Chapter 347: Taibai (Please subscribe)
Chapter 347: Taibai (Please subscribe)
A beam of white light flew out from the Profound Ice Palace, carrying an aura of extreme cold. It was none other than Feng Bingxian.
She gazed intently at the layers of ghostly clouds not far away, a look of profound shock appearing on her face.
Currently, within the entire Profound Ice Palace, only she, having refined an External Pill, dared to come out and observe the battle.
A moment later.
Innumerable ghostly mists dissipated, absorbed by a bone banner as if a great whale was drawing in water, revealing a cloudless sky stretching for ten thousand li.
Fang Xi, in his alias 'Yun Jizi', stood with his hands clasped behind his back, holding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, lost in thought.
"Supreme Elder. . . what was that just now?"
Feng Bingxian was, after all, not a Core Formation cultivator; her senses were not keen enough. She could only perceive a Core Formation battle, but as for the identities of the newcomers and what followed, she was completely ignorant.
Fang Xi waved his hand, his expression turning serious: "However, this matter is a bit troublesome. . . I intend to go out and avoid the limelight for a while. If anyone comes to ask you, just tell them the truth, understand?"
Without waiting for Feng Bingxian's reply, Fang Xi had already descended into the Small Cold Cave, putting his belongings one by one into the Mountain Sea Pearl.
After casually bestowing some items upon Jiang Ling and the other maidservants who had rushed over, he transformed into a streak of inky black demonic light and soared far into the sky. . .
The inky black light merely flickered a few times on the horizon before completely vanishing, leaving the female cultivators of the Profound Ice Palace staring blankly at each other.
...
After flying south for a period, Fang Xi extended his right hand and tore at his face.
A human-skin mask instantly peeled off.
He chuckled softly, Wood Spirit Divine Light swirling around him, transforming into a verdant green escape light. He made a wide detour, flying north.
As he flew, he also touched the storage ring on his hand.
"This Nascent Soul seed from the Tai Xu Sect is far less 'fat' than the Saint Son. . ."
"More crucially, the soul search didn't yield much good news either."
Thinking of the intelligence he had gathered after killing Wei Yingfan earlier, Fang Xi's expression suddenly turned somewhat gloomy.
"Qing Yang Shang Ren lied earlier. . . Although there were ancient demonic sect texts within the Tai Xu Sect, they did indeed mention the 'Resentful Soul Lure' and methods to identify it, but there was no method to lift the curse. How dare that old fellow deceive me. . ."
"No, wait, it seems I haven't exerted myself for Tianmeng either. . . I've even fleeced quite a bit from them; it's not a loss. . ."
"Instead, within this person's memory, the memories regarding the Tai Xu Sect's cultivation methods and divine abilities were also sealed by a spiritual sense restriction. . ."
"The things I could obtain were not many. . ."
As for the spirit artifacts on this Tai Xu Sect's Nascent Soul seed, the Tai Xu Pagoda was already half-ruined; only nine of his life-bound flying swords were still noteworthy.
However, even if a cultivator's life-bound artifact could be refined after their death, it would certainly never be able to be refined to the point of achieving complete unity of mind and will, or unleashing its full power.
Fang Xi estimated it would only be useful as a temporary measure; its power wouldn't even compare to the 'Poison Dragon Claw'!
"Instead, this item. . . is quite interesting."
He held Wei Yingfan's storage bracelet in his hand, and his magic power surged into it, easily refining it.
After his divine consciousness entered it, Fang Xi bypassed the spirit stones and other spiritual items, and several jade slips directly appeared in his hand.
"There are two completely new jade talisman refining methods; truly excellent. . ."
"Apart from that, there's this item."
Fang Xi toyed with an inky black jade slip in his hand, a thoughtful expression on his face.
This inky black jade slip also originated from that ancient demonic sect which possessed the secret incantation of 'Resentful Soul Lure'.
According to Wei Yingfan's memories, it should be a spoil of war obtained after this demonic sect, weakened, was exterminated by the Tai Xu Sect.
