Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 678 - 651: Buddha Beads (Congratulations to alliance leader Xingqing Buyu!)"_1

Chapter 678: Chapter 651: Buddha Beads (Congratulations to alliance leader Xingqing Buyu!)"_1

A moment before.

Outside Li Gou Immortal City.

A Nascent Soul female cultivator unsheathed her sword.

With a rumble, the sword attracted the thunder of heaven and earth, turning the surrounding hundred miles into a prison of thunder!

Crackle!

Streaks of blue-golden thunder struck down, smashing a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator in a purple robe to the ground.

At that critical moment, the sound of Brahma was heard.

A vision of a heavenly maiden appeared between heaven and earth, blocking the final bolt of blue-golden thunder.

It was Master Zhui Yue who had acted!

The woman looked at the valiant Nascent Soul swordswoman and couldn’t help but bring her hands together in prayer, "I didn’t expect your Sect to have someone capable of drawing the ’Taiqing Shenxiao Sword’ and mastering the ’Shenxiao Thunder Skills.’ In this battle, this poor nun concedes defeat on behalf of the leader of the Free and Unfettered Alliance..."

"Haha, thank you for yielding!"

Old Min bowed his hands, immediately signaling to two cultivators beside him to help the Nascent Soul woman back.

It was apparent that using the Taiqing Shenxiao Sword had nearly depleted the woman’s magic power and Divine Consciousness.

If that great cultivator could have endured the final thunder, he could have nearly secured victory!

Unfortunately, the world is not filled with so many if onlys...

"Now that your side has lost both rounds, the great auction will..." Old Min, feeling triumphant, began to ask another question.

"Naturally, the Taiqing Sect will preside over it," responded Master Zhui Yue, closing her eyes.

For Taiqing Sect, such a matter could only be considered a minor supplement, yet it cut off a significant source of wealth for Li Gou Immortal City.

But she had no other choice but to agree, otherwise, she feared that the Taiching Divine Thunder Ship would reduce the entire Li Gou Immortal City to flat ground!

Fortunately, Transcendent God cultivators usually wouldn’t resort to tearing off each other’s faces. Master Zhui Yue’s eyes flashed golden as she looked at the Nascent Soul woman, "I haven’t yet congratulated Old Min for acquiring such a disciple... Surely she must be the ’Shenxiao Body’ mentioned in rumors, right? Otherwise, how could this fifth-order Spirit Communicating Treasure willingly recognize a master?"

"Indeed, Ying’er truly is a Shenxiao Thunder Body, and cultivating the Shenxiao Thunder Skills complements her perfectly... In the future, when my Taiqing Sect takes charge, who else but her?"

Old Min laughed heartily.

This is the strength of a great Sect!

Because they have many disciples, they can select the best of the best, imparting suitable cultivation methods and even treasures!

Among individual cultivators, even if one manages to succeed by chance and reach the Nascent Soul or even Transcendent God realm, they cannot ensure their disciples achieve the same...

Their success often involves many coincidences and is truly difficult to replicate.

In major Sects, however, it is possible!

If they acquire sufficiently excellent disciples, they can almost guarantee an unbroken line of Transcendent God cultivators from generation to generation.

Whereas among individual cultivators, even if there are genius figures who may outshine an era, thousands of years later, they too will turn to dust...

As for Li Gou Immortal City, the three major Sects typically either suppress or ignore it. Taking over a large source of wealth from the opposition was more than enough this time.

Old Min was also somewhat wary of Master Zhui Yue, as after all, she was from the Brahman Sect and had some connection to Guang Thunder Temple.

Thus, he let her do as she wished, knowing that sooner or later, once she either underwent the Sitting and Transforming process or ascended, the Free and Unfettered Alliances would again become a thing of the past... Such events had happened many times in the history of Minghuan World.

Just as Master Zhui Yue was about to say something else, both her and Old Min’s expressions changed slightly, and they looked up at the sky.

Whoosh whoosh!

The wind howled, like the wailing of ghosts and spirits!

The torrential rain didn’t stop, carrying a vast bloody hue!

