Chapter 1388
Chang'a
Chapter 1388 Chang'a
He was confident, after all, this so-called Yin energy was nothing more than a tool that needed to be prepared. Therefore, when he uttered those two words, he carried an undeniable certainty, which left Cheng Qian stunned.
'This is…'
Looking at the real person in front of him, he was speechless for a moment—he had only seen this tone and this sentiment in his own master, Xian Yao!
Li Ximing ignored him, handed over the cultivation technique, and then took out the sword from his sleeve. It was a bright red sword, and holding it in his hand, it exuded an aura of power and wonder that captivated all who beheld it. He then smiled and said:
"Chengqian—and this treasure, it was chosen by Que Wan and left for you. It can not only protect your life, but also enhance your transformation abilities..."
Chengqian blushed slightly as she listened, raised her head, sighed deeply, and said:
"Senior! That's too much! Chengqian can't accept it!"
The Li family watched him struggle, but he didn't care at all about the time he wasted and the damage he caused to his foundation... All he cared about was seeking the Dao, and once he continued his path, that was enough. How could he dare to accept treasures!
He resolutely pushed the sword back, and said with a wry smile:
"Your Excellency's kindness is truly appreciated, and I am willing to serve you with utmost loyalty. However, I, a disciple of Guoling Peak, am by no means shameless. Please take it back!"
Seeing that the person before him was still hesitating, Chengqian sighed:
"If you are so stubborn, I really dare not stay on the lake any longer!"
Li Ximing hesitated, glanced at him a few times, and then, considering that he wouldn't need to engage in much combat within the formation, he had another thought. He put the item away, flipped his hand to take out the spiritual object, and said:
"Alright... You don't need it now... but you can't do without these cultivation items!"
Before the person in front of him could retort, Li Ximing said solemnly:
"King Wei is waiting to use your two supernatural powers!"
These words immediately shut the other party up. Li Ximing didn't say anything more and took off in the blink of an eye, giving him no chance to argue. Cheng Qian had to guard Xuan Tao and couldn't get away, so he could only sigh helplessly.
So they opened the jade box and saw the radiant light of the spiritual object. It was a type of precious soil called "Wandering Treasure Soil," which had the effect of nurturing and strengthening the body. It was also sealed with gathered wood spiritual resources, and it looked like something that could replenish one's foundation.
'Not only does it save a lot of time, but with this, the next cultivation foundation might be easier to refine... Such thoughtful consideration...'
Cheng Qian was speechless. He sat down uneasily, holding the jade box in his hands, gazing at the spiritual object inside, his expression complex, and let out a long sigh:
'He who would not hesitate to seek small gains has grand schemes; his kindness exceeds his actual virtue—how can I repay him? I, Lian… am but a mere official with power and my own life…'
Chengqian was filled with complex emotions in the lake, while Li Ximing had already ridden away in the light and returned to the mountains—where a true immortal had been waiting for a long time, but had been delayed by the funeral and had not been able to meet him for a long time.
As they descended the mountain, they indeed saw a man in black standing amidst a shower of white blossoms. His face was filled with trepidation, a mixture of joy and worry. Upon seeing them, he quickly stood up and exclaimed with delight:
"Fellow Daoist Zhaojing! Fellow Daoist Zhaojing! It's been a long time!"
Li Ximing chuckled.
This person was none other than the demonic cultivator from the south—Master Luo Zangmulu.
On the day of the great battle in the desert, he had contributed some of his strength, but when he saw the balance of power tip and a great master from the Western Shu appear, he was so frightened that he fled far away. He ran a long way, but when he looked back, he saw the bright sun shining in the sky, and he immediately smiled and rode the wind back.
Unable to gauge the temperament of the King of Wei, he dared not advance and waited patiently until Li Ximing headed south, at which point he eagerly approached him.
The other party's tone was quite intimate, clearly with an intention to please him. Li Ximing didn't feel much resentment. Although the other party ran away quickly when the situation was unfavorable, it still took some time and cost them a lot.
