Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 879 - 753: A Century (Seeking Monthly Pass at Month’s End)

Chapter 879: Chapter 753: A Century (Seeking Monthly Pass at Month’s End)

The stars shifted and the battles continued.

Time flew by swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, another hundred years had hastened by.

Within the Earth Immortal Spiritual Realm.

This spirit realm seemed to have expanded manifold compared to before, adorned with various exotic flowers, rare grasses, and precious Spiritual Beasts flourishing in their splendor.

"Chirp chirp!"

An insect beast resembling a black cricket was perched atop a purple flower, sucking on the Spirit Dew.

A Wood Monster lay beside it, watching the tiny interloper without daring to make the slightest move, submitting by prostrating on the ground.

A moment later.

The black cricket, having feasted and quenched its thirst, vibrated its wings.

It took flight and broke through the air.

In an instant, it landed on a palm as white as jade.

"The miniature puppet is finally complete."

Fang Xi gazed at the Ominous Worm Puppet in his hand, nodding to himself in satisfaction.

After all, he was not a genuine puppetry Grandmaster. It had taken him a hundred years, and with the assistance of the Ancestral Demon Tree, to barely complete this Quasi-seventh-order puppet.

As for the ’Two-Five Soul-Cutting Gourds’ he had envisioned, although he had gathered the auxiliary materials, the lack of a suitable variety among the main materials—a special kind of gourd that met his expectations—meant that its completion had been continually delayed.

The blade shard, a rare treasure from the Immortal Mansion, had been completely sacrificially refined by him and was now a formidable regular method at his disposal.

Of course, for the sake of secrecy, whenever the blade appeared, it was necessary to silence any witnesses.

"The Earth Immortal Realm is full of gourds of other species, but they all have owners, or are located in dangerous secret realms..."

Fang Xi thought about the intelligence he had gathered over the years.

The ’Mysterious Heaven Gourd Vine’ he was most interested in was within a super-sized Immortal Mansion Secret Realm. It was said that every time it opened, cultivators at the Integration stage would enter to explore, and some even met their unfortunate demise...

Besides that, there was also the ’Red Cloud Gourd’ he quite liked, which is produced by the spiritual root that seals the mountain within the Flaming Jade Sect—an item they scarcely let out of their possession.

With the Flaming Jade Sect being an Integration Sect and possessing a considerable heritage left by their ancestors, Fang Xi wouldn’t even consider it until reaching the Integration stage himself.

Another one was the ’Seven Treasure Gourd Vine’, believed to bear seven-colored gourds, each with its unique magical use, located on a strange Spirit Island.

This ’Falling Sky Island’ was said to float in the Void, appearing randomly somewhere in the Earth Immortal Realm every few hundred to a thousand years—a truly tricky location!

The whereabouts of other special gourds were quite similar to these, which greatly disappointed him.

Nowadays, sixth-order precious gourds no longer caught Fang Xi’s eye.

Only those of the seventh order or higher could, which naturally made it even more challenging.

After putting away the Ominous Worm Puppet, Fang Xi sat down cross-legged under the Dragon Pattern Wall, continuing to meditate and comprehend the Dragon Chapter Script.

Through years of enlightenment, his understanding of the Dragon Chapter Script had reached a profound depth, leading him to craft several special Dragon Chapter Script Talismans.

Yet, above the ’Supreme Northern Dipper Life-controlling Divine Skills’, there still remained many conundrums. Therefore, he lingered at the beginner’s stage, delving a bit deeper at best.

Within the Earth Immortal Spiritual Realm, threads of the Mother Qi of All Woods converged, enveloping an area of more than four thousand acres.

Countless spiritual flowers and herbs, as well as wooden element alien beasts, reveled joyously, as if receiving the rain of heaven.

The entire spirit realm was growing rapidly...

...

In the Sky Brahman Domain.

Penglai Fairy Pavilion.

A sound resembling a flute’s clear trill suddenly emanated from the Dongfu of the heterodox incarnation.

A few moments later.

