Chapter 249:

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On Taoist Qingzhuo’s flying boat.

The cultivators’ chatter came and went, sounding quite leisurely.

Elder Qingzhuo’s presence gives them confidence, so even though the situation is serious, they don’t take it too seriously, just considering it as a customary test in the sect.

Dao Fei ranks second among the golden core cultivators under Elder Qingzhuo, having reached the third level of the Golden Core.

The other cultivators on this flying boat are like his younger martial siblings. As an older martial brother, he is naturally popular, receiving compliments wherever he goes, making him a prominent figure on this Sky Boat.

"I heard that Senior Brother Dao Fei’s cultivation has reached the third level of the Golden Core, with power comparable to double or triple that of someone who just formed their core. He possesses the Samadhi True Fire of alchemy and the Blazing Essence Golden Bell for defense. This time, he is sure to leave a good impression before our sect leader."

"Blazing Essence Golden Bell, that’s expensive. Is it Senior Brother Dao Fei’s personal treasure?"

"Of course."

"If I could form a core, I’d also need a personal defense treasure like that to protect my body."

"Come on, even if you formed a core, you might not be able to afford such an expensive item."

During the discussion, a cultivator in the Foundation Building period whispered:

"Speaking of… Brother Dao Zhen from Elder Qingyi’s sect, they say he has a rare Heavenly Spirit Root, and has already formed a Great Tao Golden Pill? I wonder who is stronger between him and Senior Brother Dao Fei?"

"Hard to say. I heard that right after Brother Dao Zhen formed the golden pill, Elder Qingyi summoned him and even gave him a protective treasure… Maybe he has a chance to compete for the position of the third Taoist Child in the sect in the future."

"Stop gossiping, be careful if Brother hears about it…"

While the cultivators were discussing, suddenly a figure appeared behind them, it was Dao Fei.

But he had a warm smile on his face, looking like he wasn’t angry:

"Brother Dao Zhen has a Heavenly Spirit Root, he stands out among others, and with the protective treasure given by Elder Qingyi, the ‘Xiaojian Sword’, I just have stronger magical powers than him, and have practiced more spells, but my treasure is not as good as his, so how can I compare myself to him?"

"Alright. We are about to embark on a journey, so don’t talk about these trivial matters."

With the arrival of the main character of the gossip, the cultivators naturally stopped chatting and scattered like birds and beasts.

After everyone left, Dao Fei’s smile slowly faded away.

Dao Fei stayed in the Golden Core period for many years. He was confident that he was stronger than Dao Zhen, who had just formed his core, in terms of magical powers and skills.

But in the battles of cultivators, victory is not determined by the external display of cultivation levels.

For example, it all comes down to the treasures they possess.

In the cultivation world, the quality of treasures can greatly influence one’s strength.

Dao Zhen, as a rare Heavenly Spirit Root, was highly valued by Elder Qingyi and bestowed with treasures, a privilege that Dao Fei couldn’t match.

It’s a good thing Dao Zhen is not on this Sky Boat.

Upon boarding the Sky Boat, being the only two golden core cultivators on board, they naturally drew comparisons with the Foundation Building cultivators.

Comparing items leads to throwing away goods, comparing people leads to resentment.

With his mind wandering, he saw Dao Zhen walking out of the quiet room inside the Sky Boat, looking quite serious with a furrowed brow.

"Senior Brother Dao Fei, this journey to Great Qin Prefecture might not be simple…" Dao Zhen said.

"I had a paper man that was cut by a mortal martial artist in Great Qin Prefecture."

Dao Zhen didn’t know the Martial Saint, and since it was just a paper man that was destroyed, not his actual self, he was surprised but not afraid.

"A paper man?" Dao Fei was initially surprised, then a slight smile appeared on his lips unconsciously.

Though a paper man’s strength is nowhere near that of a real cultivator, Dao Zhen, as a Great Tao Golden Pill cultivator, was actually defeated by a mortal?

In theory, even if it’s just a paper man, suppressing a so-called Spirit Refining martial artist among mortals should be a piece of cake. It truly opened Dao Fei’ eyes.

Seeing Dao Fei’ expression, Dao Zhen roughly understood what he was thinking and explained,

"Senior Brother, don’t forget, Dao Xu died at the hands of a mere mortal."

"That was just a trick called Mirage Technique used by other cultivators," Dao Fei shook his head.

Forty years ago, during the Inhuman War, cultivators had a significant advantage, with the fallen cultivators mostly at early stages of Foundation Building.

Over a year ago, in Nan Province’s Xuantian Sect, a mid-level Foundation Building Taoist named Qingyang was killed by the so-called Martial Saint of the mundane world… this was already the limit.

