Chapter 67: Planning to Slay the Flood Dragon (Congratulations to the Heaven's Vault Cloud Sea Alliance Leader! )
Chapter 67: Planning to Slay the Flood Dragon (Congratulations to the Heaven's Vault Cloud Sea Alliance Leader! )
The Da Liang World.
At the foot of Yuan He Mountain.
Whether it was purchasing formations, or scouring for inheritances of puppet arts and beast taming arts, all required a vast amount of Spirit Stones!
Fang Xi, with a lean purse, naturally chose to cross over immediately to seek trouble with the Eight Great Demon Kings.
Although the Da Liang World still had a heap of messy affairs, to his current self, they were but a gentle breeze upon his face.
After all, a Grandmaster represented the peak of the human body's limits!
Coupled with a cultivator's methods, even if surrounded by tens of thousands of troops, Fang Xi could still leisurely depart.
Thus, he wasn't concerned about the issue of exposure.
Before the Blood Gate, a mountain-guarding disciple saw a young man float gracefully towards them. The rugged mountain path beneath the newcomer's feet seemed as flat as level ground. He couldn't help but ask cautiously.
"I am Fang Leng! " Fang Xi offered a benign smile. "I've come to visit the mountain! I ask that Grandmaster Linghu Shan grant me an audience!"
Hmm, after all, it was his first visit since becoming a Grandmaster, so it had to be a bit more formal.
The next moment, that Yuan He Mountain disciple seemed to go weak in the knees, plopped backward, and then stumbled and crawled away, running back frantically.
As he ran, he let out a hoarse, grating cry: "Oh no! The Great Demon Ghost-Fearing has come to visit the mountain! ! !"
Fang Xi: ". . ."
...
"Hahahaha!"
An hour later, on Thunder Peak.
Linghu Shan guffawed, utterly without decorum, slapping his thigh as he laughed.
"What 'disciples of Ding Province's foremost martial arts power'! Every one of them is as timid as a mouse. . . I say, your Yuan He Mountain's education has serious problems! " Fang Xi said with a wry face. "I've always been benevolent towards others. When did I become a Great Demon?"
"Heh heh. . . " Linghu Shan held back his laughter. "You killed two of the Ding Province Army's eight captains, and countless True Force Martial Master experts with steel sinews and iron bones. . . Every time you, Ghost-Fearing, appear, you 'cleanse with blood' the martial arts elite of Three Yuan City. If that's not a Great Demon, what is? I hadn't given any instructions to my disciples, and with your formal visit this time, they thought you were going to wipe out my entire Yuan He Mountain sect!"
"Sigh. . . If others hadn't forced me this time, I wouldn't have wanted to."
Fang Xi sighed and asked, "How are my two disciples doing?"
"Don't worry, they're currently being pampered with good food and drink, for fear that you'll fly into a rage again and massacre Three Yuan City's elite. . ."
Linghu Shan showed a disdainful smile. "Those people. . . their ability to adapt to changing circumstances is quite something."
He then turned to Fang Xi, clucking in wonder, "I have yet to congratulate little friend on breaking through to the Martial Saint realm and achieving the Grandmaster stage! This old man originally thought that even with your exceptional talent, it would take at least ten years. I never expected it would be barely two years. Little friend, you're not yet thirty, are you? Tsk tsk. . . a Grandmaster under thirty, even looking across the entire world, ranks among the best."
'Actually, I'm not even twenty yet. . . '
Fang Xi thought for a moment, decided not to mention it, and asked, "With this aptitude, do you think I can join the 'Grandmaster Society'?"
He was quite interested in that organization.
The Da Liang martial arts path only went as far as True Vigor Martial Saint, which was equivalent to the Body Cultivation Third Layer, still a bit low.
Fang Xi still wanted to achieve Foundation Establishment-level body cultivation, and then feed that back into his own Qi Refinement realm!
Since there was no path ahead in martial arts, he would forcefully carve one out.
On this matter, Fang Xi had some confidence.
Because he now had Spirit Stones and strength, he could completely purchase body cultivation techniques from the cultivation world, or even techniques for the Body Cultivation Fourth Layer as reference!
Although the two sides were vastly different, there were always complementary aspects.
