Chapter 94: Superior True Qi

Dao soldiers?

Chen Ci was slightly surprised; he had only heard of such things but never seen them, and even within the He Mountain Sect, no proper method for Dao soldiers had been passed down.

After all, a small, minor sect like the He Mountain Sect could not support such a spectacle.

In some profound, major sects, when a high-level cultivator travels, they go out reclining on silk curtains, listening to jade pipes, with strongmen as servants and immortal maidens as attendants; the focus is entirely on the aura of an immortal family.

And these so-called strongmen and Dao soldiers are cultivator servants refined through secret methods, somewhat similar to the military-style cultivators among miscellaneous rogue cultivators, but they rely entirely on external objects—or rather, they rely completely on their master's cultivation. Although they appear to have powerful combat strength and, at higher levels, can even extend their lifespan and achieve Longevity, they are more like objects, lacking freedom.

Dharma Artifacts do not die of old age and can be passed down with maintenance, but strongmen and Dao soldiers might perish before their master even gets to use them, wasting all the secret medicines and resources invested. Therefore, profound methods for strongmen and Dao soldiers are only possible for large, major sects.

It is said that the method of Dao soldiers also involves some secrets of formation arrays, making them much harder to cultivate than ordinary strongmen.

Chen Ci looked at the situation on the field and roughly understood what was going on.

Where are there any fools in this world?

Lin Banshan was confident he could defeat the Ma Family Village, also because the Ma Family's foundation is the Corpse Refining path of miscellaneous cultivation, which is quite easy to counter with a little careful preparation.

Since the Ma family dared to accept the challenge, they naturally had their own means, bringing out four living Copper Corpses, which caught Lin Banshan off guard.

In Chen Ci's view, these four so-called Copper Corpses were not very strong; judging by their aura, they were likely equivalent to the cultivation of a few apertures of True Qi. However, since they were Copper Corpses, they were naturally different from ordinary cultivators. To say their bodies were as hard as iron, their bones as sturdy as an ox, and their strength capable of lifting a tripod was no exaggeration at all. Plus, the old man surnamed Ma did not look like someone easy to deal with, so even if Lin Banshan's cultivation was higher, he likely wouldn't gain much of an advantage in this fight.

In any case, Lin Banshan's expression was quite ugly at this moment.

Is he about to flip his cart?

Chen Ci subconsciously touched the few bone bottles in his sleeves; with Yin Fire in hand, mere Copper Corpses could be silenced with a single burn.

"Ma Daoyou, please!"

Lin Banshan's expression remained ugly, but he took a deep breath and quickly adjusted his mindset: "This place is narrow; we can go outside the hall."

Although his methods for dealing with Corpse Refining were not producing miraculous effects, he was still a miscellaneous cultivator, not enough to make him retreat without a fight.

"Agreed!"

Ma Jinshun laughed heartily and was the first to leave the room. The four Copper Corpses followed like personal guards, their steps and movements even identical, faintly following some kind of pattern; perhaps the Ma Family Village really had obtained some scraps of the Dao soldier refining method.

The two sides stood a hundred paces apart.

Other cultivators in the mountain temple followed them out. Besides being summoned by the Ma family, they also held the mentality of spectators eating melons and watching a show. Such a duel is not easily seen; if it were truly exciting, it could serve as a topic of conversation for years, and they could raise their voices by three notches when drinking and bragging outside.

"Please."

"Please!"

Lin Banshan initiated the attack, pulling a Bronze Handbell from his bosom. It was covered in rust, not particularly impressive, and not even the size of a palm, but he gave it a shake.

"Clang!"

A roar like a temple's morning bell exploded suddenly, and even the surrounding cultivators were affected, feeling their heads become somewhat unclear.

"Useless, useless!"

Ma Jinshun grinned. If he had brought Corpse Refining, he would have suffered a significant loss from that, but now, heh.

He let out a loud roar and charged at Lin Banshan. The energy and True Qi of the man and the four corpses seemed to merge into one; in terms of total True Qi, it already exceeded Lin Banshan's by quite a bit.

Chen Ci stood outside the field, also gauging the methods of both sides, pondering how he would respond if he were the one on the field.

Although these four Copper Corpses looked imposing and were as hard as iron, they were also burdened by this; while they were more agile than mortals, they were much slower than a cultivator's leaping techniques. The man surnamed Ma was also burdened by this, so it would not be difficult to create distance.

