Several months later, Lu Shang was now aboard a Spirit Boat.
He had joined the resistance against the Demon Sect invasion as a local rogue cultivator.
Of course, Lu Shang's real aim was simply to take advantage of the war to kill a demonic cultivator at the Core Formation Stage.
Before this, Lu Shang had visited the teleportation formation. Although he did not know how to repair it, and had not asked Xin Ruoyin to do anything when they last met, he had a system, so this posed no difficulty.
The teleportation formation was merely a precaution, a way to leave himself an escape route.
Aboard this Spirit Boat, the seating was divided into two rows.
One row was for the country's Core Formation elders, while Lu Shang's side belonged to the rogue cultivator camp.
Since the purpose was to discuss how to face the enemy, they had only sent about as many Core Formation cultivators as there were rogue cultivators.
Neither the righteous nor the demonic factions had yet mobilized in force, but anyone with eyes could see that the demonic faction was coming on like a raging storm.
Still, all of this was merely drifting clouds. After all, in another few decades, the so-called righteous and demonic factions would probably gather again to discuss resisting the Mulan people.
Lu Shang sat to one side, sipping his tea calmly.
The seats on both sides had yet to fill.
A rogue cultivator had told Lu Shang about this gathering some time ago.
Lu Shang would never pass up an opportunity to obtain information about the other side without having to do anything first.
Before long, more and more people arrived, and many of the seats had found their occupants.
Some rogue cultivators noticed Lu Shang's exceptional bearing and middle Core Formation cultivation and tried to make friendly overtures, but he merely brushed them off with perfunctory replies.
In the world of A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, true friends were not something one could casually make. The scheming and deception were no less intense than in the Three Kingdoms.
Even friendships spanning centuries could sour over a single Magic Treasure.
As time passed, Lu Shang grew impatient, though at least the service and spirit meals here were decent.
A moment later, a Core Formation cultivator from the elders' camp stood and called out, "It looks like almost everyone is here, so let us begin our discussion of the demonic invasion!"
Lu Shang was puzzled. Although there were only around a dozen elders on the other side, all Seven Sects of the Yue Kingdom seemed to be represented. Yet on the rogue cultivators' side, there were only seven people, including him.
They had arranged more than a dozen seats, but fewer than half were occupied.
Still, this was hardly surprising. Rogue cultivators were rogue cultivators, after all. Those at the Golden Core Stage already possessed a certain degree of strength. If a country fell and it had nothing to do with them, they could simply leave whenever they wished.
Rather than listen to what the man was saying, Lu Shang looked across at the other side.
Although he did not recognize most of them, he did know those from Yellow Maple Valley and the Covering Moon Sect.
The one from Yellow Maple Valley was Li Huayuan, whom he had seen outside the Blood Trial back then, along with that woman from the Covering Moon Sect.
Nangong Wan! Lu Shang was inwardly startled.
He had not expected to meet her again so soon after their parting at the Blood Trial.
Nobody paid much attention to Lu Shang's fixed stare, but his gaze met Nangong Wan's directly.
A faint blush appeared on Nangong Wan's face, along with a barely perceptible look of surprise.
It seems she recognized me too! Lu Shang thought.
The cultivator beside Nangong Wan noticed their exchanged looks and immediately asked, "Fellow Daoist Nangong, do you know that rogue cultivator?"
At his words, Nangong Wan immediately came to her senses and averted her gaze.
"We met once," Nangong Wan said, suppressing the change in her expression.
"We have said everything that needed saying. Although most of us know one another, there is one fellow Daoist whose face is quite unfamiliar. Might you introduce yourself?" As he spoke, a cultivator turned the conversation toward Lu Shang.
Lu Shang did not understand why a discussion of the demonic invasion had suddenly turned to him.
"I am Lu Shang, a mere rogue cultivator unworthy of mention," he said, rising to his feet.
