Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 444: The Blood River Soldiers Choose Their Master, and the Military Tokens Suppress the Mountains and Rivers
The morning light is dim and the mist is like gauze.

Lu Cheng rode on the clouds and headed towards Fulong Abyss. This was where Taiqing Sect raised Taoist soldiers. It was located in the northeast corner of the sect. Evil spirits surged at the bottom of the abyss all year round. It was rumored that a true dragon saint fell here in ancient times, and the dragon blood soaked the earth veins, thus giving birth to many ferocious creatures.

"Senior Brother Lu!" Duan Tianyan came walking on the clouds in a red robe, followed by several young men from aristocratic families. They all saluted when they saw Lu Cheng.

The Duan family has a high status among the aristocratic families. Knowing that Lu Cheng was going to Fulongyuan to select Taoist soldiers today, Duan Tianyan called his friends along. They also had their own connections, and if they joined forces, they could help Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng and they all returned the gifts without being arrogant.

Duan Tianyan felt even more proud when he saw this. He said with a smile, "The Taoist barracks have been opened. The 'Mysterious Water and Blue Scale Guards' of the Jiaolong lineage are still in need of a leader. These soldiers are fierce and just suit my methods."

Lu Cheng nodded upon hearing this, and followed everyone in flying towards Fulongyuan in the northeast corner of Taiqing Sect.

The cold pool at the bottom of the abyss is a thousand feet deep, the water is as black as ink, and a black shadow a hundred feet long can be vaguely seen cruising under the pool, with scales and claws occasionally appearing, stirring up the turbulent undercurrent.

There are several space formations arranged within this river. It looks like just a river, but there are probably several small and medium-sized secret worlds sealed inside. This is also the sect's preferential treatment for the Taoist soldiers.

Dao soldiers can only cultivate special mental methods and find it difficult to achieve Dao, but what they get in return is the protection of their clan by powerful forces.

The one guarding the Taoist barracks was an elder who had reached the Divine Transformation Realm from Mount Taiqing. Upon seeing Lu Cheng arriving with the talisman, the grey-robed Taoist priest flicked his sleeves and unfolded a scroll of animal skin atlas, on which appeared dozens of phantoms of dragons, with scales of different colors and sharp horns and claws.

"At present, the mature dragon Taoist soldiers are divided into three categories." The gray-robed old Taoist said in a deep voice: "One is the red dragon, which is good at charging with fire; one is the black dragon, which is proficient in the netherworld and trickery; and one is the green-scaled black dragon, which can create a killing situation with wind and rain. Guard Lu can choose one of them."

At this moment, among the friends Duan Tianyan brought with him, a young man in a yellow robe suddenly walked out and said:

"Grandpa Qin, Fei'er is here to see you. We haven't seen each other for many years. My father asked me to bring you a few jars of peach wine. I wonder if you like it."

The young man named Sun Fei was handsome, as beautiful as a pearl and jade. His eyebrows and eyes were just like a fairy in a painting. At this moment, he was tugging at the sleeve of the elder from Mount Taiqing and calling him "grandpa". Even a heart of stone would soften a little.

Elder Qin ignored Sun Fei and just smiled at Lu Cheng:
"Lu Zhenshou's military token is still empty. There are many weapons and armors here. You can take your time to select. As long as there are no more than 19 generals in the Nascent Soul Realm and no more than 5,000 Taoist soldiers under their command, it will be fine."

Who is Lu Cheng? He is an old monster who has been practicing in the lower world for nearly a thousand years. Even a single eyelash is blank when it is plucked out. He is very cunning.

Even though they are at the same Nascent Soul stage, some people have made great progress in their cultivation and may even have the hope of becoming a spirit or returning to the void in the future; while some people have made superficial progress and the Nascent Soul stage is already the limit. This is true for cultivators and the same goes for Taoist soldiers.

If Sun Fei had not come forward, Elder Qin would have selected a group of Taoist soldiers for himself fairly and impartially. He is giving himself a little face now. If anyone comes to Fulongyuan in the future, they can only choose those left by Lu Cheng.

