Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms

Chapter 459 Breakthrough in Qi Refining

Yunzhou Continent.

Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

The land is riddled with ravines, and even places one can reach require a detour of thousands or hundreds of miles.

Therefore, even cultivators who have not mastered the art of flight often need to ride on pack animals when traveling.

For long-distance migrations, it is even more necessary to ride a kind of "cloud ray" monster.

This type of monster is huge, adept at flying, and most importantly, has a docile temperament, making it extremely suitable for taming and soliciting customers.

At this moment, Fang Qing was sitting on a huge cloud ray, looking down at the ravine-covered loess land below.

Although this cloud ray is enormous, its demonic aura is only around the late stage of Qi Refining.

And, is it possible that there's a trace of that divine ray's bloodline in their ancestry? No, it doesn't seem to have any connection.

Dressed in a blue robe, he looked like a second-generation cultivator on a leisurely journey, observing everything with a sense of wonder.

"Young man, is this your first time traveling far from home? Our Cloud Ray is affiliated with the 'Yuan Beast Sect'... With a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge, the Yuan Beast Sect is naturally safe and secure."

Beside Fang Qing, a young man dressed in animal skins with an honest-looking face scratched the back of his head and spoke.

"Indeed, I am Fang Shui, this is my first time traveling, and I have not yet had the chance to ask for your guidance..." Fang Qing said with a smile.

"My name is Yuan Shen, a disciple of the Yuan Beast Sect..." The young man in animal skin bowed.

Fang Qing nodded, turned her head away, and didn't want to say anything more.

Seeing this, a female cultivator in a red dress next to Yuan Shen couldn't help but look indignant.

"Brother, are you planning a trip to 'Shoushan City'? I've heard that the Shoushan Stone there is not only incredibly hard, capable of forging second-tier Foundation Establishment spiritual artifacts, but also has the potential to yield the 'Heart of Shoushan,' a rare material for refining several longevity pills..."

Yuan Shen spoke eloquently, but seeing Fang Shui's indifferent expression, he immediately smiled to himself, sat down in his seat, and began to close his eyes to rest.

Not long after, a series of screams suddenly came from ahead.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that a dark cloud was rapidly approaching, containing countless strange and monstrous birds.

These demonic birds had no flesh or blood on their surface, revealing stark white bones, with feathers attached all around them, emitting wave after wave of sonic impacts.

They are a flock of wild, legless birds!

The cultivator piloting the cloud ray ahead cried out anxiously, "Oh no! They're too fast! My ray can't escape..."

Sure enough, the footless birds, upon seeing the cloud ray, swarmed around it as if it were prey.

The cloud ray is enormous, resembling a whale, but it has little offensive power, making it an excellent food source in the world of demon beasts.

Cultivators who open up the Cloud Ray route are most afraid of encountering this situation.

The only option now is to abandon the manta ray and break out separately before the bird without feet can surround us!

Yuan Shen stood up, emanating a surge of mana from the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and summoned a crimson shield to protect his entire body.

"Senior Brother Yuan, it's my fault. You all go first, I'll cover the rear..." The cultivator riding the cloud ray looked ashamed, and five bone blades appeared around his body, clearly preparing to cover the rear for everyone.

"Interesting. Did you and your junior sister lure this flock of legless birds? Did you use the 'Demon-Attracting Incense' you carried? You actually managed to blend this incense to be almost colorless and odorless, so that only the legless birds could sense it. Truly extraordinary..."

Fang Qing sighed, "And the purpose was to frame this junior brother from your sect?"

"You brat, how dare you sow discord?" Yuan Shen's original honest expression vanished instantly, replaced by a ferocious look.

"Hmm?" Fang Qing smiled. "Say it again."

"Yes...it was all my plan. The junior sister next to me is a second-tier incense refiner, and this 'Demon-Attracting Incense' is a family heirloom!"

Yuan Shen bowed and calmly explained his plan, causing his junior brother, who had been wielding a bone weapon and preparing to fight to the death, to look on with grief and indignation: "Senior Brother Yuan, you?!"

"Haha, I still prefer your unruly side." Fang Qing snapped his fingers, and Yuan Shen's forehead instantly broke out in a cold sweat. He hid to the side, not daring to look at Fang Qing again.

Fang Qing gazed at the encircling flock of legless birds and simply pointed. "Whoosh!" The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was drawn in, as if a phantom ocean had been irrigated by it.

The countless legless birds didn't even have time to utter a mournful cry before they were melted by the water-based spiritual energy, scattering into specks of white light that blanketed the heavens and earth...

With a wave of his hand, the beast tide vanished into thin air.

Upon witnessing this scene, Yuan Shen, his junior brothers and sisters, and many other cultivators were all stunned.

"Senior is... a Nascent Soul cultivator?" The most powerful cultivator Yuan Shen had ever met in his life was his own Nascent Soul ancestor. Although he felt that this person was even more unfathomable than his own ancestor, he still asked.

"And you..." Fang Qing looked at his junior brother who was riding the cloud ray: "Tell me about it..."

"Yes, I knew that Senior Brother Yuan Shen wanted to get rid of me, so I went along with it and bribed Junior Sister Hong Ling. Junior Sister Hong Ling comes from a family of incense makers. In addition to demon-attracting incense, she also has a dust-removing pill that can guarantee the elimination of body odor within several hours. If I want to cover my retreat, I will have a dust-removing pill to protect myself. At that time, Junior Sister Hong Ling will report Yuan Shen to the sect, and I will return to the sect as a meritorious hero. Then, no one will be able to compete with me for the status of inner disciple." The young junior brother said with a firm expression.

