Duan De Encounters Misfortune [Monthly Ticket and Investment Request]

Getting struck by lightning today had definitely been the dog system's doing. He was simply too unlucky.

He had to jinx a few people to get himself some luck.

As Duan De was watched by Jiang Ming, his scalp suddenly tingled. He had a sense that disaster was imminent, leaving him utterly baffled.

This guy felt incredibly inauspicious!

Forget it. He should continue searching for the Demon Emperor's Tomb and stop wasting time here. This person was a little strange.

Duan De had laid out his life plan and growth plan very clearly. First, he needed a powerful treasure to protect himself.

The Demon Emperor had once seized the Desolate Pagoda. If he could find it, then as long as he did not encounter a Saint in the future, he would have the means to save his life.

Thus, after failing to obtain the Desolate Pagoda, failing to seize the Demon Emperor's Armament, and even missing the Emperor's Green Cauldron fragment, Duan De persevered and finally found the lid of Ruthless's Heaven-Swallowing Devil Jar.

Duan De's instincts and spiritual senses toward danger were still very sharp. In the end, he was unwilling to clash with Jiang Ming.

Jiang Ming was likewise wary of Duan De. He would not take the initiative to provoke this fellow and become enemies with him.

He was already at the Tenth Qi Refining Stage, and the strength of his physical body was even more outrageous. As a Sea of Bitterness cultivator, he rivaled Other Shore cultivators.

He had no doubt that once he reached the Life Spring Realm, his physical body would rival Dao Palace Secret Realm cultivators. Once he entered the Divine Bridge Realm, its strength would be beyond imagination.

Thinking of Ye Fan's physical combat strength, he could use it as a reference.

However, Ye Fan's cultivation in the Wheel of the Sea Secret Realm had been gradually transformed and developed only because he had consumed Saint Fruit, a near-Undying Divine Medicine. With that, it would be difficult for both his body and soul not to transform.

That was Ye Fan's advantage. It was not something he could envy.

However, he had his own advantages as well. The Chinese Paladin Method had no particular advantage in developing the body, but he was ultimately at the Tenth Qi Refining Stage, so there were still some benefits.

"Daoist, keep digging up people's ancestral graves. I won't disturb you."

Seeing Duan De staring at him without saying a word, Jiang Ming shrugged and bid farewell directly. Let this dead fat man continue being immoral. He had no time to waste with him; he had serious business to handle.

Duan De: "..."

He hated this person for speaking such blunt truths.

With that, Jiang Ming directly used the Sacred Light Technique. His entire body became a streak of pure white light, propelled by the true essence of the Tenth Qi Refining Stage as he rushed toward Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven.

This trip had only one purpose: the Lightning Bird flock.

And he wanted the Lightning Grass and the Three Yin Cold Lotus as well.

At the Tenth Qi Refining Stage, he was equivalent to an Other Shore Realm cultivator.

As for secret techniques, once you mastered one and cultivated mana with the Shrouding Method to activate it, there was not much difference from using true essence cultivated through the Chinese Paladin Method.

Next, he needed more heavenly treasures to assist his cultivation and enter the Foundation Establishment Stage as soon as possible. That way, when he encountered an immoral Daoist like Duan De, he would have more confidence.

"Sure enough, he isn't simple. That secret technique seems to be the Sacred Light Technique of Yaoguang Sacred Land.

Could he be the Yaoguang Sacred Son?"

Duan De murmured as he watched Jiang Ming's departing figure.

Duan De had never seen the Yaoguang Sacred Son. He had only witnessed the Sacred Light Technique, which was why he made such a guess.

Jiang Ming did not know of Duan De's speculation, nor did he care. Killing intent lurked within him now, and he could not be bothered with anything else.

At his speed, a journey of over two thousand li required only a few minutes. Aside from avoiding some dangers, which wasted a little time, it had only taken ten minutes for him to reach the territory of Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven, Smoke Glow Ridge.

When he was at the Seventh Qi Refining Layer, the true essence flowing quietly within his dantian had resembled a lake. It rippled within the Sea of Bitterness, suspended above it like a lake in the sky, while the purple divine power spring formed from opening the Sea of Bitterness lay at its bottom.

The powers cultivated through the Shrouding Method and the Chinese Paladin Method were as clearly distinct as the Jing and Wei Rivers.

Furthermore, with the Shrouding Method, merely opening the Sea of Bitterness produced a divine power spring only the size of a golf ball.

Compared to the small lake of true essence, the two were like the ocean and the sky.

At the Seventh Qi Refining Layer, one formed the Cinnabar Lake. The Eighth and Ninth Qi Refining Layers were for accumulating the Cinnabar Lake.

At the Tenth Qi Refining Stage, the Cinnabar Lake would transform into an Origin Sea and expand further.

