Druid Fairy

Chapter 140 Sect Cultivators
Li Pingcan was about to step forward to touch the corpse when he paused. The "Li Qian" lying in the pool of blood was still experiencing a slight rise and fall in her chest.

"Not dead yet?"

"Perfect, it saves me a lot of trouble."

He walked up to the girl, looked at the dying "Li Qian," and did not immediately kill her.

The truth behind Li Qian's sister's death... I've decided to put in a little more effort.

He crouched down and took out a brightly colored, first-tier skill called [Hallucination Mushroom] from his pocket, its canopy shimmering with a mesmerizing glow.

“I wanted to let you die a quick death, but there are some things I need to figure out,” he said softly, his voice devoid of emotion.

The girl's eyes were filled with fear. She looked at the mushroom and desperately tried to back away, but she was unable to move because of her serious injuries.

Li Pingcan showed no pity. He reached out and pried open her mouth, shoving the whole mushroom inside with a clean and efficient motion. He then closed her jaw to prevent her from spitting it out.

The hallucinogenic mushroom melts in your mouth, and a strange, sweet aroma instantly fills the air.

The girl's eyes quickly shifted from initial fear and resistance to confusion and disorientation. Finally, her beautiful phoenix eyes lost focus, and a childlike, innocent, and foolish smile appeared on her face.

"What's your name?"

“I…I’m called Su Huanuan…” the girl murmured in response.

“Su Huanuan?” Li Pingcan raised an eyebrow. “Then why do you call yourself Li Qian?”

"It's...it's Mother..."

A hint of confusion and dependence appeared on Su Hua Nuan's face. "My mother said that I was born a favored daughter of heaven, but unfortunately, my foundation was damaged at birth, my spiritual root was flawed, and my path to immortality was uncertain. Until that day, my mother brought back an 'opportunity,' saying that as long as I was obedient, she could transform me and allow me to leap over the dragon gate..."

Her memory seemed somewhat confused and disjointed, yet she managed to piece together the whole story.

It turns out that Su Hua Nuan's mother, Su Qing Yun, is one of the current heads of the Su family, a famous and powerful family of cultivators in Songling Prefecture.

The Su family has a long history of using elixirs, and even has a Foundation Establishment ancestor who has been in seclusion for many years and has a long lifespan.

Su Qingyun himself was also at the late stage of Qi Refining, held a prestigious position in the Su family, and had extremely high aspirations.

Unfortunately, her daughter Su Huanuan was born with damaged spiritual roots, which became her greatest heartache. In order to make up for her daughter's deficiency, she spent countless rare and precious materials, but all of them had little effect.

Until a few years ago, she learned of a forbidden technique called "Stealing Heaven and Changing Fate" from some unknown source. It could use supreme magic to forcibly strip away one person's spiritual root and aptitude and graft it onto another person.

This spell is extremely insidious. While the grafted one can ascend to heaven in one step, the one stripped away will have their soul and spirit destroyed, without even a chance to be reincarnated.

The real Li Qian became the most innocent stepping stone on Su Huanuan's path to immortality.

Su Huanuan herself knew very little about the inside story of this matter.

All she knew was that after that, she went from having a flawed spiritual root to becoming a top-grade spiritual root genius, one in ten thousand. She changed her name to "Li Qian" and was sent to the Seven Star Sect, where she enjoyed the best resources.

As for the blood stained behind it all, she was either oblivious or unwilling to think about it. She was simply immersed in the halo of her status as the "chosen one," enjoying it all with a clear conscience.

"I see……"

After hearing all this, Li Pingcan felt no further emotion.

Is it pitiful? Perhaps.

But every ray of light emanating from her superior spiritual root was stained with the blood and tears of another girl.

Since we have different stances, there's no need for further discussion.

"Please, let me go..." Su Huanuan seemed to regain a sliver of her senses. She looked at Li Pingcan, tears welling in her eyes, and pleaded in a trembling voice, "I don't know anything, I was just listening to my mother... I don't want to die..."

Li Pingcan looked at her pretty face, which was streaked with tears.

Ignorance is not a reason for exemption from punishment.

If you enjoy something that doesn't belong to you, you must be prepared to bear the corresponding consequences.