"Thank you, Elder Qin."

Seeing that Lu Cheng understood what he meant, Elder Qin happily took the wine gourd and returned to the cave to drink his peach blossom wine, giving Lu Cheng enough time to choose.

"Sun Fei from Lingxiao Mountain, I have met Lu Zhenchuan."

The bright-jade-like young man saluted like this and at the same time winked at Duan Tianyan, indicating that he had not brought shame to his brother.

"Thank you, Junior Brother Sun."

Most families in the mortal world like to use generation names, but that is because they have many descendants.

In the aristocratic families of the earthly immortal world, both parents are cultivators at the Nascent Soul or Transformation God realms, and have been together for a thousand years, so having three or five offspring is considered a lot. On the one hand, they are doted on, and on the other hand, there is no need to use generation names.

Sun Fei's magical powers have reached the Golden Core Realm. His magical powers are powerful but his behavior is frivolous. I wonder how much effort and treasures his parents have spent on his Taoist foundation.

But Lu Cheng still remembered the favor because he had received benefits from others. It was not because he valued these Taoist soldiers, but because he valued his own reputation.

Since you have plenty of time, take your time to choose.

After bidding farewell to Duan Tianyan, Sun Fei and the others, Lu Cheng performed a water-avoiding technique and transformed into a beam of light and dived into the water.

The river is deep and the water is as black as ink.

Lu Cheng used his hand gestures to separate the undercurrent and dived into the depths of Fulongyuan alone. The white jade military talisman on his sleeve glowed faintly, drawing a trail in the dark water.

There were dragons swimming around in all directions. Some of them saw Lu Cheng and swam over to show their iron-like bodies and scales.

Some of them fled far away, not wanting to fight for the human monks and interrupt their quiet and comfortable lives.

Constantly recording the magic power and blood purity of these Jiaolong Taoist soldiers.

As time went by, day and night passed, and when the water pressure became heavier, I suddenly felt the water flow on the left side move abnormally.

Lu Cheng twisted his fingers into a seal, his eyes glowed with golden light, and he saw a scarlet crack in the inky water curtain - it was a tributary of the blood river hidden behind the space formation.

The river water was as thick as pulp, and a fishy smell hit me in the face. Black shadows with reflective scales could be vaguely seen swimming in it.

"Hmm? Is there an unexpected surprise?" Lu Cheng raised his lips slightly, and his body turned into the blood river like a swimming fish. As soon as he entered, three blood dragons over ten feet long surrounded him.

These monsters had triangular heads, spines like swords, and a murderous aura that could be seen with the naked eye. The blood dragon in the lead suddenly stood up, and blood-colored long spears condensed around its body, and it spoke in human language:

"Human cultivator, you are seeking death by trespassing into the Blood River Realm?"

Lu Cheng did not answer, but showed his military talisman. The spiritual light on the talisman suddenly became brighter, making the blood dragon's scales glow with red gold.

The three dragons suddenly roared in pain, but during their struggle they revealed fluctuations of magical power comparable to that of a mid-Nascent Soul stage.

"What a vicious temperament! The Taoist method of raising soldiers is fierce, but he didn't surrender immediately under the military order and wanted to struggle?" Lu Cheng was secretly shocked.

The blood dragon's roar reverberated in the thick blood river, stirring up layers of undercurrents.

The talisman between Lu Cheng's fingers shone even brighter, and the cloud patterns spread out like dozens of fine steel chains, wrapping around the spines and horns of the three blood dragons, causing dazzling sparks to burst out between their scales.

"Master of Arms, why don't you bow your head?"

Lu Cheng let out a low shout, and a circle of khaki light suddenly appeared on his body.

Instantly, his magic power surged, causing the blood dragon leader's fangs to be exposed on the military talisman. However, he gradually curled up his body under the suppression of the cloud pattern chains, and finally lowered his head unwillingly and was pulled into the military talisman.

