Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 270: Demonic Test, Harvest, Breakthrough to the Fourth Level of Golden Core, and Turbulence
The cave was dark and the fire was flickering.

The young Taoist priest was wearing a plain grey Taoist robe. He sat cross-legged on a stone bed with his eyes closed and his long hair hanging down casually, breathing quietly.

Although this time the process of refining and upgrading the grade of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was indeed full of dangers, after refining Kong Yourong's demon infant as the main soul, the benefits obtained were even greater than previously expected.

"open!"

Suddenly, Lu Cheng, who was lying on the stone bed, stretched out his hand and pointed.

A magic banner flew out from the void, and a large number of ghosts gushed out from it, as if a river in the sky was hanging down, gathering into the darkness in the sky, making this sacred mountain cave look like a demon world.

The Soul River was surging with waves. Arms, some blue, some black, and some white, stretched out from the water and reached out to the surroundings. Endless greed emerged, as if they wanted to pull everyone in, melting their flesh and bones into one with the Soul River.

There was a demonic calamity in Jingling County, causing countless casualties and numerous mortal cultivators died as a result. Those who were still entangled with evil spirits were secretly gathered by the cultivators of Huanyun Valley. This was not difficult to do because the cultivators of the Fu and Kong families had already made such preparations, and most of the cultivators of the Huanyun Valley sect just picked up the ready-made ones.

Lu Cheng also collected these souls into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, where they fought with Kong Yourong's demon baby every day to resolve their resentment.

However, if that were the case, this magic treasure would not be worth the risk Lu Cheng would take to forcibly refine it.

The man on the stone bed controlled the seal and performed the magic trick.

Rumble, the endlessly surging Soul River suddenly stopped as Lu Cheng cast his spell, as if it had solidified. But in an instant, it began to fluctuate violently, and strange blood-red, flaming flowers broke through the waves and emerged. They swayed slightly and bloomed one after another, making the entire river flowing in the void look like a lotus pond under the moonlight, elegant and quiet.

As the Buddhist scriptures say, "Manjusaka" is a sign of death and a call to hell.

The blood-red water was rippling, and the flowers on the other side seemed to bloom slowly but quickly. Then, blood-red translucent shadows appeared one after another, among which there was a jade-like girl dancing gracefully, bewitching people's souls. The wonderful appearance of the devil and the magic of the girl could often lead the monks into the illusion without knowing it, and sink into life and death.

With the main soul of the demon infant, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner is a true sixth-rank intermediate-grade magic weapon. Its actual power is even above the grade of magic weapon, and it can be said to have infinite power.

“If I hadn’t defeated Kong Yourong myself, she would have been mentally weaker than me, and if she hadn’t received help from the Golden Spirit, it would have been almost impossible for me to refine this magic treasure.

But after I succeeded in refining it, I finally understood why I couldn't practice Tian Yanzi's Soul Refining Technique. Ordinary cultivators have weak bodies, few desires, and are devoted to the Dao. I followed the ancient method to practice the art of transformation and ascension. My body is strong, and my qi and blood are closer to those of monsters than human cultivators. Therefore, my desires are also strong, and the demonic difficulties are also heavy. Naturally, it is difficult for me to pass the demonic test."

Demonic tests refer to the various tests and challenges encountered during the practice. They are more inclined to the mind and desires. Many cultivators with great talent in Taoism have fallen under the demonic tests.

After going through the test of Kong Yourong's devilish appearance, although with the help of some external forces, Lu Cheng had basically passed the first level of practicing the Soul Refining Technique.

Therefore, Lu Cheng began to practice this technique formally according to the exercises. In the deduction of Taoism, he knew clearly that as long as he made up for his shortcomings in the way of refining the spirit, he would surely make great progress in his path.

This is also the reason why Lu Cheng dared to control the sixth-level middle-grade magic flag. Although it would inevitably backfire again in the future, his own "god" would have been cultivated to a certain level by then, and with the integration of the three treasures, he would be able to resist it.

Lu Cheng was wearing a grey Taoist robe. With his deep breaths, the hem of the robe rose and fell gently. His hands made hand gestures from time to time, as if he had merged into one with the surrounding environment.

Inside the cultivation cave, there is an incense burner burning with wisps of green smoke rising up. The air is filled with a faint fragrance, which has the effect of clearing the mind and concentrating the spirit.

