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Chapter 305: Setting Out (Please Subscribe)

Chapter 305: Setting Out (Please Subscribe)

"Fortunately. . . refined corpses don't require lifespan."

Fang Xi gazed at his External Avatar, feeling a profound sense of strangeness, as if there were two of him.

Recalling the pain he endured when refining the External Avatar, splitting off a portion of his divine soul, even now, Fang Xi still felt a lingering trepidation.

At that time, he truly felt as if he couldn't hold on. If he hadn't broken through to mid-stage Core Formation, and his divine soul hadn't strengthened by several points, he might truly have suffered a soul collapse in the excruciating pain.

"I'm indeed not a ruthless person. . . especially not to myself. I just can't bring myself to be that cruel. . ."

"Now that both refined corpses are largely complete, it's time to take them out. . . to absorb Yin vein qi. . ."

Fang Xi pondered. He knew of quite a few Yin vein locations within the three countries, such as the Situ Clan's Black Water Pool.

...

A streak of light discreetly departed the Green Wood Forest.

Fang Xi piloted a wooden shuttle spirit artifact, leisurely making his way towards the State of Yue.

Within the Green Wood Sect, he naturally informed Qian Laodao and greeted Zheng Tie and other Foundation Establishment cultivators with whom he had a good relationship.

He claimed he was going out to seek an opportunity to break through to late-stage Foundation Establishment. . .

Qian Laodao and the others repeatedly admonished Fang Xi to be careful.

Fang Xi merely smiled in response.

He now possessed considerable wealth. Fortunately, he had a 'Mountain Sea Pearl', into which he had moved all valuable items from his cave abode, leaving only some spirit herbs of insufficient age at the entrance, which he entrusted Zheng Shan to continue looking after.

'Perhaps. . . after refining the External Avatar, I should directly go to the Yuan Kingdom and take a look? '

A thought suddenly surfaced in Fang Xi's mind.

Previously, he hadn't wanted to go to the Yuan Kingdom simply because the journey was long and dangerous.

But now, having assimilated his gains, Fang Xi believed his strength had greatly advanced, and his cultivation had broken through to mid-stage Core Formation. He was now barely qualified to venture out and explore.

Just then, he suddenly looked up, purple light flickering in his eyes.

High in the sky, ten thousand li above, there was actually an eagle-type demon beast, seemingly tracking him from afar.

'Interesting. . . '

Upon seeing this, Fang Xi's initial thought of unleashing his Core Formation escape speed to rush vanished without a trace. Instead, he simply piloted his wooden shuttle spirit artifact, slowly flying towards the State of Yue.

...

Several hours later.

Fang Xi had long since left the Green Wood Sect's territory, and he could even see continuous mountain ranges ahead.

"Fellow Daoist. . . help me. . ."

A pink streak of light, containing what appeared to be an exceptionally beautiful female Foundation Establishment cultivator, was being pursued by a black ray of light, frantically flying towards Fang Xi.

As she drew closer, he saw that the female cultivator had her cloud-like hair styled high, wore a palace gown, and her ample bosom, like undulating mountains, revealed a large expanse of snow-white, voluptuous skin.

"Fellow Daoist, be careful. The one behind me is a bandit cultivator. . ."

The female Foundation Establishment cultivator came close to Fang Xi, her breath like orchids. Suddenly, a glint of a smile flashed in her eyes, and she spat out three pink, slender needles.

Clang! Clang!

The three pink needles landed on the Wood Spirit Divine Light Shield. Instantly, a green light flashed, and they were directly reduced to ashes by the Wood Spirit True Fire emanating from the shield.

The female cultivator's expression abruptly changed. She flew back dozens of zhang, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the other streak of light. "This person is a bit troublesome!"

Her phoenix-like eyebrows slightly arched, carrying a hint of malevolence. "My 'Soft Red Needles' were actually destroyed by his protective spiritual light. . . each one takes three years of arduous effort to condense!"

The black light receded, revealing a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with fierce scars etched across his face.