At this moment, the entire blood river suddenly boiled - hundreds of scarlet figures jumped out from the cracks in the riverbed. They were actually strange fish with wings on their ribs and holding steel forks. Each of them had magical powers that were not inferior to those of a golden elixir!
"Sure enough, there are elite troops hidden." Seeing this, Lu Cheng was not surprised but happy.

A circle of ochre-colored spiritual light suddenly appeared on his body and was injected into the military talisman in his hand. Under the blazing white light, hundreds of cloud-patterned chains flew out and circled around those bloody strange fish. This was Lu Cheng's use of the magic power of the God of Zhenyue.

The seventh-level stone monster that was captured in the South China Sea that year was enlightened by Lu Cheng and became his own guardian general. Its magical power was naturally accumulated after being buried deep underground for countless tens of thousands of years. It was moderate and peaceful, yet lacked exquisiteness.

During these years, Lu Cheng searched for a Spirit Taming Sutra from the human world, which was created by the supreme elder of a sect who was good at taming beasts.

When this supreme elder was practicing Taoism in his early years, he was betrayed by a close disciple and nearly died. He was saved by the spirit beast he had raised since childhood.

From then on, he believed that humans were inferior to animals, so he created this Spirit Control Sutra, which allows the master and servant to borrow magic power from each other.

This person can be said to be extremely talented. Such extraordinary achievements have never been seen in the immortal world or the spiritual world of Lu Cheng. It is possible that such a person exists, but at least he is not in the collection of Taiqing Sect.

The amazing thing about the Yuling Sutra is that it allows one to borrow magical powers from other realms. Apparently, this senior monk was traumatized by the conspiracy committed by his former disciple.

Relying on the magical power of the incarnation and the Taiqing military talisman in his hand to suppress the monsters in the area, Lu Cheng pulled hundreds of strange fish into his military talisman and then continued to dive.

'This is the hinterland of the Taiqing Sect. With just this kind of magical power, the Blood River Demon Soldiers cannot hide. In other words, even if the sect's top leaders know about this, I don't know if they can be selected as Taoist soldiers. They are a bit ugly, but their magical power is really good.'

The potential of these Blood River Taoist soldiers may not be higher than that of the Jiaolong Taoist soldiers in the Fulongyuan River. Most of them are still inferior.

The bloodline of dragon, phoenix and unicorn may be vulgar and their numbers may be large, but their power is real. Just take the dragon as an example. They are present in both the mortal world and the immortal world. As long as you have a trace of dragon blood, you will have extraordinary power. The true dragon clan also accepts everyone and bestows their bloodline on them all.

But the Taoist soldiers grow slowly, while Lu Cheng himself is brave and diligent. The Taoist soldiers bestowed by the sect should be as powerful as possible now, and who cares about their potential in hundreds or thousands of years.

The river of blood was as thick as pulp and had a pungent fishy smell.

Lu Cheng spread out his magic power around his body to repel them. He held the Taiqing Military Talisman in his hand, and was surrounded by hundreds of newly recruited Blood River Soldiers. They were like a small army rampaging in the dark red waters.

Those strange fish with wings growing on their ribs held steel forks in their hands and had fierce gleams in their eyes, but they had to obey orders under the suppression of the military orders.

"How many blood river monster soldiers are there in the depths of the Fulongyuan blood river? The Taiqing Sect has been raising these soldiers for thousands of years, and today they are my lucky ones." Lu Cheng raised the corner of his mouth slightly, with golden light flashing in his eyes, and kept scanning the surroundings.

He knew that such a dangerous place must be guarded by more powerful demons, so he secretly made hand gestures, ready to deal with any emergency at any time.

Sure enough, just as he continued to explore the core area of ​​the Blood River, three powerful auras suddenly locked onto him.

The water in the blood river suddenly boiled, as if it was separated by an invisible force, revealing three channels.

