Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 444: Chapter 444: Set Up by a Power Player

Xu Yunfan bowed with clasped hands. At the same time, with a flick of his wrist, he hung the True Martial Sword—which he had been nurturing in his Qi Sea—at his waist.

"HAHAHA!"

The Black Robe Daoist Master suddenly burst into wild laughter, the sound so powerful it shook the surrounding pine needles, causing them to rain down.

The corner of Xu Yunfan’s eye twitched. ’People like this, who just burst into laughter for no reason, are really awkward to deal with.’

"I am Li Baichuan. I hear you’re the one who established a Divine Martial Dao Foundation and cultivates the True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture?"

Xu Yunfan raised an eyebrow. "So, it’s a senior brother from Blood Evil Peak. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Li Baichuan, the Foundation Establishment Daoist Master from Blood Evil Peak, walked the path of Blood Evil Refinement. Disciples of Blood Evil Peak cultivated the *Nine Prisons Devouring Life Blood Evil Soul Gathering Scripture*, refining Heaven and Earth Evil Qi and absorbing it into their bodies. They would also gather and condense living souls to strengthen their Divine Sense.

Li Baichuan’s laughter stopped abruptly, a vicious light flaring in his eyes. "I’ve come specially to borrow the Arctic Demon Vibration Qi from your body!"

’Arctic Demon Vibration Qi?’

’Looks like this old bastard also knows the cultivation method for the True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture.’

Xu Yunfan’s expression remained unchanged. His gaze, sharp as lightning, locked onto Li Baichuan. His voice was steady and chilling. "The Arctic Demon Vibration Qi is formed from the righteous energy of the heavens and earth; it follows a path of magnificent righteousness. Your path of blood evil and living souls, however, uses wicked arts to refine souls and steal the Essence Blood of others. One is righteous, the other evil—they are as incompatible as fire and water. If you were to forcefully refine it, I fear that long before your Evil Qi is purged, the Demon-Vanquishing True Flame would incinerate your organs, and you would suffer the fate of complete annihilation of both body and soul."

Li Baichuan sneered, "Do you take me for a three-year-old? You think I don’t know this? Be smart and hand over the Arctic Demon Vibration Qi. For the sake of us being from the same sect, I’ll naturally spare your life."

Xu Yunfan couldn’t help but show a flicker of mockery upon hearing this.

’The Arctic Demon Vibration Qi is the core foundation he used, along with the qi of Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends, to forge his Dao Foundation. If it were to be extracted, his Dao Foundation would suffer irreparable damage, if not shatter completely.’

’His cultivation journey would end here.’

Xu Yunfan immediately put two and two together and said with dawning realization, "You want to use the Demon Vibration Qi to cleanse the Blood Evil in your body?"

A slight smile appeared on his face as he said leisurely, "It seems your cultivation path has reached its end, Senior Brother. If I were you, I would have chosen to reincarnate and start over. Why go through all the trouble of seeking out my Arctic Demon Vibration Qi?"

Li Baichuan snorted coldly. He had naturally expected Xu Yunfan to refuse.

"Enough talk. Are you handing it over or not?"

"And if I do? What if I don’t?"

As he spoke, Xu Yunfan’s right hand quietly rested on the hilt of the True Martial Sword at his waist. He applied slight pressure with his fingers, and Magical Power burst from their tips, causing the True Martial Sword to slowly awaken.

A faint Black Tortoise Illusion materialized around him. The coiling turtle and snake exuded an imposing, magnificent aura.

The Arctic Demon Vibration Qi flowed through his meridians, a stark contrast to the gray-white Evil Qi coiling around Li Baichuan. They were like the scorching sun and frigid ice—natural enemies.

’What made him most suspicious was that although he had forged his Divine Martial Dao Foundation under the watch of three True Monarchs, very few people actually knew about it. True Monarchs had their prestige to maintain; they wouldn’t just go around blabbing about it.’

’So where did this Daoist Master from Blood Evil Peak pop up from, and how does he know about this?’

’In a flash, a thought struck Xu Yunfan, and he understood. Someone must have used a divination art to peer into the Celestial Secret, trying to uncover his background. But because he cultivated the Turtle Breath Concealing God Technique from the True Martial Demon Suppressing Scripture, as well as the Green Dragon Thunder Pearl Locking Tribulation and Calming Fortune Technique gifted to him by True Monarch Qingyuan, they had failed.’

’Unable to interfere with his destiny directly, they sent this oaf to probe him by force.’

’Xu Yunfan was almost certain he knew which True Monarch was behind this masterpiece of a scheme.’

