237: The Spirit Seed Sprouting

Chapter 235: Spirit Seed Sprouts

Niu Liang was originally an ordinary hunter at the foot of Weiyang Mountain. Twenty years ago, while hunting in the mountains, he accidentally got chased by a wild boar and fell off a cliff.

Fortunately, he didn't die, and even found a corpse and a discarded Cultivation Technique by a pool at the bottom of the cliff.

Following that Cultivation Technique to Cultivate, Niu Liang also had dumb luck and became a Cultivator.

For a time, his prominence was unmatched.

Unfortunately, Weiyang Mountain was only a small place in the State of Wei within the Tianyang Domain, and the nearest Cultivator Sect, the Smoke and Cloud Sect, was a full thousand miles away.

After becoming a Cultivator, he single-mindedly wanted to enter the Sect to Cultivate, and for this, he spared no effort to cross mountains and rivers to head to the Smoke and Cloud Sect.

Unfortunately, his Aptitude was low, and he was turned away by the Smoke and Cloud Sect. Even more distant Sects like the Luoyu Sect and Yinlei Mountain also turned him away.

With no other choice, he could only become a Loose Cultivator, struggling until now.

In twenty years, his cultivation barely reached the 6th layer of the Qi Refinement Phase.

Among Mortals, he was a local Immortal Master, revered by countless people.

But among Cultivators, he could only be considered at the very bottom.

Two years ago, a Foundation Establishment Deacon surnamed Zhang from the Smoke and Cloud Sect grew old and suffered heavy injuries during a Sect mission, halting his cultivation progress entirely.

Feeling disheartened, he brought his clansmen to Weiyang Mountain to branch out and spread leaves, establishing the Weiyang Zhang Family, a Cultivator Family.

Within the State of Wei, such Cultivator Families were countless, numbering in great abundance.

Seeing that he was a Disciple of the Smoke and Cloud Sect, Niu Liang actively defected and sought a job as the general manager of washing spiritual sand.

Every month, he also received a salary of fifty spiritual sands, and that Foundation Establishment Cultivator within the clan would occasionally explain some difficult problems on the path of cultivation to him.

Therefore, Niu Liang adapted very well to life in the Zhang Family, somewhat harboring the intention of spending his old age here.

But...

Until today, after snatching a suspected Magic Treasure fragment from the hands of a lowly Mortal sand-washing laborer, his thoughts began to become active.

Having finally endured until nightfall and returned to his Immortal Cave, after carefully reconnoitering the surroundings and making sure that the little gadgets he set up hadn't been triggered, he cautiously took out that piece of broken bronze mirror to examine it.

"What on earth is this treasure?"

"It looks like a part cracked off from some kind of ancient mirror?"

Niu Liang looked at it closely, his heart full of doubts.

As he spoke, he took out his Flying Sword and tried to rub it against the broken mirror.

Just as he expected, the broken mirror didn't have any marks at all; instead, his own Flying Sword was somewhat worn down.

"A treasure, it's definitely a treasure!"

"My Flying Sword is a fine product among Low Grade Magical Artifacts, to think that not even a scratch appeared..."

"It seems I have to think of other ways to try it..."

As he spoke, he patted his Storage Pouch, wanting to put this broken bronze mirror inside. Who would have thought that the broken bronze mirror had no reaction at all and didn't move at all.

"The Storage Pouch can't put it in? A treasure, it's definitely a treasure!"

Niu Liang was studying the broken bronze mirror in private, while Zheng Yi had already withdrawn his Mental Energy from this unfamiliar world.

His first reaction was that the world over there was extremely dangerous.

As soon as he crossed over, he ran into a Cultivator, and this Cultivator killed a sand-washing laborer without a word in order to seize the broken bronze mirror.

The other sand-washing laborers were not surprised, and even the other Cultivator whose status was obviously higher than his only gave a verbal warning without any punishment.

"It seems that the world over there is a cultivation world where Cultivators are superior and Mortals can be killed at will..."

"In a short time, I won't transmigrate over, unless that world is thoroughly investigated, or my strength improves!"

Zheng Yi's heart stirred. He could completely make use of this time to improve his own strength.

In the following time, Zheng Yi sacrificed and refined various Magical Artifacts while constantly paying attention to every move of Niu Liang.

