Hunting Immortals and Demons

"Lu Yan, we need to quickly take this Immortal back to the Mansion of King Ming. An immature Immortal possesses high research value. You have made significant contributions and once you formally join the King Ming’s Bodyguards, there will be corresponding Meritorious Points rewarded."

Xiang Chongyang approached and said.

"It’s all thanks to the seniors, I merely conveyed the news."

Lu Yan modestly replied.

"What should be yours, will be yours,"

Xiang Chongyang patted Lu Yan’s shoulder and added, "Leader Chu will leave a few of King Ming’s bodyguards here. Once your identity is confirmed, you will go with them to Mingwang City."

Lu Yan nodded.

Two of King Ming’s bodyguards, lifting the giant lizard, marched quickly.

Chu Long, Xiang Chongyang, and the other King Ming’s bodyguards disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Only Lu Yan and another King Ming’s bodyguard, as well as the tattered Hidden Blood Land Vein, were left behind.

"In this world, without power, this is what it comes to. A Feudal Lord’s foundation can be destroyed just like that."

Looking at the remnants of the Hidden Blood Land Vein, Lu Yan lamented in his heart, further strengthening his resolve to become stronger.

"Senior, may I know your name?"

Lu Yan saluted the bodyguard.

"My name is Xia Hong. In the future, we may be working together. You can just call me Old Xia or Brother Xia."

The other man laughed heartily, appearing straightforward without any pretentiousness.

"Brother Xia."

Said Lu Yan.

"Let’s go. I’ve heard that you’re something of a big shot in these six regions of Lingdong. Take me to see. Brother Xia needs to understand your situation. Don’t mind, it’s the rules of the Mansion of King Ming, even I have to comply."

Xia Hong remarked.

"It’s nothing much, we should go."

Lu Yan said, then led Xia Hong to Li’an City.

"You go on and busy yourself, I’ll take a look around."

Said Xia Hong.

Lu Yan nodded, bid farewell to Xia Hong, first returned to the martial arts academy, guided Wen Yuan and others in their cultivation, and had a meal with his parents.

As night fell, Lu Yan quietly headed towards Changfeng City.

The Immortal had been captured, but he was curious about its lair deep underground in Changfeng City.

Others dared not venture, but he had his Martial Arts Avatar, so he did not fear.

Before long, he arrived at the level two Hidden Blood Land Vein at Changfeng City, standing at the edge of the crevice, he focused his thoughts, and a Martial Arts Avatar appeared, leaping into the crevice.

It was still the same crevice, viscous Energy of Earth Blood mixed with Blood poison. If it weren’t for the Avatar, he would have been poisoned and killed long ago.

The Avatar followed the passage, forever forward, Lu Yan’s body followed the direction the Avatar was moving within a range of ten li. Soon, he arrived at the place where they had encountered the giant lizard.

Checking it out, without any anomalies, Lu Yan continued forward. After going another ten li, he suddenly felt a wide-open space.

Ahead, was a vast underground space several kilometers long. In the center was a recessed plot of land, like a nest.

"What’s that?"

Lu Yan saw scattered white fragments in that nest, they looked somewhat like...eggshells.

Of course, they were much larger than chicken eggs.

At this moment, the Dao Book autonomously vibrated, emanating a feeling of longing.

These eggshells were Dao Food.

"Could it be that the Immortal was hatched from this eggshell? Originally, there was an Immortal Egg here, which suddenly hatched the Immortal?"

Lu Yan speculated secretly.

Just as he was about to collect the eggshells, a piercing pain came from his brow.

Danger.

Lu Yan stopped moving, carefully watching the area around the nest.

Then, Lu Yan squeezed out a drop of fresh blood, flicking it near the nest.

Suddenly, the entire area was enveloped in luminous rays, countless patterns emerging, intertwined like numerous small snakes.

Will Power Patterns.

Lu Yan was taken aback.

Unexpectedly, the area around the eggshells was full of Will Power Patterns.

It seemed that those ancient relics were indeed linked to the Immortals.

Lu Yan observed carefully.

He found that the Will Power Patterns here were slightly different from those he had encountered in the ruins.

These seemed to be more complex and profound, giving a stronger sense of crisis.

A Martial Arts Avatar picked up a stone and threw it violently onto the ground before it.

The ground rumbled, the Will Power Patterns twisted, but did not budge at all.

"As expected, it’s much stronger. Even if I were to descend personally, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to break it,"

Lu Yan thought to himself.

The Will Power Patterns here were obviously used to protect the ’egg’, and situated deep underground, even after countless years, their power was not to be underestimated.

"Dao Book, since you’re so desirous, so eager to eat, can you go down with the Martial Arts Avatar and eat yourself?"

Lu Yan muttered in his heart, trying to transfer the Dao Book to a Martial Arts Avatar.

Unexpectedly, it was successful.

Lu Yan was overjoyed. He controlled the Avatar to leave his body, carrying the Dao Book, heading towards the crevice, and arrived at the ’Immortal Egg’.

The Dao Book directly flew out, leaped over the Will Power Patterns, transformed into a whirlpool, covering the eggshells. In an instant, the eggshells on the ground were swept clean, leaving not even a piece of debris.

After eating the eggshells, the Dao Book returned to the Martial Arts Avatar, which quickly returned and climbed back into Lu Yan’s body.

Soon afterwards, a surge of energy poured out from the Dao Book.

Lu Yan used it to enhance the progress of his Cold Magic Palm technique.

Instantly, the progress of Cold Magic Palm rapidly increased.

"It must be an Immortal Egg, no doubt. The energy is very dense. I wonder why Leader Chu didn’t take it before. Did he not come to the ’nest’, or did he think that the eggshells were useless?"

Lu Yan wondered.

