Which True Person Dares Threaten a Descendant of My Li Household?

Li Zhengjun paused briefly, then said calmly:

"It was no trouble."

With the Mysterious Shell Breath-Stabilizing Disc on him, he was no different from a mortal once he concealed his presence. The two before him were mere mortals, and surely could not see the depth of his abilities.

The two exchanged a glance, their shock still lingering.

That was especially true of Fang Yuan. As a Martial Dao Grandmaster of the Ning Kingdom, he understood just how formidable Li Zhengjun's casual attack had been, and his tone grew all the more respectful.

"There is something you may not know, Immortal Master. The two of us meant to catch a Jade Wave Turtle to pay for our journey before entering the capital, but we never imagined the beast had embarked on the path of cultivation and was so extraordinarily vicious. We are merely mortal martial artists. If you had not struck with the force of thunder and slain it, I fear we could not have shaken it off even if we had fled until we collapsed from exhaustion."

With two casual moves, Li Zhengjun had just killed both the scheming Lin Bin and the Jade Wave Turtle. Such strength could only belong to an immortal.

Li Zhengjun nodded. Since Fang Yuan knew about cultivation, there were evidently cultivators nearby, so he asked:

"I am a cultivator who wandered here on my travels. I had not intended to concern myself with mortal affairs. But you both have kind hearts, and even in danger you did not forget to save someone. Such character was worth making an exception to help."

Fang Qing's eyes lit up, and she could not resist speaking first.

"You really aren't one of the Ning Kingdom's Immortal Masters! I heard that the imperial preceptors of our great Ning Kingdom are all old immortals with white hair and youthful faces, but you're so young! You look even younger than my brother!"

Fang Yuan jumped in fright and hastily tugged his sister back, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Forgive her, Immortal! My little sister is young and ignorant, and speaks without thinking. She meant no offense to your immortal majesty!"

Cold sweat streamed down his face as he feared Li Zhengjun would strike them both dead.

Li Zhengjun, however, did not mind. The girl was innocent and outspoken, which suited his temperament.

He waved a hand and smiled.

"Never mind. From what you two just said, it seems there are cultivators residing in the Ning Kingdom as well? What cultivation do they have, and where do they cultivate in seclusion?"

Since he could not return to the Yuyu Realm for the time being, Li Zhengjun intended to gather intelligence in the Ning Kingdom and prepare for his Lineage's coming expansion.

Fang Yuan, afraid his sister would say something else without knowing its gravity, hurriedly took over and answered respectfully:

"Immortal Master, the Ning Kingdom lies in a remote region. In the past, there were no traces of immortals here, and even the Martial Dao was not particularly prosperous. Only when His Majesty adopted the reign name 'Wuchang' did things take on a new aspect. We learned later that several Immortal Masters who could summon wind and rain had come to the capital and bestowed many Martial Dao Secret Methods. From then on, we mortals of the Ning Kingdom had a path of cultivation. There was another favor as well: anyone who cultivated to the realm of Martial Dao Grandmaster could enter the capital for an audience and have their Root Bone personally examined by the Immortal Masters. Anyone with a Spirit Root could be sent to an immortal sect to cultivate!"

As Fang Yuan spoke, a look of longing appeared on his face.

Li Zhengjun marveled as he listened. As he remembered it, every inch of land in the Yuyu Realm was worth its weight in gold. A mortal nation like the Ning Kingdom, where spiritual power flowed, would be enough to make the various powers fight until their heads broke and blood flowed. Even a Purple Mansion immortal clan would have to treat it seriously.

After all, wherever there was Spiritual Qi, spiritual things could be nurtured. However insignificant they were, cultivators of the Yuyu Realm would risk their lives to fight over them.

What was more, mortals themselves were a resource: they could be refined into blood food, used as labor, and served as a reserve of bloodlines from which sects could replenish their cultivators.

Yet in this Great Scarlet Realm, only a handful of cultivators had laid their hands on an entire vast mortal dynasty?

It was a shocking waste of heaven's gifts!

He had to bring the younger members of his Lineage here and unlock the Ning Kingdom's full potential!

Li Zhengjun suppressed the surge of feeling in his heart, cleared his throat, and asked:

"I can see that both of you are brimming with Qi and Blood. I presume you have reached the Grandmaster realm. Are you traveling to the capital for an audience, to seek that immortal opportunity?"

At the mention of Grandmasters, Fang Qing finally could not help smiling. Her chin lifted slightly of its own accord, with a touch of girlish pride.

"Your eyes really are as sharp as torches, Immortal. You saw at a glance that my brother and I are both Martial Dao Grandmasters."

The two were seven or eight years apart in age, yet their cultivation was not far apart. That was enough to show how talented Fang Qing was.

