Chapter 65: Exorcism, Enemy
Ning Jiaqi bowed, and Wei Zhong accepted this little guy. However, he did not promise to accept him as a disciple, and Ning Cankun was very satisfied with this, and talked a lot with Wei Zhong.
Including the Ning family was hit by business partners, how much spiritual stones they lost this year, and how the cultivation of the children in the family could not be satisfied. At this critical moment of life and death, the various branches of the family began to fight for the last bit of family wealth left...
In short, it was a picture of the end of the family.
When Ning Cankun proposed to leave, Wei Zhong stuffed him with a storage bag, which contained spiritual stones, spiritual wine and other spiritual objects that were nothing to Wei Zhong.
"A little gift from an old friend, please accept it, Brother Ning."
Ning Cankun's mouth moved, the wrinkles on his face became tight, and he raised his sleeves to wipe the corners of his eyes.
"Take care, brother Chu!"
"Take care!"
Watching him leave, Ning Jiaqi knelt down for a long time.
'This meeting is probably a farewell forever. ’
Ning Cankun chose to entrust his orphan to someone else at this time, probably because he realized that his time was running out. It was inconvenient to involve Wei Zhong in the affairs of the Ning family, so he only brought a younger generation of the family to entrust him here.
Wei Zhong was filled with emotion. His former friends left one by one as time went by. If he continued to live, would he really end up alone in the end?
He looked back at Xie Linghua and Ning Jiaqi who was kneeling beside him.
“Get up. Since your uncle Ning asked me to hand you over to you, I will naturally take responsibility.”
Wei Zhong took out a jade slip and a storage bag.
“This skill is called "Xuan Mu Jue", which is a top grade yellow grade. It can be practiced up to the late stage of foundation building. There are also some cultivation resources in the storage bag. Don’t disappoint your uncle Ning’s expectations and practice well.”
After saying this, Wei Zhong handed it to him. The latter took it and kowtowed several times.
Wei Zhong had no choice but to help him up: "No need to do this. I don't like to see people kowtow. This is what I should do as an elder."
"Linghua, find a place for him to live and settle down."
"Yes, Master."
Wei Zhong nodded and left.
Despite Ning Cankun's entrustment, Wei Zhong did not immediately consider accepting him as a disciple. Giving him a set of cultivation techniques and providing cultivation resources was already Wei Zhong's greatest kindness.
Of course, it is not ruled out that Wei Zhong will consider accepting him as a disciple if he performs well in the future.
'However, the fire and wood spiritual roots are suitable for alchemy. Don't worry, don't worry, consider his character first. '
From that day on, there was one more member on Black Lake Island. When the servants heard that he was the descendant of the master's friend, they were very enthusiastic about him. For a time, the half-grown boy became the most beloved person on Black Lake Island.
The good times did not last long. After more than a year, the bad news of Ning Cankun's death came.
Wei Zhong took Ning Jiaqi to the Ning family to see him off. Seeing Ning Cankun lying in the coffin, Wei Zhong felt regretful.
Seeing the Ning family quarreling over the family property, he suddenly became very annoyed and suppressed all the troublemakers in the Ning family.
"No noise during the funeral."
Frightened by Wei Zhong's foundation building power, the Ning family, a Qi-refining family, finally stopped for a short time and continued the funeral process.
The Ning family, who came from the mortal world, has maintained the previous customs until now,... guarding the spirit, embalming, funeral, and burying in the Ning family's ancestral land.
Ning Jiaqi wiped his tears and accompanied him through the last journey.
"Is there anyone here that you care about?"
Ning Jiaqi nodded, then shook his head: "My parents died in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range when I was young, and it was Uncle Ning who raised me until now..."
Wei Zhong knew that he was not living well in the Ning family. All the direct elders in the family were lost, and the relatives of various branches suppressed him. I am afraid that he could not enjoy the treatment that the young disciples of the family should have. Only Ning Cankun occasionally supported him.
Now that Ning Cankun has left, he can be said to be a stranger from the Ning family.
Wei Zhong said no more, waved the green boat and took him back.
After returning to the island, he taught him the art of alchemy: "The island can only support you to practice for ten years at most. You will have to work hard to earn all the benefits in the future."
Hearing this, Ning Jiaqi seemed to put down a big stone in his heart and bowed down:
"Thank you Master Chu for teaching me. Jiaqi will definitely live up to Master Chu's high expectations."