Then the original Avatar went around the area of the Will Power Patterns and continued to explore ahead.

The main body moved in sync.

In the end, after leaving the range of the Blood Land Vein, Lu Yan was forced to leave it and venture onto the surface.

Luckily, the underground space wasn’t too deep—less than a kilometer—so the distance between ground level and underground wasn’t more than ten miles. His Avatar was still within controllable distance.

After exploring for over ten miles with nothing significant found, Lu Yan decided to call back his Avatar.

The progress of Cold Magic Palm was rapid, quickly achieving Mastery at 100%, entering the state of Reaching the Peak of Perfection.

Next, he transcended normality.

Even after transcending to this level, his prowess continued to increase.

"A fairy eggshell contains such an immense immortal power. It’s truly astonishing. I wonder how much energy I would get or how much my Martial Arts would improve if I were to devour the fairy within?"

Lu Yan was lost in thought.

Regrettably, Cold Magic Palm inevitably didn’t achieve the Unity of Man and Martial Arts, stopping at 50% Transcendence.

Thud!

Lu Yan struck a large tree with his palm. Starting from the palm mark, the cold quickly spread and soon covered the towering tree with ice crystals, as if winter had arrived.

"If Cold Magic Palm were to reach the Unity of Man and Martial Arts, its power would be extremely astonishing. It could even potentially surpass the Jiu Jie Knife."

Lu Yan pondered internally.

He speculated that the Cold Magic Palm was not an ordinary Top Martial Art; it was probably one of the top-rated techniques among them.

Lu Yan returned to Li’an City and maintained a calm wait.

Half a month later, three of the King Ming’s bodyguards found Lu Yan.

"Lu Yan, we have completed our investigation about you. There are no issues. Joining the King Ming’s bodyguards is a near certainty."

Xia Hong said with a smile.

"You all have worked hard. Let’s have a drink."

Lu Yan asked the servants to prepare food and drinks, inviting the three bodyguards of King Ming to sit down. They chatted while eating and drinking.

"Of course, our investigation didn’t find any problems. But according to the protocol, we still need to submit a report, and the upper ranks need to review it. Only after passing these procedures can you officially become a bodyguard of King Ming," another bodyguard said.

After three rounds of drinks.

"Lu Yan, with your talent, you are bound to enter the Hidden Dragon Camp. For the first three years, the Mansion of King Ming will nurture you fully. You have no other tasks, only peaceful Cultivation. For this, it will take a minimum of three years. You should say goodbye to your family. We will wait for you at the foot of Moling Mountain for a few days."

Xia Hong said.

"Hidden Dragon Camp? Is that also part of the King Ming’s bodyguards?"

Lu Yan asked.

"Correct, the Hidden Dragon Camp is also part of the King Ming’s bodyguards, but its numbers are not counted within the bodyguards. Those admitted to the Hidden Dragon Camp are all with Innate Martial Body or Internal God-men. "

"Moreover, one’s Qi-blood should be five times that of ordinary people. A Martial Marquis should be able to cultivate five Bone Strengths, and a Grandmaster should be able to cultivate more than five Inner Strengths to join."

Xia Hong explained.

"Only those with over five times the Qi-blood of an ordinary person can join. It truly is the elite of the elite."

Lu Yan thought to himself.

"You will understand the specifics once you join. As an older brother, I never entered the Hidden Dragon Camp. All I know comes from what I’ve heard."

Xia Hong said with a smile.

A while later, Xia Hong and his entourage left.

The next day, after settling everything about Li’an City, Lu Yan had a meal with Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui as a goodbye.

Although Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui were reluctant to part with him, they did not say anything to affect his mindset. Wang Cui only kept repeating her reminders for him to be careful and to marry quickly and give her a grandchild.

All Lu Yan could do was to nod and agree.

After saying goodbye to his parents, Lu Yan went to Lingwang City.

"Congratulations on joining King Ming’s bodyguards. You’re all set for a bright future and have far outpaced us old friends."

Zhao Sirong smiled at Lu Yan.

"The path of Martial Arts is not easy. It’s uncertain what the future holds. I only took one step ahead. Sirong, don’t tease me."

Lu Yan laughed.

"Enough, how long will you be gone this time?"

Zhao Sirong changed the subject.

"At least three years, potentially longer."

Lu Yan said.

"Three years?"

Zhao Sirong’s eyes turned melancholic for a moment, but she quickly covered it with a smile : "I am happy that you came to say goodbye to me. Let’s have a good time tonight. Drink till we drop!"

Soon, food and drinks were served. Both of them made merry, talking on different topics, and laughed heartily from time to time.

With Zhao Sirong, Lu Yan felt relaxed. He was unguarded and casual, like an old friend sharing his heart.

Gradually, Zhao Sirong, overcome by the alcohol, started blushing.

"Sirong, you’re about to get drunk."

Lu Yang said.

"Who says so, I can drink until dawn. Are you scared?"

"What am I supposed be scared of?"

"Then let’s continue."

Zhao Sirong fetched two more jars of wine, one for Lu Yan and the other for herself, casually sitting on the stairs, looking up at the moon in the sky.

"Raise my cup, I beckon the bright moon. Then between us and it, we become three."

Lu Yan took the wine jar and sat down next to Zhao Sirong.

"You can write poetry?"

Zhao Sirong’s eyes lit up, savouring the two lines of verse, finding them profoundly delightful.

"I borrowed it from a predecessor."

Lu Yan laughed and clinked his jar against Zhao Sirong’s before taking a big gulp.

Zhao Sirong also lifted her jar and started to down the wine in large gulps.

The night was very peaceful.

Sometime later, Zhao Sirong, drunk, leaned sleepily against Lu Yan’s shoulder, fast asleep.