Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 163 - 162: Making a Move (Seeking Monthly Tickets) _1

Chapter 163: Chapter 162: Making a Move (Seeking Monthly Tickets) _1

[Reporting to the venerable master, Ruan Xingling has successfully completed Foundation Establishment and will soon return to Peach Blossom Island!]

The old man wrote a line of text in blood and was about to fully activate this "Ten Thousand Miles Message Talisman."

The next moment!

A cyan magic power hand suddenly appeared and snatched away the jade talisman!

"Hmm?"

The old man, startled, leaped back, revealing a magic instrument and a talisman in his hands.

But when he saw who was approaching, a bitter sense crept over his face, "Young Master..."

Before the old man stood none other than Fang Xi!

This old man was naturally Lu Guo!

With Fang Xi deliberately following him, his attempts at anti-tracking and disguise were a joke to Fang Xi’s divine consciousness.

"I didn’t expect the Young Master to pay such close attention to a minor figure like me, I, Lu Guo, accept my defeat... But why do this?"

Lu Guo gave a wry smile.

"Naturally, it is because Island Lord Ruan Xingling instructed me to keep a close eye on you before she left... Your movements have long been exposed, you’re just unaware of it. Otherwise, why would the Island Master specifically take you with her when she left?" Fang Xi looked at this man and suddenly remembered Peach Blossom Island from decades ago, along with the baby in the swaddling clothes, "Do you know... why I gave you the name Lu Guo?"

"To rectify if there’s fault?" Lu Guo snorted, "What wrong have I done to be treated differently by you for decades?"

Fang Xi stood with hands clasped behind his back and fell into a momentary silence, "Your mistake... is probably that you were still too weak!"

"Yes, I’m too weak indeed..." Lu Guo gave a bitter laugh, "I had already resigned myself to fate... but I never expected that on Dragon Fish Island, I’d be discovered and forced to be a spy... "

He had long since given up his hatred for the Ruan Family, for the difference between them was too great...

Unfortunately, during the battle on Dragon Fish Island, what he thought was a well-kept secret was merely the Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator toying with him!

After looting the entire treasury of the Zhong Family, he was captured and asked if he wanted to live or die?

Lu Guo had no choice whatsoever.

Fortunately, the other party was quite generous, simply requiring some intelligence on Peach Blossom Island in exchange for a hefty reward!

It was thanks to that benefactor’s gifts that Lu Guo was able to overcome the damage to his foundations and advance to the late Qi Refining stage!

"Oh? Who’s pressuring you?"

Fang Xi already had a guess in his mind, but he still prepared to confirm it.

"It’s..."

Just as Lu Guo began to speak, his expression suddenly changed, and he clutched his neck.

A network of dense bloodshot veins appeared on his skin, causing his eyes to bulge out and his expression to be filled with terror, "Save..."

The next moment, the man collapsed on the ground, breathless.

"It looks like a special prohibition has been planted within you without your knowledge, preventing you from leaking even the slightest bit of information?"

Fang Xi stood with his hands behind his back, his face as cold and stern as ice.

Boom!

Not long after, a fireball shot out, leaving Lu Guo’s corpse to turn to ashes...

...

Fang Xi, dressed in a green robe like a steadfast pine tree, stood still for half the day before suddenly taking out a jade slip.

This was precisely the secret scripture of Mysterious Sound Skills that Island Lord Ruan Xingling had given him that day!

At the end of the scripture, apart from the exhortation to keep a close watch on Lu Guo, there was a line of small text—’Peach Blossom Island has changed, urgently in need of Green Grain’s help... in exchange for the secret of increasing the chances of Core Formation...’

"Does this woman fear I won’t come, so she tempts me with the secret to increase Core Formation success rates?"

Fang Xi stroked his chin.

Though his Foundation Establishment had gone smoothly, he didn’t have a Heaven Grade Spiritual Root; there were always difficulties with Core Formation.

Even with the true teachings of a Nascent Soul great sect for Foundation Establishment, he couldn’t guarantee a successful Core Formation.

Any increase in odds, no matter how slight, was welcome.

"Is this woman’s word... trustworthy?"

