“Greetings, Benefactor Xuantu…”
The White Bone Dharma King sat down, lifted his teacup, and took a sip.
Behind the White Bone Dharma King stood another figure. Golden light flowed across his entire body, faint Sanskrit chants echoing with every breath. His blood qi surged like a primordial savage beast.
“What a Dharma Protector Vajra!”
Spiritual Master Xuantu’s eyes brightened as he praised, “Fellow Daoist truly commands a wealth of talent beneath you. I cannot help but admire.”
“If Fellow Daoist is envious, you may as well join our Esoteric Buddhist sect. A Dharma King position would still await you.”
Sangji pressed his palms together as he spoke.
“Haha, forget it. I still prefer the life of drifting clouds and wild cranes.”
Spiritual Master Xuantu smiled faintly.
The man appeared youthful, tall and jade-like in bearing. Behind his head shone a ring of earthen-yellow divine ability radiance, making him seem almost like an immortal descended to the mortal world.
‘Even with my current third-rank body refinement, I still probably would not be this person’s match.’
During these past days, he had remained within Wusheng Temple cultivating the Horse-Headed Vajra Dharma Protector Divine Method. Thanks to that portion of “Dragon-Elephant Prajna Secret Medicine,” along with some effort of his own, he had finally completed the second stage, the Mule-Faced Vajra Prajna Stage, and successfully broken through into the Wrathful Stage of the Horse-Headed Wisdom King.
Of course, calling it an achievement was somewhat exaggerated. At best, he had merely touched the threshold.
Even so, the benefits were incomparable.
Not only had his physique smoothly advanced into third-rank body refinement, even his divine sense had broken past the one-hundred-and-fifty-zhang Foundation Establishment limit. It could now extend outward for one and a half li, reaching the level of Core Formation divine sense!
With both body and divine sense breaking through major realms simultaneously, he could now command far more of the Tide-Birth Pearl’s mana. In terms of sheer mana, he likely already surpassed ordinary early Core Formation cultivators.
Only the limitations of the Blue Sea Technique held him back from reaching an even higher level.
Yet before an early Purple Mansion cultivator, it was still nowhere near enough.
‘Not only that, after entering the threshold of the Wrathful Stage of the Horse-Headed Wisdom King, I unexpectedly condensed another “seed syllable” and obtained a kind of spiritual flame mystery. Quite an unexpected delight.’
Fang Qing turned his divine sense inward.
Within his heart palace burned a nameless flame, slowly flickering in harmony with the metallic qi formed from the Wolfbreaker within his lungs and organs.
This was the “Flame of Ignorance Illumining Ashes”—a fire born from the wrath of the Horse-Headed Wisdom King.
‘At present, the Ignorance Illuminating Ashes Flame possesses third-rank power. It may not compare to true heaven-and-earth spiritual flames, but as my cultivation deepens, its strength can continue increasing. One day, it may even rival or surpass those spiritual flames.’
‘With this heart flame, perhaps I could even attempt fire-method alchemy?’
At that moment, he heard the White Bone Dharma King speak again.
“I heard Benefactor once personally witnessed that exalted one attaining Golden?”
“Indeed…”
At the mention of this, even Spiritual Master Xuantu revealed a trace of lingering fear upon his face.
“Fortunately, that exalted lord possessed extraordinary virtue and cast us all out. Among the Purple Mansion cultivators, only Kaiyuanzi died, and that was because his own Dao heart collapsed and he perished through Dao assimilation. That lord was truly benevolent and compassionate.”
Even though he belonged to the demonic path, when speaking of the Kitchen Lord, Spiritual Master Xuantu’s face remained filled with reverence.
‘Or perhaps… he was giving face to the one behind Cloud Grazing Cliff, the holder of [Jiao Earth]?’
Fang Qing silently added in his heart.
“As for the demon race… those Demon Kings rendered great service. From this day onward, the number of those attaining Golden will surely multiply across the world.”
Spiritual Master Xuantu sighed.
“I have already ceded several territories. From now on, I shall have to rely upon Dharma King to resist the demon race together.”
The demon race’s use of the [Stomach Earth] attainment of Golden had dealt devastating damage to both Ancient Shu and the two great Golden Core sects of the Southern Frontier.
Once the Azure Bird Tribe reorganized itself, they would undoubtedly return in force.
“That is only natural. After all, this lord cultivates [Nu Earth].”
Sangji pressed his palms together.
