Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 257: The Dialectic of Heaven and Man, Going with the Flow; Five Directions and Five Elements, Asking the Sect with Boxing (Part )

"Manager Tie, this is the recent rectification plan for the overall design of the mining area. Please take a look. The higher-ups are urging us to do it urgently. I will come to get your approval in half an hour."

"Okay, got it. I'll check it out right away."

Taking the overall design of the recent mining area from the manager, Lu Cheng spread it out on the table and took a look at it, frowning slightly.

Spiritual stones, like secular gold and silver, cannot be circulated and used directly after being mined. They also go through a process of mining, refining, and shaping.

Just like gold, silver and copper are made into coins to facilitate normal transactions, the spiritual energy of unrefined spiritual ore is violent and chaotic. Excessive contact with low-level monks may even cause their own magic power to go out of control, leading to a tragic explosion and death.

It's not that the whole person explodes from the inside out. In most cases, a certain meridian or acupoint in the body cannot withstand the violent circulation of magic power, and breaks or implode, leading to the death of the cultivator.

There is a large-scale complex spiritual mine in Huanyun Valley, which produces spiritual stones and spiritual iron. However, the sect’s top leaders intend to retain the sect’s property. There are production lines for mining, refining, and shaping in the sect, but the production capacity has always been kept at a low level. This is an extremely far-sighted strategy.

The four directions of heaven and earth are called Yu, and the past and present are called Zhou.

The universe is full of spiritual energy everywhere. Only a few very few areas, due to special cosmic environment or cosmic phenomena, form spiritual areas. In a world, they are called spiritual areas.

The monks practice, taking the spiritual energy from all directions and gathering it in themselves, so that they can continue to grow and transform from human to immortal:

Innate, Qi training, foundation building, purple mansion, golden elixir, Nascent Soul, spirit transformation/primordial spirit, and finally ascending to the upper realm.

Although the cultivators absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, at the moment of their ascension, there is a huge difference in the concentration of spiritual energy between the upper and lower realms.

It will produce a huge spiritual energy convection effect. It will be fine if the cultivator who is undergoing tribulation fails to ascend, but if he succeeds, a huge amount of spiritual energy from the upper realm will flow into the lower realm. The total amount of spiritual energy is far more than the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that he has absorbed by a hundred or even a thousand times.

Therefore, the world hates cultivators of immortality, but also loves them.

When the positive cycle is large enough, a sufficient number of ascenders will even lift the lower realm to the upper realm. This is the promotion of the world's status.

However, cultivators who want to transcend the heavenly tribulation have to endure tremendous tests and bear enormous risks, so some cultivators do not want to go through the heavenly tribulation of the upper realm, but they still want to live forever, so some cultivators begin to study the art of smuggling.

Through the space nodes between the lower and upper realms, one can smuggle directly from the lower realm to the upper realm. Although the whole process is also very dangerous, it is at least much safer than going through the tribulation of ascension.

But in this case, this world will only suffer losses without any gains. The cultivators who can sneak into the upper realm are usually at the Nascent Soul stage at worst. They absorb a large amount of spiritual energy from the heaven and earth and condense it into themselves.

If he succeeds in ascending, he will bring great benefit to this world. If he fails, his spiritual energy will dissipate, but the loss will not be much.

But if the cultivators sneak across, no matter whether they succeed or fail, they will only suffer a huge loss with no gain to this world.

For cultivators who have survived the tribulation of ascension, their place of ascension will mostly become a blessed land.

Of the huge and pure spiritual energy that falls into this world, some will wander around the heaven and earth and transform into real spirits and monsters; some will merge into the mountains and rivers and form natural spiritual veins and minerals, giving birth to infinite vitality.

These contents were summarized and deduced bit by bit by Lu Cheng after he sneaked into the Dingzhang World and read countless Taoist books and classics in this world, combining his own experience and knowledge. Some of them are still based on legends:
For example, the fact that some Nascent Soul cultivators will spend their entire lives searching for space nodes and smuggling into the upper realms is only vaguely mentioned in books and it is only mentioned in passing, so it is not known whether it is true or not.

Lu Cheng read these Taoist books and classics to increase his own knowledge and better understand the relationship between cultivators and the heaven, earth and nature. This is also beneficial to the practice of Taoism, as long as one thinks often and is good at thinking.

But this also led him to quickly understand what Li Zhuoyang and the others were up to after quickly looking at the design drawings in front of him.

Although it does not happen frequently, every time the earth dragon turns over, the sect has to carry out overall design and repair due to the damage of large equipment and some tools in the mining area.

