25: Slaying Demons and Creating Fortune

"Family Head, Family Head, monumental news!"

Ye Wentao stood at the door and knocked; before Lu Xuan could respond, he blurted it out excitedly from outside.

"What news?"

Lu Xuan opened the door and looked at Ye Wentao.

"An im... immortal..."

"An immortal is going to slay a demon!"

"An immortal? What immortal?"

Lu Xuan's hand gripped Ye Wentao's shoulder tightly.

"I heard it from a passing merchant. He said the imperial court posted a notice that in two days, an immortal will slay a demon in our prefecture. Anyone can go watch, but life and death are at one's own risk."

"Family Head!"

Ye Wentao looked at Lu Xuan and called out softly.

"You may leave now."

After Ye Wentao left, Lu Xuan sat alone in a black-lacquered solid wood chair.

"An immortal... the immortal I've waited so many years for has suddenly appeared before my eyes? And he's going to slay a demon?"

Lu Xuan could not suppress the excitement in his heart. Although he knew there might be danger, he still wanted to go take a look.

"I just don't know which county it's in. I can only try my luck."

...The next day, night.

[Tomorrow's Immortal Fate: A Golden Core True Lord will slay a Purple Mansion serpent demon at the Green Wave River. The spiritual energy dissipated after the serpent's fall will aid in martial breakthroughs. You may bathe in the spiritual rain by the Green Wave River tomorrow at the First Quarter of the Hour of the Monkey.]

Lu Xuan's eyes shone brightly in the dark night.

"The Green Wave River is over a thousand miles long. Could it be that the entire thousand-mile Green Wave River will rain tomorrow? Purple Mansion? Golden Core? Influencing celestial phenomena—just what kind of power is that?"

Lu Xuan had originally intended to watch the grand spectacle of the demon slaying, but now that the opportunity had been revealed, he felt there was no longer much to see. He had been a bit impulsive when he heard news of the immortal's tracks during the day.

Early the next morning, Lu Xuan clearly felt the rain intensifying; he could even smell a faint fishy scent in the rain.

Time trickled by... at the border where Yunzhou Prefecture met the river.

True Lord Chiyang, Yin Long, arrived here.

"Purple Mansion serpent demon, after a thousand years of accumulation, you have failed to transform into a dragon after all. How tragic, how lamentable."

He sighed with emotion.

"Since the spiritual energy is being revived because of you, then use your flesh and blood to compensate the myriad living beings of this spiritless land."

His gaze was like a torch, instantly locking onto the colossal creature in the water.

The Black Serpent that had failed to transform into a dragon now had its skin and flesh torn open by lightning tribulations. Although it had failed the transformation, slight bulges had formed on its head. As long as it could connect the providence of the thousand-mile area along the Green Wave River to itself, swim against the current, and finally leap over the Dragon Gate Tribulation, it could still transform from a serpent into a dragon.

It would merely cost a hundred years of wasted time and the lives of tens of millions of people along the Green Wave River.

Suddenly, it felt a prickling sensation on its back. Its muscles tensed, and its scales flared out in a stress response.

A middle-aged man stood suspended in the air, wearing a cyan-blue Daoist robe with Taiji Eight Trigrams diagrams embroidered on the sleeves and star trajectories stitched in silver thread on the hem. He appeared like an ordinary person, without a single ripple of spiritual energy.

An extreme and fatal sense of danger crept into its heart.

It was going to die!!!!

It arched its body, hiding half of it underwater while the other half floated on the surface, staring fixedly at Yin Long.

On a small hill by the shore, dozens of Great Grandmasters and several Martial Saint experts were hidden, observing in secret.

Although Yin Long and the Black Serpent had long since discovered them, they did not care about these ant-like characters.

"Who are you?"

The Black Serpent spoke in human tongue, questioning him. At the same time, its aura spread out, launching a preliminary probe.

The martial arts experts watching nearby were instantly struck by this aura. Even the Martial Saints spat out blood, as if they were facing not a serpent demon, but the majestic might of heaven itself.

But for Yin Long, this pressure was not even as strong as a light breeze on his face.

He did not waste words; he simply raised his hand, and an exquisite sword light appeared in the sky.

Before the Black Serpent could even react, the sword light shattered its Purple Mansion Demon Core. It didn't even have time to activate the divine abilities engraved within its Purple Mansion.

