Chapter 256: Fourth Rank Intermediate
Chapter 256: Fourth Rank Intermediate
Little Yuan Mountain, Spirit Vein Mine.
Mu Wan Dao offered his cave mansion to Mu Wan Long for recuperation.
At this moment, Mu Wan Long was silently cultivating his techniques, his face flushed with an unnatural redness.
After a long while, his expression changed, and he spat out a mouthful of essence blood.
Within the essence blood, there seemed to be a white, needle-like object.
"Death Decree Needle... Death-Taking Scholar..."
Mu Wan Long's expression turned fierce. "I originally thought this person was just an ordinary loose cultivator, but I didn't expect him to have some real skills... One day..."
As the head of a Core Formation family, the manpower and resources he could mobilize were far beyond what a loose cultivator could imagine.
Although now was not the right time, after suffering such a huge loss, he would definitely seek revenge in the future!
At this moment, Mu Wan Long's expression changed, and beneath his meditation cushion, four pitch-black hands suddenly appeared, grabbing towards him with a loud rumble.
Clang!
Inside Mu Wan Long's body, his Soulbound Artifact roared, automatically protecting its master, and a fiery Bodyguard Aura spread out.
This aura, carrying flames, burned onto the pitch-black hands, yet it didn't seem to cause much damage.
Then, a pitch-black figure with four arms appeared, wearing a mask with the character 'Earth' carved on it.
"Third Rank Intermediate Physical Cultivator?"
"No, it's a Corpse Refiner!"
Mu Wan Long let out a long howl, wanting to alert the Mu family disciples outside.
But his voice couldn't penetrate the cave mansion at all.
It was as if this place had already been sealed by an array!
A white-haired scholar appeared, giving him a slight smile, and a mighty surge of magical energy rushed towards him.
"Death-Taking Scholar... You're actually a Primordial Spirit? No, you're a Wind Ascendant!"
Mu Wan Long's eyes widened in fury, but he could only transmit a sound. His Qi Sea in Dantian was pierced by the Great Freedom Golden Essence Sword Qi, and his entire body collapsed to the ground.
Fang Xing pinched a hand seal, and the Nine Infant Pearl flew out, manifesting the Nine Infant Illusion.
One dragon-like and snake-like head slightly drooped, devouring large amounts of Mu Wan Long's essence blood.
Then, he began to use the Soul Searching in Dreams technique, searching Mu Wan Long's soul.
Not only that, but after searching his soul, Fang Xing casually pointed a finger, and a sword light fell, instantly piercing Mu Wan Long's Sea of Consciousness, causing the old man to let out a painful scream unlike that of a human.
"Splitting the divine soul by force is already extremely painful... If not for my powerful Primordial Spirit's consciousness performing the surgery, you might have directly collapsed your divine soul..."
"Of course, it's not much better now..."
"After searching the soul, I obtained the Tempering Mantra for the Phoenix Tail Zither, not bad..."
Looking at a crimson light orb emerging from Mu Wan Long and being devoured by the Nine Infant Illusion, Fang Xing nodded.
Having lost such a large piece of his divine soul and a significant amount of essence blood, even if Mu Wan Long survived, he would only be a vegetative state, barely clinging to life.
"Take this person away. Your biggest task now is to guard him!"
Fang Xing gave the order to the Five Mixture Demon.
The Earth Demon immediately grabbed Mu Wan Long and used the Underground Technique, disappearing without a trace.
Fang Xing stretched lazily, refining the Nine Infant Pearl into his body, and in an instant, he transformed into Mu Wan Long's appearance.
"The skin is a bit old, forget it..."
Fang Xing touched his face, then pinched a hand seal and used the Concealment Technique, reducing his magical energy fluctuations to the early Core Formation stage.
Then, he removed the array he had originally set up and let out a long howl.
"Family Head!"
Not long after, Mu Wan Dao rushed in, seeing Fang Xing with 'Severely Damaged Vitality' and was startled. "Your cultivation..."