But if they were to set up a formation to oppose him, it would not be so easy to handle.

Lin Banshan put away the Bronze Handbell with some regret and wiped his palm across his waist, producing a small round tripod about six inches high. It was deep yellow in color, resembling both jade and wood. As he blew a breath of True Qi into it, plumes of smoke began to pour out from the lid. At first, it was not obvious, but soon it was like the water of a river, enveloping his figure and growing more intense, surging in all directions until the area within ten zhang was all White Mist.

What made others marvel even more was that the five figures, including Ma Jinshun, could be vaguely seen within this White Mist, yet Lin Banshan's figure could not be seen at all, as if he had melted into the mist; even Chen Ci could not find where he was.

What a marvelous technique.

But Chen Ci thought of the Wind-Sealing Cloud Talisman of Longhu Mountain; if he had such a talisman, this smoke technique could likely be broken with a wave of his hand. If he lacked the corresponding means, even he could not think of a good way to break it for a moment.

"Although the power of spells varies, their usage differs, and one must not easily reveal one's own methods in the future. If one's foundation is known, it is easy to be countered."

Chen Ci pondered intently. The last time he fought Ge Laodao to the end, it was because his Dharma Artifact, the Five Yin Evil Qi Bag, was known, and the Five Yin Black Evil was countered by the Wind-Sealing Cloud Talisman, nearly causing him to capsize.

But now, if someone were to bring out such methods, Chen Ci could give them a surprise, neither too small nor too large.

Within the smoke, sounds of blades clashing could be heard from time to time. The White Mist surged back and forth, sometimes thick and sometimes thin. One could vaguely see figures falling to the ground, but since the duel had not ended, it appeared that Lin Banshan had the upper hand for now.

Looking at it this way, Lin Banshan's chances of winning were quite high; the Wenxiang Sect indeed had some means.

Chen Ci's eyes lowered, wondering what he was thinking, but suddenly a ball of golden light exploded in the White Mist, followed by a muffled groan. A figure stumbled and flew backward out of the smoke, a mist of blood gushing from their chest and abdomen, and the Small Yellow Jade Tripod in their hand fell to the side. The surrounding smoke was like spring snow meeting the sun, and within a few breaths, it began to dissipate.

No way, Old Lin, I just praised you, and you're already done for?

A feigned opening?

Advancing by retreating?

Chen Ci blinked, truly thinking he had seen wrong. This was far too different from the "defeating the Ma Family Village" you mentioned earlier!

"Where are you running!"

Ma Jinshun's face turned ferocious, his eight-sided bronze staff whistling down. If it landed solidly, one Lin Banshan would likely turn into ten.

Determining that Lin Banshan did not look like he was acting, Chen Ci frowned and pointed lightly. A strand of Five Yin Black Evil curled toward the eight-sided bronze staff, while he shouted: "Ma Daoyou, show mercy; this round counts as his defeat."

Not to mention that the two still had some friendship, just for the sake of the Frost Sugar resources that had not been settled for two years, Chen Ci could not let Lin Banshan die here. Since he had spoken to admit defeat on Lin Banshan's behalf, even if Lin Banshan was unwilling, he had to accept it.

"Hmph!"

But Ma Jinshun seemed not to have heard what Chen Ci said, the bronze staff in his hand moving three times faster. Even though his momentum was blocked by the Five Yin Black Evil, he clearly did not look like someone intending to show mercy.

Woo!

Only a low whistle was heard, as if something had pierced the air. In less than half a breath, a sound of metal clashing rang out in mid-air. A dull light flashed, sparks scattered, and a small section of the eight-sided bronze staff was cleanly sliced off, which finally slowed the staff's momentum.

The clash of metal damaged the Five Yin Gold Evil; with just this one strike, Chen Ci lost two strands of gold energy, and this evil energy would take two days of cultivation to recover.

Truly a loss.

Chen Ci sighed inwardly, though his face remained expressionless, and he said calmly: "I have always preferred to resolve conflicts in my life. Ma Daoyou, if you do not stop the fighting, I will have to be impolite."

Ma Jinshun wore a look of fierce courage on his face. Although he stopped his killing intent, he set up a stance, his eyes turning red, staring fixedly at Chen Ci: "And who are you!"