"After more than forty years of acquaintance, her credibility is still there."

"Next, it’s a matter of danger... I know the dangers of Thousand Island Lake, they are Survivors of Situ Family. The Situ Family was annihilated and could not muster the strength of Core Formation or even Jia Dan... It shows they’re probably at the Foundation Establishment level, and at most, they have Ye Sanren of Core Formation mid-stage... I need to be careful of the Demon Skills and the mysteries of Refining Corpses..."

"This deal... is worth doing!"

The next moment, he took out a second-tier flying Puppet and jumped onto it.

"Bird, take me to Thousand Island Lake!"

Chirp!

The second-tier flying Puppet let out a long cry, its black wings speckled with gold fluttering, turning into a streak of light, and vanishing in the sky...

...

Thousand Island Lake.

The night was hazy, and the lake was vast with fog and waves.

Fang Xi unobtrusively descended his Escape Light early and released Daqing fish, "Dead Salted Fish, get to work!"

The Daqing fish spit out a giant bubble that enveloped Fang Xi, silently diving with him into the water.

After all, this Dead Salted Fish was a top-tier first-order Monster Beast, and its water evasion technique was quite adept.

Spending most of the night, he traveled from the bottom of the lake all the way to the vicinity of Peach Blossom Island, then entered the underground cave through the water channel used by the Demon Tree beneath Jadeite Cliff to catch fish.

Without Taisui and the Demon Tree, the cavern had become extremely spacious.

"I didn’t think I’d come back here..."

Fang Xi touched the wet rock wall, the marks of his own handiwork, and couldn’t help feeling a little emotional.

He dared to come this time, naturally because he had confidence in his own ability to protect himself.

After all, the Destroy Heaven Alliance was nothing but a few Foundation Establishment levels at their peak, and if he couldn’t beat them, he could still escape.

Furthermore, he was just there to lend a hand once; he couldn’t possibly stay mired in the murky waters of Thousand Island Lake.

If the worst should happen, he could simply travel to the Da Liang World and survive by planting trees until all his enemies were worn to death!

After all, the Da Liang World had the Demon Tree, and even Gold Core Nascent Souls couldn’t outlive him when it came to longevity through planting trees.

After his moment of reflection, Fang Xi moved along the secret passage back to his own courtyard’s Cultivation Room.

With a creak, the door opened.

Fang Xi stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the small courtyard he had lived in for over thirty years: "Wei Yixi has kept this place up quite nicely."

He took out an invisibility talisman and walked out of the residence, sweeping the surroundings with his divine consciousness, he once again spotted Hai Dagui.

This tenant farmer was meditating and resting, his face glowing, with a cultivation at about the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

However, Widow Wang was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm... my second-level puppet moved too quickly, returning even before Ruan Xingling... now I still have time to arrange things."

Fang Xi flipped his hand over and took out the Yi Wood Divine Thunder Formation, which he had repaired again!

He had personally set up the Little Cloud Rain Array at Jadeite Cliff, and was intimately familiar with every inch of the geography here.

Now, setting up a Yi Wood Divine Thunder Formation within the Little Cloud Rain Array was nothing more than a flick of his wrist.

After setting up the array, he chose not to activate it immediately.

This ’Yi Wood Divine Thunder Formation’ was already damaged and lacked the function to conceal its activation. Once activated, its grandeur could hardly be hidden by even the Little Cloud Rain Array.

The next day, Fang Xi lived in the courtyard and casually opened a bottle of Peach Blossom Brew in the wine cellar.

Outside the door, Hai Dagui was still diligently working, not daring to rashly enter the main house.

Night fell.

Mirror Moon Lake.

A rosy light flew in, descending into the Ruan Family’s residence.

In the peach grove by the lake, a wooden puppet inhabited a peach tree, silently watching the scene unfold.

"It’s starting now..."

Within the courtyard, Fang Xi poured himself a mouthful of Peach Blossom Brew.

Clang!

Within the Ruan Family’s courtyard, the sound of a lute suddenly escalated, filled with the grandeur of galloping horses and soldiers.

Boom!

