OBS Chapter 1412 Corpse Demon
Chapter 1412 Corpse Demon
Chapter 1412 Corpse Demon
In Xiguo Nanzhou, the Yunmeng Mountains stretch for thousands of miles, shrouded in mist. At the edge of the mountains, an endless swamp lies at the border between Luoyun Sect and Gujian Sect, known as the Green Swamp.
Above the swamp, a pale green miasma filled the air. It was extremely corrosive, and even a cultivator with slightly weaker protective spiritual power would be eroded by the miasma, causing their skin and flesh to rot.
On this day, a streak of dark green light appeared above the Green Trace Swamp. Qin Hao stood on the Black Dragon Boat, his green robe fluttering gently in the breeze. His mid-Nascent Soul stage spiritual pressure was contained yet understated, exuding a captivating aura. Beside him, a woman in a vibrant dress leaned against his chest. Her face was alluring, her eyes carrying a hint of seduction. She extended a slender finger, pointing to the swamp below, which was filled with a faint scent of decay and the fragrance of exotic plants, and said in a sweet voice:
"Master, this is the Green Marsh. The place you're looking for should be nearby, right?"
Yuan Yao did not accompany the group on this trip because she had just condensed her Nascent Soul and needed time to consolidate her cultivation. Only Yan Li accompanied her.
Qin Hao's gaze swept across the muddy, puddled area below, and he nodded slightly without saying a word. His powerful divine sense surged forth like an invisible tide, instantly covering an area of dozens of miles. Every detail in the swamp, the subtle differences in the distribution of spiritual energy, was clearly fed back into his sea of consciousness. A moment later, with a thought, the Ink Dragon Boat emitted a deep hum, its escape light suddenly blazing as it sped off towards the right side of the swamp.
The Green Swamp seemed vast, but at the full speed of the Ink Dragon Boat, it was left far behind in less than a quarter of an hour.
At the edge of the swamp, the scenery suddenly changed, and a towering, colossal mountain came into view. This mountain was rugged and steep, its summit invisible, seemingly piercing the clouds. Even more strangely, the entire mountain was not a typical earthen structure, but rather composed of an unknown black rock. The rock's surface was smooth and cold, and in the dim light of the sky, it possessed a profound and weighty texture, subtly radiating an aura that sent shivers down one's spine.
"This should be it." Qin Hao raised his hand and pressed down, causing the Ink Dragon Boat to slowly stop and hover in front of the foot of the mountain. Then, he flipped his hand, and a jade ruyi with an ancient shape and inner spiritual light appeared in his palm. The top of the jade ruyi was carved with a lifelike wolf head, and the wolf's eyes seemed to be flashing with a ghostly light. It was the ancient treasure of the wolf head jade ruyi that he had obtained from the Void Heaven Palace.
"Come out," Qin Hao said softly, channeling his magic power into it.
Ouch——
A low howl, not deafening but carrying an ancient and desolate aura, rang out. The wolf head on the jade ruyi flashed with light, and a silver light leaped out, transforming into a small wolf phantom that hovered in mid-air.
"Go." Qin Hao pointed to a point on the black mountain.
The little wolf understood, let out a low growl, and a layer of earthy yellow light emanated from its body. A solid light shield instantly expanded, enveloping Qin Hao and Yan Li within it. Immediately afterward, the little wolf took a step with its four paws and plunged headfirst into the seemingly indestructible black rock.
The earthen-yellow light shield followed closely behind. The moment it touched the mountain rocks, the rocks rippled like water, allowing the light shield to merge into them. It was actually a wonderful earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic or technique).
They entered the mountain's interior, surrounded by darkness and oppression, with only a soft glow emanating from an earthen-yellow light barrier. The rock layers were incredibly thick, severely limiting even spiritual awareness. The little wolf led the way, exceptionally agile, seemingly quite familiar with the mountain's structure. They continued downwards and inwards for hundreds of feet, until the darkness receded, revealing a man-made stone chamber.
