Calendar-Intercalation Method (Seeking Continued Reading)

The night was deep.

Li Rulong had already completed Qi Ingestion and was no longer cultivating. He sat cross-legged, seeming to savor this rare peace.

At his side lay a secret tome.

The tome was rather ancient, its corners already somewhat frayed. Where it was not covered, the two characters "Calendar-Intercalation" were visible.

"What elegant leisure, Fellow Daoist!"

Suddenly!

A faint breeze stirred, the dark spring surged, and someone walked into the tent—it was none other than Luo Dacheng!

Clang!

The Army-Settling Sword left its sheath and came to rest directly against Luo Dacheng's brow, leaving behind a bloody mark.

"No... you are not him!"

Li Rulong stared at Luo Dacheng before him, and his expression abruptly changed. "Who are you, sir?"

He did not call for the other cultivator guards, because there was no need.

More importantly, this was the variable he had been waiting for!

Luo Dacheng clasped his hands behind his back and looked around with great interest. "Fellow Daoist even sealed off the surroundings? Not bad, not bad..."

"Give me a reason not to kill you."

Li Rulong snorted coldly.

"Shabby Daoist!"

Luo Dacheng smiled faintly and spoke a name that made Li Rulong's pupils contract.

"You... are one of Senior's people?"

Li Rulong was somewhat astonished. Was this still the same Luo Dacheng who lusted after women as though his life depended on it?

Or had that lecherous nature been a disguise all along?

Sure enough... I bet right.

Fang Qing, who was controlling everything from Jade Island, rejoiced inwardly. Shabby Daoist approached Li Rulong for another purpose... most likely to keep him alive!

Given the current situation, whether it was the Pu Family Ancestor or the Black Blight Sect's Purple Mansion cultivator, both wanted only one thing—Li Rulong dead!

A dead man had no value whatsoever.

A Purple Mansion cultivator appearing out of nowhere was a variable!

Damn it, Purple Mansion cultivators plotting over a Qi Ingestion cultivator one after another... do they have no shame?

Fang Qing grumbled inwardly, fully aware of how dangerous it was to become entangled in a Purple Mansion scheme.

But he was not afraid in the least. If they had the ability, they could cross between two worlds and kill him!

Besides, Luo Dacheng was the one taking the risk! What did it have to do with Fang Qing?

It was precisely because he knew this scheme was perilous, and that Purple Mansion cultivators had intervened, that he had come. If he could drag the Heavenly Water Luo Family into it as well, that would be even better.

"Not at all... I merely could not bear to see a Fellow Daoist who aids the people and brings peace to the land die at the hands of petty villains."

Controlling Luo Dacheng, Fang Qing spoke the truth. "How much chance of survival does Fellow Daoist's present plan have?"

Li Rulong gave a bitter laugh. "With Purple Mansion divine abilities watching me, even half a chance out of a hundred would be hard to come by... and that is only thanks to Senior acting to conceal the heavenly secrets for me."

What a coincidence. I did not conceal any heavenly secrets for Luo Dacheng at all...

Fang Qing smiled slightly inwardly. "Where does the difficulty lie?"

Li Rulong pondered for a moment. At this point, he truly feared nothing. He would seize every last straw that might save his life, and thus laid everything bare. "The person on the cliff ignores me entirely. Therefore, the only ones who want me dead are the Pu Family Ancestor and the Black Blight Sect Ancestor. That makes two Purple Mansion cultivators... If I escape this fatal tribulation, a Purple Mansion cultivator will surely block my path. Senior may be able to hold one back for me, but there is still the other... That is extremely troublesome."

Fang Qing pondered briefly. "Would the Heavenly Water Luo Family be enough to draw the attention of a Purple Mansion cultivator?"

"A Dao Foundation cultivator can barely serve as a hound under a Purple Mansion cultivator... one more or one less makes little difference."

Li Rulong rapidly considered the matter. "To draw away a Purple Mansion cultivator, there must be secrets or spiritual treasures on the Purple Mansion level..."

