Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 256: The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind (Part )

The piece of Yin wood in front of him was just a small root of the Ghost Baby Tree. Its main body was still deep underground, and it was obviously shaken up by the earth dragon's overturning.

After observing carefully from a relatively far distance, Lu Cheng formed a spell with his hands, and relying on his profound skills in the Five Elements Escape Technique, he transformed into a ray of yellow light and silently penetrated deep into the ground.

When performing the earth escape technique, one is surrounded by thick soil and rocks, and the darkness is like an abyss that swallows everything, which will make ordinary cultivators feel fear for no reason. During the escape, Lu Cheng keenly sensed an ancient and cold breath, which became stronger and stronger, guiding him forward.

Suddenly, a faint light appeared in the distance. As Lu Cheng approached, the light gradually turned green, like a ghost fire at night, looking particularly strange in this silent underground world.

Finally, he arrived at an empty underground cave. The cave was damp and cold, and the air was filled with dirt and a rotten and moldy smell.

In the center of the cave, next to the cold pond, stands an ancient tree so huge that it almost supports the sky and the earth. Its trunk is ancient as if it has gone through countless years, and its bark is covered with dense black textures, as if recording the traces of time.

Countless tree branches and roots are twisted and winding, and the extended branches are like a baby's arms, small but full of strength.

Around the tree, there were strands of faint green ghost fire suspended, and it was these ghost fires that scattered the previous faint light.

Lu Cheng performed the secret method of the Eight Views of Heaven, restraining his own form, spirit and intention, concentrating and listening quietly. The sounds of wind, water, and the unknown slight breathing sounds were intertwined in this silent underground world.

He could feel that the ancient tree in the distance in front of him contained a powerful vitality and an indescribable malice.

That is not malice directed against oneself, but against all living beings.

Time passed day by day, and no one knew how much time had passed. Lu Cheng concealed himself with the Tianyi True Art, and the Tianyi True Art was integrated into nature. But even the Taoists in the Eight Views might not be as good as Lu Cheng, because Lu Cheng practiced the true meaning of the Five Elements, and all things in the world are born according to the Five Elements.

thump.

An elk monster that had already cultivated to the third level was entangled by a tree root, dragged into the cave, and smashed to the ground.

Deer blood contains pure yang energy, which is very beneficial to the body and mind when consumed. Therefore, the monster was not directly nailed into the neck by tree roots and branches, and its blood was not drained and swallowed. Instead, it was dragged here to be eaten by the main body.

Click, click, click.

Accompanied by a shrill sound, the ghost baby tree demon turned its body, revealing an old human face, full of wrinkles and layers of wrinkles, but it was the face of an extremely kind old woman. But as soon as it opened its mouth, it swallowed the elk monster whole into its mouth, chewing and swallowing, thick blood overflowed from the corners of its mouth.

After devouring the elk monster, the ghost baby grandma took a breath and rested for a while, then opened her mouth again. A white light faintly emerged and spread from it. After a while, two chubby, dark white dolls actually walked out of it.

They laughed and chased each other - Taoism allows practitioners to return to the state of infancy, to temper their own three treasures of essence, energy and spirit, to refine the golden elixir into pure roundness, to nourish the fetus, and then to transform the fetus into an infant, to restore their own essence, energy and spirit to the innate infant state, which is the innate state, and then use this vast world as the mother body to cultivate the infinite nature and life.

Father's sperm and mother's blood, life is just a mustard seed. In just ten months, the grain is only a few dan, but the baby has grown thousands or even tens of thousands of times. Unfortunately, once born, life changes from innate to acquired. The acquired life goes through twenty years of growth and consumes 10,000 times more food than the former. How does it compare to the innate state?

The yin and yang of heaven and earth, men and women, and the way to longevity are all contained therein.

It was at this moment that the magic spell in Lu Cheng's hand changed, and the whole person suddenly turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared.

The next moment, the place where he had just stood was torn into pieces by several pitch-black tree roots. The ghost baby grandma looked at the empty space in confusion, and finally thought that her perception was wrong.

After returning quickly using the Five Elements Earth Escape Technique, Lu Cheng already had a rough idea of ​​what level the ghost baby tree demon had cultivated to.

The soul-nourishing tree and the ghost baby fruit are both ripe. The soul-nourishing tree refers to a section of the heart of the ghost baby tree monster, and the ghost baby fruit is the two ghost babies just now.

