"Senior Brother Lu, are there really Demon Sect activities in the Wanshan Mountains?"
"I've heard that Demon Sect members use cultivators to refine pills, strip tendons, and make magical tools. They're said to be vicious and cruel. I wonder if it's really that extreme."
A group of Qingyun Sect disciples descended from the mountain. Since reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, they had been traveling by flying swords, leaving little time for idle chatter. Today, however, was a rare opportunity. As they walked leisurely, they naturally found a topic to discuss.
"Enough!" Lu Changtian snorted coldly, his indifferent gaze sweeping over the disciples behind him. "So what if there are Demon Sect members? The Wanshan Mountains are Qingyun Sect's territory. Even if the Demon Sect's patriarch showed up, he'd have to kneel!"
The disciples immediately put on flattering expressions.
"Senior Brother Lu is right!"
"Exactly! Senior Brother Lu is the strongest among the new generation of Qingyun Sect's direct disciples. His talent far surpasses those Demon Sect disciples!"
"If we run into any Demon Sect members, we'll just slaughter them!"
Though Lu Changtian's face remained expressionless, he couldn't help but feel a little smug inside.
That's right. Previously, Zhao Lingtian, the sect master's direct disciple, had overshadowed him. But now that Zhao Lingtian's dantian was ruined, Lu Changtian was the top among the younger generation of direct disciples, the strongest Foundation Establishment cultivator in Qingyun Sect. As for the Demon Sect?
Whoosh—!
The clear night sky suddenly darkened.
Lu Changtian looked up and saw a dark cloud rising from the mountains, blotting out the moonlight. It flew westward at an alarming speed.
The cloud churned with a crimson demonic aura, and even from a distance, it exuded a chilling pressure that sent shivers down their spines.
"It's a demonic cultivator!"
"Such terrifying demonic energy!"
"Quick, inform the sect!" Lu Changtian's face turned pale, all traces of his earlier confidence gone.
The demonic energy had already condensed into a cloud. The opponent was at least an old monster.
Facing such a being, these cultivators who hadn't even reached the Golden Core stage would be courting death.
The law enforcement disciples beside Lu Changtian fumbled to take out their communication jade slips, but just as they were about to activate them, they found their bodies frozen in place!
"Hehehe, little ones, I can't let you send messages so casually."
A sinister voice echoed from behind.
Lu Changtian's soul nearly left his body. The dark cloud in the sky had vanished. The demonic cultivator had somehow appeared behind them without anyone noticing.
A mist of demonic energy engulfed one of the law enforcement disciples. Not even a scream was heard as the disciple was reduced to a withered corpse, the jade slip in his hand crushed into pieces.
"I'm in a hurry today, so I don't have time to deal with you. I'll just leave you with a little toy to play with~ Hehe~"
As the demonic energy dissipated, the demonic cultivator disappeared without ever fully revealing himself. All that remained was a grotesque, dried-up corpse.
"Is… is he gone?"
"Junior Brother Zhang? Junior Brother Zhang?"
"Ugh, stop calling him. He's dead! Let's hurry back to the sect and report this!"
There was only one communication jade slip, and with a powerful demonic cultivator appearing in the Wanshan Mountains, it was no longer safe for disciples of their level to continue the mission. The sect would need to send more elite disciples, or even elders, to handle this.
One of the disciples stepped forward, intending to collect the body of the unfortunate Junior Brother Zhang.
"Don't go near it! Get back!"
Lu Changtian, who had been closely watching the corpse, noticed something unusual and quickly warned, but it was too late.
The dead body of Junior Brother Zhang suddenly sprouted red fur, then sprang up from the ground like a leopard, pouncing on the disciple. Its gaping maw revealed sharp fangs as it bit down on the disciple's neck.
Squelch—!
The neck of a Foundation Establishment disciple was bitten clean through, blood gushing like a fountain.
The sudden turn of events left the surrounding disciples dumbfounded, frozen in place.
The blood-soaked monster grew even more ferocious.
"It's a hairy zombie!" Lu Changtian drew his flying sword, his expression grave. He quickly ordered the disciples around him, "Form a formation immediately! This enemy is dangerous. If we don't kill it, none of us will escape!"
As he stared at the grotesque hairy zombie, his heart turned cold.
To casually transform a Foundation Establishment disciple into a peak-level hairy zombie…
Just who was that demonic cultivator?
At the foot of the mountain, in the small cottage—
"The pill Senior gave me is probably more than just precious…" Li Qingran was shocked as she inspected her dantian.
The new dantian, still forming, was shrouded in a golden light. Unlike any dantian she had ever heard of, as the condensation neared completion, a rotating golden lotus platform appeared before her.
"This… this is my new dantian?!"
The lotus-shaped dantian emitted a hazy blue light, each petal clearly visible, with profound Daoist scriptures inscribed on them.
What kind of dantian was this?
She had never heard or seen anything like it.
But Li Qingran knew this dantian was extraordinary.
She often visited the scripture pavilion to browse through materials.
While the first floor didn't contain any powerful cultivation techniques, it held many biographies and historical records of the Cangyun Realm. These stories, though not directly useful for combat, broadened her horizons.
In ancient times, sects valued the quality of the dantian more than the spiritual root.
Back then, dantians were graded.
A first-grade dantian was the pinnacle of innate dantians, but above that was the legendary peerless dantian.
However, no cultivator was born with a peerless dantian.
Only those unparalleled geniuses with first-grade dantians, after using countless rare resources to enhance their dantians, had a slim chance of achieving the legendary peerless dantian.
Li Qingran had never seen a peerless dantian before.
But she had a strong premonition.
This dantian of hers was peerless!
"Senior… just what kind of incredible pill did you give me…" Li Qingran opened her eyes, staring at the golden lotuses filling the cottage, on the verge of tears. The kindness of restoring her dantian was already beyond repayment, but now Senior had not only restored her dantian but also granted her such an immense opportunity.
"Hehe, it really is a peerless dantian! My opportunity has come!"
A maniacal laugh echoed outside the cottage.
Li Qingran looked out the window and saw a dark cloud hovering in the air, churning with demonic energy. A shadowy figure stood within it.
"It's a demonic cultivator!"
The visitor was hostile and clearly powerful.
"Senior, a demonic cultivator is here!"
In her panic, Li Qingran didn't stop to consider whether the Senior in her heart was stronger than this demonic cultivator. She grabbed a broken sword and fixed her gaze on the window.
"Hehehe!" The demonic cultivator heard Li Qingran's voice and laughed maniacally. "I am Ye Futian, the patriarch of the Heavenly Demon Sect! None of you will escape today. You'll all become stepping stones on my path to the Great Dao!"
"Don't get cocky!"
Li Qingran's eyes narrowed as she gripped the broken sword and prepared to rise.
But a gentle force pushed her back.
In the hotel room, Chen Huaian looked at the dark cloud and the large red dot on the map, a wicked smile curling his lips. He took out a communication talisman and pressed it, saying, "Step back, girl. Go to bed and cover yourself with the blanket. It's time for me to show off!"
What Li Qingran heard was:
"Fear not, a mere ant…
I,
can kill it with a flick of my finger!"