From martial arts sects to immortality sects

Chapter 164 The Way of Stealth
"Ten years? Then why did you go into seclusion ten years ago?"

Li Qingqiu stared at Mo Jiuhong and pressed him for an answer. Ten years ago, he had just taken over Qingxiao Sect. If he had encountered Mo Jiuhong, wouldn't he have been in danger?
Fortunately, Qingxiao Sect kept a low profile in the early stages.

"I know."

Chu Jing suddenly emerged from the Heavenly Rainbow Sword and stared at Mo Jiuhong as he spoke.

Li Qingqiu glanced at him and asked, "You know?"

Jiang Zhaoxia and Xu Ning looked at Chu Jing with strange expressions. Although they already knew of Chu Jing's existence, they felt awkward every time they saw him.

They weren't used to having a ghost hovering behind Li Qingqiu, especially during the day; it was creepy.

Mo Jiuhong was stunned when he saw Li Qingqiu's gaze darting to a secluded spot.

"Ten years ago, this guy tried to kill Zhao Zhi. He sneaked into the palace and was severely injured by me," Chu Jing snorted, his tone slightly disdainful.

Li Qingqiu asked in surprise, "Were you stronger than him before?"

"Ten years ago, he wasn't this powerful. I felt he was at most at the second level of the Nourishing Yuan Realm," Chu Jing said, shaking his head.

Chu Jing has now reached the fourth level of the Nourishing Yuan Realm, and it's clear that Mo Jiuhong has become stronger.

"Who are you talking to?" Mo Jiuhong couldn't help but ask.

We're all cultivators, what's the point of this?
Trying to scare me?
Li Qingqiu replied, "I was talking to my sword spirit. He said the reason you went into seclusion was because you stormed the palace ten years ago and were severely injured by it."

Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuhong jumped back in fright and asked nervously, "Nonsense! What sword soul?"

Li Qingqiu's lips curled up as he said, "His name is Xuan Gong, do you remember him?"

He had a sudden thought and summoned Chu Jing to appear.

After becoming a ghost cultivator, Chu Jing already possessed the ability to manifest in broad daylight. He directly revealed his soul form, which made Mo Jiuhong's eyes widen in disbelief.

Immediately afterward, Mo Jiuhong's eyes turned red, and he roared, "You beast! You destroyed the foundation of my Great Li! You're courting death!"

He took the large sword from behind him, raised it high with both hands, and was about to slash at Chu Jing.

Clang——

The sound of a sword being drawn rang out instantly, and a precious sword was held against Mo Jiuhong's throat, instantly calming him down.

Mo Jiuhong chuckled dryly, "I was really confused. He's already become a sword spirit, so he must be dead. All the grudges from his past life are wiped clean!"

Xu Ning's expression turned strange.

Jiang Zhaoxia's face was cold, and her eyes were filled with dissatisfaction.

Chu Jing looked at Jiang Zhaoxia with admiration in his eyes. If he had such a loyal and valiant general under his command, he wouldn't have had such a hard life.

Li Qingqiu teased, "Fellow Daoist, it seems your cultivation is insufficient; you can't even see ghosts."

In ten years, his cultivation level has increased by two levels. This guy's secluded cultivation place must be extraordinary.

The earthquake caused by the ancient god might be because the ancient god had his eye on his secluded retreat.

After all, he was in seclusion in the northern border, which is Cangzhou, the northernmost state of Dali.

Mo Jiuhong felt embarrassed and cursed inwardly, wondering why he was so unlucky to run into Jiang Zhaoxia.

The key point is that he shouldn't have clashed with Jiang Zhaoxia in the first place. After all, they both wanted to deal with Lingtian Sect. He just saw that Qingxiao Sect disciples had killed too many people, and as a cultivator, he couldn't just sit idly by. But he didn't expect to be beheaded by Jiang Zhaoxia. He was so scared that he knelt down and begged for mercy.