The cultivator uses the ghost baby to reverse the yin and yang in his cultivation. Because the three treasures of essence, energy and spirit are not in harmony, even if he can barely cultivate successfully, he will definitely be at the bottom among the Nascent Soul cultivators. But here with the ghost baby tree monster, it must be an extremely difficult sixth-order Nascent Soul monster.

Therefore, Lu Cheng came here only to investigate and would have to retreat.

Although Lu Cheng was conceited, he also knew that if he launched a sneak attack, even if he was facing an early Nascent Soul cultivator, the opponent's realm was not stable and his magic weapons were insufficient, and he had some confidence in winning the battle.

But if the other party wanted to escape, it would be difficult for me to stop him. If the other party was not in the early stage of Yuanying, or had some powerful magical power, then there was a 90% chance that I would die.

"It's still a bit of a lack of opportunity. According to the records, some ghost baby trees have existed for thousands of years, but they have not cultivated into monsters. The ghost baby fruits they produce can be picked by a mortal. The ghost baby tree monster I met is probably an extremely powerful character. She almost sensed me. I'm afraid she has practiced Taoism by chance."

If these demons have some special chance and accidentally obtain the skills of human cultivators, after thousands of years of comprehending them and combining them with their own innate magical powers, they will often become extremely powerful, far surpassing their peers.

Of course, there are also some unlucky ones, such as a tree demon who accidentally obtained a high-level fire-based technique from a human cultivator. This is quite embarrassing, as it is not right to practice it, and it is not right not to practice it.

Lu Cheng calculated the time briefly and knew that he had spent about seven days underground. He had not yet exceeded the limit of the underground mineral vein holiday. If he returned now, he would be silent and would not alarm anyone.

Just as Lu Cheng was moving upwards, a beam of light suddenly descended from the distance.

Upon seeing this, Lu Cheng immediately spat out a flying sword that was transparent and invisible but had substance. His entire body merged with the sword light and disappeared without a trace through space.

Although it was not intentional, Lu Cheng had been practicing Taoism for two hundred years and now indeed looked like an extremely powerful assassin, good at hiding and bursting out. The only difference was that he was an assassin and a cultivator who practiced both magic and body.

"Li Zhuoyang, Master Li?"

When the escaping light flew closer, Lu Cheng had already recognized the other party. It was Master Li from Huanyun Valley who was in charge of guarding the underground mines.

This Li Zhuoyang is a cultivator in the late Jindan stage. During the internal struggle within the sect, he chose the wrong side and was later placed under restrictions by the supreme elder. He will never be able to improve his magical powers in this lifetime, and even his disciples can no longer be protected.

Although he still had some freedom, being guarded in this underground mine was tantamount to house arrest, and he would spend the rest of his life there.

When Lu Cheng saw him, he changed his mind and followed him quietly. Li Zhuoyang didn't even notice that there was an invisible sword light following behind him.

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

Similar to Lu Cheng, Li Zhuoyang also found the root of a ghost baby tree demon. His face suddenly became overjoyed, and then changed drastically.

The ghost baby tree demon was a sixth-order demon, and was absolutely not something that he could match at his level of magical power. Therefore, he retreated immediately and did not dare to explore any deeper.

Seeing this, Lu Cheng thought for a moment, then put one hand on his forehead and waved his hand, and a little golden light fell on Li Zhuoyang.

Most of Lu Cheng's golden silkworm Gu were left in the southern border of Tongxuan Realm, but there were still a small number of golden silkworm Gu in hand. They were no longer very useful for fighting, but some of them were good at hiding and could still play a huge role.

After doing all this, Lu Cheng no longer followed Li Zhuoyang and fled away with his sword.

"If I only rely on my own magic power, it is far from enough to deal with the sixth-level tree demon, but if Li Zhuoyang and others take action, I will be confident enough to advance or retreat."

……

The cave was deep and dark, with the only dark red light coming from the dragon Gu that had taken dragon shape on the Yin-Yang platform.

Sometimes it transforms into an ancient fire dragon covered with scales and horns, and sometimes it transforms into a lively and active golden-red monkey that jumps around everywhere.

The second change of the Five Elements Reform is to use fire to create earth.

This dragon Gu has been refined by Taoist Lin Chong for thousands of years. Its nature is extremely soft and gentle, and can be refined into any kind of physical form. It is an extremely precious treasure of Taoism.

