txolops Chapter 362 News from an Old Friend
Chapter 362 News from an Old Friend
"A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting at the Spirit Beast Mountain" is currently being serialized on Cola Novels and is not to be missed!
This feeling... this terrifying pressure of divine sense... he had only ever felt it from one person—the Nascent Soul cultivator of the Demon Flame Sect, known for his violent temper and domineering techniques, the "Burning Soul Old Demon"!
"A Nascent Soul stage old monster!"
Lu Xuan was shocked, and this was the first thought in his mind. Only a Nascent Soul cultivator could possess such a vast and oppressive divine sense! The other party hadn't even shown his face; the mere pressure of his divine sense was enough to make this mid-stage Core Formation cultivator's blood surge, almost causing him to lose his footing!
A second thought immediately arose, carrying a deeper chill and panic: "Could it be... that the Demon Flame Sect has finally lost its patience and wants to tear off the mask of civility, forcibly swallowing Qinghu Market, so it sent a Nascent Soul cultivator to personally eliminate me, this 'obstacle'? But... do they really need a Nascent Soul ancestor to personally deal with a mere mid-stage Core Formation cultivator like me? This is giving me, Lu, far too much credit!"
Countless guesses flashed through his mind in an instant, and fear, like icy seawater, overwhelmed him.
Compared to a Nascent Soul cultivator, his cultivation level was utterly insignificant! Forget about resisting; even escaping seemed like a pipe dream!
"Snap... Sizzle!"
His proud protective barrier, which could withstand a late-stage Core Formation cultivator's relentless attacks for a long time and even trap them for a moment, finally emitted a series of cracking sounds as it succumbed to the overwhelming force! Immediately afterward, the light barrier at the entrance was forcibly torn open, leaving a huge gap, wide enough for one person to pass through, with its edges constantly flashing with chaotic spiritual light!
Beyond the gap, the light and shadow distorted slightly, and a young figure dressed in an ordinary black robe, with an extremely youthful appearance and eyes that were calm and profound enough to make one's heart tremble, stepped unhurriedly through the torn gap in the barrier.
When Lu Xuan finally saw the intruder's face clearly, his eyes widened as if he had seen the most unbelievable sight of his life!
"You...you...you are...Fellow Daoist Luo...?" Lu Xuan's voice stammered due to extreme shock, his expression a mixture of disbelief, bewilderment, and a sense of absurdity as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
"You actually... advanced to the Nascent Soul stage?"
How could he possibly forget that face?
Over a hundred years ago, it was this seemingly ordinary young cultivator, who was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage at the time, who stole his painstakingly crafted Xuanhuo Mirror, rendering his decades of hard work futile.
He originally wanted to capture Luo Ming, but the latter cleverly slipped away. Later, he was seriously injured by a Core Formation cultivator who suddenly appeared, so he had to give up.
But that was over a hundred years ago! Back then, the other party was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage! No matter how high their talent or how good their opportunities, to be able to cultivate from the mid-Foundation Establishment stage to the Core Formation stage in just over a hundred years was already an astonishing genius!
But... but the divine pressure emanating from this person is clearly that of a Nascent Soul cultivator! Moreover, the oppressive feeling he feels seems even stronger than that of the Soul-Burning Old Demon of the Demon Flame Sect! How is this possible?
From Foundation Establishment to Nascent Soul, it only took a little over a hundred years? What kind of monster is this?!
"Could it be... that this person, like me, has obtained some kind of heaven-defying ancient inheritance, or has been possessed by some old monster?" Lu Xuan's mind raced, and he instantly thought of this most likely explanation.
However, whatever the reason, the other party is now at the Nascent Soul stage, and judging from their demeanor, they've come looking for me! This brings to mind the grudge from years ago when they stole the treasure…
"Run! We must run immediately! Even if it costs us our life essence, we must escape."
A fierce glint flashed in Lu Xuan's eyes. Under the immense pressure of Luo Ming's divine sense, he bit his tongue hard, and the sharp pain jolted him awake!