The reason he stubbornly stuck to this world's martial arts was naturally because this path cultivated blood-qi, which was quite different from the body cultivation techniques of the cultivation world, and might be greatly beneficial for breaking through the blood-qi bottleneck of Foundation Establishment!
'If it truly won't work, then I'll switch to the orthodox body cultivation path. . . Anyway, initially, I just wanted to quickly become strong through martial arts and gain the power to protect myself. '
"You want to join those madmen? " Linghu Shan shook his head, then nodded. "With such talent, they'll definitely agree. After all, your innate ability might be useful for their exploration of the path beyond Grandmaster. . . But be careful, the people in the Grandmaster Society aren't easy to deal with!"
"Thank you for the guidance."
Fang Xi cupped his hands and finally got to the serious business. "Previously, I promised you that once I became a Grandmaster, I would definitely join forces with you to kill that vicious flood dragon. . ."
A glint of excitement flashed across Linghu Shan's face. "Little friend is truly a man of his word!"
The flood dragon of Old Dragon Pond had a deep enmity with him; he had been thinking of revenge for a long time.
"However, 'know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated! '" Fang Xi said. "I need the most detailed information about it!"
The Demon Kings of Da Liang were at least late-stage Qi Refinement demon beasts.
And possessing the bloodline of a flood dragon made them even harder to deal with; they might even turn the tables!
Fang Xi didn't believe that his advancement to True Vigor Martial Saint made him invincible.
"Naturally. . ."
Linghu Shan entered the house and soon emerged with a thick stack of documents. "Everything about that beast, this old man has been watching closely!"
Fang Xi casually took them, his eyes flickered, and he quickly flipped through them.
The intelligence from Yuan He Mountain was indeed very detailed. From the destructive power of that dragon-blooded snake demon, it truly didn't exceed the strength of a Qi Refinement stage demon beast, which finally put his mind at ease.
"Actually. . . as long as it's a demon beast, even a Demon King can be besieged to death regardless of cost. However, the eight great Demon Kings of Ding Province each have their own unique characteristics. . ."
Linghu Shan added, "For example, the Great Peng King can fly. . . And this Flood Dragon King, not only are its scales impervious to swords and spears, with only divine weapons and sharp artifacts capable of slightly piercing its defense, but if anything goes wrong, it will also hide in Old Dragon Pond. . . Although Old Dragon Pond is named a pond, it's incredibly deep. I suspect there's an underground water vein connecting it to the nearby 'Coiling Dragon Lake', making it extremely difficult to kill!"
"Difficult to break through its defense?"
Fang Xi put down the documents and stretched.
In that short period, he had already read through all the documents. "How does it compare to a Grandmaster's True Vigor?"
"Even better! " Linghu Shan's expression was solemn. "What's more. . . our Grandmasters' true vigor always runs the risk of exhaustion, but that beast's scales and hide are eternally present."
For a Grandmaster to manifest True Vigor was also quite an exhausting affair, draining their physical strength and blood-qi. And a demon beast's fur and scale defenses were, of course, permanently present.
This was the biggest difference!
"No point in more talk, how about. . . we exchange a few blows? " Fang Xi was a little excited. Since advancing to True Vigor Martial Saint, he hadn't yet sparred with anyone!
"This. . . let's skip it. This old man is already old, I can't compare to you young people. . . " Linghu Shan habitually tried to shirk the effort.
"What if I said, I have a method to break through the flood dragon's scales, and I need you to cooperate and test it out? " Fang Xi immediately threw out the bait.
"Then this old man can only accompany you even at the risk of my life. " A glint flashed in Linghu Shan's eyes, and he immediately agreed.
...
Thunder Peak.
The back mountain.
An open ground, surrounded by strangely shaped black stones, piled up in bizarre and fantastical ways.
"This place will do. . ."
Linghu Shan walked to the center of the flat ground and spoke calmly.
Rip!
The next moment, his figure suddenly grew taller, transforming from an unassuming old man into a giant over two meters tall!
Not only that, but muscles bulged on his arms, thighs. . . even tearing apart his original clothes.
Swoosh!
With a movement of his body, he was already before Fang Xi, his five fingers like carrying wind and thunder, clawing out like lightning.