Fang Xi stepped out of the Dongfu, yawning.

Life was just this simple and unadorned: a mere hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

"My cultivation progress is still far behind that of my original self..."

"However, once the original self breaks through, heading to the battleground of the three clans to capture a few cultivators practicing the Self-transforming Demon True Skills should suffice..."

He thought to himself and proceeded towards a Water Kiosk Pavilion.

In the pond, Spiritual Lotuses lay scattered, a subtle fragrance wafting through the air.

Shui Lingxin was brewing tea with her bare hands on one side.

Fairy Yunxi, on the other hand, was playing the Yao Qin, with enchanting music constantly flowing from her fingers.

"Good... Yunxi, this piece, which incorporates the Mortal World Aura into music, is truly innovative," said Fang Xi after listening to the entire tune and setting down the Spiritual Tea, in admiration.

"Alas... I pondered over this for a long time, and with the help of Sister Baolian, I was barely able to integrate the Heavenly Charm Sect’s skills with my own learning... This was also thanks to our sect’s original methods being relatively compatible with dual cultivation," Yunxi replied with a smile, her hands resting on the Qin. Her expression turned melancholic as she continued, "It’s just a shame that... our sect has ultimately... disappeared..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xi also fell silent.

The Integration-stage ancestor of the Heavenly Charm Sect was one of the top beings confirmed to have perished in the great war between the human race and the Monster Clan.

Without their Integration-stage ancestor at the helm, the Heavenly Charm Sect fell apart almost immediately.

Yunxi and Lady Baolian chose not to return and thereby avoided many unsavory incidents.

At this moment, he was wholeheartedly relying on this place for secluded cultivation.

"Recently, within the territories of the human race, it can be said that tumultuous changes are afoot, and not a few young prodigies of our race have emerged... The old monsters at the Integration stage have also been moving, all for the sake of the vacant spots amongst the Five Sons of Human Race..."

As the head of Penglai Fairy Pavilion, Shui Lingxin had always been silently paying attention to the latest intelligence within the Cultivation World.

She took advantage of this rare opportunity to speak out.

"Speaking of which... The vacancy of one of the Five Sons has persisted for a hundred years, which is quite rare in history."

Fairy Yunxi’s face showed a hint of contemplation.

"It is said... Some Mahayana Individual Immortals have spoken out, wanting to postpone the selection period, supposedly to wait for the growth of many new generations of prodigies!"

Shui Lingxin glanced at Fang Xi, "There’s also a rumor that a Mahayana ancestor is waiting for the return of a prodigy of the human race who is currently in the Monster Clan’s territory..."

"How could such high positions among the human race be transferred privately?" Fairy Yunxi laughed disbelievingly.

Yet Fang Xi felt that there was indeed a good possibility for this.

After all, Fang Immortal Taoist Master had made significant contributions to the human race this time, having achieved an earth-shattering great feat.

Moreover, at the Integration realm, with control over a complete Immortal Mansion Rare Treasure, his combat power might just be sufficient.

If he were to return to the human race now, it wouldn’t be surprising if he could directly become one of the Five Sons of Human Race.

Only, for some reason, he had been lingering in the territory of the Monster Clan.

’Maybe he’s having too good a time there... unwilling to miss out on the opportunity.’

’By the time Fang Immoral Taoist Master returns, even if he is in the middle or even later stages of Integration... it wouldn’t be at all surprising.’

Fang Xi criticized in his mind.

"So, there’s such a rumor? Please, Lingxin, do tell." He picked up another pastry, smiled, and said.

"If Uncle-Master wishes to hear, Lingxin naturally has nothing to hide."

Respectfully bowing, Shui Lingxin said, "It is said that for that prodigy who fell into the Monster Clan’s domain, several of our own Mahayana Individual Immortals deliberately made appearances in the Three Realms Mountain just to hold off the True Spirit level beings of the Monster Clan... And that prodigy has long reached the Integration realm, having fought several of the Monster Clan’s seven great saints, maintaining an undefeated record... He should be returning soon."

