Chapter 120 |
Inside the cave abode.
Fang Qing was casually following a recipe for spiritual cuisine handed down in the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation, cooking by feel.
The main ingredient was naturally the materials harvested from the Myriad Longevity Turtle.
Its blood essence and similar parts had already been refined by him into lifespan-extending pills. Taken together with second-rank Longevity Extension Pills, the effects synergized perfectly and added roughly ten years to his own lifespan.
Beyond that, the remaining second-rank turtle shell, after a simple round of sacrificial refinement, became a high-grade spiritual artifact-level shield.
As for the leftover scraps, they had awakened the glutton inside Fang Qing from his previous life in the great food empire. He paired them with other sea ingredients and whipped up several delicious dishes.
“Mmm… this meat jelly is quite good. The texture is almost like actual jelly.
“Hard to believe the spiritual chefs of this world could come up with something like this.”
Fang Qing picked up a jade spoon, scooped a bite of turtle meat jelly, and savored the rich, sweet aroma that filled his mouth. Before he knew it, he had finished the entire portion.
At present, his main focuses were the Blue Sea Technique and the Listening to the Mysterious Cavern Spring Scripture. For body refinement and divine sense, he practiced the Horse-Headed Vajra Protector Divine Method.
As for minor paths like the Thousand-Heart Puppet Control, he had basically set them aside.
Whenever he had a spare moment, he worked on a few secret techniques, such as the latter two layers of the Xun Wind Shadowless Escape and the Soul-Splitting Soul Search Art.
After finishing his session, Fang Qing left seclusion at a leisurely pace. He handled some routine affairs on Taibai Island and glanced through the letters from Blue Sea Sect.
The sect had previously ordered an investigation into Sanyuan Island.
Fang Qing had simply sent one Foundation Establishment cultivator over for a quick look and called it done. The sect had not pressed the matter further.
After all, during a great war, the authority of local guardians rose once more.
In theory, Fang Qing could execute first and report later when dealing with any Qi Refining disciples on Taibai Island.
Even the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, if anything seemed off—could be directly injured or imprisoned.
And according to Linghu Chong’s letter, the sect was completely powerless regarding Taibai Island. With only these few cats and dogs stationed here, simply holding the island was already a pleasant surprise. Their expectations were not high.
Fang Qing then opened Qin Ruxue’s letter. Well, this was merely a cover.
Through Qin Ruxue as his eyes and ears, he had long known about the many changes inside the sect.
For example, Xiang Dahu had successfully reached Foundation Establishment and been assigned a second-rank cave dwelling. He was currently consolidating his realm.
Although the sect had begun its war with the Sea-Destroying Alliance, the alliance’s movements remained sluggish.
Recently they had been shrinking rapidly, as if frightened.
Fang Qing understood perfectly: Wei Yuanfeng’s death had been discovered.
After all, the Sea-Destroying Alliance only had one Core Formation True Personage. If Shi Tiexin shamelessly set up ambushes on every side to hunt Foundation Establishment cultivators, they would never be able to put out the fires in time.
Therefore, this immortal cultivation war resembled nothing more than low-intensity friction between two hostile sects.
Although fewer people died, the conflict could easily drag on for decades or even centuries.
The Sea-Destroying Alliance aside, even Blue Sea Sect was not particularly eager to fight…
Fang Qing calculated silently and immediately understood.
In these short few decades, first the Taibai Zhong Clan had launched a surprise attack, then Tianxin Linked Islands had been destroyed, Taibai Island had been assaulted, the ten-year beast tide war had raged, the Sea-Overturning Turtle had been slain, the Zhong Clan had been wiped out, and afterward war had broken out with the Sea-Destroying Alliance…
Blue Sea Sect’s tens of thousands of disciples and hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators had also suffered grievous losses!
Now, guarding such a vast territory as Taibai Island—with its third-rank spirit vein—only three Foundation Establishment cultivators were stationed here. That alone spoke volumes.
When those below no longer wanted to fight, even the Core Formation ancestors above found it difficult to push forward.
After all, war had been declared, yet if the people below only went through the motions—lying flat, playing dead, and coasting through the days, the Core Formation ancestors could only stare helplessly!