"That's right. Compared to your Qingxiao Sect, I'm just a wild cultivator. I've learned everything on my own," Mo Jiuhong said with a forced smile.

Li Qingqiu couldn't help but chuckle; this person was truly flexible and adaptable.

He did not underestimate Mo Jiuhong because of this, after all, Mo Jiuhong dared to break into the palace alone when he was only at the second level of the Nourishing Yuan Realm.

"Tell me, how much do you know about the ancient gods? If you don't satisfy me, I'll have no choice but to search your soul," Li Qingqiu said calmly, staring at Mo Jiuhong.

Searching for souls?

Mo Jiuhong immediately got goosebumps. Just hearing those two words, he knew what they meant.

He quickly said, "My Taoist magic originated from a mountain cave. I obtained several secret manuals in that cave. One of them mentioned that there is a kind of demon tree on the land of Kyushu. It has an ancient history and can never be killed. Even in places where spiritual energy is scarce, it can still grow because it can devour flesh and blood to grow and seek spiritual energy from the flesh and blood of all things."

"This demonic tree is inherently greedy. Feeding it flesh and blood will only make it more vicious. Moreover, this demonic tree is cunning and adept at bewitching people's hearts. I always thought it was fake until its vines actually reached my secluded cultivation place and devoured the spiritual tree I relied on."

“This tree is too strange. It cannot be moved, but its root system can extend for hundreds of miles. If this continues, the entire Dali will be drained dry by it. So I want to destroy the Qi clan so that no one will support it and it will be worn down to death.”

Only after hearing Mo Jiuhong mention the Spirit Tree did Li Qingqiu believe that he was telling the truth.

The root system stretched for hundreds of miles, which did frighten Li Qingqiu.

What kind of powerful demon is this?

No wonder the Qi family was so fearless.

Not only Li Qingqiu, but also Jiang Zhaoxia, Xu Ning, and Chu Jing frowned.

"Although that demonic tree could enhance the power of the Qi clan, it also diminished their lifespan. While the Qi clan was grateful to it, they cared for the world and didn't want to bear too much infamy. Therefore, they only dared to secretly provide the demonic tree with flesh and blood. The demonic tree, being vicious and dissatisfied with the Qi clan's caution, plotted to possess the divine children cultivated by the Qi clan to regain its mobility. It then intended to use its clones to collect flesh and blood for its true self. Fortunately, I killed seven divine children, and the other two are missing." "This demonic tree also deceived the Qi clan, claiming it was helping them to conquer the world and restore order. It called itself an ancient god, saying it had compassion for all living beings and was currently only recuperating. It promised to resurrect those it had absorbed once it fully recovered. It's utter nonsense! The Qi clan is incredibly foolish; how could they believe that?"

Mo Jiuhong grew angrier as he spoke, his chest heaving. Even when his neck accidentally grazed Jiang Zhaoxia's sword blade, he didn't flinch.

Li Qingqiu continued, "Tell me more about the characteristics of that demonic tree. I need to know just how powerful it is."

Upon hearing this, Mo Jiuhong's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you going to deal with that demonic tree?"

Li Qingqiu said solemnly, "How can we sit idly by and do nothing about such a heinous and immoral creature? Our Qingxiao Sect is not the righteous path in the eyes of the world, but we are willing to protect all living beings. Right and wrong are determined in our hearts."

Hearing these words, Jiang Zhaoxia and Xu Ning's eyes lit up, and their hearts surged with excitement.

Chu Jing looked at him, unable to tell whether what he said was true or false. If it was false, why would Qingxiao Sect go against Zhao Zhi once or twice?
Mo Jiuhong was deeply moved and immediately said, "Fellow Daoist, let me join the Qingxiao Sect. Your Qingxiao Sect has only been under your leadership for eleven years. If I join, I will surely be of great help to you."

