Cultivation: Beginning with the Heart Reflecting Heaven and Earth

The surrounding area, spanning dozens of miles, is considered part of the Holy Land's designated territory, and generally, there are no monsters attacking there. However, this is not absolute, and dangers can occasionally arise, so caution is still necessary.

Fortunately, the mass grave mountain range they went to was located directly north of their base, so it wasn't too far.

They had traveled less than a hundred miles when the three of them saw a faint gray-white mist in front of them and immediately realized that they had arrived at the Burial Mountain Range.

Mu Xue said somewhat impatiently, "Why don't we use a flying boat to come here? That would be much faster."

She originally thought that the Burial Mountain Range was very close to the Black Abyss Forest, and that she could reach it in just a few steps, so she didn't think of using a flying boat. Later, as she was rushing along, she became a little impatient and wanted to use the flying boat several times, but Mu Dong refused each time.

Upon hearing Mu Xue's words, Mu Dong merely glanced at her before speaking calmly, "There's a reason why you can't use the flying boat. Every demonic beast here has its own territory, including the sky. Have you noticed those Foundation Establishment cultivators who returned to the Black Abyss Forest? Even they aren't flying in the sky, so what gives you the right to use a flying boat?"

"Unless it's a truly dangerous situation, then you can disregard everything and do whatever makes it easier to escape."

Lu Qian listened from the side and nodded secretly. Mu Dong's thoughts were similar to his. This place was full of poisonous insects and monsters, so there was no reason why there wouldn't be any in the sky.

As for Foundation Establishment cultivators not flying in the sky, Lu Qian didn't recall much about it. He had been in seclusion refining pills for the past two days and hadn't thought about that yet.

A gentle breeze blew by, carrying a faint, putrid stench. Mu Xue couldn't help but shiver. "So cold!"

Seeing that Mu Dong and Lu Qian were looking at her, she gave an awkward smile. "It does seem a bit cold!"

Lu Qian nodded. "It is indeed a bit cold and damp. The Black Abyss Forest is humid and sultry, but when we got to the Burial Mountain Range, the temperature dropped a lot."

That's what he said, but in reality, he didn't feel it very clearly, because the coldness wasn't to the point of harming his body. After all, he had cultivated the Star Undying Body, so a little bit of cold was nothing to him.

Mu Dong then spoke up, saying, "Although most of the Western Continent is relatively humid and hot, there are also some places that are extremely cold. The Chaotic Burial Mountains are nothing compared to the Thorn Frost Ridge, where water freezes instantly! The Holy Land has waited so many years before considering conquering the Western Continent, and there are naturally reasons for that."

"Stop talking and let's get started!"

When Mu Xue saw Lu Qian and Mu Dong talking, she immediately became impatient. The main reason was that it was not only cold here, but also had a stench of corpses. She was already regretting coming to the Burial Mountain Range.

Lu Qian nodded with a smile, then a faint light flickered in his left eye, almost imperceptible unless one looked closely. In his vision, a small mound in front of him was trembling incessantly, with clumps of grayish-black energy seemingly surging upwards.

After confirming the location, Lu Qian reached out and unleashed a wind blade, shattering a patch of soil. The creature inside was startled and stood up unsteadily. A human figure could be vaguely discerned, its clothes tattered and covered with pieces of rotting flesh, with bones even exposed in some places.

From a distance, Lu Qian immediately released a palm lightning bolt, instantly cleaving the corpse in front of him in two.

The corpse didn't even move; it simply turned into a pile of bones and completely lost its life force.

If the corpse's body had simply been cut in two, it could have struggled a bit more. But Lu Qian used Palm Thunder, which was the most effective at suppressing these evil creatures. It instantly shattered the corpse's evil aura, and thus the corpse was eliminated.

"So weak!"

Mu Xue couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, then she chuckled and said, "It's only because Brother Lu's timing was so precise that he could kill with a single blow!"

Mu Dong raised his hand and tapped Mu Xue on the head, scolding, "Speak properly!"

He then explained, "This is just the outermost edge of the Burial Mountain Range. This corpse is also the lowest level of earth-born corpse. In life, it was usually just a dead mortal, which is why it is so vulnerable."

Lu Qian was speechless. Mortals are just too inferior!

Even if you become a corpse refiner, you're still inferior!

Mu Xue asked curiously, "How could a mortal get here? They shouldn't have that ability, right?"

The Western Continent is fraught with danger. When Lu Qian and his group arrived, they encountered some poisonous insects, but they were easily dealt with.

For an ordinary person, crossing the Black Abyss Forest, which stretches for dozens of miles, would be an extremely dangerous endeavor, with only one chance of survival.

Mu Dong sighed, "Because this place is a natural place for raising corpses, with the earth's veins and yin energy deep within, it naturally attracted the attention of evil cultivators. So they drove mortals here and slaughtered them, filling this place with the resentment of countless wronged souls and the stench of decaying corpses, making this place even more suitable for raising corpses."

"Therefore, the outermost corpses are relatively weak because they were mortals in life, without magic power or body refinement. Even after becoming corpses, they are not very powerful. Even disciples in the early stage of Qi Refining can easily deal with them, as long as they are careful not to get infected with the corpse poison."

"Our real enemies are the corpses that evil cultivators have placed here, as well as the corpses that cultivators have transformed into after their deaths. Many evil cultivators raise corpses here, intending to retrieve them once they have reached a certain level of maturity. However, many evil cultivators never return, leaving their corpses behind. And then more evil cultivators continue to refine corpses here, so the number of corpses here keeps increasing."

