"We can't sell it repeatedly in this place? That works too!"
After thinking for a moment, Zhong Shenxiu agreed. He took out the weapon-refining method he had memorized and exchanged it for another weapon-refining incantation for the Soul Summoning Banner from Old Crow.
As soon as he obtained this incantation, he swiftly scanned it and could not help nodding.
To refine this magic item, the cultivator himself had to practice a soul-controlling Daoist art, then imprint it into the prepared artifact embryo to form the item's restrictions.
Speaking of which, it meshed rather well with his Profound Yin Soul Control Fragment. Perhaps the two had originally been one.
However, before reaching the Gang Sha Realm, he had no interest in refining any magic items.
After completing the transaction, he rose as well and moved closer to the other circles.
The Black Mountain Gathering truly was a gathering of Rogue Cultivators. Not only were most of the cultivators who came here desperately poor, their cultivation was also weak.
A proper cultivator of the Gang Sha Realm was already an expert in his own territory. As for Xiantian martial artists like him, they were not uncommon either.
There were even several mortals mixed among them. No one knew how they had managed to get in.
They formed several circles, sometimes chatting about anything under the sun and sometimes exchanging items. Zhong Shenxiu gained quite a bit of knowledge from watching them.
As a group of people seeking immortality and pursuing the Dao, what they discussed most naturally concerned how to Enter the Dao and cultivation in the Gang Sha Realm.
The more he listened from the sidelines, the more confused Zhong Shenxiu felt.
Cultivation in the Gang Sha Realm involves Consuming Nine Yin and Swallowing Eight Yangs. But shouldn't Killing Intent and gang qi require the fusion of yin and yang, with each corresponding precisely to the other? Why is there a deficiency? What does this represent? How should the final strand of Killing Intent from the nine yin and eight yang be fused?
He did not know. However, he was certain it was not a problem with the foundation. Otherwise, Yan Han would not have produced so many divine ability experts and Origin Core Grandmasters.
It could only be said that he still did not understand this cultivation system well enough.
Carrying his doubts, Zhong Shenxiu waited until the Black Mountain Gathering ended.
Old Crow flapped his wings and opened passage after passage through the mist, allowing everyone to file out one after another.
Zhong Shenxiu chose a passage. Gazing at the three wheels of dawn gradually rising over the horizon, he could not help thinking, "Will I get to see some delightful plot development?"
After all, in the cultivation world, were there really so few incidents of killing people and seizing their treasures?
With this thought in mind, he strolled along unhurriedly, deliberately creating an opportunity for someone.
After walking several li, he heard a shout: "Daoist friend, please stay!"
Zhong Shenxiu's scalp prickled. He did not want to pay any attention to the fellow and walked even faster.
"What's going on?"
Behind him, Feng Yi Palace, who had been preparing to kill and rob him, was stunned.
This Feng Yi Palace was himself only an Xiantian martial artist, yet he had cultivated a strange Daoist art called Soul Stirring Drink!
Every time he used it, all he had to do was hum once, and he could make his enemy lose his soul and become utterly distraught, leaving them at his mercy.
Relying on this skill, he had become a lone-footed bandit and lived quite freely. Later, however, his trail was exposed while he was disposing of stolen goods, forcing him to flee far into the borderlands.
Even after arriving at the Fufeng Protectorate, he still could not let go of his old trade. Today, at the Black Mountain Gathering, he noticed Zhong Shenxiu acting openly and carelessly, completely unguarded and looking like a clueless hothead, and immediately took an interest.
Later, when he saw that Zhong Shenxiu possessed two weapon-refining incantations, he became even more tempted. He deliberately followed behind him, preparing to make his move.
He had not expected that after he called, "Daoist friend, please stay," with Soul Stirring power hidden within his words, the other party would run even faster.
Could it be that my reputation for killing and robbing has already spread here?
A thought surfaced in Feng Yi Palace's mind. Then he shouted again, "Ha!"
This time, he unleashed his Soul Stirring Drink at full strength, aiming it at the fleeing youngster ahead.
