are quite a lot of these monsters in the underground mineral veins, but most of them have been cleared out in the areas where human monks are active.

The giant rat's body was covered in blood, its fur was torn, revealing its strong muscles. It looked violent and crazy, and it was obviously frightened and traumatized by the previous earth dragon's flipping.

Xia Bin's previous behavior of splitting the mountain to get rocks had obviously frightened it again.

"Third level demon rat, kill it!"

Because of the protection of the magic light from the magic mirror, Xia Bin was injured but not dead. At this moment, he came to his senses and spoke angrily with hatred.

Clang, Clang.

Cui Zihao and Wu Zhichen each summoned a flying sword and slashed at the giant rat. Zeng Xue summoned a colorful ring and injected a series of magic spells into it. Circles of spiritual energy emerged and then fell down.

"Roar!"

This demon rat was extremely ferocious, and it roared at the two flying swords that were slashing towards it.

The overwhelming demonic energy actually blew away the two Taoist flying swords, and then it ran quickly, and suddenly moved to the left and right. Most of the spiritual energy rings that fell from the air actually fell into the air.

Then the demon rat pounced towards Zeng Xue at such a rapid speed.

"Shield, up."

For low-level cultivators, beautiful female cultivators are rare and precious, so although Zeng Xue has never sold herself, she still has many more opportunities than ordinary cultivators. She also has a complete set of magical instruments, and they are of good quality.

boom.

The huge demon rat collided with the iron shield Zeng Xue had cast. Zeng Xue's body fell backwards, and the iron shield pressed back.

"Xue'er!" Cui Zihao called out urgently, took out a talisman from his sleeve, a moment of hesitation and heartache appeared in his eyes, and then he still offered it out.

As he moved, the talisman glowed with golden light, and in the fan-shaped area in front of him, countless golden blades suddenly pierced out from the ground. They were as sharp and cold as a knife, and even without getting close, just looking at them made one's scalp numb and hair stand on end.

Second-grade superior spiritual talisman, sharp gold talisman.

However, the demon rat was extremely agile. Before the golden blade under its feet could pierce out, it suddenly jumped away, causing Cui Zihao to waste a second-grade top-quality talisman.

Then it changed direction and continued to pounce on Zeng Xue's cold iron shield. In a very short time, the second-grade intermediate defensive magic weapon was already on the verge of collapse.

"Xue'er, retreat to me."

The short and strong Wu Zhichen also roared, but at this time Zeng Xue was under the quick attack of a third-level monster and had no energy left to control the direction of her escape.

She could only use all her strength to control her floating magic power and instinctively fall back.

Finally, he suddenly gave up his defensive weapon, flew up on his sword, and fled in one direction in panic.

"Spirit mirror, shoot!"

At this time, Xia Bin also took a breath and input the magic formula into the magic mirror beside him, emitting a ray of spiritual light, trying to suppress the speed of the rat demon.

Unexpectedly, this rat demon was extremely agile. It ran flexibly several times and dodged the mirror light one after another, while chirping, and it was obvious that it had gone crazy.

What made the people present even more terrified was that one rat demon was already so difficult to deal with. If it summoned more, how would the people present have a chance to survive?
"Brother Tie, save me!"

Zeng Xue's pretty face was pale, blood was oozing from the corners of her mouth, and she was in panic. She saw the Taoist wearing the iron mask in the direction she was fleeing, and she instinctively called for help.

As for this, the Taoist wearing an iron mask simply used a second-level technique of using earth to produce gold to deal with the rat demon that was running towards him with a roar.

There is no power of justice to punish evil, it is the work of the five elements. Under the golden light, the earth belongs to the earth, and it turns into gold, condensing like fine steel!

Seeing this spell, everyone present was stunned. They didn't know what Tie Xiao was doing by casting such a spell.

However, when the blood-stained rat demon screamed and pounced closer, at this moment, a stone cone on the top of the cave gradually turned light gold.

The weight suddenly increased, and the already broken bottom of the rock could no longer be connected. Under the influence of the earth's gravity, the golden cone whizzed down.

"what!"

Zeng Xue suddenly burst out with magical power and escaped here, but she was already exhausted. She fell to the ground with a scream as the rat demon chased and bit her.

But, poof.

Zeng Xue's face was filled with warmth.

After a while, she gradually came back to her senses from her nervousness and looked in front of her, only to see that the extremely ferocious rat demon had been nailed to death in front of her, with a huge stone spike stuck on its back.