He slowly stood up. "You may not have known, but you ultimately stole someone else's life. We are on different sides; between us, there is only life and death."

Before he finished speaking, he pointed his fingers like a sword, and a sharp sword aura flew out from his fingertips, instantly piercing Su Huanuan's brow.

The life in the girl's eyes vanished quickly, and the plea for mercy that she never got to utter remained frozen in her throat.

Perhaps she would never understand what she had done wrong, even until her death.

…………

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, in Songling Prefecture.

A woman dressed in a palace gown with cloud patterns, with a cool and beautiful face, sat upright on a futon, meditating with her eyes closed.

She was surrounded by spiritual energy, her aura deep and enduring, clearly indicating that she was a cultivator with profound cultivation.

She is Su Qingyun, the current patriarch's wife of the Su family.

In order to ensure that her daughter, Su Huanuan, could successfully join the Seven Star Sect, she used almost all of her family's connections and spent countless rare and precious materials.

Just now, she felt a sudden pain in her chest, as if she had been pierced by an invisible blade.

"puff!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the ground in front of him red.

"Nuan'er!!!"

That aura, connected to her by blood and nurtured by her with countless rare and precious materials and her own blood, was completely severed!

Her beloved daughter, whom she cherished as her own life and who carried all her hopes, is dead!
"Who is it! Who is it!?"

Su Qingyun lost control of his magical power, and the tables, chairs, and utensils in the entire meditation room were instantly shattered into dust by an invisible wave of energy.

For her daughter's sake, she secretly plotted and used forbidden techniques to steal her destiny.

She poured most of her cultivation resources into her daughter, hoping that she could soar to great heights.

But now, everything is ruined!

"No matter who you are! I, Su Qingyun, hereby swear that I will tear you to pieces, annihilate your soul, and condemn you to eternal damnation!"

She suddenly raised her hand, and a drop of bright red blood slowly emerged from her palm, eventually transforming into a complex rune mark.

This is a secret bloodline technique of the Su family. As long as the murderer who killed her daughter appears within ten feet of her, this bloodline mark will be able to sense it.

To the ends of the earth, until death do us part!
…………

Li Pingcan was naturally unaware that someone had their eyes on him.

He was counting the spoils of war with Qingjiao.

"Azure Dragon, time to get to work!"

"Come on!"

With a flash of light from the "bracelet" on his wrist, the Azure Dragon transformed into its original form, its golden snake eyes filled with excitement.

"Little carp, I, your lord, have been waiting for ages!"

As it spoke, it deftly began to grope the old man's body, its practiced movements even surpassing those of Li Pingcan.

"Tsk tsk, a top-grade first-tier whisk magic weapon, what a treasure! This storage bag is also quite nice, it has a lot of space!"

"As expected of a sect elder, he's really fat!"

"And this astrolabe looks quite advanced." Li Pingcan fiddled with the ancient astrolabe. Although he couldn't understand it, his intuition told him that it was definitely a treasure.

The two ransacked the old man and Li Qian's storage bags, taking away more than a dozen mid-grade spirit stones and a bunch of miscellaneous pills and materials, making a considerable windfall.

Of course, the biggest gain from this trip was the second-tier demon core that was quietly floating in the middle of the water, as well as the second-tier demon beast meat!

The demon core was entirely dark blue, radiating a vast and pure water-elemental spiritual energy, and one could even see tiny strands of lightning flowing within it.

"Little carp, how do we divide this thing?"

The Azure Dragon was practically drooling as it looked at the demon core, but it still managed to suppress its greed and stared longingly at Li Pingcan.

"Look at your pathetic self, what's the point of dividing it? It's all yours."

Li Pingcan shook his head with a wry smile.

Although this demon core is excellent, the demonic power it contains is extremely violent. If a human cultivator wishes to refine it, they must ask a highly skilled alchemy master to refine it into a pill in order to remove its toxicity.

This is far too troublesome. Unless he has an alchemist in his own family, Li Pingcan would never allow an outsider to refine it.
Spirit beasts, on the other hand, are different. They are inherently possessing demonic energy and can be directly devoured and refined.

"Really?"

