Longevity Begins With Zongmen Handyman

Chapter 186: Killing the Nascent Soul (Long Zhang)

Quietly sneaking back through the Longyu Gorge along the river, the other two cultivators were completely unaware.

For the sake of convenience, Li An took the initiative to find the two of them and proposed that they each guard different areas.

The other two readily agreed, because according to Li An's suggestion, the area he was in was the most dangerous.

And so, they fell into waiting.

...

Three days later.

Late at night.

Boom!

A terrifying surge of spiritual power erupted in the distance, undoubtedly the outbreak of a great battle.

Without hesitation, Li An immediately activated the protective formation in seclusion.

After all, he was about to leave. What if someone really launched a surprise attack from here?

So, he proactively activated the protective formation. Even if a few scattered enemies passed through here, they would retreat. This path was impassable.

Then, Li An quickly left.

...

Arriving at the Tianlang Pool.

Surrounded by marshes, the center was a murky pool of water. Because of the heavy malevolent aura, there were no powerful spirit beasts living here.

Li An lurked in the mud with his divine bird.

Although he felt that this place was likely to be empty, since he had already done it, he had to be cautious to the end.

"You're hunting air here."

Shangguan Xiaoxiao couldn't help but mock.

But Li An remained motionless, seemingly blending into the surrounding mud.

In the deep night, the sound of battle from afar continued to reach his ears. Li An sensed the fluctuations of Nascent Soul level cultivators, and even higher levels. The entire Tiansha Mountain Range was shaking.

Everyone was shocked.

Did the Mountain Lord also make a move?

After a long time, the fluctuations of the battle weakened. The great battle should have already come to an end, but it was unknown who emerged victorious.

The air quieted down, and a long time had passed. According to Li An's estimation, the defeated side should have already fled.

It seemed that, as Shangguan Xiaoxiao had said, he was hunting alone.

"Hmm?"

Just at this moment, Li An sensed movement in this place. A cultivator had intruded!

"It's over, Lord Yaozi, the malevolent aura here is too heavy. We've taken the wrong path..."

Faintly, a desperate voice could be heard.

"Stop... I need to rest for a moment."

A hoarse and weak voice sounded, as if heavily injured.

This... was a follower, and a spirit beast that had successfully transformed into a monster?

Li An was slightly surprised. This was quite a big catch.

Originally, he only wanted to deal with the scattered weak cultivators here, but unexpectedly, someone like this appeared...

Transformed spirit beasts held a high status in front of the Mountain Lord.

And their cultivation was also extremely formidable.

He waited for a long time. The other party seemed to have stopped not far away. Because of the heavy malevolent aura here, the intruders didn't use their divine sense to scan the surroundings.

"Lord Yaozi, if we go back the same way now, we will definitely encounter White Mountain Lord's pursuers. The odds are against us. We can only make a bold move and pass through this place. We can't stay here for long..."

The follower's voice continued.

"Cough... cough..."

Yaozi coughed violently. "My Nascent Soul is almost destroyed. I could die at any moment... Do you still have any spirit blood?"

"No, we've used it all along the way..." The follower was extremely desperate and said, "Lord, let me carry you. Let's not care about anything and rush faster. Once we return home, you can heal. Just hold on a little longer!"

As these words fell, heavy footsteps sounded in the muddy swamp. Obviously, in order to successfully escape, these two didn't dare to fly and were afraid of being discovered and caught up to.

The footsteps drew closer, getting closer...

It was at this moment!

Li An suddenly activated the large formation he had set up.

Boom!

The formation erupted, and the aura of a third-stage cultivator swept out. In the marsh, both the human and the demon's faces changed drastically, and they quickly looked around, preparing to defend themselves.

But at this moment, a figure emerged from the mud in front of them and threw out two hundred third-stage talismans.

"Ambush!"

An old man with white hair, carrying a purple-haired youth on his back. The purple-haired youth's eyes were wild, but his chest seemed to have been heavily injured, covered in blood and flesh.

The old man's face was also pale, and he had many injuries on his body.

At this moment, hundreds of talismans suddenly exploded, accompanied by the attack of a killing formation. The old man's eyes were filled with extreme fear as he did his best to defend himself, using the light and spiritual energy of his treasures to form a shield.

