Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 1109 - 963: The Five Tigers Soul Severing (Extra - for Monthly Votes)

Chapter 1109: Chapter 963: The Five Tigers Soul Severing (Extra Chapter for Monthly Votes)

Fang Xi was immersed in his cultivation, gradually forgetting both himself and the world around him.

For him, after killing Lei Juexin at the Martial Arts Conference, there was nothing more for him to concern himself with.

In the Martial World, whether the righteous factions won or the Demon Path prevailed, what did it have to do with him?

Could it make his cultivation progress another level?

Most cultivators are inherently cold and indifferent by nature.

If it weren’t for the requirements of good deeds and external cultivation needed for ascension, even the most orthodox mysterious sects would likely close their gates and focus purely on cultivation.

In a trance, time passed by unknowingly.

On this day.

Fang Xi’s body shimmered with a five-colored light; suddenly, he felt a layer of impurity being shed from his magic power, and his cultivation improved significantly. He couldn’t help but smile with joy as he awoke from his meditation.

’To cultivate the "Mixed Origin Chaos Book" in the Swords Immortal Realm, I should need to purify the impurities from my magic power thirteen times in order to fully develop my magic power and complete my cultivation, aiming for the prospect of Scattered Immoral Fruition!’

’This breakthrough of mine was only because the previous purification of magic power impurities was relatively easy, and the joy from slaying my enemy, combined with the first time I secluded myself for cultivation, was an exception... If I were to painstakingly cultivate in my dongfu, it would take at least a thousand years to complete the thirteen purifications of True Qi!’

He calculated with his fingers and understood many things.

’Different sects have their own ways of cultivating in the Swords Immortal Realm, some continuously purify their magic power, while others condense Nascent Souls, Origin Pills, and even refine Gang Qi and condense Sha...’

’However, no matter the process, the final step to achieving the position of an Individual Immortal is inevitably condensing the Origin Soul!’

’The method I deduced from the "Mixed Origin Chaos Book" mainly purifies magic power, but there are also shortcuts. If I find some heavenly materials and earthly treasures or even refine spiritual pills and elixirs, it could not only thicken but also purify my magic power!’

’Besides, if I find the ’Five Elements True Evil’, integrating it into my magic power could also speed up the transformation of Earth Chakra Origin Truth magic power into Mixed Origin Five Elements Magical Power!’

’Alternatively, finding the method of Origin Magnetism in this world and combining the Five Elements True Qi...’

’Unfortunately, these are all extremely difficult and require opportunity.’

Although Fang Xi could calculate many things, there were others in this world just as capable.

If he forced the issue, he could easily incur karma with Earth Immortals, Celestial Immortals, and even Gold Immortals from the Upper Realm.

For now, he could only rely on his Taoist cultivation to vaguely sense a few places that might be connected to his fate and potentially hidden with opportunities.

There were even two such opportunities five hundred and thirteen hundred years from now!

To live until then, he might well have to go through two or three cycles of reincarnation to stand a chance!

In fact, cultivators do not like to undergo reincarnation.

After all, even with someone to protect them, sending a shred of one’s soul through reincarnation is akin to gambling.

The possibility of experiencing hardships in the next life or having mediocre cultivation talents was quite high.

The more times one reincarnates, the more obscured the True Spirit becomes, making it even harder to seek the Tao.

"Eh?"

Just at that moment, Fang Xi vaguely sensed that the prohibitions he had casually set up were disturbed.

Not only that, he even calculated that among the group of people who triggered the prohibition, there was actually someone entangled with his own karma.

’It’s a pity... I have not learned the crystal surveillance and sensing techniques from the Demon Sect.’

Fang Xi shook his head, summoned the ’Sky Demon Slayer Sword’, and walked out of the cave.

He saw that unbeknownst to him, a group of people had appeared on the mountain peak.

Seeing their martial attire, wielding swords and blades, they must all be from the Martial World, and they were likely here for the Martial Arts Conference.

But now, they all looked embattled, some with bloody wounds, all with faces full of panic as if they were fleeing for their lives.

Currently blocked by a layer of colorful prohibition, knowing that there must be a different person dwelling in this mountain, they showed expressions of deliverance from desperation.