The Azure Serpent's eyes widened in surprise, its words stammering, "Little...little carp, you...you really are my godfather!" "Alright, alright, hurry up and eat, stop dawdling."

"okay!"

The Azure Dragon cheered and opened its blood-red maw, swallowing the demon core whole.

"boom!"

A tremendous amount of energy exploded within its body!

Qingjiao felt as if a volcano had been ignited, with an indescribable mix of intense pain and pleasure simultaneously assaulting him.

Its massive body churned violently in the water, stirring the river to a boil. The blue scales all over its body began to fall off at a visible speed, revealing new scales underneath that shimmered with a metallic luster.

The pair of prominent fleshy horns on its head continued to grow and fork, faintly resembling the horns of a true dragon.

The aura surged at an alarming rate!
A terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from its body, forcing the surrounding river water back several feet!
Peak of mid-stage Qi Refining... Late-stage Qi Refining... Peak of late-stage Qi Refining!
"Hahaha! I, Lord Jiao, have finally... no, I, Lord Long, have finally succeeded!"

Feeling the unprecedented power within his body, the Azure Dragon excitedly churned the riverbed, creating a spectacular display of water.

'This guy's getting cocky again.'

Li Pingcan found it amusing, yet also happy for it, as he looked at its smug expression.

The stronger Qingjiao is, the more confident he becomes in this world.

After all, who would complain about their brother driving a Land Rover?
Even if I can't drive it myself, I can still sit in it!

…………

The beast tide receded, leaving behind a desolate wasteland and countless monster corpses.

The army set off, ordered to the next disaster-stricken area of ​​the beast tide. Li Pingfu went on the expedition with the army, and Li Pingcan still disguised himself as a personal guard to accompany them.

The vast battlefield ruins delighted Qingjiao, who was fishing in the chaos from the rear.

"Little carp, look! There's a treasure in this giant rhinoceros's brain!"

The azure dragon coiled around the mountain-sized corpse of a demon beast, its head thrashing excitedly, and from the sticky flesh emerged a demon core the size of a pigeon egg, radiating a fiery red glow.

It opened its mouth to swallow it, but Li Pingcan stopped it in time by transmitting his thoughts.

"You rascal, aren't you afraid of getting a stomachache from clashes in your attributes!" Li Pingcan's irritating voice rang in its mind.

"Hehe, it's all thanks to you! We fought tooth and nail, and in the end, all the treasures ended up in our pockets! This deal was even faster than robbery!"

The Azure Dragon nonchalantly used the tip of its tail to curl up the demon core and skillfully stuffed it into its "dragon skin pouch," which was bulging and full of treasures.

Li Pingcan couldn't help but chuckle.

Over the past few months, one person and one dragon have been working together. One is responsible for using the [Master of Fungi Domain] to conduct large-scale searches and locate those unlucky, lone, or mutually injured monsters.

One of them, relying on the dragon skin's defense and unpredictable movements, specializes in "picking up the scraps" and "finishing off the weak."

The two worked together seamlessly and with astonishing efficiency, managing to make a fortune amidst the beast calamity.

Li Pingcan's storage bag was already stuffed full of various animal hides, meats, and materials, and he even "picked up" a few unclaimed sect treasures.

The Azure Dragon even began to look down on materials of too low grade, and wouldn't even bother to glance at non-spirit beast level demon cores, highlighting its "sudden wealth after poverty".

"That's about it, Azure Dragon."

Looking at the mountain of materials piled up in the storage bag, Li Pingcan said, "We should head back now."

"No! Little carp!" The azure dragon continued, "I just heard a ground rat say that in that valley ahead, there seems to be a badly injured late-stage first-tier demonic bird...we..."

"Know when to stop, greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant." Li Pingcan decisively interrupted it.

Making a fortune quietly is the best strategy; on the battlefield, greed is the most taboo thing.

…………

Yunshui County, which is thousands of miles away.

Two disheveled figures were walking unsteadily on the official road.

It was Qian Song and Sun Bai, two sect cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Refining, who were lucky enough to survive the beast tide.

The ferocity of the beast tide was not something that all sect cultivators treated as a "hunting game." Small sects like the "Green Pine Sect," where they belonged, were almost completely wiped out in the beast calamity. All the elders of the sect perished. The two of them managed to escape with their lives, but they became homeless stray dogs.