From three directions, a strong demonic energy rushed in, so powerful that the Blood River soldiers around Lucheng became restless. In front of them, a red shadow floated like smoke and fog. The demon had red hair like a waterfall, a scale-like dress that fitted her body, and a hot body that was almost naked. Every step she took seemed to be full of charm. She spread her hands, her long hair fell, revealing a beautiful and charming snow-white face, and her red lips opened slightly:
"What a handsome little Taoist priest, why are you here in this bottomless blood river instead of cultivating yourself in the mountains?"

The blood wave exploded on the left, and a demon with a sheep's head and bat wings stood in the air. It was more than ten feet tall, with knotty muscles, holding a pair of giant hammers wrapped in purple lightning, and the sound was like thunder:
"Human cultivators, anyone who trespasses into the Blood River Realm will be killed!"

On the right side, a bat-man-demon with white bones slowly emerged. It had no flesh on its body, but green ghost fire flickered in its eye sockets.

It held a bone banner in its hand, and when it waved it lightly, a green poisonous mist filled the air: "Why waste so much time talking... Kill him, I want his flesh and blood!"

Lu Cheng's pupils shrank slightly. The three demons in front of him were all at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and they were obviously not easy to deal with in this river of blood. The military talisman in his left hand shone brightly, and his right hand secretly grasped a stone.

"My three fellow Taoists, I am Lu Cheng from the Taiqing Sect. I have been ordered by the sect to come here to select Taoist soldiers. Please give me some convenience." Lu Cheng bowed, his tone neither humble nor arrogant.

"Hehehe..." The red-haired banshee covered her mouth and chuckled, but a hint of sternness flashed in her eyes: "Little Taoist priest, you are so arrogant. Since the Blood River Realm was established, it has never been under the jurisdiction of the Taiqing Sect. Since you are here today, why don't you stay and have fun with your sister?"

Before she finished her words, a sword light suddenly appeared beside her, and then it stabbed towards Lu Cheng like thousands of blood threads.

A strange black light was attached to the blood-line sword thread, and even the water of the blood river was corroded into wisps of green smoke wherever it passed.

Lu Cheng was well prepared. He threw the seemingly ordinary dirt and rocks in his hand into the air, which immediately burst into a thousand-foot-long yellow light.

"Taiqing suppresses demons, all evils retreat!" As Lu Cheng's spell was cast into the earth and rocks, they grew in the wind and turned into the size of a small mountain, pressing down with a bang. The blood-line sword threads were illuminated by the yellow light, and they immediately retracted as if struck by lightning.

"What kind of magic is this from the Taiqing Sect? The Demon-Suppressing Seal?" The red-haired banshee felt a surge of tremendous force coming at her, which she could not resist with her own magical powers. Her face changed and she quickly retreated.

At the same time, the sheep-headed, bat-winged demon general raised his two hammers and activated the magic thunder.

"Death!"

Boom!

Two purple lightning pillars descended from the sky high above and struck Lucheng directly.

Lu Cheng did not use any magic weapon to perform Taoist magic, but his body shape changed gracefully, as if he was riding the wind. With just a few turns, he avoided these extremely powerful and violent magic thunders, which made the demon general pause and couldn't believe it.

"You can refine this kind of magic thunder to strike your fellow tribesmen, but why are you playing with magic lightning and Yin thunder in front of me? I have practiced the Fifteen Changes of Xuantian and mastered five kinds of magic thunder. I dare not say that I know all the changes, but it should be enough for you to practice for another thousand years."

"Blood River Taoist soldiers, form a formation!" Lu Cheng gave an order, and hundreds of Strange Fish Taoist soldiers around him immediately formed the Taiqing Demon Subduing Formation, with steel forks pointing to the center, forming a blood-colored light curtain.

At the same time, the three-headed blood dragon that he had previously subdued also rushed out from the military talisman, roaring and killing the sheep-headed demon general.

Seeing this, the Bat-Man Demon waved his wings behind him and shook the bone banner in his hand violently, and a large area of ​​pale green poisonous fog spread out. Wherever the poisonous fog passed, the blood river water made a hissing sound and was corroded into countless bubbles.