Then he heard Wei Zhong's voice: "It's too early to call you Master now. I'll consider it after I become famous."
When he looked up, Wei Zhong's figure was nowhere to be seen.
In the cave, Wei Zhong held the spirit wine and murmured: "I didn't expect the little guy to be so straightforward. He doesn't want to owe anyone friendship. He is mature. Maybe he can go further in the future."
It was Wei Zhong who taught him the method of alchemy. It was a coincidence. The art of alchemy can only be learned by inheritance without a master to lead the way, which is very difficult.
After a few words of emotion, Wei Zhong sank into practice again.
The long period of practice this time seemed to bring Wei Zhong back to the time when he was farming in Qingmu Sect, peaceful and harmonious, without anyone disturbing him.
Until one day, Qingmu Sect sent a letter, which interrupted Wei Zhong's practice.
It was not a coercion, but a warning.
"The demon cultivators in Mangyuan Prefecture are rampant, and the situation is getting worse. I hope all cultivators will be cautious when traveling to prevent falling into the hands of demon cultivators...
I also want to invite fellow Taoists to jointly form an exorcist team to be responsible for the safety of a nearby area."
'Is Qingmu Sect angry about the demon cultivators? Do they want to completely clean up the surrounding areas? '
After calling Xie Linghua, I learned that the situation is now serious. Not only are there more demon cultivators in Mangyuan Prefecture, but there are also many more robbery cultivators.
In the past few years, Black Lake Island has gone to the market several times to sell spiritual objects, but was stopped by robbers. Not only were all the spiritual objects taken away, but even the cultivators responsible for transportation also died. The operation of the spiritual island was affected.
"It seems that I have to take action. Looking at my cultivation level of the middle stage of foundation building, Wei Zhong was relieved. As long as he didn't encounter a Yuanying cultivator, he would be safe."
[Cultivation level: fourth level of foundation building (31%)]
[Life span: 167/275]
Eleven years have passed since Wei Zhong went into seclusion. During this period, Wei Zhong successfully broke through to the middle stage of foundation building, and thus increased his life span by twenty years.
This made Wei Zhong more confident. With the three-level Taoism, he could reach the middle stage of Jindan, which was enough to deal with the big and small forces in Mangyuan Prefecture.
Just as Wei Zhong was considering the matters of the exorcist team, he heard Ning Jiaqi asking for a meeting.
In eleven years, the latter had grown from a child to a young man. When he saw Wei Zhong, he bowed and saluted. Then he held out a pill bottle.
"Live up to Uncle Chu's high expectations, Jiaqi can now refine the Qi-nourishing Pill."
Wei Zhong was slightly surprised, took the pill bottle, opened it and found that it was actually a Qi-nourishing Pill, and it was a medium-grade one.
Seeing Wei Zhong's expression, Xie Linghua beside him also chuckled: "The master really had foresight when he taught the pill method back then.
Jiaqi's talent in alchemy is beyond ordinary people. It only took him five years to start from the simplest blood-strengthening pill and the fasting pill, and then successfully refine the Qi-nourishing Pill. Now he can stably refine the medium-grade Qi-nourishing Pill, adding another output to Black Lake Island."
'I didn't expect that I would actually get results by accident. '
Although Wei Zhong himself had successfully refined the Qi-nourishing Pill, it was not stable. It was a compliment to Wei Zhong that he could succeed once in ten times.
And the difficulty of the Qi-nourishing Pill is not low among the first-level pills, about medium difficulty. Now he can stably produce middle-grade nourishing qi pills. Even in the outside world, no, even in the Qingmu Sect, he can be called an alchemy genius.
Observing his cultivation, he found that he has reached the third level of Qi Refining, and it seems that he is not far from the next level, the fourth level of Qi Refining.
Wei Zhong coughed twice, put the pill in Xie Linghua's hand, and looked back at Ning Jiaqi: "Although the alchemy skills are good, the cultivation should not be slow. In the end, the cultivation world still relies on strength."
It seemed that something was wrong to say this, so he said to Xie Linghua: "The second-level spiritual objects on the island should be opened to him appropriately. I believe that he has reached the stage of studying the second-level pill formula now."
Hearing Wei Zhong's words, Ning Jiaqi bowed again: "Thank you, Uncle Chu."