When ordinary Taoists obtain it, most of them will use it to simulate their own physical state, and use it to deduce and cultivate their own magic power. In the event of an accidental death, they can have a perfect physical body to take over another body. If they practice for a long time, it will be the most perfect incarnation, which can be said to have infinite uses.

However, although Lu Cheng also did the same, his approach was somewhat different from that of ordinary Taoists. He cultivated the Samadhi True Fire as his own innate magical power. The Samadhi True Fire could refine the essence, energy and spirit, and melt the body. As long as the essence, energy and spirit were sufficient, no matter how badly the body was damaged, it could be refined and recast.

Therefore, apart from the inner demons, there is almost no need to fear any deviation from the right path in practicing Qigong, or making mistakes in practicing Qigong. It also greatly enhances the ability to resist external disasters in practicing Qigong.

Therefore, in order to cultivate the second transformation of the Five Elements Transformation, using fire to generate earth, Lu Cheng practiced it himself first. After gaining experience and verification, he taught it to the Dragon Gu bit by bit. As a result, except for the lack of magic power, the Dragon Gu even achieved the second level before Lu Cheng.

Now, it is constantly changing and reflecting back to the owner.

Taoist Lu Cheng sat cross-legged on the Yin-Yang platform, his eyes as sharp as torches, fixed tightly on the dragon Gu that was emitting waves of fire.

The dragon Gu once again transformed into the form of an ancient fire dragon, emitting a faint golden glow all over its body, as if every scale contained infinite vitality.

The Samadhi True Fire swirled around the Dragon Gu, like a fire dragon, appearing and disappearing from time to time. The hot breath made the air in the cave seem to be boiling. At the same time, a large amount of spiritual energy was also involved.

The Taoist's hand gently brushed across the dragon's horns, which was a symbol of the scales on the top of the horns, and also a sign that the dragon's cultivation had reached its peak.

As the Taoist moved gently, the dragon Gu's body vibrated slightly, emitting a low and powerful sound.

The Samadhi True Fire began to jump, and the flames seemed to have life as they danced around the Dragon Gu, constantly trying to make contact with its skin, but were bounced away by the heat emitted by the Dragon Gu the moment they made contact.

An imperceptible smile emerged on Lu Cheng's face, which was a sign of his satisfaction with the growth of the dragon Gu, and also an affirmation of his own progress in Taoism.

In essence, the Dragon Gu is just a bug, but after reaching the second level of the Five Elements Transformation, its own nature has been greatly improved.

This means that after practicing the five, thirteen, thirty-six, and seventy-two changes of the true spirit, the path to becoming an immortal and ascending to heaven is feasible, at least from the current Taoist deduction. Thinking in this way, his mind and body gradually immersed themselves in a mysterious state, as if they had merged with the dragon poison, the Samadhi True Fire, and even the spiritual energy of the entire cave.

The air was filled with a strange scent mixed with burnt herbs. This was emitted when the Samadhi True Fire refined impurities. It had both destructive power and the hope of new life.

Earth fire represents violent energy.

Represents the blood and fire of the material self.

The divine fire that represents the power of nirvana and the merit of creation, the golden flame of the sun. The three merged to form the true fire of the three samadhis of heaven, earth and man.

As time passed, the temperature in the cave became higher and higher. The flames enveloped the Taoist, and the Taoist absorbed the flames.

But Lu Cheng seemed to feel nothing at all. His mind was completely immersed in the cultivation of his own and his external incarnation's Taoism.

The dragon Gu seemed to be sensing the Taoist's state of cultivation. Its body began to become more agile, as if it could transform into a ray of golden light at any time, break through the constraints of the cave, and soar into the sky.

At this moment, the dragon Gu suddenly let out a deafening dragon roar. The sound was full of power and majesty, shaking the entire cave.

Taoist Lu Cheng's figure also swayed slightly, and he opened his eyes again, but his eyes were more determined. He just stroked the dragon Gu gently with his hand to calm its madness.

"You, can only cultivate to this level? Without the Samadhi True Fire, your essence is insufficient and your innate deficiency is insufficient."

Dragon Gu is essentially just a poisonous insect after all. Its original potential reached its peak when it transformed into a dragon. Lu Cheng used the Five Elements Transformation to further increase its potential and transform it into the Fire and Earth Spirits. However, it has now reached its limit. Dragon Gu can no longer continue to practice the third level of the Five Elements Transformation. Although its magic power can still grow, its level of skill has already reached its limit.