Although Dao Xu died at the hands of a member of the Qiao family, most Immortal Gate cultivators believed there was something suspicious about it… especially after traces of cultivators appeared at the market square in Great Qin Prefecture.

"Junior Brother Dao Zhen, don’t think too much," Dao Fei said slowly.

"We are only here this time to find out the hidden cultivator in Great Qin City. We have never dealt with ordinary people."

"In the past forty years, the opponents of the Great Dao Sect were not ordinary people or the Great Yan Imperial Court, but other cultivators."

Elder Qingzhuo and the others were still unaware of the news that King Qin had been defeated.

The last time King Qin contacted Elder Qingzhuo, it was when Qiao Gui broke his leg and Li Gongde intervened secretly.

The order to close the city came from Immortal Gate, and Elder Qingzhuo came this time only to deal with some suspicious cultivators from other Immortal Gates who were hiding in the dark, as well as to handle the aftermath of the city massacre.

Would King Qin, who achieved the golden body, be defeated by the ordinary martial artist Qiao Miao? They wouldn’t even imagine something so absurd.

Talking about this, Dao Fei also found it boring, quickly turned around and left, leaving Dao Zhen frowning at his back.

Dao Zhen was not a fool, he naturally sensed Dao Fei’s displeasure.

Dao Fei is not foolish, he simply didn’t consider the matters of the Great Qin Prefecture too seriously.

The Great Qin Prefecture is the future Earthly Immortal Kingdom, which is indeed important. But since it was a training experience accompanied by senior members of the sect, what could go wrong?

"Is he secretly comparing himself to me?" Dao Zhen shook his head silently.

Cultivators are far superior to ordinary people, and there is a huge gap in their status and perspectives.

So much so that the fate of a prefecture city was merely a stage for the two disciples to compare and sulk with each other in Dao Fei’s eyes.

"Forget it. I will prepare by myself." Dao Zhen originally wanted to report to Elder Qingzhuo, but now he had changed his mind.

On the flying boat, Elder Qingzhuo, who had been resting with his eyes closed, now opened his eyes.

"Dao Zhen’s paper man was destroyed by a mortal martial artist?"

Other cultivators might underestimate ordinary martial artists.

But Elder Qingzhuo no longer did, because he had really messed up before, damaging his foundation as a result.

…………………….

The market square of Great Qin Prefecture.

The streets around the market square were nearly empty at this time, with almost no people on the main road. There were only overturned stall tables and chairs, and blood that had not been cleaned up yet.

This city was not abandoned; there were still a few civilians who had not yet left.

They were devoted believers, not believing in the order to massacre the city before King Qin, nor the true face of the Great Dao Sect on the mirage of the sea market.

Besides these few people, the market square was indeed empty at this moment.

In the vast execution ground, only Qiao Mu and King Qin were present.



Qiao Mu was meditating, knowing that King Qin was a Taoist soldier of the Immortal Gate Great Dao Sect, so there must be a way for the Immortal Gate to track them.

As long as King Qin stayed, the Immortal Gate would come back sooner or later, like a shark sensing blood.

What Qiao Mu didn’t expect was that the visitors were not only from the Great Dao Sect.

"Is he Qiao Miao?" The Martial Saint stood in the shadows, looking out at the distant execution ground.

"Yes. It’s him who defeated King Qin, with a suspected superb rank in both Qi and internal strength," Wu Qiankun briefly recounted the words of Moon Xuan Envoy, Li Gongde.

"Superb rank, huh…" The Martial Saint fell silent.

Among excellent fighters, spiritual improvement is the mainstream.

Qiao Miao, who broke through the superb rank with his powerful strength, deserves a closer look from the Martial Saint.

"Just being of superb rank is not enough, what this era truly needs is a martial artist who can create a path of superb rank," said the Martial Saint indifferently.

Even though superb rank is strong, it is still not a match for immortals.

Even the former Earth Sword Immortal was defeated by Elder Qingzhuo.

Earth Sword Immortal was very strong, but it was not sufficient as his martial arts had no successor.

Not only the technique, even his famous sword technique "Heavenly Slashing Swordsmanship" of Earth Sword Immortal seems to be lost.

A solitary superb rank is not powerful enough to defeat immortals, nor is it a match for the Martial Saint.

So the best outcome would be to serve as nourishment for him.

But as he said this, he also shook his head:

"Oh well, one should not harbor any illusions. Back in the days, that so-called King Qin, I thought he had paved a new path to greatness, but in the end he couldn’t even be counted as a skilled fighter."

The Martial Saint snorted, but his gaze stayed fixed on Qiao Mu, not saying a word for a long time.

"Adoptive father?" Wu Qiankun, seeing the Martial Saint lost in thought for a while, asked in confusion while looking at Qiao Mu.

