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Chapter 165: The Art of Dan Stealing (For the Silver Grand Alliance Leader)

Chapter 165: The Art of Dan Stealing (For the Silver Grand Alliance Leader)

Ruan Xing Ling let out a soft moan and woke up.

What met her eyes was a crude stone cave dwelling, seemingly just recently opened.

"Fairy Ruan is awake?"

Fang Xi, who had been sitting cross-legged nearby, recuperating his magical power, opened his eyes, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"That talisman treasure. . . and the Demonic Cultivator Situ Jia?"

Ruan Xing Ling rose, her Divine Consciousness sweeping around, then asked the most crucial question.

"After that talisman treasure unleashed two attacks, its power was depleted. . . I used all my trump cards and finally managed to slay that Demonic Cultivator. . ."

Fang Xi spoke, seemingly still shaken with lingering fear.

Ruan Xing Ling found it somewhat hard to believe.

That Situ Jia's cultivation had not only reached the peak of early-stage Foundation Establishment, but he also cultivated demonic arts, making him comparable to an average mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Against early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, he was almost always crushing, yet he had died!

She paused, then a smile bloomed on her face: "It seems my decision to seek fellow Daoist's help was truly the most correct one."

Ruan Xing Ling had previously felt that Fang Xi was extraordinary, then later thought she had guessed wrong.

But upon hearing the news of his successful Foundation Establishment breakthrough, she gained a new understanding.

Ever since she met Fang Xi, he had taken every step steadily, without arrogance or impatience, undisturbed by favor or disgrace. This was something not just any cultivator could achieve.

She thought for a moment: "Since Situ Jia died by your hand, then his storage belt. . ."

"It is naturally in my possession."

Fang Xi nodded, then asked thoughtfully, "There seems to be something useful for Fairy within it?"

"That is true. . . In fact, I was restrained by Situ Jia, who had planted a blood curse heart imprint on me, and there should still be a curse incantation refined from a drop of my vital essence blood in his possession. . ."

Ruan Xing Ling forced a wry smile. This was also why she hadn't wanted to seek help from other Foundation Establishment cultivators.

That curse incantation was extremely important and contained her vital essence blood. Once it fell into the hands of ill-intentioned cultivators, the consequences would be unimaginable.

In reality, if Situ Jia hadn't wanted to capture her alive, he could have directly killed her with several secret demonic arts.

Comparatively speaking, Fang Xi was still somewhat trustworthy.

"Is it this item?"

Fang Xi pondered, then took out a white jade bottle from his golden waist belt, from which a faint scent of blood wafted out.

"That's it!"

Ruan Xing Ling's eyes lit up upon seeing it: "I wonder if there's one for Ruan Dan as well?"

Fang Xi checked with his Divine Consciousness, then shook his head: "None. . ."

"In that case. . . I'm afraid this matter isn't completely resolved yet. . . " Ruan Xing Ling sighed, looking at the jade bottle in Fang Xi's hand, a pitiable expression appearing on her face: "Fellow Daoist Fang. . ."

"Fairy invited me to act, saying she would offer something that could increase one's chances of Core Formation as a reward. . ."

Fang Xi watched Ruan Xing Ling's ever-changing expression, then suddenly smiled and tossed the jade bottle over: "I have already obtained that item, so I suppose Fairy Ruan has fulfilled her promise. . ."

Ruan Xing Ling took the jade bottle, her heart easing. She then stood and bowed deeply: "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Fang. . . for not minding my small deception. However, this matter of increasing the chances of Core Formation should be true. I secretly inquired, and the Demonic Cultivator should possess a secret art that aids in Core Formation. . ."

That's right!

The reward Ruan Xing Ling promised was actually on Situ Jia's person. Her previous promise was entirely a case of being generous with someone else's property!

It was only because they had been old friends for decades.

If it had been any other Foundation Establishment cultivator, Ruan Xing Ling's fate might have been quite terrible.

Fang Xi, meanwhile, stroked a blood-red jade slip in his sleeve, his face full of thoughtful contemplation.

...