"puff--!"
He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of crimson blood essence! The blood essence did not spill, but instead exploded on his body, turning into a thick cloud of blood mist! Within the blood mist, strange runes flowed faintly, temporarily severing Luo Ming's divine sense suppression that had locked onto him, giving him a moment to catch his breath and move!
"Croak—!!!"
At the same time, a muffled, hoarse, and strange croaking sound, as if from the depths of magma, burst forth from Lu Xuan's body! His skin suddenly turned crimson, and fine, toad-like bumps appeared on his skin.
A gigantic "fire toad" phantom, over ten feet tall, entirely crimson, with a venomous tumor on its back and flames burning in its eyes, suddenly rose up from behind him, enveloping his entire body! The phantom exuded a scorching and violent aura, and the surrounding air began to distort.
This phantom of the fire toad is not a magic technique, but rather Lu Xuan using the power of his spirit beast fire toad's bloodline to perform a short-range, extremely fast "Fire Shadow Escape"!
At the moment Lu Xuan spat out his blood essence and summoned the phantom of the fire toad, Luo Ming, who was far away, did not show any shock or anger in his eyes. Instead, a glint of interest flashed in his eyes, as if he had seen some interesting magic trick.
"Oh? Is this... using the power of a spirit beast's bloodline to perform some kind of fire-based escape technique?"
His tone was eerily calm, as if he were commenting on something unrelated to himself, with a condescending ease.
"call out--!"
A beam of crimson-gold light, as fast as lightning, shot out from his sleeve! The light swelled as it faced the wind!
It transformed into a magnificent spirit bird over two zhang long, with feathers as if forged from burning red gold, and appeared in mid-air above the cave!
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Lu Xuan, who was preparing to use his full power to escape using "Hokage-Slaying Technique," almost popped his eyes out when he saw the suddenly appearing crimson-gold divine bird. The expression on his face was no longer one of shock, but rather one of near-collapse and utter horror and absurdity!
He remembered that bird!
Back then, that spirit bird seemed to be only at level two. It only advanced to level three thanks to the bottle of fire-attribute demon beast essence blood he gave it. But... but only a little over a hundred years have passed! This bird has actually grown to the peak of level six?
Lu Xuan knew better than anyone how difficult it was for spirit beasts to advance. His "Flaming Poison Toad" had taken him over a hundred years and countless resources to grow from level three to level five!
"cracking!"
The crimson-gold light in the eyes of the Zhiyang Bird in mid-air shone brightly, and it let out an excited cry, seemingly very interested in the phantom of the "giant toad" that exuded a "delicious" fire attribute aura in front of it.
It suddenly opened its sharp beak, and a pillar of fire, extremely condensed and only as thick as an arm, yet reddish-golden and radiating terrifying high temperature and pure yang energy to dispel evil, shot out like an arrow, striking the head of the fire toad phantom with perfect accuracy!
"puff!"
The phantom of the fire toad trembled violently before collapsing with a bang! Lu Xuan groaned, his face turning from white to gold, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth again. He staggered back several steps, his internal magic power in disarray. The "Fire Shadow Escape" that he had just activated was forcibly interrupted, and the backlash made his aura even weaker.
He stood there blankly, looking at Luo Ming, who remained calm and composed not far away, as if he had only done something insignificant. The last bit of hope and resistance in his heart, like the phantom of the fire toad, was completely extinguished.
A moment later.
Luo Ming played with the strange stone in his hand, which was still warm, red like flames, and seemed to have magma flowing inside. He felt the powerful and pure fire-attribute spiritual power contained within it with his fingertips.
He played with it for a moment, and then, under Lu Xuan's gaze, which was almost dripping with blood and filled with heartache and reluctance, he flipped his wrist and unceremoniously put the "Crimson Flame Stone" into his storage bag, as if it had always been his.
