Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation

Chapter 530: Chapter 287: The Ferocious Dao Companions...

The bright and charming Ling Bingyun pouted, saying dismissively,

"Fighting to the death over a phony? Have they lost their minds?"

"Besides us, no one knows he’s a phony right now."

Tang Qiu Yao beamed. "Whatever schemes and plots those fiends are hatching, I just hope this free-for-all doesn’t end too soon!"

First, there was the conflict in the Yuzhou Cultivation Realm, and now an even larger-scale war has erupted over in Shunzhou. In any case, the attention of the higher-ups of every significant power on the Qingyao Continent has been drawn away.

Once they descend into utter chaos, the Ling Family can naturally lay low and develop in peace, accumulating strength bit by bit for future advancement.

The sweet and lovely Ling Zhiqing, with her long, elegant legs, whispered, "If all the factions eventually find out the Child of Destiny is a phony and that they’ve been wasting their time, I wonder how it will all end?"

"How will it end? It’s none of our business, anyway!"

Ling Qiyue said dismissively.

The women exchanged smiles. After such a fierce clash, the major powers were bound to suffer grievous losses to their strength. They would surely need the next several hundred years to recuperate, wouldn’t they?

By then, wouldn’t the seas near Yuzhou and the vast coastal territories all fall into the hands of the Ling Family?

...

「Qinghao Continent.」

After taking inventory of their gains, Ling Changqing and the three women left the Secret Hall and continued toward the core area of the Divine Hall.

Although most of the resources stored here were unusable due to their extreme age, the portion that survived was still an immense fortune.

"...Sister, how many more Secret Vaults like this are in the Divine Hall?"

Bai Qingyi asked with a frown. Most of those precious resources had probably been ruined.

After all, an immense amount of time had passed since the distant Ancient Era. Many types of resources simply couldn’t last forever, no matter how sophisticated the Sealing and preservation methods were.

Meng Feiyu smiled. "Not many. The entire Divine Land was reduced to ruins during the catastrophe back then. Very few things survived. Even those few Sect Heavy Artifacts were severely damaged!"

’I wonder how much they’ve recovered after absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi on their own for all these years? I hope they don’t disappoint me!’

Ling Changqing felt a pang of regret. ’If it weren’t for the few items that were still usable, this trip would have been a complete waste.’

"You don’t need to worry, Husband,"

Meng Feiyu turned her head. "These were just resources prepared for the Middle and Low Grade Disciples. Not much care was taken when storing them, which is why..."

"In the core area of the Divine Hall, everything is protected by High Grade Array Restrictions. There won’t be any problems."

"That’s good to hear!"

Ling Changqing breathed a sigh of relief. ’Perhaps for someone like her, who already stood at the peak of this world back then, resources that weren’t critically important were of no concern.’

A short while later, a colossal gate resembling a city wall appeared before them. It glowed with a heavy, gilded-gold luster, its surface covered in patterns of stars and auspicious clouds. As it shimmered with a spiritual radiance, an invisible pressure washed over them.

’Based on intuition alone,’ Ling Changqing thought, ’even a Refining Void Powerhouse would struggle to break through this gate by force.’

Meng Feiyu stepped forward and observed it for a moment. Memories from deep within her sea of consciousness rapidly resurfaced, allowing her to quickly recall the secrets of the gilded gate.

She raised a slender hand and swiftly formed over a dozen Seal Techniques in the air. As twenty-eight stars on the gilded gate lit up in sequence, a deep rumbling emanated from within, long and unceasing.

A few breaths later, the ground trembled slightly. The heavy, gilded gate parted in the middle, slowly retracting into the walls on either side to reveal a wide, jade-paved road within.

Ling Changqing gazed inside. The Palace Halls, pavilions, and verandas within were even more exquisite and magnificent. Every detail was a work of breathtaking, masterful artistry, truly resembling the legendary splendor of a Celestial Palace.

Needless to say, the Spiritual Qi inside was also far more abundant and pure, rivaling that of a Grade Six Spirit Vein Cave Mansion Hall.

"My lady, can we use a Flying Sword to travel here?"

"You can’t. The various Restrictions in the sky are too powerful. A Cultivator will suffer a backlash the moment they take flight. Even an expert at the Void Refining Realm couldn’t withstand it."