In truth, this strange art had an extraordinary origin. It had originally been created by an expert of the Divine Ability Realm and was divided into the Soul Stirring Drink and the Spirit Falling Chant.
If one reached the Gang Sha Realm, found the Hum-Ha Qi, and cultivated it to perfection, then every time one opened one's mouth, its might would truly be extraordinary. Slaying powerful enemies would be effortless.
Especially after reaching the Divine Ability Realm, one could use these two Daoist arts as the core to form the Soul Scattering Spirit Falling Divine Ability, which focused exclusively on the soul and possessed a fearsome reputation.
Unfortunately, the inheritance Feng Yi Palace had obtained was incomplete. It only recorded the Soul Stirring Drink. He himself had not even reached the Gang Sha Realm, nor had he found the Hum-Ha Qi, so he could not cultivate the Soul Stirring Drink to the power of a true Daoist art.
Otherwise, that single shout would at least have left Zhong Shenxiu dizzy and light-headed.
But at this moment, Zhong Shenxiu turned his head and took one look. A cold smile appeared in his eyes, and with a wave of his hand, a swath of Black Mist swallowed Feng Yi Palace.
"Bold! You dare fight and kill near Black Wind Ridge!"
At that moment, a loud shout suddenly rang out from midair.
A mass of yellow wind and sand surged over. Someone seemed to be within it. With a raise of his hand, more than a dozen streams of yellow sand transformed into flying dragons, armored soldiers, and other forms, descending from the sky to surround Zhong Shenxiu.
Zhong Shenxiu's expression was cold and solemn, as if he were a supreme god of the Nine Heavens. He pressed his palms together, then spread them apart.
Several Yin Souls immediately emerged around him and became locked in combat with the sand soldiers and sand generals.
"A cultivator of the Gang Sha Realm?"
He looked up, then suddenly took a step forward. His entire body seemed to merge into the void. In a mere shrinking of the earth, he arrived above the mass of yellow sand. With a sweep of his broad sleeve, a dense darkness continuously spread downward.
From within the yellow sand, flying knives, flying swords, and even sand, stones, water, and fire seemed to descend upon the darkness, yet they were rapidly dissolved.
In the end, the darkness fell straight down and eroded the entire mass of yellow sand. Someone within seemed to let out a scream, which abruptly ceased.
Zhong Shenxiu withdrew his hand, glanced in a certain direction, suddenly smiled, and took a step forward before vanishing without a trace.
At the original location, after a long while, another stretch of white mist dispersed, revealing a paper crow, a monkey, and a woman.
"This..."
The woman in the silver-white mask covered her cherry lips. "Old Crow, Feng Yi Palace is one thing, but that mass of yellow sand afterward—wasn't that the Flying Sand and Stone Daoist Magic of Venerable Yellow Sand?"
"Heh heh..." Old Crow cawed several times before saying, "Could this Flying Sand and Stone Daoist Magic be fake? Back then, Venerable Yellow Sand relied on this very move to bury several forts and slaughter countless people. Who would have thought that he would suffer such retribution today!"
"I heard that Feng Yi Palace had pledged himself to Venerable Yellow Sand. That was why he killed and robbed without restraint, ruining the reputation of our Black Mountain Gathering. I had originally intended to teach him a lesson, but who would have thought he would run straight into an iron plate today—and drag Venerable Yellow Sand into it as well?"
The monkey beside them cried out, "So Young Master Shenxiu is actually an expert of the Divine Ability Realm! No wonder he did not conceal his face in the slightest."
An expert of the Divine Ability Realm was one of the few top experts in a prefecture. Naturally, such a person had no need to hide his face or skulk around.
If one's strength was low but one still acted ostentatiously, that was stupidity.
If one had strength and acted ostentatiously, that was the poise and confidence one ought to possess.
Old Crow and the silver-masked woman exchanged a glance and secretly nodded. At the same time, their hearts surged like storm-tossed seas, mixed with immense resentment.
You're an expert of the Divine Ability Realm, yet you disguised yourself as a clueless novice and came here to fool around. This isn't a pockmarked man refusing to be called pockmarked—it's simply cheating people, isn't it?!
Before you continue