Zhenhai Real Person

As expected, the Golden Core cultivator from Penglai was used to rogue cultivators coming to seek refuge. He returned the greeting and said, "I see. Please come ashore and rest for a while, Master. I will write a letter to inform Zhenhai Real Person that you are coming to see me."

Although he had already inquired about the general steps involved with Yuepo, Li Fan still acted like a rough country bumpkin, bulging his muscles and loudly asking, "What kind of pledge of allegiance is required? Where are we going? How many people are we going to kill? Just tell me!"

The Penglai cultivator secretly wiped away his sweat and explained, "Our sect doesn't have such a rule, and besides, who in the East Sea would dare to disobey Penglai? However, due to the recent war in the Central Plains, our sect is indeed recruiting soldiers. As long as they are not spies of the Demonic Sect, reincarnated demonic cultivators, or possessed Devil Seed, they can be recruited as protectors."

Li Fan nodded repeatedly, "Oh, that's good. I'm not a Devil Seed, I'm an honest person! Also, I wonder how you calculate the salary?"

The cultivator smiled and explained, "As per the usual rule, Nascent Soul Realm cultivator receives a monthly salary of nine thousand coins and two thousand shi of rice."

Li Fan was taken aback. "Money... is it the Spirit Coins?"

The cultivator chuckled, "It's Divine Astral Coin. The Spirit Coins is only awarded upon completing the sect's missions. Although these seem small, they are all paid according to the old system of the Three Realms. There are additional rewards for completing sect missions. If a True Person Realm protector makes a contribution, sooner or later they can earn enough to guard a Daoist temple. As long as they pay the required materials to the sect every month, they can trade and use the remaining resources as they see fit."

That's actually similar to the treatment at Ink Bamboo Mountain. In the Central Plains, the treatment of Nascent Soul Stage cultivators is roughly the same: mainly providing them with dojos and territory, prioritizing winning them over.

To be honest, the resources of the Daoist temples and caves in the East Sea are far richer than those in the Ten-thousand-mountains. The Ten-thousand-mountains are mostly filled with demons and monsters, but the nearby immortal islands are rich in spiritual energy, filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. Almost every island has rare birds and beasts, spiritual plants and precious herbs. There are also many families living on this island, probably the relatives or servants of Penglai disciples. The resources are indeed very abundant, which is quite attractive to those who want to settle down, build a home and maintain their business.

Of course, such conditions would definitely be prioritized for those who have lived in the East Sea for generations and whose ancestors were all members of the Penglai Sect. Rogue cultivators would have to work hard to earn them. Li Fan didn't expose the other party, but just pretended to be longing and grinned foolishly, while using his Divine Sense to probe the Golden Core cultivators on the island. He only stopped when he found the target he had previously used to wipe out the Huan family.

Before long, a Zhenhai Real Person from Penglai arrived.

Ink Bamboo Mountain is a mountain with a garrison to guard against demonic beasts. However, the local demons of the East Sea have long been slaughtered and are either kept in enclosures or driven to the outer sea. Therefore, a Zhenren (a high-ranking official) in Penglai can manage a large area of the sea and receive offerings from several immortal islands. Naturally, he will also be more resistant to those outside rogue cultivators who want to share his profits, so he is quite likely to be harassed.

The newcomer rode a golden dragon, dressed in a silver silk-like celestial robe, over which was a sky-blue robe with a celestial sash. His hair was tied up with a golden dragon crown, and he carried a magic sword with ten-colored radiance on his back and a jade ruyi in his hand. Both were Nascent Soul Stage treasures of the Nascent Soul stage. Judging from his appearance, he was a handsome and intelligent young man in his early twenties. He had three flowers between his eyebrows and five wisps of energy rising from the back of his head. His aura was pure and righteous, clearly indicating that he was a true disciple of the Dao, a genuine descendant of Penglai.

Li Fan glanced at them; they weren't those three, so he could spare their lives. He then clasped his hands in greeting and said, "I am Li Tang, a rogue cultivator from the South Sea, also known as the Red-Haired Ghost. I pay my respects to the True Immortal!"

The man in question did not show any obvious disdain on his face. He was also well-mannered and returned the greeting with a bow, saying, "I Zhou Chengxue, the Great Heavenly Venerable, the Supreme Goddess of the Xuan Girl of the Nine Heavens, and I cultivate in the Supreme God True Palace."