There are precedents for this. This time the scope of the changes is just larger and the repairs are completed in a hurry. It is so urgent that if Lu Cheng is just a cultivator in the late stage of Qi training, he will not be able to read the entire design within half an hour, and in the end he can only sign his name.

But Lu Cheng was a Jindan cultivator, and his mind worked as fast as lightning, so he quickly read the entire design drawing and signed his name.

"After all, he is a Jindan cultivator from the big world. Even though he is a country bumpkin like me from a remote place, he has knowledge and ideas. It's a good idea to take advantage of the situation!"

Every senior manager in the mining area is responsible for the rectification plan for his own area, and this time there are people on site to supervise and urge the construction to be implemented quickly.

If you look at the entire design as a whole, it looks like an inverted volcano, or a cannon pointed in a certain direction.

At the same time, Li Zhuoyang and the other seven people who had sneaked underground were not idle either. They were busy setting up formations one after another: attack, defense, and disrupting the secrets of heaven.

Immortal cultivators defeat the strong by using the weak, and kill monsters that are far more powerful than themselves, by using siege, magic weapons, or formations, but the most important thing is to use their own wisdom.

"Old Li, do you think we can succeed this time? I have a bad feeling in my heart. I don't know if it's a message from the heavens."

Inside the mountain below, an old monk in Taoist robes stood next to Master Li Zhuoyang and said this.

The two have been friends for life, so some things can be said directly.

"Is this a warning or not? At this point, do we still have room to retreat? After a lifetime of cultivation, it is rare to face such an opportunity. Rather than lingering on a sickbed and dying in a woman's arms in the future, it is better to take a risk now. This is our last chance.

We don’t have any more chips.”

Li Zhuoyang said this without turning his head, his eyes fixed on the mountain wall, or rather the ghost baby tree demon behind the mountain wall.

A Yuanying demon should have a keen sense of perception. He would be immediately alert and retreat in time at the slightest danger.

However, the strength of Jindan cultivators like Li Zhuoyang is more of a tonic than a danger to the Ghost Infant Tree Demon, so of course it will not trigger the danger sensor.

After Li Zhuoyang and his team set up the formation to confuse the heavens, the ghost baby tree demon's sense of danger could no longer be triggered, allowing them to make their arrangements calmly.

Fourteen days later.

The overall design drawings of the mining area have been fully implemented and completed, and it has quickly entered the stage of re-production.

Tie Xiao, as a senior manager of the mining area, will also attend the commissioning ceremony.

I saw the large puppets pouring huge amounts of ore onto the steel tracks, which then transported them to the refining furnaces.

After being refined in the furnace, the purified spirit stones are cut with steel guillotines, cooled with water, and polished to become pieces of spirit stones that can be used.

However, when a large amount of ore was sent to the refining furnace for high-temperature refining, a mutation occurred.

Boom boom boom.

Once again, a huge earthquake came from deep underground. The whole world seemed to shake, and the earth was trembling.

"…The earth dragon is turning over! Stop, stop now!"

Finally, a monk reacted and shouted loudly, but the refining had already reached the middle stage, so how could it be stopped?
Boom, boom, boom...

The earth shattered, cracks spread, and just in front of the giant furnace, the giant furnace overturned instantly, and rolling golden-red flames poured down. It was at this moment that it was controlled and guided by some magical power.

It turned into a blazing dragon of fire, which was filled with high temperatures, and began to fall down. What was the temperature of the flame? How could it compare to the horror of the torrent of steel?
Of course, it is impossible for Li Zhuoyang and others to directly cause such a huge earthquake alone, but the Cangyun Mountains had just experienced the earth dragon turning over not long ago, and the ground veins themselves were not very stable. With the magic power of seven Jindan Zhenren, including the existence of a fifth-level formation master who is proficient in formations, it would not be difficult to cause another big earthquake.

But he wouldn't normally do such a thing. A natural disaster like an earthquake would not easily kill even a cultivator in the Qi training stage. By flying into the air with a flying weapon and casting a few protective spells on himself, the possibility of being killed by an earthquake was too low.

Li Zhuoyang and his seven companions caused the collapse of several large furnaces in Huanyun Valley through the earthquake. They used the entire mountain as a giant cannon and the molten streams in the furnaces as cannonballs, triggering a terrifying attack that was far beyond the level of a Jindan realm cultivator.

At the moment when the furnace overturned and the molten flow poured out, Li Zhuoyang stood in the formation, floating with the six companions behind him, and cast spells.

The spiritual consciousness and magical power of the seven people were briefly combined through the formation, controlling the overwhelming burning torrents, and pounced on the ghost baby tree monster like a flaming dragon.

