Chapter 68 Leaving and being robbed

Chapter 68 Leaving and being robbed

Chapter 68 Leaving and being robbed

That night,

Xie Linghua, Qi Ting and Bai Yining entered Wei Zhong's room and brought a piece of news that did not surprise Wei Zhong much.

"Due to family ties, I hope Master will forgive me for not being able to accompany you..."

Wei Zhong expressed his understanding. After the four of them spent a wonderful night together, Wei Zhong left a sum of spirit stones for the two girls as a thank you gift for their companionship over the years.

The spirit stones were not many, but they were more than enough for the two of them to practice to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

One day, a caravan arrived. Wei Zhong said goodbye to a few of his good friends and went to the Yunji Chamber of Commerce with Xie Linghua.

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"Fellow Daoist Sikong, this is our Chamber of Commerce's new guest, Chu Zhong..."

When Wei Zhong arrived at the Chamber of Commerce, he saw the leader of the caravan, whose name was Sikong Changming, and he was in the middle stage of Jindan. He was wearing a yellow cassock and had scars on his head, and seemed to be a Buddhist monk.

When he heard that Wei Zhong wanted to go to his house with the caravan, he looked at Wei Zhong carefully:
"What you ask for is fine, but the caravan's route has already been regulated by the association, and the city it passes through may not suit your wishes."

Wei Zhong bowed and said, "It's alright. I just want to follow you and leave Mangyuan Prefecture. When we reach a suitable prefecture, I will leave the team and won't affect your mission."

After learning more about the situation, Wei Zhong also knew that those who were escorting the spiritual objects had all accepted the tasks issued within the Chamber of Commerce in order to earn spirit stones and contribution points.

Wei Zhong wanted to take out some gifts to build a good relationship with him, but it seemed that the only things he could take out were spiritual wine, so he took out ten medium-grade spirit stones and stuffed them into his hands.

The latter accepted it calmly and his expression towards Wei Zhong became much better.

Wei Zhong looked at the people behind him and saw a somewhat familiar figure.

He asked uncertainly, "Senior Hu Yang?"

The latter took off his hood and smiled slightly: "Fellow Daoist Chu, long time no see. I didn't expect that after more than 20 years, you have become a guest of the Yunji Chamber of Commerce."

Wei Zhong felt the opponent's power at the moment and was a little surprised.

'I haven't seen him for so many years, but he has successfully formed a pill and even joined the Yunji Chamber of Commerce.'

"The senior is the one. He has actually made further progress in his cultivation and entered the Jindan stage. He is still gathering at the Chamber of Commerce..."

"Alas, I'm just doing things for you because of your kindness," the latter said, waving his hand with a normal expression.

Shopkeeper Ruan, who was standing by, nodded and greeted Hu Yang, saying, "Fellow Daoist Hu Yang is a native cultivator of Mangyuan Prefecture and is familiar with the environment of this prefecture.

Next, I need you to cooperate with me to jointly guard this Chamber of Commerce headquarters."

Hu Yang cupped his hands and said, "It is my duty, and I dare not disobey."

Wei Zhong could not have imagined that Hu Yang, who had been a casual cultivator for many years, could actually catch up with Shan Qin's path and successfully form a pill.

Thinking back to the Dust-Reducing Pill worth more than 40,000 spirit stones that was fought over by the Qingmu Sect and the Yan Family, did Taoist Hu Yang sign a contract to sell himself?

Without further questioning, Wei Zhongyan explained his purpose to Sikong Changming and then left.

It would take some time for the Chamber of Commerce to set off. Wei Zhong met Ning Jiaqi and told him to practice diligently and not to waste his precious time for practice because of emotional matters. He also said goodbye to Rong Ju and left with the caravan.

Sikong Changming released a flying boat with the white cloud flag of the Yunji Chamber of Commerce flying on it. The cultivators in charge of escorting them all flew in, and Wei Zhong also flew into the boat after saying goodbye to everyone.

Considering that Wei Zhong was a guest of the Chamber of Commerce, Sikong Changming specially allocated a slightly larger room for Wei Zhong, which was not far from his room.

With the Dan nearby, safety can be guaranteed.

Looking through the window beside the flying boat at the increasingly smaller buildings below, Wei Zhong sighed. After all, he had left the place where he had been reborn.

"Master, are you a little reluctant?"

Xie Linghua leaned on Wei Zhong's shoulder and asked considerately.

"It's just some feelings of leaving my hometown, but Ling'er, are you reluctant to leave?"

The latter shook his head gently: "Ling'er has been displaced for many years, and has long lost her emotions. Now, wherever the master is, Ling'er will be there."