"What we need to do is eliminate these reanimated corpses as much as possible, but we can't go too deep! It is said that there are reanimated corpse cultivators in the depths of the Chaotic Burial Mountains. Fortunately, they don't show themselves easily, so we just need to be careful."

Lu Qian looked at the fallen corpse and asked, "Even the lowest-level corpse seems to be worth a little Dao cultivation. What should we do next?"

"Killing these refining corpses and taking their teeth or corpse cores will prove your achievements and earn you Dao merit. However, low-level refining corpses generally don't have corpse cores, so taking their teeth is sufficient."

Mu Dong was always very patient at times like this, with a smile on his face. "But don't even think about trying to pass yourself off as someone else! The auras of different strengths and different corpse refinements are also different. People from the Holy Land can tell at a glance. It won't be easy to fool them!"

Lu Qian said helplessly, "Brother Mu, you're overthinking it. I wouldn't do that!"

"Don't bother with such a small amount of Taoist skill, it's disgusting!"

Mu Xue frowned and looked into the distance. "We should go deeper and hunt down even more powerful zombies! Otherwise, how will we get enough battle merits to share?"

Lu Qian and Mu Dong naturally had no objections, and they continued to venture deeper into the Chaotic Burial Mountains, soon having traveled dozens of miles.

The lowest-level earth-born corpses are rarely seen here anymore; most are rotting skeletons, with emaciated bodies, clearly visible bones, and extremely tough skin and flesh. They exude a toxic fumes of decaying bones, and getting too close can easily expose you to the fumes, corroding your flesh.

However, these so-called rotting corpses have no intelligence. The only problem is the rotting poison gas on their bodies. Against Lu Qian's lightning whip, they can be taken down one by one without much effort.

Even the teeth of a rotten corpse have some value, since killing one rotten corpse earns ten points of Dao power. Even Mu Xue would frown as she collects the teeth of a rotten corpse.

Evil creatures at the late stage of Qi Refining are not so easy to deal with. Even though the battle merits gained from defeating a late-stage Qi Refining evil creature are ten times that of a Corpse Rotting Corpse, killing ten Corpse Rotting Corpses is much easier than killing a late-stage Qi Refining evil creature.

Even for disciples of the Holy Land who are at the late stage of Qi Refining, it is difficult to kill evil creatures at the late stage of Qi Refining at will. If they want to gain enough battle merits, they will probably have to focus on killing evil creatures at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

The reason is simple: where there are late-stage Qi Refining evil creatures, there are often a large number of late-stage Qi Refining evil creatures. Once surrounded, it is very dangerous. And to find a lone late-stage Qi Refining evil creature takes time and may encounter other dangers along the way, so it is not an easy task.

Lu Qian and his group were searching for scattered late-stage Qi Refining corpses on the outskirts of the Chaotic Burial Mountains. If they went deeper into the Chaotic Burial Mountains, they would definitely find them more easily, but they might also encounter Foundation Establishment level corpses, which would be beyond their ability to handle.

If it's someone like Lei Yunxing, whose lightning magic is effective against evil spirits, and with Xiong Kaishan providing protection, he should be able to handle things more easily, but he still needs to be careful not to get surrounded.

In addition, just as lightning magic can restrain evil spirits, evil spirits are also very sensitive to the aura of lightning magic, and may take the initiative to seek out Lei Yunxing, putting him in danger.

One of the main reasons Lu Qian and his group decided to come to the Chaotic Burial Mountain Range was that the corpse refiners were basically mindless, which made it easier for them to adapt to combat and also made it easier for them to take care of Lu Qian.

If the same method is used to deal with demons and evil cultivators, it is easy to be caught off guard and fail miserably.

Evil cultivators definitely have brains; they also know how to use tactics, traps, and formations.

Among the demonic beasts, there are also intelligent individuals, at least not mindless corpses. They also hunt cultivators in groups, and are fearless of death, easily overwhelming any cultivators they surround.

Mu Dong lowered his voice, "Look around and see if there are any late-stage Qi Refining corpses!"

Along the way, Lu Qian always managed to discover the corpses one step ahead. Mu Xue and Mu Dong knew that Lu Qian had cultivated a pupil technique that allowed him to see the corpses hidden underground. Whenever they arrived at a new place, they would ask Lu Qian to take a look first.

This is also an ability that Lu Qian deliberately exposed. He is just a burden in this team, so he still needs to show some value in order to feel at ease.

Anyway, after his eyesight was opened, he could always see things that others couldn't see. Finding the corpse hidden underground was a waste of his talents.

Under Lu Qian's left eye's gaze, there was nothing unusual around him, only some rotting corpses. He shook his head, "Let's find another place!"

Mu Dong didn't say much and immediately walked ahead, venturing a little deeper into the Chaotic Burial Mountain Range, but only a few hundred meters further.

They are now roughly on the edge of the central part of the Chaotic Burial Mountains. If they venture a few dozen miles further in, they might never return.

When Mu Dong stopped, Lu Qian looked around and suddenly spotted a murky, grayish-black aura hidden in the flat ground, carrying a heavy, metallic feel. He immediately pointed and exclaimed, "Over there!"

With a wave of his hand, Mu Dong released a long sword burning with icy blue flames, which simultaneously radiated both heat and coolness, a seemingly contradictory yet perfectly integrated force.

He manipulated the Ice Flame Blade, quickly arrived at the spot Lu Qian pointed to, and used all his magic power to slash downwards fiercely!