The stone chamber wasn't very large, about ten zhang in circumference. The walls were also made of that kind of black rock, polished quite smoothly. The room was empty, except for a slightly out-of-place stone platform in the center.
"Senior, there's actually a stone chamber hidden in these mountains. There must be treasures inside, right?" Yanli's eyes lit up, her face showing excitement and anticipation. In her opinion, such a secluded place must contain rare treasures left behind by senior cultivators.
A playful smile appeared on Qin Hao's lips as his gaze swept across the empty stone chamber, finally settling on the stone platform in the center.
Treasure? For ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, this place is a deadly trap; stepping into it would likely cost them their lives. Of course, for him, who knows the inside story and possesses various methods of defeating enemies, this place is indeed a treasure trove.
Just as Yanli finished speaking, a cold voice, tinged with a hint of languid charm, came from the seemingly empty stone platform on the right.
"Humph!"
The sound came abruptly, ringing out clearly in the silent stone chamber. Yanli was startled, her delicate body trembling slightly. She instinctively gripped Qin Hao's sleeve and turned to look. There, on the stone platform, stood a figure. It was a beautiful young woman in a black dress, her skin as white as snow, her features stunning, but her eyes were cold and devoid of emotion. She stared intently at Qin Hao and Yanli, a faint, almost imperceptible, mockery playing on her lips.
"Who are you?" Yanli asked with surprise and doubt, secretly on guard.
The black-haired young woman snorted, her voice tinged with displeasure: "Little girl, you come in as a guest and don't even know how to behave properly. Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
Her gaze lingered mainly on Qin Hao, clearly indicating that he was the one in charge.
Qin Hao sneered, took a step forward, and shielded Yanli behind him. His gaze, sharp as lightning, fixed on the black-haired woman: "Don't play tricks on me. Hand over the Jade of the Spirit Eye, and I might let you die a quicker death."
"Oh?" The black-haired young woman raised an eyebrow, her sarcasm deepening. "So that's why this girl is so rude. She's relying on your power. You're only at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, yet you think you can take me for granted? Aren't you being far too arrogant?"
"How will you know if you can eat it or not if you don't try?" Qin Hao stopped wasting words, and before he finished speaking, his aura suddenly surged!
"Om-"
A muffled, strange sound emanated from his body, followed by dazzling golden light shining through his skin, instantly transforming him into someone as if cast in gold. A primal, domineering, and indestructible aura permeated the air, forcing back the chilling atmosphere of the stone chamber.
At this moment, Qin Hao was like a golden war god descending to earth, exuding awe-inspiring power.
"This is... an ancient demonic technique?! No, it seems a little different. Boy, where did you get this technique?" The black-haired woman's calm expression suddenly changed, and she exclaimed in surprise, her voice filled with disbelief and a hint of barely perceptible apprehension.
"You don't need to know this. Just die in peace!" Qin Hao growled, unwilling to say more. He exerted force with his feet, golden light flashed, and he shot straight at the black-haired woman on the stone platform like a cannonball.
Only then did it become clear that the black-haired young woman was not completely free. Several chains gleaming with cold silver light were tightly bound around her limbs and neck, with the other ends of the chains deeply embedded in the stone platform, firmly imprisoning her in that small space, making it impossible for her to dodge significantly.
Seeing Qin Hao attack with overwhelming force, a fierce glint flashed in the black-haired woman's eyes. Though startled, she remained calm, letting out a sharp shriek as thick, inky black corpse energy emanated from her body. This corpse energy churned and condensed, instantly transforming into heavy black shields in front of her. At the same time, her ten fingernails grew rapidly, turning jet black and shiny, like ten sharp swords, hissing as they pierced the air, meeting Qin Hao's golden fist shadow head-on.
boom! boom! boom!
A violent collision instantly echoed throughout the stone chamber. Golden light and black mist intertwined and annihilated each other wildly.