Wei Zhong gently rubbed his little hand, squinted his eyes, and enjoyed this moment of warmth.

Although it was a pity to abandon the base of Mangyuan Prefecture, it would not involve the worry of life, which was more beneficial than harmful to him.

Taking out the white jade guest token, Wei Zhong fumbled for the words on it.

'Now that I have access to high-level resources with the Yunji Chamber of Commerce as a springboard, the rest of the time is just to find a safe place and practice hard.

In addition, with the help of the Dao of Time, you can also explore some secret realms with low risks. You may encounter inheritances like that of Senior Bai He. '

Thinking of the rare treasures needed for the spirit body forging method mentioned by Shan Qin and Miaoli Shan, Wei Zhong began to murmur.

'With my cultivation in the middle stage of foundation building, which is roughly equivalent to that of a cultivator in the middle stage of Jindan, most of the dangers to foundation building are nothing in front of Wei Zhong, not to mention some man-made disasters.'

"Ding Ding!"

"Fellow Daoist Chu, are you free? I will prepare a banquet and invite you to come and have a gathering so that I can introduce you to the other fellow Daoists on the Spirit Boat."

Sikong Changming's voice came to Wei Zhong's ears.

When Wei Zhong went to the place he was directed to, he saw several monks there.

There are six people in total. Sikong Changming, who is in the middle stage of Jindan, is the main one, and there are five fellow foundation-building practitioners under him, some of whom are in the early and middle stages of cultivation.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, please take a seat quickly. There is also a fellow Daoist Ling who is in the late stage of foundation building. He is patrolling outside to assist in defense. Please come back later. Let's drink and have fun first."

Wei Zhong sat down in his seat, which was filled with spiritual wine and food. He looked at the people around him and saw the same arrangement.

Including Sikong Changming, who was drinking spiritual wine in big gulps and holding some unknown spiritual meat in his left hand.

'It turns out he's a fake monk.'

Wei Zhong was somewhat surprised to see his behavior.

Someone beside him explained, "Brother Chu, you haven't seen many Buddhist practitioners, have you?"

Wei Zhong nodded: "That's right, I don't know your last name."

The other person was a fair-complexioned man who looked quite young and was in the early stages of foundation building.

"You don't need to use your surname Yu, just call me Yu Daoyou," he then turned his gaze to Sikong Changming who was in the main seat and said,
"Senior Sikong is a Buddhist practitioner, but he does not have as many taboos as ordinary Buddhist disciples. Buddhism is one of the hundreds of practices. What is important is a Buddhist heart. In other aspects, it is no different from those of us who practice ordinary spiritual methods."

Wei Zhong understood that when it comes to cultivation, the rules of the mortal world are no longer applicable. Spiritual meat and spiritual wine are both treasures for improving cultivation, and no cultivator would refuse them.

After some wine and food, Wei Zhong chatted and laughed with everyone, and unknowingly everyone treated him as one of their own.

"If you want to find a place to practice, why not go to the state capital, where there are abundant resources. If you have enough spirit stones, it won't be a problem to find a third-level spirit place to practice..."

"Not right, not right. Fellow Daoist Chu is looking for stability. In a place like the state capital, the interpersonal relationships are too complicated, and Nascent Soul forces are everywhere.

If you are not careful, you may easily offend the descendants of a senior. It is better to find a city nearby to stay..."

After Wei Zhong stated what he wanted, all the cultivators gave him advice. For a moment, Wei Zhong had a general understanding of the various prefectures in Yunzhou.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, you might want to consider Luohe Prefecture," Sikong Changming interrupted.

"Luohe Mansion?"

After discussing with everyone just now, Wei Zhong also understood that this prefecture was named after the large river Luo River in its interior.

Adjacent to the provincial capital, its resources are relatively abundant compared to other nearby prefecture cities, and it contains many third-tier spiritual veins.

More importantly, this city is not dominated by sect forces, but is jointly controlled by independent cultivators and sects, and the strength of these forces is equal.

It is especially friendly to independent cultivators, especially those who have some skills.

Moreover, the Yunji Chamber of Commerce has been working there for a long time, and it is considered to be one of its more important bases. It will also be easier for Wei Zhong to obtain precious resources through his guest status.

"Luohe Prefecture, it seems that Brother Ling is from this prefecture. You may want to ask Brother Ling for more information later."

Wei Zhong had never seen this man before, and was wondering in his heart, when he suddenly saw Sikong Changming's face change drastically. He stood up suddenly and shouted: "The enemy is attacking, everyone follow me to fight!"

Everyone immediately put down their food and wine and followed Sikong Changming to the deck of the spirit boat.