Li Ximing, of course, understood that the other party was also there for personal gain. Although he didn't particularly resent him, he still maintained his airs and said:
"Oh! Master Luo has returned!"
Master Luo chuckled dryly and said:
"You've misunderstood, Master... When I saw the Great Master make a move, I headed south to seek help from the Chen family..."
"... "
Li Ximing, too lazy to pay attention to his clumsy excuses, shook his head helplessly and said:
"I heard that you damaged some of your magical artifacts, fellow Daoist?"
"Absolutely!"
Upon hearing this, Master Luo immediately perked up, and despair instantly settled on his old face as he said:
"My powerful cauldron, after being besieged for a long time, was finally destroyed by Xuan Lei. That's fine... after all, the nobles and I have a deep friendship, so this is nothing... but my perfectly good demonic robe... was also fundamentally damaged by him!"
So he pulled out a fragment from his sleeve and took the Thousand-Eyed Demon Robe—the eyes were no longer visible on the top of the garment, and it was emitting black smoke that smelled acrid and foul.
"After all, it's Xuan Lei!"
Li Ximing wasn't surprised. Immortal cultivators were easily damaged by lightning, let alone someone whose methods of refining were hardly honorable. He shook his head and said:
"You bastard... you insist on using demonic methods to crash into the Xuan Lei. If you don't get hurt, whose will you get hurt?"
"The situation was urgent, and there was no other way..."
Seeing that the other party remained calm and subtly revealed his intentions, Master Luo was not ashamed. He smiled shamelessly and whispered:
“Fellow Daoist Zhaojing! I am penniless. Over the years, I have traveled around and amassed some resources, but it is only enough for my own needs. I have not earned a single penny more. Now I am a wanderer, no longer the ruler of this place, and I have nowhere to use those evil methods. To tell you the truth... I am here in order to find a way to clear my name and go abroad to live a carefree life…”
Li Ximing already knew about this and secretly plotted against it:
'Treasures are easy to distribute but hard to obtain. These things need to be given to the immortals and Zhou Wei's children; after giving them all away, there won't be much left for ourselves.'
Although the family is large and wealthy, at present, there are only three spiritual artifacts left. The [Disaster Averting Sword] is absolutely not to be given away. The remaining treasures are 'Horn Wood' and 'Water of Kan', but neither of them are good.
The Li family also has a considerable number of unused magical artifacts in its own inventory:
'The Crimson Axe left behind by Gongsun Bei, the Fire Sword captured in the desert years ago, and most importantly... the Wood Gathering Spiritual Artifact that Que Wan and others obtained from the Sun family after the King of Wei's great victory over the Shu people the other day, and the Jade True Spiritual Artifact that they obtained from the Qiu family...'
He didn't know the details of that great battle, only that Ping Yan had protected all the cultivators and helped them retreat, and that the Shangguan clan's True Person had also held them off for quite some time... Since the person before him wasn't truly his own, Li Ximing immediately became stingy, only taking out a small blue pot from his sleeve and smiling:
"Would you dare accept anything from the Sun family?"
"Why don't you dare!"
Master Luo chuckled and said:
"You've forgotten... the True Man of Baiyang Mountain... is my dearest friend! What's so difficult about that? Just ask him to melt and transform it, and then recreate it!"
Now that his family was wealthy, Li Ximing was too lazy to deal with these things. It was also a good opportunity to repay a favor. He delivered the gifts to Luo Zhenren and gave him a portion of spiritual funds as compensation. Luo Zhenren held the gifts and looked at them over and over. Although they were not much, he was not disappointed. He just nodded repeatedly.
So he decisively stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and bowed:
"I'm heading overseas now. I originally chose a place in the East China Sea, but the outer seas were too barren, so I picked a piece of land in the West China Sea. It's not too bad, located in the Abbasid Caliphate... If you have the chance, you can come and catch up. Farewell!"
'Arabia?'
