Stealing Immortal

Chapter 146: Chapter 145: Mingtang Hall

Chen Qingyang channeled his Qi into his sword, unleashing the full power of the Danxia Nurturing Truth Sword Manual in an instant. He first shattered the man’s Soul Banner, then thrust straight toward his opponent.

CLANG!

Just as the longsword was about to pierce his target, a soft ringing sound was heard. The Qianxue Sword seemed to have struck something hard, unable to advance another inch.

A closer look revealed that the man had summoned a Magical Artifact.

The Magical Artifact resembled a piece of jade, glowing with Profound Light. It grew as it met the air, forming a barrier in front of him.

’This Demon Sect Disciple has quite a few tricks up his sleeve,’ Chen Qingyang thought. In that same instant, his Conscious Fish carried a wisp of Li Yang Earth Fire and shot toward the man’s Mud Ball Palace.

TZZT!

The man felt a searing pain in his mind, as if it were being scorched by flames. In his panic, he hastily circulated his True Essence to resist, which only slightly eased the agony.

The man, once again stunned, cried out, "You whelp, what kind of technique was that?"

Chen Qingyang knew that while his sneak attack had injured his opponent, the man still had fight left in him. He glanced back at Liu Tao and said, "Senior Sister, get back!"

With that, he charged forward again, employing the Danxia Nurturing Truth Sword Technique.

Once mastered, this Sword Technique was righteous and open, its Qi Mechanism was self-sustaining, and its Sword Intent was dense and unending. Like massive waves crashing against a rock, each stronger than the last, it instantly submerged his opponent in a storm of Sword Qi.

The man’s Cultivation was already slightly inferior to Chen Qingyang’s, and now he was lightly injured. All he could do was parry; how could he possibly fight back?

Within moments, three more gashes appeared on the Soul Banner. Its profound yin energy was leaking out, damaging its very core.

"This is infuriating!"

The man bit his finger and fed the banner with his own Essence Blood. Instantly, the Soul Banner’s yin winds intensified, engulfing Chen Qingyang in a bloody light.

Chen Qingyang remained calm and unhurried, as if moving through an empty space. He used this rare chance for combat experience to simply execute his Sword Technique. Finally, the man could no longer hold on and revealed an opening.

At that moment, the tip of his sword flared with a rosy light and stabbed straight into the man’s chest. The man had no strength left to parry, and the Sword Qi instantly surged into him.

The female Demon Sect Disciple had long seen that her senior brother was falling into the Lower Rank and wanted to help, but she was tied up by Liu Tao and her Flying Sword. For the moment, the two of them appeared to be evenly matched.

"I admit I misjudged you. We’ll settle this another day!"

Clutching his chest, the man abandoned his junior sister and transformed into two streams of black qi, each fleeing in a different direction.

"A neat Blinding Technique!"

Chen Qingyang used his fish-like consciousness to distinguish the real from the fake, instantly locking onto the man’s true body. He struck again with a Danxia sword attack, its Sword Momentum incredibly fierce. The abundant True Essence in his Dantian seemed to surge out in an instant, all of it gathering upon the Qianxue Sword.

The man spun around and once again deployed his Magical Artifact to block. Unfortunately for him, Chen Qingyang’s strike was even more powerful. After knocking the artifact aside, the tip of his sword plunged straight into the man’s Dantian.

Instantly, the man lost all his strength and fell heavily to the ground.

"Please..."

He only managed to get out a single word before his head went rolling.

Chen Qingyang had come here to acquire Immortal Seedling, and the man had tried to kill him. He had no desire to exchange any more words.

Small golden characters materialized in his mind: Stole 3215 Immortal Seedling.

’Not bad. A breakthrough for the Danxia Nurturing Truth Sword Manual is just around the corner,’ he thought.

He then turned to the woman. Seeing all this, she was already pale with terror. She had lost all will to fight and only wanted to escape.

She made a feint at Liu Tao and darted away. But Chen Qingyang’s Conscious Fish was already patrolling the area; no matter what tricks she used, it could follow her closely.

