Vampire Cultivation Notes

Chapter 220 The Crucible of Heaven and Earth: A Tale of Joy and Sorrow

"Fight me. If you win, I will acknowledge the rules of the cave and head west. If you lose, you must properly escort my junior brother out. In addition, you must compensate me with this humble phoenix tree."

The man from the Blood God Sect wearing a mourning cap snorted coldly.

He was just about to see how the fight would end in mutual destruction.

After listening, Shan Quan looked up at the top of the paulownia tree and saw that the foreign cultivators sitting there were all greatly disturbed by the words of the Blood God Sect man. In the end, it was better to share than to exchange.

"As expected, without rules, there can be no order."

Dan Quan sighed and turned his head to ask for advice from those around him.

After some discussion, the cultivators of the Eastern Court disagreed, some saying it was possible and others saying it wasn't. They argued that instead of fighting, it would be better to activate the great formation directly.

Finally, Shan Quan sat back down, facing the other side of the paulownia tree canopy, and said, "If any of you fellow Daoists who have come from afar are willing, you may perform a magic ritual at this auspicious gathering, which is also perfectly acceptable."

This means they agreed.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Xue Shenzong Xiaojin chuckled softly, but did not say anything about sitting back down.

At this moment, several more of the visiting cultivators stood up and began to speak. Without rules, there can be no order; even a contest of magic needs a set of procedures.

After some discussion and debate, the two sides finally settled on a simple and straightforward rule: three rounds of one-on-one combat, with the one who wins the most rounds being the victor.

One side consisted of outside cultivators, who naturally mingled together as a single faction.

The other side is the cultivators from the Eastern Lands.

"—According to ancient records from the founding of the nation, the disciples of the Blood Heart Sect all possessed extraordinary abilities, and the first national teacher was virtually invincible below the Golden Core stage, single-handedly dividing the Eastern Demon Realm."

"These outside cultivators seem to have backgrounds similar to the former Blood Heart Sect, especially Chunyu Ju. Now that I understand, he comes from the Ruyi Sect, which destroyed the Blood Heart Sect's outer sect. I'm afraid he won't be easy to deal with in a one-on-one fight."

"Yes, a fight is inevitable later on—"

The number of cultivators in the Eastern Lands was small, and they felt great pressure within the region.

They had been out of contact with the outside world for too long. The predecessors who founded the country had all died, and the remaining descendants, even though they fought with second-tier demons for many years, did not know what level they were at compared to the outside world.

At this point, the decision was made to fight one-on-one, without using Dao soldiers or the formations and restrictions of the capital, which made the cultivators of the Eastern Lands quite uneasy.

The visiting cultivators, however, were much more relaxed at this point.

It's just a battle of wits with the local inhabitants of Dongtian, so there's no pressure to speak of. There aren't even enough spots to go around.

Among them, one was a man from the Blood God Sect wearing a mourning cap, because he took the initiative and secured a spot. The other was Chunyu Ju, which was a sign of respect for the Great Master.

The last one was the bearded man from the Furnace Sect in the southern part of Shenzhou, who snatched the spot and stepped out from the crowd.

"How can a contest of magic be measured? Let's see who comes to test their supernatural powers against me!"

The voice of the first man with the insect-like whiskers to step into the fray reached the group of cultivators from the Eastern Lands, and silence fell upon them.

After a moment of silence, Shan Quan spoke up: "So the cultivators outside who were talking about a contest of magic didn't mean a direct fight to the death, but rather a contest of supernatural abilities. If that's the case, then we were worried for nothing."

"Bowlers, you may go now."

It turned out that Shan Quan saw that the man with the insect-like whiskers was only at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, so he couldn't bully the weak. Therefore, he sent Hao Zheng, who was also at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment and whose cultivation of supernatural powers was the number one killer in the East Ten, to take action.

"Understood." Hao Zheng's face remained serious as he stepped forward from the crowd.

One is known outside as having the greatest killing power, and the other is known in the East as having the greatest killing power. The two are really matched.