Li Zhengjun formed a plan and said gently:

"As it happens, I have a Spirit-Testing Stone with me. I can test your Spirit Roots first. If you have them, I can also pass a cultivation method on to you. Would you be willing?"

He was alone, and gathering intelligence in the Ning Kingdom would be somewhat difficult, so he intended to support these two as his eyes and ears.

They were both going to the capital to seek immortality, and were bound to come across some information.

Fang Yuan froze at his words, then his thoughts raced.

This immortal means to guide my sister and me onto the immortal path! Calm down! Calm down! The immortal wandered here on his travels, and my sister and I met him and were saved by him. This must be the immortal opportunity mentioned in the storybooks!

He and his sister Fang Qing both suppressed their excitement and immediately cupped their fists.

"Please guide us, Immortal!"

Li Zhengjun nodded, then took a Spirit-Testing Stone from his Storage Bag.

The Spirit-Testing Stone was specifically used to test whether mortals possessed spiritual aptitude. It should work in both realms.

He held the Spirit Stone near each of their brows in turn. In just a few breaths, it began to tremble faintly. The threads of light inside lit up one after another like fish awakened from sleep, and several lights and shadows emerged in succession.

Li Zhengjun looked closely and smiled.

"Fang Yuan has four Spirit Roots. Fang Qing has better aptitude: three Spirit Roots."

Hearing this, the two could no longer contain the wild joy in their hearts.

"We... we both have Spirit Roots! Thank you, Immortal!"

Before the siblings could properly celebrate, however, Li Zhengjun's expression suddenly grew grave.

Quick-witted as he was, Fang Yuan immediately sensed something was wrong and asked in a trembling voice:

"Immortal, is something amiss?"

Li Zhengjun did not answer. He simply formed a Method Formula, and a beam of clear light struck the two of them.

The method of bright yang could illuminate all evil. In an instant, two wisps of black mist rose from their bodies!

The black mist twisted several times in the sunlight, then slowly dissipated beneath Li Zhengjun's dawn light.

The Fang siblings immediately felt their bodies grow lighter. They looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion.

He fell silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.

"The martial art you practice has serious problems. It is a devil-path body-refining method that uses your own Essence Blood as fuel, draining the pond to catch the fish and burning blood to temper bone. In the short term, your Qi and Blood soar and your progress is astonishingly swift, but in truth, your fundamental essence has already been depleted and your bone marrow secretly damaged. In other words, all you have now are shells brimming with Qi and Blood, while your foundations are riddled with holes."

He paused, choosing to answer truthfully.

"There is something wrong with those so-called Immortal Masters in the capital. They are probably not selecting fine talent for an immortal sect. I fear they are tricking Martial Dao Grandmasters like you into coming to the capital so that, when your Qi and Blood have been forced to their peak, they can use you to refine pills and cultivate."

Do not ask how Li Zhengjun knew. Such methods were all too common in the Yuyu Realm.

The Devil Cultivators of the Yuyu Realm were far more accomplished, however. Not only could they boost Qi and Blood, they also knew how to nourish the foundation and strengthen the essence, keeping the fish until they grew fat and squeezing the greatest possible value from a mortal seed.

The Devil Cultivators of the Great Scarlet Realm, on the other hand, used crude methods, knowing only how to drain the pond to catch the fish. They were not even fit to carry the shoes of the Yuyu Realm's Devil Cultivators.

The Fang siblings froze where they stood. They looked at each other, unable to speak for a moment.

They had trained painstakingly since childhood, never stopping day or night. They had revered this martial art as an absolute standard and regarded it as their only path to changing their fate.

Now they were told that it was merely a trap someone had carefully laid, and that the Martial Dao they had pursued all their lives would, in the end, make them nothing more than ingredients in someone else's Pill Furnace?

Li Zhengjun sighed and said:

"I know this is difficult to accept all at once, but it is all right. I can teach you a method that will let you enter cultivation, extinguish the false fire, and restore your foundation and essence. Once you enter the capital, investigate carefully. See with your own eyes what becomes of the Grandmasters who went there, and whether there is anything else unusual. The truth will become clear once you investigate."

Fang Yuan recovered his senses, swallowed, and murmured to himself:

"No wonder... no wonder I always felt my vital essence being depleted whenever I practiced. I thought I was just training too hard... No wonder all these years, the Martial Dao has valued realms over moves, and everyone has been staking their lives on reaching the Grandmaster realm..."

Fang Qing also thought of something and said timidly:

"It seems none of the Martial Dao Grandmasters who entered the capital ever came back. People in the martial world say that those with Spirit Roots entered the immortal path to cultivate, while the cultivators without Spirit Roots joined the imperial palace as personal guards. No wonder the Grandmasters' families have received only rewards of gold and silver all these years, and never a single letter!"

