Chapter 116: Defeat (Requesting Monthly Tickets)
Chapter 116: Defeat (Requesting Monthly Tickets)
The next day.
"Wuwuwu. . . Brother Lu, please don't go. . . I heard that silver-armored demon is really fierce, you'll die if you go."
Little Hu, just over ten years old, sobbed as he clutched Lu Guo.
"Be good, Little Hu. Big brother promises you, I'll definitely be back."
Lu Guo stroked Little Hu's head, a trace of tenderness flashing across his face.
He turned around and said to a thick-browed, big-eyed youth with rough hands and feet, dressed in coarse linen, who stood behind him: "This is Little Hu from the Wang family. From now on, both of you will be tenant farmers here. Make sure to get along well. . ."
"Don't worry, Brother Lu, I'll definitely cherish him like my own younger brother!"
The dark-skinned youth replied with a cheerful laugh, a hint of simple honesty about him.
Lu Guo nodded, leading the thick-browed, big-eyed Hai Da Gui into Fang Xi's grand residence.
"What a house! This. . . such a big house. . . even the landlords back in our village couldn't afford to live in this, could they. . . ?"
Hai Da Gui was first stunned by the exquisite beauty of the courtyard. Upon entering, he saw peach blossoms blooming everywhere, and a white-robed young man, elegant as a jade tree facing the wind, stood by the pond with his hands clasped behind his back.
In the pond, a colossal Big Green Fish saw the outsiders arrive. Its huge, lifeless eyes rolled, revealing chillingly white teeth, and it made a menacing gesture.
The might of a first-order mid-grade demon beast immediately nearly sent Hai Da Gui, who was still only in the early Qi Refinement stage, sprawling.
"My goodness, what a huge fish. . ."
He muttered to himself, gazing at the Big Green Fish.
Lu Guo gave him a shove: "Still not greeting the Master?"
"Yes, yes. . . " Hai Da Gui came to his senses as if waking from a dream, looking as if he wanted to kneel but dared not: "My name is Hai Da Gui, greetings, Master. Please, Master, take me in! I will work hard cultivating the land. . ."
"Pfft!"
This lad made even Fang Xi unable to suppress a chuckle.
After laughing aloud, he thought of the youth's earlier demeanor, that humility etched into his very bones, and immediately had a guess: "Are you of mortal origin?"
"Exactly! My father and mother were both fishermen. . . I helped them work ever since I was born, until I was ten years old, when I met an old Daoist who said I had spiritual roots and could take me to cultivate immortality. . ."
Hai Da Gui's eyebrows danced with delight, then he became dejected: "Unfortunately, my master died not long after. . ."
Fang Xi scrutinized his face, vaguely feeling a sense of familiarity.
After recalling for a moment, he finally spoke: "Your father. . . was he named 'Hai Lao Da'? And lived on a fishing boat with a crimson carp carved on it?"
Hai Da Gui was startled, nodding repeatedly: "Yes, yes! Could it be Master knows my father?"
"Just a brief encounter."
Fang Xi sighed with emotion.
Back when he first arrived at Myriad Islands Lake, it was Hai Lao Da who ferried him.
He hadn't expected that the man's child would possess spiritual roots and even be brought before him. It truly seemed like a twist of fate.
"To think I'd meet the descendant of an old acquaintance today. This small item shall be your welcome gift."
He rummaged through his storage bag and pulled out a hoe-shaped artifact, handing it to Hai Da Gui.
"Many thanks, Master, many thanks!"
Hai Da Gui clutched the artifact, repeatedly expressing his gratitude. After infusing it with spiritual power, he couldn't help but exclaim again: "It's actually a mid-grade artifact? !"
He didn't notice that Lu Guo's expression nearby had turned ugly, as if he had just been stabbed. . .
"Work hard from now on!"
Fang Xi completely ignored Lu Guo and offered a few more words of encouragement.
In his storage bag, he no longer had any low-grade artifacts.
What's more, Hai Da Gui was different from Lu Guo; he had no personal vendetta against him. On the contrary, there was a rather deep connection. . .
To favor one person over another, it was simply acting according to his heart's desires.