Slowly apply the techniques of the Soul Refining Technique to your body. First, calm your mind to the utmost and sense your own thoughts.

Observe these distracting thoughts, and then cultivate them into demons, then devour and refine them, and reintegrate them into your own consciousness.

During this process, the spiritual consciousness is like a tempered iron sword, gradually becoming tougher and sharper under the tempering of the spiritual refining technique.

Observe with a calm mind: killing, greed, sexual misconduct, abusive language, lying, slander, obscene language, greed, anger, and ignorance. Normal Taoist practice will suppress and block all the poisons. Although they exist objectively, they do not affect one's own practice.

The Art of Refining the Spirit, however, does the opposite. It observes them, cultivates them, devours devil with devil, devours evil with evil, and achieves one's own Taoism.

When Lu Cheng started practicing, he felt that many ghosts, monsters, demons and ghosts appeared around the altar. They were whispering, and he was watching them, and they were also watching him.

Fine beads of sweat began to appear on Lu Cheng's forehead. He had reached the stage of cultivating his own evil thoughts.

The last time he practiced this technique, he stopped at this step. Many evil thoughts turned from virtual to real. If it weren't for Lu Cheng's solid foundation in Taoism, he would have almost gone astray.

This time, because of the previous induction of the wonderful appearance of the Heavenly Demon and the killing of the golden spiritual energy, Lu Cheng's evil thoughts were greatly reduced. Although the devil is born from the mind, and the devil cannot be destroyed unless the mind dies, these existences did not turn from virtual to real this time, but turned into many groups of dark air, which were gradually drawn into the center of Lu Cheng's eyebrows.

These evil thoughts still whispered in Lu Cheng's ears:

You are bloodthirsty and greedy.

You are committing adultery...

You talk nonsense...

You are full of greed, anger, ignorance and other poisons...

Why do you practice Taoism?
"The Great Dao is mixed, and evil is not evil. If I were a Great Dao saint, why would I practice the Dao? It is because I know that I have many shortcomings that I practice the Dao. We are originally mixed as one."

Boom, a circle of magic fire burned around, encircling Lu Cheng and protecting the Taoist. But this time, Lu Cheng did not stop practicing the skills, but felt the growth of his own spiritual consciousness, as if he fell into a paradise.

Tian Yanzi's Soul Refining Technique was dangerous and powerful, but it could be practiced very quickly. If one could break through the barriers and practice, he could increase his spiritual awareness very quickly. On the contrary, if there were any mistakes in practice, he would not care.

Tian Yanzi originally came from the Demonic Sect.

While practicing the Soul Refining Technique in the cave and rapidly improving his spiritual awareness, Lu Cheng also began to comprehend the Huanyun Valley's founding technique, the Huanri Dafa, in his spare time.

This technique is a sixth-order Nascent Soul technique, with three levels in total. Although there are prerequisite techniques, they are relatively independent of each other, and Nascent Soul cultivators can directly practice the Illusionary Sun Technique.

Lu Cheng originally just wanted to comprehend it and increase his own knowledge of Taoism.

As a result, during the process of contemplation, I found that it was not very difficult. I practiced it and actually mastered the first level of the Illusion Sun Method.

Taoist Tianyan of Tongxuan Realm and the founder of Huanyun Valley certainly did not know each other, but the Soul Refining Art was connected with Huanri Dafa, and it fits perfectly. After Lu Cheng mastered it, he also compared it with Huanyun Valley and the several golden elixir techniques that preceded Huanri Dafa, and found that none of them could compare to the brilliance of the Soul Refining Art, but in terms of application and changes, Lu Cheng also felt that he had gained a lot.

"The name of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner is too unpleasant to the ear. From now on, I will call you the Phantom Demon Banner."

Lu Cheng has this Phantom Magic Banner in his hand, combined with the first level of Phantom Sun Technique that he has already mastered. Huang Dao Zhong and Liu Hexuan's attainments in this technique may not be higher than his.

It is hard to say who holds the legitimate power of Huanyun Valley now. If Lu Cheng's mana reaches the Nascent Soul stage, he cannot be sure of the third level of Huanri Dafa, but it is a natural thing for him to reach the second level.

Lu Cheng didn't know at this moment that he was delighted with the rapid progress of his Taoism and supernatural powers, but in fact, barely cultivating the first level of the Illusionary Sun Art with his Golden Elixir Body had already put a huge burden on his ancestral acupoint.

