Chapter 67: Chapter 66 Plotting to Slay the Dragon (Congratulations to the Heavenly Dome Sea of Clouds’ Alliance Chief!)_1 Chapter 67: Chapter 66 Plotting to Slay the Dragon (Congratulations to the Heavenly Dome Sea of Clouds’ Alliance Chief!)_1 Da Liang World.
At the foot of Yuanhe Mountain.
Whether purchasing arrays, searching for puppetry arts, or seeking the inheritance of beast controlling skills, one needed a great amount of Spirit Stones!
Fang Xi, with a modest budget, naturally chose to cross over at the first opportunity to trouble the eight Monster Kings.
Although there were still a plethora of issues in the Da Liang World, to the recently empowered Fang Xi, they were but a breeze grazing his face.
After all, Grandmaster was the human body’s limit!
Furthermore, with an Immortal Cultivator’s methods, even if surrounded by tens of thousands of the Great Liang Army, Fang Xi could still leave as he pleased.
He didn’t care about whether he was exposed or not.
“Who goes there?”
Before the gateway to Blood Sect, a disciple charged with guarding the mountain saw a young man approach effortlessly, as if the rugged mountain path were flat land, and cautiously inquired.
“I am Fang Leng!” Fang Xi revealed a genial smile, “I have come to pay my respects to the mountain! Please inform Grandmaster Linghu Shan!”
Well, after all, it was his first visit after becoming a Grandmaster, so it needed to be somewhat formal.
The next moment, the Yuanhe Mountain disciple seemed to go weak at the knees, sitting back on his rear before scrambling away frantically.
As he ran, he let out a voice like a cracked gong: “This is bad… the great demon Sorrowful To A Ghost has come to pay respects to the mountain!!”
Fang Xi: “…”
…
“Ha ha ha ha!”
An hour later, at Thunder Extreme Peak.
Linghu Shan held his belly and laughed without any manner, slapping his thigh continuously as he roared with laughter.
“What disciples of the first martial arts force in Ding State, each and every one as timid as a mouse… I see your Yuanhe Mountain’s education has serious issues!” Fang Xi’s face flushed with awkwardness, “I have always been amiable towards others, when did I become a great demon?”
“Heh heh…” Linghu Shan tried to suppress his laughter, “You killed two of the Ding State Army’s eight colonels, and along with them many Three-step Martial Artists with strong physiques… Every time your Sorrowful To A Ghost persona appears, you massacre the martial arts elite of Tri-element City. If not a great demon, then what? I didn’t inform my disciples, and with your formal visit this time, they thought you were coming to exterminate the entirety of Yuanhe Mountain!”
“Sigh… If not for being pushed to the limit by others, I wouldn’t have wanted any of this.”
Fang Xi sighed, then asked, “How are my two disciples doing?”
“Don’t worry, they’re being treated with great care; the people fear you’ll once again rage and slaughter the Tri-element City’s elite…”
Linghu Shan revealed a scornful smile, “Those people… are quite skilled at playing to the circumstances.”
He then turned to Fang Xi, marveling, “I’ve yet to congratulate you on your breakthrough to Martial Saint, achieving the status of a Grandmaster! I originally thought that with your talent, you would need at least ten years, but to think you’ve done it in scarcely less than two years, and you’re still under thirty, aren’t you? Tsk, tsk… a Grandmaster under thirty, even in the entire world, would be among the premier ranks.”
‘Actually, I’m not even twenty yet…’
Fang Xi thought about it but decided to refrain from stating that. Instead, he asked, “With such talent, do you think I could join the ‘Grandmaster Conference’?”
He was very interested in that organization.
The Da Liang Martial Arts only extended to Real Gang Martial Saints, or the third layer of body refining, which was still somewhat lacking.
Fang Xi also wanted to achieve the Foundation Establishment level of body refining, which would then benefit his own Qi Refining realm!
If there was no path ahead in martial arts, then he would carve out a path for himself.
In this, Fang Xi was quite confident.
Because now he had Spirit Stones and the power, he could purchase body cultivation techniques from the Cultivation World, or even reference techniques for the fourth level of body refining!
Although there was a vast difference between the two, there was always something to be learned from them.