"Damn that Death-Taking Scholar, I underestimated him... Although I forced out the Death Decree Needle, it also severely damaged my vitality, and my cultivation dropped..."
Fang Xing imitated Mu Wan Long's tone, his face filled with disappointment and despair.
"Ah... What should we do now?"
Mu Wan Dao was shocked.
"First, block the news... I've repelled this wave of probing, so the Little Yuan Mountain mine shouldn't have any major issues. I'll return to our clan land to recover..."
Fang Xing waved his hand, looking dejected. "Also... Remember to keep the news confidential."
"Yes!"
Mu Wan Dao was almost in tears as he watched Fang Xing leave.
...
Hundred Flowers Mountain.
"Ten Thousand Flowers Thousand Illusions Grand Array?"
Fang Xing looked at the dancing petals in the sky, took out a token from Mu Wan Long's storage bag, and lightly waved it towards the array.
Countless petals immediately parted, revealing a passage.
He strode into Hundred Flowers Mountain and arrived at the Mu family's ancestral hall.
He glanced around and saw three Core Formation Cultivators and seven False Core Pill Cultivators.
Basically, all the Mu family members, except for the high-ranking cultivators in seclusion, were here.
'This Mu family ancestral hall should also have the function of detecting bloodlines...'
'If the Nine Infant Pearl can't be hidden, then I'll have to kill all these cultivators...'
Fang Xing felt very relaxed as he entered the hall.
"Brother Wan Long!"
Mu Wan Lu came forward with concern. "Are you alright?"
"Cough... I was ambushed by the Death-Taking Scholar. That Death Decree Needle is truly powerful. I forced it out, but my vitality was severely damaged..."
Fang Xing waved his hand.
"No wonder... Family Head, your soul lantern first dimmed, and then dimmed again..." Mu Wan Qing's face was filled with lingering fear.
In fact, he suspected that Mu Wan Long was almost at the end of his life.
"My vitality is severely damaged, and I need to immediately enter seclusion to refine a Healing Spirit Pill..."
Fang Xing's face turned solemn. "From today onwards, Mu Wan Lu will temporarily take over as the family head..."
"Brother Wan Long, I'm not capable enough..." Mu Wan Lu repeatedly waved his hands.
(End of Chapter)"Sigh... Now that I'm old, if I don't go into seclusion, I might not even be able to maintain my True Core... You don't need to worry so much."
Fang Xing spoke solemnly, as in the Mu family, only these few Core Formation Cultivators could make decisions.
Mu Wan Lu had the highest cultivation, decent wisdom, and was from the Mu Wan Long branch, so naturally, he had to be supported.
Although this person seemed somewhat unreliable, it had nothing to do with Fang Xing.
"That's it."
Without giving the Mu family a chance to object, he headed towards the Fourth Rank Cave Mansion with the most abundant spiritual energy.
In the ancestral hall, silence suddenly descended.
After a moment, Mu Wan Qing smiled, "Brother Wan Lu is truly formidable... This time, the family head is taking the brunt for you."
Even Mu Wan Long, who was at the peak of the Core Formation stage, had ended up like this, and his True Core was about to disperse. No wonder the Soul Lantern was so dim, almost like a flickering candle in the wind.
If Mu Wan Lu went, the outcome would definitely be worse.
"Sigh... I'm also taking command in a crisis."
Mu Wan Lu said, "The urgent task is to give up some peripheral benefits and consolidate the core interests... Besides that, we should seek aid from those several allied families..."
"Hmph, they're called allied families, but only the Wang family is slightly more trustworthy. The others not taking advantage of the situation to kick us while we're down would be good enough..."
The Core Formation Elder, who had been silent, spoke up.
"Indeed, I think we can first..."
Mu Wan Qing also spoke, causing Mu Wan Lu's eyebrows to furrow slightly, knowing that he was ultimately not Mu Wan Long, who had the prestige of hundreds of years.
At this moment, to manage the family, he could only compromise and discuss matters.
...
Hundred Flowers Peak.
In a valley.
Unlike the vibrant colors elsewhere, this place was completely barren, even with scorching heat waves.