Xie Linghua pulled Wei Zhong's sleeves and whispered: "Jiaqi is not young anymore. Do you want to arrange a marriage for him? I think Senior Li's disciple is good."
Wei Zhong was stunned. Ning Jiaqi was only in his twenties. Compared with his extraordinary long lifespan, he was just a young man.
'Are you considering his marriage now? ’
As for the disciple of Senior Li mentioned in his mouth, it was a girl who Li Haowen accepted a few years ago. She had three spiritual roots, and the golden spiritual root was of the middle grade.
Compared with Ning Jiaqi, she was about the same age, and was only one or two years younger.
"Let the young people handle this matter by themselves. If the two of them are of the same mind, I will help them on behalf of the elders."
Ning Jiaqi smiled after receiving the answer, and it seemed that this matter was almost certain.
Then he withdrew, and Wei Zhong exchanged a few greetings with Xie Linghua and others, and then left the island.
Outside the island, Wei Zhong lowered his hand slightly, and the lake surface suddenly stirred up waves, and a round black bead flew out of it.
It was the Yuanshui Pearl that Wei Zhong had been refining for many years.
Holding this bead in his hand and feeling its weight, Wei Zhong knew that the Yuanshui Pearl had reached the second-grade middle grade at this moment, and it was not too far from the upper grade.
With a wave of his sleeve, he accepted it. This trip to exorcise the demon should be set off in a complete state.
After taking a glance at the nine colors in the cave, Wei Zhong gave up the idea of traveling with it.
‘It’s better to keep a low profile. ’
Hidden his cultivation until the early stage of foundation building, Wei Zhong released the Qingzhou and rushed to a place.
The destination of this trip is the Chen family’s residence on the edge of Haiyue Lake. The Qingmu Sect’s foundation building, which has been responsible for exorcism in recent years, is stationed here.
When Wei Zhong arrived, many people were already waiting.
“Meet Elder Xu! I didn’t expect that Elder Xu was responsible for exorcism here.”
The man was Elder Xu who invited Wei Zhong to become a guest of Qingmu Sect.
The latter saw that “Chu Zhong” had no surprise on his face, and it was obvious that he had already found out the information about “Chu Zhong” very clearly.
“Fellow Daoist Chu is a little late, let me introduce you,” Xu Changjun pointed to the other people who were seated and began to introduce them one by one from left to right.
"This is Fellow Daoist Li Haowen from Haiyue Lake. I believe Fellow Daoist Chu is already very familiar with him," and then pointed to the second person, "This is Fellow Daoist Chen Guisong from the Chen family."
The third person is a Kun Daoist: "This is Fellow Daoist Wan Xiu'e, a guest of my Qingmu Sect. The exorcism of Haiyue Lake and its surroundings will be carried out by the five of us."
When Xu Changjun introduced several people to Wei Zhong, Fellow Daoist Chen stared at Wei Zhong coldly. After the introduction, he suddenly said:
"A hundred-year-old turtle has sneaked in among us cultivators. I just hope that Fellow Daoist will not be greedy for life and afraid of death, and implicate us."
Wei Zhong frowned, not understanding why he was hostile to him.
"Ahem," Xu Changjun coughed lightly, "If Fellow Daoist Chen has a personal grudge with Fellow Daoist Chu, they can resolve it privately after this mission is over. We will have to work together later. It is better not to say anything that affects unity at this moment."
Chen Guisong did not dare to offend Xu Changjun, who was in the late stage of foundation building. He stood up and held his hands in his hands: "I made a mistake."
Turning around to look at Wei Zhong, he didn't have a good expression and sat down directly.
Wei Zhong sat down and heard Li Haowen's voice transmission. Only then did we learn that it was Wei Zhong's protection of the Li family in the past few years that made the Chen family unhappy.
Now that the Chen family heard that Wei Zhong's backer Zhenzhuan in the Qingmu Sect had fallen, they showed their malicious intent.
Wei Zhong turned his head and wrote down the face of the monk surnamed Chen, thinking to give him some color later while Xu Changjun was away.
Seeing that Wei Zhong didn't get angry on the spot, Xu Changjun nodded and took out a map.
"Fellow Daoist Chu has just arrived here and is not yet clear about the process. I will tell you once again that I will inspect the progress of the free Qi refining juniors on a daily basis.
We and other foundation builders only patrol once a year to solve problems that the juniors cannot solve, or take action when the situation is serious. "
Then he circled a large area on the map including Black Lake Island.
