"Senior Brother Lu, is it true that there's demonic sect activity in the Wanqing Mountains?"
"I've heard that members of the demonic sect use cultivators to refine pills, flay them to make artifacts, and act with sheer evil and brutality. I wonder if it's really that outrageous."
A group of Qingyun Sect disciples descended from the mountain. Since they had entered the Foundation Establishment stage, they had been traveling by flying swords without time for idle chat. Today, however, presented a rare opportunity to leisurely discuss topics fitting the occasion.
"Silence, all of you!" Lu Changtian snorted coldly, casting a disdainful glance over his shoulder at the disciples. "Even if there are demonic cultists, so what? The Wanqing Mountains are Qingyun Sect's territory. Even an elder from the demonic sect would have to think twice before acting here!"
The disciples immediately put on flattering expressions.
"Senior Brother Lu is right!"
"Indeed, Senior Brother Lu is the strongest among the new generation of direct disciples in Qingyun Sect. His talent far surpasses those demonic cultists."
"If we encounter them, we'll slaughter them on the spot!"
Lu Changtian maintained a poker face, but inwardly, he felt a smug satisfaction.
That's right. Previously, there was the sect leader's direct disciple, Zhao Lingtian, overshadowing him. Now that Zhao Lingtian's Dantian was ruined, he stood as the number one among the younger generation of direct disciples. As the strongest Foundation Establishment cultivator in Qingyun Sect, the demonic sect was merely insignificant to him.
Whoosh—!
The clear night sky suddenly darkened.
Lu Changtian looked up to see a pitch-black cloud rising from the mountains, obscuring the moonlight and swiftly heading westwards.
The cloud swirled with blood-red demonic aura, and even from a distance, one could sense the chilling pressure it emitted.
"It's a demon cultivator!"
"What terrifying demonic aura!"
"Alert the sect immediately!" Lu Changtian's face turned pale, all traces of his earlier arrogance gone.
If the demonic aura had condensed into a cloud, the cultivator was at least a veteran powerhouse.
Colliding with such an ancient monster would be courting death for cultivators like them, who hadn't even reached the Golden Core stage.
The enforcement hall disciple beside Lu Changtian fumbled for a sound-transmitting jade token, but before he could activate it, he found himself frozen in place!
"Kkkk, little brat, you can't just send messages at will."
A sinister laugh echoed from behind.
Lu Changtian's blood ran cold as he noticed the black cloud in the sky had vanished.
The demon cultivator had somehow approached them from behind.
Demonic mist swallowed the enforcement hall disciple whole, not even allowing a scream to escape, and the jade token was crushed into fragments.
"I have urgent matters today and no time to deal with you lot. Consider this a little toy for you to play with~ kkkk~"
The demonic aura dissipated, and without revealing their true form, the demon cultivator had already slain a Foundation Establishment disciple of Qingyun Sect, leaving behind a grotesque, shriveled corpse.
"Is he... gone?"
"Younger Brother Zhang, Younger Brother Zhang?"
"Alas, don't bother calling out. He's dead through and through! Hurry back to the sect and report this!"
There was only one sound-transmitting jade token left. With a high-level demon cultivator appearing in the Wanqing Mountains, it was no longer suitable for disciples of their caliber to continue the mission. The sect needed to dispatch more elite disciples, or even elders, to address the situation.
A disciple stepped forward to collect the remains of the unfortunate Younger Brother Zhang.
"Don't go over there! Come back quickly!"
Lu Changtian, keeping a close watch on the corpse, sensed something amiss and immediately warned the others, but it was already too late.
Suddenly, the lifeless Younger Brother Zhang sprouted crimson fur all over his body. In an instant, he shot up from the ground, leaping toward the disciple like a cheetah. With a gaping maw revealing two pairs of serrated fangs, he sank his teeth into the disciple's neck.
*Crunch*——!
The neck of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was severed clean off,
the neck still attached to half a gory flesh, blood gushing forth like a torrent.
The sudden and gruesome scene left the surrounding disciples stunned and at a loss.
The monster, now tasting blood, became even more ferocious.
"This is a Hair Stiffener!" Lu Changtian unsheathed his flying sword, his expression grave as he hastily instructed the disciples, "Form the array quickly! Our enemy is formidable. If we don't kill it, none of us will escape!"
Gazing at the grotesque Hair Stiffener, a chill ran down his spine.
With a mere wave of its hand, it could transform a cultivator into a Hair Stiffener equivalent to a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.
What was the background of this high-level demon cultivist?
...
In a small hut at the foot of the mountain—
"The pills given to me by my senior must be more than just precious..." Fang Qingzhi was shocked as she inwardly observed her Dantian.
Her nascent Dantian, enveloped in a hazy golden light, was unlike any she had known. As the formation neared completion, a rotating golden lotus pedestal materialized before her.
"This... this is my new Dantian?!"
The lotus-shaped Dantian emitted a misty blue radiance. Each petal was distinctly visible, adorned with profound Daoist scriptures.
What kind of Dantian was this?
She had never heard of or seen anything like it.
But Fang Qingzhi knew this Dantian was extraordinary.
She often frequented the scripture hall to peruse its collections.
While the first floor of the hall lacked potent cultivation techniques, it housed numerous chronicles of the Cangyun Realm's history. These stories, recorded by cultivators, might not enhance one's power, but they broadened the mind.
In ancient times, sects valued not just spiritual roots but the quality of one's Dantian.
Back then, Dantians were graded.
A first-grade Dantian was the pinnacle among innate Dantians, but above that was the mythical supreme-grade.
No cultivator was born with a supreme-grade Dantian.
Only the prodigies with first-grade Dantians could, through rare resources and immense effort, have a minuscule chance to attain the legendary supreme-grade Dantian.
Fang Qingzhi had never seen a supreme-grade Dantian.
Yet, she had an inkling.
Her Dantian now was supreme-grade!
"What did the senior give me... such an extraordinary pill..." Fang Qingzhi opened her eyes, gazing at the golden lotus-filled room with bewilderment, on the verge of tears. Already indebted for restoring her Dantian, her senior had now granted her an even greater opportunity.
"Kkkk, indeed a supreme-grade Dantian! My fortune arrives!" Suddenly, a hoarse狂laugh erupted outside the hut.
Fang Qingzhi looked out the window to see a black cloud hovering in the sky, swirling with demonic aura and a vague humanoid figure within.
"It's a demon cultivator!"
The visitor was hostile and evidently formidable.
"Senior, a demonic cultivator approaches!"
In her haste, Fang Qingzhi didn't ponder whether her revered senior was stronger than the demon. She simply grasped the broken sword and fixed her gaze intently on the window.
"Kkkkk!" The demon cultivator, having heard Fang Qingzhi's voice, cackled madly, "I am the Patriarch of the Tianmo Sect, Ye Fu Tian! None of you will escape today. Resign yourselves to becoming stepping stones for my ascension!"
"Your arrogance will be your downfall!"
Fang Qingzhi's eyes narrowed, and she prepared to rise with her broken sword.
But a gentle force knocked her back.
In the hotel room, Chen Ping An gazed at the black cloud and the red dot on the map, a sly smile curving his lips. He took out a sound-transmitting talisman and pressed it, saying, "Girl, step back. Go to bed and cover up nicely. Your lord is about to put on a show!"
What Fang Qingzhi heard was:
"Fear not, mere ants...
To me,
they are but a flick of the wrist!"