At this moment, the deck was full of monks, dozens of Qi-refining monks were holding various spiritual weapons and ready to fight. Wei Zhong also saw the monk named Ling that everyone had just mentioned.

What surprised Wei Zhong was that she turned out to be a female cultivator, wearing a dark red Taoist robe, with shiny black hair tied up behind her head. When she turned around, she had very regular facial features and a fair face, with a black teardrop mole under the corner of her right eye, which added a bit of charm.

"Sister Ling, what's the situation?" Sikong Changming asked.

The female cultivator named Ling stretched out her right hand and pointed to the sky. She was surrounded by flocks of birds that blocked out the sky and the sun. The spiritual boat was completely surrounded by them, blocking out all the light from the outside world, and only a few scattered lights could occasionally be seen.

"This is probably a group of black-feathered geese that live in groups. There are thieves controlling them. I tried to detect the presence of strange monks just now, but I don't know how many people are lying in ambush."

Sikong Changming nodded, waved his sleeves, and said, "Use the spiritual cannons on the boat, fire a wave first."

As soon as he finished speaking, gun barrels extended from various parts of the spirit boat and fired at the surrounding flocks of birds.

However, this kind of artillery fire was like a drop in the bucket when it fell on a flock of birds. Every time a group of birds was killed by artillery fire, new black geese would take their place in time.

At the same time, blood-red vines stretched out from the flock of birds, entwined and bound the spirit boat, and left behind blood-colored unknown liquid after coming into contact with the spirit boat's defensive aura. Under the corrosion, the defensive aura was instantly riddled with holes.

Seeing that the blood-colored liquid was about to drip, the female cultivator named Ling pinched the seal with her fingertips, then waved her sleeves and released a circular formation plate, which flew into the air.

Suddenly a golden light flashed, and a new defensive aura was stacked on it, competing and pulling with the blood-colored vines.

"It seems that the other party is well prepared," Sikong Changming sighed when he saw the other party coming aggressively, and took out a small green bell that was covered with rust and even the bell body was damaged.

Sikong Changming held a black wooden hammer, moved his right foot slightly back, took a deep breath, and his muscles tensed. Even the tiny muscles on his face bulged.

He punched the blue bell with all his might.
"Ha!" The two collided with each other, making a clanging sound. At the same time, an invisible ripple swept across the cultivators and spread to the surroundings.

The geese in the sky fell silent at this attack, flapping their wings and falling like black raindrops.

"Spiritual attack?"

Wei Zhong looked at the small bronze clock and saw a strange color on its face. He didn't expect that it was a magical tool that specialized in spiritual consciousness.

It seems that its power is quite average. It is just so-so against cultivators, but it is just right for dealing with such a large group of low-level monsters.

"Humph!"

A muffled groan was heard from among the flock of birds, and a large black banner slowly unfolded, absorbing all the falling geese.

A pale arm grabbed the flagpole, and then a Taoist priest in a black robe with a gloomy face appeared. His cultivation level was actually in the middle stage of the Jindan stage.

"My fellow Daoist, what is your intention in stopping me from gathering at the Chamber of Commerce's Spirit Boat?"

Sikong Changming raised his right hand in front of him and asked in a shocking voice.

Wei Zhong stood aside and rubbed his ears. It was obvious that there was some magical power mixed in his question.

The Taoist narrowed his eyes slightly, waved a black flag and brushed away the magic power that was approaching him.

"What a bald donkey," he then looked down and said, "Brother He, you need to work harder."

Wei Zhong followed his gaze and immediately discovered that there were other people below. The leader was a Taoist in a white robe, who was in the early stage of Jindan. There were two red-eyed cranes painted on his robe, which looked a bit strange.

In his hand he held a strange ball of flesh, which was covered in blood, and had four vine-like tentacles extending from it, which were the source of the things that had just bound the spirit boat.

There were four people surrounding it, all of them were foundation-building cultivators, holding four-colored formation flags in their hands and pouring their magic power into them.

Four rays of light of different colors poured into the meat ball, causing it to emit a strange hissing sound.

The blood-colored vines clinging to the outside of the spirit boat became more and more crazy, and more and more blood-colored droplets dripped down. The protective aura superimposed by the female cultivator named Ling was a little unstable.

"It seems that we still have to take the initiative. I will deal with the black-robed Taoist priest, and you can find a way to break the strange formation below. Fellow Daoist Ling, just maintain the protective aura and guard the spiritual boat," he then turned to look at Wei Zhong, "Fellow Daoist Chu, how about you take charge of the other idle cultivators and protect Fellow Daoist Ling?"