A building crumbled, and two streaks of escape light, one after the other, shot up into the sky, alarming numerous Qi Refining cultivators below.

"That’s a Foundation Establishment cultivator..."

"The one holding the lute, is that the Island Master? The Island Master has reached Foundation Establishment?"

"Who is confronting the Island Master?"

A multitude of Qi Refining cultivators watched the scene, their mouths agape, and then busily raced to activate their arrays to save their own lives.

In the midst of the Foundation Establishment Battle, it was already an incredible achievement for them to save their own lives.

In fact, the sound waves from Ruan Xingling’s casual play of her lute had caused many early-stage Qi Refining cultivators to faint.

"Good... I didn’t expect that besides reaching Foundation Establishment, you had already prepared Spiritual Instruments so early. I really underestimated you," said the figure in black robe, standing with his hands behind his back on a dark cloud, wearing a golden belt, and speaking in a strange tone.

"You flatter me, Situ Jia. Any cultivator dealing with you demon cultivators would always have to keep something in reserve," replied Ruan Xingling, cradling the White Jade Lute in her arms, her delicate fingers lightly strumming.

Likely the sound of pearls falling on a jade plate, countless sound waves, like blades, cut through the darkness all around.

"Roar!"

A flying rigidity dressed in pitch-black armor with rotting flesh emerged from the darkness, wounds appearing across its body as if sliced by some invisible blade.

It bared its fangs, its pupils blood-red, and let out a threatening roar at Ruan Xingling.

"Interesting girl, how did you recognize me?" Situ Jia formed a magic spell with his hands, rallying the flying rigidity to his side, and asked with interest.

"This humble girl remembers everyone’s voice very clearly... Even though you have altered your tone, your vocal quality is still memorable. After all, you were once one of the few in the Situ Family most likely to break through to Foundation Establishment..."

Ruan Xingling chuckled softly, her fingers dancing across the strings, and the invisible sound wave blades streaked out repeatedly.

Situ Jia took cover behind the flying rigidity, using this refined corpse as a shield.

The flying rigidity was tough and even if it was wounded, it could soon recover.

"Not bad, not bad... I’m really feeling reluctant to part with you now," Situ Jia laughed strangely, rubbing his hands together to ignite a clump of pitch-black flames, with the sound of thunder booming within.

He lifted his hand slightly, and the black flames turned into strange birds, emanating strong waves of magic power, swooping towards Ruan Xingling.

Even before the strange birds reached her, the intense heat seemed to cause Ruan Xingling’s hair tips to curl.

She looked slightly perturbed, pulling out a blue talisman.

Once activated, a frigid chill descended within hundreds of meters, with a sudden plunge in temperature, and ice began to form instantly, creating a thick wall of ice!

"My Demon Fire is not something a mere ice wall spell can withstand... Swiftly!"

Situ Jia chanted the magic spell, and the black firebird struck the ice wall with its beak!

Crash!

A hole was instantly burned through the center of the massive ice wall!

Ruan Xingling’s expression changed, she channeled her magic power frantically into the lute, emitting a clear twang.

An invisible ripple cleaved through the black firebird, splitting it apart.

"To be honest, you indeed exceeded my expectations. Just fresh from Foundation Establishment and you wield such power... who would be able to deal with you in the future?" Situ Jia suddenly sneered and formed a hand seal: "Blood Curse, appear!"

Ruan Xingling’s expression shifted, her internal magic power fluctuated wildly, and blood-red patterns emerged on her body!

"Since you have accepted our support in the past, you should have known this day would come... it’s time to repay!"

With a whistle from Situ, the second-level flying rigidity charged forward, its claws lunging at Ruan Xingling.

Pop!

The inky claws of the undead frantically grasped at an illusion.

"An Illusion Body Talisman? Impossible... she was actually able to break away from my ’Blood Curse Heart Seal’?"

Situ Jia was shocked, probing further: "No... it’s only partially escaped, over there!"

He turned into a beam of black light, madly chasing to the east.

Not far ahead, Ruan Xingling, with her lute in arms and ribbons flowing, looked like a celestial dancer from Dunhuang. As one fled and the other pursued, they quickly traversed over a dozen miles...