It can be said that this sixth-level monster was stunned until it was hit on the head by the attack.

If Lu Cheng and Li Zhuoyang had not discovered it, it would have used its roots to kill a large number of miners in Huanyun Valley, and then lure out the Jindan and Yuanying Zhenjun of Huanyun Valley. After a fierce battle, it might be able to escape unscathed.

However, Lu Cheng and Li Zhuoyang discovered it first, which means that the cultivators took the initiative.

Just like if a tiger is discovered in a mortal village, if they have the ability, they would not wait until it starts eating people before trying to eradicate it.

"Roar!"

The ghost baby tree demon screamed towards the sky, and a powerful magical power instantly spread out from its body.

The Yuanying magical domain forms a law domain with itself as the center, affecting the changes in the laws of the surrounding heaven and earth and rejecting all non-self existences.

The Nascent Soul magical domain of the Ghost Infant Tree Demon is of course dominated by darkness and death, and the external form is a huge pitch-black sphere appearing out of thin air.

If Li Zhuoyang and others did not make all these preparations and went directly to hunt the tree monster, they would be covered by the Nascent Soul Magical Field and could only exert 60% to 70% of their magic power. They would be slaughtered one-sidedly and the golden cores of all the cultivators would be devoured.

But it was different with the advance arrangements. The full-strength attack from the combined efforts of seven Jindan Zhenren monks would be difficult for even a sixth-level monster to withstand if caught off guard.

The golden-red fire flow collided with the dark and deadly aura, causing a violent explosion that caused the entire Cangyun Mountains to vibrate and shake.

"My fellow Taoists, the plan has been completed. From today on, life and death, honor and disgrace, will depend on the outcome of this battle!"

Li Zhuoyang slapped the spirit beast bag on his waist, and a monkey wearing black armor and carrying an iron rod leaped out of it. Although a trace of regret flashed in his eyes, Li Zhuoyang still took out a few vermilion pills and fed them to the monkey.

After taking the elixir, the ape, which was originally a little weak, became more powerful at a speed visible to the naked eye. With a sharp roar, it rushed towards the ghost baby tree demon. Li Zhuoyang was skilled in taming beasts. The one he just raised for hundreds of years, from the Qi training realm to the fifth level, which showed how much effort and resources he had spent. After today's battle, all of them were gone. If he failed, he would die.

The other six Jindan Zhenren looked at each other and also took out their own flying swords, magic rulers, silk ribbons and other magic weapons.

The six of them were all close friends of Li Zhuoyang over the past hundreds of years. They had signed a strict underworld blood oath before coming here, and at this moment, they dared not do anything less than their best.

The temperature of ordinary fire has its limit, but the temperature of metal fire flow can be more than a hundred times higher.

The monks observed the principle behind this, so they said that earth and fire complement each other, and thunder and fire complement each other.

In the underground cave, golden-red fire flowed like magma, and the hot breath diffused. Li Zhuoyang was hanging in the air, his face solemn, his eyes like two balls of blazing flames, staring at the battlefield ahead.

His mad blood fighting ape went berserk after taking the Green Blood Pill. Facing the sixth-level monster, it showed no fear and did not retreat. It waved its iron rod madly, and was beaten back again and again, but it would pounce on it again and again.

The whole ape's body was pulled up, and a stick was raised, which was chopped down from top to bottom. The chop of the stick was like a sudden collapse of a mountain, and the sound of thunder was heard, the power was terrifying!
Li Zhuoyang's mad blood fighting ape is like a physical cultivator in the Golden Core realm. He does not use any magic. Just relying on his fierce and powerful close combat skills, he can dominate the world and have few rivals.

Six Jindan Zhenren surrounded him, each of them used their own magic weapon to contain, besiege or arrange defense, each with their own coordination.

Suddenly, a roar broke the silence, the Nascent Soul's magical domain collapsed, and the Ghost Infant Tree Demon appeared with gusts of cold wind. Its huge, twisted body, with its fangs and claws bared, seemed to be able to burst all the space around it. Its mouth full of sharp teeth opened, spewing out pieces of bloody poison.

When the Jindan Zhen people present saw this scene, a trace of determination flashed in their eyes. The flying swords, spirit rulers, and silk ribbons in their hands turned into bright rays of light and rushed towards the ghost baby tree monster.

On the ground, the spirit beast roared and made all kinds of violent and magical attack forms, engaging in a fierce competition with the ghost baby tree demon.

In mid-air, the flying sword streaked across the sky like a meteor, the spiritual ruler waved out layers of ripples, and the silk ribbons were like living things, agile and flowing, wrapping around the terrifying tree monster.

