Cultivating Immortality Begins with Rejuvenation.

Chapter 278 Using yourself as bait
Since two years ago, Xu Xiaochun and Guo Wanzhi, under Li Ji'an's instructions, have temporarily slowed down their alchemy and focused all their efforts on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage.

During this period, in addition to seclusion and arduous training, he often sparred and competed with his fellow disciples.

However, to truly hone one's magical power, one must undergo trials of life and death.

At the same time, you also need to accumulate sect contribution points to exchange for Foundation Establishment Pills.

The two began taking on sect trial missions six months ago.

He took out a communication talisman and sensed that Xu Xiaochun's location was in the eastern part of the Daze Mountains, a month's journey from the sect.

The Daze Mountain Range, a branch within the Tiancang Domain, runs from west to east, connecting to the northern part of the Fire Domain. The further east one goes, the fewer the monsters become, and the lower their rank.

In particular, after the establishment of the Eighteen Spirit Village, the passage from the west to the east of the mountain range was cut off, and few great demons came to the east of the mountain range.

Most of the Qi Refining disciples in the sect undergo trials here.

After placing the communication talisman, Li Ji'an immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, his mind as still as water, his consciousness clear and empty.

hum~
The next moment, his divine sense had already connected with a wisp of his soul thousands of miles away.

This was a protective measure that Li Ji'an gave to his two disciples when they went out to gain experience and bid farewell.

A soul jade refined by an elder of the sect can contain a fragment of one's spirit and carries Li Ji'an's faint magical power. It has the power of a full-force attack in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, but it can only be activated once.

At this moment, Xu Xiaochun has not yet activated this Soul Jade.

After a brief period of adjustment, Li Ji'an sensed Xu Xiaochun's situation through his split soul.

"Whoosh~" The wind howled deep in the mountains and dense forests.

Xu Xiaochun darted through the dense forest at lightning speed.

Although the late stage of Qi Refining is sufficient to control flying swords and escape, it consumes too much mana and is difficult to sustain for a long time.

At this moment, Xu Xiaochun channeled his magic power into his legs, and his speed was not much weaker than when he was riding a flying sword.

Because it was only a fragment of his soul, Li Ji'an could only sense several auras chasing after him, but due to the distance, he could not fully perceive them.

A moment later, Li Ji'an sensed that the several auras chasing Xu Xiaochun were getting weaker and weaker, and it was clear that Xu Xiaochun was about to shake them off.

However, before Li Ji'an could even relax, he suddenly noticed that Xu Xiaochun had gradually slowed down.

"Trying to turn the tables?" Li Ji'an saw through his intention to lure the enemy.

At the same time, he felt a little relieved. Based on his understanding of Xu Xiaochun, this wicked disciple, he would never call for help when he was truly in a life-or-death situation.

Of course, this is also a result of his teaching.

In retrospect, it seems that he probably just sensed danger and began to summon his master.

Having ascertained their situation and to ensure they wouldn't perish before he arrived, Li Ji'an summoned Guagua and then set off in a flying boat towards the mountains.

Along the way, Guagua controlled the flying boat, while Li Ji'an continuously connected with the divided soul to understand Xu Xiaochun's situation.

However, to Li Ji'an's surprise, after Xu Xiaochun deliberately slowed down, he did not use any other methods. Instead, he waited until the rear was about to catch up before speeding up again to escape.

"Deliberately luring the enemy?" Li Ji'an frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled.

He knew that Xu Xiaochun had poison on him, and that it was even a second-stage early-stage poison.

Theoretically, if it is set up in advance along the path that the pursuers are bound to take, there is a high probability of success.

Even if there are many pursuers behind, and it's impossible to poison them all, poisoning even one would reduce the threat by one unit.

"How do we head north? Once we cross the mountains, we'll be in Tianyuan Prefecture."

At the easternmost part of the mountain range, to the north lies the territory under the jurisdiction of the Dongli Sect of Tianyuan Prefecture, and to the south lies the area of ​​Cangyun Prefecture near the Fire Domain. At this time, Xu Xiaochun was fleeing northwards.

