Chapter 96: The Demonic Immortal Bloodline

Many years of cultivation, but a slight difference in thought, destroyed in an instant, body and soul vanishing. All these years of diligent practice were wasted in vain. Seeking immortality yet perished midway. Seeking treasures, only to die with the Dao. This was the path of many cultivators.

Qing Yuan buried these four cultivators together and took away their belongings. On the old man surnamed Fan there was a listening sound shell, an ice silkworm silk fluff dust, and an ice silkworm silk dao robe. The rest of the items had no great use and could hardly be considered treasures. As for the old man surnamed Guo, there were quite a few items on him, but what Qing Yuan valued most was seventeen dark ebony nails. These dark ebony nails were items that could wound even cultivators of the third level. Of course, although this item was extraordinary, it still depended on the holder's prowess. After all, though it was good, if divine weapons and treasures could not be used on a person, it would be in vain. As for the cultivator surnamed Xu and the cultivator surnamed Feng, these two had shorter cultivation periods than the others, with not many items, only five green talismans and one yellow talisman paper. The talismans had different patterns. Qing Yuan was most adept at fire talismans, but within the fire talismans there were various schools, and they could be subdivided into thousands of types. However, he also had some insights into talisman arts. He carefully examined them, circulating his true qi to imitate the patterns in his mind, and roughly guessed that these green talismans were similar in effect to fire talismans, usable to harm enemies, but different from them. Overall, their power was slightly weaker than that of fire talismans. As for the yellow talisman paper, it should be a wind talisman that could blow out violent winds, with many uses, but generally ordinary cultivators used wind talismans by sticking them behind themselves; the violent wind would blow backward, accelerating their forward escape speed, while the pursuers would be disturbed by the wind. Additionally, each of the two had a fine sword that could withstand Qing Yuan's club strike without damage, comparable to Ge Zhan's knife-wielding weapon, though ultimately these were still mundane weapons. Since neither Qing Yuan nor Gu Cang was skilled in swordsmanship, he collected them without hesitation.

Qing Yuan supported Gu Cang and found a cave, where they hid themselves and then sealed the entrance. Although Gu Cang had taken the medicine pill, his injuries would no longer endanger his life, he had not yet recovered, and his wounds were still quite severe. Qing Yuan let out a breath and asked, "How did you come here?" Gu Cang was momentarily at a loss for words, thinking for a long time before beginning to speak: "After the master entered the mountain, I went to that Daoist temple, and then started cultivating. Then, it was as if I had broken through a layer of paper, and my true qi changed, my cultivation becoming deeper. I think this is what the master meant by the second heaven." Qing Yuan glanced at it and nodded: "Indeed, you have stepped into the second heaven." Gu Cang chuckled: "Then I borrowed a knife from the martial artist living at the Daoist temple's residence. It wasn't as good as the previous long sword, but it wasn't bad either."