"Eh? Are you ’Central Shu Sword’, Fang Xi?"

Suddenly, a woman dressed like a heroine called out.

Although Fang Xi had made a name for himself as ’Central Shu Sword’, he was still a junior in the Martial Arts World.

His fame was only a bit larger around Shang Yong Mansion. Most of the martial arts veterans did not recognize him, but he was familiar with some younger heroes and heroines.

The woman who spoke out was someone he happened to know, ’Lady Yu’ Cui Feifei.

"So it’s Lady Yu in person..."

He grinned, lifted the colorful prohibition, and casually asked, "The Martial Arts Conference on the fifteenth of August, what happened in the end?"

"The Martial Arts Conference..."

Cui Feifei gave a wry smile, "Originally, Hero Gong proposed that the young heroes under the age of thirty should fight for the position of Martial Arts Leader... but in the midst of the fierce battle, the Evil Monarch suddenly attacked us with a group of Demon Sect masters. He, somehow having mastered some evil sect magic, turned the Six-star Sect’s deputy sect leader ’Lei Hong’ into a pile of bones right on the spot..."

"Not only that, the Evil Monarch also had a bunch of demon sect miscreants working with him. Now we have one such person chasing us, able to manipulate black qi, turning it into a fierce tiger, and he has already devoured quite a few of our martial companions."

As they spoke of this, some of the warriors had red-rimmed eyes, and others clenched their teeth with rage.

One person, spotting an opportunity, began to call out, "We are willing to recognize Central Shu Sword as the Martial Arts Leader and ask Young Master Fang to lead us in avenging our comrades!"

Obviously, this was an attempt to curry favor with Fang Xi, and perhaps even gain immortal fate and succession.

Roar! Roar!

Amidst the noisy crowd of martial artists, a tiger’s roar suddenly echoed from the dense forest!

An ominous wind swept through, toppling trees, clearly indicating that a large creature was approaching rapidly.

"It’s coming!"

Cui Feifei’s face changed color as the woods on both sides parted, revealing a giant tiger leaping out!

This tiger, with hanging eyes and a white forehead, was even more colossal than an ordinary mountain tiger. What was more shocking was the grey-white mist swirling around its body, with the shapes of resentful spirits faintly visible within it.

Among them were a few individuals whom these Martial World figures were very familiar with.

"Is that... Sir Zhang of the Zhang Family?"

"Senior Jiang Fei Xiong?"

"The Dual-Leaf Blade..."

Seeing the martial heroes who had just exchanged greetings with them transform into evil beings serving the tiger, Cui Feifei and the others couldn’t help but fill their eyes with terror.

"What a demon!"

Fang Xi’s expression turned serious as he declared, "I must confront this evil creature with all my might and may not be able to care for you all, save yourselves and flee!"

With a long howl, he merged with his sword and charged towards the giant tiger, engaging in a fierce battle with it.

Roar! Roar!

And as Fang Xi left, two more giant tigers leapt out from the forest, attacking the group of Martial World heroes.

"Run!"

Among the crowd, someone let out a loud shout, and all at once, everyone scattered in a rush.

As some heroes escaped, they cursed inwardly: ’To think I saw the Central Shu Sword as highly skilled, only to find him no better than a pewter-headed spear. I even considered worshiping him as my master, just hogwash filling my mind!’

Chaos ensued as chickens flew and dogs jumped... After the great turmoil, all the people of the Martial World scattered, each seeking their own escape.

It was only after seeing this that Fang Xi let out a sigh of relief. With a motion of his Sword Table, he drew a circle and a burst of Sword Qi trapped the giant tiger within it.

"These so-called heroes of the Martial World have such ill intentions. If they truly came to be my disciples, it’d give me a headache to death..." he muttered.

"This magic spell... is rather interesting, though."

Pressing his Sky Demon Slayer Sword, Fang Xi filled the sky with sword shadows, and one by one the evil spirits were accounted for by him, sent into the cycle of Reincarnation.

It almost seemed as though he was using this fierce tiger to sharpen his sword skills.

Without a moment’s delay, tiger roars suddenly came from all directions.

Fang Xi sheathed his sword and stood tall, witnessing two more giant tigers leaping out of the dense forest, one to the left and one to the right.

