Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 577 Crystal Dragon Roars in Valley, Golden Locusts Dance, A Promise of Pill Fire Determines the Mystery (Seeking Rewards and Subscriptions!)

"Roar--!!!"

“Buzz——!!!”

Just as Lu Cheng, Ming Que, Ming He, and Tong Zhen were about to escape after snatching the storage magic treasure of the Chi Demon Clan's Mahayana general from mid-air, two roars filled with rage and greed came from the depths of the secluded mountains.

It was the two guardian beasts that had been attracted by the life force of the Nine Mystic Ganoderma and had been briefly frightened away by the chaotic battle between the Mahayana cultivators: the Fiend Spirit Crystal Dragon and the Bone-Eating Golden Locust Swarm!

These two beasts were not very intelligent, but they were extremely ferocious. They had been intimidated by the pressure and magic power of several Mahayana cultivators and dared not approach. Now, sensing that the aura of the powerful figures had disappeared and only Lu Cheng and his group remained (in their perception, the four people in front of them whose auras had been concealed were far less powerful than before), they were immediately attracted by the remaining aura of immortal herbs and the rich blood-fiend spiritual energy of this place, and rushed forward fearlessly!

The evil spirit crystal dragon is thousands of feet long, and its body is made of countless rhomboid Xuan Yin crystal stones. Every time it meanders and swims, it brings with it a bone-chilling cold current and a storm of evil energy. When it opens its mouth, it spews out Xuan Yin crystal evil breath that freezes the soul.

The Bone-Eating Golden Locusts transformed into a raging, dark golden cloud of insects, numbering in the hundreds of millions. The sound of their flapping wings merged into a chilling buzzing, devouring even the spiritual energy of heaven and earth wherever they passed, displaying astonishing ferocity.

Normally, such a dangerous and desolate place would be enough to make even a Nascent Soul cultivator flee in terror.

However, at this moment, in the eyes of Lu Cheng and his three companions who had just fought a great battle and killed Mahayana cultivators, these were nothing more than rare and precious treasures delivered to their doorstep!
"Hmph! Stubborn fool!" Daoist Minghe snorted coldly, and with a turn of his golden water flying sword, golden waves rose again, transforming into a huge vortex that directly swept towards the evil crystal dragon, with countless sword energies tearing and slicing its crystal armor.

Daoist Mingque then unleashed an array diagram, which expanded rapidly in the wind, instantly transforming into a thousand-foot-tall cloud that enveloped the Bone-Eating Golden Locusts. The array diagram contained the power of restrictions and formations, and together with the sword energy and Daoist techniques he continuously unleashed, it began to divide and refine the swarm of insects.

He had already put away the Taiyi Dividing Light Immortal Sword. With Mingque Daojun's current magical power, using this sword for a long time would greatly damage his divine sense and magical power. On the other hand, it was not worth using this sword to deal with such a vicious insect.

“Normally, it’s not easy to find these ferocious beasts. Fortunately, the ‘Mysterious Yin Crystal Core’ of this Crystal Dragon is a treasure for refining ice-type magic weapons, and the ‘Myriad Transformations Golden Essence’ and ‘Bone-Melting Poison Sac’ of the Bone-Eating Golden Locust are also rare items.” Lu Cheng’s tone was calm, as if he were taking inventory of his own warehouse.

Having just defeated four Mahayana cultivators—Chi Mo, Fei Ling, Hai Wang, and Wu Ya Dao Ren—there shouldn't be any force capable of gathering all four Mahayana cultivators here in the short term.

Since that's the case, it wouldn't hurt to collect a few more. The rare materials inside the Fiend Spirit Crystal Dragon and the Bone-Eating Golden Locust are only slightly inferior to the Nine Mysterious Mushroom.

Since Daoist Mingque and Daoist Minghe had already made their move, Daoist Tongzhen did not make another move. Instead, he stood with his hands behind his back, his divine sense spreading out to protect and support Daoist Mingque and Daoist Minghe.

"Evil beast! How dare you be so presumptuous!"