"It’s nothing. Just reminiscing about some past events," said the Martial Saint lightly:

"In the days when I was in Nan Province, I also met a member of the Qiao family."

"The Qiao family member at that time said that the Qiao family had numerous elders, and he was just the weakest one among them."

"He asked me back then… Would I devour all the flesh and bones of my Qiao family members in exchange for becoming an immortal?"

Wu Qiankun was slightly surprised, glanced sideways at the Martial Saint, only to see that he remained emotionless, with no hint of any emotional fluctuations. seaʀᴄh thё Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Adoptive father, are you going to take action?" Wu Qiankun looked towards Qiao Mu and asked.

But Martial Saint didn’t answer, only looked up at the sky.

In just a few words, the market square darkened, casting a large shadow in the sky.

It was a huge Sky Boat, with magnificent palaces and pavilions on board, flying between the clouds. It indeed looked somewhat ethereal, not like something earthly.

Just the appearance of this Sky Boat made a few remaining residents in the city kneel down and worship, calling it a divine being.

"They have finally arrived."

King Qin and Qiao Mu both looked up at the same time.

At this moment, King Qin was barely hanging on, with a Message Jade Talisman around his waist flickering constantly, obviously someone from the Great Dao Sect was trying to contact him.

"Where is King Qin?"

A voice echoed in the sky.

Beams of rainbow light shot out, and dozens of cultivators descended from the Sky Boat, each standing in the sky above the vegetable market on their flying swords, gourds, and other magical treasures.

The leader was none other than Dao Fei.

Elder Qingzhuo only sat in charge, not taking action unless necessary. This time, the main person in charge of the challenge was the golden core cultivator Dao Fei.

Dao Fei stood in the air and looked down, surveying the empty vegetable market street, nodding slightly.

Since the vegetable market was quiet and deserted, with unwashed blood still visible on the street, it was obvious that…King Qin had carried out the orders of the Great Dao Sect thoroughly and successfully.

"Where is the hidden cultivator? Any clues?"

Dao Fei asked.

He completely ignored Qiao Mu standing beside King Qin, thinking that he was just one of King Qin’s followers and didn’t pay much attention to him.

As for King Qin himself, he had put on a brand new robe that covered his body which had been beaten up by Qiao Mu, but at a glance, there was nothing unusual.

King Qin felt a bit excited in his heart, he had finally waited for this moment.

The leader of Great Dao Sect had arrived, whether they could turn the tables depended on what happened now.

However, Qiao Mu was standing by his side, with just a thought he could end his life, so although King Qin was thrilled, he didn’t dare to act rashly.

"There’s a clue," King Qin answered nervously:

"This matter seems to involve other Immortal Gates, it’s very secretive and shouldn’t be spread around. Please come down and explain in detail, Sir."

"Hmm." Dao Fei didn’t doubt him, he descended by stepping on the gourd under his feet, landing steadily on the ground.

But at this moment, a voice came from behind.

"Hold on," the person speaking was Dao Zhen.

There were dozens of cultivators present, not paying any attention to Qiao Mu, only focusing on King Qin.

Only Dao Zhen kept watching Qiao Mu with great interest.

"Are you a fighter from the Qiao family?"

Qiao Mu hesitated for a moment.

In fact, he had already changed his appearance with the Shape Changing Skill, so theoretically Dao Zhen should not recognize him.

He was planning to wait until all the cultivators landed before making a move.

Even though he had reached the superb rank, he didn’t have wings, so dealing with cultivators in the air was quite troublesome.

"Immortal, help–" At that moment, King Qin suddenly shouted loudly at his side.

King Qin was already barely alive, almost unable to control his body. Now, he exerted all his remaining strength just to tear off the robe covering his chest, revealing his heavily injured body to Dao Zhen and the others.

But in the next moment, Qiao Mu also moved.

"You’re not going to cooperate?" He grabbed King Qin’s leg, lifted him up, and stomped on the ground.

The floor cracked beneath his feet as Qiao Mu swiftly moved, hitting a foundation building cultivator in the face with King Qin in his hand.

With just one blow, the cultivator’s bones twisted and nearly turned into a mix of blood and flesh, making the ground tremble.



Qiao Mu held King Qin’s leg in his hand and smirked at Dao Zhen and the other cultivators, saying:

"This sword is named King Qin Sword. It is eight feet two inches long and made of Blazing Essence Gold."

"Blazing Essence Gold is taken from the flames of the earth’s core, taking thousands of years to form. It is then refined by the Great Dao Sect cultivators with real fire for forty-nine days to become a precious metal."

"I wonder if the bodies of inhuman creatures can withstand this celestial gold and iron?"

…..