The sword light passed through the serpent demon with undiminished momentum; upon touching the surface of the Green Wave River, it directly split the river in two.

"Is... is this a Golden Core expert?"

"Splitting the river with one sword!

This is the hundred-mile-wide Green Wave River!!"

"Golden Core experts are terrifyingly powerful."

Just when they thought it was over, Yin Long turned his hand and brought out a giant cauldron.

The giant cauldron expanded as it met the wind, quickly growing from its initial fist size to the size of a mountain.

The sides of the giant cauldron were engraved with mountains, rivers, plants, birds, beasts, insects, and fish. It was entirely black, blotting out the sun.

"This... this is an immortal's method."

"To hear the Dao in the morning, one can die content in the evening."

"The Sect Master brought the Mountains and Rivers Cauldron. Could it be?"

The moment Xu Qing saw the great cauldron appear, pleasant surprise surfaced in his eyes.

Beside him, Feng Yi's eyes also sparkled with brilliance.

"When we return and Qingquan finds out about this, I'm afraid he'll be filled with regret."

"Indeed, who knew the Sect Master would do this? Say no more, let's hurry and grab a spot."

"The flesh and blood spiritual energy of a fallen Purple Mansion expert—by cultivating within it, if you're lucky, you might even comprehend its former divine abilities."

"Such an Immortal Fate is usually only encountered after the Purple Sun Sect's Millennial Grand Competition."

Yin Long naturally saw his disciples' movements, but he said nothing; these were their opportunities.

His hands moved in rapid signs, and he chanted under his breath.

A moment later.

"Command!"

A white light drifted out from the cauldron, quickly lifting the giant serpent's corpse and casting it inside.

The Mountains and Rivers Cauldron immediately emitted a black, profound light.

As time passed, an exotic fragrance wafted between heaven and earth.

"It's about to begin."

Xu Qing spoke with joy, then immediately entered meditation and began circulating his cultivation technique.

Feng Yi did the same.

As the fragrance dispersed, a martial artist at the Great Circle of the Master Realm among the distant crowd seemed to sense something. He immediately sat cross-legged, and in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea...

A powerful aura erupted from his body.

*Hiss*~ "A Innate Grandmaster!!"

The people surrounding him all gasped in shock.

"That fragrance must be the opportunity."

"Gentlemen, why don't we move a bit closer?"

"What if we displease the immortal?"

Some people on the scene hesitated, but there were also several rogue cultivators who, having no attachments, steeled their hearts and began to dash toward that direction.

"Elder Xu, someone is coming over," Feng Yi reminded.

"Ignore them. This opportunity is more than the two of us can consume anyway."

Feng Yi nodded and began to immerse himself in it.

Seeing that the immortal did not pursue the matter, the rest could no longer hold back and also approached one after another.

"Rise!"

One dharma seal after another was continuously struck into the cauldron.

"Condense!"

"Disperse!"

Yin Long shouted softly.

A surge of five-colored spiritual light soared into the sky, vanishing into the clouds.

*Crack*~

A bolt of lightning abruptly appeared in the sky.

The Mountains and Rivers Cauldron returned to Yin Long's hand.

"With the nourishment of the spiritual energy transformed from this demon serpent's flesh and blood, the probability of spiritual roots being born here should increase over the next ten years."

Just as Yin Long left...

Raindrops the size of beans began to fall slowly.

However, unlike before, these raindrops had a hint of sweetness.

As the raindrops hit the ground, the previously withered plants flourished with a second spring. After absorbing it, the wild beasts in the mountains also gained a bit of spirituality. Especially in the Green Wave River, the fish and shrimp that had previously accidentally consumed the demon serpent's blood began to undergo unknown transformations under the nourishment of this rain, while those martial artists who were close by began to break through one after another.

When a whale falls, ten thousand things flourish!

And Lu Xuan had also been waiting by the Green Wave River early on.

Although he didn't know the serpent demon had been slain, the fishy smell in the rain slowly vanished, eventually even becoming somewhat sweet.

And that time was exactly the First Quarter of the Hour of the Monkey.

Lu Xuan took Lu Jingan and practiced boxing in the rain; combined with the breathing technique, their progress was rapid.