Chapter 56: Thunder Letter

Human skin, human corpses, blood flowed all over the ground; seemingly still under the influence of the sacrificial pillars, wisps of blood mist drifted across the field, then were sucked toward that medicine cauldron.

Chen Ci rubbed his fingers, feeling as if he had been fleeced, but after thinking it over, he still did not make a move.

Just while chatting idly, he calmly and unnoticeably pulled back a distance of two or three steps.

This bit of distance was just about enough.

Still the same saying: although Ge Laodao's True Qi cultivation was more than three levels higher than Chen Ci's, wanting to defeat Chen Ci was by no means an easy task, and there was even a risk of being killed in return.

Since the price for "integrity first" on this trip had already been paid, was there any need for the two of them to take risks?

Absolutely no need.

However, being careful was always for the best.

Just now, while the two sides' subordinates were fighting, that Blood Soul shadow had wanted to make some moves, but after a glance from Ge Laodao and Chen Ci, it only dared to hover above that medicine cauldron, raging in impotent fury.

"Your Wang Family has contributed much in this battle; you may send one family descendant to return to Nine Springs Temple with me, the old Daoist, as a Registered Disciple."

Ge Laodao said indifferently to the three remaining members of the Wang Family.

Hearing this, Chen Ci, standing to the side, could not help but sincerely admire this old Daoist's methods.

Not only did he use a single empty promise to appease the teammate who had just been cheated, but there was also much to be said about this one quota.

One does not worry about scarcity, but about inequality; Wang Qingyuan still had two sons alive, after all.

"This old man only wants to learn from that Ma Family Ancestor to extend my life by a hundred years, why must you all come to make things difficult for me!"

That elderly Blood Soul shadow, apart from its head being somewhat solid, was a flickering phantom everywhere else, and it couldn't help but roar: "In this world where the strong prey on the weak, is it a mistake even to be alive!"

Chen Ci: "." This fellow truly already had a path to death.

"This Blood Soul Motou is scattered in form and thin in Qi, and its spirit platform is not very bright; but if it were nurtured for another few decades, I fear it would be of some use even to a Dao Foundation High Cultivator."

Ge Laodao gave a disdainful laugh: "But wanting to extend one's life by relying on this is also laughable."

"What are you laughing at? This old man has the blessing of the Divine Lord and is an envoy of the Divine Lord; I am destined for Longevity. You cannot kill me; if you kill me, you won't be able to live either!"

The elderly Blood Soul shadow suddenly changed its tone, and with a fawning tone, it humbly negotiated: "This old man understands the rules; if you spare this old man, you can take all the gold, silver, and medicinal materials in this village, how about it?"

"Truly, its intelligence is clouded."

Ge Laodao actually replied coldly: "These are just methods for seeking gold and silver; killing you will yield even more."

However, despite saying this, Ge Laodao did not strike directly; he looked at the sacrificial pillars a few times, clearly still somewhat wary, as if he were hesitating about something.

"Daoist Ge, you go ahead and get busy; I'll go wander around nearby?"

Chen Ci felt that this matter no longer had much to do with him, so he might as well go see how the Five Qi Peiyuan Mushroom nearby was doing and how it should be harvested.

"Wait a moment, Daoist Chen."

Ge Laodao seemed to have made a decision and waved his hand, saying: "These few sacrificial pillars seem to be arranged with some mystery. This old Daoist is not good at fighting and wants to set up an altar to borrow the Law to destroy this Blood Soul Motou. I ask that you, Daoist, protect me for a while. You don't need to do much; this Blood Soul Motou's heat is too shallow and it cannot leave this blood pool. You only need to block it so it doesn't rush up."

Set up an altar to borrow the Law?

Chen Ci's heart stirred, and he actually became a bit interested; to tell the truth, he had never really seen a proper, formal spell.

The He Mountain Sect's Daoist arts prioritized offense above all else and were even more inclined toward the flow of flesh, evil spirits, and baleful Qi. With the integration of artifacts and laws, without these evil Dharma Artifacts refined over many years, all kinds of spells could not be cast at all. Let alone calling for wind and rain or pointing at the ground to turn it into steel, even the simplest Five Elements spells—generating a spark out of thin air with True Qi—were very difficult for Chen Ci to achieve.

He hadn't learned them, and his specialty didn't match.

And the most important point: Qi Refining cultivators cast spells very slowly and it was very time-consuming. When fighting, it was far less efficient than Dharma Artifacts and talismans. Most only delved into this path after forging a Dao Foundation and condensing True Qi into Dharma Power.