Lu Cheng practiced Taoism in peace and quiet in Huanyun Valley, and at the same time began to think about how to obtain the Nascent Soul or even the Soul Technique of the Dingzhang World as a reference.

In the Tongxuan World, Lu Cheng and his master Huang Longzi, both created their own techniques after they reached the Golden Core Realm.

Huang Longzi obtained the Taoist tradition of the Ten Thousand Beasts Incarnation Palace, comprehended the Ten Thousand Beasts Spirit Secret, and created the General Principles of the Xuanmen True Spirit Transformation. After Lu Cheng cultivated to the Golden Elixir Realm, he comprehended the Ten Thousand Beasts Spirit Secret and the Xuanmen General Principles, and created the Great Five Elements True Spirit Transformation Method, in order to achieve the harmony of the five elements and the balance of essence and energy.

Creating your own exercises has its own advantages, and practicing the exercises of your predecessors has the same smoothness as practicing an established method.

Although creating one's own skills requires extremely high levels of comprehension from the cultivator, if one is successful in cultivation, his understanding of the skills and his comprehension of the great Dao will far surpass those of cultivators at the same level.

But if one lacks the ability to comprehend and the opportunities, one may stagnate for a hundred years at a stage, or even suffer for a lifetime. Only those with great courage and perseverance dare not do this.

Lu Cheng and Huang Longzi were both at a loss. The overall level of Taoism in the Tongxuan Realm was so high. Before Huang Longzi cultivated his Nascent Soul, there was no way forward. If there had been a way to achieve Nascent Soul, the two might not have chosen this difficult path.

After arriving at the Dingzhang World, although Lu Cheng was still practicing his own Great Five Elements True Spirit Transformation Method, he still wanted to obtain more Nascent Soul and even Primordial Spirit skills inheritance from this world, refer to the classics, and integrate and improve them. In this way, perhaps many chasms that were previously thought to be insurmountable could now be crossed, and things that were originally thought to be impossible to accomplish could be completed through cultivation.

With the Dragon Gu as a guide for his cultivation method, Lu Cheng's Taoist practice became more and more smooth, his magic power increased day by day, and he made rapid progress.

...

After keeping an eye on Master Li Zhuoyang with the poisonous golden silkworm Gu for a while, Lu Cheng discovered that he was secretly calling his friends, and that the upper echelons of the entire Huanyun Valley did not make any movement. He was completely relieved.

This Master Li really was unwilling to miss this great opportunity to ascend to heaven and completely change his destiny.

If the entire Huanyun Valley is united as one, it would be extremely dangerous for Lu Cheng to try to take advantage of the situation.

Lu Cheng knew that he could not defeat most of the Yuanying Zhenjuns, and he could not even escape from the few Yuanying Zhenjuns who were good at escaping. If he dared to attack, he would surely die.

It was unknown what level of cultivation the Nascent Soul ancestor of Huanyun Valley had, but Lu Cheng at least knew that he had been condensing his Nascent Soul for hundreds of years. If this matter alarmed him, Lu Cheng would have to consider whether he still wanted to get involved in this mess.

Opportunities, dangers, and sometimes you have to make judgments and choices.

"Brother Tie."

Underground mineral vein, in the manager's room.

Zeng Xue, dressed in white Taoist robes and carrying a food box, rushed in, seeming to brighten the dim environment a bit.

"Ah? Senior Sister Zeng! Senior Brother Tie, Senior Sister Zeng is here to see you again."

The young subordinate manager looked at the famous beauty with envy and asked Senior Brother Tie about her well-being, but his heart was filled with only envy.

Senior Brother Tie is very capable and has a background as a registered disciple of the Immortal Master of Jiuxia Peak. At a young age, he is already a senior manager, a position that I may not be able to achieve even if I work hard all my life.

It’s no wonder that Senior Sister Zeng Xue admires such a person so much.

How could this young disciple of Huanyun Valley know how big Zeng Xue's ambition was.

After the last underground exploration, Zeng Xue went back and did a careful calculation. Just from this exploration, Senior Brother Tie had received more than 3,000 spirit stones. Senior Brother Tie was already in the late stage of Qi training, and with the protection of Jiuxia Fenglin Zhenren, it would probably not take a few years for him to exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill and successfully establish his foundation.

