Incense-and-Fire Demonic Path

Within Sunken-Sand Fort, Lu Chen was in his stone room.

Knock, knock.

A dull knocking suddenly sounded.

"Junior Brother Lu, are you in? Could you open the door? It's me."

Zhao Yan's voice came through the door.

"What is it?"

Lu Chen frowned slightly, rose to his feet, and pulled open the heavy stone door.

Zhao Yan still wore that beaming smile, carrying a jug of spirit wine as he casually sauntered inside.

"Junior Brother, you've been in seclusion these past few days. You must have gained quite a bit, right? I just got hold of some newly brewed Drunken Immortal Lin and specially brought it for you to try."

"If Senior Brother Zhao has something to say, just say it."

Lu Chen had no mood to beat around the bush with him, and his tone was somewhat stiff.

"Oh... straightforward!"

The expression on Zhao Yan's face stiffened for a moment. He simply clapped his hands, stopped putting on airs, and set the wine jug directly on the table.

"Junior Brother Lu, we're both smart people, so I won't beat around the bush. You came to Blackwater Marsh for experience, didn't you?"

Lu Chen merely watched him in silence, which counted as tacit agreement.

"But have you considered what sort of damned place Blackwater Marsh really is? Three sects stand side by side here, while demon beasts run rampant. This is a rotten quagmire that devours people without even spitting out their bones."

Zhao Yan sat down by himself, poured a cup of spirit wine, and wore a faintly disdainful smile.

"You don't actually think that, with your Qi Refining, Fifth Layer cultivation, you can swagger through this place and casually stumble upon some great opportunity, do you?"

"What does that have to do with you?"

Lu Chen's expression turned cold, and a faint anger rose in his heart.

Zhao Yan lifted his wine cup, took a sip, and chuckled.

"Don't be so naïve, Junior Brother. The best outcome you can hope for is killing a few blind earthwyrms or getting lucky enough to gather a few stalks of dark yinwood."

Lu Chen's fist hanging at his side quietly clenched tighter.

"So why exactly did you come running over in the middle of the night? To mock me, or to humiliate me?"

"No, no, no... it's not what you think. I came to point you toward a clear road."

Zhao Yan paused briefly and observed Lu Chen's expression. Seeing that Lu Chen did not immediately tell him to get out, he finally relaxed a little.

"Aren't you curious? Why are the disciples of Sunken-Sand Fort all so lazy and scattered, yet no one is willing to leave? Why can everyone still enjoy themselves here in peace even though Earth Spirit Sect keeps pressing us down and beating us?"

"That's because you were all a bunch of trash waiting around to eat and die in the first place."

Looking at Zhao Yan's smug face, Lu Chen mocked him without mercy.

"Heh, that's where you don't understand. It's because... we have a private deal with Earth Spirit Sect."

Lu Chen's brow furrowed even more deeply.

"What do you mean by that?"

Zhao Yan did not get angry at those mocking words. He merely continued in an even tone.

"You're surely no stranger to the Wèi Earth Tradition, but you only know one side of the matter, not the other. Even the same Dao Lineage can have many completely different cultivation methods."

"Blackwater Marsh is vast and teeming with living creatures. Earth Spirit Sect has penned up quite a few mortal villages in these swamps, all to obtain those incense-and-fire sacrifices. They have an extraordinary genius behind them, named Xu Sheng."

"What incense-and-fire sacrificial path? And who is this Xu Sheng?"

Lu Chen rapidly searched through his memories, but he truly had no impression of that name.

Still, he had heard a few things before about incense-and-fire sacrifices. It was said to be a special cultivation method inclined toward the divine path.

Could this be that strange path spoken of in legend, one that relied on Incense and Fire Prayer Power to ascend into godhood?

But what exactly did this have to do with Earth Spirit Sect, and what connection could it possibly have with him, a newly arrived disciple?

"I won't flaunt my skill before an expert by explaining the intricacies of the Wèi Earth path in front of you. But Xu Sheng... Junior Brother, you must not underestimate him. That man's Dao insight is frighteningly high."

When Zhao Yan mentioned that name, an unconcealable hint of wariness clearly appeared in his eyes.

"Dao insight?" Lu Chen's gaze flickered as he vaguely guessed something.

"It's said that when he first collected Qi, he only obtained a Ninth-Rank Wèi Earth Qi Seed. That should have been an awful beginning... yet he spent several decades cultivating from the Early Qi Refining Stage all the way to the peak of late-stage Qi Refining. He improved his own Dao arts and established an entire divine-path system. He is especially formidable in Dao cultivation and battle."

"In the few years since he came to Blackwater Marsh, he swiftly established an incense-and-fire sacrificial system, using mortals as provisions to sustain his own cultivation. At first, none of the three great sects allowed it, but for some unknown reason, the Foundation Establishment elders of every sect later tacitly accepted it..."

A complex look surfaced on Zhao Yan's plump face.

"Xu Sheng promised that so long as we turned a blind eye, he would share a portion of the Incense and Fire Prayer Power he gathered with us."

"Incense and Fire Prayer Power?" This was Lu Chen's first time hearing the term.

"Mm, you can think of it as something like spiritual resources. It's good stuff!"

Zhao Yan clicked his tongue twice and shook his head. "It directly raises cultivation, has none of the side effects of pill toxins, and can be used by any Dao Lineage. From then on, we won't need to fight and kill. We can just meditate and refine it every day, and our cultivation will rise! If you can lie flat, who would be willing to risk their life?"