An alliance based upon shared Dao lineage interests was precisely the sort of agreement Purple Mansion cultivators trusted most.
Spiritual Master Xuantu burst into laughter before lowering his gaze toward the scene below.
“Kill!”
Fang Yixin felt utterly bewildered.
The Purple Mansion grand array seemed almost nonexistent, allowing them to charge straight into the Xuantu Sect mountain gate without obstruction.
Carrying the hatred of his son’s death, the xuanqing magical sword in his hand swept out in an arc, instantly beheading a young disciple.
The disciple had likely only recently entered the Xuantu Sect. He had merely reached the first layer of Qi Ingestion and did not even possess a storage bag.
Several familiar cultivators nearby burst into laughter as they surrounded an old mid-stage Qi Ingestion cultivator.
“Fellow Daoist Fang, hurry over here! We’ll split the contents of this fellow’s storage bag with you!”
These loose cultivators and Dao Foundation family cultivators had never before witnessed the extravagance of a Purple Mansion immortal sect.
The moment they entered the Xuantu Sect mountain gate, they transformed into a swarm of locusts, looting and slaughtering everywhere they went.
Boom!
Near the Xuantu Sect Dao Repository Treasury, a gigantic hammer wrapped in purple-gold radiance suddenly appeared, smashing a Dao Foundation cultivator flying backward.
The one who acted was none other than Huang Tianhua.
He cultivated the [Di Earth] lineage. The Dao Foundation he had forged was known as “Dusk Haze Sinking.” At this moment, layers of gray miasmic fog drifted around his body, within which appeared the phantasmal forms of scorpions, centipedes, pit vipers, and other manifestations of the Five Poisons.
An ordinary Qi Ingestion cultivator would die instantly upon contact.
Even Dao Foundation cultivators would avoid it from a distance.
“Hmph. These monk soldiers may look imposing, but they are nothing more than a mob. They cannot even produce a single late-stage Dao Foundation cultivator.”
“And whoever was responsible for the array truly deserves death…”
Huang Tianhua let out a thunderous shout. “Disciples of the Xuantu Sect, follow me and kill the enemy!”
Yu Xuanzi gripped a magical sword while hiding far in the rear, cold sweat covering his back. ‘Follow you into battle? More like follow you to your death. The Purple Mansion grand array suddenly failing, and you still cannot see what that means? A Spiritual Master must have intervened.’
Sure enough, not long after Huang Tianhua charged into battle, a Dharma Protector of Wusheng Temple came forward to meet him. He was only at the early Dao Foundation stage, and his mana was obviously unstable at a glance.
“I will fight you!”
The Dharma Protector pulled out a section of white bone from his robes and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing savagely before spitting it out.
Pfft!
A sheet of glass-like moonlight descended, manifesting the Aspect of Moonlight White Bone.
The instant that strand of moonlight entered Huang Tianhua’s eyes, he suddenly dropped to his knees. The “Heaven-Urn Catalpa Hammer” in his hand fell aside, while chunks of flesh began dropping from his body one after another. Before anyone realized it, he had transformed into a skeleton.
“Purple Mansion methods?!”
Witnessing this scene, Yu Xuanzi nearly lost his soul from terror and immediately tried to flee.
‘Not good. This time, our Spiritual Master has conceded far too much. I fear everyone within the sect has already become abandoned pawns. Of the Xuantu Seven Sons, not a single one will remain.’
Unfortunately, his realization came too late.
At some point, atop his Dao Foundation, there now crouched a bloated black insect.
The creature vaguely resembled a human face as it greedily latched onto the Dao Foundation and sucked upon it.
Yu Xuanzi’s expression changed. A streak of black light flashed through his eyes as he shouted, “For the sake of the sect… what does death matter?!”
He immediately charged forward. Within only a few exchanges, he too was slain.
In an instant, cries of terror and pleas for mercy echoed across Hanging Mountain.
High above the heavens.
Xuantu Spiritual Master gazed indifferently upon the scene like a lofty deity. Even the slaughter of his sect and the plundering of its treasury could not stir him in the slightest.
Standing outside the matter, Fang Qing instead saw extraordinary phenomena emerging around both him and Dharma King Sangji.
This differed from the “Ji Wind and Bi Rain” he had used while refining pills before. Instead, it was the intertwining imagery represented by the divine abilities of two Purple Mansion Dharma Kings.
[Di Earth] governed plague and pestilence.
