Chapter 349: Chapter 347 Blood Spring Skill (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1
Red Sun World.
A city.
On the stone-paved streets, pedestrians bustled by.
Fang Xi waved his hand, summoned a hawker selling candied haws, casually bought a skewer, and sat down at a tea stall.
"Since my arduous cultivation, I haven’t had such leisure..."
"Recently, since I’ve released that explosive news, Yuan Country might be in chaos for a while longer, making it the perfect time to lay low..."
Fang Xi took a bite of his candied haw.
The higher his cultivation became, the more he acted as he pleased.
At this moment, a Taoist leading a donkey also arrived at the tea stall and, upon seeing Fang Xi, was startled, "This gentleman truly stands tall and distinguished, with an extraordinary temperament..."
"Oh? Tell me what’s so extraordinary. If you speak well, I might just treat you to a table full of food and drink, how about that?"
Fang Xi saw that the Taoist was around forty, with a face marked by the vicissitudes of life, and he couldn’t help but laugh heartily.
The other customers at the stall heard this and twitched nervously; the timid ones had already stood up to pay the bill, ready to leave, to avoid this tea stall.
After all, in Red Sun World, Taoists held the highest status.
Even if one appeared poor and was a wandering Taoist, he was not to be underestimated.
Who knew if it was a true man of the Tao intentionally disguising himself, playing games in the mortal dust?
"Alright, then I shall comment on the gentleman’s features... Your appearance is extremely noble, as they say, the eyebrows are the canopy over the eyes, and not a hair on your brows is out of place... Not to mention the rising corners, the red glow on the forehead... These need not be said; the key lies in the gentleman’s aura... Even with my years of cultivation, I feel inferior..."
The middle-aged Taoist sat across from Fang Xi, looked at him earnestly, and then heaved a deep sigh, "On any ordinary day, upon meeting the gentleman, I would undoubtedly lead you onto the path of Taoism, but it’s a pity that the world is in great chaos now, with various sects warring against each other... I am not even sure anymore whether it is better to be a mortal or a Taoist."
"Although I am merely a mortal, I have heard of the upheavals at the Pill Energy Conference. I wonder how the cultivation world is faring now?"
Fang Xi had the shopkeeper bring over a pot of clear tea and a few exquisite pastries, which he placed before the middle-aged Taoist, and casually inquired.
"Dreadful, too dreadful to witness... Five Viscera Temple and Yellow Spring Temple lost their Master Golden Cores and were successively annihilated..."
"Now the Taoist Palace has reemerged, led by a Junior Master, clashing against the remnants of White Bone Temple and Ruthless Temple, with victories and defeats on both sides..."
"Every direction in the world is in disarray..."
The middle-aged Taoist took a sip of tea and ate a steamed vegetarian bun, then sighed satisfactorily, "There used to be Taoist Temples that maintained order, but now many cities have been reduced to ruins, with evil spirits running rampant... Besides the evil creatures in the wilderness, some Taoists are also unrestrained, indulging in blood sacrifices of a village, a town, or even a city... Could it be that our learning of these methods was meant to plunge the mortal world into hell?"
’Of course not, it’s just because you learned the techniques of the Demon Sect...’
’Had it been the legitimate methods of the Righteous Path, things might have been much better.’
Fang Xi added in his mind, but his face showed an expression of great shock, "Does the Taoist have any teachings for me?"
"Hehe..."
The middle-aged Taoist, having had his fill, then patted his belly, "I’ve come here to save this entire city from a great disaster..."
Before he could finish speaking, a layer of black fog surged from the street, suddenly engulfing the entire city.
Taoists in robes stood suspended in midair, exuding great might, with indifference in their eyes that could care less about the world.
"We are the Seven Sons of Yellow Spring. The populace of this city is extremely suitable for our cultivation of magic power..."
"Indeed, their souls can be used to cultivate the Dark Method, and their organs sent to the remnants of Five Viscera Temple to make Five Organs Pills..."
A chubby Taoist in a yellow robe licked his lips, "Now that the Pill Energy Conference is no more... we have to feed ourselves with such coarse food..."
"Ah, it’s the Taoists!"
"Taoist lords, please spare us, spare our lives..."
"Idiots, didn’t you hear? These Taoists are going to blood sacrifice us, let’s fight back!"
Chaos erupted within the city, with mortals running and crying in all directions and reactions varying greatly.
One could say it truly resembled an apocalyptic scene.
"This... this..."
Fang Xi’s complexion grew slightly pale as he looked at the seven Foundation Establishment cultivators flaunting their power, "Taoist, save me!"
"Don’t worry, I’ve come here just to save all the people in this city."
The formerly jovial middle-aged Taoist turned serious, "After all, I am indebted to you for this meal and drink..."
Boom!
The next moment, the middle-aged Taoist stepped forward, and the entire sky was filled with countless blood shadows!
These blood shadows were fleeting and elusive, yet extremely nimble.
The previously mentioned chubby yellow-robed Taoist had barely tried to act when he saw a blood shadow pounce upon him, and screamed in alarm, "No good..."
But before he could deploy any spells or tools for defense, he was engulfed by the blood shadow.
All spells and defenses were like nothing before the blood shadow.
The chubby Taoist screamed tragically as his entire body’s essence and flesh were devoured, leaving only a single flapping sheet of human skin.
"It’s a Master!"
"Run!"
The remaining Six Sons of Yellow Spring, witnessing this scene, panicked and turned deathly pale, each controlling a yellow Escape Light, fleeing in all directions.
"Hehe, thinking of running now? Isn’t it a bit too late?"
