Chapter 445: Fellow Daoist, Have a Safe Journey

Jueyun Mountain, outside the Meta-Magnetic Valley.

Luo Chen lowered his spiritual cloud, concealed his figure, and quietly watched the person sitting cross-legged in the valley.

"That's right!"

"It really is Miao Wen!"

Miao Wen, an outer sect deacon of the Yuding Sword Sect, the person in charge of daily secular affairs at the Yuding Sword Pavilion in Dahe Workshop in the past.

In this remote, large-scale workshop, his realm might not have been the highest, but his status was unique.

Even those with higher realms than him, like Uncle Mi and Zhou Qing, had to deliberately cater to him because of his status.

However.

The man who had once kept his appearance and demeanor impeccably groomed and elegant was now disheveled and ragged, completely unrecognizable as the once-dashing sword cultivator of the Jade Cauldron Sect.

A pair of gold-woven cloud shoes were tattered, revealing blackened toes.

The Dharma robe embroidered with the Sword Sect emblem had no intact pieces of cloth left on his entire body, except for the emblem.

His face was covered in mud, and there were even meat scraps and bloodstains hanging from the corners of his mouth.

In such a state, others would only take him for a wild man.

Who could have imagined that he had once been a generation of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators, enjoying the flattery and reverence of tens of thousands of rogue cultivators in Dahe Workshop.

Luo Chen observed carefully for a while, then suddenly said with a light "eh":

"His realm?"

Foundation Establishment Level 1!

And it seemed to be dropping continuously.

Luo Chen remembered very clearly that Miao Wen's realm was not Level 1.

It was probably around the early Foundation Establishment Level 3, one level lower than Uncle Mi, but in the original Dahe Workshop, he was also one of the few powerhouses.

Logically speaking, forty years later, no matter how bad the other party was, his cultivation shouldn't have dropped, let alone not improved!

Luo Chen's gaze wandered.

"Is it because he has lived in the Meta-Magnetic Valley for a long time without spiritual energy nourishment?"

"Or..."

Suddenly, Luo Chen's gaze fell on Miao Wen, who had suddenly begun to tremble in the valley.

Visibly, wisps of black, substantial-looking Yin energy were being expelled from his body.

With the expulsion of the Yin energy, his murky eyes seemed to have a trace of clarity.

But soon, those Yin energies, like swallows returning to their nests, burrowed back into his body.

Like maggots on the bone, difficult to remove!

When the Yin energy returned, a struggle appeared in his eyes again.

Luo Chen frowned.

That Yin energy was very familiar!

Bai Meiling had similar Yin energy on her.

But compared to the Yin energy that condensed Bai Meiling's body, the one on Miao Wen was much more solid, even feeling like it exceeded a level.

"The Yin energy of a third-tier Ghost King?"

A thought surfaced in Luo Chen's mind.

In a trance, he seemed to see the Dahe Workshop of the past, with three Ghost Kings reappearing in the world, and endless Yin energy shrouding the inner city.

That battle!

It was very tragic!

Luoyun Sect cultivators destroyed the workshop formation, releasing the three Ghost Kings. Core Formation Shangren Linghu Jie used puppet arts to control the three great Ghost Kings, besieging and killing Sword Sect Elder Pang Renxiong.

One battle had left the inner city of Dahe Workshop withered and broken.

Even, in the end, turning a perfectly good inner city into a ghost domain.

Of the thousands of rogue cultivators within, only a few survived, and only the cultivators of the several great sects from outside the domain, under deliberate protection, managed to survive.

The rest, even Sword Sect Elder Pang Renxiong and True Disciple Luo Tianhong, had fallen within it.

Even Luo Chen had once mastered a Ghost General derived from Luo Tianhong's remnant soul.

He hadn't expected Miao Wen to have survived that battle.

"However, it looks like he has been living a life worse than death."

Luo Chen shook his head, no longer concealing his figure.

After confirming that the other party had no threat, he took the initiative to land in the Meta-Magnetic Valley.

Once inside, the spiritual energy environment, which was thin to the point of non-existence, made Luo Chen feel very uncomfortable.

But his gaze was fixed on Miao Wen, who had become restless due to his arrival, with his face showing cruel, angry, desperate, panicked, and many other changing expressions.