The reason he persisted with the martial arts in this world was that martial arts cultivated Blood Qi, which was vastly different from the body refining techniques in the Cultivation World, and could be hugely beneficial for breaking through the Blood Qi Realm at the Foundation Establishment stage!
‘If all else fails, then I’ll just follow the orthodox path of a body cultivator… After all, in the beginning, I only wished to learn martial arts to quickly grow stronger and gain the power to protect myself.’
“Do you want to join those lunatics?” Linghu Shan shook his head, then nodded, “With such talent, they will certainly agree, as your innate ability may be useful to them in exploring the path beyond Grandmaster… but be careful, the members of the Grandmaster Conference are not easy to get along with!”
“Thank you for the advice.”
Fang Xi bowed respectfully, finally getting to the main topic, “I promised you before that once I became a Grandmaster, I would join forces with you to slay that vile flood dragon…”
Linghu Shan quickly flashed a look of excitement: “My friend, you are indeed a man of your word!”
He had longed for revenge against the Flood Dragon of Old Dragon Pond.
“But, to know the enemy and know oneself, one can fight a hundred battles without defeat!” Fang Xi said, “I need the most detailed information about it!”
The Monster Kings of Da Liang were at least late-stage Monster beasts in their Qi-Refining Stage.
With flood dragon bloodline, they were even tougher to deal with, and a sudden turn of events could potentially lead to defeat!
Fang Xi didn’t feel invincible just because he had advanced to a Real Gang Martial Saint.
“Of course…”
Linghu Shan went inside the house and, before long, brought out a thick stack of documents, “I’ve been keeping a close eye on that beast!”
Fang Xi took the papers nonchalantly, his gaze flitting across the pages, quickly browsing through them.
Yuanhe Mountain’s intelligence was indeed detailed. Judging from the flood dragon bloodline’s Snake Demon’s destructive capacity, it certainly wasn’t beyond the strength of a Qi-Refining Stage Monster beast, putting Fang Xi’s mind at ease.
“Actually… as long as it’s a Monster beast, even a Monster King could potentially be besieged and killed regardless of cost. But the eight great Monster Kings of Ding State each have their special abilities…”
Linghu Shan supplemented, “Like the Dapeng King can fly… and this Flood Dragon King, not only is its scale impenetrable to blades, but it also can only be slightly wounded by divine weapons, and if something goes wrong, it will hide in the depths of Old Dragon Pond… The Old Dragon Pond, though named as a pond, is extremely deep, I suspect it connects to the underground waterways near Panlong Lake, making it exceedingly difficult to slay!”
“Hard to breach its defenses?”
Fang Xi leaned back, stretching.
Within this brief period, he had read the entire dossier: “How does it compare to Grandmaster’s Gang Qi?”
“Even tougher!” stated Linghu Shan solemnly, “Moreover… we Grandmasters have limits to our Gang Qi reserves, but that beast’s scales and hide are ever-present.”
Grandmasters expended considerable physical effort and Blood Qi to unleash True Gang, while a Monster beast’s innate defenses, such as fur and scales, were always there.
This was the most significant difference!
“Talking more is useless, why don’t we… have a little spar?” Fang Xi felt somewhat excited. Since he had become a True Strength Warrior, he hadn’t had a chance to engage in a fight with anyone!
“This… let’s not, I’m quite old already, no match for you young folks…” Linghu Shan habitually wanted to avoid exerting himself.
“What if I tell you I have a way to break through Flood Dragon scales, and I need your help to test it in practice?” Fang Xi instantly threw out bait.
“Then I can only lay down my life to accompany a gentleman,” Linghu Shan’s eyes flashed with a brilliant light, and he immediately agreed.
…
Thunder Extreme Peak.
The back mountain.
An open space surrounded by strange black rocks stacked in all sorts of bizarre forms.
“Let’s do it here…”
Linghu Shan walked to the center of the ground and calmly spoke.
Crackle!
The next moment, his stature suddenly grew taller, transforming from an unremarkable old man into a giant over two meters tall!
Not only that, muscles on his arms, thighs… bulged out, even bursting out of his original clothing.
Whoosh!