The middle-aged Taoist chuckled coldly, a mass of red clouds appeared above the city, completely refining the earlier black clouds...
Accompanied by cries of agony, a sneer surfaced on the middle-aged Taoist’s face.
Just then, an unexpected change occurred!
Two streaks of light raced from the edge of the sky, one black and the other earthen yellow.
The escape lights transformed into two huge spheres of luminous glow in mid-air, ferociously smashing into the red clouds.
After a thunderous roar, the red clouds and the various colored glows dimmed significantly, revealing the figures of three Master cultivators.
One of them was very familiar to Fang Xi—it was none other than ’Master Kun’!
"It’s you again... That Junior Master has coveted my Golden Core for many years, hasn’t he?"
The middle-aged man, with a voice clear as a youth’s, suddenly peeled off his facial mask to reveal a much younger face—it was Yu Hua!
He looked at the last human skin mask in his hand from Yellow Spring Temple and sighed, "To think... the remnants of Yellow Spring Temple have ultimately sided with your Taoist Palace."
Ever since the opportunity at the Pill Energy Conference years ago, when Yu Hua escaped the Transformation Secret Realm through the spatial rifts, he wandered the ends of the earth, practicing Taoist methods.
His cultivation at the Golden Core level was already enough for him to roam the wilds and enjoy a lifespan of five hundred years.
Alas... there was still a Taoist Palace that relentlessly pursued him.
As for the reason, Yu Hua had come to understand, it was the ’Boundless Blood Sea Pill’ within his body.
The achievement of this Golden Core was particularly difficult, with no shortcuts other than at the Pill Energy Conference.
And with the current state of war between the two forces in the world, it was unlikely that such a grand event of the Taoist Palace would be held again.
"Hehe... Sir Yu, you have a unique approach, thinking to find subsequent methods from the ’Dark Method’ of Yellow Spring Temple. Unfortunately... the ’Blood Spring Skill,’ which combines the ’Dark Method’ and the ’Blood Skin Skills,’ has ultimately been deemed the wrong path!"
Master Kun said laughingly.
"What?"
The news shocked Yu Hua even more than before: "Could it be that there is no way forward after Golden Core for us?"
"Not so, the path beyond Golden Core lies in the hands of the Junior Master. He is desperate for talent. If he sees you, he will surely be overjoyed and impart everything he knows."
Another Master Golden Core laughed as he spoke, his words captivating as if imbued with a bewitching power.
"Hmph!"
Yu Hua snorted coldly, suddenly exploding into a cloud of human skins, scattering across the sky.
Countless skins wafted away, fleeing in all directions.
"Go!"
A certain object, looking like a scroll, emerged in Master Kun’s hands.
He infused it with magic power, and the scroll flew out, unrolling mid-air to reveal a common landscape painting.
But at that moment, the ink seemed to come alive, leaping off the paper and consolidating into a black line, shooting towards a human skin drifting back to the city!
"It’s a good thing I borrowed this treasure from the Junior Master; otherwise, you might have escaped," Master Kun snorted coldly as he reached out into the air to grab something.
The human skin quickly filled out, transforming back into Yu Hua’s figure, who couldn’t help but wear a bitter smile.
This time, he seemed to have been driven into a corner.
However, being a resilient man, Yu Hua struggled for survival even on the brink of desperation!
Just as Yu Hua was about to spit out his Golden Core in a desperate final struggle, he suddenly heard a faint laugh near his ear: "Taoist... It seems it’s not you resolving troubles for the city, but I’m resolving a trouble for you."
The outstanding young man had somehow arrived in mid-air, watching the magical conflict unfold.
What was even more terrifying was that before he spoke up, not one of the three Master Golden Cores had sensed his presence!
"You..."
Yu Hua felt this handsome young man was somehow familiar, with the visage of his past benefactor vaguely surfacing in his mind.
Although they looked nothing alike, his tone and demeanor were nearly identical!
"Are you certain you want to meddle in the affairs of my Taoist Palace?" Master Kun asked in a chilling tone.
"Intimidate me with the Taoist Palace? If the Yanmo Taoist Master were still around, I might have had some concerns, but now?"
Fang Xi sneered, unfurling the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in his hand.
The Yin Yang Ghost King and another Ghost King at the later stage of Core Formation sprang forth, their eyes filled with madness and greed as they assaulted the two Master Golden Cores.
They had been starved fiercely before, and after having just swallowed Bi Yunzi, they were even more eager for blood.
Fang Xi paid no attention to the battle above; after all, it was bullying by the strong.
As for Yu Hua, he suddenly bowed deeply in utter respect, "Is it indeed my benefactor in person?"
"Indeed, you still recognize me. Just goes to show you’re not heartless, kid," Fang Xi laughed heartily, sitting back at his tea stall with a sense of watching the world’s turmoil.
"Benefactor, you helped me enter the path and aided me in becoming a Taoist. I have no way to repay such kindness and compassion," Yu Hua bowed again: "But now, even though I have reached the Grand Accomplishment of Golden Core, my heart is filled with even more doubts..."
"So, you wish to climb to a higher realm and see for yourself?"
Fang Xi shook his head: "You’ve taken the wrong path... The Immortal Path is not the Demon Path. The deeper you’re mired, the harder it is to turn back..."
"Immortal Path, Demon Path..." Yu Hua had an epiphany and fervently kowtowed, "Please, benefactor, teach me the true Immortal laws!"
"The law should not be passed on lightly..."
Fang Xi shook his head: "And moreover... If you wish to practice my methods, you must waste your Golden Core. Are you willing?"
Yu Hua was taken aback...