Once one cultivated to the perfection of the Twelfth Qi Refining Layer, the Origin Sea would become a Dao Sea and nurture a Foundation Establishment Dao Platform, allowing one to enter the Foundation Establishment Stage.

It could be said that although he was also at the Tenth Qi Refining Stage, both the quantity and quality of his true essence far surpassed those of his previous life. By conservative estimates, the difference was more than tenfold.

Thus, this short journey consumed very little for him.

Clearwind Town!

Jiang Ming did not even dare set foot in the town. He stood high in the sky from afar and glanced at the inn owned by his family. So far, it remained in his family's hands. Only a little girl with pigtails stood at the inn's entrance, looking toward the entrance of Clearwind Town as though waiting for someone to return.

Jiang Ming's heart ached. He transformed into Bai Ze and bestowed a blessing upon both his father and Tingting, then left without a sound.

He also went to investigate the area around Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven. He learned that what had happened more than three months ago had enraged one of Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven's supreme elders. His master's senior uncle, a Divine Bridge cultivator, had personally gone to Lightning Valley and slain two Lightning Birds.

This old man was also advanced in years and rarely acted. After all, for Shrouding the Heavens cultivators, every time they acted was equivalent to consuming the vital essence within their bodies.

After all, from the beginning of their cultivation, the vital essence developed by Shrouding the Heavens cultivators came from the human body's Life Wheel.

Different constitutions contained different amounts of vital essence within their Life Wheels. Once one achieved success in cultivation and became a Life Spring cultivator, one could increase the vital essence within the body and extend one's lifespan.

The lifespan available to Sea of Bitterness cultivators was actually the same as the vital essence contained within a human body's Wheel of Life. Their lifespan was only around one hundred and twenty years.

This had led to the Li Family's Seventh Young Master staying obediently in seclusion to cultivate, not daring to be too active for fear of attracting attention. As for the Li Family's remaining five cultivators, they were merely mediocre Sea of Bitterness cultivators struggling to get by in Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven, not daring to jump around recklessly either.

This situation was actually quite similar to the original plot.

In the original plot, after the Li Family caused Jiang Tingting's parents' deaths, they lay low for over two years. They only secretly pulled strings, forcing Elder Jiang to gradually sell off his properties.

Not to mention now, when Jiang Ming was likely not dead but merely insane. Over the years, the Li Family had been cooperating with Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven's people in searching for Jiang Ming.

Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven searched for Jiang Ming because he had good talent and a chance of becoming a Divine Bridge cultivator in the future—another supreme elder-level combatant. He might even become an Other Shore cultivator.

The Li Family searched for Jiang Ming, naturally, because they wanted to silence him forever.

Having obtained this information, Jiang Ming was relieved.

Since that was the case, it was time to act.

With a shake of his body, he transformed into Sanzang, a Western Desert monk of thirteen or fourteen.

It was time to end the karma here.

Jiang Ming used the Sacred Light Technique and flew directly over. He looked like a brilliant golden sun, crossing three thousand li of Smoke Glow Ridge and openly flying over the towering mountain ranges perpetually shrouded in misty clouds.

Clouds and rosy mist billowed, the vast void was boundless, and the mountains stretched endlessly.

Normally, even Life Spring cultivators would not dare be so ostentatious. Among the towering ancient trees below, there could be a rare bird or strange beast at the level of a Divine Bridge cultivator, or a special variant with powerful bloodline.

But today, he had come.

Jiang Ming shone like the midday sun. He was currently using only the combat strength of the Seventh Qi Refining Layer, yet he fully activated the Sacred Light Technique. Bathed in golden light, he appeared incomparably holy. It was impossible to tell whether it was Buddhist light or sacred light as blazing radiance spread from his entire body, scorching heaven and earth in every direction.

Lightning Valley!

A powerful flock lived here, numbering over fifty Lightning Birds. The strongest, the Lightning Bird King, was comparable to an Other Shore cultivator.

Even Smoke Glow Grotto-Heaven did not dare directly attack this place and provoke these Lightning Birds.

The land here was a reddish-brown valley spanning eight hundred li. Above it, streaks of golden lightning darted rapidly through the sky, tearing across the heavens with an intense brilliance more dazzling than the sun.

At that moment, an even more resplendent golden sun crashed over, directly colliding with a Life Spring Realm Lightning Bird. With a puff, the Lightning Bird was torn into pieces on the spot, its crimson blood crackling with electricity scattering across the sky.

Boom!

Jiang Ming directly raised his cultivation to the Ninth Qi Refining Layer. At that moment, this entire region within a radius of ten li was shrouded in golden sacred light. Bathed in that sacred light, it was as though they had been placed inside a heavenly furnace, the golden sacred light refining everything.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—"

Patches of blood mist appeared one after another, only to be evaporated by the blazing golden sacred light. The Lightning Birds enveloped by the sacred light were reduced to dust in an instant.