Chapter 119 |
After slaying the Myriad Longevity Turtle, Fang Qing returned once more to Sanyuan Island.
By now the entire island was already shrouded in the smoke of battle.
Yet no matter how bold any rogue cultivator might be, the instant they saw him appear, they immediately clutched their heads and fled like rats.
“How could it be this person returning? What about the Turtle Ancestor?”
Inside the Jiang Clan, the clan leader who witnessed the scene wore an expression of utter despair.
He knew the Jiang Clan was finished. But not because they had joined the Core Formation powers’ great war—rather, for some absurd and inexplicable reason.
This was something he truly could not accept.
Whoosh!
Fang Qing first arrived at the small island where the Jiang Clan resided. Thanks to the lingering intimidation of the Myriad Longevity Turtle, the place was still in the best condition.
Once the Jiang Clan lay in utter ruin, he moved on to the Lu Clan, casually slaying a few unlucky Lu Clan cultivators along the way. Only then did he return, carrying more than ten storage bags stuffed full.
Taibai Island.
As the island’s master, Fang Qing had slipped out secretly and returned just as quietly. Even Ma Xin, who controlled the arrays, had not noticed anything.
He went back to his cave abode, resumed closed-door cultivation, and took the time to inspect his spoils of war.
“Sigh... A huge pile of low-rank materials. Aside from spirit stones, there’s hardly anything I even want...”
Fang Qing examined them carefully and found that most were first-rank, with very few second-rank low-grade items, let alone second-rank mid-grade spiritual materials.
The only advantage was sheer quantity.
As for spiritual artifacts? The best was merely a single second-rank superior flying knife, which barely caught his eye.
That talisman treasure had been completely drained of power by his single strike and destroyed.
There were quite a few jade slips and inheritances. Most were first-rank, with only a handful of second-rank. They covered barely half of the hundred arts of immortal cultivation, yet offered little real value.
The only pleasant surprise was the Tortoise-Crane Longevity Art.
“Huh?”
Fang Qing picked up one jade slip, and a trace of delight finally appeared on his face. “This is... the Xun Wind Shadowless Escape Art? It’s the complete manual—all seven layers! Didn’t they say at the auction that the last three layers were destroyed?”
With just a moment’s thought, he sneered coldly. ‘This Jiang Clan has done so many evil deeds, yet they still tried to hold something back? Serves them right...’
This jade slip had also come from the Jiang Clan’s treasury.
Clearly, the Jiang Clan had possessed the full version of this evasion secret art all along; they had simply been unwilling to sell it.
After a long while, Fang Qing let out a long breath.
“These Lu and Jiang Clans... aside from the evasion secret art, there was nothing particularly eye-catching.”
He knew full well that even though he had acted quickly, many remnants of the two clans had surely escaped.
Some had even arranged escape seeds outside from the very beginning, carrying away the family’s foundation.
It was those cultivators who might carry the real goods and big prizes! But it would require a bit of luck, and he couldn’t be bothered to calculate each one’s position and hunt them down individually.
After all, they were only two Foundation Establishment clans. It was obvious they wouldn’t have any Core Formation-level foundations. At most, a few Foundation Establishment Pills, talisman treasures, superior spiritual artifacts, or perhaps a Core Formation cultivation method...
To the current Fang Qing, these things were truly beneath notice.
“Next up is the real prize.”
He took out Wei Yuanfeng’s storage bag. ‘This man was the chief disciple of a Core Formation True Personage. There should be some decent items, right?’
Moments later, however, Fang Qing tossed the storage bag aside in disappointment.
This chief disciple of the demonic path had nothing but a few sinister, devilish spiritual artifacts and over a dozen bottles of blood-energy-rich pills. He didn’t even have many medium-grade spirit stones. The word “poor” described him perfectly.
“This guy was already at late-stage Foundation Establishment. Did he never think to prepare Core Formation spiritual items for himself?”
Fang Qing felt rather speechless. He then turned to the jade slips.
Before long, he spotted a map. It looked somewhat familiar. He took out the Zhoutian Star Palace Map for comparison and immediately recognized it. ‘So it’s a secret realm map... This is the route to the Five Elements Fruit Tree? Useless to me...’
He tossed the jade slip aside and picked up another one, pitch-black as ink.
The moment his divine sense entered, he felt a slight shock.
This jade slip contained an immense amount of information, recording a demonic cultivation method called the Black Profound Scripture.
It covered everything from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation, and even included many shortcut techniques.
For example, using blood pills to achieve pseudo-Foundation Establishment, or even consuming a cultivator’s essence blood to break through minor Foundation Establishment bottlenecks, and so on...
“This should be True Personage Heiyuan’s main demonic cultivation method. As expected, it is far stronger than those trash techniques from before...”
Fang Qing could not help but become somewhat entranced.
This demonic path method took an unconventional route, emphasizing universality above all.
It could be cultivated by any of the five-element spiritual roots, even inferior-grade ones, and it included layer upon layer of secret techniques to accelerate cultivation progress.
Of course, he would not employ any secret methods that involved consuming essence blood. Fang Qing came from his previous life and still retained a certain degree of cleanliness.
Not to mention consuming essence blood; he would even politely decline the human pills of Ancient Shu.
As for demon beasts? They were no different from pigs, cows, or sheep, so he could use them freely.
‘However, when it comes to secret techniques, what could compare to the Dao-Genesis Pearl? As long as I cultivate even a trace of mana from the Black Profound Scripture, I would immediately become mid-stage Foundation Establishment in the demonic path... Hmm, I can note it down first. It might be useful later...’
Although Fang Qing confirmed that the most suitable immortal path cultivation method for him was still the Blue Sea Technique, having a demonic path disguise offered many benefits.
