Yellow Court Daoist

Changdan Country.

Zhouwu Mountain, a gathering place for Independent Practitioners.

Here, alike the Panlong Mountain in the Red Smoke Realm, stood the residence of Independent Practitioners. Two True Man anchored this location—one called Master Yuan Xun, another called Master Mo Liang.

Master Mo Liang had left on a journey, visiting friends far away. Currently on Zhouwu Mountain, only Master Yuan Xun remained.

"Destroying Grain Pearl."

"Let's give it a try."

Master Yuan Xun held a Spirit Light Method Pearl in one hand and gestured outward with the other, immediately a figure flew towards him.

"Master Yuan Xun, spare my life!"

"I am a disciple of Seven Killings True Man, and we have discussed the Dao with Master Yuan Xun before."

"True Man——"

This individual wore a grey robe, their True Yuan restrained, unable to resist, and their face was overtaken by panic and fear.

"Seven Killings?"

Master Yuan Xun looked towards the grey-robed cultivator.

Thinking there was a chance of survival, the grey-robed cultivator nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, yes, He Mountain Daoist Seven Killings True Man."

"So, it's that old immortal."

Master Yuan Xun showed a smile.

The grey-robed cultivator forced a smile too, but a sense of foreboding grew inside him.

Indeed.

In the next instant.

"Surviving by a sheer fluke. If not for the backing of He Mountain Daoist, do you think I would have associated with him!"

Master Yuan Xun's smile vanished and a ball of Yin Fire suddenly appeared in his hand.

"No!"

"Please, no!"

The grey-robed cultivator's terror peaked.

However, Master Yuan Xun did not stop. He tossed the Spirit Light Method Pearl into the air, activating the Yin Fire to envelop the grey-robed cultivator.

Hiss, hiss!

In a short time, the grey-robed cultivator turned into a pile of ash and dissipated. Not even the soul remained, just a trace of their True Spirit vanished into the heavens and earth.

The Spirit Light Method Pearl pulsed with an odd fluctuation, sweeping the area.

Then, it returned to Master Yuan Xun's hand.

"Water Dragon Technique."

"It is indeed a High-level Technique!"

Master Yuan Xun was pleasantly surprised and checked the technique carefully. Once confirmed, confusion appeared on his face, "Who exactly refined the Destroying Grain Pearl, to casually disperse such valuable methods?!"

Master Yuan Xun was both delighted and puzzled.

Even within the Left Dao and side door circles, High-level Techniques were precious secrets, rarely disclosed. He had never seen High-level Techniques dispersed so freely.

Thinking of the numerous Destroying Grain Pearls that had suddenly appeared in the Cultivation World, Master Yuan Xun thought to himself, "The Destroying Grain Pearls target the He Mountain Daoist, who has committed many injustices. Retribution has come swiftly, attracting such a ruthless and decisive enemy."

"Regardless of where the Destroying Grain Pearls came from, if I can use this opportunity to hunt down more He Mountain Daoist Spirit Void Practitioners, I might obtain more High-level Techniques or Refinement Level Techniques."

"With enough accumulation, it's not impossible to start my own sect and join the ranks of the Three Thousand Left Dao or the Eight Hundred Side Sects!"

"Furthermore, if I could kill a He Mountain Daoist True Man—"

Master Yuan Xun's eyes shone brightly, then dimmed again.

"No need to rush."

"In the He Mountain Daoist ranks, Futu Zi possesses the Five Horses Floating Lock, which can patrol the world. I must proceed with caution."

Master Yuan Xun held one Spirit Light Method Pearl and reached into his chest to pull out another, even brighter pearl, a sly grin curving his lips.

...

For over ten thousand years, He Mountain Daoist has dominated its realm with a fierce reputation.

Lately, however, there have been undercurrents stirring.

A certain Qi Men Talisman, known as the 'Destroying Grain Pearl,' has appeared from an unknown source.

This talisman doesn't kill enemies, nor does it protect the user, but it has caused a tremendous uproar.

Not for any other reason, but because the Destroying Grain Pearl contains Mysterious Techniques.

There are Middle-level, High-level, and even Super-level Techniques.

And Refinement Level, Side Door Level Skills, as well as rare Elixir Recipes and Qi Men Magic Artifact Refining Methods.

Different Destroying Grain Pearls contain different methods.