As expected, they are direct descendants of the Nine Truth Sect. Li Fan had previously confirmed with Yue Po that the Supreme Nine Truth Sect is divided into nine palaces: Supreme True, Spiritual True, Divine True, True True, Heavenly True, Profound True, Supreme True, High True, and Upper True. All of them are of the Xuanmen lineage, direct descendants of Penglai. Each palace is a new Daoist Tradition established by a Penglai master who Enlightenment Stage. To put it bluntly, they are all of the Penglai lineage, with at least nine branches leading directly to the Enlightenment Realm.

These nine palaces all share the same lineage, and the sect leaders of each generation are selected from among the palace masters of the nine Nine Truth Sect, which is the Inner Sect of the Penglai Nine Truth Sect in the general sense.

Of course, Penglai is not a religious sect, and this generation doesn't have nine Enlightenment Palace Masters as powerful as it does now, but it's not like the Beichen Sword Sect, which was wiped out. So, it can probably still gather three or five old monsters who have attained enlightenment. Even if it's an acting Palace Master, one must at least be at the Transformation Stage to take the position. This Zhou Chengxue from the Shenzhen Palace looks like a very powerful guy, and probably has a Divine Transformation or Enlightenment stage backer.

At the same time, a glint flashed in Zhou Chengxue's eyes as he looked at Li Fan, making sure he could roughly tell that he was indeed a person. He then nodded.

"I've heard that you've volunteered to be a protector of our sect. Fellow Daoist, would you mind sparring with me and learning from your skills?"

He was also straightforward, probably too lazy to be polite with these rogue cultivators, and immediately challenged them to a duel to see how much they were really capable of and what kind of treatment they deserved.

"Very well! Master Zhou is straightforward! Please!"

So Li Fan followed his opponent to the outer island in the sea. After the opponent set up a magic array, they prepared to fight. This was not a life-or-death battle, but just a way to test the opponent's skills and background. Li Fan did not use any weapons, but went in bare-handed.

"Fellow Daoist, please demonstrate."

Zhou Chengxue drove the golden dragon to a standstill on the cloud, waved his jade ruyi, and five colors surged behind his head, layer upon layer like flower petals protecting his body. He was probably overconfident and wanted to test Li Fan's attack power with his own body.

Please enlighten me!

Li Fan recognized it as a combination of some kind of defensive formation and protective true energy, probably a secret technique from Penglai, which he had never seen before. Following Yue Po's advice, to gain the attention of the Xuanmen, one must have real skills. First impressions are crucial; once someone is considered trash, their image cannot be reversed.

Therefore, it's best to gain the other party's trust and respect. Li Fan also wanted to test his combat power now that his Dao Body had reached its peak, so he first tried using his Ghost Hand with 50% power, spreading his five fingers and grabbing at the target.

"Watch the move! Tiger Claw Technique!"

"Oh, tiger claws..."

Then, smack.

Li Fan grabbed with his five fingers, directly breaking through Zhou Chengxue's five layers of protective true qi. He grabbed the man's head with one hand, and the momentum did not decrease. He flipped the man's body ninety degrees and pressed him under his palm. If Li Fan hadn't realized something was wrong and quickly withdrew his strength, he would have almost crushed the man's head!

"Uh... Are you alright, Real Person...?" What's going on? A silver-plated spearhead?

"Quick, let me go!!" Zhou Chengxue's face was pressed under the claws, and he was stunned for a long time before he reacted and screamed in a shrill voice.

"Oh, oh, oh, I'm so sorry, so sorry..." Li Fan was sweating bullets. "Your head isn't made of iron, why didn't you dodge?"

"Hiss... hiss... what, what's going on... what kind of kung fu is this!?!" Zhou Chengxue screamed as he flew backward, five bloody scratches appearing on his face.

"Oh, I'm just a rogue cultivator, I don't have any great skills. This move is something I created by imitating a tiger," Li Fan raised his hands and moved his fingers, "Tiger Claw Technique."

Actually, he used the Eagle Claw Technique he stole from the Black Monk of Iron Buddha Iron Buddha Temple. However, Eagle Claw has four fingers, and the little finger is curled up, which is different from Ghost Hand. So he just randomly named it Tiger Claw...