Half a month later, Zheng Yi received the Storage Pouch of the White Lotus Saintess sent by Xu Mujun.

Pouring it out to take a look, there wasn't a single Magical Artifact; there were only a large number of common Cultivator supplies such as Talismans, Medicinal Pills, and spiritual sands.

Most importantly, there was also a Cultivation Technique called the White Lotus Scripture.

This Cultivation Technique was the handed-down Cultivation Technique of the White Lotus Sect, which could directly reach the Nascent Soul Stage!

Even according to the records inside the scripture, the White Lotus Scripture should have subsequent Cultivation Techniques, but unfortunately they had already been lost.

After carefully checking it, he found that practicing this White Lotus Scripture had no requirements for Spiritual Roots at all; instead, it required the practitioner's spirit to be incomparably powerful.

This turned out to be a Cultivation Technique specialized in cultivating Cultivators' Divine Thoughts!

It recorded a large number of how to Cultivate Divine Thoughts, as well as various Divine Thought attack techniques, which were extremely eerie.

It did not conflict with other Cultivation Techniques.

The simplest one was Shen Da!

Relying on the White Lotus Scripture, a Cultivator could even condense Divine Thoughts during the Qi Refinement Phase. Whether it was controlling Magical Artifacts or attacking with Divine Thoughts, they far exceeded ordinary Cultivators.

Unfortunately...

She ran into Xu Mujun, who possessed martial arts willpower!

Any Divine Thought attacks and seductions of the White Lotus Saintess could not play any role in front of Xu Mujun, who had a strong martial arts willpower.

Even the art of Shen Da would be easily driven away and vanish into thin air in front of martial arts willpower.

However, for Zheng Yi, this White Lotus Scripture happened to be suitable for him to Cultivate.

Whether it was controlling the Puppet Xuan Ye, or the Thousand Illusion Glazed Painting, Blood Moon Gu, spirit-devouring insects, and other spiritual items, they all consumed a large amount of Mental Energy.

With the White Lotus Scripture, he could make his Mental Energy transform into Divine Thoughts in advance, being invincible everywhere!

In the following months, he Cultivated the Great Five Elements Illusory World Art on one side, and the White Lotus Scripture on the other, as well as blood-sacrificing the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit and other items.

Three months later, after a blood sacrifice of the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit, when checking routinely, he suddenly found something wrong.

The Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit... seemed to have sprouted!

Under his careful observation, a small tender bud suddenly popped out from beneath the fruit in his hand, resembling a newborn root system.

Zheng Yi was so excited he could almost cry. Finally, there was finally some movement!

Until now, he had consumed a full thousand drops of essence blood and one year of lifespan!

Only in exchange for the sprouting of the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit!

One year of lifespan was not wasted in vain!

"Since the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit has sprouted, it proves that it can still grow on its own."

"However, if you want to speed up its growth, you must rely on... essence blood!"

Recalling that terrifying Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit in the Spirit Pool World, Zheng Yi immediately made a decision.

For the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit to grow completely, it would take a full nine thousand years.

And his blood sacrifice technique sped up this time a lot.

Now that the blood sacrifice was completed, he just didn't know if the essence blood would continue to play a role?

For this reason, he found the Black Jade King Cauldron used when previously refining the Moonlight Gu, and threw the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit seed into it.

Forming a hand incantation with one hand, he opened his mouth and spat. A drop of dark red essence blood sprayed out from it, falling into the Black Jade King Cauldron.

Forming the incantation again, it was another drop of essence blood.

One hundred drops of essence blood in a row, which was also a hundred years of lifespan, barely covered the bottom of the Black Jade King Cauldron.

"Let's try cultivating it with essence blood first. Ordinary spiritual plants grow in soil containing Spiritual Qi, whereas I am using essence blood."

"I just don't know what changes will happen to the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit...?"

After doing all this, Zheng Yi once again poured his Mental Energy into the world of the broken bronze mirror.

For more than three months, he hadn't been Cultivating all the time.

Instead, he would take time off to follow Niu Liang's line of sight and observe this world.

Coupled with Niu Liang's communication with others, Zheng Yi gradually came to understand the world where the broken bronze mirror was located.

Tianyang Domain, State of Wei, the Weiyang Mountain Zhang Family.

