Hunting Immortals and Demons

Soon, ten thousand fourth-level martial pills were in their hands.

"Yinuo, you take it. You need the fourth-level martial pills to break through now."

Upon returning home, Lu Yan handed all the fourth-level martial pills to Shen Yinuo.

The quantity of martial pills he needed for his breakthrough was far from enough with just ten thousand.

After Shen Yinuo used the Myriad Year Stone Liquid, she wasn’t far from her True Body Fifth Refinement. Ten thousand fourth-level martial pills could potentially enable her to achieve her true body transformation.

It was most appropriate to give it to Yinuo now.

"I’ll compensate you later."

Shen Yinuo responded with a smile, graciously accepting it.

...

In the practice room, Lu Yan was sitting cross-legged, reading a martial arts secret book.

The palm technique was named Dragon Flame Palm which he had recently exchanged from the Mansion of King Ming.

Its effect was the opposite of the Cold Magic Palm. Once deployed, the palm energy was incredibly hot, like fierce flames.

When cultivated to the highest realm, the energy of the palm spewed out as if a flame dragon was dancing, killing enemies, its power shocking.

As it was difficult for him to make a breakthrough in his cultivation level in a short time, he calmed his mind to focus on improving his martial arts.

Anyway, he had obtained quite a few Immortal Bones from the treasure land of the Dagu Dynasty, that remained untouched.

In addition, they had also acquired some Top Martial Arts from the same place. There were over ten types, but Lu Yan planned to comprehend the two he had exchanged from the Mansion of King Ming before delving into the rest.

Because, there was a time limit to learn the two Top Martial Arts from the Mansion of King Ming. After the period was over, they would have to return them.

"I wonder if Top Martial Arts can be merged into Divine-level Martial Arts. If so, how many types are needed? Could it be nine?"

Lu Yan pondered.

He now practiced the pinnacle of martial arts that integrated man and martial arts, constituting nine types.

Among them, Body Refining Martial Arts consisted of four types.

Top Knife Technique, one type, namely Jiu Jie Knife.

Movement technique, one type, Void Steps.

Swordsmanship, one type, Four-pole Divine Sword.

Palm technique, one type, Cold Magic Palm.

Bow technique, one type, Thunder Nine Sounds.

Based on previous experience, it was quite difficult to merge bow, knife, and sword techniques with palm or body refining martial arts.

However, palm, fist, and foot martial arts can be merged with body refining martial arts.

Thus, Void Steps, Cold Magic Palm, combined with the four types of Body Refining Martial Arts, totaled six types.

If the combination of nine types could be merged, it would still be lacking three types.

But Lu Yan was currently facing a dilemma.

Merging movement, palm techniques and body refining martial arts was like creating a stew, the combined martial arts would have balanced functionality, considering the aspects of movement, palm techniques and body refining.

But balance meant no outstanding or pure features.

For instance, the newly combined martial art from the merging of nine types of body refining martial arts would have pure power and extend the effectiveness of body refining martial arts to the extreme. Both power and defense would achieve an astonishing increase.

Similarly , if the nine types of palm techniques were merged, the new palm technique would have amazing palm energy.

Or if the nine types of movement techniques were merged, the speed would be unparalleled.

Clearly, the merging of the same type of martial arts was the best choice, and Lu Yan leaned towards this as well.

However, the downside was that it was too hard to assemble all the necessary types.

But for the stew-like combination, it would be relatively easier to assemble all necessary types. If it could be merged into a Divine-level Martial Art, he could master it quickly and his strength would greatly increase.

Both had their pros and cons, making it hard to decide.

"Never mind, I’ll practice first and see. If there is a chance to cultivate the True Dragon Nine Strikes, then I don’t have to hurry to merge Divine-level Martial Arts. I can slowly assemble the same types of martial arts for merging."

Lu Yan made a decision and then concentrated on comprehending the Dragon Flame Palm.

In just over ten days, Lu Yan had grasped the rudiments of Dragon Flame Palm and solidified the martial arts avatar.

He then began to comprehend another martial arts discipline he had exchanged from the Mansion of King Ming: the Spring and Autumn Blade, a Top Knife Technique.