The female cultivator surnamed Yu on the side couldn't help but said: "Once a year? Is this frequency too high and affecting our normal practice?"
Xu Changjun replied: "During this special period, I would like to ask fellow Taoists to bear with me. If fellow Taoists are really unable to accept it, the five of us can also be divided into two teams.
In order to prevent you from being harmed by demonic cultivators and calamity cultivators, you must go together during each patrol. The four Taoist friends are all in the early stage of foundation building. At least three of them must go together, and the remaining one can follow me.
This is only once every two years. Are fellow Taoists satisfied with this? "
Yu Xiu'e nodded when she heard the words.
The remaining Wei Zhong and the other three will naturally not object.
"In that case, let's allocate team members. Fellow Taoist Yu, would you like to accompany me?"
The female cultivator named Yu nodded.
Chen Guisong was suddenly speechless.
Being together with two people who are both in the early stage of foundation building is naturally not as safe as following Xu Changjun, who is in the late stage of foundation building.
But who makes the other party a guest of the sect? In total, he is still half of his own family.
Chen and Li were just subordinate forces of the Qingmu Sect, and Wei Zhong was an idle cultivator.
In comparison, Yu Xiu'e is still closer to the Qingmu Sect.
"Okay, the assignments have been completed. This first patrol will be carried out by me and fellow Taoist Yu. The three comrades can return. Be prepared these days to enhance your own strength and don't fall into the hands of the demon cultivator easily."
Wei Zhong cupped his hands, looked at each other and left together with Li Haowen.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, from now on you and I will have to work together."
"That's right. There is a gap between Chen Guisong's old nose and mine in our lives. I'm afraid it won't be of great use. I'm obsessed with practicing and neglect fighting. I'm afraid I won't be as good at fighting as fellow Taoist Li. I hope fellow Taoist can help me a lot in the future."
"Fellow Daoist Chu, what you said is serious, the only way is to help each other..."
After a polite meal, we went back to the island together.
Xu Changjun's arrangement did not have much impact on Wei Zhong. On the contrary, avoiding this late-stage foundation-building monk made it easier for Wei Zhong to use his true skills.
‘There is still one year before the next mission, so we should practice more on the Black Water Spirit Clothes. ’
Less than a month later, Li Haowen brought news that caught Wei Zhong off guard.
When Xu Changjun and Yu Xiu'e were exorcising demons, they encountered a hidden pill-forming demon cultivator. After some resistance, they both almost died. If the master of the Qingmu Zongfa Hall hadn't arrived in time, the two of them would have become demons. Repair the souls of your dead men.
This made Chen Guisong and Li Haowen very happy. Fortunately, Elder Xu did not ask the three of them to patrol first, otherwise the three of them might have died directly at the hands of the pill-forming demon cultivator, and they could not wait for the arrival of the master of the Qingmu Sect's pill-forming hall.
"I didn't expect that the situation has deteriorated to such an extent. Apart from the Qingmu Sect, doesn't the Yan family take any action?"
Li Haowen shook his head: "In recent days, the Yan family has been retreating to its own territory to recuperate and have no intention of getting involved in this matter. Even the secret struggle with the Qingmu Sect has stopped."
Wei Zhong guessed in his mind that this was probably what Gathering Chamber of Commerce meant. If he doesn't help demons cultivate, he will naturally not stop the Qingmu Sect from exorcising demons.
"This is troublesome. How can we and other small foundation builders fight against the Demonic Pill-forming Cultivator? Can that Palace Master Yu kill the Demonic Core-forming Cultivator?"
"No, it is said that it was just a wound. The pill-forming demon cultivator was extremely cunning and had a good escape technique. He disappeared after escaping."
Wei Zhong raised his eyebrows and said, "So, the seriously injured Alchemy Demonic Cultivator is hiding near Haiyue Lake. It's really a disaster, a disaster."
Li Haowen also smiled bitterly when he heard this: "Brother Chu, don't worry, Hall Master Yu has been searching for this person nearby recently, and maybe he will be found and killed..."
"Hey, you and I should stick to the formation and wait until this matter is over before we do anything else."
The latter nodded: "Fortunately, I heard what my fellow Taoist said and purchased a set of formations. Otherwise, I really don't know how to protect such a large area of the Li family..."
After some discussion, Li Haowen left. Now that this pill-forming demonic cultivation has occurred, the patrol task no longer needs to be mentioned.