"Roar, woo..."

Listening to the meaningless sounds emitted from the other party's mouth, Luo Chen sighed.

"To live so painfully, the grudges between us in the past make me feel troubled."

"However, I have great use for the Yin energy on your body."

"Forget it, let me help you find relief!"

Seeing Miao Wen wanting to run.

Luo Chen raised his hand, and a long banner was thrown from his hand.

"Xiao Ling, set up the Soul-Bewitching Great Formation!"

"Yes, Master!"

From within the long banner came Bai Meiling's delicate shout.

Afterward, the long banner landed, and with it as the center, waves of black mist permeated out, enveloping the entire Meta-Magnetic Valley.

Situated within the black mist, Luo Chen shook his wrist again.

A tattered, yellow-bronze ancient mirror floated out.

On the bronze mirror, spiritual light flickered, and in the blink of an eye, it covered Miao Wen's figure.

Luo Chen began to continuously form seals with his hands, chanting words, and his pair of spiritual eyes looked gloomily at Miao Wen, who was bewildered and roaring like a wild beast.

"Mirror Flower, Water Moon, Guiding the Soul into a Dream. Ghost God Asking the Heart, Clearly Reflecting One's Own Heart!"

"Duo!"

With a light shout, Miao Wen, who was staring at Luo Chen, stiffened.

His body went limp, and he sat cross-legged on the ground.

And in the Ghost God Asking the Heart Mirror, a sword sound suddenly rang out, clanging.

"We sword cultivators do not linger on external objects, but should be loyal to a single sword!"

In a small courtyard, a young man was led inside to test his spirit roots.

After a long time, the cultivator in the courtyard emitted a faint sound.

"Gold, water, and earth three-series spirit roots, mediocre aptitude, not suitable for entry."

The young man knelt down with a thud, his face resolute: "Disciple Miao Wen is willing to serve the Sword Sect disciples as a servant, only asking to stay on Yuhuang Mountain!"

"Forget it, Senior Brother, give him a chance!"

The young man was kept.

Every day, he did the work of sweeping and cleaning.

In his spare time, he would practice the sword techniques of the Sword Sect's outer sect.

After ten years of this, he drew Qi into his body, and at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he entered the Sword Sect's gate and became an outer sect disciple.

After becoming an outer sect disciple, although there were still many miscellaneous tasks, he still did not give up cultivation.

Practicing sword techniques day and night for decades, he finally participated in the Qi Refining disciple competition, and with his exquisite sword skills and tenacious character, he was exceptionally promoted by the inner sect elders to the inner sect.

Entering the inner sect should have been a joyous thing.

This represented hope for the Dao path!

However, the sudden change in environment also meant that the people he interacted with became different.

They were no longer the mediocre people in the outer sect who just got by, but genius seedlings who practiced hard and had excellent aptitude and talent.

Against the backdrop of these people, Miao Wen appeared increasingly insignificant.

The so-called persistence, the so-called effort, others had it too.

He thought that by putting in three times the effort, he could catch up with those with dual spirit roots or heavenly spirit roots.

However, not to mention whether he could catch up, those geniuses, under the constant instruction of their masters, were also working extremely hard, and their character was by no means weaker than his.

In daily cultivation, blows followed one after another.

An increasingly older age meant that the hope of Foundation Establishment was becoming increasingly slim.

When the Sword Sect's once-every-sixty-years all-sect competition arrived, Miao Wen participated at the ninth level of Qi Refining.

But he was defeated one after another by the genius swordsmen of his generation whom he lived with day and night.

Failure was not terrible.

What was terrible was that he did not get a Foundation Establishment quota.

Plus, having passed the best age for Foundation Establishment, the Sword Sect's resources naturally would not tilt toward him.

He returned to the outer sect once again.

As someone who had been exceptionally promoted to the inner sect from the outer sect, he had originally been a legend, an existence longed for and revered by countless outer sect disciples, but rolling back in such a dejected manner, those pairs of eyes made him unbearable.

"There are true geniuses in this world; the so-called genius of effort does not exist. Because true geniuses also work hard; only effort can exchange for potential, turning a genius into a generation of powerhouses."

"From the moment I tested my spirit roots in the small courtyard back then, I had already lost completely."

On the night he returned to the outer sect, Miao Wen was completely disheartened.