However, he was already weak and couldn't withstand the wave of attacks. He was sent flying and crashed into the marsh.

As the power of the formation was triggered, Li An approached once again. He unleashed the Three Elements Slash, causing the air to ripple. The mud in the marsh was shaken away, and at the same time, three hundred talismans were thrown out!

The cultivation level of this old man was at the peak of the True Dan stage, and the demon he carried on his back was definitely at the Nascent Soul stage. Therefore, even though both of them were heavily injured, Li An did not dare to be careless and exerted all his strength.

"What?"

The old man at the peak of the True Dan stage exclaimed. He quickly stood in front of the demon and swallowed a pill, fully activating a precious treasure. A faint light radiated, blocking the impact of the three hundred talismans and the attacks of the formation.

The old man spat out a mouthful of blood and said with difficulty, "Demon, run!"

His eyes were filled with hatred. He realized that the ambush here was only a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, but the opponent's preparations were too thorough.

If he hadn't been seriously injured, even with the ambush, he would have killed the opponent without hesitation.

At this moment, he secretly held a hidden weapon, waiting for the appearance of the attacker, ready to deliver a fatal blow!

But in his eyes, instead of seeing Li An approaching, he saw an even more terrifying burst of talisman light—

Eight hundred!

Eight hundred talismans spread throughout the space where he and the demon were, and then exploded together!

"No..."

The old man exclaimed in horror. He was extremely shocked. Who on earth was this? There were three-stage talismans in front and back, totaling over a thousand?

For a moment, he even doubted whether Bai Shan, the main force, had anticipated that they would escape from here, so he set up a heavy ambush here.

This was something that a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage could not possibly do!

Who the hell could carry over a thousand third-stage talismans?

The light emitted by the explosion of eight hundred third-stage talismans was like a small nuclear bomb. The marsh was filled with mushroom clouds. Fortunately, the large formation blocked it, and it was also in the midst of a sinister aura, so it did not cause too much disturbance to the outside world.

But even so, the entire Tianlang Pool was directly destroyed. A large amount of water evaporated, and the original mud became dry ground. Even a water grass that had not been directly destroyed was now burning...

When everything dissipated, the cultivator at the peak of the True Dan stage fell motionless in the soil, as did the young demon.

It seemed that both of them were dead.

But the air was quiet for only a moment before hundreds of talismans flew towards the two bodies—

"What the fuck..."

Suddenly, the young body burst open. His eyes were filled with anger. Fuck, even though they were dead, they still had to be whipped with hundreds of talismans?

Who the hell is so ruthless?

He directly spewed out a mouthful of red blood, turning it into a streak of light, and actually suppressed the fluctuations caused by hundreds of third-stage talismans. Those talismans burned and turned into ashes in the air.

The young demon lord staggered, his face even paler. He was filled with extreme hatred. His divine sense suddenly spread out, covering the entire Tianlang Pool.

But strangely, he couldn't find where the enemy was at this moment.

During the intense explosion just now, it was obvious that the attacker had hidden again!

In front of him, dozens of spiritual talismans flew towards him.

"I..."

He was about to explode with anger.

He was already on the verge of death, unable to even escape. He needed the old man at the peak of the True Dan stage to carry him. Now, he was at the end of his life, and he had no choice but to burn his last drop of blood to fight for survival.

He had originally planned to use all his strength to deliver a fatal blow when the opponent appeared.

But now, it seemed that this attacker didn't show up at all. Did he want to use talismans to exhaust his last drop of blood?

If this continued, he would be extremely passive and eventually be hunted down.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood and almost fell to the ground. He felt an extreme sense of unwillingness and hatred. He, a demon lord, was actually going to die in such a desolate place?

Since that's the case, then let's die together with this disgusting sneak attacker...

"Recognize me as your master, and I'll spare your life--"

At this moment, a voice had already sounded.

The demon raised its eyes and saw a middle-aged man walking towards them from the front.

Li An!

At this moment, he had already changed his appearance, neither resembling the original Li An nor Lin An.

A flash of killing intent flickered in the demon's eyes, but it suppressed it and took a deep breath. "Who are you?"