As soon as they appeared, they spread rapidly from Changdan Country. In just a short period, they reached six or seven neighboring countries, spanning three hundred thousand miles.

These Destroying Grain Pearls stored precious methods.

The only way to obtain these methods was to kill a practitioner of the He Mountain Daoist School under the witness of a Destroying Grain Pearl.

However, ordinary He Mountain Daoist practitioners wouldn't do; the cultivator had to be at the Spirit Void Stage to count.

Kill a Spirit Void He Mountain Daoist cultivator at the Fasting or Heart Movement Realm, and you could obtain a Middle-level Technique.

Kill one at the Divine Silence or Fusion Realm, and you could get a High-level Technique or a Refinement Level Technique.

If you could even kill any one of the six He Mountain Daoist True Men, you could unlock a Super-level Technique or a Side Door Level Technique.

Once Destroying Grain Pearls appeared, some watched, some tested.

Once people truly obtained methods after killing He Mountain Daoist cultivators...

The territories of the He Mountain Daoist immediately plunged into chaos—

Fighting over Destroying Grain Pearls!

Attacking He Mountain Daoist Spirit Void Practitioners!

Even within the He Mountain Daoist itself, cultivators ambushed their unsuspecting fellow disciples to gain methods.

In no time,

He Mountain Daoist fell into internal and external turmoil.

...

In Che Xiong Country,

within an unnamed deep mountain.

Lu Qingfeng faced numerous floating screens that showed He Mountain Daoist Spirit Void practitioners being killed off. Some left their souls destined for reincarnation, others perished completely, leaving only a wisp of True Spirit to escape into the heavens and earth.

"The entire world as an enemy!"

"I'm eager to see how the He Mountain Daoist School can resolve this situation."

Lu Qingfeng waved away the Great Method, sat down cross-legged, and continued refining the Destroying Grain Pearl.

The Destroying Grain Pearl was simple, even merely at the level of a talisman.

Within each pearl, there was a Daoist Skill, sealed by Lu Qingfeng's secret technique. Only when a He Shan Daoist of the corresponding cultivation level was slain in front of the pearl could one obtain the skill inside.

Otherwise, one could only see the introduction of the skill.

If one attempted to decipher it by other means, it would leave nothing behind in the Destroying Grain Pearl.

Such methods were fairly common.

Many jade scrolls, golden books, and jade dishware given by Immortal Sects will have their information erased as soon as a skill is acquired by one person, preventing a second person from obtaining and practicing it.

Lu Qingfeng was using precisely this kind of method.

This was to prevent people from obtaining the Daoist Skill of He Shan Dao practitioners without killing them.

As for receiving the Daoist Skill in the Destroying Grain Pearl through legitimate means, one was indeed allowed to teach it to others. This was an intentional 'flaw' left to encourage independent cultivators from all around to join hands in hunting down He Shan Dao practitioners.

If one killed alone and obtained the skill, ordinary cultivators would surely not transmit it lightly.

'The worse the broom, the sooner for home' was not exclusive to any door or family.

In the world, people like Lu Qingfeng were indeed in the extreme minority.

Furthermore, the Daoist Skills Lu Qingfeng dispersed weren't numerous; many were duplicates and far less exhaustive than the list provided by the Nine Palace Star Plate. Even if they shared the skills with each other, in total there were only about twenty or thirty Daoist Skills.

To Lu Qingfeng, it was utterly insignificant.

Nonetheless, that was enough to drive the cultivators of the world mad.

Especially for loose cultivators with scarce resources and shallow inheritance!

"To destroy the He Shan Dao and reduce the Six Paths True Man to a homeless dog is also considered revenge."

Lu Qingfeng shook his head and sighed.

The path of cultivation was fraught with hardship and innumerable dangers.

If he hadn't reversed fate for Gu Shaoshang against heaven's will, perhaps he would have perished under dire circumstances, buried in the wilderness, yet he wouldn't have suffered so much torment before death, nor would he have ended up like this.

But who could foresee the future?

Some wish to blaze brilliantly like fireworks, rather than leading an insignificant life.

That youth who wrestled with the heavens and fought with the earth in the mountains, who looked up to the sky in grief and questioned the heavens, was clearly the former.

...

After refining another thirty-six Destroying Grain Pearls in one go, Lu Qingfeng stopped.