Li Jieqing, standing nearby, returned to his seat, unsure of the outcome of the three matches.

It would be best if the Eastern Land could win, as this would maintain the last vestiges of order within the Blood Heart Cave Heaven and make it easier for him to continue searching for a way out.

If we lose —

Yeah, how could I lose? I'm both the referee and the player, how could I possibly lose?

Li Jieqing extended his divine sense outward, found the canopy of the humble phoenix tree, and arrived at the Taoist soldiers in the clouds.

"Yu Xingwu, send a message to the capital to order the great formation to be on high alert and await His Majesty's command."

"Yes."

Yu Xingwu was the head soldier of the Yu family in the Jiaxu Army. He had been fighting alongside Li Jieqing, the patriarch of the Yu family, in the Tongtian River for many years and never disobeyed orders.

Upon hearing this, he immediately left the Cloud Formation and went to the capital in person.

Having done all this quietly, Li Jieqing withdrew his divine sense and acted as if nothing was amiss.

On the canopy of the humble phoenix tree, only Chunyu Ju and Shan Quan, both Great Masters, noticed the slight movement, and their expressions differed.

No, there's also Li Zhu from the Dongtian Sect.

Li Jieqing's expression remained unchanged. He first cupped his hands to Shan Quan and Chunyu Ju respectively. Shan Quan nodded slightly in response, obviously agreeing with the arrangement. If they couldn't win, they would overturn the table and force the foreign cultivators to submit in order to protect the order of the Eastern Land.

After reaching an agreement, Li Jieqing observed the canopy of the sycamore tree for a while before relaying the message.

"—Is True Man Li Zhu from the Dongtian Sect?"

At this moment, Hao Zheng and the burly man with the bushy beard from the Furnace Sect had already exchanged greetings and started fighting, causing the canopy of the paulownia tree to sway.

Li Zhu protected himself and suddenly heard a voice transmission.

Upon seeing him, he saw Li Jieqing, who was standing in the other corner of the tree canopy, raising his cup and smiling as he approached.

Li Jieqing said, "I am a native of this grotto-heaven and am unaware of the affairs of the outside world. However, I have recently heard that the True Man Li Zhu's sect is a superior sect in the Divine Land, and that he cultivates the principles of ascension from the grotto-heaven. I wonder if he can teach me?"

There was no explanation for what had just been transmitted; it was simply a request for guidance.

Nowadays, all the foreign cultivators know that the Eastern Court is full of treasures, so Li Jieqing doesn't mind playing the role of a tycoon.

"My cultivation is shallow. I'm afraid that if Fellow Daoist Ning Rong were to gamble everything on this, it would only harm you."

Li Zhu had a handsome face. After thinking it over, he did not take the opportunity to ask for any information about the Blood Heart Cave. Instead, he bowed behind the table and declined.

"We people of the East know that the Blood Heart Grotto is about to collapse. It is better to die in ignorance than to die in ignorance," Li Jieqing said with an unchanged expression.

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Ning Rong," Li Zhu said. "I have already inspected the Blood Heart Grotto. The situation is complicated and difficult to explain in a short time. Perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope."

"Really?! In that case, please meet with Fellow Daoist Li Zhu privately after the meeting. Our Eastern Land will have something to offer you."

"this----"

Li Zhu had to admit that having the help of locals would greatly benefit his purpose in coming to Blood Heart Cave, so he finally nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Li Jieqing was satisfied.

It's best to consult a professional about some things.

If staying in Blood Heart Cave would mean certain death, then I would have to consider assassinating a certain outsider cultivator and then disguising my identity to leave.

Li Jieqing's gaze subtly swept over the seat of the man in the mourning cap from the Blood God Sect.

He himself cultivates the Blood Heart Sect's techniques, and it's widely known that the Blood Heart Sect and Blood God Sect were originally one family. He wonders if disguising himself as a member of the Blood Heart Sect will fool the Golden Core cultivators who will be guiding him from the outside world.

"Fellow Daoist Ning Ronggong, are you truly not worried about this duel?" Na Lizhu transmitted his voice again.

