Chapter 264

Xiao Yuansi laughed heartily, shook his head repeatedly, and replied:

"Everyone talks about the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Spiritual energy connects heaven and earth; in the sky, it is various spiritual energies, and on the ground, it is the earth vein fire abyss. How could going up into the sky to fight solve the problem? Spiritual energy and earth veins are connected; pull one hair and the whole body moves. If you cultivated the Dao of arrays, you would know it's not that simple."

"Back then, the three sects and seven gates besieged Li Jiangqun. They fought for three days and three nights. Li Jiangqun, with his Zifu body, had a green blade that no one dared to oppose. Fighting one against many, he still caused the earth vein spiritual energy of the northern foothills of Wangyue Lake to be cut off, and it only slowly recovered after nearly a hundred years. That shows a glimpse of it. If Li Jiangqun's action had such power, if it were replaced by those Jin Dan cultivators, wouldn't heaven and earth be shaken?"

Li Tongya nodded in sudden realization and couldn't help but sigh:

"Jin Dan... I don't know how many people, how many bones, and how many years it takes to cultivate."

Xiao Yuansi laughed sarcastically, opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed it back silently, only replying:

"Jin Dan is not something you or I can imagine. As for the Dao Embryo realm above that, it can only exist in the imagination."

"Dao Embryo?"

Li Tongya was slightly stunned. His own cultivation was the "Great Yin Qi Refining and Wheel-Nurturing Scripture," which also mentioned six realms of cultivation: Fetal Breath, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Zifu, Jin Dan, and Nascent Soul. There was no such thing as a Dao Embryo realm, so he asked in confusion.

Xiao Yuansi nodded and explained:

"It is the realm above Jin Dan. It has been too long since anyone achieved it, so the current cultivation world often doesn't mention it. Not only in Jiangnan, but in Mobei, Lingbei, Jizhong, and other countries, I have never heard of a Dao Embryo. According to the Ancestor, this world probably hasn't had one for five hundred years."

Hearing this, Li Tongya secretly thought:

"Perhaps Nascent Soul is the ancient name for Dao Embryo... I don't know when the 'Great Yin Qi Refining and Wheel-Nurturing Scripture' was written, but it's likely very ancient. It's reasonable that some names are different."

"We have been taught!"

Li Tongya responded respectfully. Xiao Yuansi waved his hand with a smile and declined:

"What kind of teaching is this? It's just gossip."

Thus, he stood up and said:

Li Tongya thanked him, bid farewell, and rode the wind up. Li Xuanfeng was already waiting in the air with his golden bow and Li Xuanling. Sha Moli and An Jiyan, along with a few other foreign-surname cultivators, stood to the side. Li Tongya glanced at them and said:

"Follow me north."

The group responded hurriedly and followed him north on the wind. Li Tongya pondered and said:

"I don't know how many subordinates this Bianyan Mountain demon general has. You all find a mountain to ambush first; I will go and scout the situation to see how many Qi Refining demon creatures he has. It would be best to wipe them all out in one go."

Everyone responded one after another. They traveled through the mountains on the wind for a day, crossed the deep cyan lake water and dark dense forests, and had already passed the border of Yue State and arrived at Xu State.

Upon entering, the scenery was suddenly completely different. Whitish bones were scattered everywhere on the ground, the roads were overgrown with weeds, there were no traces of people, and no signs of human habitation. Occasionally, flashes of magic light would fly past, but upon seeing the group, they would immediately turn back and detour far away. The Li family members wanted to find someone to ask about the situation but had no opportunity, so they had to fly with their heads down.

There were quite a few traces of magic battles on the ground—either magic light circulating with chilling cold, or five-colored light flowing everywhere. Occasionally, one could see some refined white bones and flesh, and starved jackals, tigers, and leopards, which truly opened one's eyes.

The Li family members didn't want to cause trouble and didn't investigate deeply, only detouring around places with strange phenomena. Bianyan Mountain wasn't far, and before long, the terrain became higher and higher, and the mountain could be seen from afar.

Li Tongya observed carefully along the way and searched for a while in the mountains, finally finding a small magic array. He stopped in front of the array and said softly:

"This old man is passing through and has something to ask. I ask Fellow Daoist to open the array!"

That array was only at the Fetal Breath level. Li Tongya's Foundation Establishment aura erupted, scaring the person inside out of their wits. The magic array melted like ice and snow, and an old man walked out, followed by a large group of young boys and girls. The old man had a full head of white hair, knelt down hurriedly, and said respectfully:

"A small mountain cultivator greets the superior immortal!"

Seeing the group of young boys and girls come out, each with traces of being refined, and each following and kneeling on the ground like a mute, motionless, Li Tongya snorted coldly and said in a deep voice:

】

"You are quite at ease. What kind of evil and strange demon magic are you cultivating?"

The old man shook his head bitterly, kowtowed several times, and replied:

"Superior immortal, you misunderstand. These were prepared for the Great King of Bianyan Mountain. If this small cultivator didn't do this, he would eat even more people. It is just weighing the pros and cons to satisfy the beast's desire..."

Li Tongya raised an eyebrow and replied:

"It seems I misunderstood you. Does that Great King have any supernatural powers? What kind of demon soldiers does he have under his rule? Do you know?"

The old man suddenly raised his head, looking dazed, stared carefully at the group, and said repeatedly:

"Everyone... thank you all... that... that demon creature has three Qi Refining subordinates, all at the third or fourth level of Qi Refining. Originally there were some higher ones, but they were either killed by passing cultivators or captured to be spirit beasts. These three just grew up."

"Only that demon creature is at the Foundation Establishment level, and it lives in seclusion, hiding in a natural illusion array in the mountains, only sending its subordinates out to collect blood-food. It has been doing evil for a long time... and no one has gone to manage it."

"I understand."

Li Tongya responded indifferently, waved his hand, and said:

"You won't have to be troubled anymore from now on."

The group rode the wind and went far away in an instant, leaving only the old man dazed in place. He looked at the children all around, feeling caught in a dilemma, until a young cultivator walked up from below and said joyfully:

"Master, can we let them go now?"

The old man shook his head and only said:

"What should be prepared for this year still needs to be prepared. In case that group of people can't defeat that demon creature and are all eaten by that wolf demon, and we have no tribute to offer, we will still suffer."

"Besides, since they've already been refined, this batch of children is already useless."

The old man picked up a dazed and foolish child from the ground, his expression calm, and said as a matter of course:

"If that wolf demon dies, we will enjoy this batch of tribute ourselves, so as not to waste it."

"Yes!"

The young cultivator responded, not feeling that there was anything inappropriate, and turned to go down.

————

Bianyan Mountain was quite majestic, with strange peaks rising one after another, faintly connecting into a great array. Thick fog rose, and even spiritual sense was faintly affected. The branches and leaves below were graceful and lush, appearing quite strange.

Li Tongya held the Dharma Mirror, naturally discerning the illusions. With one close of his eyes, he detected the wolf demon's cave—gloomy and filled with white bones. The Qi Refining group hid themselves, and Li Tongya went deep into the mountain alone.

Watching Li Tongya slowly walk away, Li Xuanling gave a wink. Having already thought of an excuse, he ordered:

"Everyone, watch the battle. If it's an even match later, don't hold back. If you can capture a few Qi Refining demon creatures alive, that's best! We have connections in Dali Mountain; selling these demon creatures to the demon cave will make a big profit, and I'll give you all a share."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone nodded repeatedly. Chen Donghe and others with steady temperaments could still endure it, but Sha Moli, who was greedy by nature and already poor in Shanyue, nodded enthusiastically upon hearing this, his mind already flying into the mountain mist.