Sikong Changming arranged everyone in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that the female cultivator named Ling was continuously injecting spiritual power into the formation plate and had no time to care about external objects, Wei Zhong nodded to Sikong Changming.

The latter grabbed the small green bell and flew straight towards the Taoist holding the black flag in the air. The other five cultivators fell down together and went towards the strange formation presided over by the Jindan cultivator.

Wei Zhong was just wanting to see how the five Foundation Establishment cultivators would deal with the magic formation presided over by the Jindan cultivators, when he suddenly discovered that a number of Tribulation cultivators had appeared, riding magic swords and attacking the spirit boat. Among them were two Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than a dozen Qi Refining cultivators.

With a sigh, he released the Nine Colors from the bag and pointed at one of the foundation-building warriors: "Go ahead, just hold him back."

The lazy Jiucai slowly arched his body and turned into a giant bird about ten feet in size, flying towards one of the foundation-building cultivators.

Sikong Changming in the air frowned for a moment when he saw two more Foundation Establishment cultivators appearing. But when he saw Wei Zhong release the spirit bird to resist one of them and then meet the other, he immediately calmed down.

Facing the Taoist in black robe, Sikong Changming shouted loudly, and a layer of golden light emerged from his body. At the same time, his muscles bulged, and his body swelled in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, spiritual power was injected into the small green bell in his hand. The rust on it continued to fall off, and a hint of golden light appeared in the green bell body.

"We need to make a quick decision."

"what!"

Sikong Changming held the golden chimes and smashed them straight down at the black-robed Taoist priest. The latter frowned and waved a black banner, emitting billowing black smoke, which collided and dissipated with the golden light from the chimes.

Sikong Changming suddenly felt as if he had fallen into a layer of cotton. He picked up the bell and wanted to hit it again, but the golden bell seemed to be stuck by a layer of glue and was quite difficult to move.

His heart suddenly sank as he looked down and saw the five people who were barely maintaining the formation and restraining the white-robed Dan, but they could not stop his attack on the spirit boat.

"What on earth is this meat ball that can actually corrode the protective aura of a third-level spirit boat?"

"You dare to be distracted when fighting with me?"

The Taoist in black robe blew a breath and drove the black air in the banner to wrap around Sikong Changming's body.

"Humph!"

Sikong Changming's tongue burst into spring thunder, and with a roar, he actually dispelled the black air that was approaching him. Then he concentrated on fighting with the black-robed Taoist priest.

Although the situation was not good, there was no panic in his eyes.

On the other side, Wei Zhong had already faced a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The opponent was a white-haired old woman who was holding a flower basket that seemed to be woven with bamboo strips. Colorless smoke was emitting from the basket and she was approaching Wei Zhong.

Wei Zhong felt dizzy as soon as he smelled it. He immediately held his breath, took out the detoxification pill and swallowed it, while waving his sleeves to disperse the poisonous smoke in front of him.

But the poisonous smoke was dependent on the opponent's spiritual power, and Wei Zhong's blowing had no effect at all.

He had no choice but to use the Black Water Spirit Robe to isolate the poisonous gas from the outside world. Wei Zhong felt a little relieved, and with a slight movement of his fingertips, he drove the Green Bamboo Sword towards him.

At the same time, he had already pinched the fragments of the magic weapon in his palm, and the throwing technique was ready to be used.

Seeing Wei Zhong's Green Bamboo Sword flying towards her, the old woman shook the flower basket, and a bamboo stick immediately stretched out from it and hit the Green Bamboo Sword flying in the air.

The bamboo sticks were extremely fast and tough. With one strike, they shattered the aura of the Green Bamboo Sword, and then wrapped around it and rolled it into the flower basket.

Feeling the Green Bamboo Sword almost losing contact, Wei Zhong sighed. After all, this sword was just an ordinary magic sword among the second-level magic weapons, and it could not keep up with Wei Zhong's current cultivation level.

Without hesitation, he activated the Flying Technique, which turned into streams of light and attacked the enemy. At the same time, he lightly stepped on the ground and performed three master-level techniques: the Cloud-Flying Technique, the Invisibility Technique, and the Breath-Concealing Technique.

A thick green leaf grew out of the old woman's flower basket, catching all the fragments of the magical weapon that were attacking her. When she came to her senses, Wei Zhong was gone.

He shook the flower basket lightly and activated the defensive talisman at the same time. Wei Zhong's figure just appeared behind him. He chopped down with a huge black sword in his hand, hitting the defensive aura on his body, causing the enemy's body to tremble and retreat several steps.

After missing the attack, Wei Zhong sighed and disappeared again.

"As expected, they are all old cultivators who are good at fighting. As soon as they saw me disappear, they knew to cast a spell to defend themselves."