Although he continued to practice habitually afterward, it was just a habit.

Most of his thoughts were no longer on the sword path.

But shifted to scheming, climbing, power, and wealth.

After all, the world outside the Yuding Sword Sect told him that the sword path was not the only way.

In this way, in the year he turned eighty, he actually luckily obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill from an inner sect disciple who didn't need it.

Lucky things were not just this one.

Relying on that Foundation Establishment Pill, at an unsuitable age, he actually succeeded in Foundation Establishment in one go!

After Foundation Establishment, he became even more firm in his ideas.

The sword path was not the only way; using other methods, one could still achieve the Great Dao!

As a Foundation Establishment True Cultivator, the Sword Sect had other treatments; no matter how old he was, he could have the status of an inner sect disciple.

But Miao Wen refused the status of an inner sect disciple and chose to become an outer sect deacon, which others saw as being a beast of burden.

Afterward, he began to take over many miscellaneous tasks in the outer sect.

From sect secular affairs to the business of nearby workshops, finally, after a long time, he gained the sect's trust and was sent out to a place to independently manage a Yuding Sword Pavilion.

Dahe Workshop was the place he had been sent to that was the furthest and most dangerous in his life experience.

But at the same time, this was also the place he felt was the most suitable opportunity!

Here, he befriended the resident cultivators of the industries of the sects outside the domain, gathered local rogue cultivator forces, and seized various resources and wealth.

He even once obtained several types of heaven and earth spirit herbs that could prolong life.

The Six-Leaf Heavenly Emperor Lotus sent by Uncle Mi of the Broken Mountain Gang was one of them.

He used these life-prolonging spirit herbs to open up the upper-level connections of the sect, allowing him to stay in Dahe Workshop for a long time.

Then, his actions to seize wealth began to accelerate and increase!

"After earning enough resources for me to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, I will return to the sect, and then choose a second-tier high-grade cave dwelling to practice in seclusion for a hundred years; before my life ends, it's not impossible to make a dash for the Core Formation stage!"

This was Miao Wen's fantasy.

And he indeed almost had such an opportunity to fulfill his dream.

Dan Chenzi, Luo Chen!

An alchemist who accidentally rose from among the rogue cultivators.

He represented countless wealth!

It's just a pity that an unexpected battle destroyed everything.

Inside the bronze mirror.

Miao Wen, Luo Tianhong, and others, according to Pang Renxiong's instructions, presided over the formation to resist the three Ghost Kings.

In the end, the formation was broken and the people were destroyed!

Luo Tianhong died in battle on the spot.

Miao Wen was also seriously injured.

However, relying on his many years of managing Dahe Workshop and his familiarity with the inner city, he luckily escaped that ghost domain.

But while fleeing, he was tainted by the Ghost King's Yin energy, which had been shattered by Pang Renxiong.

Already seriously injured, plus the remnant consciousness of the Ghost King in the Yin energy, he was impacted in his mind and could not control himself.

In a daze, he fled to a place he subconsciously felt was very safe.

Jueyun Mountain, Meta-Magnetic Valley.

"As long as I recover from my injuries here, I can return to the Sword Sect and report the intelligence of Dahe Workshop; perhaps it will also be a great achievement."

However, this recuperation lasted for decades.

His injuries were not seen to be recovering; instead, his own situation was getting worse and worse.

How powerful was the Ghost King that had been suppressed under Dahe Workshop for hundreds of years!

The instinctive desire to survive made those remnant consciousnesses begin to fight with Miao Wen for control of the body.

Even the remnant consciousness was not something Miao Wen could block.

"It's a pity, if I could have continued to practice the sword path hard and reached the state of Sword Heart Clear in the Foundation Establishment stage, what would this mere Ghost King consciousness be to me."

"I shouldn't have..."

Muttering, Miao Wen's tightly closed eyes shed murky tears.

A black halo enveloped his soul.

"Mirror Flower, Water Moon, Release!"

Crack...

The water mirror shattered, the flower and moon did not exist.

The old man slowly opened his eyes, looking at his hands with a complex expression.

There were no calluses from sword practice on them; many years of living in luxury, even with forty years of mental confusion, the Foundation Establishment cultivation still kept them white and tender beneath the filth.