Unfortunately, after a long passage of time, the Tai Xu Sect also declined. In the Jiang Kingdom, demonic power rose while orthodox Dao fell!
"Resentful Soul Lure'. . . not only is it this demonic secret incantation, but even some basic demonic spells have been used by demonic disciples in the Shard World, very similar to the South Barrens Cultivation World. . ."
"Judging from this, these two realms are indeed subordinate minor realms of the Earthly Immortal World, and perhaps both received teachings from a powerful being of the upper realm. . . Therefore, it's quite normal for many cultivation methods, secret arts, spiritual medicines, and item names to be exactly the same or similar."
Fang Xi pondered for a moment, then his divine consciousness entered the inky black jade slip once more.
An extremely exquisite cultivation art immediately appeared before his eyes, but unfortunately, it was only a fragmented version.
And in many blank spaces, there were Wei Yingfan's annotations.
It was evident that this Nascent Soul seed from the Tai Xu Sect had indeed expended a great deal of effort on this item.
According to the other party's memories, Fang Xi further learned that the reason Wei Yingfan, nearing two hundred years old, was still only at the peak of mid-stage Core Formation cultivation, a waste of his Heaven-grade spiritual root aptitude, was not only due to encountering the late-stage Core Formation bottleneck but also largely related to the immense time and energy he had poured into this fragmented cultivation method.
"Taibai Sword Art?"
Fang Xi mumbled, speaking the name of this cultivation art.
This cultivation method was, astonishingly, a foundational art of ancient sword cultivators!
Once mastered, it might be able to reproduce the might of the ancient sword cultivators' 'A Single Sword Strike Breaking Ten Thousand Arts'!
As for why it was recorded in an inky jade slip permeated with demonic qi?
"This 'Taibai Sword Art' has had a difficult fate; it's not only a spoil of war obtained by the Tai Xu Sect when they conquered that ancient demonic sect. . . but this sword art was probably also plundered by the demonic sect before that. . . When it was exterminated, the demonic sect elders destroyed many texts, leaving it quite fragmented. . ."
"What a pity. . . I don't have a metal spiritual root, nor am I a sword cultivator."
"This Taibai Sword Art is truly useless to me, utterly worthless. . ."
"Although, this person has already completed a small portion of its fragments, and has ideas for the rest. . . if I were to use the Nine-Eyed Bodhi Seed to comprehend and deduce it, I might truly be able to revive the glory of ancient sword cultivators. . ."
Fang Xi curled his lips and put away the jade slip directly.
Ancient sword cultivators emphasize resolute temperament and unwavering forward momentum. Although their combat power is formidable, this style truly doesn't suit him. . .
Otherwise, Fang Xi wouldn't mind trying his hand at swordsmanship.
After all, the issue of spiritual root aptitude still has a solution through body possession.
He himself hasn't reached the Nascent Soul realm, so he cannot project his Nascent Soul out of his body for body possession. However, his External Avatar has refined the Celestial Demon Relic, which allows for three body possessions!
For example, if his External Avatar were to possess Wei Yingfan, Fang Xi would immediately become a peerless genius with a Heaven-grade metal spiritual root!
"Alas. . . Nascent Soul old monsters generally possess the ability of body possession. Even if their aptitude was poor before, after body possession, they would likely become peerless geniuses. . ."
"Compared to them, my slow and leisurely method of growing a tree to increase my aptitude is truly pathetic. . ."
Fang Xi shed a handful of bitter tears for himself.
"Now I've offended the Tai Xu Sect again, to the point where I don't even dare stay in the Profound Ice Palace. . . Another small note added to the ledger."
He controlled the Wood Spirit Divine Light, leaving streaks of afterimages in the sky.
Before long, he emerged from the glacial lands, seeing the mountains below turn green, a scene of birdsong and fragrant flowers.
Fang Xi continued his journey, finally arriving at the underground secret stronghold where Qing Yang Shang Ren had met with Wei Yingfan, according to Wei Yingfan's memories.