"I understand. I wish Fellow Daoist success, then."

Fang Qing understood and controlled Luo Dacheng as he departed.

A plan had vaguely formed in his mind. Perhaps it truly could create a sliver of life for Li Rulong.

Even if it failed, only Luo Dacheng would die.

"It is time to test the weight of Great Sun Violet Qi in this world."

"Luo Dacheng meeting Li Rulong is the eye of the storm. He does not have As If in the Calculation; even if he has a legitimate reason, he will still draw the notice of Purple Mansion cultivators... And if he carries a few more precious treasures? Just thinking about it is rather exciting."

Fang Qing thought of himself again. Though he possessed Great Sun Violet Qi, As If in the Calculation concealed him, so he had never fallen within a Purple Mansion cultivator's calculations.

If not for that, he did not even know how many times he would have died.

But Luo Dacheng clearly would not be like him.

"Three days later? That will be just in time to reach the Luo Family encampment..."

Inside the tent.

After watching Luo Dacheng leave, pain surfaced in Li Rulong's eyes. He picked up the secret tome again. "Why must it be this way? Clearly... clearly, I had already decided to give up..."

Under the moonlight, the words "Calendar-Intercalation" appeared especially bright.

Two days passed swiftly.

Night.

Inside the tent.

Li Rulong sat high in the seat of honor, raising his cup with a smile. "Drink freely tonight. At sunrise tomorrow, this commander will duel swords with Zhao Wuxu. Just await the good news..."

He had held a banquet that night and invited all the mortal generals and Fellow Daoists.

Cups and goblets passed back and forth across the feast, and the atmosphere was exceptionally lively.

Only Guo Tianhong looked anxiously at her elder brother. "Big Brother... I hear Zhao Wuxu is also a sword cultivator. He will not be easy to deal with. Is this... not too overconfident?"

"It is nothing..."

Li Rulong held an ancient scroll in his hand and suddenly raised it.

A streak of sword light tore through the tent, revealing a crescent moon in the sky.

The moon hung like a hook, scattering cold moonlight below.

"Everyone... what do you think of this moon?"

Li Rulong drained a cup of wine and asked as though casually.

"Yin is like water. Exquisite!"

Madam Miaoyi answered gently.

"The moon has the four aspects of Heart, Extended Net, Biyue, and Rooftop. Heart is the newly risen moon, Extended Net is the perfect full moon, Biyue is the wavering, incomplete moon... This lunar aspect belongs to Biyue!"

Li Rulong said slowly, "Biyue governs border armies invading the realm and weapons hunting across the world... In ancient times, a great sage of the Demon Race named Bi Yue Crow could swallow metal and devour fire. He was later reincarnated as a great ruler among the barbarians, contending for the Central Plains..."

Independent cultivators rarely heard such cultivation secrets. One after another, they listened with rapt attention, even setting down the cups in their hands.

Only Guo Tianhong, for some reason, suddenly found this elder brother of hers utterly unfamiliar.

"At that time, Kangjin among the twelve Year Guardians descended to stop him, only to be slain by Biyue. From then on, the Biyue lineage could command the Kangjin lineage..."

Li Rulong continued speaking, but something increasingly strange crept into his voice.

By then, many cultivators had sensed that something was wrong. Some tried to flee, only to discover that an array had somehow already been laid within the great tent!

"Ah... it is the Golden Dragon Realm-Settling Formation!"

"Marshal... what are you doing?"

Several independent cultivators exchanged glances, all deeply uneasy.

"In those days, that barbarian ruler contended for the Central Plains and dominated for a time, only to suffer defeat in the end... At the end of his rope, he sacrificed all his own subordinates, followers, and even those dearest and most beloved to him... and ascended to the position of Biyue... Thus, this ritual was left behind between heaven and earth."

"Later generations need only imitate it to borrow Biyue's power... and alter their cultivation lineage! This is—the Calendar-Intercalation Method!"

Li Rulong smiled.

