Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 404: The Composition of Power, Act with Caution
Xuantian Pavilion's eaves are like a forest, and the pavilions are filled with spiritual mist, but this magnificent scene has nothing to do with Chu Yibai. She tightened the yellowed Taoist book in her arms, and the cuffs of her blue cloth robe were worn white.

When two young Taoist priests with black-patterned cloud sleeves blocked the way, Chu Yibai subconsciously took a half step back and bowed:
"Blessed be the Heavenly Venerable, greetings to Junior Brothers Lu and Zhou."

After saying that, Chu Yibai wanted to change direction and bypass the two people.

However, he was stopped by Junior Brother Lu.

"Wait a minute. Is this Senior Sister Chu Yibai?"

"It's me, what do you want from me, Junior Brother?"

Chu Yibai was a little stunned. She was still holding the Taoist book in her arms. She couldn't understand what Junior Brother Lu, who had become very famous recently, wanted to talk to her about.

"It's like this. Following the order of Taoist Master Yu Ding, Junior Brother will go to Mulongling to guard it for 20 years. Mulongling is the border between the two tribes, and it is dangerous and full of war. I wonder if Senior Sister is willing to go and lend a helping hand to Junior Brother?"

Chu Yibai was stunned when he heard this, and the Taoist book in his arms fell to the ground.

Half an hour later, watching Chu Yibai leave with two boxes of Earth Fire Mysterious Crystals with a flushed face, Zhou Zijing asked Lu Cheng in confusion:
"Brother Lu, this Sister Chu is from a poor family. Her magic power, magic tools, and even her cultivation of the Six-Combination Star Map are not as good as Sister Xu Bingyun's. Why did you give her two boxes of Earth Fire Mysterious Crystals first and let her buy magic tools and spells, but you didn't accept Sister Xu Bingyun?"

This Chu Yibai was from a poor family. She relied on her talent in cultivation to be admitted to Xuantian Pavilion, but then she was no longer able to do so... Her talent was limited, and she was surrounded by young cultivators who were better qualified, had better family backgrounds, and were also very hardworking in cultivation.

When everyone's qualifications are similar, family background becomes the decisive factor.

The Chu family wanted to live in Xuandu City, and they had already done their best to pay the tuition fees, so naturally they had no more energy left for Chu Yibai to practice.
On weekdays, he had no spiritual incense to calm his mind, no elixirs to help him cultivate his magic power, no decent gifts for the Taoist master's birthday, and he didn't even have a few decent magic tools on him.

Although Chu Yibai had practiced Taoism for many years earlier than Xu Bingyun, he would definitely not be a match if they really started fighting:
Most cultivators do not have magical instruments or talismans, and they cannot even maintain their combat power at their own level with just magic.

"Because the patrol team stationed at Mulong Ridge can have seven to twelve people, patrolling is not a war, the more people the better, so I only plan to take six people, a total of seven people who can advance or retreat. Yan Xiao plus two guards, their clan's Fire God Strategy is extremely restrained against the Muling clan, and the three of them form a formation and join forces, which is barely enough to deal with the Jindan realm Muling, so now the art of Yi Suan is the most important. Calculate good and bad luck in order to avoid risks, but the way of Yi Suan is very laborious. Do you think Xu Bingyun, who comes from a good family, is more attentive, or this Chu Yibai is more attentive?"

There is another trick here that Lu Cheng did not mention: If you want to gain a person's loyalty, you have to reward her beyond her self-awareness.

There is no immortal power in the secular dynasty, and great power cannot be attributed to itself.

Secular kings buy their subjects’ loyalty by giving them wealth and power beyond their self-perception, and by collecting the world’s wealth, they form interest groups and then work together to suppress the world.

This is what is called: "Sharing the world with the scholar-officials."

If the king of a certain generation is personally very capable, then his subjects will have a hard life, because he does not need to buy their loyalty. If they are disloyal, he will depose and kill them and re-select talents from the people. This is the case for most of the founding emperors of various dynasties.

Giving a person wealth and power beyond his self-perception can buy loyalty. From one to ten, from ten to a hundred, it expands and forms a huge network and interest group. When it develops to a certain level, it can compete for the world.

The human heart is also the Tao.

Lu Cheng did not understand these things when he was in the mortal world. Only after his incarnation ascended to the spiritual world and he read countless Taoist books in Xuantian Pavilion did he gradually understand the principles. Just now, he was also applying Taoist methods on himself.

Chu Yibai is just one of the carriers of the spell. Regardless of success or failure, there will be feedback, which will allow Lu Cheng to think and understand.

The seven-man patrol team includes Lu Cheng, Zhou Zijing, Chu Yibai, Yan Xiao and his two guards, Huo Jue and Huo Lie.