He glanced at Jiucai who was fighting with the enemy beside him. After all, he had just advanced to the next level and lacked experience in fighting. He was already struggling under the attack of Jie Xiu and could only delay him by relying on the speed of his escape technique.

The opponent used all his magic weapons to block the few wind blades, and only the occasional lightning bolts could make the opponent afraid.

When Wei Zhong disappeared, the old woman immediately became alert, secretly pinching talismans in her hands and defending herself all around, fearing that Wei Zhong would suddenly appear and stab her with the sword again.

Suddenly, Wei Zhong appeared around his companions and shouted, "Be careful!"

It was Wei Zhong who came to the Nine-Colored Battlefield, holding a giant sword in his hand. The black sword surface was flowing with golden sword light, which was the blessing of Geng's swordsmanship.

When the enemy heard the warning, he became aware of it and was about to cast a defensive spell, but Jiucai had already approached him with his sharp claws on the soles of his feet, and at the same time, the sound of wind and thunder came from his wings.

A shield faced Jiucai, and when he looked back, a talisman emerged and turned into a golden eggshell that wrapped it.

Wei Zhong broke his golden defense with one sword and held the black ball close to his body.

He also wanted to take out his short dagger and stab Wei Zhong's neck, but it only hit the defense of the Black Water Spiritual Robe, making a sound of metal colliding.

Wei Zhong raised his hand to his chest, and the latter barely dodged. But the Nine Colors behind him had already broken through his shield defense, and released a ray of lightning from its wings, paralyzing his body, and his dodging momentum was immediately interrupted.

Wei Zhong released his flying throwing technique, which blew up his chest with one blow. He was about to chop off his head with his sword, but he sensed the sound of breaking air behind him, so he grabbed Jiucai and dodged.

But the old woman arrived at this moment, and several bamboo sticks in the bamboo basket were activated by her and stabbed towards Wei Zhong's back.

Wei Zhong dodged and saw the old woman holding the man's body, screaming miserably: "Luo'er!"

He took out a white jade pill and wanted to give it to the other party, but his internal organs were blown to pieces by Wei Zhong's attack, so how could this pill be effective?

Suddenly, he looked at Wei Zhong with hatred: "I want you to die..."

Before he finished speaking, Wei Zhong disappeared again. He immediately stopped talking and stepped back holding his half-dead body.

Wei Zhong simply returned to the spirit boat and killed the Qi-refining cultivator who had just broken through the loophole in the defensive spiritual light with a casual blow.

After looking at the female cultivator named Ling who was struggling to hold on and the other crew members who were fighting with the Qi Refining cultivators, Wei Zhong ordered Jiucai to stay and rushed towards the old woman again.

Sikong Changming saw that fellow Taoist "Chu Zhong" killed a robbery cultivator while the clouds were rising and falling, and a look of joy immediately appeared on his face.

The black-robed monk who was fighting with him had a very ugly look on his face. He groaned and waved a black flag. A black bird appeared on the flag, and its brown eyes glowed red. In an instant, thick black smoke rose from the black flag.

The black smoke drifted and spread to the rest of the battlefield, instantly enveloping the spirit boat and blocking out the sky and the sun.

Wei Zhong frowned as he looked at the black smoke around him, cut off the attacking thin bamboo stick with a sword, and then dodged backwards.

'This black smoke detected my location?'

Obviously, the other party is also a smart person and knows what kind of deterrent power a foundation-building cultivator like Wei Zhong, who appears and disappears like a ghost, can bring on the field.

Upon seeing this, Sikong Changming slammed the golden bell in his hand hard, and golden light emanated, but it had little effect on the black smoke that filled the sky.

The slight movement of his lips transmitted the sound to the spirit boat.

The female cultivator named Ling's expression changed slightly, and she diverted her attention to activate a certain arrangement on the boat.

A ray of green spiritual light burst out instantly, piercing through the layers of black smoke and destroying all the blood-colored vines clinging to the spirit boat.

With his mind distracted, the white-robed Taoist monk Xiuhe below spat out a mouthful of blood.

Taking this opportunity, a figure hid himself and stepped onto the spirit boat. The rest of the people did not notice it, only Wei Zhong turned his head to look at the spirit boat, but at the same time he sensed another breath and ignored it.

The man walked through the passage in the cabin and came to the core of the spirit boat. He stared at the core that was emitting strong spiritual light with a smile on his face, took out a magic sword and was about to destroy it.

Suddenly, an old voice sounded in my ears:
"Fellow Daoist, I'm afraid it's not very polite to sneak into my Yunji Chamber of Commerce's spiritual boat like this."

(End of this chapter)