Upon seeing Fang Xi, the man smiled. "Fellow Daoist Cao. . . long time no see!"

"Tie Jiu, you truly are a traitor!"

Fang Xi sighed and then looked at the alluring female cultivator. "Could this be Chun San Niang? Did you inflict Zheng Tie's injury?"

"Is that old geezer still not dead?"

Though Chun San Niang found it strange that Fang Xi directly called Zheng Tie by name, she replied with a charming smile, taking out a black-bladed spirit artifact and continuously injecting magic power into it.

A dark, black spiritual light appeared, with spiritual light and runes flickering within. It was astonishingly a superior-grade spirit artifact!

"Cao Chong Yun. . . a dedicated and diligent cultivator. If you are willing to surrender, I can guarantee your life."

Tie Jiu said in a clear, loud voice, putting on a pair of black iron gauntlets.

"Why so much nonsense? Boss gave orders: any Foundation Establishment cultivator coming out of the Green Wood Sect is to be captured first!"

Chun San Niang snorted coldly, pointing at the dark spiritual light.

Pfft!

The light streamed forth, with a black blade flickering in and out of sight within, slamming onto the Wood Spirit Divine Light Shield.

Streams of greenish-blue light emerged. No matter how the dark spiritual light and black blade tried to grind it down, there seemed to be no sign of instability.

"Hup!"

A figure flashed, and Tie Jiu was already beside Fang Xi. With a roar, his fists, like iron hammers, struck out.

This person was actually a rare cultivator who cultivated both magic and body!

Moreover, his body cultivation art had reached the fifth level, comparable to a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Coupled with his specially refined spirit artifact gauntlets, these iron fists, when unleashed, could make even late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators blanch.

Bang! Bang!

Tie Jiu's fists heavily slammed onto the Wood Spirit Divine Light Shield, and immediately, a grating sound of bone cracking was heard.

An intense pain shot through his arms.

Tie Jiu's face was filled with disbelief as he swiftly retreated. "This guy is tough! Quickly, notify the boss. . ."

"This is the feeling. . ."

Inside the Wood Spirit Divine Light Shield, Fang Xi's expression was also excited. "Now this is more like it. . . This is what Foundation Establishment cultivators are supposed to be like! Those elite disciples of demonic sects in the mystic realm, damn it, every single one of them claimed to be Foundation Establishment, but they all had Core Formation combat power. . . After killing so many of them, I almost forgot that Foundation Establishment cultivators could be this weak."

"Or rather. . . this kind of Foundation Establishment is the norm, and all the Foundation Establishment cultivators in the mystic realm were abnormal?"

He extended his hand, lightly pointing at Chun San Niang.

Crackle!

On the Wood Spirit Divine Light Shield, a divine lightning bolt appeared. With a single thunderclap, the dark spiritual light was largely annihilated, leaving only wisps of black mist.

The Wood Spirit Divine Lightning's momentum remained undiminished. It struck the black blade, directly refining this superior-grade spirit artifact into scrap metal!

Clang!

The scrap metal fell to the ground, and Chun San Niang's beautiful face paled. She turned and fled!

Unfortunately, she hadn't flown even ten zhang when a streak of Wood Spirit Divine Light pierced her from behind, taking her life.

The divine light's power remained completely undiminished. Like a flying sword, it circled back, finally bringing the blood-gourd-like Tie Jiu before Fang Xi.

"You. . . you. . . aren't. . . Cao. . ."

Tie Jiu's limbs were all broken, his face covered in blood, as he struggled to speak.

"Yes, I am not him. . ."

"But after sponging off their spirit vein for so long, I felt a bit embarrassed. . ."

Fang Xi nodded, green and yellow light flickering in his eyes as it pierced into Tie Jiu's pupils.

A moment later, a wisp of Wood Spirit True Fire descended, burning the man to ashes.

"I didn't expect. . . this group of bandit cultivators to have quite a background. . ."

