Cultivating Immortality: I Have a High-Martial World

Chapter 157 Reencounter with Li Tianhan, Battle Against the Ghost-Eyed Old Monster!

Lin Chen's heart stirred slightly, and he used the Earth Escape Technique.

His figure could be seen running swiftly underground, arriving at a pre-opened transit space every tens of thousands of miles.

In this way, it took about an hour for Lin Chen to return to the ground.

"Within the territory of the Righteous Alliance, you can find a safe house approximately every hundred miles."

"In case of danger, I can quickly find a safe place... and then use earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a technique used in traditional Chinese geomancy) to dive thousands of miles underground within an hour."

"In this way, it is extremely safe."

Lin Chen knew the locations of all eighty-two safe houses like the back of his hand.

After returning to the ground, he looked around and quickly determined his direction.

"Well, it's been over a year since I've been to the front lines. Let's go harvest some more韭菜 (a metaphor for exploited people) then."

Lin Chen muttered to himself.

With his fourth-stage Golden Core and the martial arts prowess of a mid-level Martial Venerable, Lin Chen was not afraid of even facing a ninth-stage Golden Core.

Looking across the eastern border of Qingzhou, spanning tens of thousands of miles, Lin Chen should have no rivals below the Nascent Soul stage...

With this thought in mind, Lin Chen transformed into a streak of light and flew north.

……

The following day at noon, looking north towards the city.

Lin Chen took the bag of spirit stones, and after confirming that the amount was correct, nodded and said:

"Brother Wan, the deal is done. I won't stay here any longer; I need to go to other cities to do some more trade."

Wan Xun nodded after hearing this, then suddenly said:

"Brother Xu, if you have some free time, you can go to Luoyan City."

"It seems there's a shortage of magical treasures and elixirs in Luoyan City right now, so I think you can make a fortune in spirit stones, brother..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen's heart stirred, and he cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "That's excellent, thank you for the reminder, Brother Wan!"

He didn't stay in Beiwang City for long before heading straight to Luoyan City, which is further north.

Within the territory of Ziyan Kingdom, the Righteous Alliance has three cities on its front line.

They are Ziyan City, Beiwang City, and Luoyan City, respectively.

These three cities form a defensive triangle, jointly resisting the attack of the demonic cultivators.

Among them, Luoyan City is the closest to the ruins of the Spirit Beast Sect, which is now the main base of the Demonic Sect.

They are only three thousand miles apart.

The distance from Beiwangcheng to the vicinity of Luoyancheng is about a thousand miles.

Lin Chen rode the blue jade gourd, heading north.

Flying over mountains and rivers...

But the further north they went, the more Lin Chen frowned.

Traveling hundreds of miles north from Beiwang City, Lin Chen didn't see a single living person.

The route passed through four or five small towns and dozens of villages.

Looking down from high above, one sees only devastation and carnage, a scene of utter devastation...

"Alas, back in the day, this was the economic center of northern Ziyan Kingdom, with countless mortals and fertile land..."

"But now..."

Lin Chen sighed.

It has only been five short years since the invasion of the Demonic Sect.

The number of cultivators who died in battle was probably no less than tens of thousands...

The number of mortals who died was in the tens of millions.

The phrase "when locusts pass through, not a blade of grass grows" perfectly describes the scene.

Flying hundreds of feet above the ground, Lin Chen looked down.

But on the ground where corpses lay scattered, a faint black aura was gathering.

Lin Chen frowned slightly upon seeing this.

"Too many mortals have died, and most of them died tragically..."

"In chaotic times, monsters are bound to emerge... The ghosts of these dead mortals have transformed into karmic power and resentment... This has already affected this land, and may well give birth to a terrifying monster."

Lin Chen shook his head slightly; he had no way to deal with the karmic resentment on the other side.

Unless the demonic sect is eradicated and eminent monks and cultivators are invited to perform rituals to deliver the wronged souls for several years... perhaps these karmic burdens can be eliminated.