Unless several Core Formation ancestors fought to the death in a single decisive duel!
The people below would definitely cheer, but the high-rank cultivators would never agree.
They had struggled so hard to break through to Core Formation and gain five hundred years of lifespan. Were they supposed to throw it away in a life-and-death brawl?
Thus, the situation remained deadlocked.
“Unexpected, yet entirely within reason…”
Fang Qing set the letter aside and rubbed his brow. “It is time to deal with the Ancient Shu affairs.”
Thinking of Ancient Shu, his expression grew strange.
He had never shown himself, so Xu Hei remained safe and sound. In fact, leveraging his local advantages, Xu Hei had spent lavishly, hiring rogue cultivators to gather intelligence and obtaining quite a bit of useful information.
“First, the one who used esoteric sect techniques to lure Xu Hei was Bright Son Miaohuo…”
“Later two more appeared: one was Bright Son Miaofeng, and the other was Qingjing Wisdom Consort…”
“These Bright Sons drink and eat meat, ignoring every precept, and even trip one another up… It is precisely because of these gaps that Xu Hei has been able to maneuver and survive until now…”
“And the esoteric monks have indeed begun crossing eastward… In Xituo Commandery, the westernmost region of Ancient Shu, large numbers of esoteric believers have already appeared, spreading the faith…”
Synthesizing all the intelligence, Fang Qing could now lock his target on one person: “White Bone Dao—Guru Sangji!”
“This person originated from the All-Beings Formless Temple and is a personally transmitted disciple of esoteric buddhism… During this eastward crossing of the esoteric monks, he was the first to arrive. He established the White Bone Dao in Xituo Commandery… He lectured on Buddhist scriptures for three days in Shangyong City, drawing tens of thousands of believers who listened in rapt fascination. Many were immediately converted and entered the gate…”
The so-called personally transmitted esoteric buddhism disciples also needed to ingest qi for cultivation and possessed relatively high autonomy. In Fang Qing’s view, they were essentially slave masters.
While the externally transmitted Wisdom Consorts, Bright Sons, and numerous disciple monks… were the slaves.
In the Hidden-Treasury Domain, slave masters were rare, but not nonexistent.
For example, this Guru Sangji!
As an esoteric Guru, his cultivation was roughly equivalent to Dao Foundation, and he brought five Bright Sons and Wisdom Consorts with him. No matter who he faced, it was six people ganging up together. Unless it was a Purple Mansion cultivator, it would truly be difficult to resist.
More importantly, even if Fang Qing used his external core mana plus magical treasures and various secret techniques to catch this person off guard and eliminate him, what then?
It would only increase the hatred and vigilance of the All-Beings Formless Temple. If they sent another Dharma King equivalent to Purple Mansion, Fang Qing truly could no longer visit the Ancient Shu side.
The best course was to reach an agreement with this person—so that he could continue wearing the skin of the Hidden-Treasury Domain and act with impunity.
‘Of course, that was impossible. Bright Son Miaohuo had once gotten drunk and blurted out something about wanting my fate to break through... Clearly, I am of great importance to Guru Sangji.’
This much was obvious from the way they had first sent one Bright Son Miaohuo, then followed up by dispatching two more Bright Sons and Wisdom Consorts in quick succession.
So... the best approach was still to stall? To wait for change by dragging things out?
Occasionally launch strikes to gather even more intelligence on Sangji?
If Ancient Shu truly became untenable, then he could only take the risk and relocate...
Fang Qing had considered fleeing, but Ancient Shu’s geographic position was far too unique.
To the west lay the Hidden-Treasury Domain, equivalent to walking straight into the trap. To the south were the Yin Corpse Sect and the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. To the north were the demon race and the Hu tribe, who he heard were also stirring up chaos lately.
To the east was the Blissful Union Sect!
Cultivators in Ancient Shu cursed others by wishing they would encounter seductive demonesses from the Blissful Union Sect the moment they stepped out the door!
‘Looking in every direction... nothing but demonic and heretical paths!’