Wei Zhong adhered to the formation tightly, but he was thinking in his heart:
‘I hope that demon cultivator will not come to my Black Lake Island, otherwise I will have to kill him. ’
······
What is surprising is that the matter of forming a demonic core is like water floating in a lake, causing waves, and then disappearing without a trace.
Hall Master Yu of the Qingmu Sect failed to find his figure after searching for many days, so he had no choice but to return.
The exorcism patrol continued, and this time the person leading Wei Zhong and others was no longer an elder named Xu, but a deacon of the inner sect of the Aoki Sect who was in the middle stage of foundation building.
His name is Mayongzuo, and he is a fat, middle-aged man. He has the cautious words and deeds of a casual cultivator, and is very cautious about patrolling.
In two years, he led Wei Zhong, Li Haowen, and Chen Guisong to destroy multiple demon cultivators' hiding places and killed several demon cultivators of the same level.
"These demon cubs are really hard to find. They are all hidden among these Qi Refining families," Chen Guisong said after waving his hand to kill the fleeing Qi Refining Demon Cultivator.
Wei Zhong replied: "There is nothing we can do. These Qi Refining families may not be able to produce a foundation-building genius for hundreds of years. Therefore, in order to go further, it is reasonable to introduce the method of magic cultivation."
The two have worked together and supported each other in the past two years. They have resolved a lot of hatred between each other and can be regarded as friends.
Ma Yongzuo burned the body with a fireball: "Fellow Daoist Chu has seen this clearly, but no matter how much these people want to climb up, they should not practice the method of demonic cultivation. This is the bottom line for practitioners like us."
The Qingmu Sect's suppression of demon cultivators did not surprise Wei Zhong. After all, as a righteous sect, it was also our position to be hostile to them.
Moreover, the behavior of these demon cultivators is not pleasing to the eye, and some evil methods that harm the lives of others to support his own cultivation also disgust Wei Zhong.
"Okay, after this trip, this land will be quiet for a few days. If the three of you have important matters, please inform me again, and I will return to the sect."
Ma Yongzuo raised his hands to the three of them, turned around and turned into a ray of light before disappearing from everyone's sight.
"Fellow Taoist Ma is such a happy person," Li Haowen said after seeing him leave after leaving a word.
"As a deacon of the inner sect of the Qingmu Sect, he is very busy. For his own cultivation, he has taken on many sect tasks. This time, the three of us who accompanied us to clear the area around Haiyue Lake were also thinking about the contribution they made. If you have enough, you will come here.”
Chen Guisong said.
Ever since the Demonic Core Formation Cultivator appeared around Haiyue Lake, the number of monks coming and going here has suddenly decreased. Even the guest officials of the Qingmu Sect are unwilling to take over the patrol mission in the surrounding area.
Only Ma Yongzuo, the deacon of the inner sect, took over the matter and accompanied the three of them to clean up the place.
Fortunately, there has been no sign of the alchemy cultivator in the past two years, and the four people's exorcism operation went very smoothly.
The most serious one was when four people were ambushed by demon cultivators, but Ma Yongzuo used some tricks to lead the three people away, and then killed the ambusher.
After the battle, the four of them only suffered some minor injuries, but Yue Xu recovered all of them.
"This clean-up is over, I'm leaving now," Wei Zhong bowed his hands to the two of them and left.
Li Haowen looked at Wei Zhong's leaving figure and murmured: "Perhaps only monks like fellow Taoist Chu who are not bound by sects and families can be truly free."
Chen Guisong also bowed his head and said nothing when he heard this. The two of them had different thoughts, and then they said goodbye and separated.
When Wei Zhong returned to Black Lake Island, his spiritual consciousness noticed an obscure aura on the island.
He casually turned to the servant next to him and said, "There are guests on the island."
The latter shook his head: "Miss He has only been here once since the master left, but she left some time ago."
The Miss He in his words was Li Haowen's disciple and Ning Jiaqi's sweetheart.
‘Since there are no guests coming, the enemy is hiding on the island. ’
Following the scent he sensed, Wei Zhong came to a cave.
There is a plaque with three characters "Zhiming Cave" on it, which is the cave where Taoist Zhu once stayed.
Wei Zhong disliked the fact that this place had never seen the light of day, so he abandoned it.
There is also a group of blood-eating bats, and I don’t know why people come here.