Lord Shenxiu

"Youngster, how boastful you are!"

Ju Liuzi let out a sinister laugh, watching Zhong Shenxiu whose hair began to grow and nails lengthen, his expression changed: "No, are you also a cultivator?"

He wasn't too surprised.

After all, making such a big scene and attracting a few loose cultivators from other sects was quite normal.

Confident in himself as a true inheritor of the Xuanmen Orthodox, with strong mana, and even more formidable after succumbing to demonic influences, any cultivators coming from unorthodox paths were just easy targets.

At this moment, with a wave of his hand, tree vines shot up from the ground like spears, aiming to pierce Zhong Shenxiu's heart with a thousand thrusts.

Poof! Poof!

Ju Liuzi, experienced in magical battles, knew this ground spear formation was just a feint and had several other formidable moves in reserve.

But to see the wooden spears actually pierce through Zhong Shenxiu left him astonished: "Turns out you're just a fake!"

"Indeed… truly a watered-down corpse dissolving immortal… but I can't let you ruin this body."

A peculiar smile appeared on Zhong Shenxiu's face.

Ju Liuzi suddenly felt an immense danger approaching.

A terrifying aura surfaced in his heart, plunging him into an abyss.

Even his demonized body was trembling under this aura.

"This feeling..."

Ju Liuzi's face twisted, his body bursting with tumors.

This terrifying feeling, he had only experienced before when he hadn't betrayed his sect, during a grand ceremony among several elders known as 'Daoist Great Saints'.

"You are... an Immortal!"

Ju Liuzi's facial features began to melt, drops of pus fell to the ground with corrosive sizzles.

...

Qi Yuan rubbed his eyes.

He hadn't seen any secrets, only Brother Fang stepping out and scolding Ju Liuzi, and then... Ju Liuzi was dead?

"Brother Fang, are you actually a master?"

Qi Yuan wiped his eyes, smiling bitterly: "You hid it from me really well!"

"I only learned a minor art, nothing much..."

Zhong Shenxiu waved his hand.

For him now, wasn't Taiyin Refining just a minor art?

He moved next to the scholar, seeing those tree vines had lost vitality and were falling to the ground in sections.

The scholar shook his head, coming to his senses, and upon seeing Zhong Shenxiu, he immediately clasped his fists in thanks: "Magician Jiang Kun, thank you senior for your assistance!"

"My name is Fang Lang, not any senior."

Zhong Shenxiu waved his hand and stepped outside the main hall.

In the garden, the twisted locust tree had already withered, people who had been hanging from it fell to the ground, dizzy and bruised, yet they didn't mind their wounds and fled the mansion in panic.

"This..."

Qi Yuan dared to advance a few steps, seeing someone within the tree trunk, seemingly fused with the entire tree, with only a head and two hands exposed.

This was—a person growing inside a tree!

Just one glance was enough to make his heart tremble, his face covered in cold sweat.

"Such demonic signs are not for an ordinary person like you to see or hear, best to forget them!"

Jiang Kun advised, then turned to Zhong Shenxiu: "This tree... seems to be Ju Liuzi's real body, transformed after breaking precepts, but his spirit has died, proving senior, no, Brother Fang's profound Daoist skill!"

"How can a person turn into a tree and eat people?"

Qi Yuan kicked a skull, almost falling, muttering: "Cultivation, is it truly about cultivating this sort of thing?"

"Anyone cultivating Daoist skills must adhere to precepts, breaking them results in terrible consequences..."

Jiang Kun sighed: "Ju Liuzi cultivated the Daoist skills of Xuanmen Orthodox, after demonization, his body merely transformed, and his temperament shifted, which is actually not bad... I know a left daoist magician who rashly cultivated a newly acquired secret technique, eventually went mad, and turned into a mass of flesh that devoured his parents and children alive..."

Qi Yuan shook his head: "If that's the case, there's hardly anything good about cultivation... I better go west and pursue the mysterious art of alchemy instead..."

"Western cultivators, I've heard from others, also have their exchanges, but what they sacrifice may be no less... plus, they must also face the Heavenly Demon Tribulation!"

Fear surfaced in Jiang Kun's eyes.

It seemed, this Heavenly Demon Tribulation was a highly daunting hurdle in the Cultivation World.

"I'm done with pursuing immortality, I'm done with pursuing immortality..."

Qi Yuan seemed deeply stimulated, staring at the pile of skeletons beneath the locust tree, muttering: "Cultivating immortality is so terrifying, I'd rather return home, take over the family business, get married, and have children..."

...

Outside Liuxian Town.

Watching the fleeing Qi Yuan, Jiang Kun nodded slightly: "Saving a life is an immeasurable merit... his ability to retreat in the face of difficulty is also good."

"Even though there are countless drawbacks to cultivation, the ability to possess extraordinary power, achieve longevity, and control one's destiny... is why there are always cultivators willing to charge ahead."

Zhong Shenxiu shook his head: "Though he decides so firmly now, when he faces aging, illness, or death in the future, today's resolve may quickly waver."

"Brother Fang speaks truly."

Jiang Kun smiled wryly: "The grace of saving my life is beyond repayment, whatever Brother Fang needs, I will surely accomplish it for you!"

"I came down from the mountains after much solitary cultivation, just wishing to find fellow practitioners for some exchanges."

Zhong Shenxiu calmly replied.

After Ju Liuzi perished, only some materials rich in wood spirit remained, with no Daoist texts or notes, leaving Zhong Shenxiu slightly regretful.

After all, as a disciple of Xuanmen Orthodox, his knowledge of secrets would have surely been more profound than Jiang Kun's.

"Finding fellow practitioners for exchange is an easy matter!"

Jiang Kun smiled: "A mere hundred miles from here is Moon Viewing Mountain, where there's a market frequented by fellow cultivators nearby. If Brother Fang doesn't mind, I am willing to guide you there!"

Jiang Kun's gesture was partly to repay the life-saving kindness and partly to form an association with the unfathomable cultivator Zhong Shenxiu.

After all, when Ju Liuzi struck him, it was like hitting a child.

And Ju Liuzi, who had inherited true teachings, couldn't last a few moves against Zhong Shenxiu either.

This implied that Zhong Shenxiu was certainly a master!

For amateur cultivators from unorthodox paths or left daoist magicians hovering at the gates of cultivation, a single piece of advice from such a figure could immensely benefit them.

Hence, Jiang Kun was extremely diligent.

"A market? I should go and see!"

Zhong Shenxiu agreed with a smile.

He indeed lacked much understanding of this world, especially regarding some common things.

After all, Fang Lang was merely a sailor, perhaps he had heard some tales, but hadn't truly entered the gates of the Cultivation World.

In terms of knowledge, he couldn't be compared with someone like Jiang Kun, who was a truly initiated cultivator.

"Then, we shall go together!"

Jiang Kun was overjoyed; besides having a family heirloom skill of "Thunderous Voice Commanding Lightning", he actually had no other inheritance, and couldn't see his way forward.

Now, the appearance of Zhong Shenxiu was also an opportunity for him.