Liucheng was located on the edge of Pingyang Prefecture, making it the frontier city of all Jiangzhou, adjacent to the Lanjiang River—a great river within the territory of the Dayue Dynasty.
On the other side of the Lanjiang River lay Ming Prefecture.
The journey from Taixuan Mountain to Liucheng was not long, with a straight-line distance of just over a hundred miles, making it the largest city closest to Taixuan Mountain.
An ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator, piloting a Dharma treasure and flying at full speed, could arrive in half an hour.
Liu Qingyue had just broken through to the 1st Layer of Qi Condensation, and her inner true essence could not yet flow endlessly. Sword flight inherently consumed a tremendous amount of true essence, especially since she was also carrying Xia Changsheng, so her flying speed was naturally not fast.
By this time, the day was already bright, and the brilliant sunlight fell, blanketing the entire sky.
Mid-air, facing the gentle breeze, the flying sword headed toward Liucheng at a moderate pace.
Liu Qingyue’s face was flushed. The beloved person pressed against her back kept acting rather restlessly, yet she still bit back the fluttering in her heart, remaining silent and entirely focused on steering the flying sword.
"Yue'er, you really are a professional driver."
Xia Changsheng’s lips brushed against Liu Qingyue’s small, translucent earlobes, and after blowing a puff of air, he couldn't help but tease.
The two bodies were pressed very close together, practically embracing. At first, Xia Changsheng had found soaring through the sky rather novel and had behaved himself along the way, keeping his attention on the surrounding scenery. But as the novelty wore off, Xia Changsheng grew restless and began to grope about.
"You... stop it..."
Her sensitive spot assaulted, Liu Qingyue instantly blushed crimson, her shyness almost dripping, her breathing rapid. Her true essence circulation inevitably faltered for a moment. The flying sword swayed violently, and it was only by hastily steadying her mind that she avoided a crash-landing.
Seeing that an accident had almost occurred, Xia Changsheng was also startled, though fortunately, they leveled out again.
At this moment, their altitude was a full hundred zhang. Although falling wouldn't pose a fatal danger to them, one could never be too sure about accidents.
After all, the driver was a beginner, so Xia Changsheng behaved much better for the remainder of the trip, no longer daring to provoke her at will. He simply held her quietly, his attention returning to the surroundings.
Before long, the silhouette of a distant city came into view.
"So fast!"
Xia Changsheng couldn't help sighing with emotion. In past years, whenever he and Liu Qingyue came to purchase supplies, the journey alone would take several hours. Thinking of this, he couldn't help looking forward to when he might learn a flight spell himself.
About two miles away from Liucheng, the two found a secluded spot and descended from the sky.
In the Dayue Dynasty, the practice of martial arts and cultivation was prevalent, with one out of every ten people embarking on the path of cultivation. Yet the ten billion mortals were the very foundation of the entire dynasty; hence, the imperial court strictly decreed that cultivators were not allowed to engage in combat within the cities. Anyone approaching the city was strictly forbidden from flying; otherwise, they would be severely suppressed by the city guards, and anyone daring to resist would be executed on the spot.
Sectarian forces within the Dayue Dynasty were as numerous as stars, their numbers—whether in the open or hidden—unimaginable. Yet before the imperial court, they still had to obediently submit, and unless necessary, they would never lightly provoke the wrath of the court.
A few years ago, Xia Changsheng had witnessed with his own eyes a reckless cultivator who brazenly tried to enter the city riding a gourd-shaped Dharma artifact. Such an audacious act completely infuriated the city guards, and he was subsequently executed on the spot.
That battle had shocked many of the onlookers present at the time.
After the two landed, Liu Qingyue made a hand seal, and her flying sword slipped back into its scabbard. Then, chatting and laughing, they walked toward the city gate not far away.
Liucheng was close to the great river, boasting a thriving shipping industry, and served as an important commercial hub in Jiangzhou. At this moment, the road was already filled with pedestrians, and various merchant caravans came and went, making it very lively. Among them, there was no shortage of sect disciples walking in groups of two or three, gesturing along the way as they discussed martial arts and the Dao.
In short, this was a golden age of cultivation.
Xia Changsheng and Liu Qingyue, this handsome and beautiful pair, did not attract too much attention. People on the path of cultivation were generally pleasant-looking; unless someone possessed a countenance capable of turning the world upside down and captivating a nation, it wouldn't cause much of a stir.
Having visited many times, the two were familiar with the route, and the city gate was soon in sight.
"Everyone around the city gate, retreat immediately, or bear the consequences!"
Suddenly, an arrogant voice exploded, echoing in the vicinity of the city gate for a long time.