He pursued her and, with two strikes of the Danxia Nurturing Truth Sword Technique, cut her down.

A cold light glinted on the Qianxue, which remained unstained by even a drop of the Demon Sect disciples’ blood.

"Don’t kill me... I’ll tell you anything... I’ll give you anything you want, including myself..."

Unfortunately for her, Chen Qingyang’s movements didn’t falter in the slightest. He thrust his sword into her chest, and under the immense power of his Sword Qi, her life was instantly extinguished.

The small golden characters floated in his vision again, displaying: Acquired 2419 Immortal Seedling.

’Her Cultivation is far worse than the man’s. She must have just broken through recently,’ he thought.

It all happened in the blink of an eye; killing two people had only taken a few moments.

By the time Liu Tao snapped back to her senses, two corpses lay on the ground. She was utterly horrified. "Junior Brother, when did you get so strong?"

Chen Qingyang could only explain, "It’s all thanks to the powerful Sword Technique Master passed down to us!"

How could Liu Tao believe him? "Ultimately, it’s your incredible comprehension. Someone like you could succeed at anything, whether it’s the Alchemy Dao or the Sword Dao. Even... even killing with such efficiency!"

After saying this, her gaze shifted to the corpses on the ground. "Actually, you shouldn’t have killed them both. You should have left one alive so we could find out their purpose."

Chen Qingyang had no interest in their purpose. Getting involved would only lead to more trouble. Right now, his only goal was to kill his targets.

"Senior Sister, if I’d left her alive, wouldn’t my true strength have been exposed? I don’t want to reveal my Cultivation level yet. Later, just say you were the one who killed these two."

He flicked his Qianxue Sword clean and returned it to its Sword Scabbard.

Liu Tao said, "...Alright, then."

Chen Qingyang searched the two bodies for a moment, finding quite a few Spirit Stones, two Tokens, and some other trinkets.

He then picked up the Magical Artifact the man had used. It was now only the size of his palm, resembling a piece of jade, though it had grown to about ten feet wide when deployed earlier.

However, his sword had lopped off a corner and drained its True Power, causing it to lose much of its brilliant luster.

’Looks like my sword strike damaged the core of this life-saving treasure. It’s unusable for now,’ he thought.

Liu Tao took it and examined it for a moment. "But its foundation is still good. If you spend some time on its Sacrificial Refinement, it could become a decent Protective Magical Artifact. You should keep it."

When it came to the Sacrificial Refinement of a Magical Artifact, Chen Qingyang was completely clueless. It seemed there were still many Skills to master to become a true Cultivator.

He accepted it and tucked it away. "If the Sacrificial Refinement doesn’t work out, it would still be good for Array Building. If it does work, then I’ll give it to you, Senior Sister, to use as a Magical Treasure."

Possessing the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl, Chen Qingyang’s standards were now much higher; he didn’t want to waste too much time on a mere Magical Artifact like this.

Hearing this, Liu Tao was undoubtedly moved once again. ’Sometimes,’ she thought, ’Cultivators aren’t as wealthy as one might think.’

Alchemy consumed a lot of Spirit Stones, and one also had to acquire Magical Artifacts, not to mention daily necessities. Liu Tao had only recently broken through to the Essence Condensation Realm. If it weren’t for Chen Qingyang, she wouldn’t have even been able to save up for her first Flying Sword.

"Oh, Junior Brother, you’re so good to me, I..." Just as she was building up to an emotional declaration, she saw a figure hurrying over from the distance.

Chen Qingyang had never seen this person before, but he lowered his guard when he heard Liu Tao call him "Senior Brother."

"I rushed over as soon as I received the message. Thank goodness you’re both okay!"

After speaking, he carefully examined the two corpses. "Junior Sister, did you kill both of them?"

Once a person dies, their qi dissipates, making it extremely difficult to discern their Cultivation level from their corpse. So, when Liu Tao nodded, he didn’t raise any questions. After all, Chen Qingyang, standing beside her, was only in the Qi Refining Realm.

The man glanced around again. "...I see. You must have deviated from your route and happened to run into them. Otherwise, following the designated path, you never would have crossed. This matter is not insignificant; I must go back and report to the Master!"