"How could a foundation-building monster with bronze skin and iron bones be stabbed to death by a stone spike?"

Zeng Xue was stunned for a moment, and murmured in disbelief.

"Using earth to transform gold, using sharpness to break bluntness, of course it can kill with a stab."

Lu Cheng reached out and pulled Zeng Xue up from the ground.

If a Qi training cultivator is not careful when facing a third-level monster, he will be killed in just two or three hits. The performance of this female cultivator is already quite good. At least she managed to hold on until her magic weapon was destroyed. You know, Lu Cheng has seen too many cultivators who were killed before they could even use their magic weapons.

"This spell, this spell is used miraculously! Especially the grasp of the timing, you are worthy of being a disciple of the real person. Junior Brother Tie, I admire you."

Xia Bin, Cui Zihao and Wu Zhichen flew over. Cui and Wu were busy comforting Zeng Xue, while Xia Bin looked at the dead rat demon and the stone spikes on it. He couldn't help but sigh that he had made a good decision by recruiting Junior Brother Tiexiao to join the group.

There are many cases of broken rocks falling and killing people within the mineral veins, but this is the first time Xia Bin has seen a cultivator using this to cast spells and exorcise demons. It is amazing.

In fact, this was Lu Cheng's self-limitation. He felt that he could also do this kind of fighting method when he was in the Qi training stage, so he used it. However, he did not expect that this method would not be as good as using more magic power. After all, there are many cultivators with high magic power, but it is rare to find a cultivator who has such a talent for fighting.

…………

That night, because of the third-level rat demon during the day, Cui Zihao, Wu Zhichen and Zeng Xue wanted to return.

Although he picked up a piece of lapis lazuli, Zeng Xue's life was almost lost. It seems not worth it.

"We won't encounter this kind of thing all the time. After so many years of operation in Cangyun Mountain Range, some intelligent monsters have long avoided us. Even if the earth dragon turns over, there won't be many third-level monsters nearby. But the spiritual mine is different.

If you want to go back, then go back, but Junior Brother Tie and I are going to continue on. You all saw Junior Brother Tie's five-element magic today. He used it very skillfully. If you spend more time with someone like him, you might be able to learn a few tricks, which will benefit you for the rest of your life."

Beside the campfire, Senior Brother Xia Bin said this.

He actually suffered some internal injuries. If he were still young, Xia Bin would definitely return to the sect at this time to recuperate his internal injuries so as not to affect his future path.

But now it was different, he was already quite old, if he didn't take advantage of this time to fight harder, Xia Bin was almost doomed to not be able to exchange for the sect's foundation-building pill, and his life would come to an end. Therefore, he certainly didn't want to go back.

"Hiss, this is strange. Master Qinghan from Jiuxia Peak is famous in Qinzhou for his flying needle technique. How can Senior Brother Tie's five elements magic be so powerful?"

"Bring your skills with you to join me. Senior Brother Tie is a cultivator who participated in the secret realm trial and joined the sect to become a disciple of True Man Qinghan. Before, he was either a casual cultivator or a cultivator from a small family. At that time, he didn't have any good skills or magic to practice, so he could only work harder on these basic spells. Now it seems that Senior Brother Tie's comprehension is really amazing!"

"It's hard for independent cultivators to survive. Those who can survive in the end all have unique skills, especially those who can cultivate to a high level. They are generally more ruthless in fighting than us sect cultivators!"

Everyone talked to each other, and gradually the fear in their hearts dissipated. Under the persuasion of Senior Brother Xia Bin, the three of them finally decided to continue exploring downwards.

However, Zeng Xue developed a bad habit from then on. She always liked to stand next to Tie Xiao. No matter what sweet words she said or what her figure and appearance were, they were nothing under the great terror between life and death.

The disciples of Jindan Zhenren were indeed much stronger than ordinary cultivators, even though Tiexiao had never used any high-level magical instruments or any sophisticated and profound spells from beginning to end.

Just a basic and universal five-element spell can cover everything and be effective in every situation.

The essence of Lu Cheng's five elements magic is actually the innate energy catching technique, including his five-direction five-element hammer.

It's just that the Five Directions Five Elements Punch is a variation of the Innate Qi Grabbing Technique, which transforms the power of grabbing into a concentrated attack. These basic Five Elements spells are prerequisites.

