Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

Just as Pan Feng'an unleashed his attack, Wu Fan's already formed "Shocking Divine Thrust" also shot out through the air.

Facing Pan Feng'an, who was unleashing the "Blood Fiend Slash," the black-robed cultivator did not expect to be able to stop the opponent's power-gathering with just his two powerful attacks.

While unleashing two deadly attacks in succession, he subtly moved his divine sense and immediately summoned the nearest Foundation Establishment mid-stage Xuan Yin corpse puppet back to his front to act as a meat shield. Then, a pitch-black giant shield, about ten feet tall, burst out of the air and stood steadily in front of him.

Even after doing all that, he was still uneasy and kept adding spiritual light shields to himself.

Just as the black-robed cultivator was busy stacking shields, the Blood Fiend Slash, carrying intense bloodlust and chilling energy, had already struck the Xuan Yin Corpse Puppet in front of him. The "Shocking God Thorn" was even faster, piercing straight into his sea of ​​consciousness.

A loud "Ah!" was heard, and the black-robed cultivator immediately clutched his head and screamed in agony as his body began to fall straight down.

At that moment, Pan Feng'an's Blood Fiend Slash actually cleaved open the body of the mid-Foundation Establishment Profound Yin Corpse Puppet, and at the same time split the ten-foot-tall pitch-black shield in two.

Even after breaking through two layers of obstruction, the power of this Blood Fiend Slash still remained undiminished, with more than half of its power still remaining. Carrying a terrifying and ferocious aura, it continued to slash down wildly.

In an instant, the black-robed cultivator who had just begun to fall had his upper body cleaved in two as if by an extremely sharp blade, with the two halves slowly separating in their respective directions.

Only a small piece remained hanging precariously in the air above her lower abdomen, creating a shocking and gruesome scene.

"Bang!"

"Thump~~~!"

A moment later, the body fell heavily to the ground, clearly dead beyond any doubt.

At this moment, Pan Feng'an also clutched his chest, breathing heavily as he collapsed to the ground, his eyes revealing a triumphant look of revenge.

"Great-grandfather, father, mother, younger brother, and all my clansmen... I have finally slain this beast and avenged you all!!!"

He looked up at the sky, a tear rolling down his cheek, and said sorrowfully.

After a few breaths, Pan Feng'an gradually composed himself, turned to look at where Wu Fan was hiding, and spoke indifferently:

"Fellow Daoist, come out. I know you are still there."

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure flashed out. Wu Fan, who had regained his original appearance, appeared a few feet away from Pan Feng'an, coldly staring at him.

Upon seeing who it was, Pan Feng'an's face first showed surprise, then immediately broke into a smile:

"It turns out that it was Junior Brother Wu who helped me kill this fellow. That's quite unexpected for me."

"Cough...cough cough...cough cough cough..."

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly clutched his chest and began coughing violently, coughing up some black blood.

Seeing this, Wu Fan wanted to help, but he didn't approach immediately. Instead, he took out a bottle of antidote pills from his storage bag and flew it straight at Pan Feng'an.

"I still have a few excellent antidote pills here. Although I can't guarantee they will completely neutralize the poison in your body, they can at least temporarily suppress it. If you trust me, Senior Brother Pan, you might as well try taking them."

Upon hearing this, Pan Feng'an smiled faintly, reached out and picked up the medicine bottle that Wu Fan handed him, uncorked it, and tilted his head back to pour it into his mouth.

A moment later, the pill began to take effect, and he immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and circulated his spiritual energy to heal his injuries.

About fifteen minutes later, Pan Feng'an suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a mouthful of black blood.

As he coughed up black blood, his face was no longer so pale, but the blood vessels in his neck had all turned black, indicating that the poison in his body had not been completely eliminated, but was only temporarily suppressed.

Seeing this, Wu Fan wanted to take out some other antidote pills from his storage bag, but Pan Feng'an stopped him:

"Junior Brother Wu, don't waste these top-quality pills anymore. The toxins in my body have already invaded my heart meridian, and no pill can save me now. I can only use my cultivation technique to seal the loss of life force and stabilize my soul with the cold yin energy in my body to prolong my life for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan sighed inwardly, looked up at Pan Feng'an, and said calmly:

"Senior Brother Pan, do you have any last words?"

Pan Feng'an did not respond immediately, but instead threw his head back and burst into loud laughter, a very hearty laugh:

"Now that my great revenge has been achieved and my wish has been fulfilled, I have no more worries. There is only one thing I hope Junior Brother Wu will do for me."

"Please speak, Senior Brother Pan."

Wu Fan replied coldly.

"It's nothing major, but I have a wish in my heart. After I die, I hope my body can be buried in my hometown. I wonder if you, junior brother, could make a trip there for me if you have the time in the future?"