With that said, he glanced at the bodies one last time before incinerating them with a burst of flame.

"You took a wrong turn. If you go back from here, you’ll see the fourth altar. Follow the path to the fifth one, and you’ll find your way back. This matter can’t be delayed, so I’ll be on my way."

After giving his instructions, he performed a Technique on the Token in his hand. Chen Qingyang guessed he was likely notifying others nearby that they no longer needed to come.

This man’s Cultivation was very high, at least significantly higher than his and Liu Tao’s, which explained why he was so fast and had been the first to arrive.

After he left, Liu Tao said to Chen Qingyang, "Do you think there will be trouble from this later? Will it lead to an inquiry from Xuanwei Master?"

"It’s possible. As for what to say, you’d better prepare for that, Senior Sister. In any case, the bodies are gone, so what story gets told is up to you."

"Hmph!" Liu Tao said resentfully. "What do you think the Yu Xiao Demon Sect sent those two to infiltrate our territory for?"

Chen Qingyang said, "Here on Nine True Mountain, the Essence Condensation First Realm is basically the lowest level of Cultivation. Even Xuanwei Master knows to pick a safe route when sending you out on patrol. The Demon Sect’s Masters would certainly know this as well. Those two at the Essence Condensation First Realm could only have been sent to gather information or scout the paths."

Liu Tao thought about it and felt it made sense. "What kind of information would be worth all this trouble to gather? Could there really be a treasure here?"

Chen Qingyang replied, "Didn’t you already rule that out? I agree with what you said before; it’s impossible for there to be a treasure here. As for the specifics, let the Foundation Establishment Masters worry about it."

At that, Liu Tao nodded.

The two found their way back to the original path, passed by two more altars, and by the time evening fell, they had finally returned to the outskirts of Jiuzhen City.

Chen Qingyang said to Liu Tao, "Senior Sister, after something like this, you definitely need to go back and report to Xuanwei Master. I won’t go back just yet. I’m going to check out a teahouse in the city. There’s no curfew here, so I can even stay until dawn."

’Going to a teahouse is a lie; finding a place to break through is the truth. Although Nine True Temple has Spiritual Qi, there are Foundation Establishment Masters around. I’ll just have to use up some of the Spirit Stones I have on hand.’

"Well... won’t you be bored? Do you want me to come find you later?"

Chen Qingyang knew that if he said no, his senior sister would definitely get annoyed. "Sure. If you can’t find me at the teahouse, don’t worry. Just wait a little longer."

"Hmph!" Liu Tao, assuming he didn’t want her around, said, "Don’t you worry. As long as you’re in this city, I’ll be able to find you."

After seeing Liu Tao off, Chen Qingyang didn’t enter the city. Instead, he seized the opportunity to leap onto a nearby hillside.

Then, holding a Spirit Stone, he applied the Immortal Seedling to his Danxia Nurturing Truth Sword Manual. His body quickly began to change.

The Mingtang Acupoint was being forced open, forming a vortex of Golden Qi. Profound Qi from the Earth Root Acupoint rose through the Ren and Du Meridians to connect with it...

His Cultivation began a gradual breakthrough.

After consuming more than a dozen Spirit Stones from his hand, the Mingtang Acupoint finally stabilized. His Cultivation broke through to the Essence Condensation Second Realm.

Earth Root Refining Yin Fiend, Mingtang Cultivating True Fire. One was water, the other fire; one was yin, the other yang, each corresponding to the other.

To cultivate the Essence Condensation Realm is to cultivate the Nine Acupoints. With each of the Nine Acupoints that is opened, the amount of True Essence a Practitioner can accumulate in their body increases by a massive leap.

With the power of all Nine Acupoints, one could only imagine how much True Essence could be stored. Therefore, the difference in Cultivation between each successive realm of Essence Condensation was immense.

This was confirmed by the Immortal Seedling count; to bring the Mingtang Acupoint to Perfection would require 16,000 Immortal Seedling.

’This progression isn’t going to be easy!’

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