Li Ximing's heart stirred slightly:
'Yes… After Qingyan's fall, there should have been a vacant area. That Yangya place is nearby, not too far from the sea, so it's not too barren…'
He escorted the demonic cultivator all the way out, watching him disappear into the horizon. Li Ximing rummaged through his storage bag and saw the crimson sword again, but something came to mind:
'Back then, I was always thinking about the spiritual artifact tailored for Que Wan, and I almost went after Ding Yangzi. I was secretly worried that he didn't understand the complete elixir, so I postponed it. I didn't expect that after these two or three raids on the Central Plains, he now has a complete set of spiritual treasures. We can save this expense, and use a few complete elixir-making spiritual items for other purposes...'
After all, no matter how much people in later generations refine weapons, it is difficult to compare with spiritual treasures. And the complete spiritual pills are not like other things. Once they are used, they are gone forever. This is good news. He almost stepped over a huge pit. He felt much more relaxed. He descended in the light, took out a jade slip, and placed it on the table.
This is, however, a cultivation technique.
The "Sutra of Severing, Killing, Burning, and Extinguishing" leads to the attainment of "complete severing and burning"!
There are many techniques for cultivating fire, and his family already possesses the "Chongming Guangming Huo Jing" (Scripture of the Double Bright Fire), which is extremely profound and can achieve the "Ninefold Hexagram," a divine power that Li Jiangqian is currently preparing to break through. He had prepared enough energy long ago and took it with him to the north.
These two items from Li Ximing were, of course, prepared for Li Jiangqian's next supernatural power—this one was connected to Chengqian's lineage and would take more than four hundred immortal cultivation points in total.
This amount, which used to be quite substantial, only made Li Ximing raise an eyebrow. The reason was simple: even if he used these four hundred or so, he still had more than seventeen hundred immortal cultivation techniques in his own pavilion!
'Minghuang has been sweeping across various regions recently, but he hasn't killed many Buddhist cultivators. Among them, there was only one figure from the Great Desire Path, far from enough to warrant such a large-scale attack…'
He only needed a moment to think it over before he made a plan.
'You've done a great job!'
The words of the fairy maiden in the pavilion still echoed in my ears. Calculating the gap here, it must be filled from here!
"The Daoist tradition is powerful, but its Qi is difficult to gather. It requires the Qi of 'burning and refining,' extracted from the various changes, rises and falls of the 'fire,' often taking five or ten years. If Jiang Qian were to encounter Can Zi by then, he would fail more than once. If this cultivation method doesn't gather Qi beforehand and prepare several copies, he'll likely be in a panic when the time comes!"
At present, only Li Quewan's supernatural abilities are still undecided, but there is no rush. After all, he wants to prepare the best for him in everything, and naturally, Jin Shu is the best choice. In the end, he will probably have to ask Jin Yitou.
'The complete golden book of alchemy has four chapters, and the pavilion contains a copy of the "Mercury-Mercury-Lead Restoration Chapter." It would be best if they could complement each other…'
After settling everything, he calculated the time and realized that the Divine Body couldn't have been cultivated so early. Thinking of his senior, he rose into the light and headed towards Li Suining's cave.
'He has been cultivating his foundation for a long time, and now that his celestial realm is nearing completion, his opportune moment is approaching!'
...
Dayang Mountain.
Mount Dayang is a high and undulating mountain. Although it does not cover a large area, it is the place where the Middle World Honored One perished. Therefore, it has countless wonders and is extraordinary. It can be said to be a mountain, but it is also a world and a land.
Within this mountain, there is a dark, gloomy fog, with various temples enshrining different kinds of deities, some sealed off and others brightly colored, extremely mysterious. At the very bottom, there are three prisons.
These are the [Chang'a Prison] and [Tuoyan Prison], which are used to imprison heretics, release enemies, and release the guilty. Below them is the [Cormorant Nose Prison], which was once the place where the Middle Buddha imprisoned demons. It is said that there were countless demons there, and cultivators from all four major demonic paths entered the prison. There was even a demon lord named Yin Chi in the [Wusheng Xixiang], who was later converted by the Dharma Image and thus became nothing.