There are Jindan cultivators who are good at alchemy and they took out pill powder to prescribe the right medicine. They used the fifth-level pill powder to dissolve the sixth-level demon poison. Even if there are still some residues, it will be difficult to break through the protective magic tools and body essence of the cultivators for a while.

At this moment, Li Zhuoyang, who had the most powerful magic among the seven people present, suddenly offered up a small seal.

This small seal first stood in the void, then turned into a size of more than ten feet high, and pressed down on the head. It kept rotating during the process of pressing down. Every time it rotated, it would absorb a stream of spiritual energy, and its own size would increase a little.

This item has become Li Zhuoyang's natal magic weapon, the Monkey Heart Seal, which has the ability to control spirit beasts and fight, and can also break the inner demons to a certain extent. It is truly powerful.

However, the fact that Li Zhuoyang used his life-saving magic weapon, the Monkey Seal, to fight a life-and-death battle with a sixth-rank monster showed that he really had the intention of dying if he could not win.

With his current lifespan, magical powers, his natal spirit beast and his natal magic weapon all destroyed one after another, all his life's practice would be wasted. I'm afraid he would really die of illness in bed within a few years.

The huge sound of the collision between the magic weapon and the terrifying body of the sixth-level monster echoed in the cave.

The ghost baby tree demon let out a shrill scream, and each attack was accompanied by the wailing of the roots of its branches. Its tentacle-like branches waved violently, but every time they touched the cultivator's magic weapon, it would cause a series of violent explosions.

The same is true for the monks' magic weapons. They are shining with light and have faint cracks.

However, these monks did not retreat at all. Under the attack of the ghost baby tree demon, their respective magic weapons either penetrated the poisonous gas or cut off the branches. Each blow was decisive and ruthless.

The battle between the two sides intensified, and the rocks in the cave continued to crack and shatter under the impact of the strong magic power.

If this battle really goes to the final stage, perhaps the seven real people headed by Li Zhuoyang can really win the final victory, if there are no unexpected variables:

When its own vitality was depleted, the ghost baby tree demon suddenly opened its mouth and spit out a chubby, dark white baby that floated in the air.

"Ghost Infant Fruit!?"

"It's really the Ghost Baby Fruit!"

Although the distribution had already been discussed, when the Ghost Infant Fruit appeared before their eyes, the seven Jindan True Immortals present could not suppress the excitement in their hearts:
The Ghost Baby Fruit is also known as the Longevity Fruit. Taking it can grant immortality and lead directly to the Nascent Soul Avenue. This is the dream that many Golden Elixir True Immortals have been tossing and turning over, thinking about day and night.

But in the next moment, the ghost baby tree demon below spit out a black tongue, wrapped up the crying ghost baby, and then swallowed it directly into its mouth, chewing and swallowing.

The vast Yin energy and magical power instantly irrigated the whole body, restoring the Ghost Infant Tree Demon's vitality, while also destroying the fighting spirit of all the cultivators present.

Although this decision was cruel, it was correct. Rather than being killed and having the Ghost Baby Fruit taken away, it would be better to swallow the Ghost Baby Fruit, restore his vitality and kill all his enemies.

"No! Kill it quickly, maybe you can refine it."

In response to Master Li Zhuoyang, a tree whip came at him fiercely. The tree whip was filled with concentrated Yin energy and its magic power was deep and powerful.

The Monkey Heart Seal was tightly bound by countless tree whip vines, and then it began to crumble.

Once the ghost baby was lost, all the benefits that Li Zhuoyang had promised with the Netherworld Blood Oath were gone. Except that Li Zhuoyang, who had already given everything, was still casting spells madly and attacking fiercely.

The other six people present looked at each other and felt like retreating.

Finally, someone let out a long sigh, performed a spell, and turned into light and retreated.

If this place was any other place it would be fine, but this is Huanyun Valley, one of the three major immortal gates in Cangyun Mountains.

The longer the battle here lasts, the greater the danger. At this moment, the ghost baby tree demon has undergone this change and its vitality has been greatly restored. It is meaningless to continue fighting to the death.

Even if we can defeat this tree monster in the end, it will only be preparing wedding dresses for the Yuanying old monster in Huanyun Valley. It is better to go back.

Because this decision was correct, although Li Zhuoyang's old friends felt regretful and reluctant, as time went by, they all made the right decision one after another. Only Li Zhuoyang, who had already developed a demon in his heart, was left casting spells madly and still fighting hard.

Until, whoosh, whoosh.