Qin Hao pushed the Heaven-Supporting Demonic Art to its limit. With each swing of his fists, golden fist shadows solidified like solid hammers, each strike containing the immense power to split mountains and shatter rocks. His fighting style was simple and brutal, relying entirely on the formidable physique and invincible strength granted by the Heaven-Supporting Demonic Art to crush his opponents. Wherever his fist winds passed, the shields formed from pure corpse energy shattered, utterly unable to withstand his sharpness.
Although the black-haired woman was bound by silver chains and unable to dodge, as a corpse demon, her physical body was also incredibly strong. In a head-on clash, she managed to temporarily withstand Qin Hao's relentless onslaught. Her fingernails clashed with Qin Hao's fists, producing a crisp, metallic clang and sparks. The black corpse energy, like a living thing, sometimes transformed into a giant python coiling around him, sometimes into sharp blades striking out, insidious and cunning, attempting to corrode Qin Hao's golden body.
In an instant, energy surged within the stone chamber, golden light and black mist intertwined endlessly, and deafening roars filled the air. Qin Hao pressed forward relentlessly, his fists growing increasingly fierce, displaying the full power of the Heaven-Supporting Demonic Art, suppressing the black-haired woman and confining her to the stone platform, while the range of her corpse energy was continuously compressed.
The black-haired woman let out an angry shriek, her struggles intensifying, causing the silver chains binding her to rattle loudly, yet she remained unable to break free and mount an effective counterattack. The battle quickly escalated to a fever pitch, with both sides giving their all.
Just as Qin Hao was locked in fierce combat with the black-haired young woman, drawing her full attention, Yanli, who had been hiding behind Qin Hao and seemingly forced to defend herself by the aftershocks of the battle, had a sly glint in her eyes.
Taking advantage of the energy turbulence caused by a violent collision, she moved like a ghost, silently circling along the edge of the stone chamber to the back of the stone platform.
Her target was clear—a large, inconspicuous stone pillar connected to the mountain behind the stone platform. Following Qin Hao's prior instructions, she quickly felt around a spot on the pillar, her fingertips touching a tiny indentation, and gently released her magic power.
With a soft "click," a piece of rock on the surface of the stone pillar popped open, revealing a hidden compartment.
In the hidden compartment, a jade box about a foot long lay quietly. The jade box was warm and smooth, with a faintly golden talisman affixed to its surface, emitting strange fluctuations of spiritual energy.
Without hesitation, Yanli took out the jade box without even looking at it. She gathered all her magic power and shouted, "Master, catch it!" The jade box turned into a white light and she threw it accurately at the battle above the stone platform.
As if possessing a spirit, the jade box, upon entering the area of the stone platform, was drawn by some kind of energy. Instead of flying towards Qin Hao, it suddenly accelerated, spun around, and headed straight for the top of the black-haired young woman's head!
"Do not--!"
The black-haired young woman, who was originally focused on dealing with Qin Hao's fierce attack, sensed a destructive aura that made her primordial spirit tremble the moment the jade box entered the area of the stone platform. She let out an extremely shrill scream filled with boundless terror, trying to swing her sharp claws to knock the jade box away or spew out corpse energy to block it.
However, it was too late.
The moment the jade box hovered directly above her head, the golden talisman on the box suddenly burst forth with a dazzling golden light, as bright as the sun!
"Om-!"
Golden runes, like golden raindrops, cascaded down from the talisman like a waterfall, precisely enveloping the black-haired woman.
"Chichichichi——!"
The moment the golden runes came into contact with the dense corpse energy protecting the black-haired woman, it was like a red-hot iron meeting ice and snow, producing a sickeningly corrosive sound. Thick, foul-smelling green smoke immediately billowed from the black-haired woman's body.
"Ah—! Ouch—!"
The black-haired young woman let out a shrill scream that was completely inhuman, filled with extreme pain and despair. Her body struggled and twisted violently on the stone platform, trying to break free from the suppression of the golden runes. The silver chains on her body were stretched taut and groaned under the strain, and the stone platform even began to tremble slightly.