Li Zhengjun had only given them a little guidance, and the two had connected many of the suspicious points themselves.

He nodded and continued along the lines of what they had said:

"There is no hurry. Tell me all the suspicious points one by one, and we will consider them carefully. For now, we will follow the waterway to the capital, and I will teach you an Immortal Method along the way."

Fang Yuan had recovered from his initial shock, and indignation had taken its place.

He was chivalrous by nature, and now that he knew the truth, he felt his anger burning all the more fiercely. First he thanked Li Zhengjun for bestowing the method, then asked:

"We believe everything you have said, Immortal. Those Immortal Masters in the capital are almost certainly Devil Cultivators! But there is one thing I do not understand. Since the capital is a devil's den, why are you still going there with us, Immortal Master?"

Li Zhengjun thought for a moment, then said solemnly:

"The Devil Cultivators are deceiving the people of the Ning Kingdom. I feel it is necessary to do something. Just as you said, seeing the weak and not helping them is not my way, either."

Fang Yuan's whole body trembled. He stared at the young immortal before him, feeling a warm current surge through his chest and rush straight to his eyes.

He drew a deep breath, straightened his clothes and hat, and bowed solemnly to the ground.

"Immortal above, Fang Yuan is willing to run at your command! Let us save the Ning Kingdom from fire and flood!"

Fang Qing also put away her usual innocent expression and knelt beside her brother. Together, they said:

"Please lead us, Immortal Master, to sweep away the devilish miasma!"

Li Zhengjun was silent for a long time before finally nodding.

Ten days passed in a flash as their boat traveled over the water.

The three headed north along the river, lying low by day and traveling by night to avoid the authorities' eyes and ears. Along the way, Fang Yuan and Fang Qing recounted the various strange happenings in the Ning Kingdom in recent years, one by one.

During that time, Li Zhengjun taught them a Cultivation Method called the Courtyard-Knocking Qi-Receiving Scripture. It was a lesser version of the Radiant Brightness Breathing Scripture. Its cultivation speed was no slower than that of orthodox bright yang methods, but it was flawed: its limit was Qi Ingestion, leaving its practitioners no hope of an immortal foundation for life.

The Fang siblings had some talent, but their Spirit Roots were ultimately too mixed. They had no hope of forging immortal foundations in this life, so it was better to lock their upper limit in exchange for cultivation speed.

The two did not understand the intricacies. They felt that entering cultivation was wonderful enough, and followed Li Zhengjun in gathering Qi and cultivating along the way, never slacking in the slightest.

Although they had yet to nurture a single wisp of Radiant Yang Qi, the yang Qi they had absorbed had already done much to restore their physiques. As a result, they believed Li Zhengjun's words even more firmly.

One day, the light boat finally came ashore, and the walls of the Ning Kingdom's capital were faintly visible in the distance.

Li Zhengjun counted the days on his fingers. The three-day period in the Yuyu Realm had come to an end, so he stopped and said to the two:

"To avoid alerting the enemy, we will part ways here. You go on into the capital first and find out what is really happening. We can meet here in one month."

The Fang siblings nodded solemnly and bowed deeply to Li Zhengjun, then turned and set off along the official road to the capital.

After watching them leave, Li Zhengjun found a secluded, deserted hollow in the mountains. He sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness and summoned the immortal mirror.

The True Person's reinforcements should have arrived in the Yuyu Realm by now. Even if they have not, I still need to go back and see.

He focused his attention, and the moment the thought arose, clear light flowed across the mirror.

This time, there was no sensation of heaven and earth spinning. In the blink of an eye, Li Zhengjun was back in the cave.

The cave was as black as ink; he could not see his fingers in front of his face.

He held his breath and focused, ready to flee at any moment. Fortunately, there was nothing unusual in the cave, only two dried corpses still standing upright.

These are... those two Qi Ingestion cultivators? They are thoroughly dead. It seems the True Person has already been here.

Keeping the immortal mirror suspended in his sea of consciousness, Li Zhengjun mustered his courage, rose, and walked out of the cave.

Just then, a buzzing exploded in his ears, and the cave around him vanished in an instant.

The formerly pitch-black night became as bright as day in an instant.

Li Zhengjun's face changed in alarm. He was about to flee, but at some unknown point, a towering Dharma manifestation had appeared in the sky.

The manifestation was shrouded from head to toe in pale golden dawn light, its features indistinct. Only its eyes were clear, like two blazing suns, lowered to look down upon him.

At the same time, an aged and familiar voice descended from the sky. Beneath its tone, calm as still water, lay anger and authority suppressed to their utmost limits.

"Which fellow Daoist is here, daring to threaten a descendant of my Li Household? Why not show yourself?"

The person before him was none other than the Li Household's Purple Mansion cultivator, True Person Yuhong!