"Senior Brother Sun, what do we do now?" Qian Song looked dejected. His once decent Taoist robe was now tattered and stained with blood.

"What else can we do? Let's go back to Yunshui County, find a place to stay, and then make further plans." Sun Bai's face was equally grim. He was more composed, but deep in his eyes, there was a hint of confusion and resentment that he could not hide.

Just as the two were sighing, they overheard a conversation between several villagers who were resting not far ahead.

"Hey, have you heard? The Li family in Peach Blossom Village has been quite something lately!"

"Who can argue with that! The eldest son is a county magistrate, and the second son is an official in the prefecture!"

"Good heavens, this family must have had some incredible luck! They used to be just ordinary farmers like us, but in just a few years, they've become one of the wealthiest families in Yunshui County!"

"If you ask me, the feng shui of Peach Blossom Village is really good, it's so nurturing! Look at the Li family mansion, it's become more and more prosperous since it was renovated, and even the land in our village is yielding several more loads of grain than other places!"

Qian Songhe and Qian Songhe exchanged a glance as they listened to these words, and both of them saw a hint of greed and contempt in each other's eyes.

How much fortune can a mere mortal family possess?
It's just a bunch of rumors spread by country folk.

But then I thought, since the Li family is favored by the county magistrate, they must have some wealth.

"Senior brother," Qian Song lowered his voice, a malicious glint in his eyes, "should we... borrow some travel expenses?"

Sun Bai's heart skipped a beat, but he feigned composure on his face: "How could we cultivators do such petty and despicable things?"

He paused, then changed the subject: "However, isn't Li Mengze, the young master of the Li family, also a disciple of the academy? As senior brothers, it's only natural for us to go and 'visit' him. If he's sensible and gives us some 'gifts,' it's not like we're forcing him."

Qian Song instantly understood and chuckled, "Senior brother is right! We're not killing anyone, we're just looking for treasure, grabbing it and running away. Who would know it's us?"

These words completely ignited the greed in their hearts.

Having made up their minds, the two concealed their presence and silently made their way towards the Li family mansion.

They were confident in their high level of cultivation and, seeing that this was just an ordinary village, were filled with disdain and did not take the Li family seriously at all.

…………

That night, the darkness was as black as ink.

Under the cover of night, Qian Song and Sun Bai successfully sneaked into the Li family mansion.

"Senior brother, something seems off about this Li family mansion."

Upon entering the courtyard, Qian Song felt that the surrounding air seemed to have become thicker, and his spiritual perception was also significantly suppressed.

"It's just a charade."

Sun Bai snorted coldly. Although he had also noticed the abnormality, he assumed that the Li family had simply set up some rudimentary maze and did not take it to heart. "What can a mere mortal formation do to me? Stay close to me and don't get lost."

He took out a compass from his robes, muttered incantations, and began to search for the array's core, intending to forcefully break the array.

"Buzz!"

With a soft sound, a pale blue light screen appeared on the courtyard wall without warning, and a gentle yet irresistible force knocked the two of them to the ground.

The two of them fell to the ground in a sorry state, their faces filled with horror.

This power is unusual; it is the true power of an array. How could an ordinary family possess a protective array?
Before they could react, the surrounding scenery changed instantly. The familiar courtyard walls and old locust trees disappeared, replaced by a white mist that made it impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face.

"It's a maze formation! Damn it!" Sun Bai was both shocked and furious. He quickly summoned his flying sword and guarded it protectively in front of him.

Qian Song turned pale with fright: "Senior brother, what... what should we do?"

"What's the panic!" Sun Bai shouted sharply. "It's just a simple illusion array. I'll break it!"

Although he said this, he was already filled with doubt and uncertainty.

In the shadows, Li Rongzhou watched silently through the core of the formation as the two cultivators wandered aimlessly in the mist like headless flies.

"Two cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Refining from various sects actually dare to try and control our Li family!"

He snorted inwardly, not in a hurry to show himself.

This [Seven Spirits Array] has been improved by Can'er several times, and it is no longer a simple defensive array. The killing intent contained within it is enough to give a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator a hard time.

(End of this chapter)