In the Chang'a Prison, there are many prisons, which imprison all the evildoers in the eyes of Buddhist monks... Each prison has its own calamities. After traveling all the way to the central part, one finally sees a dark and gloomy little prison.
The place was dimly lit, with a small blue cauldron in the center. Beside the cauldron knelt a headless body. At first glance, one could see that the cauldron was filled with boiling oil, and a spherical object was rolling around inside.
This thing was about the size of a human head, covered with a uniform golden-yellow charred crust, with occasional glimpses of snow-white skull. The dents were filled with white scum, and occasionally some flesh would ooze out, revealing that it was just a head!
Then they heard someone shouting outside:
"Five eyes! Five eyes!"
Then something vaguely opened and closed; as soon as it opened, hot oil rolled in, filling the room with countless tiny bubbles, and it said haltingly:
"Lord Tu! You still have five eyes... but my family has the means to redeem me?"
This head belongs to none other than Five Eyes!
Then, with a clang, the man outside picked up a long stick, poked it at his head, and then stuck it under the oil fryer, before laughing and cursing:
"Keep dreaming! Redeeming you? You think you can get rid of me? Of Zhelu's thousand eyes, nine hundred and ninety-nine are blind, and the remaining one is busy staring at the remaining aperture of the path of compassion. Does he still have the mind to care about you?"
Five Eyes was persecuted by Minghui during the great battle, and was timid and hesitant during the magic duel, so he was thrown into this [Long A Prison]. Unfortunately, Zhelu was supported by a group of outsiders, so he was weak and had no time to play both sides between compassion and desire. He was also seriously injured and only thought about protecting that illusory Maha. He had long forgotten about Five Eyes. He could only bury his head in the oil pot and fry.
Now, having been ridiculed so badly by this jailer, he dared not utter a single word—this old man's surname was Tu, and he was a descendant of the Realm Lord. He had attained enlightenment many years ago and was more powerful than those leaders!
He lowered his head, but was pulled back up by the nimble stick, and heard the jailer outside laughing:
"I've come here today for another reason—a great battle has broken out outside, and they urgently need manpower. They've come all the way here seeking a few people whose Dharma bodies are not seriously damaged. If you're willing, I can let you go out for a walk."
'I must have had my brain blown up to agree to that.'
Wu Mu was also a very old Buddhist practitioner. If it weren't for the fact that the path of emptiness he had entered was too decadent, with his abilities and cultivation, he would have become a Maha long ago. How could he not understand?
'They want me to go out and die... I'd rather stay here and hang out with them for another twenty or thirty years!'
He resolutely refused to sacrifice his life, remaining silent. The men above quickly pushed him down with sticks, sneering:
"Then you can just soak in it!"
Suddenly, the flames beneath the oil fryer intensified, and patches of gray light began to appear. Wu Mu was shaken, and the pain that had been miraculously suppressed rapidly invaded his heart.
'Oh no, it's on fire!'
As if he were truly in hell, he felt dizzy and in excruciating pain. In this darkness of extreme agony, his five eyes remained fixed and motionless.
No matter how painful it is, it's better than losing your life!
"Let's see how long you can hold out!"
The person above gradually disappeared into the distance, leaving only Wumu struggling in the oil pot—his physical body was still holding onto the oil pot, the intense pain causing the headless body's fingers to twitch slightly, but it was suppressed by this mysterious force and could no longer make any other movements.
In the midst of extreme pain, time ticked by, and he couldn't help but beg for mercy. A chill slowly seeped in, and in that instant, Wu Mu's mind finally cleared, and he vaguely saw a flickering white light deep within his consciousness.
"This is……"
His heart skipped a beat.
The relief from the pain gradually allowed him to calm his mind and carefully experience the strange sensation deep within his consciousness. That familiar, ancient, and cold white light slowly entered his eyes, and his eyes instantly filled with tears.
'Is it...that person...?'
The flames were too terrifying; his tears vanished as soon as they left his eyes, but he no longer cared. The torment of the oil fryer day and night was driving him almost insane. Without any hesitation, he suddenly caught sight of that point of white light and plunged into infinite light.