Chapter 198: News of the Ancient Cultivation Method!
“Fellow Daoist, I didn’t expect us to be so fated.”
While traveling by sword-flight, a streak of light shot over from afar, carrying a familiar voice.
Looking closely, it turned out to be the tall, alluring female cultivator he had met on the island before. At this moment, she was riding a cyan flying vessel at great speed.
Moreover, a pale-faced scholarly cultivator stood on the vessel, glaring at the female cultivator.
It seemed the two were Daoist partners, and seeing his partner converse with another man clearly displeased him.
“I didn’t expect it to be Fellow Daoist.”
Suddenly encountering someone he had met before, Lin Chang’an’s expression grew solemn. He feigned alertness on the surface, but inwardly nodded in understanding.
As expected, the surrounding sea only contained these three.
Three at mid Foundation Establishment—nothing problematic.
“Fellow Daoist Lin, this woman was seen on the island before. There can’t be so many coincidences. You and I must be careful.”
Daoist Guan secretly transmitted a wary message, deliberately using the opportunity to draw closer and propose cooperation with Lin Chang’an.
Lin Chang’an also nodded, marveling inwardly at the seamless coordination of these three. Truly, their act was layer upon layer—anyone would be fooled.
“Fairy, I still have urgent matters. I’ll take my leave now.”
Lin Chang’an smiled lightly as he spoke. Yet the alluring female cultivator revealed a dangerous smile instead.
“Fellow Daoist Lin, it seems you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. In that case, I’ll have to take you back.”
The suddenly venomous voice echoed, and Daoist Guan’s expression changed drastically. He exclaimed, “Fellow Daoist Lin, beware, these two are robber cultivators!”
In an instant, Lin Chang’an produced two Second-rank High-grade Thunderclap Talismans.
Two thunder spears shot forth at once. The two robber cultivators opposite did not panic at all but directly sacrificed a defensive magical artifact.
“This old Daoist is injured—kill him first!”
“Fellow Daoist Lin, let’s join forces and break through!”
At this moment, a cold gleam suddenly shot from behind. On Daoist Guan’s anxious face, a fierce, cruel light flashed.
A flying needle shot straight toward Lin Chang’an’s back.
At the same time, the alluring female cultivator and the pale-faced scholar both wore smiles of conspiratorial triumph.
They had cooperated like this to deceive cultivators from the Seven Kingdoms Alliance eight times already. It was far too easy.
Today would be the ninth.
However, the deep tolling of a great bronze bell suddenly resonated, blocking Daoist Guan’s flying needle.
“Impossible!” Daoist Guan’s face changed drastically, filled with terror. At such close range, the opponent should not have been able to defend, unless he had been wary from the start.
“A top-grade magical artifact! And he’s at late Foundation Establishment!”
The alluring female cultivator’s beauty instantly turned pale. The moment she realized her opponent was late Foundation Establishment, she did not hesitate at all, immediately attempting to flee on her flying vessel.
But a streak of golden light, faster than her speed, struck from behind.
“Courting death!”
A chilling voice reverberated. Lin Chang’an’s gaze was now icy, devoid of the earlier amiability.
A blood-colored sword ray, a full zhang in length, shot forth in an instant.
It appeared right before Daoist Guan, whose face twisted in horror.
The terrifying sword ray directly pierced through his mana shield.
“Fellow Daoist Lin, spare me! I was forced into this…”
【Blood Spirit Thorn】
Taking advantage of the shattered shield, as Daoist Guan desperately used a defensive magical artifact, a streak of blood light flashed. His pupils dilated.
A crimson dot blossomed on his forehead, pierced through by the same flying needle artifact.
“Pfft!”
Meanwhile, the alluring female cultivator did not even manage a scream before a golden flash split her head open like a watermelon.
“No! That’s a Jade Crystal Bee! Incomparably poisonous! Fellow Daoist, spare me, let’s flee—”
All this happened in the blink of an eye.
The pale-faced scholar cultivator panicked and tried to flee, but Lin Chang’an’s sword ray was already flashing toward him, forcing him to defend.
Yet at the instant the female cultivator died, her Spirit Beast Pouch at her waist released a terrifying swarm of countless bees.
“Now you want to run? Too late!”
This time Lin Chang’an’s formidable strength was fully unleashed. His cold expression did not change as his mana shield flickered with sword rays, blocking the man’s escape.
Both sides were engulfed by the swarm.
The surrounding mana shields crackled with the sound of splitting. Lin Chang’an’s eyes narrowed in alarm.
“These insects are actually this terrifying.”
Meanwhile, the scholar, with only mid Foundation Establishment cultivation, was completely unable to withstand it. His shield was torn apart, and though he tried to defend with his magical artifact, Lin Chang’an’s sword ray broke through it.
The swarm engulfed him.
Miserable screams echoed in the sky, chilling to the bone.