At this time, news from the Qizhou battleground cascaded into the Mansion of King Ming like snowflakes.

The Sect Master of Tianque Sect, Zhuo Kunsheng, was gravely injured and didn’t come out, and another Supreme Elder had been killed. This great loss of strength left them incapable of resisting King Ming’s advancing army.

The militant force of King Ming occupied every city and feudal lord that lay in their path. In a span of just over ten days, they had seized seven counties in Qizhou, hundreds of large and small cities, and three third-level Blood Land Veins, and were heading straight for Tianque Mountain, the headquarter of Tianque Sect.

A dozen more days passed, and Lu Yan had also grasped the basics of the Spring and Autumn Blade, solidifying the martial arts avatar.

Afterwards, Lu Yan devoured the Immortal Bones and successively upgraded the two Top Martial Arts to the realm of Unity of Man and Martial Arts.

At this time, the Dao Book also showed some changes; not only could the avatar travel thirty miles from his true self, but it could also manifest four avatars at once.

During this time, the news from Qizhou kept coming in.

Several days ago, King Ming’s militant force had taken half of Qizhou. They possessed six third-level Blood Land Veins and held power over thousands of cities, dominating countless inhabitants.

And they had even reached the gates of Tianque Sect.

But here, the Mansion of King Ming encountered an obstacle.

This obstacle did not come from Tianque Sect itself.

Although Tianque Sect’s sect-protecting formation was strong, and their Primordial Spirit Corpse Refinement even exceeded Shengxuan Sect, they couldn’t withstand the combined efforts of King Ming and Chu Tianjiao.

Instead, two mysterious strongmen appeared, holding back King Ming and Chu Tianjiao.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yan was greatly surprised.

Those who could stop King Ming and Chu Tianjiao were obviously on the same level.

But looking at the whole of Da Chu, the number of experts who could compete with King Ming and Chu Tianjiao were no more than twenty. Even if you included some experts who were slightly weaker than these twenty top experts, the numbers wouldn’t be much higher.

Tianque Sect was certainly not capable of offering this many strong experts, let alone two.

"I’m afraid these strong men must come from other powerful forces. The original strength of the Mansion of King Ming was already quite strong, and now there’s Chu Tianjiao, who instantly became one of the strongest feudal princes. Probably this has caused anxiety among all the other feudal princes who definitely wouldn’t want to see the Mansion of King Ming expand rapidly."

Shen Yinuo analyzed.

Lu Yan nodded, approving of this viewpoint.

The current Da Chu, with feudal princes competing for power, the situation was intricate and complex, somewhat like the Spring and Autumn Warring States period in a previous life.

Once one family grew too strong, it would cause alertness amongst the other families, resulting in them banding together.

This was also one of the reasons why Da Chu had been in turmoil for hundreds of years and no one could unify it.

Several days later, more precise information came in.

The one who stopped King Ming and Chu Tianjiao was one of the Four Guardian Saint Kings of the Spirit Sect, the White Tiger Holy King.

And the other one was none other than the Sect Master of the Tianjian Sect, one of the founding seven sects.

The strength of the Tianjian Sect was not inferior to the Tianque Sect by any means.

"Just as I thought, the Spirit Sect has indeed intervened. King Ming has been relentless in his purge of Martial Spirits, the Mansion of King Ming and the Spirit Sect are naturally opposed. I suspect that the Spirit Sect is the one who least wants to see King Ming’s mansion grow stronger," Shen Yinuo said.

"Are the Four Guardian Saint Kings above the thirty-six hall masters? Yinuo, how much do you know about the Spirit Sect? Can you tell me about it?" Lu Yan asked.

Shen Yinuo nodded and said, "The high-ranking officials of the Spirit Sect include a Sect Hierarch, a Deputy Hierarch, Left and Right Holy Envoys, Four Guardian Saint Kings, Thirty-Six Hall Masters. Below that, there are the overall elders, the elders and protectors of each hall, and the heads of various local branches."

"That’s so strong..."

Lu Yan sucked in a cold breath, his eyes full of awe.

A Hall Master of the Xueshen Hall could compete with Chu Long, and was considered one of the top experts in the world. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

And there were thirty-six such figures?