Qing Yuan was stunned for a moment; he could roughly guess that the one who lent the knife to Gu Cang was probably Xu Xiao. Gu Cang continued: "Inside the Daoist temple, I didn't know what to do, always feeling restless, so I came into the mountain." Qing Yuan had long known of Gu Cang's mischievous nature and inability to stay idle, feeling somewhat helpless. However, at this moment, he suddenly remembered something and said in surprise: "Then just came into the mountain like this?" Gu Cang was stunned, nodded: "Yes, that's how I came into the mountain." Qing Yuan asked: "But the array formations obstructing the mountain and the arrangements of the various superiors cannot be crossed without the cultivation of the third heaven. How did you enter? Moreover, you are a spirit beast, how could the orthodox Dao sect allow you in?" Gu Cang was surprised, scratched his head, looking rather bewildered: "The front two stone steps were indeed not easy to pass, but behind... there was no obstruction?" "No?" Qing Yuan immediately stood up, his face showing a surprised expression. It was said that this concealed mountain had been arranged with arrays by the Shou Zheng Dao Sect, and the Shou Zheng Dao Sect was the supreme Dao lineage, the ancestral sect of Daoism, always taking replacing heaven and following the Dao, punishing demons and exorcising demons as its duty, and for spirit beasts and other alien species, it used the method of cutting them down to the last. How could a spirit beast like Gu Cang enter the mountain without being discovered by the Shou Zheng Dao Sect? Moreover, when Qing Yuan entered the mountain, he had encountered many obstructions left by the superiors; generally, without third heaven cultivation, it was almost impossible to cross them. "Could it be that after I entered the mountain, I broke the obstructions, so there was no obstruction behind? But before me, the cultivator named Wu Nan also entered the mountain first; how could I have encountered the array and the obstructions from those superiors?" Qing Yuan had many doubts in his heart, feeling that this matter had some connection after his own entry into the mountain. But these events were without any clues, and thinking about them would be futile; even if he figured out the ins and outs, it wouldn't help much with the current situation. Qing Yuan exhaled, looked at Gu Cang, his eyes full of admiration, saying: "Your second heaven is indeed powerful. You can escape with your life from cultivators of the third heaven and withstand the encirclement and killing by four cultivators of the same level to this day." Gu Cang, praised, was very happy, and then explained his own transformations. After entering the second heaven, his abilities greatly increased, blood qi prosperous, his body became strong and sturdy, and his stature much burlier. Generally speaking, ape monkeys are slightly shorter than humans, only reaching the height of a person's chest and abdomen, occasionally some can be shoulder to shoulder high. Gu Cang, originally tall in stature, could reach Qing Yuan's ear and eyebrow level, and after cultivating true qi, he was at the same height as Qing Yuan, but now he was still a head taller than Qing Yuan. It was precisely because his body was strong that he could withstand so many methods. The most important thing was that he had an original ability, which had greatly increased, allowing his eyes to emit golden light to daze people. It was this very method that made Lu Yu dazed, allowing him to escape with his life. "Shan Xiao was originally of demon immortal bloodline, with some extraordinary talents, which is not unexpected. I was originally worried that your cultivation of Daoist true qi would have different changes. It seems I overthought it." Qing Yuan praised him, saying: "The higher your cultivation level, the greater the growth or increase of your talents and divine abilities. It also means you haven't wasted this demon immortal bloodline." Then, Qing Yuan asked some more things. After Gu Cang entered the mountain, he accidentally obtained a divine thunder, which Lu Yu discovered and snatched one. That divine thunder was casually refined by Lu Yu, but it was not an inheritance, nor a magic or divine ability; it was used to condense the prototype of a magic treasure. Lu Yu obtained the divine thunder but didn't know Gu Cang had another one and didn't pursue him. Gu Cang had not expected the old man surnamed Fan to have targeted him. Qing Yuan looked over and asked: "How is this divine thunder wrapped in a fur ball?" Gu Cang scratched his head and said: "When I first entered the mountain, I knew that after contacting the divine thunder, if I didn't refine it, I would be struck to death by lightning. But I thought of giving it to the master, so I didn't refine it. Then I thought of using a cage to trap it, but feared it was a divine thunder that could transform into a magic treasure and integrate into the cage. So after becoming the second heaven, I used a method that appeared in my mind to trap it." At this point, Gu Cang remembered that the divine thunder had integrated into the listening sound shell, which was almost shattered, and said regretfully: "It's a pity it was still destroyed." Qing Yuan's expression was complex, and he said: "No pity... perhaps there is still great use..." Gu Cang, upon hearing this, showed a puzzled expression. Before he could ask, Qing Yuan immediately said: "Your method of trapping the divine thunder should also be some innate divine ability or similar innate talent. What exactly is this method?" Gu Cang's face showed some strangeness, saying: "Just using its own fur to weave into a cage." As he spoke, he quietly adjusted his sitting posture, leaning against the rock wall, and pulled down the damaged, tattered black robe to cover a bit. Qing Yuan's gaze swept over and saw some red skin on Gu Cang's butt that was not covered. He had thought that ape monkeys were like this, or perhaps injured by someone, but he didn't expect...