"Using herself as bait? Wanzhi?" Suddenly, Li Ji'an realized that Xu Xiaochun was probably deliberately trying to lure the enemy away to cover Guo Wanzhi.

Although the two senior and junior siblings often bickered within the sect, with Guo Wanzhi frequently criticizing Xu Xiaochun and even complaining to Li Ji'an, Xu Xiaochun was always arrogant and would berate Guo Wanzhi. Sometimes he would even seize the crucial moment when Guo Wanzhi was refining pills to threaten her and forcefully demand that she call him his senior brother. Sometimes even Li Ji'an couldn't stand it and would severely punish that rebellious disciple. However, this was an internal conflict. Once they got entangled with outsiders, their positions were very clear.

Previously, Guo Wanzhi was bullied by an inner disciple, and Xu Xiaochun disregarded the sect rules and defied authority, leaving the inner disciple in a very embarrassing situation.

During this trial trip, Xu Xiaochun complained about Guo Wanzhi and repeatedly told her not to hold him back, but when Guo Wanzhi actually said she wouldn't go with him, he immediately changed his tune.

As expected, Xu Xiaochun did this repeatedly over the next two days, constantly drawing the enemy's pursuit.

However, on the third day, the communication talisman in Xu Xiaochun's arms trembled, and his expression changed drastically.

At the same time, they will no longer simply run away.

He took out a bottle of poison from his storage bag and sprayed it on the leaves of the trees along the way.

Li Ji'an could see clearly that this was just a first-order Soul Devouring Powder. Although it was not difficult to prepare, it required repeated refining to make it colorless, odorless, and formless.

Clearly, Xu Xiaochun has achieved colorless and odorless processing, but it still appears as a white powder. If he could go a step further and refine it into a gaseous state, it would be even more secretive and easier to obtain.

An hour later, Xu Xiaochun stopped completely and hid in a tree hole to wait.

Before long, the pursuers behind them were getting closer and closer, and Li Ji'an's divided soul finally sensed the exact presence.

Five late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

They all wore painted masks, and their clothes were incomparable to those of Xu Xiaochun, a disciple of a superior sect. They even appeared somewhat poor, with the best one wearing a low-grade robe that didn't fit him well.

"You little thief, get out here now!"

To the surprise of Xu Xiaochun and Li Ji'an, the five people chased after them and surrounded the tree hole where Xu Xiaochun was hiding without saying a word, as if they could sense Xu Xiaochun's presence.

Xu Xiaochun's expression tightened. After checking himself, he found nothing that could obviously reveal his whereabouts.

The next moment, he curled the corners of his mouth, snorted coldly, and walked out with an air of nonchalance.

"Hmph, a bunch of filthy bandits, they've got some nerve, daring to ambush and kill disciples of the upper sect!" Xu Xiaochun made a preemptive statement as soon as he appeared, showing no fear of being surrounded.

"You're nothing but a bunch of bloodsucking parasites. Killing you is doing justice on behalf of Heaven and avenging the countless cultivators whose blood you've drained!" the leader declared righteously.

"It's utterly ridiculous. Which of us disciples of the upper sect didn't earn our positions through our own talent and hard work? The path to immortality is about competition. If you have superior talent, you can also come to the sect for trials."

"They're just a bunch of complaining losers, pshaw!" Although Xu Xiaochun came from a poor background, he entered the sect at the age of fifteen and had a smooth journey. Especially after becoming Li Ji'an's disciple, he thrived and naturally couldn't understand the hardships of being a rogue cultivator.

"Does having good talent mean you can plunder all the world's spiritual resources? Does having good talent mean you can be high above and look down on all living beings? On what grounds?" one of the five people questioned sharply, clearly having lost his composure.

Xu Xiaochun deliberately delayed, waiting for the other party's poison to take effect: "Why? Why not concentrate spiritual resources on those with superior talent, instead of giving them to those with inferior talent?"
With the same spiritual aptitude, those with superior talent can easily establish a foundation.

