Three hours later!
The process continued until the image of the golden figure within Lu Xuan’s mind executed the final, profoundly mysterious slash of the blade technique, erupting in a dazzling, brilliant purple radiance.
This was followed by an endless tide of violet flames, surging forth like an apocalyptic deluge, setting the vast, boundless heavens ablaze.
The scene in Lu Xuan’s mind ended there, vanishing in an instant as everything returned to normal.
Yet, at this very moment, Lu Xuan, who had been sitting cross-legged in the courtyard training ground, began to levitate into the air.
His body was enveloped by a shield of deep violet True Qi.
The energy comprising this deep purple shield flowed like molten lava, emanating a disconcertingly intense heat.
High in the air, Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes. A faint purple light glowed within his sockets, making him resemble a deity—majestic, sacred, and inviolable.
Host: Lu Xuan
Realm: External True Qi Grandmaster (Advanced)
Cultivation Arts: Heaven-Burning Blade Art 1/9, Flowing Light Step Technique 1/9 (Can Be Deduced), Vajra Indestructibility 3/9 (Can Be Deduced).
Points: 500
Host, please confirm: Deduce Flowing Light Step Technique, consuming 400 points?
Host, please confirm: Deduce Vajra Indestructibility, consuming 90 points?
Advanced External True Qi Grandmaster!
Heaven-Burning Blade Art!
Reaching the Advanced stage of External True Qi Grandmaster had actually condensed his True Qi to such an extent.
This level of True Qi even allowed him to hover briefly in the air.
Sensing the rapid depletion of the True Qi within his body, Lu Xuan withdrew it.
As the internal True Qi was recalled, the protective shield surrounding him also vanished.
Lu Xuan slowly descended from mid-air until his feet touched the ground.
“The cost of deduction really is as substantial as ever!”
Perceiving that less than a tenth of his True Qi remained, Lu Xuan knew it had been consumed during the deduction of the Blazing Flame Blade Art.
However, after breaking through to the Advanced stage, Lu Xuan discovered that his rate of absorbing energy from the world had increased severalfold.
Yet, this speed of recovering internal True Qi was still not as fast as directly refining heaven-and-earth spiritual treasures.
If he had refined such treasures directly, his depleted True Qi would already be fully restored.
Relying solely on absorbing natural energy now, Lu Xuan estimated it would take many days for his True Qi to recover completely.
Never mind. For now, he would consume some potent medicinal herbs to accelerate the recovery.
He would deduce the remaining two martial arts techniques after returning to Baidao Prefecture’s main city.
After all, there were still some minor matters awaiting his attention.
The setting sun was like blood, casting dappled light and shadow on the official road of Qingyun County. Strands of twilight glow fell upon the earth.
In a village not far from the official road, however, there was no trace of human vitality.
The once lively and bustling village had become silent, deathly still, and desolate.
This eerily strange village was precisely the place Lu Xuan had passed through before.
Liugou Village!
At the village entrance, several bizarre shadows stretched long and thin under the dusky sunlight.
Among the three figures, the one standing in the middle was a hunched, diminutive old woman.
Her hands were clasped behind her back, and she wore a white robe that enveloped her entire body, revealing only her heavily wrinkled eyes.
The two figures beside her appeared much shorter than the old woman, both simply draped in plain white robes.
One was tall, the other short. The shorter one was roughly the height of an infant, while the taller one approached the stature of a human child of seven or eight.
“Nearly a day has passed. Qingyun County town must be almost completely lifeless by now.”
“Kekeke, I wonder what Li Chengfeng’s reaction will be when he learns this truth.”
“With an entire county town wiped out, even as a member of the Li family, he won’t escape the wrath of that damned emperor.”
“It was not in vain, the effort this elder expended.”
The thought of that old ghost Li Chengfeng facing misfortune caused the old woman’s eyes to gleam with an eerie white light as she let out a chilling laugh.
For so many years in Baidao Prefecture, she had been hunted by that old ghost Li Chengfeng on multiple occasions.
“It’s time to return to the Holy Sect’s headquarters.”
“The divination abilities of those bothersome supervisors from the Celestial Monitoring Department have weakened considerably against our Holy Sect.”
“Presumably, the Dharma Protectors and the Supreme Elders of our sect have also awakened by now.”
The old woman was in excellent spirits. This trip to Baidao Prefecture had been quite fruitful.
Not only had she annihilated the entire Qingyun County town, but she had also used some human martial artists from the county to cultivate a White Lotus Sacred Infant.
She originally possessed a White Lotus Sacred Emissary.
The monster beside her, similar in size to an infant, was the one she had cultivated after arriving in Qingyun County.
The old woman had massacred numerous villages and towns, using the flesh and blood of martial artists to nourish the White Lotus Sacred Seed.
In less than a few days, she had successfully cultivated a White Lotus Sacred Infant.
Due to the swift and covert nature of her methods, the destroyed villages and towns couldn’t even send out messages.
Thus, even the Qingyun County magistrate’s office was unaware that several settlements under its jurisdiction had already been slaughtered.
Just as the old woman prepared to leave Liugou Village, the two monsters beside her stood motionless, staring into the distance.
“Hmm?”
“Has fresh prey arrived?”
Seeing this, the old woman lifted her head to look towards the location of Qingyun County’s official road.
The White Lotus Sacred Emissary and the White Lotus Blood Infant could keenly detect the scent of humans from afar.
Their abnormal behavior indicated the presence of humans ahead.
Subsequently, a strange white light flickered in the old woman’s eyes as she spoke with cold indifference, “You two, go and devour that prey.”
As soon as her words fell, the eyes of the two monsters also emitted a dazzling white light, seemingly under the old woman’s control.
Thud!
The ground trembled slightly with a muffled sound.
The two White Lotus monsters instantly transformed into afterimages, leaping towards the distance.
On the official road near Liugou Village, Lu Xuan’s figure appeared.
The journey from the county town to Liugou Village normally took over a day. With Lu Xuan’s extreme speed, he had arrived here in less than two hours.
At this moment, Lu Xuan’s hurried steps came to a halt as he gazed in the direction of Liugou Village.
“Oh?”
“A White Lotus Blood Infant?”
“And another monster even stronger than it.”
“It seems I was right. There really are demonic cultists of the World-Purifying White Lotus Sect here in Liugou Village.”
Lu Xuan sensed a very familiar aura in the distance.
It was the aura of a White Lotus Blood Infant!
Recalling the black phantom from Liugou Village, Lu Xuan had guessed that members of the World-Purifying White Lotus Sect might still be there.
“Hmph, detestable creatures!”
With a cold snort, two streaks of purple True Qi energy materialized in the void around Lu Xuan.
Then, these two streaks of purple True Qi, radiating scorching high temperatures and carrying a sharp, space-piercing force, shot towards the two White Lotus monsters.