It's OK if it lasts for a short time, but if it continues for a long time, the functions of the internal organs and meridians of the human body may undergo unpredictable changes:
The yin and yang and five elements of the human body are integrated and divided, each with its own function. It is not good to just increase or supplement them. For example, if the heart fire is strong and the kidney water is weak, and you just supplement the kidney water, the conflict between water and fire in the body will become more and more intense, and finally all the five internal organs will be damaged, and all will be hurt.

At this time, one should first eliminate the heart fire, then support the kidney water, regulate the five elements and adjust the yin and yang.

But Lu Cheng couldn't think of this now. He first refined the Magic Banner and then practiced the divine secret. While he was making great progress, he also entered the devil's way.

Time passes like this, day after day, year after year.

Because the two senior brothers Huang Daozhong and Liu Hexuan had made great achievements on the front line, they were even the first batch of cultivators to be rewarded.

In addition, Taoist Tiexiao killed the demon in Jingling County, so Huanyun Valley was solid both inside and outside. Although there were some problems, they could all be resolved.

As long as a sect exists, there will be countless problems to be solved. Don't be afraid of problems. The biggest problem is to have no problems.

On this day, in Huanyun Valley, spiritual clouds of light flew over and shone brightly, and elixir energy soared into the sky.

Inside a cave, a young-looking Taoist nun was practicing magic to refine medicinal pills.

She is Song Sulan, the number one alchemist in Huanyun Valley and is also quite famous in the entire Da Qi territory. Even Huang Dao Zhong and Liu Hexuan, two Yuanying Zhenjun, have to give her some respect when they see her.

Because although Song Sulan could not refine the sixth-level elixir, she was able to refine the fifth-level elixir, which could almost affect the fate of an entire sect.

Take the refining of foundation-building pills as an example. Huanyun Valley is a Nascent Soul sect that has been established for a thousand years. There are jade marrow and golden mushrooms that are more than a thousand years old in the sect.

One chalcedony golden mushroom can be used to refine a furnace of foundation-building pills. An alchemist with poor skills can only refine five or six pills in one furnace, while an alchemist with high skills can add some auxiliary medicines and refine twelve or thirteen foundation-building pills in one furnace. In the long run, this will determine the rise and fall of a sect.

What's more, a fifth-level alchemist is not only able to refine foundation-building pills. Taking this as an example, it is only because this type of pill is rather special. Although this elixir is only of the third-grade upper grade, its price exceeds that of most fourth-grade elixirs.

As a fifth-rank alchemist, she can help Foundation Establishment and Purple Mansion cultivators break through their realms, and she can also assist in improving the mana of Golden Core True Persons.

Song Sulan had almost never fought or battled with anyone in her life. She didn't even have to show up when Huanyun Valley encountered a demonic calamity or a sect war.

Although he is only at the Jindan Zhenren realm, his importance to the sect is almost equal to that of Yuanying Zhenjun.

As the fire under the alchemy furnace went out, a strong medicinal fragrance spread out, filling the entire alchemy room.

Various alchemy instruments were placed in the alchemy room, and there were several water and fire boys who were usually responsible for watching the furnace and sweeping the floor, staring at the alchemy furnace with nervous expressions.

In contrast, Taoist nun Song Sulan's expression was calm and peaceful. She had refined too many elixirs in her life and had long been able to keep her mind as calm as water.

When monks refine pills, they usually make ten pills in one furnace. Some alchemy masters with particularly advanced skills can use special alchemy formulas to reduce the materials originally required to refine ten pills into twelve or thirteen pills, and the efficacy of the pills will not be reduced.

In the past, when Song Sulan was refining the foundation-building pill, she would use this kind of alchemy formula, but what she was refining today was the fifth-level middle-level profound pill. The initial investment of spirit stones alone was hundreds of thousands, and it took many years of time and effort, so she had to be cautious and could not afford any negligence or mistakes. Two hours later, the ecstatic shouts of the young disciples resounded. This time, Master Song succeeded in refining the pill again.

Song Sulan has been refining pills for many years. Her characteristic is that her progress is not fast, but she takes each step very steadily and her success rate in making pills is also quite good.

Although only four fifth-grade Zhongxuan pills were obtained this time, the cost has been recovered, and it also means that Song Sulan's alchemy skills have improved further.

Jilei Peak.

The Taoist nun held the jade elixir box in her hand, came to Lu Cheng and offered the elixir to him with both hands.