“A bug cultivator!”
Lin Chang’an’s expression darkened as he watched. Even his late Foundation Establishment mana shield bore cracks from the bites. But his strong regenerative power healed them.
The cracks gnawed open by the Jade Crystal Bees sealed almost instantly.
Clearly, his recovery speed surpassed the gnawing speed.
However—
“If you don’t eat soon, I’ll leave you behind.”
Lin Chang’an barked coldly. At once, a phoenix’s cry rang out as the Wind-Chirp Bird seized the three cultivators’ Storage Pouches in its claws.
Obviously, the lure of spirit insects was not as great as what lay inside those pouches.
Yet at Lin Chang’an’s command, the Wind-Chirp Bird turned into golden lightning and indulged in a feast.
The Wind-Chirp Bird specialized in restraining resentful souls and poisonous insects. This time, Lin Chang’an personally witnessed it.
Every time it intercepted the bee queen perfectly, it followed with wide gulps of the surrounding swarm.
Like eating beans, crisp crackling sounds filled the air without end.
Lin Chang’an secretly nodded as he watched.
“As expected, all things counteract each other. If it were the Green-Horned Ox instead, even late Foundation Establishment would have been useless.”
While the Wind-Chirp Bird devoured the swarm, Lin Chang’an examined the spoils of battle.
The flying vessel was exquisite beyond compare, and Lin Chang’an could not help but smile.
“I’d long wanted a flying magical artifact, but lacked the spare Spirit Stones. Who would’ve thought someone would deliver one today—and a top-grade flying artifact at that.”
He also had the three corpses. Seeing Daoist Guan’s unseeing eyes, Lin Chang’an shook his head.
“Who would have thought that warmhearted Daoist Guan would one day become a robber cultivator.”
He then stripped the three of their robes, artifacts, and valuables.
But as he glanced at the headless alluring female cultivator’s corpse, sudden changes made his expression shift darkly.
“Go, now!”
At Lin Chang’an’s command, though the Wind-Chirp Bird had eaten most of the swarm, it grew anxious. It snapped up the bee queen in one bite.
The rest of the swarm scattered and fled, while the bee queen became the Wind-Chirp Bird’s meal.
But Lin Chang’an did not hesitate. He immediately escaped with the Wind-Chirp Bird.
What made his expression change so drastically was the corpse of the alluring female cultivator beginning to transform.
He knew that sight all too well—it was exactly what had happened when Huang Shaohai died.
Man and bird fled at full speed, flying for an entire day before hiding on a desolate, spiritual-energy-poor island.
…
Within a mountain cave on the island, formation barriers were laid.
The Green-Horned Ox and Wind-Chirp Bird stood guard outside, while inside, Lin Chang’an extended his palm with a grave expression.
The tendrils of his Life-bound Spirit Plant touched the three cultivators’ bodies, probing their memories.
Daoist Guan—born a descendant of drifting cultivators in Yue Kingdom, his childhood memories flickered vaguely, until later when he became a Foundation Establishment cultivator and his parents died smiling with relief.
In the end, Daoist Guan cultivated arduously all his life, but limited by his spiritual root and cultivation method foundation. Unwilling to accept this fate, he once counter-killed a robber cultivator in Yue Kingdom. From then on, greed blossomed in his heart and could no longer be restrained.
“Greed within human nature—once left unchecked, will be ruled by desire.”
From Daoist Guan’s fragmented memories, Lin Chang’an more or less understood his life and could not help but shake his head.
Next came the pale-faced scholar. Born in the Sea Abyss of Beasts, his family was destroyed in a beast tide. He later wandered the world… and finally became a robber cultivator…
Lastly, the alluring female cultivator had already turned into a flower in full bloom, though deathly aura lingered behind it.
As the memory search continued, Lin Chang’an’s expression grew strange, before he finally shook his head lightly.
Who in the cultivation world was truly innocent? To reach the end, everyone’s hands were already stained with blood.
This female cultivator’s background was indeed pitiful. Her path was filled with hardships, then she was betrayed by her sisters and joined the Long Clan of Five Dragon Island.
Yet what followed made Lin Chang’an’s expression darken.
“Five Dragon Island, Wang Clan, Ancient Cultivation Method!”
When the Wang Clan’s information from Qingzhu Mountain Marketplace in Yue Kingdom surfaced, Lin Chang’an was utterly shocked. This female cultivator turned out to have been planted in the Wang Clan by the Long Clan of Five Dragon Island.
Moreover, during the upheaval on Yuling Island last time, both the Wang Clan and this female cultivator were involved.
“The Wang Clan was actually working for the Long Clan of Five Dragon Island, acting as robber cultivators to eliminate rivals. And this female cultivator was inserted into the Wang Clan, becoming Daoist partner to one of their Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Then she cultivated the Wang Clan’s secret method…”
But what truly unsettled Lin Chang’an was that this secret method contained three sections.