Old Ancestor Zhang originated from the Smoke and Cloud Sect, the number one grand Sect of the State of Wei, and was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Two years ago, he returned to his ancestral home on Weiyang Mountain to establish a Cultivator Family, expanding territory for the Smoke and Cloud Sect.

As for Niu Liang, he was a Loose Cultivator of Weiyang Mountain who actively joined the Zhang Family to pray for protection.

The direct lineage of the Zhang Family had a total of five Cultivators.

The first was a Middle Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, which was Old Ancestor Zhang, Zhang Yongkang.

He had more than a dozen children under his knees, but unfortunately, only three possessed Spiritual Roots and could step onto the path of Cultivators.

Only these three were qualified to live in the Zhang Family's grand mansion and were called 'Young Masters'.

The second was Zhang Yongkang's legal wife, Yang Pinger, a Late Stage Qi Refinement Cultivator.

The husband and wife were both Disciples of the Smoke and Cloud Sect, and they became Dao Companions more than twenty years ago, until now.

The third, Zhang Yongkang's eldest son, Zhang Shaoyang, thirty-five years old, 9th layer of Qi Refinement.

The fourth, Zhang Yongkang's second son, Zhang Shaoxing, twenty-eight years old, 7th layer of Qi Refinement.

The fifth, Zhang Yongkang's third son, Zhang Shaohai, eighteen years old, 6th layer of Qi Refinement.

Among the three sons, third son Zhang Shaohai had the best Aptitude and was expected to reach Foundation Establishment.

The one who scolded Niu Liang that day was Zhang Shaohai.

Besides them, there were three other Loose Cultivators who actively attached themselves to the Zhang Family, with Niu Liang being one of them, and their cultivation levels were mostly around the Middle Stage of Qi Refinement.

"Hmm?"

Just at this moment, Zheng Yi felt a movement coming from the broken bronze mirror and hurried over to check.

As soon as his Mental Energy turned over, he felt that Niu Liang was moving violently.

The broken bronze mirror could not be put into a Storage Pouch, so Niu Liang always carried it close to his body, which also allowed Zheng Yi to view the surrounding environment at any time.

But he saw that beneath the Weiyang River, a large number of sand-washing laborers were fleeing in a panic without choosing their path.

Not far away, several men in black were casting spells, wantonly slaughtering the surrounding Mortals.

Especially the three Cultivators stationed here, including Niu Liang, received special 'care' from these men in black.

"Kill!"

A Flying Sword burning with green nether fire struck over. Niu Liang hurriedly flew out his own Flying Sword to block it, and casually slapped a Vajra Talisman onto his body.

"How miserable!"

"Why has the Lei Family killed their way here? Aren't they afraid of retaliation from the Smoke and Cloud Sect?"

Niu Liang resisted while retreating.

He was only attached to the Zhang Family, not a member of the Zhang Family. Seeing that the situation was bad, of course he had to run away on two legs; how could he possibly risk his life for the Zhang Family?

Besides him, the other two had the same thought, fighting while retreating.

"Hahaha, Old Ancestor Zhang is dying! From now on, Weiyang Mountain will belong to the Lei Family!"

"Why don't you surrender immediately!"

A man in black roared. Niu Liang's expression changed slightly. Old Ancestor Zhang was going to die?

How was that possible!

"Boom!"

Just at this moment, one of the men in black flicked his hand casually, and a bolt of black lightning suddenly descended from the sky, landing not far from Niu Liang.

The violent roaring sound and the bursting lightning immediately blasted Niu Liang flying.

The Vajra Talisman protecting him was also instantly blasted to pieces, and his whole body was covered in blood.

"Yin Lightning Bead!"

"It's definitely a Yin Lightning Bead!"

"Why would the Yin Lightning Beads of Yinlei Mountain... Has the Lei Family defected to Yinlei Mountain?"

Niu Liang was so scared that his soul shook violently. He actually lay flat on the ground tightly, not daring to move, hoping that the others from the Lei Family would quickly go chase down other Cultivators so that he could escape with his life.

But what he didn't notice was that a streak of fresh blood flowed down his cheek, just happening to drip onto the broken bronze mirror that he had always hung around his neck.

"Boom!"

Just at this moment, three streams of light shot over from afar like starlight.

"Who dares to act presumptuously on Weiyang Mountain!!!"