For example, if there was a hated enemy within the sect whom he could not deal with openly due to sect rules, he could simply don the demonic path disguise and kill them openly and justifiably!
‘Even if I do not cultivate the demonic method itself, I can still pick one or two of these secret techniques to learn. They are quite useful...’
demonic path secret techniques were mostly quick to learn and possessed astonishing power!
Fang Qing even saw the famous Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame that had burned Senior Brother Tianding bald!
‘Hiss... Cultivating this demonic flame is extremely simple and effortless... but it shortens lifespan?’
‘Even though I still have a second-rank lifespan extension pill, I cannot treat my own lifespan so lightly... Rejected.’
Just from reading the introduction, he directly rejected this demonic flame.
There was no denying that this demonic flame was truly ferocious. In Foundation Establishment battles, it could sweep through strong enemies, but the price was too high, so he would not take it.
‘Next... Blood Ignition Evasion Art? It also requires massive consumption of vital energy... and its speed might not even surpass wind evasion. No...’
‘Feigned Death Technique? Hmm... interesting idea. Note it down for now.’
‘This is... a soul-searching technique? Soul-Splitting Soul Search Art?’
Suddenly, Fang Qing’s divine sense paused as he found a demonic path secret technique that greatly interested him.
In truth, there were a few other demonic path secret techniques that interested him, but they either had harsh entry requirements or required pairing with Black Profound Scripture mana. This Soul-Splitting Soul Search Art, however, was purely a divine sense secret technique.
‘Although soul-searching techniques are widely rumored throughout the immortal cultivation world, only Nascent Soul old monsters can truly search a person’s soul in exhaustive detail. After all... to search someone’s soul with such precision demands extremely high requirements on one’s own divine sense strength and foundation.’
‘This Soul-Splitting Soul Search Art has strict requirements. It uses one’s own powerful divine sense as a spear to directly shatter the target’s sea of consciousness, then employs secret techniques to query the desired memory fragments... Not only is the failure rate extremely high, but even if successful, one can only obtain scattered, fragmented pieces...’
‘Moreover... this technique can only be used once per person, because afterward their sea of consciousness is shattered. They will either die or become an idiot...’
‘With my current divine sense strength, even if I master this technique, searching the soul of a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be extremely difficult... On the other hand, it is quite reliable against Qi Refining cultivators.’
Fang Qing carefully memorized the incantation. After all, soul-searching techniques were indeed convenient and practical.
Moreover, as he cultivated the second layer of the Horse-Headed Vajra Protector Divine Method, his divine sense was gradually strengthening. In the future, searching the souls of early or mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators still held great promise...
Time flew by like a white colt passing through a crack.
One day.
A transmission talisman hurriedly flew into the cave dwelling, interrupting Fang Qing who was cultivating the Mule-Faced Vajra Prajna.
He calmly emerged from seclusion and saw Ma Xin and Bei Lingshu, both wearing expressions of panic.
“What happened?”
Fang Qing sat cross-legged and asked casually.
“Island Lord... a major incident has occurred on Sanyuan Island. An unknown sword cultivator clashed with the Jiang and Lu Clans, then consecutively slew the three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Lu Clan... The Jiang Clan ancestor pursued this person into the deep sea along with the Myriad Longevity Turtle and has vanished without a trace... I fear he met with misfortune as well. Sanyuan Island has now become a lawless zone, fallen into a place where rogue cultivators run rampant...”
Ma Xin held a jade slip that also contained a full-body portrait of the sword cultivator.
Sword-like brows and starry eyes, his entire body overflowing with sharp, piercing aura.
“Unknown sword cultivator, cultivates metal-attribute techniques, mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, and possesses sword arts so terrifying they could make ghosts weep and gods lament...”
Fang Qing glanced at the description and smiled inwardly. ‘Not bad... Only slightly inferior to my true self...’
His expression turned serious. “Do we have any more information on this sword cultivator?”
“There is nothing more. The Minor Huan Sea could never produce such a sword cultivator... I suspect this person came from the Eastern Sea.”
Ma Xin’s face was grave. “The sect has already sent word, tasking us with the investigation...”
At this point, his mouth was filled with bitterness.
He had only barely reached early-stage Foundation Establishment, the same level as Lu Tianyuan. Did he have the courage of a leopard to dare track down this god of slaughter?
“After all, it is a sect mission. Just send a Foundation Establishment cultivator to Sanyuan Island for a look and go through the motions.”
When it came to slacking off, Fang Qing had rich experience. “What about that Myriad Longevity Turtle?”
“Unknown...”
Bei Lingshu answered, “According to my guess... that sword cultivator probably had accomplices who set up arrays or special countermeasures in the deep sea. Even though the Myriad Longevity Turtle’s combat strength is comparable to pseudo-Core, if it fell into a specially prepared trap, it would still be hard for it to survive...”
In the immortal cultivation world, all kinds of secret techniques and spiritual items emerged endlessly, and specialized biochemical counter methods were equally abundant.
For example, flood dragon-type demon beasts had always been royalty among demon beasts, yet if they swallowed a certain Drunken Dragon Grass, they could fall into a deep sleep and be slaughtered at will.
The Myriad Longevity Turtle only possessed astonishing defense; its movement speed was its natural weakness, leaving even more room for targeted countermeasures.
“What a pity about the Myriad Longevity Turtle... Turtle blood is also an excellent ingredient for pill refinement.”
Fang Qing smacked his lips, putting on the appropriate expression of a master alchemist.
“This time, I will trouble Junior Sister Bei to make the trip.”
He thought for a moment and made his decision, causing Ma Xin beside him to look somewhat surprised. He had assumed that, given the relationship between these two, all the dirty and tiring work would fall on him.
Little did he know that Fang Qing had confirmed there was no danger in this trip, so it made no difference who he sent.