On the canopy of the sycamore tree, the two sides fought fiercely, displaying their extraordinary abilities.

One of them was the Eastern Land Blood Thunder Divine Power, called the [Two Qi Separating Wood Blood Thunder Technique]. Just the outward dissipation of the technique was enough to scorch the leaves of a near-third-tier paulownia tree. The scattered blood thunder spontaneously sought out the two groups of spectators sitting in front of them, only to be extinguished one by one. This made some early Foundation Establishment cultivators curse inwardly. Seeing that the others remained unmoved, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and stay in their seats.

Fortunately, the humble parasol tree also has the effect of repelling fire. A fine flame, as small as a mustard seed, burned from the crown of the tree all the way down to the branches below, yet its color remained undamaged.

"Fellow Daoist Li Zhu, there's no need for such polite address." Li Jieqing put one hand in front of him and said, "It's useless for us outsiders to worry. Success or failure is determined by those in the arena. If this True Person from the Furnace Sect has cultivation and supernatural powers that surpass ours, then we have nothing to say."

However, the supernatural power used by the giant with the insect-like whiskers also spread outwards. The fine flames burned the body on the surface and entered the body, making many onlookers restless and sweating profusely.

Li Jieqing's cultivation level was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, so he naturally couldn't withstand Li Jieqing's sharp edge.

Li Zhu, however, remained unresponsive. He scrutinized Li Jieqing for a moment and then laughed, "Fellow Daoist Ning Ronggong, you may not know, but that person used the Furnace Sect's [Heaven and Earth Furnace: Ode to Joy and Sorrow] divine power. When it is used, one uses oneself as a furnace to burn away all the resources entering the body, leaving not even residue, in exchange for a stream of true solar fire. This fire is unparalleled in power among those in the Foundation Establishment realm, and when it is born, it is accompanied by countless invisible and fine sub-flames, which are poisonous and can damage the body."

What a powerful, fiery sun!

If it weren't for the humble phoenix tree containing the power, the waters of the distant Tongtian River would probably have been boiled.

Even the many Foundation Establishment cultivators seated in the tree canopy were suffering greatly at this time. They could withstand the raging heat wave, but they were in agony from the dense, scorching flames that accompanied it.

If it weren't for the desire to maintain decorum, someone would have already left the room.

Li Jieqing spent twenty years on the front lines of the Tongtian River, absorbing the blood essence of 108,000 demonic beasts, and his physique had long since reached the second tier.

Saying it's equivalent to a mid-stage second-tier great demon might be a bit arrogant.

However, simply fighting against an ordinary second-tier demon beast with one's physical body, enduring a brawl for a while is not a problem.

Therefore, Li Jieqing was not particularly concerned about the aftermath of Hao Zheng and Chong Xu Dahan's battle. However, in order to maintain his early Foundation Establishment stage status, he wiped the sweat from his body with his sleeve.

"Fellow Daoist Li Zhu, does this [Heaven and Earth Furnace: Ode to Sorrow and Joy] have no weaknesses?" Li Jieqing asked with a sigh.

"Weaknesses are inevitable; no one is perfect, and no one is without flaws."

Li Zhu said, "Firstly, this supernatural power is difficult to harm the soul or consciousness, so we can still communicate freely through telepathy. However, our Divine Continent Underworld is different from the Four Seas and your blessed lands, such as Ning Rong Gong. There are often cultivators of the divine path who specialize in cultivating the soul and can overcome this supernatural power."

"Secondly, I have heard that the [Heaven and Earth Furnace Ode to Sorrow and Joy] is so powerful that it can easily injure the user if used for too long. That fellow Daoist from the Furnace Sect is a bit weak in cultivation and is not a Great True Person, so it is clear that he cannot use this divine power for long."

Your supernatural power specializes in extreme physical damage, and it's called the True Fire of the Sun—Li Jieqing felt the name sounded somewhat familiar.

That Shenzhou Furnace Sect must be a nuclear-free place.

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