A few strange fish Taoist soldiers were accidentally infected by the blood-red light curtain, and their skin and flesh immediately festered and they fell down wailing.

Just let it kill. Anyway, those strange fish Taoist soldiers have not been included in the military roster yet, not counting the Taoist soldiers from Lu City. If they form a formation at this time, it will be enough for it to kill for a while.

The gorgeous and charming red-haired enchantress was chased by the ochre-colored hill, leaving her with no way to go up to the sky or down to the earth.

No matter how she chopped with her flying sword, no matter what spells she cast, they were all broken by the ochre-colored divine light.

"Why does this stone look like a magic weapon? Could it be a spiritual treasure?" Seeing Lu Cheng's powerful methods, a trace of fear flashed in the eyes of the red-haired banshee.

As she was flying, she suddenly opened her mouth and uttered a sound that penetrated the soul and made people feel excited.

Lu Cheng only felt a flash before his eyes, and it seemed as if he saw countless beautiful women dancing gracefully, and his ears were filled with soft and gentle words.

"Inner demon illusion?" Lu Cheng sneered in his heart. The soul in the Niwan Palace shook, and the mysterious power started to work, immediately breaking the illusion.

He has already overcome the calamity of his soul and inner demons, so what is this little illusion?
Then he pointed his sword, and dozens of cloud-patterned chains flew out of the military talisman, quickly entangling the demon girl. "Demon, you want to have fun with me, why don't you come in quickly!"

The witch was horrified to see her magic being broken in an instant. Her red hair danced wildly, transforming into countless blood snakes biting the chains while she retreated rapidly.

But those cloud-patterned chains were created by the Taiqing secret method, so how could they be easily broken? In the blink of an eye, they had surrounded her.

On the other side, the sheep-headed demon general danced his double hammers like the wind, fighting with the three-headed blood dragon.

Each of its hammers had the power to split mountains and rocks, and even carried the power of magic lightning and thunder. Although the blood dragon was ferocious, its scales were broken and blood was dripping. However, the blood dragon had strong vitality, and after being injured, it became even more violent and entangled the demon general tightly.

Seeing that the poison mist was ineffective, the Bat Demon retracted his bone banner and pulled out a bone sword from his ribs. The sword was pale white and engraved with strange runes.

It threw out the bone sword and chanted a spell. The bone sword instantly merged into the shadow and appeared behind Lu Cheng in a moment. The bone sword pierced the Taoist's back, and the blood curtain of the military formation was completely useless.

"Void magical power? It's interesting and has some accomplishments!" Lu Cheng seemed to have eyes on his back. He suddenly turned around, and formed a sword gesture with his fingers like swords. He held a talisman and pressed it on the spine of the bone sword.

Fast, accurate and ruthless, a dazzling white light shot out from the talisman and shone on the spine of the bone sword.

The demon immediately let out a shrill scream, because the bone magic sword actually began to melt. Under the connection of mind and magic power, it was also damaged.

The bat demon retreated hurriedly, but at the same time Lu Cheng had already shot out a five-colored sword light, which was his own natal flying sword, the Five Elements Flying Sword.

The main body was practicing in the Qingyu Dao Palace in Wanleihai and had already sent this sword over. Although Lu Cheng could not fully exert the power of the Five Elements Flying Sword at this time, it was still much more powerful than Teacher Chi Shenzi wielding the Sun God Fire Chain.

He doesn't need to refine spiritual treasures, the Five Elements Flying Sword is already at his full strength.

The cloud pattern chain spread out, and the red-haired banshee had been pulled into the Taiqing Soldier Talisman. The Five Elements Flying Sword spread the sword light, covering the bat demon, instantly restraining all its magical powers, and also rewinding it back.