’Fucking hell, I’m just an innocent bystander here!’

Xu Yunfan sighed internally, feeling annoyed.

’When I get the chance, I’ll be sure to make an example out of you.’

However, after this exchange, Xu Yunfan also understood that the other party was just being used as a pawn. Attacking him probably wouldn’t lead to any serious repercussions.

Seeing Xu Yunfan’s silence, Li Baichuan mistook it for fear and licked his lips smugly. "Don’t worry. I’ll only take seventy percent of your Essence Qi. It won’t be enough to make your Dao Foundation collapse. You can just find another path to supplement it later..."

Saying this, he took a blood-colored Jade Bottle from his robes. "This is the Soul-Devouring Bottle. It’s perfect for dealing with you..."

"Senior Brother Li."

Xu Yunfan suddenly cut him off, his voice as cold as ice, "Are you aware of Rule 307 of the Primordial Sect?"

Li Baichuan was stunned for a moment, then scoffed. "Those who harm their fellow sect members will have their cultivation crippled? Ridiculous! Are you even a disciple of our Saint Sect?"

Before his voice had faded, he saw the young man opposite him smile, his lips curving in a strange way.

"It seems you truly don’t know, Senior Brother."

Xu Yunfan slowly drew the True Martial Sword. The lightning coiling around the blade suddenly turned a profound black.

"There’s a second half to Rule 307. It says, ’If one encounters an Evil Cultivator impersonating a disciple of our sect...’"

Black Thunder Serpents slithered along the edge of the blade.

"’...they are to be killed on sight!’ After all, although the outside world calls our Primordial Sect the Primordial Demon Sect, that’s just a label forced on us by the so-called Righteous Dao. We still despise the true path of demons and evil."

’That being said, there were cultivation methods far more extreme than those of Blood Evil Peak. But when it came to dealing with people, one needed a justifiable reason to appear righteous and grand.’

Li Baichuan’s face fell.

Just as he was about to protest, he saw the black lightning coalesce into a tangible Black Tortoise Illusion. The intertwining turtle and snake actually caused the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to resonate.

’Only then did he realize he’d been had. The other guy had seen through him from the start!’

"You’re courting death!"

Li Baichuan roared in fury, and twelve Blood Talismans flew from his sleeves.

The talismans swelled in the wind, transforming into ferocious, ghostly faces that lunged forward.

At the same time, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of Essence Blood. The bloody mist condensed into three Blood Puppets, each at the Early-Stage of Foundation Establishment.

Xu Yunfan neither dodged nor evaded. His True Martial Sword carved a profound arc through the air.

The first strike, "Exorcize Demons and Evil," pushed forward. A tide of black lightning washed over the area, causing the Blood Talismans to spontaneously combust wherever it passed.

The second strike, "Slaying Karma," slashed diagonally upward. The Profound Serpent illusion erupting from the blade’s edge pierced straight through two of the Blood Puppets.

"Impossible!"

Li Baichuan stumbled back in horror. Though his cultivation was only at the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, his actual combat strength was just a step shy of the Middle Stage. Yet now, he was being completely suppressed by Xu Yunfan’s True Martial Demon Suppressing Sword.

In a panic, Li Baichuan summoned his Lifebound Magical Treasure, the Hundred Souls Banner, only to see Xu Yunfan’s third strike already descending from above.

The strike seemed slow, but it had in fact gathered the Spiritual Qi for miles around. Before the blade even arrived, the protective bloody light around Li Baichuan had already begun to disintegrate.

"Stop! I am..."

His plea for mercy was drowned out by the roar of thunder.

As the sword light passed through him, a scene flashed through Li Baichuan’s Divine Soul: three days ago, on an endless cliff, the knowing smile on the lips of the purple-robed figure who had given him the Soul-Devouring Bottle...

’So *I* was the real prey!’

’I’ve been set up!’

’A True Monarch must have made a move from the shadows, influencing my thoughts and clouding the karma surrounding me to make me do this.’

’With my usual disposition, how could I have possibly charged right up to his gate?’

Unreconciled to his fate, he opened his mouth to roar something.

"PUFF!"

A mist of blood exploded outward, only to be instantly vaporized by the lightning.

When Xu Yunfan sheathed his sword, only a charred husk remained on the ground.

He beckoned the Hundred Souls Banner into his hand. With a flicker of lightning between his fingers, he incinerated it to ash.

’Bringing out such a trashy banner to embarrass himself... Xu Yunfan had no desire for it whatsoever. Its very foundation was saturated with Blood Evil, making it impossible to cleanse.’

Only then did the belated peal of thunder finally echo through the mountains.

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