Cultivating Immortality: I Have a High-Martial World

Chapter 132 Passing the Test, Gaining Much

Wan Xu was still desperately unleashing his sword energy in the sea buckthorn thicket.

They did their best to cut the vines that were binding Li Zhenqian.

However, his protective true essence was already entangled by more sea buckthorn vines around him, almost crushing it.

"If this continues, I'm afraid Wan Xun and Li Zhenqian will suffer the same fate..."

"Facing this sea buckthorn demon with five thousand years of cultivation... there's not much difference between the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and the peak stage..."

Lin Chen frowned deeply.

The common sea buckthorn vine is just a small plant and poses almost no threat.

But right now, this entire patch of sea buckthorn vines is probably all from a single plant...

To kill this seabuckthorn demon, you must eradicate it completely by destroying its roots...

But by then, Li Zhenqian will probably have already become nourishment for the sea buckthorn demon.

With this in mind, Lin Chen no longer held back.

Taking out the Demon-Slaying Blade, Lin Chen took a step forward, covering dozens of feet, and stood side by side with Wan Xun.

"Fellow Daoist Wan, don't panic... let me handle this!"

After saying that, Lin Chen grabbed Wan Xun with one hand and threw him dozens of feet away, leaving the range of the sea buckthorn demon.

"Fellow Daoist Xu!" Wan Xun steadied himself and looked at Lin Chen, who was being swallowed by the sea buckthorn vines, and felt a pang of panic.

"Don't worry, I'm confident!"

Lin Chen called out.

Then, his protective true energy suddenly erupted, shaking away the surrounding sea buckthorn vines.

Then, holding the demon-slaying sword, he imbued the sword with his protective true essence and strode forward.

The vast expanse of sea buckthorn vines almost turned Li Zhenqian into a mummy.

But Lin Chen remained calm and swiftly brought down his knife.

The sea buckthorn vines are 5,000 years old, impervious to metal and stone, and unaffected by water and fire.

It is difficult to cut through, let alone ordinary weapons, even top-grade magical artifacts.

But under the blade of the demon-slaying sword, it was easily sliced ​​open like tofu.

"A fine knife!"

Lin Chen found it increasingly easy to use, and was delighted.

At this moment, he was already under the blessing of the power of the Candle Dragon, and his physical strength was being rapidly depleted.

But their physical fitness has almost doubled.

Lin Chen rushed directly in front of Li Zhengqian, and then his blade flashed.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With a flash of light, the dense sea buckthorn vines were all severed and scattered on the ground.

The unconscious Lee Jin-gan could be exposed at any moment.

As more and more vines surged up, trying to devour Li Zhenqian again.

Lin Chen sneered, "A mere demonic plant, how could it possibly turn the world upside down?"

He grabbed Li Zhenqian and then threw him dozens of feet away.

"Fellow Daoist Wan, catch!" Lin Chen shouted.

Wan Xun rushed forward from a distance, caught Li Zhenqian with both hands, and gently placed him on the ground.

He placed his hand under Li Zhenqian's nose and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was still breathing, but was quite severely poisoned.

Looking up at Lin Chen amidst the sea buckthorn thicket, Wan Xun's eyes widened in surprise, and he exclaimed, "Brother Xu!"

All that could be seen were countless sea buckthorn vines, rising several meters high like ocean waves.

Within a radius of several dozen feet, it seemed to have transformed into a sea of ​​brownish-green vines.

In the surging waves, Lin Chen was quickly swallowed up and disappeared from sight.

Wan Xun was anxious and immediately wanted to step forward to help.

But the seabuckthorn monsters quickly retreated into the desert soil like tentacles.

In just a few breaths, the once green ocean of sea buckthorn monsters disappeared into the desert, leaving only a barren expanse of sand.

Along with the sea buckthorn demon, Lin Chen also disappeared...

"Brother Xu!"

Wan Xun stared in disbelief at the empty space before him.

"Brother Xu, you actually went to save Junior Brother Li... but we were just strangers who met by chance..."

Wan Xun called out a few more times, but still received no response from Lin Chen, and gradually became disheartened.

"Even someone as powerful as Brother Xu would have little chance of survival facing such a formidable demon..."

Wan Xun's eyes were filled with sorrow, but he was also afraid that the sea buckthorn demon would come back, so he quickly fled the oasis with Li Zhenqian in his arms.

He knew that with his strength, he was no match for this sea buckthorn demon.

After escaping the oasis, Wan Xun hid outside the oasis and watched for several hours.

When Lin Chen did not appear for a long time, his eyes became even more desperate, but he had no choice but to leave and head north into the desert.

……

Meanwhile, deep underground in the oasis.

A brown light flashed around Lin Chen, making him feel as if he were walking on flat ground even in the sandy mud.

Looking around, one sees a dense, intertwined network of sea buckthorn vines.

Like tentacles, it wriggled wildly underground...

"Heh, if we were on the ground, there really wouldn't be much we could do to you..."

"But you delivered yourself to this underground place!"

Lin Chen snorted coldly and used the Earth Escape Technique to move quickly underground.