"well……"

Lin Chen didn't dare look any further and continued flying north.

After flying for another hundred miles, Lin Chen still hadn't seen a village.

Suddenly, several flying swords flew over and struck Lin Chen's protective true essence directly.

boom!

With a crisp sound, Lin Chen used his protective true essence to deflect the flying sword.

At the same time, dozens of auras surged toward Lin Chen.

Lin Chen frowned slightly, only to see that all the people who came were Tribulation Cultivators and Demon Cultivators.

There were about thirty of them, each with a fierce appearance and a dark complexion, clearly indicating that they had accumulated a lot of negative karma... Their cultivation levels ranged from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment Perfection.

"Kid, if you know what's good for you, hand over your valuable treasures right now! We might even spare your life..."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

The leading demonic cultivator sneered and, relying on his superior numbers, approached Lin Chen.

The dozens of demonic cultivators behind him also revealed cruel smiles.

Seeing this, Lin Chen raised an eyebrow and muttered:

"Business delivered right to our doorstep? Such a good deal!"

Then, dozens of flashes of sword light and energy appeared.

Dozens of healthy heads rolled to the ground. Lin Chen picked up the storage bag, too lazy to even collect the corpses, and continued flying forward.

After traveling another hundred miles or so...

"Boy, if you know what's good for you, hand over your valuable treasures..."

Lin Chen: "..."

As a result, Lin Chen made another small fortune.

The distance between Beiwang City and Luoyan City is only a thousand miles.

Along the way, Lin Chen encountered three groups of demonic cultivators attempting to rob him.

After killing over a hundred demonic cultivators, Lin Chen earned tens of thousands of spirit stones...

"Tsk tsk, to be honest, you could make a fortune just by wandering around here for a few days."

Lin Chen shook his head slightly, almost laughing.

How long has it been?

The entire front line of the Purple Smoke Kingdom is in such a state of chaos; they've encountered three groups of evil cultivators robbing people for hundreds of miles...

No wonder this area is deserted for hundreds of miles; it has probably been completely slaughtered by those demonic cultivators.

"Sigh, but we still can't do entrapment... what if it backfires someday?"

Just as Lin Chen was feeling sentimental, he suddenly sensed a strange movement coming from afar.

boom!

Dozens of miles away, a thunderous roar resounded in the sky.

Purple lightning struck down, and the enormous shockwave caused a fierce wind to rise from the sky and the earth.

Lin Chen squinted, looking towards the distance of dozens of miles, and murmured:

"This commotion... is it a battle between Core Formation cultivators?"

"But this aura... why does it feel somewhat familiar?"

Lin Chen stroked his chin and glanced around again. The nearest safe house was about a hundred miles away.

With a way out, Lin Chen no longer had any worries.

"In that case, let's go see what's going on..."

Lin Chen's heart stirred slightly, and he transformed into a beam of light, heading towards the source of the lightning.

As they got closer to the battleground, the dark clouds in the sky grew thicker.

The lightning grew increasingly terrifying, with a bolt of lightning striking down almost every few breaths...

As Lin Chen approached, he felt the aura becoming increasingly familiar.

"This aura...is it Li Tianhan?"

A strange look appeared on Lin Chen's face.

More than a year ago, he came to the front line of Ziyan Kingdom and happened to encounter Li Tianhan fighting against the demonic path.

This time... we ran into each other again!

"Could this be... the fate the monk spoke of?"

"However, it seems that Fellow Daoist Li's situation is rather dire this time!"

Lin Chen stroked his chin, pondering whether he should lend Li Tianhan a hand.

As one of the most outstanding talents in Qingzhou, Li Tianhan had already reached the third level of Golden Core cultivation before he was even forty years old.

In addition, he was a top-grade Golden Core cultivator and possessed the secret techniques of the Demon Subduing Temple, which allowed him to cultivate the Demon Subduing Heavenly Thunder Body.

It can summon heavenly lightning to fight enemies and is extremely effective against demonic cultivators.