Those with inferior talent, however, need to consume several times more spiritual resources to establish a foundation.

To allow those with inferior talent to rise to positions of power would be a waste of the world's resources!

"You...you're talking nonsense!" Another person on the other side broke through their defenses.

"Nonsense! You yourself say that the path to immortality is about competition, but you sect parasites control the resources and don't give us any chance to compete at all!"

Xu Xiaochun laughed heartily: "Isn't this the result of competition?"

"Everyone, this little thief is all talk and no action. Let's not let him spout nonsense any longer, attack!" The leader of the group was not young, but he was still stuck in the late stage of Qi Refining. He had no words to refute Xu Xiaochun at this moment, and immediately became angry and embarrassed.

Xu Xiaochun carefully observed the state of the five people and found that the poison had not yet taken effect. He hurriedly raised his hand to stop them: "Wait a minute. Since you say that the upper sect did not give you a chance, fine, I will give you a chance. Come on, a one-on-one duel. If I lose, I will willingly admit that you are right. Do you dare?"

The five people on the other side looked at each other in bewilderment.

In the end, no one dared to go up and fight him one-on-one. After all, the best of their cultivation techniques was the mid-grade Xuan level, and the magical power they cultivated, whether in terms of its richness or purity, could not compare with Xu Xiaochun's.

Not to mention that sects also have countless offensive methods and secret techniques.

"Dare not? I gave you a chance, but you were useless." Seeing that the other party had not fallen for the trick, Xu Xiaochun immediately added fuel to the fire.

"Hmph! We are here to restore the cultivation world, how could we act rashly? We will kill the traitors of the sect, we will not be bound by trivial matters, let's attack together!" the leader shouted.

"Yes, why bother with morality with these hypocrites? Let's go!"

The leader's words restored the five men's self-esteem, and then he took direct action.

"Not good!" However, just as they were about to make a move, one of them suddenly felt that his magic power was difficult to mobilize and was even dissipating rapidly.

"It's Soul-Devouring Powder! Quickly take the antidote!" The leader reacted instantly and hurriedly reminded them.

"Hmph! A disciple of a prestigious sect actually resorts to such despicable means as poisoning! Shameless!" someone said angrily.

Xu Xiaochun suppressed his smile and quickly made a move. A fiery wave erupted from a crimson flute in his hand and swept towards his opponent.

This was a loot that Li Ji'an collected from one of Gao Yang's gang members. It was a high-grade fire-attribute magic weapon. Li Ji'an didn't need it and was too lazy to go to the black market, so he gave it to him.

"It can actually unleash the flames of the five holes." Li Ji'an nodded slightly, somewhat surprised, upon seeing Xu Xiaochun's fire flute attack.

This is a seven-hole flute, a magical artifact that, normally, should be fully utilized by cultivators in the early stages of Foundation Establishment.

It's already quite difficult to activate four holes during the Qi Refining stage.

"Watch out!" The five opponents hurriedly dodged, none of them daring to take the attack head-on.

Xu Xiaochun was only at the late stage of Qi Refining, while four of the five opponents had already reached the Qi Refining Perfection stage for many years, so they should theoretically be stronger.

However, Xu Xiaochun's high-grade magic robe could block 30% of the opponent's attack.

At this moment, they took out a high-grade magic artifact, and the fire-type spells it released made them feel threatened.

However, the five opponents were all seasoned veterans, and although they strategically dodged, they managed to keep Xu Xiaochun surrounded.

"Whoosh~" is particularly adept at surprise attacks and coordinated strikes.

Xu Xiaochun's first attack missed, and the opponent immediately counterattacked.

Most importantly, the person took an antidote immediately after realizing they were poisoned, a necessary skill for any seasoned veteran.

Therefore, Xu Xiaochun's use of poison failed to work.

Fighting five against one, he eventually fell into a disadvantageous position.