Behind him, the two tigers that had been hunting the people of the Martial World also closed in, their claws and teeth dripping with fresh blood and bits of flesh, clearly having achieved significant victories.

The giant tiger he had initially used as a whetstone was crouching beneath the feet of a strange man, whimpering oddly.

"How dare you! You hurt my beloved pet!" the strange man shouted.

This man, with disheveled hair, black teeth tattoos, and wearing animal skins, looked like a wild man. He yelled, "I am the Upper Man of the Five Tigers from Black Mo Cave in Trifork Mountain. Youngster, what sect are you from, state your name!"

Though the Upper Man of the Five Tigers appeared as a wild man, he was shrewd and detail-oriented, noticing Fang Xi’s application of superior swordsmanship and preparing to enquire about his background before making any decisions.

In fact, Fang Xi possessed neither superior sword techniques nor a fine Flying Sword. Even his current sword skill was solely based on his own experience with swordfighting in the Cultivation World, which he had transformed through real battles.

Of course, with his Earth Immortal level of cultivation, even if he wasn’t a sword cultivator, the transformed Sword Table he applied could be considered top-notch among the lesser-known sword techniques.

At this moment, he smiled slightly, "I am Fang Xi, with no sect or affiliation... I suppose you could call me an Individual Cultivator."

"Then you have chosen your own death," the Upper Man of the Five Tigers rejoiced, secretly inciting his magic spell as the five ferocious tigers pounced into the center, their ferocity reaching an extreme!

’If I truly cultivated superior sword techniques and owned a Flying Sword, where would you find life to spare?’ Fang Xi retracted his Sky Demon Slayer Sword and let out a cold laugh in his mind, waving his hand to release it.

The yang properties of Primordial Energy from the Metal, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water moved with his action, the Five-Element Energy rotating, unleashing a powerful circle of Thunder Light!

The ’Five Elements Divine Thunder’, a Divine Skill!

Thunder techniques, with their immense power, are among the favorites of cultivators for protection on their path.

If one follows the Righteous Path, naturally they would specialize in the positive and mighty, best at slaying demonic and shadowy beings.

For those on side paths and even the Demon Sect, there are countless Secret Thunders and Yin Thunders, with some even specializing in cultivating thunder beads capable of destroying areas tens of thousands of miles wide, leading to total annihilation!

The magical power cultivated by this Upper Man of the Five Tigers from Black Mo Cave was actually rather crude and shallow, the only exception being his ’Five Tigers Soul Breaking Skills’. The ’Hundred Souls Tiger Demon’ he had cultivated with this technique existed between a living being and a soul, extremely ferocious and capable of controlling evil spirits. Even those practitioners with greater magical power than him were often no match for him.

When the five tigers gathered, they cooperated with each other, their formation secretly possessing the power of an Array technique, solving many of his enemies for him.

Unfortunately, the ’Hundred Souls Tiger Demon’ created by this technique was restrained by the Righteous Path’s thunder techniques.

The Five Elements Divine Thunder cultivated from Fang Xi’s ’Mixed Origin Chaos Book’, although on a side path, still retained some of the authentic power of a mysterious sect’s thunder techniques, vast and masculine, with infinite might!

The sweeping colors of Thunder Light turned the giant tigers into ash before they could even wail!

Even the leftover might of the Thunder Light struck the Upper Man of the Five Tigers squarely, blasting him and the land he stood on into a crater dozens of feet across!

"Sir, what a splendid display of thunder technique," a voice praised from midair just then.

With a flash of Sword Light, a tall figure in white stood smiling, bowing with his hands together: "I am the ’Cold Mountain Swordsman’ Peng Xifan. It is a pleasure to meet you... I and several Sword Immortal friends, commissioned by someone, have come to observe the Martial Arts Conference, just in time to see this evil demon brazenly killing and practicing magic... You demonstrated bravery by drawing your sword, clearly a hero with a sense of righteousness. Would you be interested in joining us for a gathering to meet some like-minded fellows?"

"’Cold Mountain Swordsman’ Peng Xifan?"

Fang Xi almost let the Sky Demon Slayer Sword twitch in his hand, nearly slaying the man...