Pan Feng'an stared straight at him, her eyes filled with expectation and a hint of pleading.

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan did not immediately agree. He paused for a moment before speaking:

"Okay, I promise Senior Brother Pan."

"Thank you, thank you, junior brother."

Pan Feng'an thanked him repeatedly, bowed slightly, and his tense brows relaxed a little, revealing a sense of relief in his eyes.

Immediately, he sent a telepathic message to Wu Fan.

Wu Fan listened intently to the other party's secret telepathic message, and a slight fluctuation finally appeared on his usually calm face.

Pan Feng'an actually came from the far west.

That region belonged neither to the Nine Provinces Alliance nor to the Ten Directions Alliance; it was a chaotic territory independent of both major powers.

The reason for this is not only that the area is a desert with extremely scarce cultivation resources, but also that vicious and desperate cultivators from various countries have fled here and settled in the area, making it a mixed and extremely dangerous place.

This remote place is thousands of miles away from the State of Chu, and Pan Feng'an's origins were beyond Wu Fan's expectations.

But what truly shook him was not this matter.

In the telepathic message just now, Pan Feng'an revealed another major secret.

He told him the address of a secret vault within the Xuan Yin Sect, where he came from, which had been sealed for a thousand years.

The wealth accumulated in this treasury is the culmination of over a thousand years of the Xuan Yin Sect's foundation.

After reading the information transmitted through divine sense, Wu Fan felt a slight unease.

Why would Pan Feng'an reveal such a top secret of his sect out of nowhere?

Is it a trap to lure him into a future scheme, or is there another motive, or is it a genuine gesture of goodwill?

For a moment, he couldn't tell.

"Senior Brother Pan, although I promised you that I would help send your body back to your hometown, it is just a small favor for me."

Besides, the storage bags you and that black-robed cultivator provided as a reward are more than enough.

Besides, who knows how many years it will take before this matter is fulfilled? Why would my senior brother tell me such a secret?

Could it be... that you, Senior Brother, do not resent me for not acting sooner to help you kill that black-robed cultivator?

"If I had acted then, you wouldn't have been poisoned and ended up like this."

Although Wu Fan's face remained calm, he was secretly on guard, staring at Pan Feng'an and asking questions.

"Hahaha...cough cough..."

Pan Feng'an laughed heartily, but then his injuries aggravated him, and he couldn't help but cough a few times. He looked at Wu Fan and said in a frank tone:

"Junior Brother Wu, there's no need to have any doubts. If we were in each other's shoes, I would have done the same and reaped the benefits. In fact, after successfully ambushing that guy, I would have immediately eliminated you to prevent any future trouble."

He paused briefly, his expression softening, revealing a hint of relief:

"I am telling you the secrets of the sect for two reasons. First, to repay my junior brother for helping me avenge my great grudge and settle my deep hatred. Second, I am the only one in the world who knows this. If I do not tell you today, the treasures accumulated by the Xuan Yin Sect over the years will be buried in the dust forever and never see the light of day again."

"Besides, Junior Brother, you also cultivate the 'Refining Spirit Technique' of my Xuan Yin Sect. In a sense, you are a member of my sect. Telling you this is not considered revealing it to outsiders. If you truly achieve great success in the future, you can also help my Xuan Yin Sect continue its legacy and carry it forward. Are you satisfied with this answer, Junior Brother Wu?"

After saying this, Pan Feng'an looked at Wu Fan with a slightly bitter smile on his face.

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan couldn't immediately discern the problem in the words, so he could only believe it for the time being.

"In that case, junior brother, it would be impolite of you to refuse."

Looking at Wu Fan's expression, Pan Feng'an knew that the other party did not completely believe his words.

But he no longer wanted to explain anything; he just felt physically and mentally exhausted.

The secret technique that had previously sealed away life force with Yin energy within the body was now slowly dissipating, and poison and Yin energy were beginning to spread throughout the body, with chills seeping into the entire body inch by inch.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and all he wanted to do was close his eyes and fall into a deep sleep.

Pan Feng'an immediately forced her eyelids open, looked at Wu Fan, and said with all her might:

"Junior Brother Wu, please be sure to bring my body back to my hometown..."

Upon hearing this, Wu Fan nodded and said:

"Don't worry, Senior Brother Pan. Although I'm not a good person, I will definitely keep my promise."

Upon hearing the other party's affirmative answer once again, Pan Feng'an's anxious heart finally settled down. His eyes slowly closed, his head drooped slightly, and he lost all life.

Upon seeing this, Wu Fan immediately released his divine sense to probe the corpse's aura. After confirming that it had been completely extinguished, he solemnly bowed three times to the corpse.

He immediately reached out and collected all of Pan Feng'an's and the black-robed cultivator's storage bags, magical artifacts, and all the items used for refining corpses.