"I would not say so. Quite apart from Fellow Daoist Lu's distinguished appearance, your age and cultivation alone suggest you are no ordinary man. You look so young, yet you have already reached middle Core Formation!"
The man was clearly bringing up Lu Shang's cultivation deliberately, raising his voice when he mentioned it at the end.
Hearing this, the others grew curious as well.
There had been no word in the Yue Kingdom of such a young middle Core Formation cultivator.
Some began discussing him.
"What? Do you suspect I am a spy sent by the demonic faction?"
"Fellow Daoist Lu, that is putting it too strongly. With the demonic faction invading, a little suspicion is only natural. How about letting the matter rest out of consideration for this old man?"
Lu Shang smiled.
"Forget it, forget it. Since you gentlemen are so suspicious of me, I will leave. You can hold your discussion without me."
With that, Lu Shang flicked his sleeve and walked out of the room.
Lu Shang had never wanted to involve himself too deeply in the war between the Righteous and Demonic Paths. Besides, if he had to say where he belonged...
Ten Thousand Nations was merely a small country, without even a respectable immortal cultivation sect. At most, he could only be counted as belonging to the Heavenly South.
Were it not for the system mission, Lu Shang would never have wanted to involve himself in such a thankless undertaking.
Nangong Wan watched from the side.
The others might not know, but she had indeed seen Lu Shang use an extremely unusual cultivation technique inside the Blood Secret Realm. The impression it gave her was much closer to that of a demonic cultivator.
Under these circumstances, it would have been difficult to speak up for Lu Shang, and there was little she could say anyway.
Still, Lu Shang could indeed be considered a demonic cultivator now.
After all, the technique he primarily displayed to others remained the Wild Desolation True Demon Art.
After leaving the room, Lu Shang flew to another Spirit Boat.
This vessel provided a place for cultivators to rest, with cultivators of different realms assigned to different rooms.
Such Spirit Boats were generally operated by cultivators from the Nine Nations Alliance.
On the surface, they were the Heavenly South's neutral faction, neither becoming too deeply entangled with the demonic faction nor deliberately helping the Righteous Dao Alliance.
"I have never seen that man before. I wonder which sect he belongs to," Lu Shang muttered.
Lu Shang was the sort of man who would repay even the slightest grievance whenever he had the strength. Even if he had only been driven out because of their suspicions this time, he still felt displeased.
However, since he had already offended Wang Chan, Lu Shang did not want to act too conspicuously for now.
Once this matter was over, Lu Shang planned to teach that man a small lesson.
The man who had questioned Lu Shang was only at early Core Formation. Had they been outside, he probably would not have dared speak so lightly of others.
His face already showed signs of age despite his early Core Formation cultivation. He had probably been edged out of his sect's inner circle.
Unless he belonged to a sect like the Giant Sword Sect, with no Nascent Soul cultivator and only a handful of Golden Core cultivators holding it up. In such a sect, as long as he remained alive, he would never be far from the inner circle.
But if that were truly the case, he was utterly foolish. Had Lu Shang wanted to teach him a lesson just now, and the people beside him refused to get involved for fear of getting splashed with filth, he would likely have suffered badly.
Lu Shang sat in his seat, slowly sipping his tea as he analyzed the current situation.
"Now that Yan Family Castle has fallen, everyone probably knows about the Ghost Spirit Sect affair. It likely will not be long before the demonic faction attacks."
"When the time comes, I only need to kill any one of their Core Formation cultivators to complete the mission."
His tea was continuously refilled.
"I began cultivating the art in that box soon after the Blood Trial. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Nangong really only took that ancient cultivator's art back and handed it over?"
Lu Shang spoke.
His words were addressed to Nangong Wan outside the door.
While he was considering the situation just now, Lu Shang had already detected a Core Formation cultivator rapidly approaching him with his divine sense.
At first, however, Lu Shang had not known who it was.
But he had encountered this aura before. Since he knew few people at the Core Formation Stage, he had been able to remember it even now.
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