Boom!
He flicked his finger, and a streak of Wood Spirit Divine Light flew out, transforming into a Wood Spirit Divine Sword.
The power emanating from this sword now surpassed that of ordinary artifacts, violently smashing into the ground.
Rumble!
The earth trembled and cracked. . . revealing an empty underground palace.
Fang Xi descended to the ground, surrounded by a Wood Spirit Divine Light barrier. His divine consciousness swept inch by inch through the underground palace: "They're gone. . . and they cleaned up thoroughly."
"It seems Wei Yingfan must have had something like a life token in Qing Yang Shang Ren's possession, and upon his death, they immediately decided to relocate? If so, there's no need to go to the other locations in his memories. . ."
He sighed.
He had pursued them relentlessly precisely to exploit the time difference, to raid several of Tianmeng's secret strongholds before news of Wei Yingfan's demise spread.
He hadn't expected to find nothing.
Fang Xi also didn't dare to continue searching. After all, delays breed trouble; if he waited long enough, a trap might be waiting for him instead!
"Forget it, what I gain is my fortune, what I lose is my fate. . ."
He let out a sigh, and flicked his wide sleeve.
In the blink of an eye, a mass of green light burst forth, and Fang Xi's traces were no longer present in the vicinity. . .
...
Star Moon Market.
Xue Family's Old Shop.
Wen Lan, already looking quite aged, held a small silver mirror, counting her white hairs, a wave of sadness suddenly welling up in her heart.
She had failed to achieve Foundation Establishment back then and was still a Qi Refinement cultivator, destined to be abandoned.
Guarding this shop continuously was likely her final destination.
Just then, the corner of her eye flickered slightly, and she saw a Foundation Establishment cultivator stride into the shop.
"Esteemed customer. . . what kind of intelligence do you require? Within the Star Moon Market, I'm not boasting, but my Xue Family's Old Shop is absolutely second to none."
'This woman. . . although she's aged quite a bit, her attitude seems to have changed significantly. Has she suffered the beatings of society? '
Fang Xi nodded, sitting down with a commanding air: "Not to buy, but to sell. . . Regarding the truth behind the recent enmity between the Green Leaf Merchant Guild and the Red Blood Cult, I wonder if your esteemed establishment is interested?"
He possessed Wei Yingfan's memories, and was thoroughly familiar with the Tai Xu Sect's arrangements in the Yuan Kingdom. He naturally knew that this intelligence shop in the Star Moon Market did not belong to Tianmeng; on the contrary, its backing force seemed to be somewhat at odds with them.
"We naturally accept such information. Please wait a moment, Senior. . ."
Wen Lan's eyes widened. Such important intelligence was something she had never encountered in her entire life.
"You don't need to call anyone. I won't wait. The intelligence is here; one hand for spirit stones, one hand for the goods!"
Fang Xi took out a jade slip: "I'll count to three. If you don't agree, then I can only leave. . ."
"This old one agrees. " Wen Lan immediately nodded and assented, then asked: "It's just. . . how do we verify the authenticity of the information?"
"You will know once you've seen it. If it were truly confirmed information, you probably wouldn't be able to afford it. . ."
Ultimately, after multiple negotiations and paying out all the spirit stones and spiritual items accumulated in the shop, Wen Lan finally pressed the jade slip to her forehead. Her expression then changed dramatically: "It's actually a subordinate organization of the Tai Xu Sect — Tianmeng? Such a complete layout, maps, and lists. . . As long as we search, there will definitely be traces. Indeed, there's no need for further verification, Senior. . ."
When she looked up again, where could she possibly find any trace of Fang Xi?
...
"A place of trouble, not suitable for prolonged stay."
"Now I've somewhat created trouble for the Tai Xu Sect. . . keeping them too preoccupied to target me further."
Fang Xi walked out of the Star Moon Market, swept his divine consciousness, and then flew into the air.
After entering a white cloud, his mind stirred, and his figure suddenly vanished. . .
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