"How dare you! This is outrageous! How could a mere Gale Claw Technique possibly break my Five Truth Lotus Technique!"

"Oh, so it's the Five Truth Lotus Technique. It truly lives up to its reputation. I'm impressed." Li Fan casually made a polite remark.

What else can I do? You're so fragile, you'd be knocked over in one hit, and you're blaming me for being too strong?

Zhou Chengxue stared at Li Fan for a while with an uncertain expression, then said, "I didn't expect you to be Martial God Realm expert. Alright, I was careless this time. Now it's my turn to attack!"

Why are you coming again...? Oh well, I've offended this petty person.

Li Fan then clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "Please go ahead."

Zhou Chengxue clearly wanted to get back at Zhou, but he still had some sense of propriety. He didn't use any magic weapons, but instead formed a hand seal to gather his energy, condensing the five-colored true energy into a dragon-shaped dharma image. It seemed he wanted to confirm exactly what had happened when his true energy was broken earlier.

So Li Fan waited until the other party finished chanting the incantation and pointed with a gesture, and the five-clawed dragon lunged at him with bared fangs and claws before unleashing "Tiger Claw Technique!" and slapping it again. The gale-force wind struck his face, directly extinguishing the dragon's energy. Not only did it extinguish it, but the claw's wind also swept back like a blade, slashing towards him!

But Zhou Chengxue refused to believe in evil and insisted on facing the attack head-on. As a result, the sword sliced through his newly formed protective lotus without hesitation. Fortunately, Zhou was somewhat wary and dodged to the side, thus avoiding a severed shoulder. However, his shoulder was still cut open with a large gash. His robes were shattered, his golden crown was scattered, and he was disheveled and rolled down from the clouds in a sorry state.

Li Fan broke out in a cold sweat, quickly stepped forward and caught the person, "Are you alright, Zhenren?"

"Ah!" Before Zhou Chengxue could react, Li Fan had already teleported in front of him in an instant. He screamed in fright and instinctively tried to flee, but Li Fan casually grabbed him and pulled him back to his side.

"Calm down, Mr. Li. I meant no harm." Li Fan even helped him straighten his clothes and patted them flat.

"You! What exactly are you up to!" Zhou Chengxue's protective divine power was easily broken, and he was still being held in someone's hand and unable to break free. His Dao heart was starting to crumble.

"Uh, no, no, I really just came here to join your sect. I'm a rough man, and I don't know my own strength. It wasn't intentional that I injured you, Master." Li Fan was also at a loss, so he could only comfort him, "How about we compete in something else? I see that you have delicate skin, so it's understandable that you're not good at martial arts. Perhaps your magic weapon is very powerful?"

Zhou Chengxue glared at him, panting for a while before finally letting out a weak roar, "Let me go first!"

"Oh, oh, oh, be careful not to fall into the water..."

After catching his breath, Zhou Chengxue finally calmed his mind, used magic to heal his wounds, and tidied his appearance before saying, "Your skills are extraordinary; you are indeed a rare master. I am no match for you, but these two moves alone cannot reveal your background. As Zhenhai Real Person, I cannot recommend someone of unknown origin to my sect. Although it is against the rules, I will use my magic weapon this time. Please enlighten me, fellow Daoist!"

Li Fan also said seriously, "Okay, let's go!"

In terms of pure martial arts skills, Xuanmen cultivators might not necessarily be able to match the immortal soldiers and generals who have fought on the battlefield; otherwise, there would be no need to specifically recruit guardian deities as bodyguards. However, in a life-or-death struggle, Xuanmen cultivators, who can forge superior magical weapons, would definitely have the upper hand. After all, there is a saying, "From seven steps away, a spear is fast; within seven steps, a spear is both accurate and fast."

As expected, Zhou Chengxue made a hand seal and chanted an incantation, then threw the Ruyi in his hand. The Ruyi transformed into a jade dragon, which once again bared its fangs and claws and attacked Li Fan! With the magic weapon now physically formed and imbued with true energy, the power of this jade dragon was clearly more than ten times stronger than the previous energy dragon!

"Well done! Tiger Claw Technique!"

Then Li Fan smashed the dragon head to pieces with a single slap.

"Can't you try something different?!" Zhou Chengxue broke down.