[Nu Earth] represented corpse-filled yin earth.
Combined together, they formed the image of endless warfare, rampant epidemics, white bones scattered across the wilderness, and souls returning to the supreme land beyond death.
It perfectly matched the current tragedy of Litou Commandery and the Xuantu Sect.
‘This is basically a full funeral service package.’
Protected by the Dao-Genesis Pearl and “As If Within Calculation,” Fang Qing still dared to mock inwardly.
Only then did Xuantu Spiritual Master finally speak:
“The monk soldiers invaded Litou Commandery, slew seven Dao Foundation cultivators from the great families, then broke through the Xuantu mountain gate and killed six direct-lineage Dao Foundation cultivators of my sect. Three among them carried my direct bloodline. Countless others were converted, while the invaders plundered freely before leaving… Is the Dharma King satisfied now?”
“Benefactor, you possess wisdom roots. The karma between us is now concluded. Excellent, excellent.”
Dharma King Sangji pressed his palms together, his face filled with compassion.
Fang Qing, however, understood clearly.
This Xuantu Spiritual Master was already several hundred years old. His descendants had spread across countless generations. Compared to direct disciples, those distant blood relatives meant very little to him.
At the critical moment, sacrificing them had required no hesitation at all.
Even if the entire Xuantu Sect vanished, as long as the Xuantu Spiritual Master himself remained alive, he could establish another sect anywhere in the world.
Once one attained Purple Mansion, only Purple Mansion cultivators mattered. Everything beneath that realm were merely ants!
‘This is also why divine abilities are so exalted. Purple Mansion cultivators possess divine abilities and can traverse the void. Unless a Great Spiritual Master personally intervenes, or they are trapped within a special environment like a Grotto Heaven or Blessed Land that isolates the void and are subjected to siege, it is extremely difficult for them to truly die. That is why they always leave one another some measure of dignity.’
‘But now that [Stomach Earth] has attained the Dao, it means those great powers are gradually awakening and have more energy to focus on the mortal world. Purple Mansion cultivators probably will not remain carefree for much longer either.’
Fang Yixin had killed to his heart’s content. Several storage bags were already hidden inside his robes.
Still red-eyed with greed, he followed the other cultivators as they charged all the way to the ancestral hall of the Xuantu Sect.
The remaining cultivators of the sect were making their final stand there under the leadership of the last surviving member of the “Xuantu Seven Sons.”
“Good. Once this place falls, the Xuantu Sect will truly be exterminated.”
“Wuchen’s revenge can finally be avenged.”
But at that moment, the sound of a Dharma conch echoed out.
“The Dharma conch sounded?”
Fang Yixin froze and looked around at the surrounding cultivators. Everyone had stopped moving, staring at each other blankly.
“The conch signals retreat? Retreat now? Are we still exterminating the Xuantu Sect or not?”
He did not want to leave, but from the corner of his eye he saw Master Fayuan retreating without the slightest hesitation. Fang Yixin gritted his teeth and immediately withdrew as well, following the others out through the mountain gate of the Xuantu Sect, where corpses littered the ground and blood flowed like rivers.
Not long afterward, the previously malfunctioning Purple Mansion grand array suddenly erupted with brilliant radiance.
A vast scene of thousands of peaks and valleys appeared, earth essence transforming into kun earth while endless rays of sunlight burst forth, trapping within it those greedy rogue cultivators who had lingered behind. Faint screams could be heard from inside.
“Let us go.”
Suddenly, someone patted Fang Yixin on the shoulder.
Turning around, he saw it was Monk Fayuan. He quickly bowed respectfully. “Master…”
“You were able to cast aside the Three Poisons and not become lost to greed, hatred, and delusion. You possess decent wisdom roots after all.”
Monk Fayuan smiled faintly. “It is time to leave.”
“We are not attacking the Xuantu Sect anymore?” Fang Yixin still seemed somewhat dazed.
“No need. Perhaps in the future, they may even become allies.”
Monk Fayuan smiled mysteriously. “We are heading first to seize several territories bordering Xituo Commandery. Unfortunately, your contributions were too minor. You will not receive any spiritual land as reward.”
“This battle was full of hidden currents and unpredictable turns. Simply surviving is already enough. What more could I possibly ask for?”
Fang Yixin answered with a bitter smile.
Thinking of the comrades who had lost their lives, a single sentence surfaced in his mind:
‘Living without knowing why one lives, dying without knowing for what one dies.’
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