However, the golden runes contained immensely restrained Buddhist power, which was devastating to her corpse demon body. Her skin began to char and peel, revealing the stiff, bluish-black flesh beneath, and her appearance changed rapidly, her former beauty gone.
After a few breaths of intense struggle that felt like an eternity, the black-haired woman's struggles lessened, and her shrill screams gradually faded. Finally, her body stiffened abruptly, then slumped completely onto the stone platform, motionless.
At the same time, her form underwent a dramatic transformation. The beautiful young woman's skin vanished like a phantom, revealing her true form—a monster less than six feet tall, entirely bluish-black in color, with withered skin clinging tightly to her bones, long, black, sharp fingernails, a hideous and terrifying face, and exuding a thick aura of death and the stench of corpses. It was the true form of the Corpse Demon!
As Qin Hao unleashed a Blazing Sun Technique with a wave of his hand, the extremely yang and powerful flames swept across, completely dissolving and purifying the lingering foul-smelling green smoke in the air, and the air in the stone chamber finally regained some clarity.
Yanli finally recovered from the lightning-fast turn of events. She patted her ample chest and asked with lingering fear, "Master, is...is this thing dead?" She pointed to the ugly corpse demon on the stone platform.
Qin Hao dispersed the golden light around him, returning to normal. He shook his head and explained, "This thing is called a Corpse Demon. Its body is harder than metal, making it difficult to be harmed by ordinary magic weapons. Moreover, its vitality is extremely tenacious. The talisman just now only temporarily suppressed its primordial spirit. To completely destroy it is not an easy task."
"Oh? What if it escapes and comes back for revenge?" Yanli stuck out her tongue, a worried look on her face. The thought of being targeted by such a strange and terrifying monster sent chills down her spine.
"Escape?" Qin Hao sneered, a cold glint in his eyes: "I won't give it that chance!"
After saying that, he raised his hand again and took out the ancient treasure, the wolf-head jade ruyi, and said loudly, "Come out, I'll treat you to a big meal!"
With a flash of silver light, the magnificent little wolf reappeared, hovering in mid-air, tilting its head to look at Qin Hao, seemingly somewhat puzzled.
However, almost at the same time that the little wolf appeared, another mutation occurred!
Suddenly, a glint of extremely human-like ruthlessness and cunning flashed in the eyes of a snow-white, fluffy fox that had been hiding in the shadows beneath the Corpse Demon Stone Platform, which had previously pretended to tremble under the pressure of the two "powerful beings"—the Snow Cloud Fox.
As it moved, its body glowed with an earthy yellow light, as if it were about to use earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique used in Chinese fantasy novels) to escape from this place or launch a sneak attack.
However, Qin Hao had anticipated this!
Just as Xue Yunhu was about to move, Qin Hao flipped his hand, and a small, exquisite bell floated in his palm—the magic weapon, the Soul-Suppressing Bell.
"Boom!"
A bell tolled, not loud, yet penetrating to the very soul! An invisible sound wave spread out like ripples on water, instantly enveloping the Snow Cloud Fox.
"squeak!"
Snow Cloud Fox let out a painful groan. The earth-escape aura it had just gathered was abruptly interrupted. Due to the backlash of the spell, it plummeted from mid-air and crashed solidly into the hard black stone ground, leaving it dazed and in a sorry state.
"You brat! You've gone too far! I'll fight you to the death!" Snow Cloud Fox knew there was no way to resolve this peacefully, and she shrieked angrily.
Its body surged with white light, and in a flash, it transformed into a stunningly beautiful woman with an exquisite face and graceful figure. However, at this moment, her face was filled with resentment and madness; she was the avatar of the Corpse Demon.
Qin Hao didn't even bother to look at her. He merely glanced at the little wolf floating beside him and said in a calm but unquestionable tone, "If you don't make a move, I'll personally kill it, and you'll miss out on this nourishing feast for your primordial spirit."