After arriving at Mudu Tianmuwei, it is necessary to hire another Tianmuwei monk who is familiar with the local area and has rich experience. Otherwise, even if his cultivation level is high, he may die inexplicably if he is not familiar with Mulongling.

Half a month later, at the agreed gathering place in Xuandu City.

When Lu Cheng arrived, Zhou Zijing, Chu Yibai, Yan Xiao and the two red-haired men and women following behind him were all there.

"Everyone is here, let's go."

Lu Cheng didn't hesitate at all. He gave an order and all the practitioners present immediately headed for a nearby teleportation array.

In order to control the world, Taiqing Mountain has set up teleportation formations at every important node in the sect's sphere of influence, so that places hundreds of thousands of miles away can be reached in an instant.

Of course, for the sake of the sect’s safety, even though direct teleportation is possible, some transit nodes are still deliberately designed. This is to prevent the teleportation formation from being controlled by hostile sects, which would lead to a large number of monks from hostile sects directly attacking Xuandu City.

"Please stop, everyone. Please show us your teleportation tokens."

At the entrance of the teleportation hall, the guard held a spear and asked questions.

After Lu Cheng took out his identity token, he took out Taoist Master Yu Ding's teleportation token, and then everyone stood in the teleportation array in groups of three or four.

Accompanied by a flash of white light, when they opened their eyes again, they were already a million miles away. Zhou Zijing and Chu Yibai, whose spiritual awareness was not strong enough, felt a little dizzy.

This is an ancient stone hall. After Lu Cheng's identity token and teleportation token were inspected again, the monks stationed here continued to teleport everyone.

"It seems that setting up the transfer node is also intended to protect the lower-level monks. A teleportation array that travels too far in a short time may cause serious harm to the lower-level monks even if it releases a tiny amount of energy."

The second teleportation sent all the cultivators directly to Mudu on the border.

Walking out of the stone hall, there is blue sky and white clouds outside, and bustling crowds of people. Although Mudu is a border city, Taiqing Mountain is one of the nine supreme sects of the human race, and its status is transcendent and stable. Even such a border city has a large population and a prosperous economy.

"There is no teleportation array from here to Tianmuwei. We came here very early. We will rest for seven days to learn about the local customs, and then go to Tianmuwei. We will travel back and forth between these two places for the next twenty years."

After the cultivators left the teleportation hall, a group of young men and women came to greet them enthusiastically yet respectfully.

"Is this your first time in Mudu? I, Mei Yuhan, am willing to serve as your guide for you. I will only charge you ten spirit gold coins per day." A very beautiful woman immediately stepped forward, smiling sweetly, and every move she made seemed to be carefully planned.

"Please hire me, all the seniors. I only want eight!"

Spirit gold is a unit of measurement below low-grade spirit stones. Of course, the spirit gold in the spirit world is actually equivalent to low-grade spirit stones or even medium-grade spirit stones in the lower realm. It is completely sufficient to assist low-level cultivators in their cultivation. It is just unnecessary in the spiritual environment of the spirit world.

"It's you who leads the way."

"Yes, senior." Mei Yuhan bowed, his demeanor pleasing to the eye.

"I wonder where you want to go, senior? Mudu has a prosperous economy and has everything..." Her words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but it also seemed to be just Lu Cheng's illusion.

"Where can I hire retired warriors from the Tianmu Guard?" Lu Cheng didn't want to beat around the bush and asked directly.

"Golden Fire Tower, that is a restaurant opened by retired warriors from the Tianmu Guard. Although the dishes are not very good, the ingredients are affordable and there are many warriors who gather there."

Mei Yuhan replied after a brief thought.

"Okay, let's go there."

"Golden Fire Building? Both gold and fire restrain wood. It's no wonder that a restaurant opened by a retired warrior from the Tianmu Guard would have such a name. It's quite impressive." In the Golden Fire Building in Mudu, there was no drama of Lu Cheng discovering a decadent retired warrior and using various means to stimulate him to rekindle his fighting spirit and bow down to him.

After Lu Cheng arrived at the Jinhuo Tower and explained his purpose, quite a few retired cultivators were willing to be hired. Among them, a cultivator who was quite old, had the highest magical power and demanded the highest price was named Zhuang An. It was said that he was a cultivator who had failed in his practice of opening up the golden elixir.

The income of Tianmuwei is not low, but for cultivators, if they just spend money blindly, it will be a bottomless pit for everyone, especially for those like Zhuang An who are trying to break through to the Golden Core stage. Few of them do not borrow money, and once they fail to break through, they will often owe spirit stones that are difficult to repay in their lifetime.

