Chapter 271

People like Old Cheng, who know little about the cultivation world's basics, are rare.

Anyone who regularly moves in the cultivation world can instantly recognize this smoke as yin energy.

In the cultivation world, the Daoist and demonic sects are irreconcilable; under normal circumstances, this yin energy is always regarded as demonic in origin.

Soon, a crowd gathered outside He Pingsheng's alchemy shop.

Everyone was pointing and whispering.

Even Ling Zhiwang from the Red Moon Trading Society had come over.

Ling Zhiwang looked at He Pingsheng and asked: "Xu Daoist, what are you doing?"

"Why don't you extinguish this yin energy right away?"

"Otherwise, when the Lord Mayor's office arrives, you'll be in deep trouble!"

He Pingsheng smiled bitterly: "I… I don't know either. A guest is inside—he borrowed my cultivation hall!"

As he spoke, several streaks of light shot through the air.

Six cultivators in golden Daoist robes landed above He Pingsheng's head.

Their cultivation base might be low, but their robes inspired dread.

"Damn!" said Ling Zhiwang. "Just as I feared—the Lord Mayor's patrol guards have arrived…"

He Pingsheng frowned up at the sky.

A small squad of six guards had arrived.

Their leader was at Foundation Establishment eighth layer.

The rest were at early Foundation Establishment.

Their cultivation was low, yet they inspired dread.

"Is the shopkeeper of Grand Void Alchemy Shop here?" the squad leader asked the crowd.

He Pingsheng quickly raised his hand: "Here! Here! It's me!"

"You?" the leader asked. "What's going on inside?"

"Why is there so much yin energy?"

He Pingsheng said: "I don't know. I lent my cultivation hall to a guest—he said he was rescuing someone. Why so much yin energy? I truly don't know!"

"Hmph…"

The squad leader sneered: "You don't know?"

"Fine… since you don't know, let me take down this heretical cult!"

"Everyone, prepare!"

The six guards each summoned their magic treasures, ready to strike.

Suddenly, an old man in white robes stepped out of the building.

The old man had white hair and a youthful face.

His hair was snow-white, his eyebrows straight and level.

Yet his face resembled that of an infant.

Upon closer inspection, his eyes, mouth, and nose were all well-formed.

But together, these features seemed utterly mismatched.

Only "ugly" could describe him.

He was Mi Cangyuan, the patriarch of the Mi family, a Jin Dan cultivator.

As for Mi Cangyuan's exact Jin Dan layer, He Pingsheng didn't know.

He held great respect for Mi Cangyuan and had never dared to scan his cultivation base.

Mi Cangyuan stepped into the air and addressed the squad leader: "My relative has lost a strand of soul and is now undergoing soul fusion, hence the yin energy disturbance. But I swear this is no heretical practice!"

"Just give me two hours!"

"After two hours, you'll see for yourselves!"

Mi Cangyuan was courteous—even bowed slightly to the Foundation Establishment squad leader.

The squad leader's eyes narrowed slightly: "No. I'm going in right now."

"You dare…" Mi Cangyuan said. "I don't care what trash you are from the Lord Mayor's office—don't push your luck!"

"If you dare intrude, don't blame me for being uncivil!"

"Uncivil?" the squad leader sneered. "And what then?"

"Hmph… this is Red Stone City!"

"In Red Stone City, even Nascent Soul elders must behave themselves—or face the Lord Mayor's thunderous wrath, which you cannot withstand!"

"A mere Jin Dan? What's the big deal?"

No one knew how the squad leader knew Mi Cangyuan's realm—he stepped forward, ready to strike.

Mi Cangyuan showed no hesitation, flicked his sleeve, and a vast surge of spiritual power blasted out—BOOM! sending the squad leader flying dozens of zhang away.

He held back, sparing the man's life.

"You dare strike the Lord Mayor's patrol?"

"You're insane!"

"You're completely insane!"

"You're going to die!"

The squad leader rose from the ground, face pale with rage, and ignited a flare of smoke that shot skyward.

Quickly!

Dozens of Lord Mayor's patrol personnel arrived.

Another old man in black Daoist robes descended into the airspace.

He Pingsheng's spiritual sense scanned him—he found this elder was also a Jin Dan cultivator, and at Jin Dan eleventh layer.

Sssss…

So high?

Worried Mi Cangyuan might not be a match, He Pingsheng scanned Mi Cangyuan again.

Only then did he learn Mi Cangyuan's true cultivation: Jin Dan twelfth layer.

Mi Cangyuan was twelfth layer?

This…

Why hasn't he broken through?

He Pingsheng thought Mi Cangyuan had already shattered his bottleneck—he only needed to take the 【Breakthrough Elixir】 to transform his core into a Nascent Soul.

Why not break through to Nascent Soul?

Had he failed before?

"Why are you acting this way?" the black-robed Jin Dan asked Mi Cangyuan. "No matter the reason, striking a Lord Mayor's cultivator is wrong!"

Mi Cangyuan said calmly: "I am rescuing someone with soul fusion. The yin energy is an accident."

"Give me two more hours—this will be over."

"If anyone dares interfere, today ends in death!"

As he spoke, Mi Cangyuan's immense aura surged outward, sweeping across all sides.

The black-robed Jin Dan nodded: "I am no match for you."

Then he extended his spiritual sense and sent a message via spiritual transmission to the Lord Mayor's office.

A few breaths later, a woman in green robes suddenly appeared in midair.

This…

Everyone was stunned.

Appeared out of thin air?

How is that possible?

"I understand!" someone said. "Teleportation… only Nascent Soul cultivators can perform this technique!"

The crowd immediately realized.

This was a Nascent Soul.

He Pingsheng knew too: legend said that once one reached Nascent Soul, one could command the forces of heaven and earth.

Teleportation was one of the most defining traits of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

With a single thought, one could unleash spatial power and vanish thousands of zhang away.

That's how powerful it was.

Of course, it was said this teleportation was merely flashy—it consumed enormous spiritual sense to perform.

"I understand your cultivation is hard-won…" the woman said coldly. "Stop the soul fusion immediately!"

"Leave now!"

"Red Stone City does not permit such acts!"

"Venerable One, please calm down!" Mi Cangyuan in white robes bowed to the green-robed woman. "Let me explain!"

"My wife suffered a cultivation mishap—she lost one of her three souls. I asked the alchemy shopkeeper to brew a 【Heavenly Fragrance Pill】 for me, and I could not resist performing soul fusion here. It was my mistake, but Venerable One, please understand: this soul fusion will bring no disaster to anyone!"

"And in less than another hour, it will be complete!"

"Please, Venerable One, show mercy!"