Because of the decree from this True Lord, although seven Zhongxuan Pills were refined, they were announced to the public as four, and the remaining three are all here.

"Su Lan, I'm sorry to have wronged you this time. You clearly refined seven elixirs, but you can only say that you refined four. This has some impact on your reputation."

Lu Cheng said this on the stone bed.

"Everything I have learned in my life came from the sect. I feel honored to be able to share the sect's worries." Song Sulan bowed and said this.

"Well, very good. Your losses will be multiplied in the future. The good deeds of the sect will not let you suffer any loss. All right, get down."

"Disciple, obey."

Zhongxuan Dan is a fifth-grade elixir that can quickly increase the magic power of Jindan-stage cultivators.

Because the pill recipe uses sixth-level spiritual medicine, the effect is very good, but the difficulty of refining is also relatively high.

In order to quickly improve his own magic power, Lu Cheng used the sect's authority to allocate sixth-grade elixir from the treasury to Song Sulan for use, which was beneficial to both public and private interests.

After all, a great catastrophe of heaven and earth is imminent, and the more resources can be converted into strength, the better.

Although, those few sixth-level spiritual medicines in the sect's treasury were originally left to him by Senior Brother Huang Dao Zhong to help him break through to become a sixth-level alchemist.

"From the records of this senior brother's alchemy, he has no chance of breaking through to the sixth-rank alchemist. He can't even break through to the second rank. Instead of taking this chance, you might as well increase my mana."

As he spoke, Lu Cheng opened the jade box, raised his head and swallowed a Zhongxuan Pill, then sat cross-legged to refine the spiritual energy of the pill.

Lu Cheng has been practicing Taoism for many years, and he has taken very few pills to improve his magic power. It can be said that there is no poison in his body. In addition, he has the Samadhi True Fire to protect himself. In theory, he can take pills almost unlimitedly. But in fact, if he does so, it is equivalent to destroying his own foundation.

Lu Cheng could force himself to reach the Nascent Soul stage, but then the foundation of Taoism laid by the Eight or Nine Caves True Tao Treasure Pills would be mostly destroyed, which would be a loss.

Now he took the Zhongxuan Pill, but it was after experiencing the Jingling Demon Tribulation that he was sure that he could handle this level of magic power growth, and he was not blindly pursuing powerful magic power.

Because Lu Cheng's magic power is far more powerful and profound than that of ordinary cultivators, the medicinal power of this fifth-level elixir only advances his magic power to the fourth level of Golden Elixir.

……

There are no Jiazi in the mountains, and it is so cold that I don’t know the year.

In the blink of an eye, the ten-year period is almost over.

At dusk, the sky was already dark in the boundless forest.

In the forest, a monk in Taoist robes was running away, being chased by a group of monks behind him.

“Huff…Huff.”

A monk in a Taoist robe shuttled through the woods, performing the art of walking in space. The fallen leaves made a rustling sound as his feet stepped on them.

The man's eyes revealed deep panic and urgency. Every time he looked back, he could vaguely sense the monks chasing him relentlessly.

Those monks who were wearing the same Taoist robes had cold and even cruel smiles on their faces, and the magic weapons they controlled flashed cold light in the air.

The monk who was being hunted kept walking, dodging left and right, trying to find a glimmer of hope among the trees.

However, there seemed to be pursuers waiting for him at every turn, and every acceleration only brought those pursuers closer.

Is it worth it? Is it worth it?

He was originally living well in the Xuanmo Sect and had already reached the foundation-building stage. It was unlikely that he would be beset by bloody cruelty. However, after receiving this treasure unexpectedly, he decided to defect to the Huanyun Valley.

"I just don't want them to use the treasure ore I received to refine flying swords and then kill countless people for blood sacrifices... It's not worth it, but I did it anyway."

My heart is bright, what else can I say?

Before this incident, Jiang Ji himself had never thought that he would do such a thing. He grew up in the Xuanmo Sect and was accustomed to the cruelty and killing of the demons.

If he didn't have a clean background, he would never have been able to climb to the position of market manager in the Xuanmo Sect.

Jiang Ji's breathing was rapid, and the smell of sweat mixed with the earth could not hide the fear of being caught.

At this moment, a sword light suddenly flashed from the side. Jiang Ji narrowly avoided it, but the pursuers from the Xuanmo Sect behind him were getting closer.