Li An smiled faintly, "You don't need to know who I am. You just need to know that you either become my servant or die!"

"Choose one."

"It's not easy to transform from a spirit beast to a demon. You shouldn't choose death so easily, right? Follow me, and you still have a chance to reach a higher realm!"

Li An skillfully enticed.

The demon gritted its teeth, filled with hatred, but at this moment, it seemed hesitant.

"Fine!"

It agreed, and its entire being relaxed. Then, it spat out a blood-red gem-like liquid from its mouth and handed it to Li An.

Li An's expression brightened, and he immediately stepped forward to receive this lifeblood, preparing to refine the demon into his servant.

But the demon suddenly let out a low roar, took a step forward, and fiercely embraced Li An. Its teeth instantly transformed into fangs and bit towards Li An's neck--

Its head had already transformed into that of a large leopard.

The demon's spiritual power had already been completely depleted, so it deceived Li An into getting close, relying on the natural advantage of its spirit beast to fight against Li An.

The physical body of a spirit beast was much stronger than that of a human cultivator, especially since it was in the Nascent Soul stage.

But Li An's body was instantly covered in densely packed black armor, and at the same time, his spiritual power erupted. The cultivation of an early Gold Core stage was instantly released, attempting to shake off the demon.

But the demon firmly held onto him. Although its fangs didn't bite his neck, they still pierced through his shoulder, causing Li An to cry out in pain.

A dagger appeared in Li An's hand and stabbed fiercely into the demon's body.

The Black Poison Dagger and the Frostbite Dagger!

The demon's movements instantly became somewhat sluggish, but it still angrily displayed its fangs and claws, actually breaking through Li An's Indestructible Demon Armor, leaving Li An covered in injuries.

Li An's face turned pale, already heavily injured, but he tightly held onto the demon and stabbed it again and again.

Toxins and cold energy quickly spread, even the demon, at this moment, was finally unable to move, barely clinging to life.

Li An was also heavily injured and no longer had the strength to control the grand formation. He was on the verge of death.

"Do you think I will die?"

The demon's mouth was full of blood, but it smirked. A beam of light suddenly flashed in its Purple Mansion, and a white little leopard flew out from it!

That was the demon's Nascent Soul!

Even if the physical body died, the Nascent Soul could still leave. As long as the Nascent Soul was still intact, the cultivator was not considered dead. They just needed to find another physical body.

The demon had never let its Nascent Soul escape earlier because the Nascent Soul was too fragile and couldn't resist danger once it left the body.

Now that Li An was heavily injured and on the verge of death, the grand formation had already disappeared.

Its Nascent Soul could safely leave!

As soon as the Nascent Soul left, the demon's body slowly stiffened, while the Nascent Soul turned around and prepared to escape--

But at this moment, a huge divine bird flew out from the darkness at an incredible speed. It spread its wings, spanning dozens of meters, and emitted a radiant light, directly spewing out a mouthful of green flames--

"No!"

The white little leopard was in a state of panic. It never expected that there would be another ambush?

Moreover, it was a mid-Gold Core stage spirit beast!

It suddenly turned around, wanting to return to its body, but the green flames had already arrived in an instant.

The Nascent Soul had no self-defense ability and was directly annihilated!

Turning into a wisp of green smoke.

The divine bird folded its wings and quickly shrank in size, returning to its appearance as a small red bird, landing on Li An's shoulder.

Only at this moment did Li An finally breathe a sigh of relief, supporting his heavily injured body.

He was indeed heavily injured!

If it were an ordinary person, their life would most likely be in danger at this moment, and the chances of survival would be slim.

But his vitality was too vigorous. Spiritual factors flowed out from his kidneys, liver, and lungs, repairing his flesh and blood. A green aura of life circulated throughout his body, gradually restoring him.

"Fortunately..."

Li An still felt a bit scared!

In fact, his appearance, falling into the trap, and being approached by this demon were all intentional.

The thing he was most worried about was this demon self-destructing!

What does it mean for a Nascent Soul early-stage cultivator to self-destruct?