Li Qingqiu smiled and said, "Alright, I'll allow you to start as an inner disciple, after all, you've provided Qingxiao Sect with very important intelligence."

Inner disciple?

It feels great!
Mo Jiuhong readily agreed and then continued to tell the story of the demon tree.

for a long time.

Jiang Zhaoxia and Xu Ning prepared to take Mo Jiuhong down the mountain.

"Wait, I forgot to ask, how did your matter go?" Li Qingqiu suddenly called out to Jiang Zhaoxia and Xu Ning.

Jiang Zhaoxia turned around, her expression somewhat unnatural.

Xu Ning said, "It can be considered a failure. We raided all of Lingtian Prefecture but couldn't find their sect leader. However, we encountered three protectors and killed them all. We were thinking about the Qi family's matter, so we came back early. Tomorrow, we will continue down the mountain. Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we will find out the Lingtian Sect leader."

Li Qingqiu shook his head and said, "No need. This mission is over. For the disciples who followed you, it is considered a success, and all mission rewards will be paid. But for the two of you, it is considered a failure, and you will not receive any mission rewards."

"it is good."

Jiang Zhaoxia and Xu Ning responded at the same time, and Li Qingqiu waved his hand, indicating that they could leave.

The two left with Mo Jiuhong.

Li Qingqiu sat in the chair, lost in thought.

“Master, that demonic tree is too powerful and cannot be confronted head-on. It needs time to recover, but the Qingxiao Sect also needs time to develop. In fact, if we can stop the Qi Clan, we can even slow down its recovery. I think time is actually in our favor,” Chu Jing said.

According to Mo Jiuhong, the demon tree can fly its leaves to injure people. Its vines are as thick as dragons and its root system is like a mountain range. Once it moves, the sky will collapse and the earth will crack.

Chu Jing has never seen anyone in the Qingxiao Sect who is so powerful, including Li Qingqiu.

Li Qingqiu sighed, "Yes, time is on our side, but how many innocent people will die in the meantime?"

Chu Jingze said, "People die every day. Even without this demonic tree, there are plenty of bullies and treacherous officials in the world. They are harming people all the time. It is not shameful for them to accumulate power to save the common people."

Li Qingqiu didn't need anyone's comfort; his heart remained steadfast.

He was simply lamenting that if he didn't cultivate immortality, he could only wait for fate to dictate his destiny.

Qingxiao Sect can't manage everything; at most, it can protect its disciples and the people below the mountain. But if Qingxiao Sect could cover the entire world, then it could protect all living beings.

What he wanted was not to use power to cover everything, but to build the Qingxiao Sect to cover the whole world, allowing Qingxiao Sect disciples to build cave dwellings in various parts of the world, and to have teleportation arrays in every city.

To control the world through power is no different from a dynasty. If one can truly cover the world, even without holding power, one can still deter those in power, becoming the god in the hearts of the people and supporting them.

However, it is by no means possible to develop to that level in ten or twenty years.

Li Qingqiu must not be hasty, lest he plunge Qingxiao Sect into an abyss.

He pondered how to restrain the Qi family while waiting.

Whether Mo Jiuhong is trustworthy depends on his loyalty. If it's too low, someone needs to keep an eye on him.

Half an hour later, he finally found Mo Jiuhong's portrait in the Daoist panel.

Name: Mo Jiuhong

【Sex: Male】

[Age: 42 years old]

Loyalty (Leader/Sect Leader): 67/82 (Maximum 100)

[Cultivation Aptitude: Mediocre]

[Comprehension: Mediocre]

[Destiny Trait: The Ability to Be Flexible and Resilient, and the Principle of Stealth]

[Be flexible and adaptable: To survive, one can set aside dignity, but one must have one's own principles that cannot be trampled upon.]

[The Art of Infiltration: Skilled at infiltrating enemy forces, difficult to detect, and even able to gain the enemy's trust; also adept at teaching infiltration techniques]

　First update at midnight!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)