He gritted his teeth and decided to use his last bit of strength to sprint towards the edge of a mountain wall, hoping to use the terrain to temporarily escape danger. Branches scraped across his cheeks, and the wind whistled in his ears. He knew that this might be his only chance of survival.

Run out and leap suddenly.

However, the expected feeling of rapid falling did not come. Jiang Ji felt a little cold in his heart. He turned his head and saw a young Taoist priest in a simple Taoist robe but with a handsome face.

"Illusion Cloud Valley, True Lord Tie Xiao!"

Jiang Ji almost groaned. In the Qi State's cultivation world, this person was a person whose portrait must be remembered.

Although it is of no use, the monks in Huanyun Valley are proficient in illusion techniques. If one does not want to be recognized, memorizing a hundred portraits is useless.

"Ten Thousand Years of Cold Iron Elite! You want to offer this treasure to gain protection from our sect, right? It is indeed a good material for refining swords. If a cultivator from the Xuanmo Sect gets it, they will most likely use it to refine swords and perform blood sacrifices to kill people, so that the Heling Sword can be born."

Jiang Ji does things in a very methodical way.

After he accidentally received this piece of ten thousand year old cold iron elite in the market of Xuanmo Sect, he did not want to hand over this treasure to the sect, but he knew that he could not keep such a treasure for long.

Therefore, he used the connections he had built up in the market town over the years to pass the news to Huanyun Valley through the monks of Huanyun Valley, and even sent it all the way to Lu Cheng.

The elite ten thousand year old cold iron, a sixth-rank sword-making material, although not compatible with his own five elements flying sword, is enough for Lu Cheng to take action once.

After cultivating to the Nascent Soul stage, many cultivators have no shortage of spirit stones and just want to exchange them for other things. This treasure can be considered a good thing that can be shown off.

Many cultivators from the Xuanmo Sect chased out of the forest, but when they saw the young Taoist priest in the sky, most of them stopped. A few of them who were not very smart tried to use their magic weapons but were kicked down by their companions.

"If you want to reincarnate soon, don't drag us along. That's the Yuanying old monster from Huanyun Valley!"

As soon as the Xuanmo Sect cultivator finished saying this, a hole was smashed through his head, red and white blood flew everywhere, and then he fell dead to the ground.

"What's so weird about old or not is really ugly."

Lu Cheng retracted his finger, but the pressure of life and death made the Xuanmo Sect monks present even more silent.

This also made Jiang Ji doubt whether he had come to the wrong place. This Taoist sect, Huanyun Valley, seemed to be no more gentle than the Xuanmo Sect.

"You killed my Xuanmo Sect's disciples in front of the two of us? Senior, you are too disrespectful to our sect."

At this moment, several streams of gray-black smoke were flying in front of Lu Cheng, and then gathered together, suddenly transforming into a Taoist in black with a pale face.

At the same time, an extremely condensed murderous intent fell on Lu Cheng from behind.

Attack from both sides and surround them.

The new Yuanying Zhenjun of Xuanmo Sect, Wei Qing, and the one hiding in the dark, it is not known whether it is Xie Lan or Kuang Yun, but it is definitely not Xuan Mei and Chi Kui that Lu Cheng had seen before.

Just like Lu Cheng used the sixth-level elixir from the treasury of Huanyun Valley sect to allow Song Sulan to start refining elixirs to increase magic power.

At this time, the killing calamity of heaven and earth has arrived, and all the cultivation sects in the world have begun to allocate sect resources in a more relaxed manner. After all, in this situation, it would be foolish to continue to hold on to wealth and goods. Therefore, these years are also the time when the talents in the cultivation world are enthusiastically promoted.

Wei Qing called Lu Cheng "senior" because he was promoted to the Nascent Soul stage, and even had to wait until Taoist Tiexiao passed the tribulation. He was dressed in a black Taoist robe and had a slender body but a baby face. His eyes were azure blue, like ice and stone, which was obviously a strange phenomenon caused by practicing some kind of magic.

With his sword heart clear, Lu Cheng could almost sense the murderous intent that was about to turn into reality in his seemingly calm state. Although he was a newly promoted Nascent Soul cultivator, he obviously had great confidence in his magical powers. Of course, it was also possible that his brain was damaged by practicing magic, and his mind was disordered and unclear.

"You think it's a great opportunity to fight two against one. Do you want to prove that you are stronger than Chi Kui so much?"

(End of this chapter)