The black-robed cultivator's corpse and Pan Feng'an's remains were placed separately into a storage bag and stored away.

Having done all this, Wu Fan didn't delay any longer and flew rapidly towards Babaoshan on his Crimson Flame Sparrow Spirit Sword.

......

There were still hundreds of miles to Babaoshan. Even if Wu Fan flew at normal speed, it would only take him an hour.

So he summoned Zhaofu, rode on its back, and used Zhaofu for transportation.

Taking advantage of this time, he began to examine the storage bags of Pan Feng'an and the black-robed cultivator.

It must be said that the harvest this time was quite substantial.

The total number of spirit stones in their storage bags was tens of thousands.

In particular, the black-robed cultivator's storage bag contained over three hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

Over the years, relying on the gang founded by Li Buhui's uncle, he must have plundered a lot of cultivators' property.

The two also had several spiritual artifacts in their storage bags, and a total of about twenty Qi Refining stage corpses.

Although Wu Fan didn't think much of these Qi Refining stage corpses, he was quite tempted by the remaining Foundation Establishment stage corpses of the two.

However, it's a bit of a pity:

Each Xuan Yin Corpse Puppet is imprinted with the unique divine consciousness mark of its creator.

Once the person who created it dies, the mark becomes like water without a source, unknown to anyone, and no one can control the corpse puppet anymore.

Even if a new divine consciousness imprint is forcibly injected into the Refining God Talisman inside its head, it will be of no use. It will only cause two conflicting imprints to coexist in the talisman, eventually leading to the collapse of the Refining God Talisman. The Xuan Yin Refined Corpse will then become an ordinary Refined Corpse without any spirituality.

Moreover, the Xuan Yin Refined Corpse, which was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, had already been cleaved in two by Pan Feng'an's Blood Fiend Slash. The remaining Blood Fiend Qi on the corpse was condensed and did not dissipate, remaining intense and terrifying even after a long time.

Fortunately, this was just a corpse being refined; if it were an ordinary cultivator, their life force would have been completely eroded long ago.

This shows that the Blood Fiend Slash is not only incredibly powerful, but its accompanying malevolent poison is also extremely terrifying.

This is why Wu Fan retrieved the black-robed cultivator's corpse instead of burning it directly.

He needs to carefully study the true power of the Blood Fiend Slash to understand himself and his enemy, so that he can have a better chance of winning when he uses this technique against his enemies in the future.

Although this mid-Foundation Establishment stage Xuan Yin refined corpse was damaged and could no longer be used even as an ordinary refined corpse, the black-robed cultivator still had two early-Foundation Establishment stage Xuan Yin refined corpses.

Even if the Refining Spirit Talismans on these two Xuan Yin Refined Corpses are destroyed, although the two Refined Corpses may not be able to retain the strength of the early Foundation Establishment stage, their strength will definitely be much stronger than that of the late Qi Refining stage Refined Corpses, and they will still be usable.

However, Wu Fan would not do that, nor could he do such a thing.

The reason was that one of the two bodies in front of him was his childhood friend Li Buhui, and the other was Li Buhui's second uncle.

Wu Fan never considered himself a kind person.

When facing an enemy, they never hesitate to use any underhanded or ruthless tactics, especially if they have captured a living enemy.

He would not hesitate to refine it into a Xuan Yin Corpse Puppet, not only to eliminate it completely and leave no future troubles, but also to ensure that it could never be reincarnated and would always be used by him.

But if the target is a friend or family member, he simply cannot bring himself to do it.

Those bottom lines in his heart are things he will never change, no matter how far he goes or how high his cultivation level becomes.

Therefore, he planned to take Li Buhui and his second uncle's remains back to their homeland, then immediately remove the spirit-refining talisman from their skulls, send their souls into reincarnation, and find a peaceful place to bury them properly.

In this way, all that was left were the two ordinary bronze-armored corpses left behind by Pan Feng'an.

One is in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and the other is in the late stage of Foundation Establishment; both are still quite powerful.

If he encounters another cultivator of the same level in the future, Wu Fan only needs to summon the two bronze-armored corpses together, plus Zhao Fu, to form a total of four Foundation Establishment warriors surrounding him.

There's no need to expend energy to activate any powerful and energy-consuming supernatural techniques; this power alone is enough to wear down the opponent to death.

He continued examining the remaining items and, among a jumble of miscellaneous items in the black-robed monk's storage bag, found an ancient silver ring and a fragment of a map.

Upon seeing these two items, Wu Fan's expression changed, revealing shock.

Without a second thought, he immediately took out an ancient bronze ring and a fragmented ancient map from his storage bag.

His gaze swept over the engraved patterns on the two rings, then compared the textures of the two fragmented images. His pupils contracted slightly, and he muttered to himself:

"The patterns on the rings are exactly the same, and the materials used in this fragment are also identical..."

"this......"