Li Fan broke out in a cold sweat, casually adding to the background information, "I only know this one move. We're a rogue cultivator, why would we come to rely on others if we had other Cultivation Method?"

"Hiss... This... seems to make some sense..." Zhou Chengxue retracted the jade ruyi that had interrupted him, his eyes twitching with heartache. "The Martial God's Body is actually this terrifying... Fine, you pass."

Huh? This guy's actually pretty easy to talk to?

Zhou Chengxue glanced at Li Fan, "Today's sparring is a closed-door affair; please refrain from publicizing the Fourth Department..."

"Oh, of course! If you ask, I'll just say I lost!"

Zhou Chengxue squinted at Li Fan for a while, but Li Fan returned a simple and warm smile. So, Zhenhai Real Person, who couldn't win in a fight and couldn't escape, had no other choice but to shake his head and dispel the magic array.

"Very well, this is the first time I've witnessed the power of the Martial God's Body. With your abilities, you are certainly not someone who will remain subservient for long. A master like you, capable of conquering battlefields, is already beneath you as a mere protector of a sect. How could you possibly be sent out as a spy? My sect is in dire need of talent right now. Please come with me, and I will personally recommend you to the sect."

Hey, this guy's got some nerve? Maybe he's plotting something?

But it didn't matter. After a few moves, Li Fan understood that his attributes now far surpassed those of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator from the Xuanmen sect. Moreover, the Ghost Hand could truly unleash the full power of his Dao Body, not to mention that the two fierce gods and five mountain gods were all monstrous beasts with superhuman strength. Combined, they could truly break through magic with sheer force without any problem.

"Haha, that's wonderful! Thank you for the introduction, Brother Zhou!"

Zhou Chengxue seemed unhappy with Li Fan's flattering address, but dared not turn against him. He simply summoned the golden dragon he was riding, took out a wooden plaque, and with a flick of his finger, carved the words "Offered by the outer gate of the Supreme Divine Palace to the Tang Dynasty" on it before handing it to Li Fan.

"This token is for the Outer Sect cultivators. With this token, you can go to the island to trade and also access the cultivation resources provided by my Shenzhen Palace. Fellow Daoist, please use this token to stay on the island temporarily. I still need to pick up a group of fellow disciples. When I return, I will take you to the Penglai main sect to change to a guest elder's position before discussing other matters..."

Responding to fellow disciples? At this time, could it be that they've wiped out the Huan family?

Upon hearing this, Li Fan immediately replied enthusiastically, "Responding to fellow disciples! Great! From today onwards, we're all fellow disciples! Shall I go with the True Person? Of course, I'm not after a share of the reward, I just want to make a good impression on the sect."

Master Zhou froze, probably wanting to say, "Who are you from the same sect as?!" But he swallowed his words, "It's nothing serious, it's just that the other party... well, it doesn't matter now, let's all come together."

Without hesitation, Li Fan mounted the dragon's head and flew northwest with Zhou Chengxue. Soon they saw a large ship approaching from afar, its Azure Luan flag flying high.

"Huh? What's that?"

Zhou Chengxue knew that this fellow Daoist beside him, who even had a 'nickname,' definitely didn't understand these things, so he explained, "They are female members of the Xiao Clan of Lanling. Now that the Zhen Country is in turmoil and the Hou Gu incident has not been resolved for a long time, the Xiao Family sent some of their female members to Penglai to avoid disaster, and they happened to be traveling together this time."

"Fellow Daoist may not have dealt with nobles before. Although a fallen phoenix is no better than a chicken, these are still prestigious families of the Immortal Palace. If anyone offends you, please do not resort to violence. After all, the Prince of Poyang spent a considerable amount of money to ensure their safety."

Li Fan patted his chest and said, "Oh, I understand. Don't worry, Brother Zhou, I'm a very gentle person."

Zhou Chengxue rubbed his shoulder and glanced at him sideways.

Li Fan ignored him and saw Xiao Yushi, whom he had met once before, standing at the bow of the boat. She was no longer wearing her "One Year's Glory" ornament, but dressed in plain clothes with a sorrowful expression. She was wearing mourning clothes, probably because her brother or husband had died. Compared with her boundless glory and charm on the day before, this change was truly heartbreaking.

This is what chaotic times are like...