Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

Despite seeing this palm wind that could split a mountain approach him, Xiao Chen remained composed. His Vital Qi began to surge like a gushing river.

Xiao Chen’s Qi and blood burned and churned. Since his Firmament Body Tempering Art had reached the seventh layer, his physical body was already equal to that of a Sage Body, bursting with robust lifeforce.

The acupoints on both of Xiao Chen’s arms flew open. Xiao Chen’s left hand took the stance of the dragon while his right took that of the tiger. Then, he crisscrossed his arms. A tiger and dragon roared continuously as he settled into the posture for Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

“Bang!”

A surging force rushed out of Xiao Chen’s two arms. His internal organs churned, and his Qi and blood roiled as he vomited a mouthful of blood.

However, his feet remained rooted in place, not moving at all. Xiao Chen had blocked Gu Mu’s attack.

Gu Mu discovered that not only did his palm strike fail to kill Xiao Chen but it also did not even manage to push him back. He could not help but feel astonished.

He is only a Medial Grade Martial Monarch. How can he resist me like this?

“Damn it!”

After failing in his first attack, Gu Mu immediately prepared another palm strike. This time, he used all his Quintessence. If Xiao Chen did not dodge, even if he did not die, he would be severely injured.

“Xiu!”

However, Gu Mu no longer had the chance to send out that palm strike. For the first time, Shui Lingling, who was in the cavern, drew the purple bow in her hands to its fullest extent resembling a full moon.

An azure Profound Sun True Flame burned on the arrowhead. Shui Lingling released the shaft, and the flaming arrow shot across like a meteor flashing by in the dark cavern.

The arrow moved so fast, no one could catch a glimpse of it. Everyone only vaguely sensed a beam of light flash and disappear.

“Bang!”

Suddenly, Gu Mu’s gaunt head exploded in a ball of fire. His body, which was in an attack posture, turned into a headless corpse and fell over.

When Jun Si and the others rushed over and saw blood leaking out of Xiao Chen’s lips, they asked out of concern, “Junior Brother Xiao Chen, are you alright?”

Xiao Chen’s physical body was equivalent to a Sage Body. As long as he was not severely injured, he would recover rapidly. Most of his injuries had already healed by now; there were no major problems.

Xiao Chen smiled gently to indicate that there was nothing to worry about.

When the others saw this, they were all shocked. They could not understand why Xiao Chen could take Gu Mu’s palm strike and only suffer from a minor injury.

Shui Lingling slung her purple bow on her back and slowly walked over. She did not feel any surprise at Xiao Chen blocking Gu Mu.

On the other side, the Passionate Young Master swept his fan across and chopped off the head of the middle-aged man.

With this, the two loose cultivators were dead. Now, there were two fewer competitors for the Blood Crystals.

After killing two experts of the top fifty on the Evil Cultivator Ranking, Murong Lingfeng and Shui Lingling remained calm. There was no sense of pride, as though they had just done something very ordinary.

“Shui Lingling, after not seeing you for one year, you have become more skillful.”

Murong Lingfeng fanned himself lightly with the folding fan, making himself looked more elegant. However, as he stared at Shui Lingling, he did not hide the desire in his heart, giving that elegant air a slight perversity, a kind of perverse yet bewitching aura.

Unfortunately for him, Shui Lingling did not fall for that. Evincing neither repulsion nor attraction, she said calmly, “Now that we’ve gotten rid of the problems, Murong Lingfeng, how should we split the Blood Crystals?”

Murong Lingfeng did not really seem to care that he failed to affect Shui Lingling. Within the Tianwu Domain, the number of women beyond his reach could be counted on two hands; Shui Lingling was one of them.

Since Murong Lingfeng could not obtain Shui Lingling, he gave up on her, viewing her purely as a pretty girl for him to admire.

“We will split them by the number of people. Both you and I do not need Medial Grade Blood Crystals. Since you have five people on your side and I have four, we split them into nine parts.”

Shui Lingling nodded and said, “I’m fine with that.”

They harvested almost five hundred Medial Grade Blood Crystals. Thus, Xiao Chen obtained a little over fifty.

The crowd that obtained Medial Grade Blood Crystals smiled. Just one Medial Grade Blood Crystal would fetch over ten thousand Superior Grade Spirit Stones.

This meant that in just a short period, this group of people had obtained the equivalent of about six to seven million Superior Grade Spirit Stones. Of course, no one would be silly enough to exchange Medial Grade Blood Crystals for Spirit Stones.

The most appropriate use of Blood Crystals was stabilizing Mental Energy. As for Spirit Stones, there were many methods to gain them.

When they were about to part, Murong Lingfeng issued Shui Lingling an invitation. “I heard from my sect that this time, another True Dragon Cave emerged in the Dragon Burial Mound. How about we work together to explore it?”

Ancient True Dragons were buried in the True Dragon Caves. Aside from the True Dragon skeletons and precious treasures, there would typically be many rare Spirit Herbs and ores.

These kinds of Spirit Herbs and ores were worth cities. They held a fatal attraction even to half-Sages.

Shui Lingling had also heard this news. The herbs that the inner sect’s First Elder asked her to pick would be found around a True Dragon Cave.

She thought for a while before saying, “We will see when the time comes. I still have to take these juniors of mine to find their fortuitous encounters.”

Murong Lingfeng performed a cupped-fist salute and replied, “Very well, I’ll take my leave first.”