After exploring downwards for half a month, everyone had some gains. They were able to earn about two thousand spirit stones, which was about one-fifth of what was needed to exchange for the sect's Foundation Establishment Pill. For a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, it was already a large sum of money.

Xia Bin, Zeng Xue, Cui Zihao, Wu Zhichen and others returned to the sect satisfied.

After dividing the spirit stones with the four people, they went their separate ways. The Taoist wearing the iron mask appeared at the entrance of the mine again a moment later, and then his body turned into a sword light and fled down.

This time, in just a moment, Lu Cheng covered the distance that the previous five people had taken half a month to fly. It was not because the Jindan cultivator's escape light was so much faster, but the five Qi training realm cultivators did not dare to fly at full speed in the underground mining area. Most of their energy had to be focused on searching and guarding the surroundings, but with Lu Cheng's magic power, they did not need to do so.

The deeper you go underground, the heavier the yin energy becomes.

Soon, Lu Cheng arrived at a deep underground place that the previous five people had never reached.

Before, in the later stage of exploration, Lu Cheng had already noticed that the underground Yin energy seemed to be a little abnormal, as if... it was too clean.

If he had been followed by several companions in the Jindan realm, Lu Cheng would have already stated that he would explore with them. However, at that time, he was followed by several young cultivators in the Qi training realm, so Lu Cheng came alone after the previous events were over. The deeper he went underground, the more he was convinced that his previous perception of the heavenly secrets was not wrong, and that there was indeed something abnormal deep in the underground mineral veins of Huanyun Valley.

He kept flying down and sensing with his spiritual sense. Although Lu Cheng had not yet mastered the art of cultivating the spiritual realm, his spiritual sense was actually far higher than that of an early Jindan cultivator. Many years ago, he cultivated the Great Five Elements Earth True Fire, which had the effect of tempering the body and nourishing the spiritual sense, but the effect was not very strong. It was the result of many years of accumulation.

Now, Lu Cheng has been practicing Taoism for two hundred years. After years of cultivation, his spiritual awareness has reached the general level of a mid-stage Jindan cultivator.

At the end of the underground mineral vein, a red light suddenly flew over, and after circling a few times, it suddenly turned into a human form, and it was Lu Cheng who walked out of it.

I saw a strange tree in front of me, more than one meter tall, with its roots broken through the rocks and growing straight. It was as black as ink and its wood was fine. The tree was surrounded by a deep and heavy Yin energy, which almost condensed into liquid. The Yin energy absorbed by it surrounded the trunk and branches, rolling and unrolling like clouds, but it did not have an elegant posture. Instead, it revealed a sinister and devouring intent in silence.

"…This is the Soul-Nourishing Tree, Ghost Infant Fruit?"

Having come to this world for more than two years, Lu Cheng had read through the Taoist Canon and had already acquired a lot of knowledge, so he immediately recognized this spiritual creature.

The former is a kind of underground tree monster, also known as the soul-nourishing tree and the ghost baby tree. It is similar to the soul-falling vine that eats ghosts, but it is a hundred times stronger than the former.

Quantitative change leads to qualitative change. The effectiveness of the Ghost Baby Tree is a hundred times stronger than the Soul-Falling Vine, which is only a fourth-level top-level spiritual object.

Wearing the Soul-Nourishing Wood can nourish the cultivator's soul and spirit, gradually strengthen his consciousness, and has infinite uses in healing the soul and healing injuries. It can also house the soul and ensure that the mind does not dissipate.

The Ghost Infant Fruit is also commonly known as the Longevity Fruit. Taking it can bring longevity and lead to the Nascent Soul Avenue. Of course, the so-called Nascent Soul condensed from the Ghost Infant Fruit must be the bottom of the Nascent Soul cultivators, but the two thousand years of lifespan is not fake. There are senior cultivators in this world who got the Ghost Infant Fruit, took it to reverse the yin and yang and cultivate the Nascent Soul Avenue, and then guarded the sect to cultivate enlightenment for two thousand years, turned the catastrophe and cultivated again, and entered the Yuanshen realm in five hundred years.

A cultivator who has cultivated into a Ghost Infant or Nascent Soul will remain at the Nascent Soul level for his entire life and will no longer be able to increase his magic power. However, he can still delve into the hundreds of arts of cultivating immortals, attain enlightenment, and accumulate predestined relationships with the Tao. He may not fight for just one lifetime, but he can fight for the great Dao for hundreds of lifetimes and achieve immortality.

(End of this chapter)