"Secret Art: Five Thunders Extreme Transformation!"
This secret art, in the hands of a True Force Martial Master versus a True Vigor Martial Saint, was completely different!
In Linghu Shan's hands, every one of his fingers burst forth with true vigor, forming a giant claw encircled by electrical light, its power astonishing!
"Getting serious right from the start, are we!"
Fang Xi chuckled lightly and retreated.
As he leaped backward, wisps of blood-red true vigor also emitted from his entire body and pores, enveloping his front, as if forming a blood-red breastplate.
Zzzzz!
The true vigor giant claw, entwined with lightning, clutched at the breastplate, emitting an ear-splitting clang that made one's teeth ache.
Although the breastplate was deformed by the grip, it ultimately did not break through.
'The reason a True Vigor Martial Saint can be compared to a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator is because of the existence of true vigor! '
Fang Xi's feet moved as if every step produced a lotus, retreating seven steps in a row. Watching this scene, he was deep in thought.
A Grandmaster projecting true vigor outward to form protective armor could completely withstand Qi Refinement stage spells and artifact attacks!
This was the true reliance of a Martial Saint!
As for the physical body?
Even if his steel sinews and iron bones were further strengthened, his bones would probably only be able to block mid to high-grade artifacts.
Any body cultivator who directly clashed with artifacts or treasures using their bare flesh was a fool!
"Linghu Shan. . . be careful, I'm bringing out my true skill!"
Fang Xi reminded him, forming a sword with his conjoined fingers on his right hand. "Go!"
A golden stream of light immediately flew out, the sword light grand and magnificent, even emitting faint dragon's roars!
Superior-grade Artifact — Golden Flood Dragon Shears!
Clang!
The Golden Flood Dragon Shears transformed into a golden sword light, suddenly flared out, and struck towards Linghu Shan.
In an instant, Linghu Shan changed tactics with extreme speed, withdrawing his right hand to block his chest. Terrifying crimson true vigor erupted on his arm, like arm armor, conjuring streak after streak of afterimages.
"Secret Art: Eight-Armed Dragon Slayer!"
Bang!
The golden stream of light landed on the crimson true vigor, but was surprisingly bounced back.
Fang Xi's expression remained unchanged, his fingers moving continuously, like plucking harp strings.
The golden stream of light circled widely and flew back towards Linghu Shan's back, like a spirit snake flicking its tongue!
"Ah!"
Linghu Shan roared, all the muscles on his back bulged, and he bumped backward like a bear!
The erupting true vigor landed on the Golden Flood Dragon Shears, emitting clear sounds as if countless bright pearls were striking a jade plate.
The Golden Flood Dragon Shears did not budge an inch; only its momentum was slightly reduced. Linghu Shan dodged it with an awkward roll.
"This old man concedes!"
Linghu Shan, who had just scrambled up, saw Fang Xi about to strike with his sword again, and quickly raised his hands, shouting, "This old man's true vigor is already exhausted. . ."
A Grandmaster's true vigor was limited, but sustaining a single battle was not much of an issue.
Linghu Shan's true qi was exhausted entirely because the Golden Flood Dragon Shears were too sharp, forcing him to unleash his full power to resist.
And once his true vigor was exhausted, he dared not directly withstand a superior-grade artifact with his flesh and blood body.
Seeing Linghu Shan concede, Fang Xi went along with the momentum and recalled his artifact.
"Little friend. . . could you be a legendary Sword Immortal? !"
Although Linghu Shan was dusty and dishevelled, he was thick-skinned enough not to care about winning or losing. Instead, he was extremely interested in Fang Xi's displayed flying sword art. "Earlier, I heard the Yuan He Mountain disciples in the army say you could use a flying sword to cut off heads, and I thought they were talking nonsense. I never expected it to be true!"
"This is a secret transmission of my sect's flying sword art; its essence lies in refining true vigor into threads, and controlling the sword with these threads!"
Fang Xi adopted a serious expression, solemnly spouting nonsense.
However, the martial artists of this world were extremely confident and arrogant individuals. If you told them about cultivation, they might not believe you, but if you claimed it was a secret martial arts technique, they might just really believe it!
Comments