During the battle, Daoist Minghe roared. He raised his hands, and endless water elemental energy in the void instantly condensed, transforming into two ten-thousand-foot-long Xuanming True Water Heavenly Rivers, one on the left and one on the right, like angry dragons, to meet the Xuan Yin Shajing torrent and the bone-corroding golden locust swarm of the Shaling Crystal Dragon.

These two guardian beasts, perhaps having spent a long time together, suddenly merged during their battle, joining forces to break through Minghe Daojun's sword light entanglement and rushing towards him. Clearly, they sensed that Minghe Daojun's magic power was the weakest and wanted to defeat him one by one.

Although this was indeed an objective fact, being looked down upon by the two beasts still enraged Daoist Minghe. He unleashed the Xuanming True Water Heavenly River, which he had accumulated over many years, with all his might. This river was purely formed from magical power, and its power was magnificent and vast.

True water is extremely soft and cold. When the Milky Way and the torrent of evil crystals collide, they produce a deafening roar. The ice crystals shatter, the black water churns, and they erode and wear each other down.

The waters of the Milky Way crashed into the cloud of golden locusts, engulfing, freezing, and crushing countless golden locusts. However, the number of golden locusts was simply too great, and they kept rushing forward, even withstanding the impact of the true water. Their speed slowed down slightly, but they still quickly approached!

If these two ferocious beasts were to get close, Minghe Daojun, who is not a body cultivator, would indeed suffer some losses.

"What a vicious poisonous insect!" Daoist Mingque's eyes sharpened, and golden lightning beads rose from the array diagram he had summoned before the change of his hand seals.

Instead of directly commanding the thunder pearl to attack the locust swarm, he used a magic incantation to transform it into a sword technique, "Splitting light and shadow, fixing the void!"

Those golden lightning beads, refined into exquisite sword threads by Daoist Mingque with his powerful divine sense and magic, instantly wove together in front of the four of them into a crisscrossing sword net cage, just like the most intricate weaver.

The Thunder Sword Silk contained the sharpness of sword energy and the destructive power of thunder magic. When the Bone-Eating Golden Locust collided with the sword net, it was immediately shredded into large pieces by the sharp sword energy, emitting a piercing metallic scraping and cracking sound, and its forward momentum was forcibly stopped.

But the golden locusts, undeterred by death, continued to frantically gnaw at the sword threads, causing the lightning sword net to flicker and emit a humming sound as if it could not bear the weight.

But at that very moment, Lu Cheng drew his sword.

This person excels at the most critical moments in a duel, and his precision in sword fighting is unparalleled in the world.

In the previous battle with Wuyai Daoren, in order to ambush Chimo Zhanjiang, he reduced the actual power of the super-grade Dao technique Golden Rainbow Breaking Illusion Sword Art. Of course, the eighth-grade Five Elements and Blood Sea Twin Swords were indeed somewhat unable to cut Wuyai Daoren's exquisite magic treasures. But now he was using his full strength, and the sword light was fast, fierce and sharp, almost no less than that of a Mahayana cultivator.

In an instant, a golden rainbow of light, pure to the extreme, condensed to the extreme, and fast to the extreme, shot into the sky!

The sword's edge wasn't thick, yet it seemed to compress all the laws of sharpness, speed, and destruction in the world into it.

Fast! Indescribably fast! Transcending the boundaries of space and time!

Just a moment ago, the sword light was still on the tip of the sword in front of Lu Cheng.

The next moment!
"Pfft——!"

A dull thud, like a hot knife through thick ice, rang out!
That golden sword rainbow had already pierced through the massive head of the Fiend Spirit Crystal Dragon, which was made of ten-thousand-year-old Xuan Yin Fiend Crystal and was hard enough to withstand the bombardment of ordinary Mahayana magic treasures!
This evil spirit crystal dragon is hidden within the Xuanming True Water magic power of Daoist Minghe, serving both as a defense and as a way to accumulate power in preparation for a dragon leap attack.