The He Mountain Sect's path of integrating artifacts and laws was both a strength and a weakness.

The strength was that they could fight, and their combat power took shape quickly. Any random He Mountain Sect Apprentice had one or two offensive Dharma Artifacts refined over many years. As their cultivation years grew longer, perhaps their cultivation level was hard to increase, but their evil Dharma Artifacts became more numerous and more powerful.

The weakness was also very obvious.

The time and energy consumed in refining Dharma Artifacts were not small, and it was of no benefit to one's own cultivation, easily delaying one's progress. One or two were fine, but if there were too many Dharma Artifacts, it was truly easy to put the cart before the horse.

Secondly, Dharma Artifacts also had a foundation and quality. For an Apprentice just entering the Dao, if they didn't have rewards from their masters, what kind of good Dharma Artifact embryo could they find?

By the time their cultivation level improved, the power of the Dharma Artifacts they initially refined would gradually fail to keep up. Either they had to find new embryos and start the bitter refining process from scratch, or they had to refine more powerful Dharma Artifacts. It was not like the path of spells; once learned, even if it wasn't of great use now, it was ultimately one's own.

Therefore, although the He Mountain Sect's fierce reputation was great, in the cultivation world, they could only be a major sect of the side door. They were powerful at the Qi Refining stage, and decent at the Dao Foundation stage, but beyond that, it was easy for them to be left behind by the major sects of the Profound Gate.

It was even possible they would be hung up and beaten.

Since Ge Laodao had spoken, Chen Ci naturally did not refuse, nodding and saying: "Please, Daoist."

"Go and move the old Daoist's mysterious altar up here."

He was naturally speaking to the three members of the Wang Family; the supplies brought on this trip, besides food and drink, also included some other items.

Mysterious altar, yellow silk, peach wood, divine sand, talisman paper, gold brush.

Chen Ci asked curiously: "Daoist Ge, are you going to perform talisman arts?"

"Talismans and laws are not separate. This old Daoist's skills are not yet refined; I can only prepare this way to successfully cast the spell."

Ge Laodao looked at the sacrificial pillars in the distance, stroked his white beard, and explained: "My Longhu Mountain has three talismans: Wind Letter, Rain Letter, and Thunder Letter. I will use the Thunder Letter Cloud Talisman to perform the Thunder Technique, but it requires waiting a while. By the way, Daoist Chen, what is planted in that Medicine Field? This old Daoist's knowledge is shallow, and I do not recognize it."

"It should be some kind of mushroom."

Chen Ci took another look, feeling somewhat disgusted: "I don't know exactly what it's used for; it's not very valuable."

"Hehe, that is also true."

Ge Laodao nodded: "Except for some medicines with pure spirit energy, most Spirit Materials are either hard for alchemists to find or their medicinal properties are hard to determine, making them difficult to price. However, since this Qingquan Village is planting them, there should still be some ways... Eh, the wind is picking up. I ask that you, Daoist, withdraw ten zhang. Ahem, it's not that I don't trust you, Daoist, but mainly because one needs to concentrate when casting spells, and being distracted makes it easy to make mistakes. You understand."

Chen Ci: "."

Am I that kind of person?

This fellow has truly reached a certain realm of cowardice.

He saw Ge Laodao calm his heart and spirit, pick up the brush to draw the talisman, and then form a seal with one hand, closing his eyes as if sensing something.

A quarter of an hour.

Chen Ci's mouth twitched, his expression somewhat speechless.

He knew that spells took a long time to activate, but he didn't expect it to be this slow. This Thunder Technique had taken a whole quarter of an hour from preparation to activation; if they had this much time, others would have run away long ago.

That Blood Soul Motou also vaguely felt something was wrong; its form dispersed and gathered, wanting to rush up, but it didn't dare to leave the range of the sacrificial pillars.

Suddenly, a thick cloud drifted toward this place.

Ge Laodao opened his eyes wide, and the talisman in his hand ignited on its own; Chen Ci felt the spiritual energy in the area seemingly gathering, aiming directly at that bronze tripod and also shrouding the area of the six sacrificial pillars within it.

It was just that it was skewed quite severely; how was it that even the few teammates watching the show nearby were about to be caught in the crossfire?

Although this fellow had achieved success in the Dao of cowardice, Chen Ci could only evaluate that in the field of spellcasting, he still needed to practice more.

"Daoist Chen, you are also craving this Essence Refining, aren't you? Do you want it?"

Ge Laodao focused his mind on casting the spell, yet he suddenly spoke up, asking Chen Ci a question unrelated to the matter at hand.

"Huh?"

(End of this chapter)