The grand formation set up by Li An was completely useless. The entire Tianlang Pool, and even the surrounding area for dozens or even hundreds of miles, would be turned into scorched earth. All living beings would be destroyed, and he and the divine bird might not even survive.

Even if they could barely maintain a glimmer of hope, Bai Shan's people would definitely come immediately.

At that time, Li An would be exposed, and he might die!

Therefore, from the moment he took action, he established a principle: he absolutely could not truly force this demon into a dead end and make him despair and self-destruct.

So, when the demon was truly at the end of his strength, Li An appeared on his own initiative.

Giving the other party a glimmer of hope.

And intentionally falling into the trap, getting close to the other party.

Engaging in close combat.

What he wanted to do was destroy the other party's body!

So, he risked being bitten and scratched, and while seriously injured, he used poison and cold energy to completely stiffen the other party's body.

At the same time, he also deactivated the grand formation.

In this way, the other party naturally only had one way left - to fly away with their Nascent Soul.

This was also the only way.

Sure enough, the demon let his Nascent Soul leave his body, because it was not easy to cultivate a Nascent Soul, let alone transform into a demon. The demon also valued his own life.

Li An was waiting for this moment!

While the Nascent Soul was still inside the body, it could communicate with the flesh and potential throughout the body, and self-destruct with unstoppable power. But once it left the body, it became like a baby leaving the womb, and the threat was greatly reduced.

The lurking divine bird was there to kill the other party's Nascent Soul!

Now... it had indeed succeeded.

"That was too risky!"

Li An couldn't help but sigh. In fact, when he first took action, he only had an 80-90% certainty.

If it were in the past, he would definitely not have taken action, he would have lurked and let the other party leave.

But now he was too poor, and the enemy must be very wealthy.

So, it's true that you shouldn't provoke a poor ghost. Once a person is completely impoverished, they can do anything.

Having recovered a bit of his vitality, he stood up and looked at the two corpses. Without hesitation, he directly activated his demonic cultivation technique and crazily devoured their flesh and blood.

- To refine them into puppets, it was necessary to invade their spiritual consciousness while they were not completely dead. Now that these two people were completely dead, their spiritual consciousness closed off, and it was impossible to make them into puppets.

The prototype of the demon was a red giant leopard weighing over a thousand kilograms. Li An devoured it crazily, with its blood and qi entering his body, continuously producing demonic energy. The demonic energy was then transformed into nourishment by his life seed, and the fourth bud quickly expanded...

His aura was also constantly rising.

When this red giant leopard was finally sucked dry, Li An's cultivation broke through the early stage of Foundation Establishment and directly advanced to the mid-stage of Gold Core. At the same time, his life seed unexpectedly grew a fourth branch!

"It truly is a demonic cultivation technique..."

Li An couldn't help but be amazed. In fact, if it weren't for his life seed converting a large amount of demonic energy and promoting the growth of the life seed, he could probably reach the late stage of Gold Core with just this demon!

No wonder, no wonder Shangguan Xiaoxiao said that taking three hundred years to reach Foundation Establishment was a shame for someone with a natural demonic body.

For someone who cultivates this demonic cultivation technique, reaching Foundation Establishment in three hundred years is indeed possible.

It is indeed very tempting!

But Li An took a deep breath and maintained his inner calm.

No matter how good the demonic cultivation technique was, he believed that it was not as good as the Life Nurturing Immortal Technique.

Compared to the Immortal Demon Indestructible Technique, the Life Nurturing Immortal Technique was more like the orthodox method of immortals, steady and reliable.

Li An believed that his current persistence would definitely have corresponding causes and effects in the future. He had never thought of becoming a demonic cultivator.

The demon's body had already withered, so he put away the storage ring, cut off the teeth, claws, and a few pieces of precious bones, and then burned the body completely.

Then, according to the law, he devoured the cultivator who had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment. His cultivation at the mid-stage of Gold Core was now close to perfection.

After carefully inspecting the demon's and the old man's storage bags and storage rings, he became increasingly satisfied. However, he had to reluctantly destroy several marked treasures and spirit pills, which made him very distressed.

Carefully cleaning up the scene, removing the grand formation, he quickly headed towards Longyu Gorge.

...

(End of this chapter)