Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 1119 - 973 Withered

Chapter 1119: Chapter 973 Withered

The Big Thousand World where the Shu Mountain Sect resides.

Beyond a thousand miles from Drunk Moon Pool.

A flash of silver light, and Fang Xi, bearing the visage of ’Central Shu Sword,’ appeared floating in the air.

"Back again..."

"No, this is my place of birth, where my True Qi Mana truly becomes impeccable and complete..."

Previously, Fang Xi had unsheathed his sword to relieve Shui Lingxin and others from their predicament but had no intention of making an appearance.

He was, at the time, focused on refining the big matters of the Earth Immortal Realm.

Shui Lingxin and the others, no matter how close they were to him, were nonetheless cultivators of the Earth Immortal Realm.

Too close an association could inadvertently breed complications.

After that moment of reflection, he reached behind his head.

A white pearl emerged and then transformed into a young man who laughed heartily, "With the Dragon Turtle Essence refined, I envy not the youth but the Immortals!"

He waved his hand, and some mysterious starlight appeared, scattering back to heaven and earth.

In that moment, Fang Xi made a calculation with his fingers and finally felt the unease of impending catastrophe from the earlier red light diminish significantly.

"Taking away the Taiyi Formless, Fire Cloud, and other flying swords of the Immortals... I also took away a bit of the essence of this realm."

"In the past, even if the Demon Path had taken these flying swords, or even turned them into crude iron, they would have simply circulated within the world. But taking them outside of this world, there’s some karma... "

"If not repaid, the decline of energy and the onset of deadly tribulations are common."

Of course, Fang Xi wasn’t concerned with this, but if he were to be entangled with troubles and unable to move freely, it would be quite troublesome.

Therefore, this time, he brought some of the world’s essence to repay the debt, buying the favor of the Heavenly Path of this realm.

With this move and another calculation, although there remained some karma with the Shu Mountain Sect, he no longer owed anything to heaven and earth.

Fang Xi, harnessing his second Origin Soul, immediately felt layers of Magic Power blessing his body.

"Huh!"

He exhaled a long breath, and the five-colored aura around his body burst into a dazzling display.

The Earth Chakra Origin Truth Magic Power soared, turning into a golden rainbow, within which five-colored talismans continuously transformed, and in an instant, shed another layer of impurities from the Magic Power!

"The second Origin Soul is of the level of the Immortals; it is not something that could have been refined within the realm of the Sword Immortal."

"But since it has been refined, there are tremendous benefits. With the Magic Power of this level of Origin Soul fortifying myself, it can expedite the purification of the ’Mixed Origin Five Elements Magical Power’!"

"As long as I have this second Origin Soul, it won’t take much time for me to refine my Origin Soul and achieve the status of Individual Immortal!"

Fang Xi operated the techniques from the Mixed Origin Chaos Book, and sounds like popping beans came from within his body.

The golden Earth Chakra Origin Truth Magic Power was gradually permeated by the five colors and suddenly underwent another layer of profound changes.

The Five Elements True Qi circulated, and from within the golden Metal Attribute Magic Power, a ring was born.

Then from within the Fire Attribute Magic Power, countless runes converged, resembling a Vermilion Bird’s fiery spear.

Next, were the Thick Earth Shield, vine armor, Mysterious Water Flag...

In his Five-Element Energy, phantoms of a magic treasure surfaced for each element!

"The magic has a primordial spirit!"

"This is the qualitative change of the Five-Element Energy’s cultivation reaching a major threshold. I didn’t expect to achieve this at this time."

Fang Xi summoned with a gesture, and the golden ring fell into his palm.

"This Illusionary Golden Ring can transform into multitudes of flying rings. Once unleashed, whether it’s used to strike the enemy’s leader or to capture magic treasures and weapons, it is unstoppable."

"Moreover, as my Magic Power grows stronger day by day, so will its might!"

"Even if it’s damaged, it can still be condensed anew within the Magic Power, which is to say it is one of the marvelous aspects of the Five-Element Energy."