His divine sense spread out like a tide, and he could clearly perceive the roots and vines of the sea buckthorn demon.

A moment later...

"Finally found... the root of the sea buckthorn demon!"

Lin Chen was overjoyed and quickly rushed towards the root of the sea buckthorn demon.

This enormous sea buckthorn demon has vines that are impossible to eradicate and grow at an alarming rate.

To eradicate it completely, the only way is to destroy its roots and stems, severely damaging it at its source...

In just a few steps, Lin Chen approached the root of the sea buckthorn demon.

The seabuckthorn demon seemed to sense the threat and frantically drove its vines toward Lin Chen.

But deep underground, the resistance of the soil makes the vines far less flexible than they are on the surface.

Lin Chen wielded the Demon-Slaying Blade, and with a swift motion, the blade fell!

He cut off a section of root about the thickness of an arm, covered in fine hairs.

The rhizome of the sea buckthorn monster is equivalent to its brain and heart!

Once the roots are touched, the vines that had been dancing wildly in the soil become uncontrollable, buried in the earth and losing their vitality.

"Tsk tsk, a five-thousand-year-old sea buckthorn spirit! These roots... what incredible vitality!"

Lin Chen murmured, putting the section of root into his nanobag.

"As long as the roots of the sea buckthorn demon don't die, it can continue to grow and reproduce... If it could be tamed and used in battle, it might possess the combat power of a Core Formation stage cultivator!"

"If it weren't for my earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique that allows one to escape from the earth), this seabuckthorn demon would probably be impossible to kill..."

Lin Chen thought to himself.

He then turned to look at the other sea buckthorn vines buried in the ground, countless and densely packed.

The larger ones are over ten feet long and as thick as a thigh, while the smaller ones are three feet long and as thick as an arm.

These vines are excellent materials for refining weapons.

It is impervious to water and fire, and indestructible by metal and stone; it is extremely sturdy!

Not to mention top-grade magic weapons, even treasure artifacts can be forged!

"This time they've really struck it rich!"

Lin Chen decided to stay underground and collect the vines of these sea buckthorn demons.

It took him several hours to collect all the vines into the purple jade gourd.

These vines alone filled more than half of the gourd...

After finishing all this, Lin Chen finally emerged from the ground and returned to the shores of the oasis lake.

Looking around, Wan Xun and Li Zhenqian were nowhere to be seen.

Lin Chen shook his head and said:

"The rest of the journey is up to you... There are still many valuable things in this ruin!"

Lin Chen first spent half a day picking all the spiritual herbs by the lake.

These tens of thousands of medicinal herbs are all five thousand years old.

This includes first and second-tier spiritual herbs, and even a small number of third-tier spiritual herbs...

If it weren't for the protection of the seabuckthorn demon, these medicinal herbs would probably have become food for the strange birds in the sky and other monsters long ago.

After harvesting the medicinal herbs, Lin Chen released Long Ba and Feng Jiu.

"You two, go and search the ancient town ruins over there..."

"Yes, Master!"

Long Ba and Feng Jiu quickly entered the ancient brick and stone house in the ruins to search.

Although the ancient cultivator town appeared quiet, Lin Chen didn't know if there was any threat inside, so sending two puppets to investigate was the most appropriate thing to do.

Lin Chen held the instrument, sharing the perspectives of Long Ba and Feng Jiu.

After a long while, he made sure there was no danger before entering to investigate.

Calling this ancient town a town is an exaggeration.

However, the dozen or so small brick houses have had their tables and chairs weathered away over thousands of years.

After searching for a long time, Lin Chen only found a few pages of ancient book fragments, and even the words on them were illegible.

After spending half a day exploring all the old houses, Lin Chen still found nothing.

"So much time wasted, and nothing was achieved?"

Lin Chen's expression was rather unpleasant.

"Alas, five thousand years! Not to mention those objects and ancient books, even the magical artifacts would have weathered away... especially in this desert region..."

As Lin Chen was speaking, he suddenly realized something.

"Wait, if the ancient books inside have all weathered away... why are these ten or so brick houses still standing?"

Thinking of this, Lin Chen looked at the brick and tile houses.

He pulled a brick from the roof and held it in his hand.

As soon as Lin Chen picked up the bricks and tiles, he sensed something was wrong. They seemed too heavy; a piece the size of his palm weighed nearly a hundred pounds.

So Lin Chen took it in his hand and squeezed it hard.

As a result, the brick didn't break, but it left a very deep thumbprint.

Lin Chen's eyes widened immediately.

You should know that with his current strength, he can easily crush even a mid-grade magic weapon, let alone bricks and tiles.

"Hiss... Could it be that the materials used to build these stone houses are all second- or even third-tier ores?"

Lin Chen felt his heart pounding.

The minerals in the cultivation world are far, far more abundant than the exotic metals in the martial arts world...

For example, first-grade spirit ore, cold iron stone, can be found everywhere in the cultivation world.

However, in the world of high-level martial arts, it is a noble second-tier exotic metal.