Upon hearing this, the little wolf's eyes instantly blazed with intense light, and it hesitated no longer. It let out a clearer howl, filled with ancient majesty, and its entire phantom suddenly expanded, transforming into a silver lightning bolt that pounced on the stunning woman who was actually a Snow Cloud Fox!
The woman looked horrified and tried to use some supernatural power to defend herself, but the silver wolf phantom seemed to be invisible and intangible, ignoring her defenses and plunging into the body she had just transformed into!
"Ah! This is... impossible, how could this be..." The woman, or rather, this part of the corpse demon's primordial spirit, let out an incredulous scream.
Seeing this, Yanli covered her mouth in shock and exclaimed, "Possession? The spirit of an ancient treasure... can also possess a living being?" This completely overturned her understanding of the cultivation world.
A hint of satisfaction flashed in Qin Hao's eyes. This was all part of his plan. The corpse demon's primordial spirit was powerful and refined, making it the perfect "tonic" to help the silver wolf princess's fragmented soul within the wolf-headed jade scepter awaken prematurely and recover some of its power. Letting the silver moon devour part of the corpse demon's primordial spirit was a fitting end for the corpse demon.
The process of being devoured didn't last long. The stunningly beautiful woman's figure twisted and flickered violently in the air, her face sometimes contorted in rage, sometimes contorted in pain. Finally, after a burst of intense silver light, she fell completely still.
The silver light receded and reformed, still resembling the stunningly beautiful woman, but her aura had drastically changed. The previous resentment and eeriness had vanished, replaced by a unique charm that was noble, lively, and tinged with a wildness. Her eyes had also become clear and full of wisdom, curiously examining her own hands and body.
She, or rather, Silver Moon, raised her head, looking at Qin Hao with a complex expression. Her lips parted slightly, her voice clear and melodious, tinged with a hint of doubt: "Fellow Daoist... it seems you already knew I had my own consciousness? And that I wasn't a chaotic artifact spirit?"
"I suppose so," Qin Hao nodded calmly, without going into details.
Upon hearing this, Yin Yue gave a wry smile: "I thought I had concealed my aura very well by using this ancient treasure..."
She paused, gathered her thoughts, and then gracefully bowed to Qin Hao from afar, her expression solemn: "In any case, thank you for your help, fellow Daoist, in waking me up ahead of time and stabilizing my body. Your servant, Yinyue, greets my master."
Qin Hao waved his hand, his tone calm: "It's fine to acknowledge her as your master. It's fate that we've met. I know you have an extraordinary background, so there's no need for you to act like a maid. From now on, let's address each other as fellow Daoist."
He didn't want to be targeted by a high-level spiritual master just because of a title; treating each other as equals was the most appropriate course of action.
Yin Yue was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting Qin Hao to say such a thing. She looked at Qin Hao deeply, as if trying to see something in his eyes, but in the end she only saw complete composure. A trace of gratitude and relief flashed in her eyes, then she smiled broadly, like the first melting of snow: "Fellow Daoist, your magnanimity is admirable. In that case, thank you for your kind words."
Seeing that things had calmed down, the crisis was over, and there was a new "companion" who seemed easy to get along with, Yanli's curiosity immediately overcame her previous fear.
Curious, she walked up to Silvermoon and cautiously reached out to touch the pair of fluffy, slightly trembling white fox ears on Silvermoon's head. The touch was real and warm. She couldn't resist pinching the fluffy, soft fox tail behind Silvermoon and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, those are real ears and a real tail! It's not an illusion, so cute!"
Yin Yue wasn't annoyed at all by Yan Li's slightly offensive behavior. Instead, she took Yan Li's arm affectionately and smiled sweetly: "Sister Yan Li? In the future, I will be cultivating under Master... oh no, under Fellow Daoist Zhang. I hope you will take good care of me."
