Chapter 455: Shushan Attacks

"The Huashan Shengmu Ci congratulates the Ancestor on reopening the mountain gate, establishing the sect, and accepting disciples! We present a thousand-catty incense-fire large bronze furnace and three bronze tripods, wishing the Huashan sect gate prosperous incense fire for a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations!"

These bronze furnaces and large tripods were made by the Shengmu Ci by melting down copper coins donated by believers; although they were merely mundane objects, they condensed the incense fire of believers around Huashan and could be considered Feng Shui Magic Tools that stabilize fortune. If one were to activate them using Ruyi restrictions, shrinking them to the size of a palm while keeping their thousand-catty weight, they would be quite useful for smashing people.

Moreover, the Shengmu Ci is located at the foot of Huashan and is an outer force of the Huashan Sect itself.

"Reward!" Seeing Xu Jia nod, Huo Can'er continued, "You have heart."

Then Huang Yi took out a small box: "This is the Purple Cloud Pill personally refined by the Ancestor, with infinite miraculous uses."

This Purple Cloud Pill was already a well-known treasure to everyone, and it certainly attracted many eyes.

"The Xi'an City God Temple congratulates the Huashan Sect on tracing back to the pure source and re-establishing the sect, gifting five hundred catties of Five Metal Essence, wishing the Huashan Lineage to be indestructible and leave a fragrant name for a hundred generations."

Five Metal Essence is a bit of spiritual substance extracted from copper, iron, tin, lead, and gold; one tael can be refined from a hundred catties. The five metals from which the Five Metal Essence has been extracted, while still usable, lose their spiritual charm and are generally used for refining flying swords.

However, this is an Immortal-Xia world, so Five Metal Essence is only considered an ordinary material, incomparable to materials like Western Geng Metal or Taiyi Gold Essence that can be used to refine top-tier flying swords.

But the Xi'an City God Temple has deep ties to the mundane world and intends to curry favor with the Huashan Sect, so Xu Jia would not let them feel cold-hearted.

The two elders of Huashan shouted: "Reward!" They personally bestowed a Purple Cloud Pill and added: "The Ancestor says that the Xi'an City God is the head of all City Gods in the world, with the reputation of an ancient capital of over ten dynasties. One should take faith from the people and use faith for the people. From now on, the Daoists of the City God Temple may practice our Huashan basic Daoism and some Fire Method for the purpose of mundane supervision, and they may also recommend outstanding disciples to come up the mountain to learn the arts."

The temple keeper of the Xi'an City God Temple nodded repeatedly: "Many thanks to the Ancestor for the instruction!" He was streaming with old tears, as if he had found a wise master.

In this world, although the Divine Path also manifests, there is no manifestation of the Immortal Path; its status is awkward, it cannot be carefree, and it is also known as an Earth-Bound Spirit—meaning that while they are called gods, they are actually ghosts.

However, there is communication with the Heavenly Court and the Underworld, and there are quite a few experts who have ascended in this world, so it is not truly that awkward. It is just that martial arts are prevalent; after reaching the Pre-Heaven Realm in martial arts, one can still cultivate immortality. Except for the common people, everyone has gone to "disenchant" the gods. Since they are disenchanted, they naturally pursue their own strength rather than believing in ghosts and gods.

This temple keeper also practiced martial arts and reached the Pre-Heaven Realm, but his cultivation method for immortality was relatively poor. The Qi he gathered was Incense Fire Qi, which is a type of cultivation leaning toward the Divine Path—accurately speaking, it is the "God-Striking" type, inviting divine power into the body. This method is difficult to achieve Longevity and often leads to deficits.

He learned that the hundred-year-old monk of Huashan reached the Pre-Heaven Realm in seven days and regained his youth, so he wanted to obtain a longer lifespan. After all, having reached the position of temple keeper of the Xi'an City God Temple, he had already enjoyed all the worldly pleasures he should have.

Ordinary large sects all felt that his worldly ties were too heavy and that he was addicted to fame, wealth, and power; coupled with his old age and declining health, even if he practiced, it would be hard to achieve great success. No matter how much family property he offered, he could only get a few spiritual pills.

Otherwise, with Lishan, Zhongnan Mountain, and even Taibai Mountain nearby, all of which are locations of large sects, why would he come all the way to Huashan?

But Xu Jia is different. Xu Jia also has a great need for incense-fire faith, and if one cannot achieve the Immortal Path, one can also cultivate the Divine Path. Xu Jia intends to confer titles upon ghosts and gods around Huashan.

