Immortality begins with inheriting the myriad arts of cultivation.

Chapter 266 The Western Wilderness Landscape, Returning to the Jiang Kingdom

In the valley, a moment later.

Li Ping tossed aside the limp corpse in his hand, a thoughtful look in his eyes.

The next moment, he flicked his fingertips and released three fireballs, burning the three corpses on the ground to ashes.

Clutching three storage bags, Li Ping suddenly glanced up in the direction of Tianshang Immortal City, then leaped up and transformed into a blue rainbow light, heading towards Jiang Kingdom, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Not long ago, about ten miles from the valley, a handsome middle-aged man dressed in black armor flew rapidly towards them.

As he flew, a hint of anger flickered in his eyes: "Who dares to kill my Tianyou Sect's disciples in the Yan Kingdom? They're practically courting death."

If someone familiar with the place were here, they would immediately recognize him as You Zichong, the elder of the Tianyou Sect, a prodigy in the Yan Kingdom's cultivation world who formed his Golden Core decades ago.

His anger stemmed from the fact that the two Foundation Establishment cultivators who had worked for him had suddenly perished, and the tokens they carried pointed in this direction!

"Killing someone on my Tianyou Sect's territory, and killing my people at that! In the entire Tianshang Immortal City, who doesn't know that Lin Zhixing and Feng Chenyi are my subordinates!" You Zichong's expression was gloomy, and he had already prepared to tear the murderer to pieces.

Nothing less would be enough to vent the anger of this Core Formation cultivator!

You have to consider the owner before you beat a dog!

Just as Li Ping looked up and glanced at this place, a cold divine sense also descended upon this place, instantly enveloping You Zichong completely.

Although he hadn't seen the person yet, You Zichong sensed that cold, emotionless hostility instantly, which jolted him back to reality: "I'm still more than ten miles away from there. Such a vast divine sense—is this a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator? Or a late-stage Core Formation cultivator?"

Sensing the terrifying power of the other party's divine sense, he felt a chill run through his body, and his anger was instantly extinguished.

He quickly turned around and shot off towards Tianshang Immortal City, keeping an eye on his back as he fled, fearing that someone might be chasing after him.

He had only recently broken through to the Core Formation realm, and his magic weapon was only just crafted. How could he dare to provoke a mid-stage or even late-stage cultivator?

He's still young, he's not that irrational.

"Hmph! Lin Zhixing and Feng Chenyi are always doing shady things, and this time they even dared to provoke a Core Formation Realm cultivator." You Zichong's expression was full of fear.

He had long known that the two would secretly engage in robbing and pillaging under false pretenses, but the two were quite sensible and had never caused any trouble. So, normally, You Zichong would turn a blind eye to what the two did.

However, the two of them almost put him in a match against a stronger opponent than himself, which made him both shocked and furious.

As he flew, he cursed inwardly, "They deserved to die! They almost killed me! When I return to the Immortal City, I must solemnly declare that I have absolutely no connection with these two."

"I, Youzi Chong, am mortal enemies with evil!"

……

Li Ping was naturally unaware that he had startled a Core Formation cultivator simply by casually unleashing his vast divine sense.

He was standing on the flying boat, pondering the information he had purchased from the Immortal Dao Pavilion, as well as the information obtained from the three Soul Searchers.

In fact, after forming the Golden Core...

With his naturally powerful divine soul, and having cultivated the "Myriad Spirits Divine Technique" to the third level, his divine sense surpasses that of a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator by several tens of percent.

With such a powerful divine sense probing, Lin Zhixing's attempt to tamper with the jade slip was utterly futile and impossible to conceal from him.

He was also worried that the information he bought might not be accurate, so he decided to play along and catch three fools at once.

"You think that because I left the Western Wilderness for sixty years and was a rogue cultivator, I have no grievances?" Li Ping shook his head. "Don't you even use your brain? I was away for sixty years and still managed to come back alive. How could I not have some tricks up my sleeve?"

Killing three Foundation Establishment cultivators is utterly insignificant to Li Ping at this point.

He quickly put the matter out of his mind and began to think about the intelligence regarding the changes in power in the Western Wilderness.

The current power structure in the Western Wilderness was far beyond his expectations.

Historically, the Western Wilderness has never been peaceful.

The centuries-long war between good and evil triggered by the invasion of the four demonic sects into the Western Wilderness needs no further explanation.

Prior to this, the cultivation sects of the various kingdoms in the Western Wilderness frequently clashed in battles to seize territory. In addition, the alien tribes on the grasslands would occasionally migrate south to compete for resources, leading to wars with the cultivators of the Yan and Liang kingdoms...

In fact, the Western Wilderness has always been in turmoil.

This is quite normal, as cultivators possess superhuman strength. As the saying goes, "With a sharp weapon in hand, the desire to kill arises naturally," and none of them eat beef.

But in these sixty years, Xiao Changkong first unexpectedly defeated the alien tribes on the grasslands, and the Defenders Alliance had the potential to dominate the Western Wilderness.

However, Xiao Changkong suddenly perished, Donghua Mountain fell, which greatly reduced the strength of the Weidao Alliance, putting it in danger of being wiped out by the four demonic sects.

As a result, Old Demon Lu had no desire to fight and, against all advice, chose to make peace with the Defenders Alliance to jointly open the Qingyun Secret Realm on Donghua Mountain.

Later, he inexplicably left the Western Wilderness and fled far away. After he left, the balance of power between the Defender Alliance and the Four Demonic Sects was restored.