He leapt up, planning to scatter the pearls.

But at that moment—

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

A Yin Wind arose, a chilling coldness suddenly descended upon the mountain peak.

Lu Qingfeng looked up to see that in the void above the mountain peak, five fierce stallions connected by chains, radiating dense Yin Qi and resentment. These were no ordinary horses, but five Yin Horses!

On the back of the five Yin Horses there was a black-robed Daoist.

Upon closer inspection,

with a sallow complexion, it was the Six Paths True Man of He Shan Dao!

[Magic Artifact: Five Horses Floating Lock]

[Grade: Sixth Rank]

[Description: One of the sixty-seven skills of He Shan Dao. It involves finding a few hundred horses that have gone through numerous battles, torturing them by all means until their deaths, where their resentment soared to the heavens and their souls did not disperse. Having collected these souls, they are refined into Yin Horses using the skill of He Shan Dao. After five Yin Horses are refined, they are linked with chains into the 'Five Horses Floating Lock.' When charging at an enemy, even a Jiedan True Man cannot withstand it. The Yin Horses are formed from the souls of horses that died in rage; they have no physical form and can move unhindered, even on tree tops, steep mountains, or over rivers and seas. Furthermore, they possess the ability to track and pursue.]

"Five Horses Floating Lock!"

"To think he would find me!"

Lu Qingfeng glanced at the five horses and realized their origins, inwardly exclaiming at the multitude of cultivators and Immortal Sect tactics, and how mysteriously profound their skills were in the Five Directions Realm.

Truly hard to guard against!

Lu Qingfeng had never heard of these Five Horses Floating Lock, yet it was a Sixth Rank magic artifact. Not only had it found his trail, but it also possessed some ability to conceal heavenly secrets, rendering him completely unaware beforehand.

"Unbeatable!"

The Six Paths True Man was formidable and had come prepared this time.

Lu Qingfeng did not dawdle.

At once, he took out the Mist Banner. Grasping the banner staff and giving it a shake, a burst of brilliance encompassed him, and with the flash of colorful clouds, he flew into the sky.

"An exhausted donkey shows its true form!"

The Six Paths True Man's expression was frosty. He let out a long howl. With a thought, the five Yin Horses beneath him immediately charged toward the colorful clouds. In his hands appeared a beast skin pouch. As he opened it, a black mist enveloped everything.

Well prepared, the black mist immediately covered the colorful clouds.

With a soft hiss in the air, the clouds dimmed, and Lu Qingfeng had barely fled a hundred li before he felt the control of the Mist Banner wavering, its spirit obscured.

After a thousand li, it began to falter.

Three thousand li later,

Bang!

The Mist Banner dropped, revealing Lu Qingfeng's figure.

"What a fiendish evil Qi."

Lu Qingfeng steadied himself in the void, looking down at the Mist Banner in his hand. Its spirit light was dim, shrouded in black Qi, evidently corrupted by the foul Qi.

It would be hard to cleanse in a short time, and even harder to activate again.

Looking back,

the five horses were rapidly approaching through the air, as swift as startled swans, only a step slower than the flight of the Mist Banner. Now that the banner was contaminated, the Five Horses Floating Lock immediately caught up.

"Ha ha!"

"Where will you run!"

The Six Paths True Man saw Lu Qingfeng's figure and burst with joy.

"I'll spare your life this time!"

Lu Qingfeng snorted coldly, storing the black-qi shrouded Mist Banner and took out another. With a shake, he transformed into colorful clouds once more, carrying him away at great speed.

"Not good!"

The Six Paths True Man maneuvered the Yin Horses, but lost the advantage. Frantically releasing the black wind from the Five Yin Bag, he still couldn't catch up to the colorful clouds formed by the Mist Banner.

"Damn it!"

"He escaped again."

"To think he has more than one escape magic artifact!"

The Six Paths True Man seethed with fury.

With a thought.

He intended to command the Yin Horses to pursue once more, but then, the Five Yin Bag in his hands trembled faintly and vanished into thin air. The Yin Horses beneath him also cried out to the heavens, clearly determined to leave.

"Second brothers—"

The Six Paths True Man's face soured, glancing in the direction where Lu Qingfeng had fled and sighed in frustration. He then rode the Yin Horses and hurried back towards He Shan Dao.