Chapter 445: Fellow Daoist, Go Well on Your Way

Jueyun Mountain, outside the Magnetism Valley.

Luo Chen lowered his spirit 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 former person in charge of daily secular affairs at the Yuding Sword Pavilion in the Dahe Market.

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

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

However.

The man who had once kept his appearance and demeanor in perfect order, elegant and graceful, was now disheveled, in rags, completely unable to see the style of a generation of Yuding sword cultivators.

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

The Dharma robe embroidered with the Sword Sect emblem, apart from the emblem, could not find a few intact pieces of cloth on his whole body.

His face was full of mud, and the corners of his mouth were stained with some meat foam and blood.

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

Who would have thought that he had once been a generation of Foundation Establishment True Cultivators, enjoying the flattery and respect of tens of thousands of rogue cultivators in the Dahe Market.

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 Hearing Mi Shuhua, but in the original Dahe Market, he was also a powerhouse with a number.

Logically speaking, after forty years, no matter how bad the other party was, not to mention improving too much, it shouldn't have dropped!

Luo Chen's gaze wandered.

"Is it because of living in the Magnetism Valley for a long time without spiritual energy nourishment?"

"Or..."

Suddenly, Luo Chen's gaze fell on Miao Wen, who was suddenly trembling in the valley.

Visible to the naked eye, wisps of black, substantial-like Yin energy were being expelled from his body.

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

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

Like maggots on the tarsal bone, difficult to remove!

When the Yin energy returned, 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 condensing on Bai Meiling's body, the one on Miao Wen was much more solid, even feeling like it exceeded a level.

"Yin energy of a third-rank Ghost King?"

A thought surfaced in Luo Chen's mind.

In a trance, he seemed to see the Dahe Market back then, the three Ghost Kings reappearing in the world, the boundless Yin energy shrouding the inner city.

That battle!

It was very tragic!

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

One battle shattered the inner city of the Dahe Market.

In the end, it even turned a perfectly good inner city into a ghost domain.

Of the thousands of rogue cultivators inside, few survived, only the cultivators of several major sects from outside the domain, under deliberate protection, managed to survive.

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

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

He didn't expect Miao Wen to have survived that battle.

"However, it looks like he is 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 Magnetism Valley.

Once inside, the thin, near-nonexistent spiritual energy environment made Luo Chen feel very uncomfortable.

But his gaze fell for the first time on Miao Wen, who had become restless because of his arrival, his face showing cruel, angry, desperate, panicked, and many other changing expressions.

"Roar, woo..."

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

"Living so painfully, the grudges between you and me in the past make me feel troubled."

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

"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 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, wrapping the entire Magnetism Valley.

Inside 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's hands began to continuously form seals, his mouth chanting words, a pair of spirit eyes staring gloomily at Miao Wen, who was panicked and at a loss, roaring and shouting like a wild beast.

"Mirror Flower Water Moon, lead the soul into a dream. Ghost God asks the heart, clearly examine 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 Heart Mirror, a sword sound suddenly rang out.

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

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

After a long time, a faint voice came from the cultivator in the courtyard.

"Gold, water, and earth three-system spirit roots, medium-low aptitude, not suitable for entry."

The youth knelt down with a thud, his face resolute: "Disciple Miao Wen, willing to serve the Sword Sect disciples as a menial, only asking to stay on Jade Emperor Mountain!"

"Forget it, Qi Qi Shixiong, give him a chance!"

The youth was left behind.

Doing the sweeping and cleaning work every day.

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 Qi Refining Level 4, he entered the Sword Sect's gates, becoming 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, finally participating in the Sword Sect's once-in-sixty-years all-sect competition, with exquisite sword techniques and a resilient heart, he was exceptionally promoted by the inner sect elders to the inner sect.

Entering the inner sect should have been a joyful thing.

This represented hope for the Dao path!

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

No longer the mediocre people in the outer sect who were muddling through, but geniuses with excellent aptitude and talent who were practicing hard.

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

The so-called persistence, the so-called effort, others also had.

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

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

In daily cultivation, blows came one after another.

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

When the Sword Sect's once-in-sixty-years all-sect competition arrived, Miao Wen participated at the Qi Refining Level 9.

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 the 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 been a legend, someone looked up to and admired 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 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.

His mind was no longer on the Sword Dao.

But shifted to maneuvering, clinging, power, and wealth.

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

In this way, in the year he turned eighty, he accidentally 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 fell swoop!

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

The Sword Dao 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 working like an ox or a horse.

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

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

The Dahe Market was the furthest and most dangerous place he had been sent to in his life.

But at the same time, it 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 Hearing Mi Shuhua of the Poshan Gang was one of them.

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

Then, the actions of seizing 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-rank 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 unexpectedly 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 the Dahe Market and his familiarity with the inner city, he luckily escaped that ghost domain.

But while fleeing, he was invaded by the Ghost King's Yin energy that Pang Renxiong had shattered.