With his newly enhanced Five-Element Energy in operation, all of Fang Xi’s Divine Skills and magic spells improved significantly.

Especially the Five Elements Divine Thunder!

Among the many masculine natured Divine Thunders, a clear, water-like radiance had suddenly appeared.

This was the formidable Divine Skill understood by the main body after contemplating the Taiyi Invisible Sword Prohibition, named ’Invisible Divine Thunder’!

A thunder unleashed, silent and invisible... truly an unparalleled Divine Skill for catching people off guard!

If combined with the grandiose display of the Five Elements Divine Thunder, even an Individual Immortal might inadvertently fall prey to it!

"Now, where can I find another Mark like the Shu Mountain Sect to give away flying swords?"

"Forget it, first find a place to settle down."

Fang Xi recalled his second Origin Soul, turning it into a pure white pill that danced within his Jade Pillow acupoint.

Boosted by the Origin Soul’s Magic Power, he rode his sword with an unbelievable speed through the Void, leaving behind only a phantom image as he pursued a faint premonition in his heart, utilizing a thread of karma...

...

Decayed Mountain.

This mountain was located on the southwestern border of the Shu area, nearly leaving the bounds of Central Shu.

It was shrouded year-round by a layer of toxic miasma, and much of the mountain was barren, without any notable resources, known as a notoriously impoverished and harsh land.

On the mountainside, there was a Taoist temple.

Within the temple, they didn’t pay homage to the orthodox gods like the Three Pure Ones or the Four Imperial Lords but instead to an enigmatic entity with the body of a man and the head of a crow.

The placard bore three large characters: "Old Crow Temple."

It was the unconventional and heterodox origin of Prime Taoist Yunyu!

Within these offbeat sects, there were also extremely formidable secret teachings that could lead one to refine an Origin Soul, thereby enjoying Long Life, or even possessing powerful Magic Power and exquisite spells, forcing even the prominent and orthodox sects to steer clear of their sharp edge, although they ultimately couldn’t Ascend.

But obviously, Old Crow Temple didn’t belong to that faction.

Even among the various offshoot sects, in terms of sheer presence and numbers, it was Mei Mountain, Bamboo Mountain, Luo Sect, and Pai Sect that dominated... These sects flaunted the principle of inclusiveness, their disciples a mixed batch of good and bad, their key advantage being the extremely large numbers, with each having over ten thousand disciples, completely overwhelming the orthodox sects of the mysterious path.

Only Buddhism, with its doors wide open for convenience, could barely be compared to them.

The Old Crow Temple’s cultivation texts that Fang Xi had seen didn’t go beyond the Swords Immortal Realm, making it impossible to cultivate an Origin Soul.

At this moment, within the Old Crow Temple.

A middle-aged Taoist in black Taoist robes was hugging a woman with an air of smugness.

This woman was beautiful, her skin as clear and luminous as jade—astonishingly, she was ’Lady Yu’ Cui Feifei!

But at the moment, Cui Feifei had a numb expression on her face as she looked at a bound figure in front of her.

Even though he was disheveled and covered in blood, one could vaguely make out that this man was ’Golden-eyed Ape Demon’ Zhuo Yifan!

Smack!

In front of Zhuo Yifan, a young boy was enthusiastically whipping him with a whip soaked in saltwater.

"Haha, good disciple, put more effort into it..."

The middle-aged Taoist appeared to revel in this, laughing, "Perform well, and tomorrow your master will teach you a magic spell."

"Thank you, master."

The boy’s face was peach-blossom like, and he was ’Peach Blossom Divine Sword’ Nangong Bu’er!

"My dear, are you feeling distressed?"

The middle-aged Taoist mockingly watched the scene before turning to Cui Feifei with a smile, "The old woman before you was a flirt; I have already refined her. You, my dear, are virtuous and gentle, surely you won’t be like her, right?"

Cui Feifei hung her head in silence, her heart filled with bitterness.

Ever since the Martial Arts Conference that year, her unsuccessful quest for immortality had further intensified her foolish devotion to the pursuit of cultivation.