Seeing that the atmosphere on the field was not right, the beautiful woman Shi Sanniang stood out, lightly covering her chest and smiling: "The duel here is truly fierce, but Master Ma Five is even better. Winning is a joyous occasion, so we should celebrate for Master Five. By the way, this is Master Chen Ci of the Sanyin Temple in Changping County, a high disciple of the He Mountain Sect. He is also here to witness for both sides. We are all our own people, so let's not hurt the harmony."

I don't know if the three words "He Mountain Sect" had any effect, but the blood-red color in Ma Jinshun's eyes slowly faded, and he put away his weapon, snorting coldly: "So you are an Apprentice of the He Mountain Sect. My Ancestor had some connection with a senior surnamed Jiao in your sect back in the day, so I won't hold it against you today."

Pausing for a moment, Ma Jinshun frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice: "Since you just said that this man surnamed Lin lost, can it count?"

Chen Ci's eyes flickered, but he did not answer directly; Lin Banshan had not died after all, and in this short time, he had recovered slightly, with a large gash on his chest and abdomen where his internal organs were faintly visible, seemingly wounded by some kind of sharp weapon.

"What Brother Chen said naturally counts; I have lost."

Lin Banshan struggled to crawl up, coughed a few times, his face deathly pale, and even his spirit had withered: "With all fellow Daoists present today, I, Lin, will no longer interfere with the Spirit Spring Medicine Field of Qingquan Village; if I go back on this, may heaven and man abandon me."

"Good!"

Ma Jinshun gave a grim laugh, swept a fierce glance at Lin Banshan, and his tone was very unfriendly: "Since that is the case, from now on, people from outside the mountains had better not approach Qingquan Village again; if any misunderstandings arise, that would not be good."

Lin Banshan gave two bitter laughs, said nothing more, and only slightly raised his hand toward Chen Ci: "Brother Chen, I still need you to support me; I have let you see a joke, cough, cough cough."

In just this short time, blood gushed out from Lin Banshan's mouth and chest again; just from this, it is estimated that it will be hard to recover his vitality for a year or a year and a half, which is truly miserable.

"Here, eat this; it can heal your wounds."

Chen Ci glanced at Lin Banshan a few times, shook his head, and handed over a Life-Nurturing Pill: "You won't die, will you?"

"Cough, I won't die. This time I have truly lost all face. Hehe, if I hadn't been prepared and invited Brother Chen to hold the line, I fear I would have really been finished today."

Lin Banshan took the Life-Nurturing Pill and put it directly into his mouth; after a long while, some color returned to his face, and he spat: "Damn it, I've lost so much it's ridiculous, but..."

Lin Banshan fell inexplicably silent, and after a long time, he looked up at Chen Ci, as if considering something.

"What is it? Even a landlord's family has no surplus grain; these Life-Nurturing Pills are precious, though their effects are indeed quite good."

Chen Ci saw Lin Banshan's hesitant look and thought he wanted to freeload a few more Life-Nurturing Pills, so he took out another bottle and handed it over: "But what is our relationship? Brother Lin, eat more; the previous one is on the house, but starting from this bottle, I'm putting it on your tab."

Lin Banshan gave a dumbfounded laugh, took the small bottle, poured out another pill and swallowed it, but then shook his head and said softly: "Brother Chen, follow me to chase after him and kill that man surnamed Ma, how about it?"

???

Chen Ci could not help but roll his eyes.

No, I originally thought that only I, Chen, was petty, but I didn't expect, didn't expect at all, that you, Lin Banshan, a thick-browed and big-eyed fellow, would also be such a sore loser?

But in your current state, if we chase after him, who kills whom is still uncertain. Today, I gave you a hand, which already counts as my, Master Chen's, kindness. If you want to do anything else, that would have to be... cough, this kind of thing can't be done even for extra money; it's too dangerous.

"Let's not, I am a person who dislikes fighting by nature; Daoist Lin, you understand me. Besides, a Spirit Spring Medicine Field in Qingquan Village is not worth it..."

"That man surnamed Ma, he might be cultivating Superior Grade True Qi."

Lin Banshan said flatly, interrupting Chen Ci's words.

Chen Ci had wanted to persuade him further, but he went "Ah" and asked subconsciously: "What did you say?"

"I said, that man surnamed Ma, it is very likely he has cultivated Superior Grade True Qi, which is why I lost so cleanly today."

Lin Banshan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and said seriously: "To put it more bluntly, in Ma Family Village, there is very likely a Superior Grade Qi Refining Method. In that case, Brother Chen, do you understand?"

(End of chapter)