Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms

Chapter 29 Battle of Wits

Several hours later.

Red Maple Valley, the 'Heavenly Maple Pavilion' where the ancestor cultivated.

The banquet was filled with clinking glasses and dazzling lights, with dancers and musicians performing, creating a joyful and harmonious atmosphere.

Li Rulong, seated in the host's seat, exuded an air of authority and dominance. He addressed Fang Qing, who was seated as a guest, saying, "Let me introduce you, Brother Fang. You've met my younger sister before. These are Lady Miaoyi, Chunyunzi, Zhang Hefang..."

Fang Qing bowed to each person, and then noticed two mortals seated at the end of the table. He couldn't help but smile: "So it's you two..."

"This humble one greets the Immortal Master!" Liu Wansu and Zhu Zhenheng, both dressed in armor, rose and bowed.

They were Li Rulong's sworn brothers, but they lacked the aptitude for cultivating immortality.

When Li Rulong decided to build a righteous army, he poured all his wealth into following him and has now become a commoner leader in the army.

Seeing this group of immortals feasting, I don't know what to feel.

"By the way, Brother Li, why did you suddenly raise a rebel army?"

Fang Qing was somewhat curious.

Given the dire situation in the Yiba County, it's normal for there to be a militia of refugees. Before he came into contact with supernatural powers, even he considered rising up in rebellion.

But now that I know the truth about the world, I no longer have the courage.

"Alas... I am destined for the Metal element, and the fortune teller said I possess the aura of a dragon and am destined to bring about a revolution..."

Li Rulong sighed, "I didn't really believe it at first, but later, after entering the Dao and reaching the mid-stage of Qi cultivation, the Lesser Geng Golden Sword Technique became increasingly difficult to improve... And then, I happened to meet the Pu family mother and daughter in Yulin County. They were grateful for my previous life-saving grace and introduced me to the head of the Pu family... The Pu family is a prominent family in Yulin County, quite powerful, and they couldn't stand the chaos in their neighboring Ba County, so they wanted to quell the unrest... They hit it off with me and gave me some support. With the help of several fellow Daoists, we started a righteous army..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Qing stared at Li Rulong with a strange look in his eyes.

"This guy is starting to resemble a novel protagonist more and more! The mother and daughter he happened to save are from the Purple Mansion Clan... He possesses dragon energy, and then he encounters a chaotic world? And his cultivation is progressing so rapidly?"

"It seems that the practice of the Dao of Breath Control is quite related to fulfilling one's own destiny?"

"But... Ba County is full of hidden talents. Leaving aside the Daoist family, the Black Qi Sect has a Purple Mansion Ancestor. How dare he?"

Fang Qing thought this to himself, but a look of admiration appeared on his face: "Brother Li, I admire you immensely for your ambition, but I wonder... how you plan to deal with the Black Qi Sect?"

"Fellow Daoist, you may not know this, but the Purple Mansion Ancestor of the Yu Lin Pu family, 'Lord Pu Shan,' has already met with the Ancestor of the Black Gu Sect. Both sides agreed that no cultivator above the Dao Foundation stage is allowed to intervene in this matter, and that we, his subordinates, should make the decision ourselves..."

Lady Myogi, whose face resembled that of a young girl, covered her mouth and laughed.

"I see……"

Fang Qing understood: "If I were the Purple Mansion Ancestor with a lifespan of five hundred years, I certainly wouldn't easily fight against cultivators of the same level... Delegating it to subordinates is a good idea."

"The rise and fall of these two prefectures, the livelihoods of millions of people—are they nothing more than a game to Dao Foundation and Purple Mansion cultivators?"

Li Rulong's cultivation was able to advance by leaps and bounds for two reasons: first, it aligned with his own destiny; second, he gained support and resources for cultivation!

Knowing this, Fang Qing still did not intend to join the rebel army.

"While there are advantages to being a pawn, and value in being used... I now possess invaluable assets and have no shortage of such things. Having put on shoes, I cannot act as if I were barefoot."

He sighed inwardly.

To be fair, Fang Qing really wanted to slaughter the Black Gu Sect cultivators and avenge his family's blood feud.

But now? He chooses to be more cautious, waiting until he has established his Dao Foundation and Purple Mansion before exacting his revenge!

When Fang Qing resolutely refused Li Rulong's repeated invitations to join the group, the atmosphere at the banquet immediately became quite cold.

On the contrary, Li Rulong displayed the demeanor of a great general: "Haha... Everyone has their own ambitions. Since Brother Fang is unwilling, I won't force him... By the way, Brother Fang mentioned earlier that he wanted to come to Maple Leaf Valley to exchange for spiritual resources? I wonder what he wishes to exchange for? Let me see if we have any in the army..."

"That's right... I want to refine pills, but I'm still missing one ingredient, 'Seven Star Grass'."

Fang Qing spoke the truth.

"Fellow Daoist is actually an alchemist?"

Chun Yunzi, who had been quite arrogant before, suddenly changed her expression: "Seven-Star Grass, I do have a few on hand..."

Li Rulong nodded and then looked at the Ye family patriarch.

"This kind of miraculous herb grows in my family's medicinal herb garden."

The Ye family patriarch answered with a stiff upper lip, fearing that Li Rulong might suggest confiscating the property outright.

"Excellent... I have several hundred catties of spirit grain and several bottles of spirit water suitable for early and mid-stage cultivators to enhance their mana... You can exchange them for these."

Fang Qing was overjoyed.

The spirit grains he took out were mixed here. Cultivators who practice Qi cultivation can improve their cultivation by consuming spirit grains daily; they can be considered a cultivation resource.

"Okay, okay..."

