Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 826 - 727: Battlefield (Extra - for Monthly Votes)

Chapter 826: Chapter 727: Battlefield (Extra Chapter for Monthly Votes)

Earth Immortal Realm.

Sky Brahman City.

Silver Light flashed, and the heterodox incarnation appeared, his face showing a trace of joy, "With my main body advancing to the mid-stage of Returning to Emptiness, I can also begin cultivation..."

After some thought, he felt a bit of regret, "It’s just that the cultivation for Returning to Emptiness is too slow, and too tedious... When I head to the tri-clan battlefield this time, why not capture a few Cultivators who cultivate the ’Self-Transforming Heavenly Sovereign’s True Demon Art of Controlling All Spirits’ from the Transcendent God Demon Clan... These are truly nourishing tonics, far better than any Spiritual Pills."

Of course, if possible, capturing a Transcendent God from the Demon Clan who cultivates ’Self-transforming Demon Skills’ would be an even more direct method. Advancing to the mid-stage of Returning to Emptiness would not be a problem at all.

Only when he reaches the late stage of Returning to Emptiness would he need to break through a bottleneck.

However, such actions are too reckless and might surpass the main body’s cultivation level.

Therefore, Fang Xi was always very cautious in this regard.

"Recently in the Sky Brahman Domain, there’s not much happening..."

"Fairy Yunxi has broken through to Returning to Emptiness, Liu Xu and Shui Lingxin are in that Yin Vein Land, preparing to set up the Array Spirit, establishing a sect..."

For pioneering work, such things are common.

As long as one can stand firm, and survive among the subsequent Wild Beasts and evil spirits, the legacy can be passed down.

Fang Xi believed that with Fairy Yunxi there, it would not be a big problem.

"To set up the Sect Guarding Array, if they come to find me, I can offer them a discounted price. This is a big project..."

"Now that the battle among the three clans is not stirring, heading to the tri-clan battlefield is not too dangerous, I can make a trip..."

He murmured to himself and turned into a streak of Escape Light, flying towards the direction of the Super Teleportation Array.

...

Several years later.

Tri-World Mountain.

Inside a public market.

Disguised as ’Mr. Fu’, Fang Xi arrived in front of a shop.

The shop was of moderate size, but its sign bore a crescent moon mark.

"According to what Manager Zhou said, this should be the place, right?"

He walked in, and two Foundation Establishment level maidens immediately welcomed him, "This guest, may I know what you wish to purchase from our ’New Moon Commerce Association’?"

"Call your shopkeeper out."

Fang Xi snorted coldly, letting out a slight aura of magic power.

The two maidens retreated several steps, their faces paling slightly, as they withdrew behind the counter.

It wasn’t long before a middle-aged scholar-like Nascent Soul Cultivator came out to greet him, "Esteemed senior, may I know what services we may provide you with?"

Fang Xi casually tossed a talisman over.

This was the secret signal he had arranged with Manager Zhou.

"So it’s a distinguished guest, please come inside!"

Seeing the talisman, the Nascent Soul Cultivator’s eyes suddenly brightened, speaking with even greater respect than before.

"Hmm."

Fang Xi followed the Nascent Soul Cultivator to the back of the shop, where the cultivator bowed again, "Manager Zhou has instructed us that upon meeting esteemed senior, we must attend to you diligently and ensure your utmost satisfaction."

"Enough, I prefer tranquility. When will your manager arrive?"

Fang Xi casually asked.

"Manager Zhou is currently handling a handover in the Sword Realm. Within at most three months, he will definitely come here," the shopkeeper promptly replied.

"Very well, is there accommodation arranged? I shall wait for them for three months..."

Fang Xi nodded his head.

"Here in our shop, we have top-notch dongfu. If esteemed guest does not mind its simplicity, please consider residing there temporarily..."

The shopkeeper bowed once more.

...

Two months later.

In the dongfu of the New Moon Commerce Association.

Fang Xi poured himself a cup of wine and was drinking alone when he suddenly raised an eyebrow.

A flash of light from outside, and three Returning to Emptiness Cultivators entered.

One of them was indeed the Manager of the New Moon Commerce Association, likely surnamed Zhou.

Another person he was quite familiar with, it was actually Guang Qianjian!

However, he still carried no sword on his back, and it was unknown whether that flying sword had been reforged.

The final Returning to Emptiness Cultivator had an unfathomable aura, barely reaching late-stage Returning to Emptiness, prompting Fang Xi to take a second glance.