Yuan Shen glanced at his junior sister, who stood beside him dumbfounded, her face showing a broken heart.

Junior Sister Hongling remained silent, as if she were about to faint at any moment.

"Hehe...the myriad aspects of human nature are indeed a good show."

Fang Qing smiled: "However, what I saw today was not you, but this woman."

He then pointed to the 'Red Silk'. Although this girl also had the early Foundation Establishment stage, she had a talisman hidden in her dantian, which was so well concealed that even a Core Formation cultivator would have difficulty detecting it.

"Me?" Hongling pointed to herself and said with a wry smile, "Does Senior think this humble woman is fickle and promiscuous, and wants to punish evil and uphold justice?"

"What you do is your business, but I am quite interested in this remnant talisman within your body. You must have inadvertently become a 'medium' for some high-level cultivator to practice a certain secret technique... Your joys and sorrows will be transmitted to another being through the dantian talisman."

Fang Qing's eyes were deep and profound, like a secluded spring.

Hongling, however, suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion, unconsciously laughing and crying at the same time, tears streaming down her face.

Upon witnessing this scene, some of the other cultivators on the same train stayed to watch the show, while most left immediately, fearing they might get into trouble.

Before long, a Nascent Soul-level light appeared in the sky, and in just a few flashes, it arrived above the cloud ray: "Which fellow Daoist is playing this joke on me?"

"Ancestor?" Yuan Shen was stunned when he saw a tall, mature and charming woman in the light of the escape.

This was none other than the Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Yuan Beast Sect!

Furthermore, his cultivation level was not just at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, but had reached the peak of the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and was only one step away from becoming a late-stage Grand Master.

What have I done to deserve this? How could I have gotten involved in such a conspiracy? He and his junior brother exchanged a glance. The two, who were originally enemies and wished each other dead, now felt a sense of sympathy for each other.

"Fellow Daoist? Who is your fellow Daoist? You want to use evil methods to break through the bottleneck of the late Nascent Soul stage... How many people have you killed?" Fang Qing said calmly.

"You...you are not a cultivator from the Yunzhou Continent."

Just then, the graceful woman's expression suddenly changed.

Because her divine sense swept over him, she felt that Fang Qing was completely "empty". If it weren't for what she could see, she would have thought that he didn't exist. "Transformation... Transformation God Venerable?" The Yuan Beast Ancestor cried out in despair, and his escape light split into four, flying away in all directions.

"Heh." Fang Qing sneered, slightly raising his hand, and a stream of water-based divine light converged, catching up with the four beams of light.

In an instant, the physical body of this mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator was destroyed, leaving only his Nascent Soul, which he grabbed in his hand.

The Yuan Beast Sect has an ancient heritage, and this secret technique is quite interesting.

Perhaps they know some ancient secrets.

He gently put the nascent soul into his sleeve, glanced at the few cultivators present, and his figure instantly vanished.

"I...I actually survived?"

After a long while, Yuan Shen touched his own body, his face full of relief.

"Senior Brother Yuan... With the Ancestor destroyed, the destruction of our Yuan Beast Sect is likely not far off. Farewell."

The junior brother who was riding the cloud ray bowed and transformed into a streak of light, retreating without any hesitation.

Yuan Shen, looking at his junior sister Hong Ling beside him, whose face was pale and who seemed to have just experienced a nightmare, was speechless...

Several days later, news spread secretly among some Nascent Soul sects in Yunzhou Continent that a Nascent Soul cultivator was traveling around.

As a result, those Nascent Soul disciples and direct descendants disappeared without a trace, and the atmosphere of the entire cultivation world improved significantly. Even Tribulation Cultivators reduced the frequency of committing crimes outside the home.

A cave.

Fang Qing casually tossed it aside, and the nascent soul turned to ashes without even uttering a wail.

In his hands was a secret technique called "Seven Emotions of Parting Talisman," which was the very technique he had used in the previous mid-stage Nascent Soul stage.

Although it is an evil art, it seems that since the right path is blocked, it has turned to a side road.

"Tracing back to the source, I came across a rather interesting ancient method, which almost seems to be the rudimentary form of Taoist supernatural powers..."

"It seems that although the cultivation method has been eradicated in this world, there are still some commonalities in the end."

"Huh?" Just then, Dao Shengzhu sensed something.

"Xu Hei... succeeded?" Even with my guidance and a top-tier Purple Mansion spiritual object, the mere supernatural power 'Rebirth Soil' was bound to succeed.

"But it seems... a bit too fast?" Fang Qing wondered and immediately asked Xu Hei.

"Young Master, I also have some doubts. I clearly felt that it would take ten years of hard work to elevate my supernatural powers, but suddenly the Earth Deity Heavenly Mechanism activated, which was like a sudden enlightenment for me, catalyzing the achievement of my supernatural powers in one fell swoop," Xu Hei replied.

"A hidden scheme involving the Earth element?" Fang Qing's mind raced. "Xu Hei cultivates 'Rebirth Earth'! What imagery does this resonate with? Is a certain Earth Element True Lord reborn in the Pure Land? Or is the Kitchen God plotting some conspiracy with the Yin Corpse Sect and those two from Moyun Cliff?"