Xia Changsheng furrowed his brows slightly, a vague bad premonition rising within him. He hurriedly pulled Liu Qingyue to quickly retreat backward. Not placing oneself in danger was the fundamental rule for survival—caution above all else!
The others nearby, upon hearing this voice, all changed expression drastically and hurried away from the city gate. Although the scene was slightly chaotic, it was an orderly sort of chaos, and it did not cause widespread panic.
"What on earth happened? To have Commander An issue a personal warning?"
Retreating far away, many people whispered to one another in discussion. They had clearly recognized the identity of the person who had just spoken: An Qisheng, the commander of the Liucheng city guards, a great cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection who commanded thousands of troops in the city—truly a person above a million and second only to one.
The Foundation Establishment Stage.
A realm above Qi Condensation. In an ordinary sect, such a person was already at the level of an elder or even a sect master; even in Taixuan Mountain, they would qualify as inner sect disciples or ritual stewards.
Let alone Foundation Establishment Perfection.
For such a great cultivator to issue a personal warning meant the matter was clearly extraordinary.
"Look quickly, what is that?"
At that moment, the crowd noticed that the sky was beginning to darken gradually, and a vast expanse of dark clouds seemed to drift from afar. The speed looked very slow, yet in the blink of an eye, they had arrived close by.
"This is a demonic cultivator manipulating a Dharma artifact!"
Many practicing individuals saw this, and their expressions changed drastically.
The Dayue Dynasty advocated a hundred schools of thought contending. As long as one did not act to harm the interests of the dynasty, the court would not suppress or ban any lineage, and in the contention among various Daoist paths, it would never show favoritism. Therefore, although demonic cultivators were not well-liked in the Dayue Dynasty, they were still relatively common.
Normally, in major cities, righteous and demonic practitioners drinking wine at the same table was not an uncommon sight.
The Hehuan Sect, one of the six major factions of Pingyang Prefecture, was a demonic sect whose power was not inferior in the least to that of Taixuan Mountain.
Seeing the demonic cultivators approaching aggressively, for the sake of prudence, Xia Changsheng hurriedly pulled Liu Qingyue back a little further, stopping to quietly observe only when he felt it was safe enough.
At this moment, above the city gate, dark clouds were already pressing down.
An aura of grim slaughter permeated the air.
Through the thick layers of clouds, the crowd could faintly make out a blurry figure, shaped like a gourd yet as large as a mountain peak, looking from afar like a giant lying peak.
atop the city walls, hundreds of city guards stood holding spears, their auras interacting to form a formidable force that stood in sharp confrontation with the dark clouds above.
"Gourd Daoist, what is the meaning of this?"
The leading figure was an imposing silver-robed man, whose face looked somewhat young, yet whose aura was extremely sharp. He held a halberd, a cold glint flashing in his narrow eyes.
This person was none other than An Qisheng.
"How could Commander An not know the old man's purpose? Why pretend not to know!"
The dark clouds parted slightly at one corner, revealing a figure entirely shrouded in black robes. The voice produced sounded like a steel knife scraping bone, hoarse and ear-piercing.
"You want to avenge your disciple?" An Qisheng thought for a moment, then realization dawned on him.
"Three years ago, when the old man was in secluded meditation, my disciple went out to train, but hasn't returned to the sect for a long time..."
The Gourd Daoist’s voice gradually grew stiffer, and the surrounding pressure instantly increased significantly.
"Only upon coming out of seclusion this time did I learn that he had offended Commander An. Although my disciple was a bit unruly by nature, he wasn't ignorant of propriety. For Commander An to slaughter him without a word is truly too unreasonable."
"When this commander acts, why should I need your judgment? If you know what's good for you, retreat quickly; otherwise, not even the Hehuan Sect can protect you."
An Qisheng gave a cold snort, pointing his halberd forward, his momentum not weakening in the slightest.
"Naturally, this old man wouldn't dare make an enemy of the imperial court. Coming here this time is purely a matter of personal grievance, unrelated to the sect. The matter has already been reported to the prefectural city by the sect."
The Gourd Daoist changed the subject and continued, "I have long heard that Commander An is one of the four major geniuses of Pingyang Prefecture, and your grade-6 spiritual root is rare in a century. Young as you are, you are already at Foundation Establishment Perfection, with prospects of attaining the Nascent Soul Dao in the future and enjoying a thousand years of lifespan. It truly makes this old man envious."
"If you want to fight, then fight. Why put up a hypocritical facade?"
An Qisheng sneered, utterly unfazed. Even though the Gourd Daoist before him was much older, on the path of cultivation seniority was not determined by age, and those who mastered it first were considered superiors. He possessed his own arrogance; just as the Gourd Daoist had said, his grade-6 spiritual root was his greatest source of confidence, and barring accidents, he had prospects of attaining the Nascent Soul Dao in the future!