Such cultivation, even within the Star Sect, would hold high authority, second only to one, above tens of thousands.

"Mr. Fu really trusts others. Let me introduce you, this is Guang Qianjian, Sir Guang..."

Manager Zhou said with a beaming smile, turning his gaze towards the late-stage Returning to Emptiness Cultivator.

The man was dressed in a plain grey robe, unremarkable in appearance, but carried a huge bamboo box on his back.

Without waiting for Manager Zhou to introduce him, Fang Xi smiled and said, "I have heard that in Moon Invitation Immortal City, there is a Sixth Order, Top-Tier puppet Grandmaster known as ’Dongqiuzi.’ You must be Sir, aren’t you?"

"That is indeed me."

Dongqiuzi forced a stiff smile on his face.

It was clear he was deeply immersed in puppetry, seldom engaging in social interaction.

Even exchanging a few words with Fang Xi, a stranger, seemed somewhat awkward.

Perhaps only those geniuses who are engrossed in their own world can cultivate puppetry skills to the Sixth Order, Top-Tier, and even close to the Quasi-seventh level.

Fang Xi was actually quite interested in Master Dong Qiuzi, but unfortunately, the occasion wasn’t right.

"It seems Mr. Fu has decided to act together with us..."

Manager Zhou said, grinning, "When the time comes... that ’Dragon Blood Phoenix Marrow Flower’ will certainly be yours, but as for the essence blood... our association currently only speculates, whether there would still be Dragon Phoenix Essence Blood available there is really uncertain."

Fang Xi narrowed his eyes, "If it’s not there, then I will consider this matter void."

"Fair enough, Sir is magnanimous."

Manager Zhou nodded his head, "We rest for three days, and then depart immediately after three days..."

...

Three days later.

A spirit boat flew over the great array, steering towards the unknown barbaric battlefield.

Fang Xi stood with his hands behind his back, noticing that the spirit boat passed through the light screen without triggering any counterattack from the array, and couldn’t help looking towards Manager Zhou.

Manager Zhou gave a slight smile, "Our association has a branch on the Three Realms Mountain, and we have a good relationship with the local garrison. We’ve managed to get a pass identity seal..."

"I see, that does save quite a bit of trouble."

Fang Xi gave a slight nod, feeling the void around him, his expression suddenly becoming somewhat solemn.

As a battlefield of the three clans, Three Realms Mountain was not only fortified with numerous strongholds but more crucially, the void was filled with various incomplete prohibitions and void cracks left behind after grand magical battles!

In this place, even a Returning to Emptiness cultivator’s divine thought could not reach very far.

And one carelessness could lead to triggering some sort of trap or leftover prohibition.

Moreover, there were often ambushes and patrols by small squads of demonic beasts and the Demon Clan.

It could be said that apart from when a large army was assembled and set off, this battlefield was full of danger everywhere!

Fang Xi didn’t mind, after all, he could run very fast...

Now, after taking an interest and appreciating the battlefield scenery for a while, he came over to Dongqiuzi, who was fiddling with the arm of a puppet.

Dongqiuzi sat cross-legged with a table in front of him, upon which a chessboard lay.

Many distinctly shaped human, demon, and demonic beast chess pieces gathered upon it.

"This chessboard of yours, sir... it seems to integrate arrays and puppetry skill..."

After observing for a while, Fang Xi was the first to speak.

"Oh? You actually recognize some of the intricacies of my ’Tri-hero Chessboard’? It appears you must have some considerable expertise in the realms of puppetry and arrays..."

Dongqiuzi looked up, somewhat surprised.

Yet Manager Zhou simply smiled, "Master Dongqiuzi, this Mr. Fu, is a sixth-level Talisman Master..."

In his mind, Mr. Fu was best at the Taoist of Talisman, and might have also ventured into alchemy.

If Dongqiuzi thought Fang Xi was adept in talismans and alchemy, he would not find it strange.

But now the other party actually felt that he was profound in the realms of arrays and puppetry, wasn’t that a joke?

In the Cultivation World, could there really be such an all-around genius?

"A little, just a little..."

Fang Xi humbly smiled and picked up a black hawk chess piece, "A fifth-level puppet, animated with array power... The chess pieces that you made, all being quasi-fifth level puppets, when used in battle with the Array Spirit controlling from within the chessboard, can muster several into one, creating an array that would even make a Returning to Emptiness cultivator flee in disarray!"

The creation of puppet spirit injection was quite costly.