She was clever and quick-witted, and had been serving as Qin Hao's spirit for some time. Although not fully awakened, she vaguely sensed Qin Hao's character and the status of those around him. Although Yanli was a concubine, Qin Hao treated her with great care, her treatment no less than that of the head mistress, Ling Yuling. Maintaining a good relationship with Yanli would only benefit her in the future.
Yanli was overjoyed to be called "sister," especially since the other party was such a beautiful and powerful "demon cultivator." She patted her chest and assured her, "Hehe, no problem! With your sister here, let's see who dares to bully you!"
After a few laughs and banter between the two women, the atmosphere lightened considerably. Soon, Yanli's attention returned to the corpse demon's body, which was temporarily suppressed on the stone platform by golden runes.
"Master, what should we do with this corpse demon? Should we just leave it here?" Yanli asked, pointing to the hideous body.
Qin Hao already had a plan in mind. The Xuan Yin Scripture he obtained contained secret techniques for refining external avatars. Combined with the Great Evolution Technique's Soul Division Technique, he could completely refine this potentially powerful corpse demon's body into a powerful external avatar.
However, before refining it, the primary task is to remove the divided spirit within the corpse demon's body, as well as the main spirit sealed in the jade box, to prevent future troubles.
Thinking of this, Qin Hao reached out and gently patted a bulging spirit beast pouch at his waist.
A flash of silver light, and a strangely shaped little beast leaped onto his shoulder. This beast resembled a monkey, but its entire body was covered in shimmering silver fur, and its nose was unusually long and curled, giving it a rather intelligent appearance. It was the Crying Soul Beast, which had fallen into a deep sleep after emerging from the Netherworld and had just awakened.
After the Soul-Crying Beast appeared, it affectionately rubbed against Qin Hao's cheek, then opened its mouth wide and let out a long yawn, looking sleepy.
"Stop dawdling and enjoy your feast." Qin Hao patted its little head.
Upon hearing that there was "delicious food" to enjoy, the Soul-Crying Beast immediately perked up, all sleepiness vanished, and it excitedly let out strange "squeaks". Its long nose suddenly swung out like a snake emerging from its hole, generating a powerful suction force from its nostrils, aimed at the corpse demon's flesh on the stone platform.
A blurry, distorted phantom, filled with resentment and unwillingness, struggled as it was forcibly pulled from between the eyebrows of the Corpse Demon's body. It was a fragment of the Corpse Demon's primordial spirit remaining within its flesh. The phantom let out a silent howl, but it was utterly powerless against the Soul-Crying Beast's innate divine power and was instantly sucked into its long nostril.
The Soul-Crying Beast snorted contentedly, and the silver light on its body seemed to brighten even more.
But that wasn't all. Qin Hao then took out the jade box he had retrieved from the hidden compartment in the stone pillar. He carefully peeled off the golden talisman on the lid, its light now subdued, and then opened the jade box.
The moment the box was opened, a more solid and powerful black phantom suddenly shot out from the box, emitting a sharp and triumphant mental fluctuation. It was the main primordial spirit of the Corpse Demon that had been separated and sealed here! It thought it had finally waited for the opportunity to break free.
However, its joy lasted only a moment.
The Soul-Crying Beast, which had been waiting for a long time, didn't need Qin Hao's command at all. It flicked its long nose again, and an even stronger suction force than before enveloped everything.
"No—!" The Corpse Demon Lord's primordial spirit let out a desperate wail, but it was extremely weak at the moment and was a pure soul body. Facing the Soul-Crying Beast, its nemesis, it had no power to resist and was instantly pulled over and sucked into the Soul-Crying Beast's nose.
"Hiccup~"
The Soul-Crying Beast let out a satisfied burp, patted its round little belly, and wore a human-like expression of bliss. Having devoured two powerful primordial spirits in succession, it had clearly gained a great deal. Then, without Qin Hao's prompting, it transformed into a streak of silver light and voluntarily returned to its spirit beast pouch, seemingly needing to sleep to digest its gains.