"Affected by this, many of our rising prodigies have also made breakthroughs... One of the more famous names comes from Sword Pavilion’s Jianzi, who wields an Immortal Mansion Rare Treasure grade broken sword, his cultivation level is at the completed stage of Returning to Emptiness, having once sword slashed an Integration, and is only a step away from the Integration realm."

"In addition, there is a Taoist child from Flaming Jade Sect who possesses the ’Great Sun Fire Body,’ a top Spirit Body, and has mastered numerous Divine Skills of the Great Sun, even managing to refine several Returning to Emptiness culminations of the Monster cultivators to death..."

...

Shui Lingxin listed several examples of cultivators: "These are all new generation prodigies of the human race, acclaimed to have the potential to charge at the status of Mahayana Individual Immortals..."

She paused, looking at Fang Xi, "Uncle-Master, it is only because you ascended late that you are at a disadvantage. Otherwise, had you ascended thousands of years earlier, you definitely would have had a place among the young prodigies of the human race!"

The definition of ’youth’ is different among cultivators.

According to the current standards of the young prodigies of the human race, anyone who is within five thousand years old and can make a name for themselves in the territories of the human race is included.

That’s why Shui Lingxin felt Fang Xi ascended late.

After all, given Uncle-Master’s rate of cultivation progress, he had a chance of advancing to Integration within a few thousand years.

He would then be able to smoothly enter the threshold of the ’young prodigies of the human race.’

"Haha... Your Uncle-Master here has always favored tangible benefits over empty fame. The mere title of one of the human race’s prodigies, what is it worth?"

Fang Xi laughed heartily, "To me, it is not as good as listening to a small tune played by your master here and savoring the tea brewed by my niece..."

"If Uncle-Master likes it, your niece will brew tea for you every day from now on..."

Shui Lingxin said with a gentle smile.

"That won’t be necessary, one must not enjoy blessings to excess..."

Fang Xi shook his head, dissenting.

Seeing this, Shui Lingxin gave Fang Xi an unseen roll of her eyes.

This Uncle-Master of hers might say such things, but in reality, his relationship with Lady Baolian is ambiguous, and who knows how many joint blessings he has secretly enjoyed...

Just then, a paper crane, as if possessed by a spirit, descended from the skies and arrived directly in front of Shui Lingxin.

Shui Lingxin was startled, momentarily unsure whether to open it.

"A paper crane messenger?"

"If they seek you out at this time, it must be urgent; go ahead and see what it is," said Fairy Yunxi.

"Yes!"

After glancing at Fang Xi’s expression, Shui Lingxin opened the paper crane, briefly scanned a few lines, and her expression changed starkly: "Jianzi of the Sword Pavilion has issued a challenge to the Taoist child of the Flaming Jade Sect with the Great Sun Fire Body! And the Taoist child has already agreed, setting the date for the duel nine years from now at Luoying Mountain!"

"Oh?"

Fang Xi perked up on hearing this, "Both are at the completed stage of Returning to Emptiness, one unmatched in the Sword Path and the other with the Great Sun Fire Body... This could indeed be quite the spectacle."

Though he said this, he had no intention of actually going to watch the event.

After all, even if he rode the Super Teleportation Array, it would be too troublesome to make the journey.

"These two are peerless geniuses of the human race, and surely those destined for Integration... It’s unexpected that they should clash so soon."

Fairy Yunxi’s expression became serious involuntarily.

Although she knew that the two were bound to settle their strengths and weaknesses, for such a contest to occur so early was indeed very rare.

"Now I do believe those rumors to be true; the vacant position among the Five Sons of the Human Race awaits, and that member of our race still in the territory of the Monster Clan must surely be an extraordinary genius not seen in ages. This pressure seems to compel these two, Jianzi and the Taoist child, to determine a victor between themselves first, before the winner can challenge him?"

Fairy Yunxi accurately grasped some of the key points.

But to Fang Xi, it still seemed that no matter the outcome of this duel, it would probably be a tragedy for the winner!