He could tell that the dozens of puppet chess pieces on the chessboard were mostly of quasi-fifth-level rank.

When it was time for battle, some temporary ’Array Spirits’ would be generated by the chessboard to enter and control them.

Essentially, one Array Spirit was commanding dozens of puppets, which made it cost-effective in terms of production.

Moreover, the many puppets combined with the chessboard formed a powerful array.

And with this man’s cultivation of the late stage of Returning to Emptiness, he could probably hold his own even against a cultivator at the peak of the Returning to Emptiness stage.

"Not bad, not bad... Through the Array Disk and array technique, temporarily infusing ’Illusionary Array Spirits’ into Puppets, is a puppetry secret skill that this old man has comprehended over the past hundred years!"

Dongqiuzi’s eyes lit up, evidently intrigued by the discussion, "What flaws do you see in this old man’s Puppets?"

Fang Xi didn’t hold back, discussing freely with Master Dongqiuzi.

They talked about everything from miniaturizing Puppets to the creation of special Puppets, such as Flesh Puppets.

This left Manager Zhou beside them dumbfounded.

Could this Mr. Fu really discuss Puppetry techniques with a Puppetry Grandmaster? Was it possible he was skilled in all fields?

After a thorough discussion with Dongqiuzi, although he couldn’t delve into the true transmission of the sixth level puppetry skill, Fang Xi still learned some of its profound mysteries and felt it was more than worth it.

’This Master Dongqiuzi, besides Puppet warfare, is also extremely adept at creating Flesh Puppets and Bone Puppets... No wonder Moon Invitation Immortal City is obsessed with that suspected burial site of seventh-level Dragon Phoenix...’

According to his estimation, this Master Dongqiuzi had a good chance of refining those two seventh-level Dragon and Phoenix Corpses into Puppets... if they existed.

’By then, Moon Invitation Immortal City might become the second most powerful force in the Star Domain, right after Star Sect.’

’The Wang Family Ancestor is indeed just a guest; for such a significant task, he doesn’t catch a hint of news...’

Fang Xi couldn’t help but inwardly scorn the identity of the original persona.

The identity of the Wang Family Ancestor as the original persona had long been severed, completely unrelated to the Ascending Immortals, so even if one day the Ascending Immortal ’Fang Xi’ received the same treatment as Fang Immortal Taoist Master, it would not concern the Wang Family Ancestor.

...

Meanwhile, as the Spirit Boat continued to move deeper into the battlefield.

In a cave dwelling, dark True demon qi overflowed.

"Hmm?"

A Demon of the Demon Clan, with seven fingers and clad in black armor, with a fierce countenance, suddenly opened his eyes.

His pupils were the color of crimson, and at the moment, a black light flashed in his hand as he took out a crystal ball from his storage bracelet.

Within the transparent crystal ball, several light spots could be seen moving rapidly.

There are at least four human Returning to Emptiness Cultivators... If all are killed, my military achievements might be enough to start the ’Ascension Demon Trial’..."

The Demon with red pupils stood up and suddenly let out a fierce roar.

Roar roar!

A Two-headed Flood Dragon appeared, landing beneath his feet.

This Flood Dragon had two heads, one black and one white, both utterly fierce, with strands of True demon qi leaking from its body. It was a demonized mutant Returning to Emptiness Flood Dragon!

The Demon with red pupils stood atop the Two-headed Flood Dragon. The Flood Dragon immediately roared and, swaying its head and tail, transformed into a beam of black light, vanishing into the horizon.

After the Demon left, a silver bell-like laughter seemed to come from the void: "It was worth selling this Demon Bead to ’Mo Xuan’. This is the third time already..."

With a flash in the void, a beautiful female Demon with two wings on her back appeared, with two small red horns on her head.

"Hehe... This ’Demon Bead’, newly developed by our Demon Clan, can indeed reveal the traces of human Cultivators when they’re not on guard."

Along with an aged voice, another tall, gaunt Demon Shadow appeared and began to speak, "Although Mo Xuan is astonishing in his Demon Skills, he acts rashly... As kin, we should assist each other, and military achievements should also be shared..."

The tall, gaunt Demon Shadow approached the winged Demon woman and said with a smile, "Your ’Void Demon Clan’ has unparalleled Void ability in the Earth Immortal Realm, second only to the Heavenly Phoenix Clan, so I must shamelessly ask for a favor."

"Humph!"

The winged Demon woman formed a hand seal, and a burst of silver light flickered, enveloping her and the tall, gaunt Demon, as they disappeared in an instant...