That day, upon seeing Ye San Ren's pursuit, he had no intention of continuing the fight. Instead, he put away his formation and puppet, and fled with Ruan Xing Ling.

Relying on the second-order flying puppet's innate demonic ability to increase its escape speed, he finally shook off Ye San Ren. Then, he casually opened a cave dwelling somewhere outside to inspect his spoils.

Within Situ Jia's storage belt, besides Spirit Stones, miscellaneous items, and some grotesque demonic materials, the most special items were Ruan Xing Ling's 'curse incantation' and this jade slip.

The jade slip, surprisingly, contained a demonic art called — the "Five Extremes Primordial Demonic Art"!

This demonic art encompassed a vast range of techniques, greatly broadening Fang Xi's horizons. He vaguely felt that some of its contents bore a strong resemblance to the "Blood Fiend Demonic Art" he had obtained after killing Situ Ying, suggesting it was likely a higher-grade cultivation method of the latter!

Within this "Five Extremes Primordial Demonic Art," not only were more secret demonic arts recorded, but it also included a "Primordial Demonic Thorn," a secret art for Divine Consciousness attacks!

This slightly surprised Fang Xi. Although it only detailed how to use Divine Consciousness to attack enemies and lacked a method for cultivating Divine Consciousness, for someone like him who could slowly increase his own Divine Consciousness, it was irrelevant.

This "Primordial Demonic Thorn" should be the secret art Situ Jia used to attack him back then. It still had slight flaws; it seemed to be useless against enemies with stronger Divine Consciousness, only capable of bullying weaker opponents.

Besides that, the last two secret arts made Fang Xi's eyes light up.

One of the secret arts was called "Stealing Immortal Fate," claiming that even cultivators with inferior-grade spiritual roots could successfully achieve Foundation Establishment!

As for its cultivation method, it involved first finding a cultivator whose spiritual roots and other conditions perfectly matched the practitioner. Then, through various secret arts, the target would be prepared. Once the target advanced to Foundation Establishment, the practitioner could, through the harmonious resonance of their auras, steal their "Foundation of the Great Dao," thereby achieving Foundation Establishment themselves!

It sounded simple, but in practice, the entire process was extremely troublesome.

Leaving aside the difficulty of finding a matching cultivator to serve as a cauldron.

Even in the final stage of stealing the "Foundation of the Great Dao," the process was extremely perilous. After all, for a Qi Refinement cultivator to seize the "Foundation of the Great Dao" from a Foundation Establishment cultivator, even if the latter had been subdued, there was still a chance of failure.

But once "Stealing Immortal Fate" succeeded, even if the practitioner was severely depleted in blood and qi, past the age of sixty, and possessed poor spiritual root aptitude, they would definitely achieve Foundation Establishment. Furthermore, their divine abilities, magical power, and even lifespan would increase just like those of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. It was truly a wondrous art!

However, the "Foundation of the Great Dao" stolen was ultimately not one's own. Cultivators who achieved Foundation Establishment through this demonic secret art basically had no hope of forming a Core, reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment cultivation would be their limit for life.

"This cultivation method. . . is suitable for those with Foundation Establishment or even Core Formation elders, or for powerful factions to cultivate their core forces. . . Otherwise, once the cauldron cultivates to Foundation Establishment, how can a Qi Refinement cultivator subdue a Foundation Establishment one? That's a big problem. . ."

Of course, this was not Ruan Xing Ling's promised reward.

Ruan Xing Ling's reward was the last section of the secret art—the "Art of Dan Stealing"!

As the name suggested, this art was a luxurious upgrade of "Stealing Immortal Fate. " It focused on cultivating a Core Formation cultivator, and then stealing their Golden Core to allow oneself to advance to Core Formation!

In the preface of the secret art, there was a commentary by an old demon—'When sages do not die, great thieves never cease. . . The orthodox method of False Core formation originally derived from the art of Dan Stealing. Cultivators stealing inner cores from demon beasts to condense False Cores is considered orthodox, while we steal human cores, which is demonic. . . In truth, both paths lead to the same destination, truly laughable! '

The opportunity Ruan Xing Ling mentioned, which could increase the chance of Core Formation, was this.