Fang Xing flew into the valley and waved his hand to open a cave mansion.
Inside the cave mansion, dense spiritual energy filled the air, which he absorbed into his body, "Fourth Rank Spirit Vein... This is really good. I couldn't even get this in the Heaven Sword Sect..."
After all, his status in the Heaven Sword Sect was just a Foundation Establishment direct disciple, so having a Third Rank Spirit Vein was already good enough.
"This Mu Wan Long knows how to enjoy himself."
After strolling around the cave mansion, especially when he saw the Spirit Pool Hot Spring, Fang Xing was very satisfied.
The liquid in this spirit pool was filled with dense spiritual energy, and long-term immersion was beneficial for cultivators' bodies.
Of course, besides enjoying himself, the various cultivation rooms, beast pens, and spirit herb gardens were all well-equipped.
What made Fang Xing even more pleased was that Mu Wan Long was a Third Rank Alchemist, and this cave mansion had an underground fire vein connected to the alchemy room!
Inside the alchemy room, there was also an Artifact-level alchemy cauldron, which, although not as good as the 'Ten Thousand Transformations Cauldron', was still very impressive.
"Hmm, after getting a little familiar with it, I can start refining the Spirit Mushroom Pill."
Fang Xing surveyed the environment and expressed his satisfaction, preparing to cultivate in seclusion for a while.
He didn't even need to reach the Nascent Soul stage to come out of seclusion.
He wasn't like Mu Wan Long, who was solely focused on the prosperity of the family.
As long as Hundred Flowers Mountain wasn't lost, and no one disturbed him in the cave mansion, he simply couldn't be bothered to care about the disputes among the outside cultivators.
They could just announce that Mu Wan Long was severely injured and needed seclusion to recover!
'Later, I'll find an opportunity to have the Five Mixture Demons send the real Mu Wan Long to the cave mansion and imprison him with an array, then it'll be foolproof...'
Fang Xing sighed in satisfaction and went to soak in the spirit pool hot spring.
If the Mu family head wasn't a cultivator who valued asceticism, he would have called for a few beautiful maids to come and massage him, easing his muscles and bones...
After soaking in the hot spring, Fang Xing wore a loose purple robe and sat in the cultivation room.
The meditation cushion in this room was a pale purple color, woven from Third Rank Spirit Herbs, and had been blessed with a Dharma incantation by a master from the Prajna Sect, making it a Near Third Rank Artifact. Sitting on it for cultivation had a calming and spirit-focusing effect and even helped in dispelling inner demons to some extent.
Even for Core Formation Cultivators, this was somewhat luxurious.
But the Mu family was, after all, the first family of the Righteous Path and had once been a Nascent Soul Immortal Clan, so they naturally had the confidence.
"Not only that, the Mu family also has a dedicated Spirit Cuisine Hall and Spirit Testing Platform... Not only is the probability of their descendants having Spirit Roots higher, but the testing is also more accurate than the Spirit Testing Talisman... These are all the foundations of cultivation."
"We small families indeed can't learn from them..."
Fang Xing shook his head, and an ancient zither appeared in his hand.
This zither was entirely crimson, with a charred tail and seven strings—it was the Spirit Treasure 'Phoenix Zither'!
This spirit treasure had previously resisted Fang Xing's refinement, but now, when Mu Wan Long touched it, he didn't feel any resistance at all.
'Did the bloodline test pass?'
'Damn, this spirit treasure's spiritual consciousness is indeed a bit simple-minded...'
'Forget it, being a bit simple-minded is good. It just means that when using the spirit treasure in the future, I have to look like Mu Wan Long...'
Fang Xing's eyes moved, and he formed hand seals, infusing complex and profound runes into the Phoenix Zither.
This was the refinement mantra he had obtained from soul-searching Mu Wan Long, and the Mu family bloodline, along with the refinement mantra, was the key to unlocking the Phoenix Zither.
Fang Xing could clearly feel that the resistance from the Phoenix Zither had disappeared, making him feel more relaxed.
(End)
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