Cultivating To Immortality

"However, no matter what, if we want to leave this place, we probably have to wait until this battle is over."

"And it should be related to this Talisman."

Sheng Nian raised the golden-red ancient Talisman in his hand.

"Mm."

Song Yan nodded, taking out his own: "I’ve met this General of Yan State."

Sheng Nian glanced at it, first startled, then smiled, "You’ve killed quite a few people."

Isn’t that right?

Song Yan’s ancient Talisman had already turned black.

"General Bai said that if one can accumulate a thousand Merits, they will be rewarded."

As for what the reward was, it would be too troublesome for Song Yan to explain to Sheng Nian, so he decided against it.

"Oh? There’s such a thing?"

Sheng Nian let out a soft exclamation: "I didn’t know that. I’ve been observing the changes in the ancient Talismans held by the other few, and haven’t made a move yet."

"Simply slaying enemy generals accumulates Merits very slowly."

"There are only so many Foundation Establishment Realm defending generals in Da Ming Gate. Even if all of them were killed from top to bottom, one would only get a few hundred."

Song Yan shook his head: "I don’t know if slaying Cultivators from the other two countries who carry ancient Talismans can seize this Merits."

Sheng Nian pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked towards the distant pass where a storm was gathering.

"Are you also here to seize Da Ming Gate?"

"Indeed." Song Yan put away the ancient Talisman: "When the battle ahead truly reaches its climax, this place will be the key to turning the tide of the war."

Of course, he didn’t understand military strategy; he was merely repeating what Deputy General Luo Zheng had said.

"How do you plan to do it? The wind and thunder array of Da Ming Gate is not easy to enter."

"That’s not a big problem. Before we left, the General of Yan State bestowed a precious pearl that can stop the surrounding Qi for ten breaths. "

"The key is not knowing how many reinforcements are Within the Pass, and whether we will be enough when we enter."

Yan State and Sui Country knew the importance of Da Ming Gate. Could it be that all of Yan State were fools and couldn’t remember it?

Sheng Nian suddenly said: "Sui Country does have intelligence on this."

"Yan State’s military strength is strong, and Yan State is stretched thin on the main battlefield. Apart from the original defending general, only a seven-person Foundation Establishment Realm reinforcement team has been dispatched here."

"Presumably, they are also foreign Cultivators like us."

"Oh?"

Song Yan raised an eyebrow. There was a lot of good news in Gou Sheng’s few words.

The biggest good news was that Yang Wenxuan was most likely among them.

Just as the two were deep in thought, several urgent whooshing sounds suddenly came.

Four figures with surging Spiritual Pressure flew to this place.

Upon landing, they were precisely the red-robed Cultivator from the Sui Army camp and his three companions. One was missing.

The few of them had slightly disordered Auras, evidently having just disengaged from the chaotic battle.

Looking at Sheng Nian, their eyes held undisguised shock, anger, and scrutiny.

The leading red-robed Cultivator first swept his gaze over Song Yan, then stared intently at Sheng Nian, questioning sharply: "Sheng Nian! How dare you!"

"We trusted you so much, fighting to the death with them, yet you collude with this person!"

"Do you know, our third brother died covering you."

The other three also stepped forward in unison, their Spiritual Artifacts glowing, surrounding Sheng Nian, Song Yan, and the silently standing Corpse Puppet A Yuan.

"You, Sheng, you’ve been hiding and not putting in effort before. So you were waiting here to collude with the enemy! We even thought to take care of you!"

A female Cultivator wielding a Flying Sword shrieked: "My five brothers and sisters, seeing you so young, always thought of you, treated you as one of our own."

"Don’t you feel any shame at all?"

The four of them were aggressive, standing on the moral high ground to question Sheng Nian, speaking with righteous indignation.

But facing all this, Sheng Nian and Song Yan’s reactions were very calm.

Song Yan didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids. He slightly tilted his head, looking to his side.

"No, I don’t."

Sheng Nian lazily dug his ear: "On the contrary, I’m very excited."

He turned his head and looked at Song Yan: "Old Song, weren’t you just pondering earlier?"

"Whether we can seize Merits, now the opportunity is delivered to our doorstep, we’ll know by trying."

His gaze towards the few of them was like looking at a group of clowns.

The four red-robed Cultivators were furious when they first heard this.

But looking up at Song Yan, they saw a pair of cold golden eyes.

In an instant, their scalps tingled, and a chill rushed from their feet to their heads.

That cold gaze finally fell lightly upon the red-robed Cultivator, calm and unruffled.

Song Yan nodded slightly, uttering only one word.

"Good."

The red-robed Cultivator reacted quickly, his shock and anger instantly replaced by a determined killing intent.

"Attack! Kill them!"

He roared, his red robe suddenly billowing, and a crimson Fire Dragon phantom roared out from between his hands.

Flames scorched the sky, rushing straight at Song Yan.

Almost at the same moment he roared, the female Cultivator’s slender Flying Sword had transformed into a streak of black light, silent and swift.