This woman must have heard rumors from somewhere, but they were somewhat inaccurate.

At least, after Fang Xi finished reading the "Art of Dan Stealing," he was quite speechless.

Because its requirements were too harsh!

"One needs to find a cultivator with similar bloodline, preferably a blood relative, and identical spiritual root attributes, ideally a Heaven-grade spiritual root. . . then process them with various secret arts, and when they are about to form their Core, steal their aura. . ."

"Ridiculous! A Heaven-grade spiritual root cultivator has almost no bottlenecks before Core Formation. Every one discovered would be coveted even by Nascent Soul sects, personally taken as a disciple by a Nascent Soul True Monarch. To be processed like this? And then to benefit another who doesn't have outstanding spiritual root aptitude? Isn't that a waste of heavenly treasures?"

"Unless a Nascent Soul True Monarch wants to benefit their own son, it's basically impossible. . ."

"Hiss. . . Looking at it this way, those Heaven-grade spiritual root geniuses who enter great demonic sects might not be so lucky after all. . ."

Fang Xi somewhat dejectedly put down the jade slip.

This "Art of Dan Stealing," he probably wouldn't be using it.

However, he looked at Ruan Xing Ling: "Fairy, could it be. . ."

"Indeed. . . " Ruan Xing Ling smiled wryly, answering forthrightly: "I was probably a candidate for the Demonic Cultivator, destined to fulfill the Core Formation of some Qi Refinement Perfected cultivator. . . Ruan Dan too. . ."

She had retrieved her own 'curse incantation,' which meant she had initially escaped her constraints, but Ruan Dan was still somewhat in danger. . .

"Fairy Ruan was in such a desperate situation, yet she managed to break free. I am truly impressed."

Fang Xi sincerely cupped his hands: "However, Myriad Islands Lake is a dragon's den, and I don't intend to go back there. . ."

He recounted Ye San Ren's pursuit, which made Ruan Xing Ling's heart pound: "What should we do now?"

"No matter how chaotic Myriad Islands Lake is, it's just a bunch of Foundation Establishment Demonic Cultivators. . . As long as we hide in White Peace Immortal City, we should be fine. . ."

Fang Xi raised an eyebrow, completely unconcerned about possible retaliation from the Demonic Cultivators: "As for fellow Daoist. . . why not. . . secretly report them to the Black Heaven Sect branch?"

He had actually always wanted to report the Situ Clan.

Now that he thought about it, this was the best method.

Once the Black Heaven Sect swept through Myriad Islands Lake with overwhelming force, the hidden danger should be eliminated.

Even so, he still planned to stay in White Peace Immortal City.

"Black Heaven Sect? That's not a bad idea. . ."

Ruan Xing Ling pondered.

Fang Xi believed that with her abilities, she could handle this matter flawlessly, without causing any trouble for him.

"After reporting, I also plan to lay low in White Peace Immortal City. From now on, we'll be neighbors!"

Ruan Xing Ling looked at Fang Xi, then suddenly smiled enchantingly, like a hundred flowers blooming: "Fellow Daoist has helped me so much today, I truly don't know how to repay you. . ."

...

Several days later.

Fang Xi rubbed his fingertips, seemingly still able to smell the rich floral fragrance.

Ruan Xing Ling had already left ahead of him, her whereabouts unknown.

He set off for White Peace Immortal City, making a detour to travel to the Da Liang World, where he stashed Situ Jia's storage belt into the Martial God Gate's treasury.

"The Martial Gods aren't weak. If I teach them a bit more about blood-qi transformation, combined with Spirit Stone formations, they should also be able to use storage artifacts, right. . ."

Fang Xi looked around the Martial God Gate's treasury. The most crucial 'Beast Blood Pills' were, of course, missing.

Aside from that, there were quite a few items from the cultivation world, enough to ignite the passion of most Grandmasters to earn contribution points.

Among them, there were even several Body Cultivation techniques that could be cultivated to the sixth stage, comparable to late-stage Foundation Establishment!