After coming out, Zhou Cheng concealed himself and carefully made his way along the corridor.
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It was already midnight.
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As Zhou Cheng passed a courtyard, he heard Prince of Southern Ming's voice and stopped. He climbed onto the roof and, through the light, saw Prince of Southern Ming speaking with an old Daoist.
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When he made out the Daoist robes the old man wore, Zhou Cheng's heart stirred.
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"Daoist Master Yan, experts from the three great sects will arrive tomorrow. I'll have to trouble you and the other Daoist masters of the Peach God Sect to lend a hand," Prince of Southern Ming said.
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"Rest assured, Leader." The old Daoist stroked his beard and smiled. "And please don't forget what I asked for."
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Prince of Southern Ming smiled. "Of course." He then took out the jade box he had taken from the stone chamber earlier. When he opened it, the fragrance of the spirit lotus filled the air.
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The old Daoist's eyes lit up, and he gazed at the spirit lotus with burning intensity.
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"Once the matter is settled, this Century-Old Spirit Lotus will be yours, Daoist Master Yan," Prince of Southern Ming said with a smile. "And that Daoist scripture, too. When the time comes, I'll be counting on you to give it your all."
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"Excellent!" The old Daoist beamed. "That won't be a problem."
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The old Daoist and Prince of Southern Ming chatted for a while longer before finally parting.
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Zhou Cheng watched the old Daoist's retreating figure and followed him.
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The Immortal Martial World was a realm where martial arts and Daoist arts coexisted. However, the Great Feng Dynasty had always favored martial prowess, so cultivators of Daoist arts were few.
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Moreover, Daoist arts were harder to cultivate than martial arts. They also had no offensive power until one reached a certain level, so the Daoist sects of the Great Feng Dynasty were not very strong.
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That old Daoist must be Yan Chengkun, the head of the Peach God Sect.
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Martial artists cultivated the body, while Daoist cultivators cultivated the spirit.
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The realms of Daoist arts, from lowest to highest, were Out-of-Body Realm, Spirit Wandering Realm, and Object Manipulation Realm. Above Object Manipulation Realm was Form Transformation Realm.
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Earlier, he had leafed through the Ten Thousand Stars Sect's book, All Under Heaven. It said that Yan Chengkun was an expert at the peak of the late Object Manipulation Realm. That level was equivalent to a martial artist at the peak of the tenth tier of the Xiantian Realm.
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Of course, because Daoist cultivators at the Object Manipulation Realm had less offensive power than Xiantian Realm martial artists, Yan Chengkun was far weaker than his master, Xing Yao, one of the five Supreme Grandmasters.
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As Zhou Cheng followed Yan Chengkun, the old Daoist suddenly stopped and peered suspiciously behind him.
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Zhou Cheng quickly halted and restrained his mind and aura.
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Yan Chengkun scanned the area but found nothing amiss, then continued on his way.
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Zhou Cheng breathed a sigh of relief.
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Though Object Manipulation Realm Daoist experts were less formidable in attack than Xiantian Realm Grandmasters, they cultivated the spirit, so their spiritual power was strong and their senses sharper than those of Xiantian Realm Grandmasters.
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Zhou Cheng continued following, but he was much more cautious this time.
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A short while later, Yan Chengkun entered a courtyard. More than twenty Daoists from the Peach God Sect were gathered inside, and they were probably all Object Manipulation Realm experts.
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After returning, Yan Chengkun sat with the Peach God Sect's Daoist experts and discussed the plan for the next day.
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Zhou Cheng listened for a while but heard nothing useful. Just as he was about to leave, a system notification suddenly informed him that he had received a new mission.
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Zhou Cheng froze and opened the mission panel.
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"Mission: Kill five Object Manipulation Realm Daoist experts from the Peach God Sect."
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"Reward: Primordial Boundless Scripture."
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Primordial Boundless Scripture?
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Though there was no description of its rank, judging by the Indestructible Vajra Divine Technique and Northern Dark Divine Technique, the Primordial Boundless Scripture was probably high-grade as well.