After completely eliminating all the hidden dangers to the Corpse Demon's primordial spirit, Qin Hao finally felt relieved. He stepped forward and summoned his magic weapon, the Sky-Splitting Armor-Piercing Blade. Several sharp silver lights flashed, accompanied by a piercing metallic scraping sound, and the silver chains that had bound the Corpse Demon's body for countless years snapped in response.
Qin Hao took out several carefully prepared sealing talismans and affixed them to the important acupoints on the corpse demon's body, such as its forehead, chest, and limbs, to completely seal off its corpse energy and residual power.
Then, he took out a pre-prepared jade coffin, carefully placed the priceless corpse demon's body inside, closed the coffin lid, set up a restriction, and finally put it into his storage bag.
The creation of an external avatar is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It requires the preparation of many auxiliary materials and a great deal of time and effort to refine and separate the soul. It would be safer to return to the Qingxu Sect cave.
Finally, Qin Hao searched the entire stone chamber again, but only found a box containing the Spirit Eye Jade. The rest were not very useful. Of course, the silver chain that bound the corpse demon was also put into Qin Hao's storage bag. This thing was specially made by ancient cultivators to lock up the corpse demon. The materials have been lost. He will have the AI deduce it later to see if it can be remade into a magic weapon.
After dealing with everything, Qin Hao, along with Yanli and the transformed Yinyue, followed the original path and used earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magic in Chinese fantasy novels) to leave the stone chamber hidden in the mountain's belly, returning to the outside sky and boarding the Ink Dragon Boat.
With this matter settled, Qin Hao planned to pilot the Ink Dragon Boat back to Qingxu Sect.
However, just as the Molong Boat transformed into a streak of black light and flew less than a hundred miles away from the black mountain peak, the escape light suddenly stopped.
The next moment, the void ahead rippled, and two streaks of light of different colors appeared, blocking the way for the Ink Dragon Boat. The streaks of light receded, revealing the figures of two cultivators.
One was a plump old man with a full head of white hair and a ruddy complexion, wearing a loose robe and wearing a kind smile. The other was a lean middle-aged man with bright, piercing eyes. Both men possessed profound auras, clearly at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.
The portly old man was the first to cup his hands in greeting, and spoke in a loud voice with a smile: "Cheng Tiankun and Lü Luo of Luoyun Sect greet you, fellow Daoist. This fellow Daoist is quite unfamiliar. Since you are passing through the territory of my Luoyun Sect, if you have some free time, why not move into the sect, have a few cups of spiritual tea, and exchange some cultivation insights? What do you say?"
The lean man next to him, Lü Luo, also smiled and nodded in greeting.
Qin Hao's heart stirred: "So it's Elder Cheng and Elder Lü of the Luoyun Sect in person. It's a pleasure to meet you. Zhang Tie, Guest Elder of the Qingxu Sect, greets the two fellow Daoists."
"Qingxu Sect?"
"Elder Keqing?"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Tiankun and Lü Luo exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise flashing across their faces. But then, their smiles became even warmer and more sincere.
The two naturally understood that the guest elder was merely a figurehead, meaning that this powerful mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator did not actually belong to any sect.
Of the three sects in Yunmeng, Luoyun Sect was the weakest. Cheng Tiankun's lifespan was also running out. Once he passed away, Luoyun Sect would only have Lu Luo, a Nascent Soul cultivator, left to hold the fort.
If we could invite this mid-Nascent Soul cultivator to join us, we could not only stabilize the position of the Falling Cloud Sect, but also perhaps even help the entire sect advance further.
After all, the person in front of him doesn't look very old. If he can cultivate to the mid-Nascent Soul stage at such a young age, he might even have a chance to advance further and become a late-Nascent Soul stage cultivator...
While Cheng Tiankun and Lü Luo were drooling over their imagined bright future, Qin Hao was naturally also making his own plans.
The Spirit Eye Tree of the Three Sects of Yunmeng is a real treasure!