Unexpectedly, Lu Cheng saw through his disguise with his Fiery Eyes of Truth. He gathered his magic power and was naturally lax in his defense. The invisible sword crossed the void and stabbed his vitals with unparalleled precision!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only the friction from cutting the hardest material with extreme sharpness!
As the sword flashed past, the enormous crystal dragon's movements suddenly froze, and the torrent of evil crystals it was about to unleash came to an abrupt halt.

At the core of its enormous head, a fist-sized, jet-black crystal core radiating a deep, eerie blue light, containing the essence of its life's Xuan Yin evil energy, was precisely located and swirled out by Jin Hong!
“Roar…woo…” The crystal dragon let out a low, mournful cry filled with confusion and fear, but the fierce light in its eyes quickly dimmed.

Its massive body, made of evil crystals, seemed to have been stripped of all its support, and starting from the pierced head, it shattered and collapsed inch by inch! It turned into a sky full of pitch-black ice crystal powder, falling down in a flurry.

The rampant Xuan Yin evil energy lost its core and quickly dissipated into the world.

One sword strike! With just one sword strike: fast, ruthless, light, agile, and accurate, the previously ferocious and powerful Fiend Spirit Crystal Dragon was already dead and its life extinguished!
This scene caused both Mingque Daojun, who was controlling the Thunder Sword Net to suppress the Bone-Eating Golden Locust swarm, and Minghe Daojun, who was fully activating the Xuanming True Water Heavenly River to fight against the Golden Locust swarm, to shrink their pupils and be secretly shocked!

Lu Cheng's knowledge is diverse, involving both physical cultivation and sword cultivation. The advanced cultivation techniques he has mastered include: Samadhi True Fire, the Three Flowers on the Top (Five Elements Heavenly Escape Step, Golden-Winged Roc Escape Technique, and Golden Crow Rainbow Transformation Technique), and Golden Rainbow Piercing the Sun.

Among them, the most powerful in a short burst is undoubtedly the Golden Rainbow Piercing the Sun Sword Technique. With a single strike, it can kill a Mahayana cultivator with the cultivation level of a Fusion Realm cultivator. It is sharp and terrifying!
Furthermore, while the Golden Rainbow Piercing the Sun technique is based on the Three Flowers on the Top and the Five Qi in the Chest, the short-term burning will not damage the cultivation of the Three Flowers on the Top and the Five Qi in the Chest. On the contrary, it has the effect of tempering, making it a wonderful method of using sword cultivation techniques to make up for one's cultivation level.

Most importantly, the Samadhi True Fire Divine Power can refine a cultivator's three treasures: essence, energy, and spirit. It can also melt the physical body, burn away dead flesh, and restore vitality. In short, as long as the essence, energy, and spirit are sufficient, even if the physical body is severely damaged, it can be refined and reforged.

Without this supernatural power, Lu Cheng would never have been able to master the Taoist Transformation and Ascension Technique. Huang Longzi stopped during his cultivation because he felt that the further he went, the more difficult and dangerous it became. He then turned to cultivating the Yellow Dragon Dharma Body, focusing solely on one aspect of the Taoist Transformation and Ascension Technique, attempting to cultivate it to its ultimate level.

If Lu Cheng hadn't mastered the Samadhi of his innate nature, and had instead forced himself to practice the Taoist Transformation and Ascension Techniques, he would have long since damaged his acupoints and died stiff and paralyzed.

However, among the three super-level Dao techniques, Lu Cheng always believed that the one with the strongest killing power and the greatest killing potential was the Top Three Flowers Divine Power.

The reason it's not showing up now is because Lu Cheng has never been pushed to the brink. By using the three escape techniques in combination with forty-four transformations to stall for time, and supplementing it with the Tongxuan Sword, after sacrificing forty-three lives, Lu Cheng himself doesn't know what level of cultivator he can kill, nor does he want to try. He only hopes that such a death match will never happen.

Because if things get to that point, it means that one's own life is also in grave danger.