The other two also displayed their skills. A burly man swung a giant axe, chopping towards A Yuan, who seemed the easiest to deal with. Its power could split mountains and rocks, not to be underestimated.

A gloomy-faced Cultivator holding a banner shook the black banner in his hand, and ghostly wails were shrill as several ferocious vengeful spirits and evil spirits rolled up thick black smoke, pouncing towards Sheng Nian.

Moving Star!

Seven Flying Swords emerged simultaneously, and the Moving Star Sword Array instantly formed.

The vengeful spirits and evil spirits pouncing towards Sheng Nian seemed to have lost their way, circling around in place, eventually pouncing elsewhere.

However, this disturbed the black light of the female Cultivator’s Flying Sword, causing it to deviate from its trajectory.

Sheng Nian didn’t even glance at it. Instead, he leisurely sat back down under the tree.

He wouldn’t make a move himself. Now that he knew the identities of the generals, if he were to harm fellow Cultivators on the battlefield and they found out... Wouldn’t it be wonderful to comfortably watch Old Song’s sword dance here?

The burly man swung his giant axe, seemingly having used some movement technique, and with a burst of speed, he arrived in front of Song Yan.

He was a Body Refining Cultivator?

The Moving Star Sword Array mostly disturbed Spiritual Qi, Devilish Qi, or Sword Qi, and had limited influence on the attacks of Body Refining Cultivators.

Just as he was about to use Lingyun Intent to dodge the axe, he heard a click by his ear.

A faint crisp sound, as if a joint was being twisted.

Everyone noticed the burly figure that had always stood like a backdrop in the shadows behind Sheng Nian.

It suddenly moved.

No warning, no build-up.

At the moment the giant axe seemed about to cleave through Song Yan’s protective Sword Qi, Corpse Puppet A Yuan’s arm, wrapped in old rags, actually arrived first!

The ground he stood on sank an inch, his arm muscles bulging. He moved in from the side of the giant axe and threw a punch.

"Clang—!!!"

A deafening roar echoed through the forest!

A circle of violent Aura exploded outwards from the point of impact between fist and axe.

The burly man’s expression instantly froze, turning into extreme shock and disbelief.

The next instant, he felt a surging, monstrous force, like a mountain torrent, gush along the axe handle.

That heavy giant axe, as if made of paper, shattered inch by inch and twisted out of shape from where A Yuan’s fist struck it.

The burly man only managed to let out a short, muffled groan before his entire body, along with his broken giant axe, flew diagonally outwards like a tattered sack.

Along the way, he crashed through several trees as thick as bowls and embedded himself in a steep mountain cliff tens of meters away.

His limbs were twisted and deformed, his flesh a bloody mess, his fate unknown.

"What?!"

Everyone was startled.

This terrifying punch instantly awed the entire scene, even Song Yan was somewhat surprised.

"Young Master Song, although A Yuan is dull, he still has some strength. Let me help you."

The voice from beneath the mask was steady and very respectful to Song Yan.

Song Yan merely nodded. At this moment, the golden glow in his eyes grew even brighter.

Guan Xu!

The female Cultivator was very clever. The moment the sword array appeared, she roughly guessed its function.

And after being disturbed by her companion’s Spell, the black light Flying Sword simply gathered the vengeful spirits and evil spirits, condensing them onto the sword’s edge.

At this moment when everyone was momentarily distracted, it thrust out rapidly, aiming straight for Song Yan’s head.

Unfortunately, the Insightful Void Sword Eye had already seen everything clearly.

With a flick of his sword-finger, Unmoored Boat struck out, but it wasn’t to block the black light.

Sword Qi surged, Severing Tide poured forth, submerging into the Fire Dragon.

The Fire Dragon was extinguished, and then the sword light swept over, gathering the flames. The sword momentum remained undiminished, drawing an arc of light that forced back the female Cultivator’s Flying Sword.

The red-robed Daoist hadn’t yet discerned the subtlety within, and as he gathered Spiritual Qi again to cast the Fire Dragon Spell, the next moment he was filled with shock and anger.

He watched helplessly as his Fire Dragon twisted and turned, incinerating a patch of soul banner black smoke, yet unable to harm Song Yan in the slightest.

"What kind of demonic art is this?!"

The female Cultivator was also greatly alarmed. This Flying Sword formation was truly strange.

It clearly locked onto its target, yet the sword’s edge seemed to strike a phantom, or pierce into empty space, deviating far off course.

Her Spiritual Qi was also dispelled by the strange trajectory of the starlight, reducing its full power to less than sixty or seventy percent.

Song Yan’s sword gesture changed again.

Ring Moon.

Of the seven Flying Swords, originally five were outside and two were inside.

But at this moment, three of them, including Unmoored Boat, changed their sword momentum.

They converged slightly inwards.

Everyone felt that the effect of this strange sword array had weakened a little, and both the red-robed Daoist and the female Cultivator felt a sense of relief.