“The Wang Clan obtained the Art of Spell Refinement and the Art of Body Refinement. One was in Wang Lin’s hands, which later fell into mine. The Body Refinement section should still be in the Wang Clan’s possession…”
At that moment Lin Chang’an froze, stunned. No wonder this ancient cultivation method seemed so weak.
He had only been cultivating one section.
Since there were three sections, didn’t that mean the last one was the Art of Spirit Refinement?
“According to the Wang Clan, the Spirit Refinement section was seized by the Palace of Blazing Fire.”
After obtaining this information, Lin Chang’an’s face turned grim as his eyes flickered, weighing gains and losses.
The ancient cultivation method was of immense importance. Yet from the female cultivator’s memories, it was unclear if she truly knew everything.
“Perhaps the Wang Clan themselves never discovered the true secret of this ancient cultivation method. In truth, the greatest fortune lies in the material of the method itself.”
Lin Chang’an sank into thought.
The Spell Refinement section this female cultivator obtained only allowed cultivation up to late Foundation Establishment. It seemed the Wang Clan had always been wary of her.
But another—the Body Refinement section—was cultivated by this female cultivator’s Daoist partner.
“According to her memories, she had returned to Five Dragon Island to report to the Long Clan, while also receiving intelligence to relay back to the Wang Clan, in preparation for their next robbery target…”
Lin Chang’an hesitated.
The temptation of the ancient cultivation method—should he take the risk to investigate?
“After suffering losses, the Wang Clan became like wary rabbits with three burrows, elusive and scattered. According to her memories, the Wang Clan bloodline currently had eight Foundation Establishment cultivators. The rest were all arranged by the Long Clan…
As for her Daoist partner’s location, it seemed only a few Foundation Establishment cultivators were stationed there. Three had already been eliminated. That Daoist partner was only at early Foundation Establishment in body refinement. The rest were mostly late Qi Refining robber cultivators…”
Lin Chang’an’s heart stirred. Facing the whole Wang Clan, he dared not take the risk.
But against only this female cultivator’s Daoist partner, his chances were high.
“An early Foundation Establishment body refiner, even with subordinates, but I still have the Green-Horned Ox and Wind-Chirp Bird—two Second-rank spirit beasts. The key to this battle lies in taking him down to seize the cultivation method.”
Of course, if the opportunity arose, Lin Chang’an naturally wouldn’t mind retrieving the original Body Refinement section.
After all, the most precious treasure was still the withered leaf of the Mysterious Sky Immortal Vine. After nurturing it for years, only half had revived. To restore the whole leaf would likely take until the Core Formation stage.
If he could obtain another withered leaf, how much spirit liquid and time would that save?
“Perhaps there really is a chance.”
Even if not, he was confident in his ability to escape.
Lin Chang’an seemed to recall something, his expression growing heavy.
He then raised his hand, summoning the Bloodthirsty Poison Vine, which greedily devoured the female cultivator’s Life-bound Spirit Plant.
A poisonous flower.
After consumption, under his control, the Bloodthirsty Poison Vine exuded an aura identical to that of the flower.
“Now it’s my turn.”
As the Bloodthirsty Poison Vine wrapped around his body, an eerie aura spread, transforming him into the alluring tall female cultivator.
Not only her appearance, but even her mana fluctuations were exactly the same.
“As long as I don’t display strength beyond mid Foundation Establishment, this disguise won’t be seen through—unless by a Core Formation cultivator, or one with a special eye technique.”
The delicate, feminine voice echoed, sending a chill down Lin Chang’an’s spine. But at the thought of the ancient cultivation method, he inhaled deeply.
“No problem. At worst, the withered leaf of the Mysterious Sky Immortal Vine can wait until later. First, I’ll seize the Body Refinement inheritance.”
Having made up his mind, Lin Chang’an took a deep breath and began refining the magical artifacts used by the female cultivator.
He still had her memories, and with her identity, the success rate was high.
The next day, once everything was prepared, he raised his hand and withdrew the formation from the island.
“Moo!”
“Screech screech!”
The Green-Horned Ox glared with wide eyes. The figure before him clearly was not his master, even the mana fluctuations were different.
But that familiar bond undeniably told him it was his master.
The Wind-Chirp Bird also chirped. Yet after a golden light flickered in its eyes, it seemed to see through everything, landing directly on his shoulder.
Seeing both his spirit beasts recognize him, Lin Chang’an smiled in satisfaction.
But the fact that the Wind-Chirp Bird could pierce through his disguise startled him. He secretly warned himself again that the cultivation world was filled with countless strange methods—he could never let down his guard.
“This Bloodthirsty Poison Vine is indeed useful, but its advancement is far too difficult. It may only be usable within the Foundation Establishment realm.”