Therefore, even an ordinary mid-stage Core Formation cultivator might not be a match for Li Tianhan...

This time, however, Lin Chen sensed that Li Tianhan's aura was extremely unstable.

The fluctuating strength clearly indicates that the enemy is heavily injured and struggling to fight.

"So, Fellow Daoist Li's opponent must be a late-stage Core Formation cultivator? Definitely not a Nascent Soul cultivator... If it were a Nascent Soul cultivator, he would probably be dead by now."

Lin Chen made a rough guess.

Since it's the late stage of Core Formation, that makes things easier.

Lin Chen's current combat strength is almost overwhelming against ordinary late-stage Core Formation cultivators, and he might not even lose to a Nine-Turn Golden Core cultivator.

"Let's go check the situation first... If we're outmatched, I'll just slip away..."

Lin Chen was very confident, so he flew towards the place where the lightning and thunder were.

Once he got within ten miles, Lin Chen used the Rotten Wood Technique, concealing his aura like a piece of rotten wood.

In just a few years, Lin Chen had already perfected the Rotten Wood Technique.

When operating at full power, even a Nascent Soul cultivator might not be able to easily detect it.

Lin Chen was quite confident about this, after all, he had put a lot of effort into his life-saving techniques and supernatural abilities.

Using the Rotten Wood Technique, Lin Chen slowly moved towards the center of the battle.

Ten li, five li...

Lin Chen stopped when he was only a hundred or two feet away from the battle site.

He hid himself completely behind a large tree.

From this vantage point, Lin Chen could clearly see the two sides engaged in battle.

"Li Tianhan and..."

"Old monster with ghost eyes!"

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow. He really hadn't expected to run into two old acquaintances at once.

"Old Monster Ghost Eyes! Long time no see..."

A sinister glint appeared in Lin Chen's smile.

He was no longer the insignificant Foundation Establishment cultivator who couldn't do anything during the massacre of Jade Belt City a few years ago...

I remember back then, when the city was being massacred, he could only use earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic in Chinese) to dig a hole for several months in order to protect himself.

He ultimately escaped a calamity, and also encountered a turning point in his cultivation journey—

He entered the ruins of the Jin Yuan Sect and cultivated the Three-Turn Jin Yuan Technique.

"It is said that the Ghost Eye Old Monster was once an eighth-level Golden Core cultivator, but in order to obtain the third-level Golden Essence Technique, he dispersed his cultivation and started over..."

"And his current cultivation level..."

Lin Chen examined him carefully, but even with his ability to observe qi, he couldn't completely see through the Ghost Eye Old Monster's cultivation level.

Judging from this, it should be the late stage of Core Formation...

"Tsk tsk, it's only been a few years, and he's already back to the late stage of Core Formation... It seems the advantage of rebuilding after dispersing one's cultivation is extraordinary."

"However, judging from its appearance, it should only be a seventh-level Golden Core, not yet an eighth-level Golden Core."

Lin Chen thought to himself.

Although he only managed to cultivate to the seventh level of the Golden Core stage, the quality of Ghost Eye Old Monster's Golden Core reached the ninth grade.

Therefore, his strength is probably even greater than it was five years ago, and he may even be comparable to an ordinary ninth-level Golden Core cultivator...

"Heh, I might not have bothered to intervene if it were anyone else..."

"But that old monster with the ghostly eyes deserves to die!"

With this in mind, Lin Chen no longer hesitated and released his divine sense like a tidal wave.

At the same time, Lin Chen unleashed his true essence, enveloping twenty-one flying swords, and slashed directly at the Ghost Eye Monster on the battlefield.

……

At this moment, the battle between Ghost Eye Old Monster and Li Tianhan had reached a critical juncture of life and death.

Yes, Li Tianhan is dying.

Even though he possessed the Demon-Subduing Heavenly Thunder Body, drawing down heavenly lightning was extremely effective against the Ghost-Eyed Old Monster.