As far as he knew, this Gourd Daoist had made a name for himself a century ago, and back then was considered a core disciple of the Hehuan Sect with decent aptitude. However, later on, due to acting too arrogantly, he offended a major figure within the sect and had his spiritual root crippled. Although his cultivation was preserved, he could hardly make any further progress.
He was at the same Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivation level as himself, yet his age was more than triple his own. Now over two hundred years old, his vital blood was beginning to wither, and he was approaching the final stage of his life.
An old thing with one foot in the grave—no wonder he rushed here alone to seek revenge!
The young and vigorous An Qisheng did not believe the Gourd Daoist of the same realm would be his match, and completely looked down upon the opponent. The man relied most heavily on his Gourd Dharma treasure, but he himself also held the home-court advantage.
"I can only blame my poor disciple for his inferior skills. Let me, his master, come and experience Commander An's abilities."
The Gourd Daoist gave a dark, cold laugh. The moment his voice fell, the dark clouds in the sky surged violently, accompanied by howling chilling winds. The already heavy clouds grew even more gloomy and eerie, resembling a ghost domain.
Enlarge!
Enlarge!
Enlarge!
Accompanied by the Gourd Daoist’s piercing voice, the gourd hidden within the dark clouds in the sky began to grow larger and larger.
In an instant, the enormous gourd had enveloped an area of one mile around the city gate, and a powerful suction locked down this region. The mouth of the gourd was like an abyss, constantly emitting waves of formidable suction, as if intent on drawing everything within the covered range below into it.
Fortunately, the onlookers had retreated far enough away, so they were not sucked into it.
"Form the formation!"
An Qisheng’s expression was solemn, yet he was not flustered. His halberd pointed diagonally, the tip flashing with a cold glint, harmonizing with the auras of the soldiers behind him to deploy a defensive formation.
"Mayfly shaking a tree!"
The Gourd Daoist sneered, aiming the mouth of the gourd at An Qisheng and the others who had formed the array.
As the words fell, the suction instantly doubled, pulling downward with redoubled force.
Most of the city guard soldiers only possessed Blood Moving Realm and Xiantian Realm cultivation. Facing the exponentially increasing pressure, they felt their bodies grow light, their footing unstable, and the spears in their hands almost slipped from their grips and flew away. Even a few squad leaders whose cultivation had reached the Qi Condensation stage found it somewhat difficult to resist, and the formation was on the verge of collapsing instantly.
"Audacious!"
An Qisheng flew into a rage. He had evidently been a bit overconfident, misjudging the power of the enemy's Dharma treasure.
Although these hundreds of city guards belonged to the City Lord of Liucheng, they were more like his personal guards; how could An Qisheng allow his subordinates to suffer heavy injuries?
Boom!
A fierce aura erupted from An Qisheng, fire spilling from his halberd and condensing into a streak of blazing fire that shot straight into the clouds, instantly dissipating the surrounding pressure.
Viewed from afar, he looked like a descent of the God of Fire, imposing and majestic.
"Old man, let me come and meet you!"
An Qisheng soared into the sky, his spear pointing the way, his momentum growing increasingly fierce.
In the blink of an eye, he reached the mouth of the gourd. Only upon getting closer did he realize how great the pressure was. Had he not possessed the abundant true essence of Foundation Establishment Perfection to support him, he feared that at such close range, his physical body would have been sucked right in.
Without further nonsense, the tip of his spear thrust straight ahead, his target clear: to puncture the gourd in one fell stroke.
Once the gourd was broken, the enemy would essentially lose an arm and pose no further threat.
However, this strike, which seemed destined to succeed, came to an abrupt halt.
A rough, oversized hand reached out from the black mist, ignoring the razor-sharp force that could strip flesh and bones from a person, and easily caught the blow.
"You..."
An Qisheng’s face showed astonishment, followed by a drastic change in expression. He wanted to withdraw and retreat, but it was too late; his body felt as though it had been pinned in place, unable to move at all. The surrounding darkness faded slightly, and with his eyesight, he could clearly see the person who had struck.
"If Commander An had cowered inside the formation, this old man wouldn't have been able to do anything to you for a while. Now that you've come out yourself, you don't get to choose anymore."
At some unknown point, the Gourd Daoist’s figure had completely emerged from the black robes. Contrary to An Qisheng’s expectations, what appeared before him was not an aged face, but rather the prime appearance of middle age. The body that should have had withered vital blood was instead bursting with vitality at this moment.