He raised his head, looking at the tall man standing in front of him holding the bronze mirror.

That somewhat unfamiliar temperament, yet somewhat familiar face, made him unable to confirm for a moment.

"You are... Luo..."

"Deacon Miao, long time no see, Luo Chen pays his respects."

Luo Chen glanced at the Ghost God Asking the Heart Mirror, which had three new cracks, put it into the Thunder-Accumulating Treasure Ring, and then performed a Daoist salute to the extremely weak Miao Wen.

Miao Wen opened his mouth; in his weak state, he could no longer extend his spiritual sense to check Luo Chen's realm.

But the feeling that the other party could kill him with a casual finger was not fake.

He gave a bitter laugh and suddenly asked: "What time is it now?"

"The 3449th year of the Shanhai Calendar." Luo Chen replied.

Miao Wen was startled, his body swaying.

"Has it actually been forty years..."

Muttering, he raised his head to look at Luo Chen again, his mouth wanting to say something but stopping.

Seeming to know what he wanted to ask, Luo Chen said unhurriedly: "In that battle back then, Pang Renxiong died, and Dahe Workshop became a ghost city. But he didn't die completely; instead, his remnant soul and resentment cast themselves into the ghost path, turning into a third-tier Ghost King."

"I knew Elder Pang wouldn't die so easily; he had already achieved the state of Sword Heart Clear when he was Foundation Establishment; even if he died, he could still turn to the ghost path."

"Sword Heart Clear?" Luo Chen raised an eyebrow; he had also learned of this saying just now in the Ghost God Asking the Heart Mirror through the experiences manifested by the other party.

Miao Wen nodded, avoiding this topic, and asked about other things.

Luo Chen naturally had no objections, and told him about some of the major events that had happened in the Yuding Domain over the years.

Such as the Luoyun Sect Supreme Elder Han Zhan advancing to Nascent Soul True Person, sparking a great war between the sects, and so on.

Listening to these things, a complex look appeared in Miao Wen's eyes.

Seeming to have some longing, and also seeming to have some fear.

But in the end, it was a look of calmness.

"I cannot be considered friendly with you."

"Back then, with my words of torturing the heart, I caught a glimpse of the most despicable side of you. Now, with your treasure of asking the heart, you have let me find my original true self."

"Repaying grievances with virtue like this, I imagine it is not your character, Luo Chen."

"Plus you told me these things frankly... I imagine, I am dead for sure."

Luo Chen pursed his lips, staring at the other party seriously.

After a moment, he gave a free and easy laugh.

"As you think, that's right."

This was a frank admission that he had the heart to kill him.

If it were before, Miao Wen might have begged humbly.

But after experiencing these forty years of life worse than death, now that he had been able to restore a completely clear state, he had already seen through it.

"Actually, whether you kill me or not, with my current soul state, I don't have two years left to live. The Ghost King's remnant soul seizing the body, how could it be so easy to endure."

He smiled and said to Luo Chen: "Since you didn't kill me directly, and went to such great lengths to wake me up, I imagine there is something on me that you need!"

Luo Chen nodded.

He did not do any roundabout probing.

"I need that extremely pure Yin energy on your body!"

"The Ghost King's Origin Yin energy?"

Miao Wen was startled.

Afterward, his gaze saw the young girl flying timidly in the black mist nearby.

Although her body was extremely solid, she looked no different from an ordinary cultivator.

But with Miao Wen's knowledge, he could still identify the other party's situation from the rich Yin ghost aura.

"For her?"

"Hmm."

"If this girl obtains the Ghost King's Origin Yin energy on my body, from now on, advancing to the third-tier Ghost King realm will be a smooth path."

"She was also a rogue cultivator who died in the Dahe inner city back then."

Miao Wen was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with emotion.

"Forget it, tell me how to do it, I will cooperate with you fully."

"It's very simple, just inside and outside working together!"

Luo Chen told Miao Wen in detail the method of taking the Yin energy.

In fact, with his means, whether it was the Great Perfection Cleaning Technique or the Soul-Deterring Art, he had a certain degree of certainty to extract the Yin energy from Miao Wen's body.

But that Yin energy was of too high a grade.

If he didn't control it well, perhaps it would escape.