A second-tier ore, 100-year-old iron essence, would be considered a fourth-tier exotic metal in the world of high-level martial arts!

Before Lin Chen stood a dozen or so brick and tile houses, each about ten feet tall, clearly far superior to those made of cold iron stone, at least on par with century-old iron essence...

"Goodness, if these are all fourth-tier exotic metals? How heavy must they be!"

Lin Chen took a deep breath without the slightest hesitation.

Start demolishing the house!

From the brick roof to the walls, and then to the ground... they even dug up the foundation of the house!

Lin Chen didn't leave a single stone behind, putting them all into the nanobag.

In the end, even a single storage bag couldn't hold it all!

Lin Chen used three nanobags to pack all the stones together.

Lin Chen then put the nanobag into the purple jade gourd. After looking back to make sure that not a single piece of land had been missed, he smiled with satisfaction.

……

After leaving the oasis, Lin Chen headed north.

After walking for about three more days, the desert behind us gradually receded into the distance.

Green grass and tall trees began to appear before my eyes.

After walking a little further, Lin Chen found himself on a bluestone floor, surrounded by walls covered with mysterious patterns.

After a jolt, the surrounding view shifted.

"Huh? So that means... we've left the Black Sand Kingdom?"

Lin Chen looked back, but the desert had already disappeared.

Looking around the space, he noticed that several people had passed the second test earlier than Lin Chen.

Jiang Liqian, Ghost Eye Child, Wan Xun, and Li Zhenqian...

and also……

"Fellow Daoist Xu!"

Not far away, Li Tianhan waved to Lin Chen.

The bald monk looked extremely relaxed, and passing the second level seemed to pose no difficulty for him.

Upon hearing this voice, Wan Xun and Li Zhenqian immediately showed joy on their faces.

"Brother Xu! You're still alive... that sea buckthorn demon..."

Lin Chen smiled and said:

"I used some trump cards to save my life and barely escaped death..."

Wan Xun and Li Zhenqian nodded after hearing this, their excitement barely concealed.

After Li Zhenqian regained consciousness, he heard that Lin Chen had died in the oasis while trying to save him. He cried bitterly and felt extremely guilty.

"Brother Xu is truly a man of noble character and integrity!"

"If you have the opportunity to visit my Changchun Gate in the future, I will certainly treat you as an honored guest!"

Wan Xun cupped his hands and said.

Lin Chen smiled and said, "If I have the chance, I will definitely pay you a visit!"

Lin Chen was the seventh cultivator to pass the Black Sand Kingdom's assessment.

After all, other cultivators were different from him; they treated demonic beasts as materials along the way and even wanted to dig three feet into the ground to find treasures.

Most cultivators are focused on clearing the level as quickly as possible.

……

Another day has passed.

About thirty more cultivators arrived in this space one after another.

At the same time, that cold voice came from all around again.

"The second round of assessment has concluded. A total of forty-two individuals have passed this stage..."

"All cultivators who pass the assessment may choose to take their rewards and leave the ruins, or choose to participate in the third round of assessment."

"The departing cultivator will be rewarded with one Golden Essence Pill..."

As the words fell, several new passageways appeared in the space, providing a way to leave the ruins.

Meanwhile, the surrounding cultivators all showed expressions of shock.

"Golden Elixir! The reward for the second stage of the test is actually a Golden Elixir!"

"Hiss... This trip wasn't in vain! Hahaha, with this pill, there's hope for forming my core!"

"..."

Not only were the other cultivators around them shocked, but Lin Chen himself was also quite moved.

What is the Golden Elixir?

This is a treasure that can increase the probability of Foundation Establishment cultivators forming their Core!

Legend has it that a single Golden Essence Pill can increase a cultivator's chances of forming their Core by 30%...

The formula for this elixir has been almost lost, and each Golden Essence Pill is extremely rare and valuable.

Even if you spent real money, 100,000 spirit stones might not be enough to buy it!

Upon hearing about the reward for the second round, most of the cultivators present were quite tempted.

Although they came for the Three Revolutions Golden Yuan Technique, the cultivators were well aware of their own strength.

With this Golden Essence Pill, there is already an opportunity to form a core; if one goes any further, there may be a danger to one's life.

Li Zhenqian was very self-aware.

He walked to Lin Chen's side, cupped his hands, and said:

"Many thanks to Brother Xu for saving my life on so many occasions. If you have time in the future, I hope you will come to my Li residence in Yanlai City for a visit. Zhen Qian will certainly treat you as an honored guest!"

"Alas, but I am well aware of my own abilities... It was already a stroke of luck that I passed the second stage, so I will not ask for more... I will leave ahead of schedule this time."

Li Zhenqian's eyes were filled with regret; such an incredible opportunity might only come once in his life.

But he knew even more that if he were to attempt the third trial, he would likely face certain death...

"Then, Fellow Daoist Li, farewell for now!"

Lin Chen also cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

Li Zhenqian knew when to advance and when to retreat; obtaining the Golden Essence Pill was already an incredible stroke of luck for him...

(End of this chapter)