Before the Taoist temple, Xu Ming'an spread the Danxia Spectrum on his lap and opened it.
"Ah..."
Lin Zhao hastily waved his hand, "The secret manual passed down to you by Old Daoist Wang, how can you look through it in front of an outsider like me?"
Xu Ming'an was surprised, "Huh? You can't? Originally, I was planning to ask you to help me analyze it. After all, I haven't cultivated any profound immortal techniques. You are a Sword Immortal of the Middle Five Realms, perhaps you can offer me some guidance."
"Not really."
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "Rules are rules."
Just then, a voice drifted into their ears with the wind, "What rules? Just look at it if you're told to. What can a sword cultivator like you understand?"
"Bah! Who are you looking down on!"
Lin Zhao snatched the Danxia Spectrum into his hands and quickly flipped through it. His head felt heavy. He truly couldn't understand it. This was a secret manual of Taoist arts, full of Yin-Yang and Yi principles. Lin Zhao, a Confucian, military strategist, and sword cultivator, indeed understood nothing. The first half was about cultivation of heart and techniques, and the latter half was about alchemy. Lin Zhao knew very little about both.
However, to help his friend Xu Ming'an understand these matters, he still carefully read through it from beginning to end. The Taoist arts were one thing; cultivation techniques and the pursuit of longevity were not much different from the secret manuals of sects on the mountains inhabited by gods and immortals in the human world. If Xu Ming'an practiced according to it, he might truly ascend to the Upper Five Realms. As for the latter half on alchemy, it was remarkable. It detailed the refinement of various pills to aid cultivation, pills that could greatly restore spiritual energy, or assist in breaking through realms and stabilizing the heart's pulse. There were countless such pills. If all of them were learned, even a mere Middle Five Realm cultivator would be revered as a National Preceptor by the secular dynasties of the human world.
"Hoo..."
He took a deep breath. It was time to help Xu Ming'an sort out the threads.
"How is it?"
Xu Ming'an frowned, "Lin Zhao, did you figure anything out?"
"I couldn't understand it completely."
Lin Zhao said, "But I can help you sort out the main points and tell you what to do next."
"En!"
Xu Ming'an sat up straight, listening to his detailed explanation.
Lin Zhao cleared his thoughts and said, "First, maintain your current state. Start cultivating the heart and techniques from the first half of the Danxia Spectrum. Raise your realm to the Middle Five Realms first. Then, according to the descriptions in the spectrum, begin learning alchemy. Be careful when buying an alchemy furnace from the mountain, don't be too conspicuous."
"En."
Xu Ming'an nodded gently.
Lin Zhao continued, "Since ancient times, there has been the saying that an innocent man with a treasure is guilty. Once you successfully refine pills, others will surely covet them, but your humble Taoist temple can't stop anyone. So, once you truly refine pills, don't rush to sell them. Leave that to me. I will help you sell or handle these pills. Don't worry, there will be no deductions."
"Lin Zhao..."
Xu Ming'an smiled, "It's okay even if there are deductions. Do you think I would let you work for me for free?"
"Let's not talk about that for now."
Lin Zhao chuckled, "When you can refine pills of sufficiently high quality, your cultivation realm will likely be quite high. At that time, you can spend money to renovate the Taoist temple and recruit disciples. My suggestion is that the first step is to erect a stone tablet at the foot of the mountain, then find the local government and change the name of Jiuhua Mountain to Danxia Mountain. And the sect you establish will be named Danxia Sect, renowned throughout the world for its alchemy. Once the pills have a guaranteed market, the sect will surely prosper. As for the ancestral hall and portraits of the Danxia Sect's ancestors, I have already thought of them. There will be two ancestor portraits: one of Old Daoist Wang, and the other of the master who raised you. We must not forget our roots."
"En..."
Xu Ming'an's eyes reddened. "Actually, sometimes I really miss him..."
Lin Zhao smiled and nodded. He took out a Flying Fish Communication Talisman from his embrace and handed it to Xu Ming'an. "This is a Flying Fish Communication Talisman that can contact me. If you have anything, just shake the talisman to summon a flying fish and write to me. For now, you don't need to worry about anything else, just stay on Danxia Mountain and cultivate the techniques and refine pills."
"Got it."
Xu Ming'an smiled and nodded.
Lin Zhao stood up and clasped his fists lightly, "Then I won't disturb you further. I have things to attend to at home, so I'll be going."
"En!"
The two close friends parted reluctantly. When Lin Zhao turned, he directly stepped onto a flying sword, Hongye, and his figure in the sky quickly became just a trailing sword light.
"..."
Xu Ming'an stared, wide-eyed, and swallowed hard. This... riding a sword to immortality? This demeanor is nothing like an ordinary Middle Five Realm Sword Immortal. Could my brother Lin Zhao be... a Golden Core Sword Immortal? In an instant, a tempest raged in Xu Ming'an's heart. The person who had walked the martial world with him like two commoners was actually a Golden Core realm cultivator?
No wonder he is so extraordinary!
Thinking of this, Xu Ming'an felt a little happy. Even though Lin Zhao was a Middle Five Realm Sword Immortal, he was treating him with such sincerity. He must cherish this friendship!
...
Ghost Realm.
Most of the Ghost Kings in this realm had already been killed and absorbed by Tan Xin. The remaining two, however, did not result in the imagined great battles. Instead, when Tan Xin led her army to arrive, the Gale Ghost King and the Azure Flame Ghost King both chose to open their cities and surrender, leading their more than a hundred thousand Ghost Realm troops to pledge allegiance to Tan Xin. Thus, Tan Xin now commanded an army of over 500,000.
Under the moonlight.