Meng Feiyu explained that if the Hongmeng Divine Hall weren’t protected by sufficiently powerful Restrictions, it would have been picked clean tens of thousands of years ago.

Ling Changqing nodded. They had plenty of time, so it didn’t matter if they had to walk. With Meng Feiyu leading the way, they were far more efficient than any of the foreign Cultivators.

However, the Hongmeng Divine Hall was simply too vast. Even with every precaution taken to avoid mishaps, reaching their destination was not something they could accomplish in a short time.

As they approached a palace garden bordering a lake, they could faintly hear the sounds of a fierce battle coming from behind a tall palace wall of red lacquer and golden tiles.

Ling Changqing frowned slightly, but Meng Feiyu gestured for him to wait, silently channeling her Magical Power to create a projection mirror.

On the other side of the wall, two groups of Cultivators who had run into each other were locked in a frenzied battle. Each side had over a hundred people, most at the Nascent Soul Level, while their leaders were at the Divinity Transformation Realm.

Ling Changqing watched for a while and realized that their Cultivation Technique Divine Techniques and the Magical Artifacts and Magical Treasures they wielded were all unfamiliar. They didn’t match any of the major powers in the Yuzhou Cultivation Realm; they must have come from other continents.

Both sides were roughly equal in number and average Cultivation, so they were locked in a stalemate, neither able to gain an advantage.

Deafening explosions echoed nonstop as the two sides fought with true killing intent. All manner of Magical Artifacts, Magical Treasures, High Power Attack Talismans, and Divine Techniques flew through the air.

The palace walls were fortified with a Shielding Array Restriction, so ordinary Cultivators would have no way of knowing what was happening. There was no danger of being discovered.

Before long, both sides had suffered significant casualties, and blood soaked the ground.

The unluckiest ones were completely obliterated by the concentrated barrage of their opponents’ Divine Techniques. The luckier ones merely had their physical bodies destroyed, their Nascent Souls forced to find a new host to possess if they hoped to survive.

A moment later, another group of Cultivators swarmed into the plaza and joined the fray, throwing the scene into even greater chaos.

"Let’s just watch the show. We might even get to pick up the scraps afterward!"

Meng Feiyu’s expression was serene. With a wave of her hand, she produced a table and chair set made of Thousand Year Old Agarwood and beckoned for Ling Changqing and the other two women to take a seat.

"By the way, the souls and bodies of these dead Cultivators will be collected, right?"

Su Qinglian asked thoughtfully, blinking her beautiful eyes.

"That’s right."

Meng Feiyu answered candidly, "Deep beneath the Hongmeng Divine Hall, a special Array automatically captures the souls of dead Cultivators. Their blood and remains aren’t wasted, either. They are all devoured and refined by the underground Array Restriction, becoming nourishment for the Divine Land’s recovery."

"..."

Ling Changqing was horrified. ’This Ancient Divine Land has lain dormant for tens of thousands of years, and countless Cultivators have come to explore it. The vast majority died here... does that mean they were all devoured and refined?’

Of course, he wasn’t some naive, bleeding-heart fool; he didn’t think there was anything wrong with what Meng Feiyu was doing. It just left him feeling a bit unsettled.

It was clear, then, that the Hongmeng Divine Hall owed its current state of recovery to the immense number of foreign Cultivators who had perished within it.

The only shame was that the overall environment of Qinghao Continent was no longer suitable for mortals—or even Low Grade Cultivators—to survive. That, coupled with the immense distance, was the only reason Ling Changqing wasn’t considering establishing a foundation here.

After waiting for more than an hour, the battle in the plaza finally drew to a close. Only a dozen or so members of the losing side managed to flee in disarray. The victors, with just over forty people left, did not pursue them.

They remained in the plaza to treat their wounded companions and loot the possessions of the dead. Those who were uninjured took Elixirs and sat down in meditation to recover.

But just at that moment, accompanied by the heavy RUMBLE of footsteps, over a hundred Daoist Soldier Puppets appeared. Clad in Heavy Armor, wielding Giant Shields and War Axes, they emerged from all directions and surrounded the surviving Cultivators.