Within the Huangtian Lineage, there are ghosts and gods who regulate yin and yang, balance the Five Elements, and transform ordinary places into spots of spiritual beauty. Not to mention the heaven-earth restrictions that shape Micro Spirit Veins.

Regulating heaven and earth, while not "opening sources," can be considered "throttling flow." It is like treating the lesions of heaven and earth, and there is Merit to be gained.

Furthermore, these ghosts and gods have the sharpest eyes and ears; whenever there is any movement, they will surely come to report.

Although the temple keeper coming to defect does not mean the god himself is defecting, this Xi'an City God is likely a god at the Yang Spirit level, and in the Desire Realm, he could likely be ranked in the Third Rank.

But it is also possible that the City God tacitly approved it.

The temple keeper treasured the pill and put it away.

This series of gift-givers were actually all side-door forces around Huashan who needed to rely on the Huashan Sect to make a living; there was not even a single local force that truly possessed an Earth Immortal. But one by one, as long as they had the heart to defect and their character was decent, Xu Jia's intention was "the more the better."

After all, his own sect does not follow the elite route. As for other large sects, they were all here to see if the Dutian Liehuo Zushi had really descended to the altar or if someone was impersonating him. If they didn't cause trouble, that was fine, but asking them to send gifts was impossible.

Especially after hearing that the Shushan Sect had sent out Deng Yin, everyone was waiting to watch the show. Deng Yin's reputation in the cultivation world at this time was not prominent, because when he was famous, it was three hundred years ago. In three hundred years, those who had not achieved Earth Immortal status had died batch after batch.

Of course, he was even more famous not in this current life, but in his previous life. In his previous life, Deng Yin fell into the demonic path and had slaughtered all the cultivators of the West Kunlun Sect, leaving only a single seedling who had only achieved Earth Immortal status by now; there was only one master and one disciple.

It was also because Xu Jia was gathering herbs in Kunlun and did not go further west; otherwise, he would have reached West Kunlun and seen the West Kunlun Sect Master, Guyue Master, and his disciple, Xuantian Zong.

If he were to fall into the demonic path in this life, the first to suffer would also be the West Kunlun Sect.

"Deng Yin of the Shushan Sect, along with seventeen Shushan disciples, has come to pay respects to the mountain!"

"You bunch of extraterrestrial demons, desecrating your ancestors and replacing the peach tree with a plum, yet you still have the face to open a sect! Truly shameless. And you lot who suck up to them, you are simply licking sores and eating hemorrhoids; for the sake of a few benefits, you go and recognize a thief as your father."

Then, one could see sword lights at the firmament, tearing through space.

It was exactly Deng Yin who had gathered the various sects, creating a mighty momentum.

"The Qingcheng Sect, with its disciples, has come to Huashan to pay respects to the mountain!"

"The Emei Sect, with its disciples, has come to Huashan to pay respects to the mountain!"

"The Jian'ge Sect, with its disciples, has come to Huashan to pay respects to the mountain!"

"The West Shu Tang Clan, with its disciples, has come to Huashan to pay respects to the mountain!"

"The Bashan Sect, with its disciples, has come to Huashan to pay respects to the mountain!"

"The Shanshan Sect, with its disciples, has come to Huashan to pay respects to the mountain!"

"Presumptuous!"

Without needing Xu Jia, Huo Can'er had already roared in anger: "Where did you wild dogs come from, daring to bark here!"

Immediately, the immortal sword "Binding Azure Dragon" was unsheathed. Calling it an Azure Dragon, it actually carried Huo Can'er's Fire Method and was a fire dragon; but because the furnace fire was pure and green, it could vaguely and barely be considered an Azure Dragon.

"Flying Dragon in the Sky," pointing directly at Deng Yin.

"What a powerful flying sword!"

At this time, the other sects of the Five Mountains Sect also arrived late. The disciples and members sent by other cultivation sects like Louguan, Quanzhen, and even Maoshan, Longhu Mountain, Gezao Mountain, etc., all saw this flying sword.

"This sword is no ordinary item. Hearing the sword's hum, it is still immature and has not been tempered by clashing with other flying swords, yet it has such a posture. It is no less than those ancient flying swords that have been famous for a long time. Could it be a new work by the Sword Casting Villa's master, Ouyang?"

The Sword Casting Villa has three great sword-casting masters who can cast top-tier first-class flying swords: Gongye, Ouyang, and Gongshu.

The Gongye Xingyun that Xu Jia met before was just one of the lineages.

(End of chapter)