"Blood rain from the sky, wails of ghosts and gods..."

Master Zhui Yue muttered, a look of disbelief spreading across her face.

"Could this be the phenomenon recorded in ancient books, one that appears only when a cultivator practices a certain heaven-defying Divine Skill?"

Old Min seemed to think of something and quickly looked at Master Zhui Yue with a hint of murder in his tone, "Mistress, you’ve kept a deep secret, to have such a great cultivator within Li Gou Immortal City? Could the mistress introduce me to them?"

"Amitabha..."

Master Zhui Yue was momentarily tempted, but eventually, a zen heart cut through the Heart Demon, "This poor nun knew of a Sir ’Yun Jiezi’ who was cultivating in secret within this city, but I was unaware that he had practiced such a secret skill..."

"Yun Jiezi, a renowned Transcendent God cultivator in the Minghuan World, seems to be absent from the ranks of even late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators..."

Old Min furrowed his brows, his expression turning murderous.

Unlike Master Zhui Yue, this Transcendent God cultivator seemed to be extremely powerful and was already capable of shaking the ruling position of Taiqing Sect.

If Master Zhui Yue continued to be evasive, he would kill her without hesitation!

"This poor nun once discussed the Dao with this fellow Daoist, who claimed to be a Higher Realm descendant..."

Master Zhui Yue, sensitive to murderous intent, immediately said with her hands in prayer.

"So it turns out to be a figure from a Higher Realm?"

Old Min nodded since that was the only explanation.

And with that, everything made sense.

The phenomenon of wailing ghosts and blood rain from the sky continued for three days and nights.

When the rain finally ceased on the fourth day at dawn, the weather cleared up once more.

Fang Xi stretched leisurely, walking out of his Dongfu contentedly.

Although the process was somewhat tortuous, with the aid of the "Eternal Green Body," he finally managed to cultivate the "Supreme Northern Dipper Life-controlling Divine Light," a Divine Skill, to a beginner level.

From then on, he possessed a technique to counter cultivators who had achieved the Returning to Emptiness stage!

"However, I still cannot be careless... Cultivators at the Returning to Emptiness stage in the Earth Immortal Realm generally have lifespans of ten thousand years!"

"Although my Divine Skill is only at the beginner level, ten years of my lifespan can only exchange for one year of theirs... Unless it’s someone whose natural lifespan is nearly over, if it’s those cultivators in the Returning to Emptiness stage who have only lived four or five thousand years, it would be a bit troublesome... After all, my lifespan is only tens of thousands of years. If faced with multiple young Returning to Emptiness cultivators attacking together, escaping unscathed would certainly be difficult... Besides, races like Demonic Beasts with long lifespans are also the same."

Fang Xi silently admonished himself to stay steady and not act recklessly.

At this moment, with a sweep of his Divine Consciousness, he saw two Transcendent Gods approaching together and couldn’t help but smile slightly. A flash of blue light surrounded him as he went to meet them, "Master Zhui Yue... And this is?"

"I am Min Hongru, and I have seen you, Sir."

Old Min looked at Fang Xi, and a look of astonishment couldn’t help but appear on his face: "Sir’s cultivation really has reached the late stage of Transcendent God, only one step away from ascending by yourself... Furthermore, you have cultivated such a shocking and demon-sobbing, heaven-shaking Divine Skill, I truly admire you!"

"I was just lucky to have cultivated a Secret Skill, and as for how all this came to be, I am honestly not entirely clear myself..."

A trace of confusion appeared on Fang Xi’s face.

However, he still invited the two guests into his Dongfu for a good session of tea and discussion about the Dao.

As a Transcendent God ancestor of the Taiqing Sect, Min Hongru’s insight into cultivation far exceeded that of Master Zhui Yue.

Even so, he was often convinced by Fang Xi’s views, his face expressing admiration...

Fang Xi took another sip of Spiritual Tea and seemed to mention casually, "I am staying in Li Gou Immortal City, and I’ve heard that a large auction event is about to be held here, which is really quite lively..."