Zhuo Yifan and Nangong Bu’er, both her friends and secretly admiring her, readily agreed to her wishes, and the three set out together, visiting renowned mountains and rivers, hoping to find an Immortal Fate.

Yet she did not expect that during one of their travels, they would encounter the Temple Master of Old Crow Temple and all be captured together!

Nangong Bu’er, being more cunning, immediately betrayed the two and became the apprentice of the Old Crow Temple Master.

Cui Feifei, on the other hand, was fancied by the Old Crow Temple Master, who wanted to subdue her heart, so he deliberately kept Zhuo Yifan alive for his own amusement.

Grief stricken, tears unbidden slid down her face.

Seeing this, the Old Crow Temple Master felt immense satisfaction and burst into boisterous laughter.

He was not highly talented, and the old master of the temple took him in solely because they saw eye to eye on certain matters.

The ancestors of Old Crow Temple obtained a jade chest with restraints set by immortals on it, leading everyone to crazily attempt to break the prohibition using True Fire daily, hoping to access the cultivation techniques, pills, and magical artifacts inside...

Alas, the jade chest remained unmoved, regardless of efforts over decades and centuries, grinding down the will of several generations of temple masters.

Therefore, the Old Crow Temple Master had long lost all hope and did not feel much sorrow or disappointment when his rebellious disciple stole it.

At this time, watching Cui Feifei, he grew even more lustful and lasciviously said, "My beauty, tonight we shall consummate our marriage..."

"Cough, cough!"

Fang Xi coughed loudly, unable to watch any longer, and dispelled his invisibility spell.

"Hmm? Who are you, daring to trespass into my Old Crow Temple?"

The Old Crow Temple Master, greatly alarmed, noticed Fang Xi was a cultivator with magic power and immediately reached out to grab him.

One by one, pitch-black feathers fell from the sky, carrying a beguiling power—indeed, it was a technique to immobilize and sedate.

Unfortunately for the Temple Master, even if Fang Xi stood still and let him cast, his thoughts were not slowed in the slightest.

The Old Crow Temple Master, seeing this, was shocked and without hesitation, rolled on the ground, transforming into a fiery crow with steel beak, claws, and red eyes like sword feathers—meticulously cultivated by the Old Crow Temple Master himself, with a burning crimson feather on the forehead.

Fang Xi had also seen such a technique of transforming into a crow before and merely chuckled, flicking his finger slightly.

Whoosh!

A streak of sword light flashed by, cutting down the crow, leaving several bloodstained feathers drifting in the void.

"Fang Xi?!"

Seeing this, Cui Feifei’s originally numb eyes immediately sparkled, "You’ve come to rescue us?"

"It was merely a coincidence, I intended to eliminate a menace; I didn’t expect to run into you all," Fang Xi replied with a smile, striking a paralyzing spell, and Nangong Bu’er’s figure stiffened, maintaining his stance as if he were about to flee using light-body techniques.

"Humph, betraying friends for glory, I, Cui Feifei, must have been blind to associate with you," Cui Feifei spat with disdain at Nangong Bu’er and struck his back with a palm.

Nangong Bu’er immediately died with blood spurting from his seven orifices, his body still keeping the statue-like posture even in death.

"You stay here and take care of Zhuo Yifan..." Fang Xi told Cui Feifei, aware that with the death of the Old Crow Temple Master, chaos was sure to ensue in the Temple.

He transformed into a beam of Escape Light and shot up high, looking down at the desolate and inhospitable Decayed Mountain.

The mountain, inherently full of spiritual mechanisms, could even use the pervasive poison as miasma for the cultivation of strange and sinister energies.

Otherwise, the founding ancestor of Old Crow Temple would never have chosen this place to establish the sect.

But to Fang Xi, it seemed quite decayed.

At that moment, with a thought, a surge of green magic power descended, instantly enveloping the entire mountain!

All the Taoist children and disciples of Old Crow Temple were suddenly entwined by numerous green vines, unable to flee with their treasures!