Tan Xin sat on a piece of bluestone, her cheongsam accentuating her graceful and curvaceous figure, making her extremely alluring. At this moment, Tan Xin was at the twelfth realm, coupled with a twelfth realm wandering corpse, and the vengeful spirit in the coffin had also been nurtured to the twelfth realm. Having entered the twelfth realm, she had also cultivated several secret arts. Now, Tan Xin was incredibly powerful, not inferior to a peak thirteenth realm cultivator.
Not far away, by a bonfire, a young Taoist priest was hunched over, roasting a chicken. Soon, he walked over, holding a wooden stick with the roasted chicken on it, and smiled, "Xin'er, it's ready. Taste it and see how it is?"
Tan Xin narrowed her beautiful eyes, her gaze filled with unconcealed affection and fondness. Since childhood, no one had ever been so good to her, and this Qi Lian Dao was wholeheartedly good to her with no ulterior motives. She opened her mouth wide and smiled, "Lian Dao, I want you to feed me!"
"Alright!"
Qi Lian Dao wiped his hands, tore off a piece of chicken thigh, and placed it in Tan Xin's mouth.
"Mmm, it tastes good!"
Tan Xin chewed slowly. At this moment, her demeanor as a young woman was a stark contrast to the decisive female Ghost Emperor on the battlefield. Qi Lian Dao also looked at her with affection and smiled, "Xin'er, you are now the co-lord of the Ghost Realm, the true co-lord. Have you thought about what comes next?"
"Not yet..."
Tan Xin pursed her red lips and took out a map of the Ghost Realm. "Lian Dao, look. This is the map you gave me. The forces marked on it have not yet been completely eliminated. Although the territories of the Ghost Kings have been flattened, in the southwestern corner of the Ghost Realm, here, you marked a force that has not yet been conquered."
"Ah?!"
Qi Lian Dao looked over and frowned. "If you can't do it, then forget it. This place... has been sealed for many years. It shouldn't cause any major trouble. Besides, Xin'er, you have been campaigning relentlessly these past few days, and you must be exhausted."
"No."
Tan Xin bit her red lips. "If I am the co-lord of the Ghost Realm, the Empress, then Lian Dao, you should be my husband, another co-lord of the Ghost Realm. How can I give you an incomplete Ghost Realm? Hmph, is this place called the Nine Nether Dragon Court? That's the next place we will conquer."
"Yes."
Qi Lian Dao frowned. "Legend has it that the Nine Nether Dragon Court is the resting place of the last true dragon in the mortal world. The true dragon's remains are buried within the Nine Nether Dragon Court. I have read some travelogues and heard that this true dragon was named Zhaoying. Ten thousand years ago, it was the ruler of the entire human realm. It had three great generals: the first was the Sword Immortal Qin Hong, the second was the Rebirth Realm martial artist Feng Ting, and the third was the most beautiful woman in the world, the thirteenth realm Shu Fan. These three protectors were loyal to Zhaoying. In the past, the true dragon Zhaoying attempted to monopolize the Sea of Heavens, which led to the combined efforts of the various Sages to kill it. It then fell to the mortal realm and died of exhaustion. It is said that after Zhaoying's death, his subordinate Feng Ting also died, using his remnant soul to command a hundred thousand ghost soldiers to guard the Nine Nether Dragon Court. Qin Hong wandered the world, patching things up, plotting something unknown. As for Shu Fan, she has been missing for years. In other words, the true defenders of the Nine Nether Dragon Court are now the Rebirth Realm Feng Ting and his hundred thousand ghost soldiers. We must not be careless."
"Hmph, a mere Rebirth Realm martial artist, and a dead one at that. Even if he were alive, what would I fear?"
Tan Xin leaned her face against Qi Lian Dao's chest and said softly, "Lian Dao, you are now my National Preceptor. Plan something. Our next step should be to attack the Nine Nether Dragon Court. After destroying the Nine Nether Dragon Court, the Ghost Realm will be unified, and all the fortune of this realm will fall into our hands. Are there any Dao companions like us in the human world's mountains?"
"Certainly not."
Qi Lian Dao smiled slightly. "You are my Xin'er, the one and only Xin'er in the world. How could there be another like you in the mortal world?"
For a moment, Tan Xin narrowed her beautiful eyes, her smile sweet.
...
Late at night.
Inside Qi Lian Dao's cave dwelling, he set up layers of restrictions. Then, with a stomp of his foot, he conjured a twelfth realm small world. After doing all this, he released the woman from his waist pouch.
"You beast!"
The green-clothed Sword Immortal Shu Fan said, tears in her eyes, "You took one of my souls and one of my spirits, forced me to do your bidding, to kill for you, to commit so many sins, and your final scheme is still him..."
"Yes."
Qi Lian Dao sat down on a stone stool, crossed his legs, and smiled. "I have been to the Nine Nether Dragon Court before, but to enter the burial ground requires three soul keys. These three souls are the souls of Zhaoying's most beloved three generals. Zhaoying, in his prime, had the power to move heaven and earth. How could he not have foreseen this? I kept you alive. You don't think it was because of your beauty, do you?"
As he spoke, Qi Lian Dao stepped forward, cupped Shu Fan's chin, and smiled. "Soon, I will replace him and obtain his remains, becoming the new Zhaoying. You love him so much, and you so eagerly await his resurrection. Aren't you happy?"
Shu Fan fiercely thrust her sword out.
Qi Lian Dao blocked it with a palm. He raised his left hand, and a soul and a spirit were burned by the fierce fire of the ghost path in his palm. Instantly, Shu Fan screamed and knelt on the ground, in great pain. This agony had already lasted for several hundred years.