"Unfortunately, my divination skills are too poor. Inner swordsmanship is one thing, but there's always an upper limit to outer swordsmanship. I can't cultivate the Profound Sword into a higher-level Dao technique. The greater the difference in realms, the slower the calculation becomes. If the difference in realms is too large, it's even impossible to calculate. Even after refining the True Blood of the Mysterious Turtle, my cultivation in this area has only improved to a limited extent..."

The most important aspect of divination is the requirement to step outside the situation, rather than getting caught up in the calamity. This is something I have always struggled to achieve, resulting in my divination skills advancing only to regress later. It's not that my cultivation has actually declined, but rather that I've become entangled in the calamity's energy, inevitably affecting my mental clarity and thus further hindering the effective use of my divination skills.

Normal cultivators practice divination in the hope of escaping tribulations, gaining an advantage at every step, and ultimately transcending the Three Realms and the Five Elements.

Lu Cheng's cultivation of divination techniques involves calculating how to kill people faster. With such a mindset, even with the assistance of the Xuan Turtle's true blood, it would be a miracle if he could make rapid progress in this area.

"Hiss-!"

Lu Cheng seized the opportunity and slashed down the Fiend Spirit Crystal Dragon with his sword, which seemed to have completely provoked the Bone-Eating Golden Locust swarm!

They charged, bit, and even twisted to try to escape, like boiling golden magma, their impact force surging!

Mingque Daojun's sword net was being gnawed at and was on the verge of collapse, while Minghe Daojun's Xuanming True Water Heavenly River was also breached by a large number of golden locusts!
However, the price of this ferocity was the rapid depletion and weakening of one's own demonic energy. "Quickly finish this battle!" came the voice of Tongzhen Daojun, who was watching from high above.

At this moment, he was surrounded by a clear light, his aura almost blending into the surrounding environment. His divine sense continued to spread, meticulously scanning every inch of space and every fluctuation of magical power within a radius of thousands of miles.

Tongzhen Daojun himself is skilled in hiding and concealment, so naturally he is also a master of this art of searching for those who are hiding and concealing themselves.

"Two auras are rapidly approaching."

"Leave it to me!" Lu Cheng took a deep breath, made a hand seal with his left hand, and chanted incantations. A vast, heavy aura, as if it could suppress all things in heaven and earth, suddenly spread out.

"Photography!"

With a low shout, a simple and profound golden light suddenly flew out from Lu Cheng's sleeve!

It was the Lu Cheng Nine Li Cauldron. This innate treasure did not appear, but its spiritual light spread out, and an invisible force field instantly enveloped the rampant Bone-Eating Golden Locusts!

Buzz buzz—!
The swarm of golden locusts seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall of bronze and iron, their momentum abruptly halted! That immense gravitational field was not merely a simple suppression, but also carried a powerful spatial suction force!

"Collect!" Lu Cheng pointed his sword, and the mouth of the Nine Li Cauldron in his sleeve opened wide. Inside the cauldron, a chaotic divine light swirled, emanating a chilling aura.

The swarm of golden locusts, imprisoned by the spiritual light of the Nine Li Cauldron, seemed to have encountered their natural enemy, and could no longer maintain their ferocious momentum. With desperate screams, they were as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand, transformed into torrents of gold, and were forcibly drawn away and devoured, surging wildly into the chaotic vortex at the mouth of the cauldron!
In the blink of an eye, the swarm of bone-eating golden locusts that blotted out the sky was completely wiped out! Not even a few stray locusts were left behind.

The world suddenly fell silent.

"The gains from this trip have far exceeded our expectations. Let's go, hurry back to the mountain gate!"

Mingque Daojun had just vaguely sensed that the sect leader had just unleashed an extremely powerful treasure.

But for the current leader of the Taiqing Sect, this was perfectly normal, so he didn't find it strange and said this.

“Good!” The other three all agreed.

This time, there were no surprises. A dazzling burst of light erupted, enveloping the four of them, tearing through space, and they vanished from the area in an instant.

A few breaths later, two Mahayana cultivators arrived at this place.

"A pillar of annihilation, a bloodthirsty aura!? It seems a Mahayana cultivator from the Chi Demon Clan died here."