Wasn't cultivation, in the end, about seeking eternal life and living as one pleased?
Lu Guo felt dejected in his heart, bade farewell, and departed.
Just as he reached the edge of the formation, he suddenly saw a red light flash in the distance. A streak of escape light sped towards them, revealing a red-robed maiden who shouted: "Fang Xi. . . come out and fight! ! !"
"It's the Young Island Master? !"
Lu Guo muttered, quickly hiding to the side.
In recent years, Ruan Dan had diligently cultivated without cease, already breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Refinement. Today, she had no idea what had gotten into her, daring to challenge Fang Xi!
"Young Island Master, why must you be so insistent?"
Fang Xi, controlling his Black Feather Boat, also flew out of the formation and sighed.
Hadn't he already refused her back then?
How could this maiden still take that three-year pact seriously?
This cultivator's temperament was truly lacking. She had also failed to live up to Ruan Xing Ling's painstaking efforts in teaching her Qi-concealing techniques!
"Less nonsense, come and fight!"
Ruan Dan was as proud as a fire phoenix, forming hand seals with both hands and summoning a red ribbon. The ribbon twisted and turned alluringly in mid-air, like a crimson flood dragon, wisps of crimson spiritual energy overflowing. It was, surprisingly, a superior-grade artifact!
Fang Xi sighed helplessly, releasing his Green Turtle Shield. A turtle shell rapidly expanded, forming a water shield defense on its surface.
Thwack!
The red ribbon lashed against the turtle shell, immediately causing the shell to emit a mournful wail of distress, as if unable to bear the weight.
After all, this Green Turtle Shield was only a mid-grade artifact!
"Hmph!"
Fang Xi roared, his blood-qi surging higher and higher. He slammed a fist onto the red ribbon, knocking it to the side.
His eyes like lightning, he charged towards Ruan Dan, pulling a mid-grade peach wood sword from his storage bag and sending it shooting out like an electric current!
Clang!
Ruan Dan pursed her red lips slightly, casually forming hand seals. A red mirror blocked her front, and a large quantity of flames poured out from its surface.
The peach wood sword let out a mournful cry, its spirituality seemingly damaged.
"What a pity. . . I won't get to see Fellow Daoist Fang's most proficient close-quarters body combat techniques! And I won't fight you on the ground either!"
Ruan Dan's fingers moved like they were plucking lute strings. The red ribbon artifact transformed in myriad ways in her hands, tightly binding the turtle shell before rushing towards Fang Xi again.
At the same time, she let out a soft cry, and one fire ball after another flew out from the mirror, transforming into nimble firebirds!
"Young Island Master, why must you go too far? !"
A flicker of anger crossed Fang Xi's face. He tossed out a spirit beast bag.
Buzzing!
The buzzing of insects echoed all around. Azure-flowered golden beetles, like jade beetles, flew out from the bag, forming two clouds of insects that suddenly dispersed. One part pounced on the red ribbon, the other part on Ruan Dan.
Puff! Puff!
One after another, the azure-flowered golden beetles collided with the firebirds, sparks bursting in mid-air as some insect corpses fell, enveloped in embers.
"An insect cultivator? !"
Ruan Dan was startled. She had only known that Fang Xi was proficient in close-quarters sword arts back then, but she had no idea he also had a hand in insect-controlling techniques!
And just as she rapidly retreated, several azure-flowered golden beetles had already flown to her side, bypassing the mirror artifact and biting at Ruan Dan's spiritual light protective shield.
An ear-splitting sound immediately rang out.
"Ice Arrow Talisman!"
She gritted her teeth, pulled out a pure white talisman, and activated it. Streaks of ice arrows shot out.
The hit azure-flowered golden beetles immediately turned into ice sculptures and crashed down from mid-air.
Suddenly, Ruan Dan's eyes blurred. Unbeknownst to her, Fang Xi had appeared before her. His five fingers joined together, forming a fist!
Bang!
Her defensive shield was suddenly torn apart.
But the next moment, a smile appeared on Ruan Dan's face. She extended her jade-like palm, revealing two bells wrapped around her fair wrist.