"You little thief, surrender now!" The five men's attacks became increasingly fierce, and Xu Xiaochun was already covered in wounds.

The exquisite robes were charred black, with wisps of fabric remaining.

"Surrender, and you might save your life!"

"Don't even think about it!" Faced with the five people's attempts to entice him, Xu Xiaochun shouted sternly, displaying an air of "I'd rather die than live in dishonor."

"Pfft~" Finally, after being ambushed again, Xu Xiaochun spat out a mouthful of blood and fell heavily to the ground.

"Hmph, disciples of the upper sect, nothing more than this." The five sneered and immediately used their magic to seal Xu Xiaochun's limbs and bones.

"Disgusting bandits, ptooey!" Xu Xiaochun maintained his proud spirit, upholding the sect's precepts.

The five ignored him and rushed to examine their spoils.

"A top-grade magic artifact! Tsk tsk."

"So many pills? And they're all top-grade!"

"What a pity for this superior robe."

……

Upon seeing this, Li Ji'an frowned slightly.

It must be said that the sect's training philosophy differs significantly from his own.

After all, disciples of a sect prioritize the sect, and their guiding principle is to never tarnish the sect's dignity, even in death.

Xu Xiaochun was gentle on the outside but firm on the inside. After joining the sect, he had always had a smooth life, so he was naturally deeply influenced by the sect's philosophy.

Comparatively speaking, Xiao Changfeng is much more resourceful. Survival is definitely his top priority, after all, he had a bad experience during his Foundation Establishment stage, which tempered his character.

However, the next moment, Li Ji'an suddenly raised his eyebrows.

The five people who were packing up their spoils and preparing to take Xu Xiaochun away suddenly convulsed, foaming at the mouth.

"poison!"

"And...poison!"

"How is this possible? Could it be... a second-tier deadly poison?"

The poison is swift and extremely potent, unlike the previous Soul-Devouring Powder. This time, the poison directly attacks the five internal organs and shatters the dantian, making it a truly deadly poison.

As the five men fell one by one, their eyes wide open in death, Xu Xiaochun's indignation finally faded, replaced by a silent sigh.

"This kid!" Li Ji'an carefully examined the five people's dead bodies with his divided soul and finally discovered something.

Xu Xiaochun actually smeared second-tier poison on his robes, as well as on his fire flute magic artifact and even his storage bag.

The second-tier poison he concocted was not powerful enough. Although it was highly toxic, it had a distinct color and strange smell, and was still in a solid state, making it difficult to successfully poison under normal circumstances.

Especially for these seasoned veterans.

The previous use of the Soul-Devouring Powder was merely a feint, causing the user to lower their guard after taking the antidote.

The real trump card is the deadly poison in his body.

However, it must be said that this move was indeed somewhat reckless. Xu Xiaochun himself was only at the Qi Refining stage. If he were to be contaminated by this poison, even if he took an antidote pill in time, he would easily suffer a backlash.

"Scum!" After a while, Xu Xiaochun broke through the opponent's magic restriction on his own and leaped up, clearly full of energy, unlike when he was surrounded and attacked before.

He then used his magic to remove the masks of the five people, cut off their heads, and put them into his storage bag.

They then searched the other person's storage bag and found nothing but a wooden token on each of their bags, nor any other items that could identify them.

After burning the five corpses in a fire, Xu Xiaochun immediately turned back and ran wildly back the way he came.

At the same time, Li Ji'an, who was in the flying boat, also frowned slightly.

The words and actions of these five individuals clearly represent a force resisting the ruling class.

Moreover, their methods are far more extreme than those of the previous rebel armies of independent cultivators.

"Was it a chance encounter, or did they deliberately come here to hunt down sect cultivators?"

In this area, besides the Qi Refining disciples of the Biyun Sect undergoing trials, the former Lieyang Sect and Dongli Sect also practiced similar methods.

Now that the Lieyang Sect has been destroyed, only the Biyun Sect and the Dongli Sect are left to conduct sect trials.

(End of this chapter)