Min Hongru’s face twitched, and then he said, "Correct, Li Gou Immortal City will soon hold a grand auction. It is a grand event in the Minghuan World that happens only once every hundred years. Sir should be able to find something of value..."

"Thank you!"

Fang Xi knew the other party was giving him face, and he couldn’t help but cup his fists in a gesture of thanks.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Min Hongru took his leave.

"Ancestor..."

On the Taiching Divine Thunder Ship, several Nascent Soul cultivators looked towards Min Hongru.

"Let’s return to the Sect!"

With a flick of his sleeve, Min Hongru ordered the Spirit Boat to return home.

Boom!

With a loud roar, the huge Spirit Boat rumbled and let out a faint thunderous noise, turning into a streak of thunder light, vanishing into the sky in an instant...

"Ancestor..."

The female sword cultivator, carrying the Taiqing Shenxiao Sword, stepped forward, "What’s the background of that man?"

"I only know that he is not from this world..."

Min Hongru’s expression was grim, "But he mingles among the Individual Cultivators, and our Sect will likely have a hard time in the future..."

Although they were both at the late stage of Transcendent God, just by witnessing the other’s cultivation of Divine Skill that shocked ghosts and gods, he knew he was no match.

If the other party decided to stay in the Minghuan World, then it probably would soon be at his discretion.

"Ancestor..."

The hearts of the many Nascent Soul cultivators were filled with despondency. How had it come to pass that while trying to assert dominance over Li Gou Immortal City, they ended up in such a plight?

Had it come to the point where they couldn’t even control the Minghuan World?

"Hehe, what is there to be afraid of? No matter how arrogant that man is, how does he compare to ’Emperor Cloud Sky’ and ’Old Ling the Demon’?"

Min Hongru sneered, "While these two Transcendent God cultivators were alive, they almost ruled the entire Minghuan World. But what of it? As long as we guard our door and rely on the Mountain Protecting Array and the sixth-tier techniques left by our ancestors... they didn’t dare to do much. Even later, one ascended while the other fell to madness and perished, completely vanishing... What has become of the forces they founded today?"

When facing a real powerful enemy, one could hold up in the Sect, slowly whittling down the opponent—this was the profundity and survival wisdom of such large Sects!

"The ancestor is wise..."

All the Nascent Soul cultivators were wholeheartedly convinced, as if they had taken a reassuring elixir.

...

Little Moon Lake.

"Amitabha, I am greatly thankful for your assistance, Sir!"

After Min Hongru left, Master Zhui Yue bowed respectfully to Fang Xi to express her thanks.

"No need to thank me. I merely mentioned it in passing."

Fang Xi waved his hand dismissively.

In truth, he also knew that from the moment he displayed his cultivation and the celestial phenomena, he couldn’t escape the surveillance of those Sects.

Instead of that, it would be better to take advantage of the situation and reap some extra benefits.

With great tact, Master Zhui Yue brought her palms together and, after another bow, took her leave.

Fang Xi watched the spot where the nun had departed and saw that on the meditation cushion, a string of prayer beads had been left behind.

They were the beads made from the Ten-thousand-year Soul Nourishing Wood!

"Truly excellent..."

He sent out a Magic Spell and discovered that there was not a single trace of Magic Power inscribed within the Buddhist artifact; it was clear that Master Zhui Yue had already secretly removed it, which made him even more satisfied, "This little nun, is indeed quite perceptive and understanding..."

Fang Xi played with the prayer beads, feeling the coolness in his Sea of Consciousness, and his heart stirred slightly.

As he began to rotate the prayer beads, the golden patterns on each bead started to shine, presenting various minor Divine Skills of Buddhism one after another, creating a sense of Sky Flowers showering down and Golden Lotuses surging up from the ground.

"Indeed, having been continuously blessed with Brahman power day and night by a fifth-order Buddhist cultivator, it is a wonderful Treasure for dispelling Heart Demons... It should have some effect on the Heart Demon Tribulations of Nascent Soul and Transcendent God cultivators... Alas, it is a pity that it is not much use against those in the Returning to Emptiness stage."