Seven days later, Lu Cheng, Zhou Zijing, Chu Yibai, Zhuang An, Yan Xiao and his two guards, Huo Jue and Huo Lie, a total of seven people left Mudu and went to Tianmuwei to accept the garrison patrol mission.

"Wood Dragon Ridge is densely forested and filled with miasma, so when patrolling there you must at least bring some detoxification pills. Sometimes we will encounter patrolling monks from the Wood Spirit Tribe. Don't be nervous and don't attack them. They usually won't attack us either."

"usually?"

"Sometimes we have bad luck and happen to encounter the Wood Spirits who have lost important spiritual medicines or spiritual woods. They are sure that it was stolen by humans, but they are not sure which humans stole them. They will attack the patrols. Although they are also in the Purple Mansion Realm, their mana and spells have been improved by the Wood Spirits in the Wood Dragon Ridge, making them quite difficult to deal with."

Zhuang An is already very old, and his only wish now is to pay back the spirit stones he borrowed before he dies, so as not to bring harm to his descendants. Not only will it not be of any help to their path, but it will become a huge burden to the future generations.

In addition, Lu Cheng paid generous commissions, so he had nothing to hide and told everyone truthfully about his experiences.

"You are cultivators from Xuantian Pavilion, and you were sent here by a Taoist master? That's incredible. My Taiqing Sect has always been known for its Taoist theories. But when a Taoist master thinks that you should practice dynamic exercises, it often means that he recognizes your static exercises and believes that you have the potential to go further."

Following Zhuang An's words, Zhou Zijing and Yan Xiao looked more towards Lu Cheng, but Zhuang An didn't need to say much about this.

Taoist Master Yu Ding has already promised that as long as Lu Cheng stays here for twenty years, he will be able to obtain a top-grade elixir to repair his physical body.

He did not hide his importance even when he was in Xuantian Pavilion.

“The most dangerous things in Wood Dragon Ridge are the Wood Spirit patrols. Once they attack, they are extremely fierce and ruthless, leaving no room for maneuver.

Secondly, there are the monsters in the forest. The Wood Spirits can live in peace with them, but we can't. Sometimes the patrol routes arranged by the higher-ups will pass through the territories of some monsters in the forest. We should avoid them if we can, and kill them if we can't. The monsters in Mulong Ridge are quite united because of the Wood Spirits. The more blood of the monsters on our hands, the greater the possibility of being attacked... But we can return to Mudu and use secret methods to wash away the blood evil on our bodies."

The deeper you go into Mulong Ridge, the more strange and dangerous you will encounter than outside.

For some unknown reason, when they entered the forest for the first time, not long after, Lu Cheng and others not only could not project their spiritual thoughts too far, but also fog and illusions rose up all around them, making them lose their way.

“How would you respond if you were faced with such a situation?”

Zhuang An seemed to suddenly become interested in testing everyone. He did not give the answer immediately, but asked this question.

"When flying high in the sky, no matter how strong the fog is, it still requires the cooperation of the forest, otherwise there will be no such confusing effect. As long as you reach high altitude and get rid of the fog, there is no reason why you can't find the direction." Zhou Zijing said.

"That makes sense, but there are many monsters in the forest. They can see much farther than us in the fog. If you fly high up without the cover of the trees, you will be attacked a lot. It is difficult for ordinary Purple Mansion Realm cultivators to retreat safely outside the mountain in such a situation."

"Start a big fire and use fire to attack wood. The dilemma will be solved. My clan also has the method of fire escape in the fire." Yan Xiao replied.

"Haha, if you can light a forest fire, this is indeed a trick, but..." As he said this, Taoist Zhuang An raised his hand and pointed to the trees beside him, and continued:
"The Wood Spirits have been here for a long time. They are more familiar with the ways of growing water and wood than you are. Even if you can forcibly light a certain flame, it will not burn too big, and will be even more hostile to the monsters, leading to crazy attacks."

"Then use the method of Yi Suan to find a way to survive?"

Chu Yibai asked this. This was the method she was best at, so this was the method she naturally thought of.

"The way of Yi Suan is profound and subtle. Anyway, I have never seen a few people who can tell the exact number in my life. Moreover, at a critical moment of life and death, how can you have so much time to calmly make a divination?"

Zhuang An waited and waited, but Lu Cheng didn't speak.

After a while, the old Taoist couldn't help but ask, "Does Lu Shangxiu have any good ideas?"

"Mr. Zhuang, my choice is not much different from theirs. If you want to know the secret, please tell me directly."

"Hehe, actually the method is very simple." As he spoke, Zhuang An took out a compass-like magical tool.