He moved swiftly, arriving in front of Fang Xi in an instant, his fingers catching the wind and thunder, reaching out as fast as lightning.
“Secret Skill, Five Thunder Extreme Transformation!”
This secret skill, when deployed by a True Strength Warrior as opposed to a Real Gang Martial Saint, displayed a completely different level of capability!
In the hands of Linghu Shan, gang qi burst from each of his fingertips, forming a gigantic claw intertwined with lightning, its might extremely staggering!
“Going all out from the beginning, huh!”
Fang Xi chuckled lightly and retreated.
As he leaped back, strands of blood-red gang qi also burst forth from his limbs and pores, wrapping around him at the front, as if forming a blood-red breastplate.
Crackle!
The gang qi giant claw, entangled with lightning, caught on the breastplate, making a grating, teeth-gritting noise.
Though the breastplate was deformed by the grasp, it ultimately wasn’t broken through.
‘The Real Gang Martial Saint can rival the late stages of Qi Refining precisely because of the existence of gang qi!’ Fang Xi’s feet moved as if he was stepping on burgeoning lotuses, retreating seven steps, and as he watched this display, his mind was contemplative.
A Grandmaster expressing gang qi from their body to form armor can completely withstand attacks from Qi Refining stage spells and magical artifacts!
This is the true reliance of a Martial Saint!
And the physical body?
Even if one’s bones were as strong as reinforced iron, they would likely only be able to trap mid to high-grade magical artifacts.
Any body cultivator who uses their flesh and blood to contend with magical artifacts and treasures is a fool!
“Linghu Shan… be careful, I’m going to use my real skills now!”
Fang Xi warned, and his right hand formed a sword with his fingers, “Go!”
A stream of golden light suddenly flew out, the sword light majestic and grandiose, even emitting faint dragon chanting sounds!
High-grade magical artifact – Gold Dragon Sword!
Clang!
The Gold Dragon Sword turned into a ray of golden light and suddenly thrust forward, arriving in front of Linghu Shan in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Linghu Shan changed his move very quickly, retracting his right hand, blocking in front of his chest. The terrifying blood-red gang qi exploded on his arms, like armguards, conjuring numerous illusions.
“Secret Skill, Eight Arms Dragon Slaughter!”
Bang!
The golden light fell on the blood-red gang qi and was actually bounced back.
Fang Xi’s expression remained unchanged, his fingers moved as if plucking strings.
The golden light took a wide loop, flying back towards Linghu Shan’s back, striking like a cunning serpent!
“Ah!”
Linghu Shan roared, his back muscles bulging out, resembling a bear as he slammed backward!
The bursting gang qi landed on the Gold Dragon Sword, emitting sounds as clear as a multitude of pearls falling onto a jade plate.
The Gold Dragon Sword was unmoved, just its momentum slightly reduced, allowing Linghu Shan to evade it with a lazy roll.
“I concede!”
Linghu Shan, having just scrambled to his feet, saw Fang Xi about to strike again and hurriedly raised his hand to shout, “I’ve exhausted my gang qi…”
A Grandmaster’s gang qi is finite, but it’s generally enough to sustain a battle.
Linghu Shan’s true qi was depleted entirely because the Gold Dragon Sword was too sharp, and he had to burst out with full power just to defend against it.
And once his gang qi was exhausted, he didn’t dare confront a high-grade magical artifact with his flesh and blood anymore.
Seeing Linghu Shan concede, Fang Xi also conveniently withdrew his artifact.
“My friend… could you be the legendary Sword Immortal?!”
Although Linghu Shan was covered in dust, he had a thick skin and didn’t mind losing. Rather, he was very interested in the flying sword technique that Fang Xi had displayed, “I’ve heard from the disciples of Yuanhe Mountain in the army that you can sever heads with a flying sword. I thought it was just them talking nonsense, but it turns out to be true!”
“This is a secret flying sword technique passed down within my sect, mainly focusing on refining gang qi into threads to control the sword!”
Fang Xi put on a serious expression and confidently spouted nonsense.
However, in this world, martial artists are extremely confident and arrogant. Even if you talk to them about Cultivation, they might not believe you, but tell them it’s a martial arts secret skill, and they probably will!