Chapter 7: Draining Essence Through the Network?

He exhaled—Xiao Ning True Person sighed with relief.

I thought it was just a simple task, but I nearly got killed here.

He waved his hand, retrieving the demon cultivator’s severed arm and the unfinished Ten Thousand Souls Banner from the deep pit below.

Fuck!

That damned old monster dares to bully the young? Does he think Daoist Brother has no allies? I’ll have my Senior Uncle come and crush you when I get back!

He cursed inwardly as he approached his unconscious body cultivator comrade.

“Senior Uncle!”

A string of light streaks blazed across the horizon—his junior disciples who had come with him.

Perfect, now I don’t have to lift a finger; let these juniors carry this comrade to the hospital.

“Senior Uncle, that last sword strike was so cool!”

“The sword intent was majestic and righteous—clearly a great cultivator. I didn’t know Senior Uncle had friends like that.”

“That sword’s power far exceeded the Return to Void realm. Senior Uncle, are you hiding your cultivation base?”

Hide my base? Bullshit!

You have the nerve to say that? Of the twelve Nascent Soul cultivators who came with me, nine were mere projections. Just thinking about it makes my chest ache—but what truly pains me is that Grand Void Exorcising Sword Qi.

In recent years, the great sword cultivators allied with my lineage have departed from the Central Continent; finding even a single strand of sword qi for alchemy is nearly impossible! And my lineage’s inheritance requires sword qi as a material for many great techniques.

“Carry this comrade on your backs and take him to the hospital first—this time thanks to…” His words froze mid-sentence.

A pure, unmistakable purple sword qi—identical in strength to the one before—suddenly appeared in his mind sea.

Did the Grand Void Exorcising Sword Qi return?

And I didn’t sense it at all!

Such a technique—could it really be one of the Four Elders of the Sword Sect, or even a Supreme Elder?

In an instant, he understood many things: no wonder the shattered sword qi grew stronger. He felt a chill of dread.

Everything proves that the Sword Sect elder is nearby!

If I hadn’t used the sword qi from the Purple Sword Talisman just now, that Sword Sect elder would’ve watched me get crushed by the demon cultivator’s great power!…………

On the other side, Xu Xing wandered aimlessly after leaving Xuan Sword Middle School No. 3.

Only when the Grand Void Sect’s great cultivator arrived in Xuan Sword City did he glance up.

Soon after, a terrifying divine sense, vast as an ocean, swept across the entire city.

Xu Xing paid no mind, stopping before a sword-painting shop.

The owner must’ve fled in a hurry—he didn’t even close the door, but the sign outside still listed available painting services.

【Sword Qi Thunder Simulation Board 1.0: After painting, simulates the sound of a sword cultivator’s sword qi thunder. Custom light effects extra charge】

Just like the one he saw at school—flashy but useless, pure cultivation-world firework.

Then came version 2.0, adding a power to repel evil spirits.

The price? Also deeply moving—ten times higher.

There was also the full version of Sword Qi Thunder painting, capable of fully unleashing the sword qi thunder’s power, priced several times higher than version 2.0.

Finally, there was one more—this one was interesting.

【Sword Light Division Painting (Limited): After painting, allows three uses of Sword Light Division. Sword Riding Permit required】

Sword Light Division is standard for Sword Sect Jin Dan sword cultivators; some geniuses attain it even at Foundation Establishment.

But no matter what, it’s a realm requiring immense effort—and now, one painting grants it instantly.

“Good.”

Aside from the limited Sword Light Division and full Sword Qi Thunder paintings, the rest were all similar—flashy, useless trinkets to satisfy young cultivators’ vanity. He glanced around briefly, then stepped inside.

Walls around him displayed pre-painted swords; glass cases held painting materials.

At the back stood a desk with a computer and half a bowl of cold noodles.

Perhaps he left in a hurry—the computer was still on, but since the network was down, the screen was frozen.

On screen was a stunning female cultivator, breathtakingly beautiful, her figure alluring, clad in a sheer crimson robe that revealed tantalizing glimpses of her form.

In the top-left corner, a small line of text:

Zhong Jiajia, Grand Union Realm cultivator of the Joyful Union Sect.

Grand Union Realm, also called Great Cultivator, is a pillar even among Immortal Sects—she could crush hundreds of Xiao Ning True Persons like him with one slap.

Hmm…

Life is hard—even Great Cultivators perform for a living.

Xu Xing sat down, placed two spirit stones beside the computer as internet fee, studied it briefly, and found the operation familiar.

He tapped the screen—the frozen image turned black, loaded for a moment, then brightened again.

In elegant music, the Joyful Union Sect great cultivator wore revealing attire, a lute before her.

It was a melody Xu Xing had never heard—calm, yet with her playing, it stirred the heart and unsettled the spirit.

“What else would you like to hear? Just say!”

Her voice was soft and alluring, clearly a highly refined seduction technique.

Comments scrolled nonstop—thousands in just one minute.

At that moment, he felt an inexplicable pull from the screen, as if trying to drain a thread of his essence and desire.

But it found no target, and faded helplessly.

“Interesting…”

No wonder the Joyful Union Sect managed to cleanse its reputation—it’s clearly tied to this method of draining essence and desire through the spiritual net.

He closed the livestream and searched for details on this Joyful Union Sect technique.

The information wasn’t hidden: this method of draining essence and desire through the spiritual net was invented by a Joyful Union Sect genius after the Spiritual Net’s emergence.

Joyful Union Sect cultivation methods mostly involve absorbing desire, essence, or balancing yin and yang.

In ancient times, most Joyful Union cultivators seeking higher realms had to find furnace bases for cultivation through sexual absorption.

That’s why they were branded as demonic.

But since the Spiritual Net’s arrival and the invention of this remote essence-and-desire-draining method, furnace base cultivation was gradually abandoned.

This method is not only safer, but yields far more essence and desire than draining a single furnace base.

Soon after, the Joyful Union Sect negotiated with the Six Immortal Sects, executed a number of stubborn, evil-hearted members within their ranks, and officially cleansed their reputation, becoming the Seventh Immortal Sect of the Tai Xuan Realm.

Now, it’s the most popular of the Seven Immortal Sects, favored most by the younger generation of cultivators.

You know why.

And Joyful Union cultivators don’t hide that this method drains essence and desire.

That means everyone knows watching a Joyful Union cultivator’s livestream drains a bit of their essence and desire.

But… who cares? It doesn’t harm the body—worst case, you enter a sage state for a while. Don’t you enter sage mode after watching unhealthy content anyway?

For this tiny cost, you get to watch a Grand Union Great Cultivator perform? It’s a steal! ‘Such chaotic essence and desire won’t be used directly—Joyful Union must have a purification method inside.’

But that wasn’t made public.

After reading everything, Xu Xing reopened the livestream platform, returned to the Joyful Union female cultivator’s channel, let her keep playing, then stood up and walked out.

(End of Chapter)