Every cultivator present was horrified beyond measure.

Once a Qi Ingestion Dao cultivation method was chosen, it could not be changed. Even purifying one's mana required a spiritual treasure such as Heaven-One Generates Water.

Yet who would have thought that there was a method to alter one's cultivation lineage!

But merely hearing of it revealed its wickedness and bloodshed!

"Those dearest and most beloved..."

Guo Tianhong stared at Li Rulong, her eyes filled with disbelief.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

At that moment, the Army-Settling Sword abruptly left its sheath!

Blades and swords rang in unison, sword light flashed wildly, and in the blink of an eye, Li Rulong's trusted brothers and mortal generals all lost their heads!

Then... came the independent cultivators who had followed him.

"Li Rulong, you will die a miserable death!"

Madam Miaoyi's face was deathly pale. Her hands formed incantation seals, yet an incomparably sharp force broke through and pierced her chest. She could not help but curse, "The Pu Family... will not let you go."

"So you truly were a hidden pawn of the Pu Family."

Li Rulong was, after all, a cultivator who had completed Qi Ingestion, and a sword cultivator at that. With a flying sword in hand, he was truly a godslayer before gods and a Buddha-slayer before Buddhas, slaughtering everyone in the tent cleanly.

The banquet was littered with overturned cups and scattered dishes, blood flowing until it could float pestles!

Compared to the joyous feast moments before, it was simply a realm of ghosts!

Above the heavens, that crescent moon grew ever brighter. Streams of moonlight seemed to descend, forming a ritual.

An ancient rite that had always existed between heaven and earth was stirred!

Within the camp, scenes of wind, rain, frost, and snow suddenly arose.

The tent seemed to transform into a cold pool, and a moon shadow descended, shining upon Li Rulong.

No!

It was not illuminating him—it was devouring him!

Imitating ancient Biyue's ability to swallow metal, Biyue devoured Kangjin!

A trace of pain appeared on Li Rulong's face. He looked down at his hands and discovered that several golden scales had appeared on the backs of them at some point.

Biyue favored the Demon Race. To cultivate Biyue instead, one naturally had to transform into a demon!

Even Fang Qing had not expected Li Rulong to pull off something this huge!

He had thought Li Rulong was an indomitable hero, a fine and upright man!

It could only be said that when the vast sea churned and the currents raged, a cultivator's true nature was revealed!

Forcibly changing the foundation of his cultivation was agony comparable to being sliced by a thousand blades, yet Li Rulong's back remained ramrod straight.

He silently watched the final person in the tent, the one dearest and most beloved to him—Guo Tianhong!

"Big Brother... are you truly... still my big brother?"

Guo Tianhong did not resist. Perhaps her mana was too weak; perhaps her heart had already turned to ashes.

"I am... Forgive me. From now on, I will live only for myself!"

Li Rulong thrust out his right hand, plunged it into Guo Tianhong's chest, and removed a bright red heart.

At some point, two lines of clear tears had begun to stream from Li Rulong's eyes.

The moon shadow over the cold pool suddenly blazed, engulfing Li Rulong within it as the moonlight above shone brilliantly.

Metal came from the moon; demons came from men.

The Calendar-Intercalation Method—was complete!

The moon set, and the sun rose.

Between heaven and earth, sun essence and moonlight intermingled. It was precisely the time for cultivators to strive onward.

A streak of sword light came from Yulin Commandery and descended before the military camp, revealing Zhao Wuxu. "Li Rulong... the day of our sword duel has arrived! You..."

He should have been brimming with confidence. After this, he would even have hope of Dao Foundation.

But Zhao Wuxu quickly realized that something was wrong.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Wind, rain, frost, and snow raged all around. A figure stepped forth.

Golden scales covered his entire body, and two small horns grew from his head. It was Li Rulong, transformed into a half-demon!

Biyue's radiance suddenly appeared!

Not good! This man counters me!

The thought flashed through Zhao Wuxu's mind, and he suddenly felt catastrophe bearing down upon him.