They thought that this technique consumed a lot, and this young man wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

Just as they were about to employ further means, they saw the starlight within the formation suddenly begin to converge.

It surged rapidly behind Song Yan, and a wisp of cloud Qi mysteriously rose from above his head.

Supported by Sword Qi, a cold moonlight slowly gathered.

Now, Song Yan had gained much insight into combining these two sword arrays.

He no longer needed to separately manifest three sword shadows and additionally cast a Ring Moon Sword Array.

With a virtual point of his sword-finger.

Moonfall.

Silently, that bright moon suddenly descended!

The moonlight was cool and bright, transforming into endless Sword Qi, infinitely sharp, like the Milky Way pouring down.

"Not good!"

The red-robed Cultivator was terrified, summoning a small tortoise shell shield that instantly expanded, its runes flashing, attempting to block this terrifying Sword Qi.

He cursed in his heart.

What kind of monsters are these two?!

The female Cultivator, on the other hand, cast a Spell, and her black light Flying Sword spun rapidly, forming a dense, impenetrable silver light shield.

The person wielding the ghost banner, in a panic, merely threw out a handful of protective Talismans, which transformed into layers of spiritual light shields.

The moonlight had already fallen.

The red-robed Daoist and the female Cultivator bore the brunt of it.

Buzz—!

A heart-pounding Sword Qi thunder sounded.

The red-robed Cultivator’s ancient-glowing tortoise shell giant shield, under the impact of the Sword Qi moonlight, rapidly dimmed, and its surface instantly became covered with spiderweb-like cracks!

His face was ashen, and with the appearance of each crack, his body violently shook, and blood overflowed from his mouth and nose!

The female Cultivator’s protective sword light only lasted for a breath before it disintegrated like ice and snow.

She shrieked in agony as countless tiny Sword Qi pierced through her weak protective spiritual light, cutting gashes into her body, turning her into a bloody mess instantly, in utter disarray.

Compared to these two, the Cultivator wielding the ghost banner was slightly better off. He was a bit further away and only suffered some impact.

But before he could feel relieved, Corpse Puppet A Yuan’s figure moved again.

His figure broke through the air, covered in many black lights.

The ghost banner Cultivator had just barely managed to retrieve half his life from the pouring Sword Qi, but he only felt a shadow of death envelop him.

In his urgency, he tried to cast a secret technique to escape, but was horrified to find that the Spiritual Qi in his body was suppressed by a cold, deathly Qi, making it difficult to circulate.

His pupils suddenly constricted.

Corpse Devil Death Qi!

A Yuan strode several meters in one step, appearing before Wu Li as if teleporting.

His hollow eyes held no emotion.

A large palm reached out and grabbed his head.

He threw a punch, and the barely condensed protective Spiritual Qi couldn’t even hold out for an instant.

"Don’t..."

Pfft—!

Under the terrifying force of Corpse Puppet A Yuan, the ghost banner Cultivator didn’t even have time to beg for mercy.

His entire head instantly collapsed from the bridge of his nose and cheekbones.

The ghost banner Cultivator convulsed for a moment, then his corpse limply fell from A Yuan’s hand.

Clap, clap.

A Yuan clapped his hands, brushing off the bits of bone and flesh, then looked back at the scene.

The moonlight dissipated, and both the red-robed Cultivator and the female Cultivator had already lost their lives.

Song Yan was holding two golden-red ancient Talismans, from which wisps of crimson spiritual light were emerging, merging into his original one.

"It really works."

Then things became very simple. As long as he killed the other Cultivators carrying ancient Talismans, the speed of accumulating Merits would be very fast.

Thinking of Yang Wenxuan, he originally just wanted to settle a personal grudge by giving him that ancient Talisman, but he didn’t expect to have an unexpected harvest.

Song Yan didn’t care what kind of reward there would normally be for exceeding a thousand Merits.

He only wanted the sword in the courtyard of Du You Post.

The General had promised him, so his goal was very clear.

While he was pondering, Corpse Puppet A Yuan had already collected the Storage Bags of these few people, including the burly man he had sent flying with a punch earlier.

The burly man wasn’t actually completely dead. When A Yuan went to retrieve the Storage Bag, he added another kick, crushing his head.

At this moment, A Yuan tied the four Storage Bags with a thin string and slung them behind his back.

He would just give them to Young Lord and Young Master Song when they wanted them.

Just then, several whooshing sounds came from far to near.

The Cultivators from the Sui Army’s outer camp finally arrived, belatedly.

Wu Caidie and Li Yan walked at the front.

Everyone looked closely, and the tragic scene before them made them gasp.

The ground was ploughed with several deep, charred furrows by Sword Qi.

Several mutilated bodies lay scattered on the ground.

The person who had first instigated the conflict sat under a tree, leisurely drinking wine.

In the center of the wreckage, Song Yan toyed with two ancient Talismans in his hand.

Seemingly hearing the commotion, his eyes slightly turned, glancing at them.

But he said nothing, and returned his gaze to his hands.