Chun Yunzi quickly changed his clothes and inquired whether Fang Qing could help him refine pills. His words were quite flattering, which made even Madam Miaoyi next to him frown.

"It seems the transmission of cultivation arts is rather mediocre in ancient Shu... Or perhaps it's because I haven't joined a major sect like the Purple Mansion Sect?"

Fang Qing suddenly realized that he had learned the basics of alchemy from the Bihai Sect, a major sect that taught him how to form the Core Formation stage.

"I never imagined that I, who couldn't even compete with my fellow disciples within the sect, would be considered a top-tier talent among the independent cultivators here?"

He was overjoyed as he completed the transaction with the Ye family patriarch.

"Very good, with these Seven Star Grasses, I refuse to believe I can't refine the Mind-Concentrating Powder..."

"Alright, everyone, let's drink together..."

Upon seeing this, Li Rulong's lips curled slightly, and he raised his glass again.

suddenly!

The expressions of the people present changed slightly, but a few ordinary people remained bewildered.

"A cultivator is approaching; it should be a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator from the Black Qi Sect..."

Li Rulong stood up, his expression solemn.

The Ye family patriarch's expression changed drastically: "I'm afraid I can't defeat even one of these disciples from such high-ranking families... Even if I could, who would dare to kill them?"

He felt a bitter taste in his mouth: "The Yu Lin Pu family wants to enter Ba County, but they don't want to directly clash with the Black Gu Sect, so they're supporting a few pretentious rebel armies... I must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to be chosen by you, and now I'm in a dilemma."

"I dare to kill!"

Li Rulong let out a long roar, becoming one with his sword, transforming into a dazzling golden sword light that soared into the sky.

A layer of dark clouds had appeared in the sky sometime earlier.

The sword light rushed in, like a sword breaking the dawn.

"what!"

A scream rang out, followed by a vicious female voice: "Junior Brother Miao has been killed... How dare you!!"

Buzz!

In the void, swarms of yellowish-brown insects appeared out of nowhere. Upon closer inspection, one could see that they were formed from countless insects merged together, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.

"kill!"

A willow branch appeared in Guo Tianhong's hand, which she waved towards the sky.

A layer of emerald green light appeared, and the light from the willow branches shone into the swarm of insects, but quickly dissipated on its own.

"The Black Gu Sect cultivators specialize in [Di Earth], which governs epidemics and can release plagues..."

Lady Myo-gi shouted, "Everyone, be careful!"

The swarm of insects dispersed in the sky, revealing several Black Gu Sect cultivators with indigo headscarves, black vests, leggings, and bare feet. One of the female cultivators, with her hands forming hand seals, rode a yellowish-brown longhorn beetle and charged towards Li Rulong.

The other cultivators then challenged Guo Tianhong and the others one by one.

Even though Fang Qing immediately shielded everyone in front of him, he was still targeted by a triangular-eyed cultivator.

He sighed, steered the Azure Leaf Boat, and slowly retreated out of the valley, searching for a suitable battlefield: "Fellow Daoist, I am only here to trade, not as a member of the righteous army..."

"Heh heh... Do you think I'd believe that? Besides... you call these refugees and bandits righteous armies, which clearly shows you already have a stance in mind."

The triangular-eyed monk sneered.

"That's true..."

Fang Qing chuckled to himself; he truly had no goodwill towards these Black Gu Sect cultivators.

Even if it's just a family feud, I can't let the opportunity pass me by, not even if it's just about buying Seven Star Grass from Li Rulong.

"Alright, let's finish this quickly."

He made up his mind, and with a swipe of his right hand across his storage bag, three fireball talismans appeared instantly.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three enormous fireballs exploded, their temperature and range far exceeding those of Fang Qing's experiment on Jade Island.

"Damn... so many fire-attribute talismans?"

The triangular-eyed cultivator's expression changed drastically, and he waved his hand to take out a pitch-black shield.

A massive burst of flames left dark, jagged holes in the shield.

"call……"

The cultivator, having narrowly escaped death, showed a mixture of relief and resentment on his face. He glared at Fang Qing, took out a bamboo tube from his robes, and a crimson two-tailed centipede crawled out of the tube, about to unleash a Gu technique.

The Black Gu Sect is famous for its Gu techniques, and is most skilled in various insidious and evil arts that can poison or even kill opponents without their knowledge!

But before he could use his Gu technique, he saw Fang Qing pull out another metal-attribute talisman.

call out!

A flash of golden light appeared in the void, revealing a huge golden blade with intricate patterns on it. Its sharpness was so great that it was no less than that of Li Rulong, the sword cultivator!

With a flash of light, the black iron shield was cleaved in two, the cut surface as bright as a mirror.

"Damn it... just who is this person? A direct descendant of the Daoji family?"

The triangular-eyed cultivator was already trying to escape. He didn't know how powerful the cultivator opposite him was, but just by relying on his talismans, he was comparable to a true disciple of the sect.

"Fire Cloud Talisman!"

At this moment, Fang Qing, with the intention of eradicating evil completely, activated his trump card, a first-grade high-ranking Fire Cloud Talisman.

When this talisman was activated, he instantly felt that 30% of the magical power in his dantian disappeared!

"Such consumption? If I were still at the initial stage of cultivation, my dantian would probably be completely drained... No wonder Qi Refining cultivators find it difficult to cast second-tier talismans—the difference in skill level is too great."

Fortunately, Fang Qing had been paying attention to physical training and mental cultivation, and at this moment he was controlling the violent spell to take shape.

Whoosh!

Endless fiery clouds gathered, like a raging storm, instantly engulfing the triangular-eyed cultivator...