"So there was such a secret?"

Lu Chen suddenly understood and caught Zhao Yan's meaning.

"You mean you want me to join you and use that Incense and Fire Prayer Power?" Lu Chen's brow deeply furrowed.

"Junior Brother Lu, don't rush to refuse."

Zhao Yan earnestly tried to persuade him. "This is a win-win arrangement. You gain real benefits, and as for those mortals... they were born in the swamp, their lives were cheap to begin with. Being able to contribute something to our immortal path is their good fortune."

"Preposterous!" Lu Chen slapped the table, making even the wine cup jump.

"We cultivators pursue the grand and righteous Dao. How can we wallow in the same filth as the demonic path!"

"The righteous Dao?"

Zhao Yan laughed, trying to continue his persuasion.

"Junior Brother Lu, do you still think you're in the sect? That way doesn't work here! This world isn't simply black and white..."

"Get out!"

Lu Chen pointed at the door and stared at him without uttering another word.

After a long while, the smile on Zhao Yan's face gradually faded.

He straightened up, cast Lu Chen a glance, and gave a cold snort.

"You don't know what's good for you."

Leaving behind those words, he sharply flicked his sleeve and turned to leave.

The heavy stone door closed again, and the room instantly returned to complete silence.

"Well now, that is the human heart."

Turtle Elder's unhurried voice sounded, carrying a hint of mockery.

"For the sake of taking shortcuts, they have already become willing to stop at nothing."

"Senior, is that Incense and Fire Prayer Power really as miraculous as that fatty made it sound?"

Lu Chen ultimately could not hold himself back. Frowning, he lowered his voice and spoke.

"Bah, it's crap."

Turtle Elder explained irritably.

"You may indeed taste some sweetness at first, but once you become addicted to it, it will soon contaminate your Qi Seed."

"Once it reaches that point, trying to condense a Dao Foundation will become a hundred times more difficult."

"It affects Foundation Establishment..."

A chill ran down Lu Chen's back.

After a long while, he let out a deep sigh.

"Alas, do I have to find Shen Qingzhou?"

A single tree could not hold up a whole forest. It seemed that whatever he did would be futile.

Meanwhile, within a stone hall in a valley several hundred miles away.

The stench of blood was overpowering.

Shen Qingzhou stood in the middle of the devastated hall. The tip of the Ripple-Pattern Sword was still dripping blood, leaving dark crimson marks upon the dirt.

The battle had already ended. Everyone was dead, leaving only him.

He exhaled a breath of turbid air, sheathed his sword, and skillfully began handling the scene.

First, he collected all the storage bags from the Earth Spirit Sect disciples.

He burned the corpses to ash with a single fire, then drew water to wash the ground, wiping away all traces of blood and combat.

The underground water veins washed away everything here.

Blackwater Marsh had many water veins. This time, he had borrowed the advantage of the terrain; otherwise, dealing with this group of disciples would not have been easy.

Only after finishing all that did he leave at an unhurried pace.

His greatest harvest was the jade vial containing Kan Water Jade.

He pulled out the stopper, and a surge of spiritual essence carrying watery vapor rushed toward him. Inside the vial floated thirty drops of deep-blue liquid, each as large as an infant's fist.

"Finally, I have it!"

This was the Kan Water spiritual resource he had been seeking.

Besides that, the several storage bags held quite a few earth-element spiritual materials, talismans, and several hundred spirit stones. It was an unexpected windfall.

He closed his eyes and sank into his sea of consciousness.

Strictly speaking, meeting the conditions of a Ritual depended greatly on luck. A difference of a hair could lead to an error of a thousand miles.

At that time, an ancient aura had descended upon him.

Countless insights into the Kan Water Dao Lineage and Wèi Earth Tradition flooded into his soul.

His Qi Seed had also undergone a certain sublimation!

As for his cultivation, he had only broken through not long ago, yet it began surging again, rising all the way to the peak of Qi Refining, Seventh Layer. Only a single sheet of window paper stood between him and Qi Refining, Eighth Layer.

So long as he spent another month or so digesting this insight, he had complete confidence in breaking through smoothly. It was faster than taking any pill and carried no hidden drawbacks. It was entirely a reward bestowed by the Dao Strife of Heaven and Earth.

More importantly, under the influence of the Ritual, he seemed to have seen three paths ahead for his Foundation Establishment...

His attention shifted to another notification on his profession panel.

[Qi Collector profession proficiency is full. Advancement conditions met...]

[Qi Collector advances to Source Heaven Master.]

[Source Heaven Master: Insight. You have gained a deeper understanding of the origins of Heaven, Earth, and all things.]

[Dao-Rhyme Revelation: You may expend divine sense to temporarily see through the spiritual-power circulation structures upon formations, restrictions, and magical artifacts, thereby locating weak nodes.]

Shen Qingzhou was extremely satisfied. The gains from acting this time had indeed far exceeded his expectations.

Compared with Scripture Master, the professional path of Qi Collector was more mysterious and held greater potential.

Although it lacked the straightforward numerical boosts of a Scripture Master, its mechanics were more unique and pointed directly at the essence.

He did not rush back to Sunken-Sand Fort. First, he needed to find a quiet place to properly digest the benefits of this Ritual, then push his cultivation in one stroke to Qi Refining, Eighth Layer!