Plus, there was still the remnant Ghost King consciousness inside; if Bai Meiling accidentally absorbed it, she might encounter an accident.

Therefore, he needed Miao Wen to cooperate with him to actively shatter the Ghost King consciousness inside.

Only then could Bai Meiling safely and worry-free absorb that third-tier Ghost King Origin Yin energy!

Miao Wen had fought with this consciousness for decades, so he naturally knew how to deal with it.

Soon!

With the two working together, wisps of Yin energy were extracted from Miao Wen's body and flew toward Bai Meiling, who was sitting cross-legged under the Soul-Nurturing Banner nearby.

A day passed in the blink of an eye.

Between heaven and earth, it had already fallen into a dark night.

It was fortunate that they were in the Meta-Magnetic Valley, where there were no wild beasts or demonic beasts to disturb them; otherwise, sleeping in the wild so openly would still be very dangerous.

Finally.

Just as the sky was about to brighten, Miao Wen's body trembled.

The Ghost King Yin energy that had been entrenched in his body for many years was completely removed.

And Bai Meiling also looked like she was drunk, shaking her head and muttering two sentences to Luo Chen, before crawling into the Soul-Nurturing Banner.

Watching Luo Chen put away the banner, Miao Wen, who was now weak to the extreme, had some disbelief in his eyes.

In this day and night of cooperation to remove the Yin energy, he had caught a glimpse of Luo Chen's true realm.

"You are at the late Foundation Establishment stage?"

Luo Chen did not hide it, saying frankly: "Foundation Establishment Level 8, at most ten years of hard work away from Foundation Establishment Level 9."

Miao Wen opened his mouth.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

After Foundation Establishment Level 9, wouldn't it be charging toward the Great Perfection realm, and then Core Formation.

This was something he had fantasized about his whole life.

Luo Chen was actually going to do it so soon?

He was still so young!

What kind of dog shit luck did he have...

However, when Miao Wen saw the gray and white hair tied behind Luo Chen's back, he pursed his lips tightly.

He knew Luo Chen's aptitude.

Five spirit roots, ten or a hundred times worse than his own.

He also knew Luo Chen's background; in the cultivation world, he could be called helpless and alone.

In such a situation, Luo Chen could reach this step at this age... Thinking of the many major events in the Yuding Domain that the other party had mentioned casually before, although the words were plain, he seemed to be on the scene for every one of them.

Finally, Miao Wen understood.

There was no such thing as having great luck.

It was just that the other party had gone through thousands of difficulties and obstacles, accumulating bit by bit to the present.

Morning mist shrouded the Meta-Magnetic Valley.

The slight coolness made the old man suddenly feel cold.

Perhaps, it was not the morning dew that was slightly cool, but the gaze that Luo Chen was slowly casting over, containing killing intent!

Miao Wen opened his mouth and said slowly: "Can you wait a little longer?"

Luo Chen frowned, "A moment earlier, a moment later, what's the difference?"

Miao Wen looked at his body full of filth, then raised his head to look at the dim sky.

It was as if he had returned to the young man who was sweeping fallen leaves and dust on the mountain path before dawn.

"If I go on like this, and my fellow disciples see me, I fear they will laugh at me again."

Luo Chen was startled.

Above the peak of Jueyun Mountain.

White clouds drifted, and the breeze blew gently.

Below the mountain were the roars of beasts and the sound of pine waves.

In the distance, the Lancang River surged endlessly, seeming unchanged for thousands of years.

A red sun, like an egg yolk, leaped out of the clouds and slowly rose into the sky.

Looking brand new, with his long hair tied up and his beard groomed, Miao Wen, with his withered but clean hands resting on his knees, watched the sunrise earnestly.

When the sun finally emerged completely, a curve hung on the corner of his mouth.

Afterward, the luster in his eyes gradually faded, and finally, he slowly lowered his head.

Luo Chen stood to the side, holding a jade slip in his right hand, and holding the storage bag whose spiritual sense restriction the other party had actively unlocked before death, watching this scene silently.

After a long time.

A wisp of green flame fell onto the old man's body, finally turning into a pile of ashes.

With a roll of his large sleeves, he swept up the ashes, and Luo Chen leaped up.

Passing by the Lancang River, he raised his hand and tossed it.

"Fellow Daoist, have a safe journey!"