However, given the absolute difference in their cultivation levels, Li Tianhan was still completely suppressed.

At this moment, black energy swirled around his entire body. This black energy seemed to be formed from the resentment of ghosts and could greatly erode his true essence and magical power.

Li Tianhan's true essence, which had reached the third stage of Core Formation, had been largely consumed, leaving him barely able to hold on.

Large chunks of flesh and blood had disappeared from his chest, shoulders, and arms.

Several teeth marks with a black sheen remained.

It appears to have been eaten by an unknown wild beast.

"Heh heh, five years ago... weren't you very arrogant?"

"You still dare to attack me? How can you possibly look up to me now?"

The old monster with ghostly eyes uttered a childlike voice, but his tone was sinister and terrifying.

He still looked like a child, with the skin on the right side of his body as white and tender as a baby's...

But his left side, from his calf to his face, was covered with horrific old burn scars.

This is the indelible pain he suffered after the nuclear peace...

"Pooh!"

Li Tianhan slowly stood up, lowered his head, and smiled:

"Ghost Eyes, with your appearance, who can look up to you? If you were any shorter... I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to see you!"

"Hahaha~"

After saying this, Li Tianhan burst into laughter.

With Li Tianhan's height of just over two meters, Ghost Eye Child only reached his knees.

But at this moment, Li Tianhan was covered in blood and looked weak.

In comparison, the Old Monster with Ghost Eyes was completely at ease.

"Still being stubborn even when death is imminent?"

"Heh... but your physical body can't be wasted. After I annihilate your soul, I'll send your Demon-Subduing Thunder Body to the Puppet Hall to be made into a puppet!"

The old monster with ghostly eyes let out a sinister laugh, his voice chilling.

Immediately afterwards, he summoned a demon that lunged at Li Tianhan.

At this moment, the thought of suicide had already risen in Li Tianhan's mind.

Even if he dies, his body must not be turned into a puppet to aid the demonic path...

Thinking of this, Li Tianhan raised his palm, intending to summon heavenly lightning to strike him dead.

Just then...

Suddenly, he saw the twenty-one flying swords flying towards him at an extremely fast speed.

The light generated by the rapid movement of true essence even made Li Tianhan think he was hallucinating.

"Is it... just my imagination?"

Li Tianhan stared wide-eyed as the flying sword rapidly approached.

At this moment, not only Li Tianhan noticed the anomaly, but Ghost Eye Old Monster also sensed the fluctuations in his aura behind him.

Subconsciously, he pushed his protective true energy to its limit and summoned a Core Formation ghost to block his way.

The flying sword hurtled towards them, piercing through the defenses of the Ghost Core stage ghost with a single strike.

The three swords severely injured the Ghost Core stage ghost, and the seven swords killed the Ghost Core stage ghost.

A look of surprise flashed in the old monster's eyes. "Who...?"

However, the flying sword was too fast, and he had no time to stop it.

After the Ghost Core stage ghost he had painstakingly refined was killed, the Ghost Eye Old Monster's protective true essence rippled.

One sword, three swords, ten swords... fourteen swords!

The fourteen flying swords forced the Ghost Eye Old Monster to retreat step by step, forcing him to raise his protective true essence to block the flying swords from his body.

While Ghost Eye Old Monster was entangled by the flying sword, Lin Chen made his move...

His figure moved like a ghost, instantly traversing a distance of a hundred feet.

He then grabbed Li Tianhan and ran three hundred feet away.

The entire movement was fluid and effortless; given Lin Chen's martial arts level, it didn't even take him a second to cover the kilometer.

"Cough cough~"

Li Tianhan, who was being held in Lin Chen's hand, coughed a few times, the air brought by his rapid running rushing into his throat.

Li Tianhan barely opened his eyes, and when he saw Lin Chen beside him, his face immediately lit up with joy.

"Fellow Daoist Xu! What are you doing here?"

Lin Chen frowned slightly as he looked at the listless Li Tianhan.