"Pei Fei, that Foundation Establishment Perfected cultivator, isn't just from another country; he's secretly funded by the Ethereal Valley Sect. . . all to weaken the Green Wood Sect's power. If this sect doesn't produce a Core Formation combat power within a hundred years, it might be in danger."

"However, that has nothing to do with me. . ."

Fang Xi transformed into a green streak of light, his escape speed like lightning. In no time, he arrived at a hidden mountain valley.

A formation was set up around this valley, and there was a spirit vein inside.

According to Tie Jiu's memories, Pei Fei was hiding there, along with several other Foundation Establishment experts. . .

Such strength was already enough to wipe out a Foundation Establishment-level force and cause enormous trouble for the Green Wood Sect.

Fang Xi merely yawned. A circle of black mist emerged around him, and the Demonic Tree of Primordial Beginning stretched within it, then vanished into the formation.

"Who dares. . ."

A Foundation Establishment cultivator had just flown up when he felt terrifying spiritual pressure wash over him. His expression instantly turned pale, and his originally arrogant voice began to falter. "No good. . . it's a Core Formation Ancestor!"

The valley was momentarily filled with commotion, which then quickly turned into dead silence.

A moment later, Fang Xi walked out of the valley, casually incinerated Pei Fei's corpse, and continued on his journey.

What were incredibly troublesome and powerful bandit cultivators for the Green Wood Sect were just a flick of his fingers to him.

...

Three years later.

State of Yue.

Black Water Pool.

This place was originally the ancestral land of the Situ Clan, which was later suppressed and exterminated.

The battle back then was exceptionally fierce, with even great Foundation Establishment cultivators perishing.

Furthermore, because the Situ Clan released a large number of refined corpses and there was a Yin vein here, after the great battle, the corpses of the fallen cultivators became tainted by Yin energy, transforming into refined corpses, and were enveloped by bizarre poisonous mist, turning the place into a famous dangerous land in the cultivation world.

Many Qi Refinement cultivators, with no other recourse, would venture into such perilous places, hoping to accidentally stumble upon some fortuitous opportunity.

On this day.

Several Qi Refinement cultivators cautiously entered the Black Water Pool area, holding their artifacts.

"Brother Zeng. . . this Black Water Pool is truly dangerous. Even though we have prepared pills and talismans to deal with refined corpses. . . if we face too many refined corpses at once, it will still be very troublesome."

A middle-aged man, holding a red net artifact, looked around with a face full of vigilance.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Zong, don't worry. . . although there used to be refined corpses lingering here, that was a hundred years ago. . . After more than a century of clearing, the number of refined corpses has greatly decreased. Coupled with the map passed down from my ancestor, avoiding the poison mist. . . we will definitely safely reach the core area, the Situ Clan's grand mansion. We'll strike it rich then. . ."

Brother Zeng was a thin, monkey-like old Daoist. He chuckled in reply.

"Sigh. . . I only ask to gather a single 'Yin Corpse Grass' to cure my daughter's fire poison. That would be enough. . ."

The rogue cultivator surnamed Zong sighed.

Beside him was a woman holding an artifact sword, her face full of vigilance.

The woman also spoke, "My husband is right. . . At that time, my husband and I will only need the Yin Corpse Grass. All other treasures will be given to Brother Zeng."

The reason for this was the significant disparity in their cultivation levels: the husband was only at mid-stage Qi Refinement, and the wife was merely at early-stage Qi Refinement, while the old Daoist surnamed Zeng was at Qi Refinement sixth level, just a step away from advancing to late-stage Qi Refinement.

"Haha. . . then many thanks to the worthy couple."

A flicker of joy appeared on Daoist Zeng's face. He quickly calculated with his fingers, then changed direction again.

The three passed through a swamp, and ahead, the mist parted, vaguely revealing a cluster of dilapidated buildings.

"The Situ Clan's ancestral land, we've arrived!"

Upon seeing this, the rogue cultivator surnamed Zong's face couldn't help but show a hint of excitement.