If I marry him now, in a few years I will be the main wife of the foundation-building cultivator, with a stable identity and respected status, which will earn me much more than marrying him as a concubine and getting a few more spirit stones.

A beauty may be cold and arrogant, but it depends on who she is talking to.

Zeng Xue was of course cold and arrogant towards Cui Zihao and Wu Zhichen, but once she had figured out the future prospects of this senior brother Tie Xiao, Zeng Xue came to deliver food boxes every day for the past half month, trying to please them in every way possible, which could be described as pestering and pestering.

If Lu Cheng was really a cultivator in the Qi training stage, he would have already gotten over it. It would be easy for a girl to pursue a boy, let alone a beauty like Zeng Xue.

But Lu Cheng was already at the Golden Core stage now. If he married Zeng Xue, a junior at the Qi Training stage, not only would he be secretly scolded for being shameless, but Lu Cheng was also afraid that Zeng Xue's career would not be smooth and she would die before she could accompany him for a hundred years.

For cultivators, this is an objective problem. A cultivator at a high level takes in a new concubine, and then goes into seclusion for a sudden enlightenment. When he comes out, the former beauty has become gray-haired and wrinkled, or even turned into white bones. This kind of thing has happened in the past, is still happening now, and will continue to happen in the future.

"Junior sister Zeng, I am determined to pursue the Great Dao and my talent is dull, so I really have no intention of being distracted. It's not that Junior sister is not beautiful, nor that I am heartless, it's just that the Great Dao is heartless."

On this day, Lu Cheng finally spoke out. At the same time, he paid a few spiritual stones, which was the spiritual food cost for the past few days.

Zeng Xue ran away crying, holding the food box.

She didn't expect that even though she had been so shameless, this Senior Brother Tie was still so hard-hearted and not moved at all.

This incident was seen by many people outside the steward's office, and for a while, Tie Rushen's name became even more famous.

Even Qinghan Zhenren of Jiuxia Peak had heard of it, and during one of his lectures, he publicly praised Tiexiao for his iron-heartedness and his hope in building a foundation.

This is almost a promise: in the future, when you exchange for the sect's foundation-building pill, your master will mediate for you.

Apart from spirit stones, True Man Qinghan will do his best to provide help in other ways.

More than two months passed before this happened.

On this day, Lu Cheng was in the cave, practicing Taoism on the Yin-Yang platform.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and whispered:
"It finally begins."

The beginning here, of course, refers to the fact that Master Li Zhuoyang called upon his friends and, after more than a month of preparation, began to take his fellow Taoists who had signed a blood oath contract with him to go underground to hunt down the sixth-level ghost baby tree demon.

Although most tree monsters prefer to be quiet and do not like to move, they are alive, and if time goes on too long, there will be more trouble. During this period of time, many Jindan Zhenren in the sect went to Haoran Courtyard to participate in the three-sect martial arts competition, and the Yuanying ancestor was likely to go as well.

If we wait for them to come back, even though the underground is extremely dark and the yin energy is extremely obscure, it may not be concealed for long.

So these factors meant that Li Zhuoyang couldn't afford to delay.

He hunted down the sixth-level ghost baby tree demon, seized the ghost baby fruit, practiced in seclusion for decades, transformed the fetus into a Nascent Soul, and completely changed his own destiny.

As long as one cultivates the Nascent Soul path and expresses his willingness to submit to the sect and atone for his past sins, the past can certainly be easily forgotten.

It might even be possible for me to follow the example of my predecessors, attain enlightenment and practice meditation for two thousand years, and after the catastrophe is over, get a glimpse of the ultimate state of the primordial spirit.

Therefore, even though it was dangerous, he could not care less.

"Well, why are there only seven of them? And most of them have not even reached the late Jindan stage of their magical powers. With such a level of cultivation, do they dare to attack that ghost baby tree demon?"

Lu Cheng planted a golden silkworm Gu on Li Zhuoyang's body to hide him, so he could use it to project his spiritual sense to get a glimpse of the surrounding situation.

In his opinion, the ghost baby tree monster had extremely strong magical powers. Although the general level of the Golden Core True Men in the Dingzhang World was relatively high, the seven of them alone were still not enough to hunt down a sixth-level ghost baby tree monster.

(End of this chapter)