His injuries were too severe at this moment, and if he did not receive treatment soon, it would likely hinder his cultivation.

With this thought in mind, Lin Chen flicked his finger and several pills floated in front of him.

"We'll talk later, you should focus on healing your wounds first..."

Li Tianhan, realizing the urgency of the situation, quickly said:

"Alright! Fellow Daoist Xu, hold on for a moment... I'll fight this Ghost-Eyed Old Monster after I recover my strength!"

After saying that, Li Tianhan swallowed the pill, his eyes flashing with fierce fighting spirit.

Lin Chen slowly stood up, flew a hundred feet away, and faced the Ghost Eye Child directly.

"Hehe, Ghost Eye Old Monster. Long time no see... How have you been?" Lin Chen's voice was loud and clear, echoing for dozens of miles around.

Ghost Eye Old Monster activated his protective true energy and barely managed to knock all twenty-one flying swords away.

He looked at Lin Chen with a wary expression and said:

Who are you?

"How dare you interfere in the important affairs of my Puppet Hall!?"

Lin Chen sneered, but did not answer. He waved his hand and retrieved the twenty-one flying swords.

Lin Chen frowned slightly after seeing the gap in the flying sword.

These flying swords were, after all, only top-grade magical artifacts, and were ultimately somewhat insufficient to deal with the Ghost Eye Old Monster.

Ghost Eye Old Monster also noticed this and grinned maliciously:

"Heh heh, your sword control is indeed quite impressive; you're qualified to fight me..."

"But now that your flying sword is destroyed, let's see what you have to fight me with!"

Having said that, the old monster with ghost eyes patted the gourd at his waist, and two streams of purple mist emerged from it.

In an instant, two more ferocious ghosts and beasts at the Ghost Core stage appeared, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws behind Ghost Eye Old Monster.

The two evil spirits were extremely terrifying, with blue faces and fangs, bodies over ten feet tall, their bodies shrouded in black and purple aura, their aura unfathomable.

"A mere twenty-one high-grade magical artifacts..."

Lin Chen chuckled to himself.

With a wave of his hand, he took out twenty-one throwing knives from his storage artifact.

Compared to flying swords, Lin Chen is more skilled with knives, which is inseparable from his learning of the sword-wielding technique.

These twenty-one top-grade magical throwing knives are exactly the same in style and appearance.

When Ghost Eye Old Monster saw the newly produced throwing knife, his pupils suddenly contracted.

High-grade magic artifacts are nothing special to Core Formation cultivators.

However, the twenty-one throwing knives were now a complete set, and when used to perform the Spirit Control Technique, their effectiveness was greatly enhanced.

"Ha...so what if you have throwing knives?"

"I, Ghost Eye, have roamed Qingzhou for hundreds of years, and have never feared anyone!"

The old monster with the ghostly eyes sneered, then commanded two blue-faced, fanged demons to pounce on Lin Chen.

Lin Chen remained calm and unfazed. With a wave of his hand, twenty-one throwing knives were unleashed once more, engaging the two evil spirits in battle.

Ghosts exist between reality and illusion, and ordinary methods cannot harm them in the slightest.

However, the cultivator's true essence can harm the ghost, coupled with the advantage of the throwing knife.

In an instant, the two powerful ghosts at the Ghost Core stage were firmly suppressed by the flying knife.

Seeing this, the old monster with ghostly eyes frowned deeply. "This spirit control technique is really quite troublesome..."

After saying that, Ghost Eye Old Monster took off his clothes, revealing his upper body covered in scars.

Half of his body was burned, while the other half was fair and tender, making him look even more horrifying.

But on that skin, there were also several evil spirits tattooed.

These evil spirits were the result of hundreds of years of accumulation and painstaking refinement by the Old Monster of Ghost Eyes.

It is a natal ghost!

"Our souls are bound together, and the spirits of the underworld obey our commands!"

"Swamp Demon, emerge!"

(One more chapter is under review, so it might be a little late.)

(End of this chapter)