The Four Guardian Saint Kings could rival King Ming or Chu Tianjiao, how strong would the Sect Hierarch, Left and Right Holy Envoys be?

Who in the world could resist them?

"What I’m talking about is the strength of the Spirit Sect at the end of the Dagu Dynasty, there certainly must be a difference when compared with the present. I don’t know how much strength the Spirit Sect has regained now. I guess not all positions are filled. Otherwise, no feudal prince in the world could be a match for the Spirit Sect, and the Spirit Sect wouldn’t be so low-profile." Shen Yinuo said.

"Not filled?"

Lu Yan questioned.

"Yes."

Shen Yinuo nodded and said, "For example, the Spirit Sect has thirty-six halls, each with its own hall master, but not all the halls are filled and a Hall Master is not in place for each hall. As far as I know, the Spirit Sect has strict requirements for the appointment of each hall master."

"Firstly, the Martial Spirit communicated with must be of a King-level."

"Secondly, one’s cultivation level must reach the Primordial Spirit Realm to be appointed as a hall master."

"If not, that hall will be left vacant. Therefore, it is unclear how many halls the Spirit Sect has recovered, and it’s unlikely that all the hall masters have reached the height of Lord Xueshen."

"Likewise, Left and Right Holy Envoys, Four Guardian Saint Kings, may also not be complete."

Lu Yan nodded, having an understanding of the Spirit Sect, but his fear of the Spirit Sect remained unchanged.

If the Spirit Sect has reappeared they definitely have a Sect Hierarch,

and that Hierarch is definitely above the Guardian Saint Kings.

That is to say, the Spirit Sect at least has one expert who is above King Ming.

And this is the most conservative estimate.

"The stronger the Spirit Sect is, the more chaotic the world is destined to become. Compared with those experts in the Primordial Spirit Realm, I’m still too far behind. I must breakthrough to the Primordial Spirit Realm as soon as possible to initially have the ability to protect myself." Lu Yan pondered in his heart.

Then, he started studying another martial arts technique.

This martial arts technique, obtained from the Treasure Land of the Dagu Dynasty, is also a supreme physical martial arts technique.

Among the dozens of top martial arts techniques obtained from the Treasure Land of the Dagu Dynasty, there are three physical martial arts techniques. He had already practiced one before, leaving two remaining.

In addition, one of the five top martial arts techniques given by Zhao Sirong is also a physical one.

Adding up, Lu Yan’s supreme physical martial arts techniques could reach seven.

It’s not up to nine, but he thought he would practice them first.

...

King Ming’s army was blocked at Tianque Mountain and did not continue to attack, but left Chu Tianjiao with an army of hundred thousand from King Ming to guard Qizhou, while King Ming led the main force back to Mingzhou.

Clearly, King Ming also understood the current situation well. If he expanded too fast, he would surely arouse the vigilance of all parties, and even joint suppression.

This time, the Mansion of King Ming occupied the entire Xuan Zhou and also obtained half of Qizhou, which was equivalent to an increase in one state’s territory.

This territory was enough for the Mansion of King Ming to digest for some time.

Take advantage of a good situation and quit.

In the Mansion of King Ming, in the Council Hall.

King Ming sat at the top, and standing below were several figures, all his sons.

Chu Long was among them.

"Father, Lu Yan, the man from Chenzhou, has broken through his true body. He contributed significantly to the matter of Xuan Zhou and, moreover, he is extremely talented with extraordinary comprehension. I suspect he is not inferior to Wang Tianyu. So wouldn’t we grant him a divine-level Martial Art for cultivation?" Chu Long suggested.

"Oh? He reached his true body so quickly?"

King Ming’s gaze flickered, quite surprised.

"This kid is bold enough to go to the treasure site of the Dagu Dynasty. He took advantage of the battle between the Primordial Spirits and got some treasures, so he achieved successive breakthroughs and stepped into his true body." Chu Long said.

"He’s brave and strategic, indeed not bad."

King Ming nodded in agreement.

"Father, I think it’s premature to grant him a divine-level martial arts now."

At this point, a voice interjected.