Even though Murong Lingfeng was one of the seven giants, he did not put on any airs. When he left, aside from saying goodbye to Shui Lingling, he also gave Xiao Chen and the others a slight nod. He appeared to be an unconstrained person.

After leaving, Shui Lingling went to a Superior Grade Blood Crystal origin to try her luck. However, she came up empty-handed.

A Superior Grade Blood Crystal origin took a long time to form. After it was harvested, it would take decades or even centuries to recover.

As Xiao Chen followed behind, he thought back to the palm strike Gu Mu had sent out, trying to comprehend it.

When Xiao Chen risked himself to receive that palm strike, his primary purpose had been to test how strong exactly his physical body was, to see what the result of receiving the full-power blow of a half-Sage expert would be.

However, Xiao Chen was not satisfied with the answer he got. Compared to an actual Sage Body, he still fell somewhat short.

He had to increase his defense further, to improve his Qi and blood. He could not heal from his injuries that rapidly yet.

Even though Xiao Chen had not felt any pressure from receiving this palm strike, if Gu Mu had attacked again without giving him any time to react, Xiao Chen would probably have had difficulty withstanding the next blow.

No, I have to be able to withstand at least three full-power attacks from a half-Sage. Otherwise, given the big gap in cultivation, I can only run when I meet with a half-Sage. I do not even have a ten-percent chance of victory, Xiao Chen thought, setting a definitive goal for himself.

After seeing Murong Lingfeng’s and Shui Lingling’s true power, Xiao Chen’s sense of urgency escalated. The differences between the seven giants would not be all that great. Hence, Bai Wuxue’s strength would not differ much from these two’s.

Shui Lingling and Murong Lingfeng did not even hesitate to kill long famous half-Sage loose cultivators. This clearly showed the disdain they had for loose cultivators.

The Demonic Barrier around the Savage Battlefield had already weakened completely. Cultivators who formed groups and teams could already be seen on the vast Bloody Ground Wasteland.

These people searched for Blood Crystal origins everywhere with anticipation. Some people managed to find some scattered Inferior Grade Blood Crystals, rejoicing when they did.

When Xiao Chen and the others thought about the fifty-odd Medial Grade Blood Crystals they each had, they sighed. With Shui Lingling leading them, they were much more fortunate than others.

In the Bloody Ground Wasteland, the Blood Crystals had a relatively higher value. The other natural treasures were significantly inferior. Since Shui Lingling could not find any Superior Grade Blood Crystals, she decided to stop wasting any more time.

After a long while traveling through the Bloody Ground Wasteland, the scenery finally changed. A black marsh appeared before them.

Many cultivators gathered at the entrance to the marsh, not venturing into it. They were all shouting and cursing. It was unknown what had happened.

Shui Lingling said, “In front is the Death Marsh, which is divided into the periphery and the inner area. Many demonized pythons bask in the periphery. The inner area is the true Death Marsh. In the past, when many Martial Emperors died, their Mental Energies turned into departed spirits.”

Hu Hai thought for a while and said, “I heard that Python Swamp has many strange fruits. Among them is an Earth Essence Fruit that can directly increase one’s cultivation.”

An Earth Essence Fruit can increase one’s cultivation directly! Xiao Chen’s eyes lit up, and he gazed at the Death Marsh replete with poison gases and water. He could not help but feel excited.

Although Hu Hai and the others had not come to the Savage Battlefield before, they already had some understanding of some of the forbidden lands here.

Chen Xiao added, “After we pass Python Swamp, we will truly enter into the Death Marsh. If we don’t die when fighting against the Martial Emperors’ departed spirits, our Martial Techniques will improve significantly.”

A faint smile appeared on Shui Lingling’s elegant and outstanding face, enchanting everyone. Her red lips moved slightly as she said, “That’s right. However, these fruits all have strong venomous pythons guarding them.

“Death Marsh is filled with danger. If we run into Emperor departed spirits that are three stars and above, you will all die for sure.”

Xiao Chen looked at the group of people at the entrance and frowned. “It seems like something is stopping up the entrance. These people are not in a rush to go in.”

Fruits that could increase one’s cultivation, such treasures would be able to move any cultivator. There was no reason for them to stand outside and not enter.

“Let’s go over and take a look.”

After the six got near, they finally understood the situation.

A churning black miasma spread around the outside of Python Swamp. Not only did it contain a highly toxic poison, but it also obstructed the line of sight. Cultivators would not be able to see what they were walking on clearly.

In the middle was a path that people before them had opened. The miasma was thinnest there, and their vision was not obstructed. This path was considered the only entrance.

However, for some reason, a six-hundred-meter-long venomous black snake lay coiled at this entrance. Black scales covered its whole body.

A twenty-centimeter-long black horn sat in the middle of the snake’s head. With its body coiled up, the snake looked like a small mound, completely obstructing everyone’s way.

“What a bastard! That fellow Ximen Bao is an asshole. He lured over such a large python and blocked us all here.”

“That bastard, after snatching a two-hundred-year-old Earth Essence Fruit, he dumped the problem on us.”

The frustrated cultivators all revealed rage on their faces. However, no one dared to take the lead in facing this enormous creature, so they could only grumble.

The Ximen Clan was one of the Tianwu Domain’s Rank 9 clans. The clan had a Martial Emperor ruling over it as well as deep resources and great strength. It was about equal to Murong Lingfeng’s clan.

However, Ximen Bao was slightly weaker than Murong Lingfeng. He was not one of the seven giants but was only marginally weaker than them, ranking together with people like Feng Xingsheng.