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

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

Jueyun Mountain, Magnetism Valley.

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

However, this recuperation lasted for decades.

The injuries didn't recover, but his own situation became worse and worse.

How powerful was the Ghost King suppressed beneath the Dahe Market!

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

Even remnant consciousnesses were not something Miao Wen could block.

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

"I shouldn't have..."

Muttering, turbid tears flowed from the corners of Miao Wen's tightly closed eyes.

A black halo wrapped around his soul.

"Mirror Flower Water Moon, break!"

Crack...

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

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

There were no calluses from practicing sword techniques on them, and many years of living in luxury, even though his heart had been chaotic for forty years, the Foundation Establishment cultivation still allowed him to maintain the original whiteness and smoothness beneath the filth.

He looked up at the tall man standing in front of him, holding a bronze mirror.

That somewhat unfamiliar temperament, yet somewhat familiar face, could not be confirmed for a while.

"Are you... Luo..."

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

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

Miao Wen opened his mouth; the weak him 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 could not be faked.

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

"Shanhai Calendar 3449." Luo Chen answered.

Miao Wen was startled, his body swaying.

"Forty years have actually passed..."

Muttering, he looked up at Luo Chen again, his mouth wanting to speak but stopping.

Seeming to know what he wanted to ask, Luo Chen said unhurriedly: "In that battle, Pang Renxiong died, and the Dahe Market became a ghost city. But he didn't die completely; instead, his remnant soul threw itself into the ghost path, becoming a third-rank Ghost King."

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

"Sword Heart Clarity?" Luo Chen raised an eyebrow; he had also learned of this statement through the other party's manifested experience in the Ghost God Asking Heart Mirror just now.

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

Luo Chen naturally had no objection and picked some major events that had happened in the Yuding Domain over the years to tell him.

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

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

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

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

"You and I cannot be considered friendly."

"Back then, I used the words of heart-torture to glimpse the most despicable side of your heart. Now you use the treasure of heart-asking to let me find my true self."

"Repaying grievances with virtue like this, I don't think it's your character, Luo Chen."

"Plus you told me these things frankly... I think I'm 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 thought, 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 for mercy humbly.

But after experiencing these forty years of life worse than death, now that he was able to restore a completely clear state, he had already let go.

"Actually, whether you kill me or not, with my current soul state, I don't have two years left to live. Ghost King remnant soul possession, how can 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 think there is something on me that you need!"

Luo Chen nodded.

He did not do any roundabout probing.

"I need that pure Yin energy on you!"

"The Ghost King's Origin Yin energy?"

Miao Wen was startled.

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

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

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

"For her?"

"Yes."

"If this girl obtains the Ghost King Origin Yin energy on me, from now on, advancing to the third-rank 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, then shook his head with emotion.

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

"Very simple, just inside and outside cooperation!"

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

In fact, with his means, whether it was the Great Perfection Cleaning Art or the Soul-Deterring Art, he had a certain degree of confidence in extracting 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, it might escape.

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

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

Only then could Bai Meiling safely absorb that third-rank Ghost King Origin Yin energy!

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

Soon!

With the cooperation of the two, 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 lucky they were in the Magnetism Valley, with no wild beasts or demonic beasts to disturb them, otherwise, sleeping in the wild so openly would still be very dangerous.

Finally.

Just before dawn, Miao Wen's body trembled.

The Ghost King Yin energy that had occupied his body for many years was completely eradicated.

And Bai Meiling also looked like she was drunk, shaking her head and muttering a few words to Luo Chen before drilling 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 in extracting Yin energy, he glimpsed Luo Chen's true realm.

"You are Foundation Establishment late stage?"

Luo Chen did not hide it and said frankly: "Foundation Establishment Level 8, at most ten years of grinding 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, which could be called having no one to rely on in the cultivation world.

In such a situation, Luo Chen could walk to 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, every one of them seemed as if he had been on the scene.

Finally, Miao Wen understood.

There was no such thing as 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 Magnetism Valley.

The cool feeling made the old man suddenly feel cold.

Perhaps, it wasn't the morning dew that was cool, but the gaze that Luo Chen was slowly projecting, containing killing intent!

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

Luo Chen frowned, "What's the difference between a moment earlier and a moment later?"

Miao Wen looked at his filthy body, then looked up at the dim sky.

It was as if he had returned to that youth 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.

At the peak of Jueyun Mountain.

White clouds drifted, the breeze blew gently.

Below the mountain were the sounds of beasts roaring and the waves of pine trees.

In the distance, the Lancangjiang surged endlessly, seemingly unchanged for millions 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, his right hand pinching a jade slip, holding the storage bag that the other party had voluntarily unlocked the spiritual sense restriction on before death, watching this scene silently.

After a long time.

A wisp of azure 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 Lancangjiang, he raised his hand.

"Fellow Daoist, go well on your way!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 446 =====