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At that moment, Yan Chengkun said to the others from the Peach God Sect, "We face a fierce battle tomorrow. Go back and meditate now, and replenish your spiritual power."
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The Daoists of the Peach God Sect left the courtyard and returned to their rooms.
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Zhou Cheng followed one of them and slipped silently into his room.
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Just as the man closed the door and was about to meditate, Zhou Cheng struck. The God-Slaying Saber flashed through the man's throat.
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The Peach God Sect expert stared wide-eyed at Zhou Cheng, who had appeared out of nowhere. He opened his mouth, then crumpled to the floor.
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Before the man could fall, Zhou Cheng caught him with one hand and put his corpse into the Earth Cauldron, lest the smell of blood arouse the suspicions of the other Peach God Sect experts.
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Then Zhou Cheng left the room and went to another Peach God Sect expert's quarters.
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Just as before, he killed the man with a single strike and made not the slightest sound.
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Moreover, the Peach God Sect experts Zhou Cheng chose were all at the early Object Manipulation Realm.
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After Zhou Cheng silently dispatched five of them,
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"Congratulations, host. Mission complete."
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"Reward: one copy of the Primordial Boundless Scripture."
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A Daoist scripture, the Primordial Boundless Scripture, had appeared in his inventory.
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"Would you like to cultivate the Primordial Boundless Scripture now?"
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Zhou Cheng silently chose to cultivate it.
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At once, a profound Daoist chant appeared in Zhou Cheng's mind.
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"The Dao says: Long ago, in the Azure Heaven, amid the empty songs of the Bìluò, in the great land of Fuli. Having received the boundless supreme scripture for delivering people from the Primordial Beginning, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable now expounds this scripture. He circles it ten times to summon the ten directions, then takes his seat. The heavenly true gods, the supreme sages and exalted ones, the wondrously accomplished True Persons, and countless multitudes come riding through the air..."
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The Primordial Boundless Scripture began cultivating itself.
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Zhou Cheng opened his character panel.
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Host: Zhou Cheng
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Northern Dark Divine Technique: Qi Refining, eighth tier (progress: 46)
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Primordial Boundless Scripture: Out-of-Body Realm (progress: 1)
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He was now at the early Out-of-Body Realm.
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Daoist arts were difficult to cultivate because the spirit was an intangible, elusive thing. One had to meditate and enter a state of stillness, then sense the Life Palace and spirit within one's mind. Some people spent their entire lives unable to sense either, leaving them with no way to cultivate Daoist arts.
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But now that the Primordial Boundless Scripture had automatically cultivated him to the Out-of-Body Realm, Zhou Cheng could clearly sense the Life Palace within his mind and see the spirit inside it.
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His spirit looked like a miniature version of himself, sitting cross-legged in the Life Palace with eyes gently closed, as if meditating.
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"Because your spirit was born with full spiritual power, your progress in cultivating the Primordial Boundless Scripture has greatly increased."
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"Progress increased by 2."
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"Progress increased by 4."
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"Progress increased by 90."
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Zhou Cheng was stunned.
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Born with full spiritual power?
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It had to be because he had taken the Marrow-Cleansing Pill and the Nine-Orifice Golden Pill earlier.
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Zhou Cheng sat cross-legged, formed a hand seal as instructed by the Primordial Boundless Scripture, and silently recited its formula. He imagined his spirit climbing the tower step by step until, upon reaching the top, it suddenly leaped outward.
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Zhou Cheng's spirit sprang out of his mind, left his body, and emerged outside.
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This was the spirit leaving the body, the hallmark of the Out-of-Body Realm.
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However, Zhou Cheng's spirit was now formless as the wind. Ordinary people could not see it.
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Of course, because Zhou Cheng's spirit was intangible, it had no offensive power. Daoist experts had to reach the Object Manipulation Realm before they could use their spirits to move other things and attack.
Before you continue