Unless he crossed directly through Blissful Union Sect territory into the orthodox domain ruled by the Supreme Unity Mysterious Gate... That would be difficult. Without Purple Mansion cultivation, it was nearly impossible to achieve.
Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, Fang Qing had no desire to flee.
‘Never mind... First play with that Sangji a bit. Strike first, sever one of his arms, and gather intelligence along the way...’
Fang Qing stroked the jade slip recording the Black Profound Scripture, his eyes deep and thoughtful.
Ancient Shu.
Fang Qing quietly manifested and once more converted to the [Ji Water] Long-Awaited Sweet Rain Dao Foundation.
‘It has truly been a long time since I felt this weak version of myself.’
He looked down at his own hands and could not help sighing.
Water virtue cultivators had it rough in Ancient Shu. At the same realm, they basically could not defeat anyone and could only bully those beneath them.
‘If it were the [Wind-Positioned] foundation, it would be somewhat better. The [Ji Water] Long-Awaited Sweet Rain is a logistics-type Dao Foundation. Among water virtue cultivators, I’m afraid it’s on the weaker side...’
Fang Qing inwardly complained once more: ‘The only comfort is that executing the Xun Wind Shadowless Escape feels extremely smooth. It is stronger than when using the Blue Sea Technique, only slightly weaker than [Wind-Positioned]...’
He had converted back to his original Dao Foundation precisely to reinforce the impression on the White Bone Dao side.
Although the other Gurus could not possibly share his vantage point of possessing the Dao-Genesis Pearl to watch live streams, they definitely possessed connection methods since they controlled the true spirits of the five Bright Sons. Therefore, he had to maintain the disguise perfectly and not expose any trump cards.
However, dealing with a mere Bright Son Miaohuo truly required no trump cards at all.
As a legitimate Dao Foundation cultivator, even a mediocre water virtue one, he could still look down upon a Bright Son!
Fang Qing strode forward and arrived at a swamp.
Countless foul waters converged here, the ground muddy and filthy.
He stomped once, and the stinking water bubbled upward, revealing a human head.
The head had an old, sleazy appearance, exactly Xu Hei.
“Young Master... this old servant is hiding in this place to conceal my aura.”
Xu Hei’s voice was hoarse as he chuckled.
“You... buried yourself?”
Fang Qing looked for a moment, somewhat surprised.
Ancient Shu dao techniques were truly mysterious and strange. Xu Hei had buried himself here. If he had not already controlled the man’s true spirit, even passing by he might have overlooked it.
“Hehe... just a small trick. [Nu Earth] is also known as Yin Corpse Earth, or Burial Earth... It is quite beneficial for such fake-death methods.”
Xu Hei pulled himself out of the mud swamp, then added with some confusion: “This old servant noticed that the White Bone Dao Guru seems to cultivate [Nu Earth] as well... Young Master, please be careful.”
“[Nu Earth]? Never mind... As long as it is not metal or fire dao, it is fine.”
If it were one of those illustrious orthodox daos, a perfected Dao Foundation might even be able to fight a Core Formation cultivator.
Earth virtue was after all a bit weaker, so Fang Qing still had some confidence.
If unlucky and he encountered someone cultivating the Great Sun, then he would have to consider crossing through the Blissful Union Sect.
“Never mind. First tell me about this Bright Son Miaohuo...”
He waved his hand.
“Yes... This Bright Son Miaohuo is full of greed, anger, and delusion, the three poisons complete... He must drink strong liquor every day, eat large amounts of meat, and bed several women each night. His personality is crude and rude... Even Bright Son Miaofeng and Qingjing Wisdom Consort dislike him quite a bit and often act separately. However, this old servant discovered that this person particularly favors the strong liquor from a certain mortal tavern. Every few days he goes there to drink his fill...”
Xu Hei reported respectfully.
“Mm... You have done well in this matter.”
Fang Qing habitually tossed over several bottles of pills, then showed some surprise: “Your cultivation... you are almost at Qi Ingestion perfection?”
Xu Hei smiled, revealing a mouth full of yellow-black teeth: “All thanks to the pills bestowed by Young Master... This old black would be completely satisfied if he can reach Qi Ingestion perfection in this lifetime.”