"Yes, I wonder who made this move. Such ruthless methods!"

These two Mahayana cultivators also attempted to use divination techniques to ascertain the cause, process, and outcome of the matter, but the secrets of heaven were in complete chaos, making divination difficult.

Several days later, four beams of light appeared out of thin air in the sky. In front of them, one could vaguely sense the magnificent and imposing protective array of the Taiqing Sect's mountain gate.

The divine sense that Tongzhen Daojun had been releasing, which covered all directions like an invisible spider web, suddenly stirred slightly. He caught a very faint fluctuation that was almost completely integrated into the space. If he hadn't been skilled in the art of concealment and the art of detection, he would have had a hard time discovering this obscure aura!

This aura followed them closely, always keeping a distance from the four of them, maintaining a distance that was neither too close to arouse their suspicion nor too far to completely shake them off.

A glint flashed in Tongzhen Daojun's eyes, and he silently sent a warning to Lu Cheng, Ming Que, and Ming He.

Lu Cheng's gaze narrowed slightly, and after a quick calculation, he knew what was going on. A subtle, knowing smile appeared on his lips.

"It was not anyone else, but the Daoist Wuya. He probably wanted to wait until we reached the border of the mountain gate before showing himself to gain our trust."

With a flash of light, the four figures appeared above a sea of ​​clouds, with the outline of the Taiqing Mountains, shrouded in spiritual energy and covered in verdant peaks, below them.

Tongzhen Daojun did not immediately withdraw his escape light. Instead, he led the three of them, his figure flashing like a phantom in the clouds. Each flash seemed to be stepping into a gap in space, and his whereabouts suddenly became elusive and uncertain.

After several attempts, the aura that had been trying so hard to hide finally showed a trace of sluggishness and disorder that was hard to conceal—his tracking rhythm had been disrupted by Tongzhen Daojun's exquisite escape technique, and his whereabouts were briefly exposed!
"Fellow Daoist Wuyai has been following us all this way. Now that you're here, why not show yourself and have a chat?" Lu Cheng stopped, hovering atop the sea of ​​clouds. His Daoist robe fluttered in the wind, and his voice, though calm, clearly pierced through space and reached those behind him.

There was a brief silence.

Immediately, the void ahead rippled like water, and a slightly disheveled figure stepped out. Wearing a blue and white Daoist robe, with a round, plump face, it was none other than the rogue Daoist Lord Wuyai, who had previously been severely damaged by Lu Cheng's Samadhi True Fire, forced to flee in a sorry state, and now had quietly followed him!
"Cough..." Daoist Wuya coughed dryly, forced out a smile, cupped his hands to Lu Cheng, and said in a hoarse voice, still recovering from internal injuries: "Sect Leader Lu, the three Dao Lords, what keen senses and exquisite escape techniques you have. I admire you."

His gaze involuntarily drifted towards Tongzhen Daojun, a fleeting glint of greed in his eyes, which he quickly suppressed, speaking rapidly:
"I have followed you all this way with no ill intentions! I only wish to discuss one matter with you!"

"I know that although your sect has an eighth-level alchemy grandmaster, the Nine Mysterious Herb is a ninth-level immortal herb, and it needs to be refined into the legendary 'Return to Origin Pill'! The difficulty of refining this pill is beyond the reach of even a grandmaster. The slightest carelessness will result in the destruction of the furnace, the loss of the pill, and the destruction of all the immortal herbs. That would be a true waste of resources!" Daoist Wuyai observed Lu Cheng's expression and, seeing that he remained calm and composed, felt a pang of anxiety. He could only offer his biggest bargaining chip:

"This humble Taoist has been immersed in the path of alchemy for millennia and has comprehended a method called 'Alchemy Fusion' from an ancient fragment! This method is no ordinary alchemy technique. Instead, it uses my own vital energy to ignite a fire, fusing and refining the medicinal properties of heaven and earth, simulating the primordial chaos. It is most suitable for refining such divine pills that seize the creation of heaven and earth! This humble Taoist dares to swear with his heart that he will be able to refine the Nine Mysterious Ganoderma using this method and successfully make pills! At least two or three!"