The branches and vines killed his fighting ape, broke his protective magic weapon, and tore his body apart. Only then did Master Li Zhuoyang's mind gradually become clearer.

"…I am so unwilling. I am so unwilling."

With a plop, the remaining half of the body fell to the ground, blood spreading and flowing. At this moment, Li Zhuoyang wanted to detonate his golden elixir and die more quickly, but the heavy blows just now had already dispersed the elixir energy in his body, and he couldn't even muster up the last of his magic power.

"Will you be eaten by a tree demon? It is said that souls eaten by this tree demon cannot even be reincarnated..."

After hundreds of years of practice, Li Zhuoyang did not feel much fear at this moment, but he was still unwilling to give up, as he was just one step behind.

But at this moment, because the attack that was going to kill him had not yet arrived, Li Zhuoyang, whose eyes were already covered in blood, looked up in the pool of blood and saw a young strange Taoist standing in front of the giant tree monster, stretching out his hand to block the other party?

"what?"

The Taoist's figure was obviously far different from that of the ghost baby tree demon, but the two gave people the feeling that they were evenly matched... no, the latter was actually taller.

"It's really wonderful! The cultivators of Dingzhang World are indeed more knowledgeable than the cultivators of Tongxuan World, and have more experience in planning and hunting down sixth-level monsters.

But now that things have come to this, it is time for you to take a last look at the methods of a cultivator from the Tongxuan Realm."

With his unintentional planning and the invisible sword's invisible features, Lu Cheng was able to prevent even the sixth-order demon like the Ghost Baby Tree Demon from noticing him before he appeared.

He has mastered the art of swordsmanship and the essence of "I can attack the enemy but the enemy cannot attack me".

Although he has a lot of sword skills, Lu Cheng's strongest offensive ability at this moment is the physical body he has cultivated, which is a variation of the innate qi capture: the Five Directions Five Elements Hammer.

Sensing the gaze behind him, Lu Cheng clenched his fist and punched down to express his gratitude.

The first punch was earth, and it broke through the air. The fist brought with it the majestic force of earth, crushing through it, making the ground rumble, as if thousands of troops were galloping past.

With just this one punch, the sixth-order monster's huge body, as big as a mountain, was knocked back and unable to control itself.

With a loud bang, it crashed into the mountain wall behind it.

The second punch was made of gold, and the palm turned into a fist, shining with golden light. As the punch was thrown out, bursts of metal clashing sounds came from all directions, which were extremely sharp. Wherever the fist wind passed, it seemed that swords and knives were broken, and metal fragments flew everywhere.

"Ow!"

The ghost baby tree demon roared because the Taoist in front of it punched it into its body and forcibly took out the ghost baby it had just swallowed.

The circulation of Yin energy in the body resumed and was immediately exhausted.

The third punch represents water. The two fists flip over, and the surrounding water vapor evaporates and turns into a surging river. The water rolls and the waves surge with the wind from the fists, driving the surroundings to surge like an undercurrent. A force of thousands of pounds rolls towards the ghost baby tree monster from all directions, swirling and turning, making the tree monster's huge body seem to be trapped in a raging sea, unable to extricate itself, sinking deeper and deeper, and it may at any time wrap up, swallow up, and crush everything it touches with an overwhelming force!
The fourth punch is wood. This punch is an undercurrent of hidden power. The wood-type magic power wraps around his body, and then is thrown out through the tip of his fist, merging with the previous water-type fist power, turning into countless growing branches, breaking through the rocks and soil, destroying everything in its path. With one punch, there is a shocking scene of trees being uprooted and leaves falling.

After four punches, the four energies in the sixth-level tree monster's body were cut off, and internal fire was secretly generated.

These four punches disrupted the balance of the five elements in the opponent's body. Even the wood-element monster had fire in its body.

The fifth punch was fire. This punch was just a simple punch. The only scary thing was the flickering flame on the Taoist's fist, the Samadhi True Fire, which connected the inside and the outside, and burned everything!
Bang, boom.

The Five Directions and Five Elements Hammers were thrown out continuously with a loud bang.

The entire body of the Ghost Infant Tree Demon was knocked down into the mountain wall, and at the same time its entire body turned into a raging fire that burned violently from the inside out. Listening to the roars, cries, and powerless struggles of the big demon, Master Li Zhuoyang, who had been lying there refusing to die, exhaled his last breath with satisfaction: After all, it was me, the human cultivator, who won, and these five punches were real and satisfying!

The five directions and five elements, asking the sect with fists, Lu Cheng and Li Zhuoyang Zhenren both felt very happy!
(End of this chapter)