Jingle! Jingle! Jingle!
The pleasant bell sounds echoed all around, carrying ripples that attacked the sea of consciousness.
Fang Xi's Divine Consciousness stirred, instantly neutralizing the attack, but he didn't act immediately. Instead, he put on a dazed expression.
Seeing this, Ruan Dan breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled as she took out a flying sword and pressed it against Fang Xi's chest: "Fellow Daoist Fang, can this round be considered my victory?"
Fang Xi 'came to his senses as if from a dream', gazing at the bells on Ruan Dan's hand, and sighed with immense emotion: "To think the Island Master would even pass on this 'Bewitching Heart Bell' artifact to you!"
He was quite familiar with this artifact because Ruan Xing Ling herself used it.
It could attack a cultivator's sea of consciousness and was very troublesome to deal with.
However, for cultivators who had cultivated Divine Consciousness, this minor attack was nothing.
"Let me inform Fellow Daoist Fang: my master has now broken through the late Qi Refinement bottleneck and entered the perfected realm of tenth-level Qi Refinement. Naturally, she no longer has any use for this item."
Ruan Dan proudly lifted her chin, feeling as though the humiliation from three years ago had been swept away, her heart filled with immense exhilaration.
"This old man has lost!"
Fang Xi sighed, turned, and walked away, not forgetting to collect the corpses of the golden beetles, appearing dejected and desolate. . .
...
Inside the underground cave.
"Taiyi empowers me, Azure Wood grants longevity!"
Fang Xi sat cross-legged beneath the Demonic Tree. He felt the increasingly rich plant-wood energy and the power of time's rings within his body. His Divine Consciousness swept out.
He saw that on his 'Azure Wood Spirit Body', incomplete runes, emerald green with wisps of silver light, were flickering one after another.
It seemed as if the creative power of heaven and earth was naturally forming some ancient runes within his body.
Just comprehending these incomplete runes caused many inexplicable insights to emerge.
"The Wood Spirit Body is also gradually condensing. . ."
"This kind of innate spiritual body actually seems to possess the marvels of runes? Or. . . are runes tools that cultivators simplified from studying the Great Dao?"
Fang Xi seemed to have an epiphany: "I have truly been fortunate to obtain this great opportunity. Compared to this, what do fame, or the honor and humiliation of victory or defeat in magical combat, count for?"
The 'Longevity Art' was actually quite useless on its own!
But the Demonic Tree, combined with the 'Longevity Art', was an immense opportunity that even Core Formation Patriarchs and Nascent Soul Grand Cultivators couldn't hope to touch!
After all, no matter how formidable Core Formation and Nascent Soul cultivators were, they could only act fiercely in this world. They couldn't extend their reach into the Da Liang world!
And with the miraculous nature of the Demonic Tree, there was likely no second one in this world.
Observing the process of the 'Wood Spirit Body' condensing from nothing to existence was also a significant gain for Fang Xi.
Although he couldn't even understand it now, he firmly imprinted this insight into his mind.
Perhaps only after reaching Foundation Establishment or even Core Formation would this insight slowly begin to reveal its influence. . .
After completing his 'Longevity Art' cultivation for the day, Fang Xi waved his hand, causing the aerial roots to curl back, and then stood up.
Rumble!
With such a simple movement, the temperature around the cave soared, as if an inexplicable furnace was burning.
"Haa. . ."
As Fang Xi struck his boxing stance, this blood-qi grew fiercer and fiercer, even carrying a burning sensation, causing the surrounding roots of the Demonic Tree to instinctively recoil.
Then, the formless blood-qi transformed into tangible True Vigor, continuously expanding and condensing behind Fang Xi, seemingly about to manifest into something. . .
"True Vigor manifestation, it's close!"
Fang Xi muttered to himself.
With the Demonic Tree augmenting his blood-qi daily, he would one day be able to surpass the limits of Da Liang martial arts and reach the realm of 'True Vigor manifestation'!
This realm was equivalent to the fourth level of body cultivation techniques like the 'Myriad Beast Body'! Comparable to an early Foundation Establishment cultivator!
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