The most valiant one was the sheep-headed demon general. He was not very strong when fighting three alone. Lu Cheng was pleased to see him and did not want to kill him, so he slowly approached him with the Strange Fish Taoist soldiers around him. Finally, the Blood River Taoist soldiers worked together and drew it into the Taiqing Military Talisman.

Three days later, on the bank of Fulongyuan, Elder Qin looked at Taoist Lu Cheng with a wry smile on his face. He was just an elder and steward of the sect. In front of a true disciple like Lu Cheng, he could only give advice.

"Does Guard Lu know the origin of these Blood River Demon Soldiers?"

"Appreciate further details."

Lu Cheng worked very hard for the past three days and three nights in the Blood River to gather 19 generals to guard 5,000 soldiers along the Blood River. Although it is a little excessive, it is not a large number and Elder Qin probably won't mind.

"Back then, Su Zhenchuan of the sect fought with a witch from the Ashura clan. They had some wins and some losses. Although Su Zhenchuan won one sword fight, the Ashura witch raised a blood sea flag and wanted to die with Su Zhenchuan. The two sides were deadlocked, and Su Zhenchuan had no choice but to bring the witch back to the sect. The two swore a blood oath to live and die together. Su Zhenchuan finally escaped, but the blood sea flag of the Ashura witch was left here. This is the origin of the blood river tributary under Fulongyuan."

“These Blood River monsters cannot live without blood. Although my Taiqing secret method is powerful, it cannot truly restrain the nature of the monsters. In the past, there were several true disciples who liked the magical powers and power of these Blood River monsters and chose them as their own Taoist soldiers. However, after a few years, these Blood River monsters will almost certainly retaliate, no matter how powerful the restrictions are.

Therefore, Lu Zhenchuan should change to another kind of Taoist soldier. The Red Dragon Taoist soldier is good. At least the sect has trained them for many years, so they are safe to use. "

Elder Qin was really trying to persuade them earnestly. Although he was a little secretive about the past events, he still made it clear what the disadvantages of the Blood River Demon Soldiers were:

These blood river monsters cannot live without blood, and they particularly like the blood of creatures with magical powers.

The reason why Fulongyuan can support them is that there are many Jiaolongs in Fulongyuan, and the dragon generals are also interested in training the younger ones. Each tribe takes turns to fight these blood river monster soldiers.

It not only reduced the number of Blood River Demon Soldiers, but also satisfied their bloodthirsty desires.

But after it was returned to the individual cultivators, the Taiqing Sect was a famous and upright sect. Unless there was a racial war, it would not allow its disciples to feed the monster soldiers with their true blood.

In this way, these Blood River Demon Soldiers can only eat the blood of pigs, cows, chickens and ducks from the mortal world. In this way, no matter how powerful the leader of the army is, the Blood River Demon Soldiers will not rebel for ten or twenty years, but they will eventually rebel one day.

Therefore, no true master of the Taiqing Sect can command the Blood River Demon Soldiers for more than a hundred years.

"That's interesting. Then please ask Elder Qin to register me."

Lu Cheng smiled when he heard this and said so.

"Ugh."

Elder Qin also knew that these true disciples were all chosen by heaven, and even if they appeared humble on the outside, they were extremely proud in their hearts. Knowing that Lu Cheng had made up his mind, he dared not persuade him anymore and signed the document.

But at the last moment, he couldn't help but say, "Once I press this seal, these Blood River Demon Soldiers will belong to you from now on. It will be impossible for you to exchange them in the future. Have you really thought it through?"

"Thank you for telling me the truth, Elder."

"Ah, you young people."

Finally, Lu Cheng went to Huangyun Mansion to take up his post with a blood-colored military talisman. He certainly didn't worry about the backlash from the Blood River Demon Soldiers. His main body had already cultivated his primordial spirit, and as an incarnation, as long as he accumulated enough magic power, it would not be difficult to break through the bottleneck.

As long as the Blood River Demon Soldiers are useful for a period of time, and you have refined your primordial spirit, no matter how the Demon Soldiers retaliate, what can they do to you?
(End of this chapter)