Both sides were wary and dared not start another war.

Over the past sixty years, minor conflicts have frequently occurred in the cultivation world of the Western Wilderness. However, major battles involving Core Formation level cultivators have ceased, making it a rare period of peace in the history of the Western Wilderness's cultivation world.

Li Ping's eyes seemed thoughtful: "Has Xiao Yunzhi not returned to the Western Wilderness? Or is it that she is not yet confident in dealing with the Four Demonic Sects?"

Xiao Yunzhi is a cultivator with a Heavenly Spiritual Root, and she did not encounter any bottlenecks before reaching the Nascent Soul stage.

Nearly forty years have passed since she achieved the Core Formation.

Li Ping estimated that, given her cultivation speed, she should have already reached the mid-stage of Core Formation by now.

With her mid-stage Core Formation cultivation and the power of the magic weapon Sun and Moon Ring, her combat strength is enough to rival that of a late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

With such combat power, and given her hatred for the four demonic sects and Old Demon Lu, how could she possibly not reignite the war between good and evil?

Li Ping secretly guessed, "Perhaps Xiao Yunzhi has been with me for a long time and has learned the way of prudence, planning to cultivate to the late stage of Core Formation before making a move."

Shaking his head, Li Ping pondered the situation in Jiang Kingdom and Fenglan Immortal City.

The Immortal Dao Pavilion's intelligence focuses primarily on the grasslands and the northern western wilderness. As for Jiang Kingdom and Fenglan Immortal, one is located in the central region and the other in the western region, the Immortal Dao Pavilion has not invested too many resources in them.

The information about these two locations is very brief.

Li Ping only saw that the person in charge of Jiang Guoyan's family was Yan Hengchuan, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the person in charge of Fenglan Immortal City was Meng Qingyi, a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

That's all.

But that was enough. At least he knew his old friend was safe and sound, and Li Ping could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

……

a few days later.

Above Xiaomei Mountain, a dark silver flying boat came to rest.

Li Ping's immense divine sense swept across the area below, and a slight smile appeared in his eyes.

Then, he moved his lips slightly to transmit his voice, and stood quietly in the sky with his hands behind his back, waiting.

A moment later, a tall figure hurriedly flew out of Xiaomei Mountain and headed towards Li Ping's direction.

From a distance, a voice filled with surprise and joy called out, "Uncle Li, you're back!"

Flying to Li Ping's side, the figure respectfully bowed and said, "Shuchen greets Uncle Li!"

Li Ping smiled and said, "Get up, no need for formalities."

This figure was none other than Ji Shuchen, the grandson of Master Ji and the current patriarch of the Ji family.

Ji Shuchen is a cultivator of the same generation as Ji Shuxuan and Yan Hengchuan. He has the aptitude of four spiritual roots, but he failed to obtain the Foundation Establishment Immortal Fate and is currently still at the peak of the late Qi Refining stage.

Li Ping did some quick calculations and concluded that he should be over 110 years old this year.

Although he tried his best to straighten his back and make himself look less old, his gray hair betrayed him.

His gaze toward Li Ping was filled with turbidity; his skin was as rough as old tree bark, and his snow-white eyebrows drooped down to his cheeks, revealing his advanced age.

According to the lifespan limit of Qi Refining cultivators, he probably won't live much longer.

Ji Shuchen raised his head and looked at Uncle Li in front of him.

In his eyes, when Uncle Li returned to Jiang State for the last time seventy years ago, apart from his eyes being more profound, his appearance had hardly changed at all.

He was still as elegant and refined as ever; time seemed to have stood still, leaving no trace on Uncle Li.

For a moment, Ji Shuchen thought it was seventy years ago, and he was still the vigorous and capable head of the Ji family.

Coming to his senses, Ji Shuchen grinned and said, "Uncle Li, I thought I would never see you again in this life."

Li Ping smiled slightly: "Now that you've seen me, that's why."

"Yes! I can die without regrets to see Uncle Li again today." Ji Shuchen nodded happily as he respectfully led Li Ping toward the sacred land of Xiaomei Mountain.

Along the way, he also introduced the current situation of Xiaomeishan Spiritual Land to Li Ping.

It turns out that Xiaomei Mountain is no longer used for spiritual cultivation. Now it is the school where the three major cultivation families, Ji, Yan and Yu, train their descendants.

Children from the three families who are found to possess spiritual roots will be sent here for enlightenment and to be taught the way of cultivation until they turn fifteen years old, at which point they will leave to return to their respective families to continue their cultivation.

Ji Shuchen was the school's tutor.

Over the years, he has handed over all the affairs of the family and devoted himself to spending his later years in Xiaomei Mountain, cultivating the next generation of cultivators.

Therefore, he enjoys a high reputation among the younger generation of cultivators in the three immortal cultivation families, second only to the Foundation Establishment ancestors of the three clans.

Ji Shuchen stayed in Xiaomei Mountain mainly to keep in mind the task Uncle Li gave him: to protect the secret of the underground spiritual vein of Xiaomei Mountain.

He kept this secret from everyone except himself.

Fortunately, he has finally waited for the day when Uncle Li will return.

Amidst the curious gazes of a group of thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boys, Ji Shuchen led Li Ping to the rest room behind the school.

Two boys offered the sacred tea.

Afterwards, they did not rush to leave, but secretly observed Li Ping, who was being respectfully served by the strategist.

They only left with grins after Ji Shuchen coughed lightly.

"Immortality Begins with Inheriting the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation" - Stunning writing style and a thrilling plot!