Luoying Mountain Range.
Midway up the mountain, Ling Changqing pressed on toward the summit, his expression grim.
His Power of Divine Thought was fully unleashed, allowing him to perceive every rustle of wind and blade of grass within a radius of over four hundred zhang.
The path up the mountain was rugged and treacherous. It was choked with zhang-deep weeds and dense thickets of naless, often poisonous, shrubs. All sorts of strange snakes and insects hid within them.
Fifty years was enough ti to completely erase all traces left by the Cultivators who had passed through before, including the paths they had cleared.
Two Flying Swords shimring with Spiritual Light circled before Ling Changqing, acting as guards and clearing a path.
The weeds and shrubs in his path were leveled by the piercing sword light, carving out a new path by force.
Many other Cultivators ascending the main peak in other areas were doing the sa thing.
Everyone was taking different routes up the mountain, but their destination was the sa.
With a RUSTLING from deep within the undergrowth, the shrubs and weeds flattened to either side, revealing a massive, multicolored python as thick as a bucket and dozens of zhang in length.
The massive beast actually had a fleshy crest growing from the middle of its head. With long, narrow, erald-green eyes, it opened its savage, gaping maw and lunged at Ling Changqing.
Ling Changqing's expression remained unchanged. A brilliant Sword Aura flashed before him. Before the late stage second rank Demon Beast could even react, its massive head was lopped off by the Top Grade Spiritual Artifact level Flying Sword.
Purplish-black blood spurted out like a fountain, spraying far and wide. The massive, headless snake body continued to twist and struggle desperately. It flattened swathes of trees and sent heaps of stone ROLLING down the mountain in its wake, creating a shocking disturbance.
Ling Changqing was unmoved. He controlled the Flying Sword to continue cutting, easily slicing open the snake's belly and digging out the Inner Core within.
The Inner Core of a Second Rank Demon Beast was perfect for use in Alchemy.
"...Master, if you sacrifice this to , you can recover so of your Lifespan!"
Gong Ling's gentle voice echoed softly in his sea of consciousness.
Ling Changqing was slightly startled. "Alright then, you can have it!"
The Inner Core, which he had barely held long enough to warm, vanished in a stream of light, and a surging heat imdiately flooded his limbs and bones.
Imdiately after, Ling Changqing sensed that he had recovered one year of his Lifespan.
In his sea of consciousness, a ssage exuding a mysterious Dao Rhy silently appeared:
[Master of the Era Star Palace: Ling Changqing]
[Bone Age: 34/339-9]
[Cultivation: Late stage Foundation Establishnt]
'Only one year?'
Ling Changqing was a little disappointed. 'This massive beast was equivalent to a late stage Foundation Establishnt Demon Beast, and the essence of its Inner Core can only restore a single year of Lifespan?'
"That's already pretty good. If you want more, Master, you should just hunt more of these fierce creatures!"
Gong Ling replied, her voice lilting with laughter.
"Fine!"
Ling Changqing nodded. 'This is sothing I do often anyway, and Second Rank Demon Beasts aren't that hard for to deal with anymore.'
Looking at the headless snake body still struggling before him, Ling Changqing decided not to let it go to waste. He swung his sword, skinned it, and cut off a dozen large chunks of fine, snow-white snake at, which he froze and put into his Storage Pouch.
As a forr citizen of the gluttonous empire in his past life, Ling Changqing had an innate love for all kinds of fine food. The at of a Second Rank Demon Beast was rich in Spiritual Qi and never disappointed in texture, so there was naturally no reason to waste it.
After cleaning up the area, Ling Changqing continued on his way.
The mountain path was winding and perilous. The journey from the halfway point to the summit would take more than a day on foot alone.
And that was without accounting for the threats from various native fierce creatures along the way, as well as obstruction from Cultivators of other factions.
The only way up was to fight through every obstacle; an easy passage was out of the question.
Within the range of his Divine Thought, Ling Changqing would occasionally discover so decent Spirit dicine and Spiritual Herbs, or even highly valuable Spirit Beasts and Spiritual Birds.
But the opportunity awaiting at the summit wouldn't wait, so Ling Changqing chose to ignore them and focus solely on his journey.
As long as those native Demon Beasts didn't provoke him first, he wouldn't go out of his way to bother them.
Rounding a slope, he ca face to face with a stretch of forest. Hundreds of large trees had already been felled, clearing a temporary path.
Given the sharpness of a Spiritual Artifact level Flying Sword, the cuts on the trees were perfectly clean and smooth.
Ling Changqing slowed his pace, his calm and composed gaze sweeping his surroundings. As expected, he sensed so lingering auras.
'Is it the Feng Family? Or the Yu Family? It seems not much ti has passed...'
He muttered to himself, secretly raising his guard. A stack of Talismans was already hidden in his sleeve, and the Mysterious Jade Scroll was ready to be used at a mont's notice.
If he were to be attacked unexpectedly, Ling Changqing was confident he could instantly annihilate his opponent in a sea of Divine Techniques and Magic unleashed by the Talismans.
After several dozen steps, Ling Changqing reached the edge of the forest and slowly ca to a halt.
"Friends from the Feng Family, would you care to show yourselves?"
Ling Changqing's calm, unwavering voice echoed through the forest.
"Hehe, this Fellow Daoist from the Dragon Race is truly perceptive. We hid so well, yet you still found us. Tsk tsk..."
As a low voice sounded, a group of male and female Cultivators erged from the depths of the bamboo forest with a great RUSTLE.
They all wore identical, cyan Magical Robes. The designs on the Scented Jade Pendants at their waists marked them as Cultivators from the Feng Family, one of the Nine Great Families of Yuzhou.
The pair of young Cultivators at the head of the group—the man exceptionally martial and the woman beautiful with bright eyes—both appeared to have Foundation Establishnt Peak Cultivation.
"I am Feng Zhenglong. May I ask for the na of this Fellow Daoist from the Dragon Race?"
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