When cultivators collect herbs to refine golden pills, they usually make ten pills per batch. Some highly skilled alchemy masters can use special alchemy techniques to refine the materials that would normally make ten pills into twelve pills without reducing their efficacy.

However, that refers to pill formulas and pills that have been refined many times. To refine a ninth-grade pill like the Sitting in Oblivion and Returning to Origin Pill, one must do the opposite. Instead, one should refine the materials that would normally make ten pills into two or three pills, thereby greatly increasing the success rate of the refining process.

"...Very well, since Fellow Daoist Wuyai is so confident, then it's not impossible for you to refine this pill. However, what is it that you seek?"

Among Lu Cheng, Ming Que, Ming He, and Tong Zhen, Lu Cheng has the lowest magical power, but he is the leader of the Taiqing Sect. Ming Que, Ming He, and Tong Zhen also regard him as their leader, so they don't say much in this situation.

"If the divine pill fails to be refined by accident, I will be a slave of the Taiqing Sect for 100,000 years and will not be allowed to leave the mountain. If two pills are made, I will not take one. But if three pills are made, the third pill will belong to me."

"..."

Another long silence ensued. Ming Que, Ming He, and Tong Zhen remained silent, their eyes downcast and their minds blank. Lu Cheng was the same.

Wuya Daoren stared intently at Lu Cheng, finally unable to contain himself any longer, and spoke each word as if he had used all his strength:

"I ask for little! I only request a Pill of Forgetfulness and Return to Origin! How about this, your sect's alchemists may observe the entire process of refining and fusing the pill! I will not teach you, but I will certainly not hide anything from you!"

Having been pushed to this point, Lu Cheng knew in his heart that he had reached his limit, and finally spoke:

"Very well, I'll grant your request."

Let's talk about numbers; they carry immense weight!
Wuya Daoren was taken aback at first, then his eyes burst with wild joy!
He immediately bowed and said respectfully, "Thank you, Master! I will do my utmost to live up to your expectations!"

Lu Cheng nodded slightly, no longer looking at him, and turned his gaze to the majestic and magnificent Taiqing Immortal Mountain below, its clear aura soaring into the sky. It was as if he could see through the layers of palaces and halls and see the sect elder Xuanqing Daozun who was waiting for the opportunity to break through, and also see the future of the sect.

Over the next few centuries, the Daoist Wuya, with his skillful alchemy, successfully refined four pills. The Daoist Qingxuan, having obtained the opportunity to attain Mahayana enlightenment, took the pills and went into seclusion to seek a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, the Chi Demon Clan was furious at losing a Mahayana warrior, but ultimately did not choose to fight the Jinshi Clan to the death. Instead, they migrated south according to the original plan and launched a surprise attack on the Eastern Creation Heavenly Palace, capturing several large cities in a single day.

The war between the Eastern Celestial Palace of Creation and the Chi Demon Clan has begun. Mo Yanxing, the master of the Celestial Palace, invites cultivators from the nine sects of the human race to gather in Tiangong City to jointly resist the great calamity of the human race.

However, although the Chi Demon Clan was strong, it was not a world-destroying disaster like the invasion of the Ancient Demon Realm. In addition, with the Taiqing Sect handling the situation, few of the nine sects and thirty-six factions of the human race responded. Although some sects sent cultivators, it was difficult to reach a consensus on the overall situation of the human race.

As the old saying goes, the relationship between sects is essentially an exchange of interests and mutual calculations. Even if they are supposedly of one mind and one spirit, it is not on the premise of sacrificing the fundamental interests of their own sect.

It's not that he's not going to save the Eastern Pole Creation Heavenly Palace, but Mo Yanxing at least needs to offer enough incentives to entice everyone. After all, war is dangerous, and the Mahayana ancestors of other sects don't owe Mo Yanxing anything.

Even some of the top sects among the thirty-six human factions might not wish for the Eastern Pole Creation Palace to perish, so that their own sects could advance further.

(End of this chapter)