The Gourd Daoist’s forehead bulged prominently, his eyes revealing a fierce and murderous glint. With every breath, two streams of scorching black Qi puffed from his nostrils, transforming into two black serpents that wrapped tightly around An Qisheng’s entire body. At the same time, his mouth split open into an abyss-like maw, as if he intended to swallow An Qisheng alive.
All of this happened in the flash of a spark.
The onlookers watching the show from afar had not yet fully recovered their senses when they discovered that the situation on the field had drastically changed.
"Oh no, the Gourd Daoist has actually broken through to the Golden Core Stage."
"How can that be? Wasn't there a rumor that his spiritual root was crippled and he would find it hard to ever advance further in his lifetime?"
"Commander An is in trouble now."
Hidden among the onlookers were several Foundation Establishment cultivators, including both rogue cultivators and sect members. Although their cultivation was far inferior to An Qisheng's, they still saw at a glance that the Gourd Daoist had already stepped into the Golden Core Stage.
The Golden Core Stage.
He could be called a Real Person.
That was entirely another tier, far beyond what Foundation Establishment could compare to, boasting a lifespan of five hundred years.
A Golden Core formed within the dantian, its true essence flowing endlessly.
With the Golden Core undestroyed, the physical body would not decay.
As long as the physical body was not completely pulverized, even the heaviest injuries could slowly recover relying on the Golden Core.
"Damn it!"
An Qisheng’s face was ferocious as he channeled all his strength to break free, but it was entirely useless. Falling into a trap here made him extremely unwilling; had he been cautious, he would never have easily fallen for the Gourd Daoist's scheme. Teaming up with his subordinates to form the array to resist would not have allowed him to defeat a Golden Core Real Person, but it would have been enough to protect himself and avoid falling into such a perilous situation.
The disparity in strength soon manifested.
"Resign yourself to your fate obediently. Today, even if Yu Luosha were here, she couldn't save you."
The Gourd Daoist swallowed An Qisheng in one gulp, his voice seeming to come from his belly as he cackled hideously, "Not to mention she isn't even in the city right now."
"I can only fight for my life."
Hearing this, An Qisheng, who was struggling desperately against the pervasive refining force pressing in on him from all directions, understood that the Gourd Daoist had clearly come fully prepared, even finding out that the City Lord was not present.
An Qisheng had not achieved his current cultivation without ruthlessness, and he naturally possessed a few hidden trump cards; he had not wanted to use them unless facing mortal danger.
Yet now, there was no other way; otherwise, being completely refined would only turn him into nourishment for the other's cultivation!
"Release him, and I'll spare your life."
At that moment, a woman's cold voice arrived. The voice came from afar, seeming to originate from a very distant place.
An Qisheng’s expression instantly lit up with joy, while the Gourd Daoist’s face turned grave. The mountain-sized gourd beneath his feet abruptly shifted direction, facing the source of the voice. At the same time, his mouth chewed, attempting to accelerate the refining of An Qisheng.
"Courting death."
The cold voice sounded once more, the chill it contained causing the air to freeze for a split second.
Over a dozen miles away, rays of colorful light filled the sky.
A jade flute radiating brilliant colorful light pierced through the void, instantly colliding with the obstructing Gourd Daoist's Dharma treasure gourd that had lunged forward to intercept it. Yet upon the very first contact, the massive gourd shattered amidst cracking sounds, completely losing its spiritual connection. Meanwhile, the jade flute maintained its momentum, heading straight for the Gourd Daoist.
"Yu Luosha!"
The Gourd Daoist’s face flushed crimson, and he couldn't help letting out an angry roar. This was his natal Dharma treasure, which he had refined for nearly two hundred years and which had accompanied him ever since he stepped into the Qi Condensation stage; they prospered together and perished together.
Overwhelmed by anger, it unexpectedly afforded An Qisheng a rare opportunity. He mobilized all his strength and lashed out with his halberd, shockingly hacking open a gap, and immediately attempted to escape.
"Want to flee? Then die first!"
The Gourd Daoist’s eyes were blood-red, as if losing his mind somewhat, a cruel and frantic look washing over his face.
"Not good, he's going to detonate his Golden Core."
Just as An Qisheng was about to break free, he felt the Gourd Daoist's entire body transform into a volcano, a destructive energy sweeping out from his dantian, causing his expression to change drastically.
The self-detonation of a Golden Core Real Person possessed power enough to reduce everything within several miles to dust.
And standing right at the epicenter, he naturally bore the brunt of it.
Without caring about anything else now, he could only pull out his trump card to protect himself.
Boom!
The violent energy scattered in all directions. Just as the surrounding crowd felt as though doom was upon them, the distant jade flute finally arrived, piercing through the self-detonating Gourd Daoist at the very last moment of crisis.