After doing all this, Luo Ming finally looked up at Lu Xuan, whose face was pale and eyes were filled with trepidation. He gave a seemingly gentle smile that sent chills down Lu Xuan's spine, and said in a relaxed tone:
"Fellow Daoist Lu, there's no need to be so nervous or afraid. I've simply been in seclusion for too long, over a hundred years, and haven't paid any attention to worldly affairs. I've only just emerged from seclusion and am completely clueless about the current state of the world. I simply wish to learn about the general situation of the cultivation world from you. I have no other intentions."
Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan was practically cursing inwardly, but dared not show it on his face, only internally raging with rage:
"Seclusion for over a hundred years? You're kidding me! And what you call a 'visit'? You forcibly broke through the restrictions on my cave without a word, and you call that 'no other intention'? Who visits like this? Anyone would be terrified in this situation!"
For the next few hours, the cave dwelling became a one-sided "reporting" session by Lu Xuan. Luo Ming sat upright in the main seat, his expression calm, mostly just listening quietly, his gaze deep and unreadable.
Lu Xuan stood at Luo Ming's side, carefully organizing his thoughts as he recounted the events from the invasion of Yue Kingdom by the demonic path over a hundred years ago to the present day, including the changing situation in the cultivation world of Tiannan, the dynamics of various forces, famous figures, and major events. He did so in a clear and organized manner.
In particular, the information about Spirit Beast Mountain that Luo Ming requested.
He knew this was his chance to survive, so he gave an extremely detailed and objective account, even adding many details and background information.
Luo Ming listened calmly, but in reality, his mind was rapidly processing and analyzing this massive amount of information.
It turns out that the war of the demonic invasion of Yue Kingdom did not last long, and it could even be said that it was somewhat "started strong but ended weakly".
After conquering the Yue Kingdom and eliminating or expelling the six sects of the former Yue Kingdom, excluding Ling Shou Mountain, the six sects of the demonic path did not continue their large-scale southward expansion, seemingly due to unequal distribution of spoils and internal discord.
The Yue Kingdom was completely overrun and became the territory of the demonic forces.
Of the original seven factions of the Yue Kingdom, apart from the Ling Beast Mountain faction which had already "surrendered," the remaining forces of the other six factions, after paying a heavy price, finally managed to break through and escape to the territory of the "Nine Kingdoms Alliance" where the Northern Liang Kingdom was located, where they were taken in and settled.
But I heard that these "stray dogs" are not having an easy time in the Nine Nations Alliance. They are short of resources, are ostracized, and are in a difficult situation.
"Spirit Beast Mountain..." Luo Ming's heart stirred slightly.
Although he came from Spirit Beast Mountain, he didn't have much affection for this "traitorous" sect that had "defected in the face of battle" and caused the collapse of Vietnam's defense line. However, Lu Xuan's next words made him take notice.
"Spirit Beast Mountain..." Luo Ming's heart stirred slightly.
Although he came from Spirit Beast Mountain, he didn't have much affection for this "traitorous" sect that had "defected in the face of battle" and caused the collapse of Vietnam's defense line. However, Lu Xuan's next words made him take notice.
After Spirit Beast Mountain submitted to the Spirit Control Sect, in order to perform well in front of their new master and to compete for resources and status, the sect produced a great number of outstanding talents.
The most dazzling one among them is named "Duan Chen". It is said that he possesses a rare "ice spirit root" and has cultivated a top-level ice attribute technique. His ice-type divine power is fierce and unparalleled, and he is rarely matched among his peers. He has shone brightly in several internal competitions and external battles after the invasion of the demonic path, and his reputation has risen rapidly.
About thirty years ago, he successfully condensed his Golden Core and is now known as "Bing Xuanzi". He is a highly respected Core Formation elder in the Yuling Sect.
His master, the "Cold Toad True Man" of Spirit Beast Mountain, successfully condensed his Nascent Soul fifty years ago and is now a Nascent Soul elder with considerable influence within the Spirit Control Sect.