"This is a demon-locating disk that is a specialty of Mudu. It doesn't have any other functions, but it is quite accurate in determining the direction in Mulong Ridge and sensing the demonic energy of demon beasts. You must go to Mudu to buy one after you return. If you use my name to buy it at the Liu Family Old Store, you can get a discount."

As Zhuang An finished speaking, the bronze compass in his hand began to glow. In an instant, dozens of green runes appeared on the compass.

"How could that be? We shouldn't have gone deep into Jueming Ridge yet."

Seeing the Demon-Snatching Plate react, Zhuang An was a little skeptical at first, so he pointed with a magic formula:
"Distinguish yin and yang on the demon-determining plate." The old man held the magic weapon in his withered palm. As he cast the spell, the green light became stronger, and vine-like light patterns climbed along his wrist with bulging blue veins.
Boom!

A moment later, an ancient tree on the left suddenly exploded into a cloud of wood chips. Three vine whips came through the air, with barbs on the tips, aiming straight at Yan Xiao's throat.

"Form a formation!" Upon seeing this, Lu Cheng transmitted his thoughts and at the same time a scroll of five elements flew out of his sleeves and turned into armor to protect his body.

It was the defensive magic weapon that Lu Cheng had purchased over the years. This dragon poison body was also the powerful foundation for his dual cultivation of magic and body. Only when a physical cultivator wore armor could he exert his strongest combat power. Many Nascent Soul physical cultivators in the mortal world did not like to wear armor, purely because the sixth-level Nascent Soul armor in the mortal world was too rare. Using too low-level armor would suppress one's own combat power.

"Zhen San Li Qi!" Yan Xiao put his palms together, and three feet of flames rose around him. Huo Jue and Huo Lie were a pair of siblings. At this moment, they pressed down on his shoulders from left and right and poured their magic power into him. Three streams of true fire actually condensed into a red phoenix in mid-air. With a long cry, the flames spread and collided with the whips from all around.

The smell of burning mixed with an extremely pungent smell spread in the fog.

The "Fire God Strategy" practiced by Yanxiao, Huojue and Huolie restrains the Wood Element, so the spells they use are both offensive and defensive.

People like Lu Cheng, Zhou Zijing, Chu Yibai, and Zhuang An all used their defensive weapons and armor as soon as possible, making protecting themselves their top priority.

Zheng!
The sword rang like a dragon, and after a pearl floated on his shoulder, Zhou Zijing's cloud-patterned sword had already been unsheathed. As the sword flashed, three bowl-thick vines were cut at the roots. Mucus splashed on the rocky ground, corroding holes.

"This kind of evil spirit, this kind of sword feeling, vines are not the main body!" Zhou Zijing's pupils shrank, he held the sword horizontally in front of him and retreated, watching the new vines sprouting from the broken end at a speed visible to the naked eye, and attacked again.

Lu Cheng suddenly closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them again, there was a flickering light in his eyes that penetrated the layers of fog. He saw a figure covered with green gauze standing vaguely among the branches of the ancient trees in the southeast, with a jade flute in his hand and playing it against his lips.

"The wind rises in the Xun position!" Lu Cheng put his fingers together like swords, pointing in the direction of the mysterious man.

Chu Yibai seemed to have a sudden inspiration at this moment. He unfolded his own natal magic weapon, the Liuhe Star Map, bit his fingertips and made a heavy stroke on the "Tianrui" position on the star map. The originally stagnant mist there suddenly surged like waves, and turned into a strong wind and rushed to the southeast along the guidance.

The figure in green gauze swayed slightly, and the first note of the jade flute was out of tune. The originally rhythmic fog array was torn apart by this noise.

“This method is not from a wood spirit or a demon beast, but from a human cultivator. We have encountered a cultivator who stole the treasures of the wood spirit clan!
Be careful, these guys have a lot of Heavenly Thunder Seeds and high-level spells on them!"

In order to avoid conflicts between the two tribes, the number of cultivators patrolling on the border of Mulong Ridge is capped at the Purple Mansion Realm. However, those robbery cultivators who are eyeing the spiritual medicines and spiritual trees of the Muling Tribe will not care about this invisible tacit understanding. Many robbery cultivators lingering here are at the Jindan Realm. In previous years, when encountering such people, the cultivators of the Tianmuwei would choose to retreat. After all, they were not here to steal the Tianmuwei's property.

But this time the opponent took the initiative to launch a sneak attack, probably with the intention of killing people and stealing treasures in the wilderness. However, he never expected that he hit a wall. The Taoist of Xuantian Pavilion may not have as much experience in combat as Tianmuwei, but his Taoist methods and magic weapons and talismans are far superior.

(End of this chapter)